The Author's Playground - Chapter 14: Prologue: Again (2)

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.

As the daughter chosen by the Heavens, she was already extraordinary from birth. However, with her talents concealed, she was treated like tr*sh and mercilessly betrayed. So, she decided to let her supreme capabilities shine!

From then on, her bloodline had been awoken. Everything was possible—refining antidotes and weapons through alchemy, taming the dragons and phoenixes, and even being the ultimate ruler of the world. Since then, millions of people admired her and she lived up to her name as the strongest concubine in the world!

Only that cold, evil and immensely domineering Ice Emperor, whom she had accidentally provoked, loved, protected and helped her everywhere…

“Oh dear, after he has treated me like that, how can I ever like someone else? This man is really cunning!”

Ryan, a normal office worker who could be considered an extra in a boring world, did his job regularly and spent time here and there.He found himself, by mistake, being killed by a female reaper. Yet, the only thing he received as justice was a chance to transmigrate into a new body with his memories intact.Meanwhile, that female reaper faced a very small punishment: her powers were suppressed for ten minutes, leaving Ryan with nothing but a mocking smirk from the reaper as she ridiculed him for being a meager human with no life that belonged to him. He was left with no choice but to stand in front of the one who had granted such “justice” and watch the reaper laugh while turning to leave the place.In front of him was the reincarnation pool, and beside it stood the woman smirking at his misery while completely powerless for a whole ten minutes—there was no justice for him here. With his hands clenched, he decided that if he was really going down, he would take her with him. Swiftly tackling her, he pushed the reaper and himself directly into the reincarnation pool.The next moment he knew, he found himself being born as a extra disposal substitute of the Ducal Prince, destined to die at the hands of the princess in his stead.Soon enough, he understood that instead of some random world, he had been transmigrated into the last novel he was reading and a fan of—Invincibility Starts with Marriage and Having Lots of Children.[ Disclaimer: First POV for main charcter is mixed in chapters with Third POV of other characters ]( Disclaimer: There could be mistakes in the chapters, not because I am weak in grammar or something, but when one has to write 8K a day, the chances of things being left out are pretty obvious. So, if you understand what that sentence means, just ignore the minor mistakes, but if you want to point out grammatical mistakes, please do so. I will correct them as soon as possible.)

Dropped