Zither Emperor - Volume 5 Chapter 34.4

For as long as he could remember, life had always been cruel.A young man in his early twenties—his name now lost to the past—was dealt a life filled with misfortunes.A cold, empty apartment, a soul-crushing job, and, finally, a terminal diagnosis.With nothing left to live for, his only comfort had been escaping into the fictional world of Path of the Elemental Sage, a story of heroes, magic, and survival.But fate had other plans.When death finally came for him, he didn’t fade into nothingness.Instead, he awoke in the world he had only read about—a world of chaos and danger where death lurked around every corner.The air smelled of magic, the sky was filled with possibilities.{«[Status Window]»}[Name: Lyrium Blackwood][Age: 16][Rank: D-][Skills: None][Elements: None}At first, confusion filled his mind.Who was Lyrium Blackwood?Why was he here?And why did this body feel so different?But as his memories returned, so did the realization: this wasn’t some blessing or second chance.He wasn’t reincarnated as the protagonist.No destined savior.No cheat abilities.No grand fate.He was just another mob, a face in the crowd meant to exist and die without leaving a mark.But this young man—the one who had left his old name and life behind—wasn’t the kind of person to roll over and accept his fate.“This world is dangerous. The protagonist isn’t the only one fighting for survival here,”he muttered, his red eyes deep and sharp.Unlike the naïve characters in the story, he knew the stakes.He’d read the web novel.He’d seen the carnage, the betrayals, the disasters that wiped out entire cities.And if there was one thing he refused to be, it was a pawn in someone else’s game.“I don’t care about glory. I don’t care about saving the world. All I care about is surviving—no matter what it takes.”Lyrium Blackwood wasn’t planning to live quietly or avoid danger.The only way to survive in this brutal world was to rise to the top.To be strong enough to stand above both heroes and villains.Using his knowledge of the story’s events and his iron will, Lyrium sets out on a relentless path to surpass the protagonist.Whether through clever manipulation, brutal training, or sheer desperation, he’ll climb higher and higher, leaving nothing to chance.But the deeper he gets, the more he realizes that this isn’t just the story he once read.As fate pushes him closer to the heart of the narrative, Lyrium begins to suspect that his reincarnation wasn’t an accident—and the world itself might be watching him.“I don’t care who or what stands in my way. If the story wants to kill me, I’ll rewrite the ending myself.”----------------------------------I apologize for any mistakes in this story, as it’s my first attempt at writing a novel.

Ian Percus, the second son of a countryside Viscountcy.

One day, he received a love letter from the future.

‘If we don’t protect the future, the world will perish.’

With an ominous warning scribbled by someone

Accidentally reborn as the son of the distant cousin of the Squib, the mother of Harry Potter’s friend Ron, and lived in this world as the second generation of Squib for eleven years.

He originally planned to be an accountant like his father in the future, but he didn’t expect fate to play a joke on him, and he didn’t know the slightest bit of magic, but he received the exact same envelope as his sister on his eleventh birthday.

Due to the expectations of his parents, he reluctantly accepted the reality, but inadvertently discovered another secret…

- Description from novelbuddy

Ye Xi crossed over into a typical idol romance novel as the villainess.

For the sake of her safety, she decided to distance herself from the male and female protagonists while silently observing their real-life version of a school idol drama. Everyday, she would repeatedly ridicule the main protagonists in her thoughts, along with their group of friends and fans.

It’s not surprising, however, that the male protagonist’s special ability is to hear the voices of other people’s thoughts. So he listened to all kinds of curses that Ye Xi secretly harbored and recorded them one by one.

Expressionless Male Protagonist: the future is long, your debts will slowly be collected.

Ye Xi covers her ears: I’m not listening, not listening, *recites Wang Ba’s Sutras*

- Description from Novelupdates