The room was quiet except for the faint turning sound of a cheap ceiling fan. A dim yellow light flickered above a cluttered desk where empty instant noodle cups were stacked carelessly beside a cracked phone charger. A half-finished packet of biscuits lay open near the edge of the table, the edges stale from being left out. The small apartment looked like it had not been properly cleaned in weeks.
A young man sat in front of the desk, leaning back in his chair with his tie loose around his neck. His work shirt was wrinkled from a long day, and his eyes looked tired with the kind of exhaustion that didn't disappear after a single night of sleep. He had just returned from another long shift, another day that felt exactly the same as the last. He let out a slow breath and picked up his phone. Reading webnovels had become his nightly habit because it was the only thing that helped him relax after dealing with endless office work and irritating supervisors.
Stories were simpler than real life. In novels, people fought, loved, struggled, and changed their fate, while real life rarely worked like that. He opened his reading app and tapped on the novel everyone online had been talking about recently. It was one of the most popular romance stories on the platform, and thousands of readers praised it every day. He had been following it for a week now, and at first, the story seemed interesting.
But tonight, as he scrolled through the newest chapter, his brows slowly began to crease with irritation.
"This again?" he muttered quietly.
The plot was painfully predictable. The female lead was described as beautiful, intelligent, and strong, yet she had been forced into an arranged marriage with a useless noble husband when she was young. The husband was lazy, weak, and cowardly. According to the story, he wasted his days gambling and drinking while his talented wife suffered in silence. Eventually, the heroic crown prince appeared. The prince admired the female lead's strength, and the female lead admired the prince's kindness. Their relationship grew stronger with each chapter. Meanwhile, the husband continued to be portrayed as a joke.
The comments below the chapter were even worse. Readers mocked him mercilessly.
"This useless husband deserves to be abandoned," one user wrote.
"I can't wait for the divorce arc," another added.
"The crown prince should destroy him," read a third.
The young man frowned as he scrolled through the endless comments.
"Seriously?" he muttered.
He tossed his phone onto the desk for a moment and rubbed his face. Something about the story irritated him, not because he supported the husband, but because the character felt hollow. The husband was written to be pathetic from the beginning, and the author never gave him any real chance to change. The story simply decided he was worthless and everyone accepted it.
He picked up his phone again and continued reading the final part of the chapter. Just as expected, the crown prince had another emotional moment with the female lead, and their chemistry was praised by readers in the comments. Meanwhile, the husband appeared briefly in the chapter only to embarrass himself in front of the nobles. The scene ended with the female lead looking at him with disgust.
The young man stared at the screen in silence, then he let out a small scoff.
"Of course," he said.
He scrolled down to the comment section and his fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before he started typing.
"The story keeps calling the husband useless, but he was never given a real chance to change. The author just decided he's a loser and that's it. Anyone would look pathetic if the entire plot is designed to make him fail," he wrote. He paused, then added another sentence. "Honestly, I'd like to see what would happen if this guy actually tried to fight his fate instead of being written like a clown."
He pressed the post button and the comment appeared among thousands of others. He stared at the screen for a few seconds, then he sighed and tossed the phone back onto the desk.
"Whatever," he muttered.
It wasn't like his comment would change anything. His eyes felt heavy as the day's exhaustion finally began to catch up with him. He leaned forward, resting his head against his arms on the desk. The soft glow of the phone screen was the last thing he saw before darkness slowly swallowed his consciousness. And just like that, he fell asleep.
Something felt wrong. Very wrong.
The young man suddenly woke up and his eyes snapped open. For a moment, his mind felt completely blank, and then he noticed something strange. The surface beneath him felt soft, far too soft. He slowly lifted his head and saw that instead of a cluttered desk and instant noodle cups, he was lying on an enormous bed covered in smooth white sheets. The mattress felt incredibly comfortable and the ceiling above him was tall and decorated with elegant carvings. Golden patterns stretched across the surface like artwork.
Sunlight poured through massive windows on the far side of the room and long silk curtains swayed gently in the morning breeze. The room was enormous, easily larger than his entire apartment. He sat up quickly.
"Where…?"
His voice sounded unfamiliar. Before he could understand what was happening, the door suddenly opened and several people entered the room. They were dressed neatly in servant uniforms, and the moment they saw him awake, they immediately bowed their heads.
"Good morning, Young Master."
The words made his entire body freeze. Young Master? He stared at them in disbelief.
"What…?"