A young man was lying on his bed, scrolling through his phone.
"Ah, so bored, so fucking bored," he grumbled, rolling around.
On his hand was a phone with a bitten-banana logo on the back.
"Why are the updates so slow on this damn novel?" he muttered while reaching the end of a chapter.
He closed the novel app and rubbed his head.
"Ugh, I need to go to work soon as well."
Suddenly, noises came from downstairs—likely someone arguing.
"Augh, those shitty parents," he said, eyes flashing with annoyance at the thought of his step-parents. They'd adopted him purely to snatch away his inheritance, left behind by his real parents when they died.
But he couldn't leave yet, because he still needed their help to survive.
"Why do I even bother to stay here when I'm already twenty?" He shook his head, then turned back to his phone, looking for another novel to read.
It was his only hobby—hunting down good webnovels. But what he dreaded most was some shitty author dropping the novel he'd invested money in.
"Might as well ask for some recommendations," he thought, closing the reading app and opening Chatcord.
"Now let's see…" He opened a few servers, but most were dead, except a few idiots spamming memes.
"Fucking nerds, can't they at least talk online?" he muttered before finding a slightly active server.
[Chat, I need a novel recommendation, preferably high fantasy and harem.]
He waited a few seconds. Someone replied:
[Here comes another degenerate to read harem novels.]
The young man's eyes twitched. He typed at lightning speed:
[I may be a degenerate, but I'm a degenerate with class. I only read harem novels because I don't like when my favorite side character gets forgotten or ends up with someone else.]
A different person messaged:
[Haha, Brother Primus is correct, only cucks like you enjoy seeing your fav character with someone else.]
[Hah? Fuck you, I don't self-insert like the rest of you.]
[Huh? Motherfucker, stop lying. You think I don't know what kind of bl shit you read?]
The chat quickly descended into chaos, and the young man threw in messages here and there to add fuel to the fire.
After messing around for a bit, he got his recommendation and closed Chatcord.
"Well, at least I got two novels to read, Dimensional Keeper and Primordial Harem System. This should keep me busy for quite a few days."
Nodding in satisfaction, he topped up coins and sat down to read. But just as he did, the room began to tremble, and his furniture started shaking violently.
He sprang to his feet, only for the ceiling fan to drop on his head.
"Ugh—fuck," he groaned, collapsing to the floor. Still, he tried to stand up.
Out of nowhere, flames erupted around the room, the temperature shooting to an unbearable level in an instant.
His face turned gloomy as he realized he might actually die today. Right then, the door flung open and his step-dad's anxious voice echoed:
"What are you doing, dazing around? Hurry and run out!"
Through the heat haze, his eyes focused on the doorway. His vision cleared for a second.
'This bastard… is he still after my property?' he thought. In his will, he'd stated that if he died of any "unforeseen circumstance," everything would go to charity.
His lips were cracked from dryness, but he formed an ugly smirk.
"No thank you. I prefer to die giving you the middle finger," he said calmly, then raised his hand in a solid flip-off.
The middle-aged man's face went red, though it was hard to tell if it was from the heat or his anger.
"You useless bastard, you're the same as your dad—fucking useless." After cursing for a moment, he ran back downstairs.
The young man's eyes sharpened as he dashed toward the door. But before he could reach it, an explosion erupted. Everything went black.
In a boundless void floated a small wisp of flame—or rather, a soul. It trembled softly, as if any moment it could be snuffed out.
A colossal shadow grew beside this flickering soul, billions of trillions of times bigger.
[Hmm, now this is problematic. I can't revive this person back on that tiny planet. But I also can't bear to let him vanish due to my carelessness.]
The archaic voice reverberated across the void, making all the colossal beings lurking there scuttle away into their safe worlds, too afraid to face this unknown entity.
[Looks like I can only do that. And hmm… this might turn out more interesting.]
Slowly, the soul regained consciousness.
'Ughh…'
He was no longer in the void. Instead, he floated in a serene, giant expanse of greenery.
[CONGRATULATIONS, YOUNG MAN!]
'Ugh, talk normally. I already feel like dying,' the soul grumbled without thinking much.
[…You are already dead, though.]
"Huh? Wh—"
Memories of how he died suddenly flooded his weakened soul.
"Wait, who are you? And where are we?" Even though he couldn't physically see, he still felt the surroundings—a boundless expanse of greenery.
[I happened to pass by when you died and decided to help you,] the unknown entity said calmly, shaped like a human.
The young man's soul twisted and turned before returning to his original form.
"Huh?" He looked down, realizing his body was the same as before—no injuries at all.
He quickly raised his head. What he saw shocked him. In front of him stood a young man who looked exactly like him.
'Wait, he only looks like me… His eyes are different,' he noted, forcing himself to stay calm.
The entity raised an eyebrow.
[Oh? Quite sharp of you to notice that so quickly.]
Confused, the young man thought, 'Is this guy crazy?'
[No, I most certainly am not crazy.]
Hearing that, the young man's eyes filled with fear and apprehension.
'Fuck… can he read my mind??'
[Precisely,] the entity nodded.
'Shitshitshit. Think about something normal. Uhh... puppies. No—bananas? WHY BANANAS?!'
[Now that's just disturbing.]
"Who—no, what are you?" he asked once he'd calmed down—at least a little.
The unknown entity smiled faintly.
[I—am the harbinger of prosperity.]
'Bullshit,' the young man thought.