Fake Lord of the Novel

On that day, I was reading a web novel.


In my university dorm, sitting on my desk in a fetal manner, lazily slumping with my eyes glued to a cheap smartphone…


On the screen, there was a website page showing the final chapter of the web novel 'War of Three Races: Born of Human Caesar'.


A pile of books and an opened journal were spread atop the desk. I was supposed to be studying for a chemical engineering class, but like most university students who didn't have the habit of going out with friends, I could only hole myself in the dormitory, burying my soul in web novels as a way of escapism. As such, ignoring the fact that I might land in deep trouble if a test were to be held, I continued tracing my eyes on the paragraphs depicting the climax of the story.


"Good grief, I'm finally done with this stinking web novel," I grunted as I scrolled down to see the last words of the final chapter. Relaxing my clenched fingers, I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my sore eyes. "A chinese web novel, and quite good, but what's up with the dude, Human Caesar? He went through all that trouble to overturn the ruling system of the monarchy, only to create a new monarchy system that's way worse than the first one. Poor Greenhill Kingdom; being ruled by that psychotic Human Caesar just after freeing itself from the previous tyrant." A ridiculing smile crept up my lips, but it was unknown whether I was mocking the third-rate web novel or myself for being too absorbed in the story. It was merely fiction, yet here I was wasting my time instead of focusing on studies.


Still, I was criticizing that guy Human Caesar in his actions. For me who lived in a democracy, his vile deed of establishing a system of absolute monarchy was pretty bogus. He even intended for the ruling system to not fade for millennia to come. And of course, there was the main character. Just like in many similar novels, the guy was overpowered. The difference was that other authors would put at least a limit on the protagonist's cheat, but here, there was nearly no such thing. I just couldn't figure out what the damn author was thinking, dumping all kinds of superpowers on the MC. He had so many abilities that the usual problem cropped up: the neglecting of the not-so-useful but no less important abilities. It made things kind of a pity, or so I thought. The MC only used a few of his favorite powers; he might as well give away the others.


There was also the civil war arc. The writer made the elven empire fall in defeat, resulting in the humans massacring the fairy race. In my point of view, that was just a dumb move on the author's part. This was the most terrible plot development among others. You could also say that the protagonist…was a beta MC. Sana, Vivian, Anitha…these three were only a percent of the extent of his harem. One could only imagine what state the author was in when he wrote his story draft. There was one time when one of the protagonist's girls was accidentally injured by the elf king who was adventuring in disguise, and the guy, being the dumbo he was, pounced with roaring rage like a mad beast, disregarding the true circumstances revolving the situation.


Shaking my head, I stood up and stretched, creaking noises reminiscent of stiff pipes coming from my body. This was exercise deprivation, of that I was aware but too lazy to care. Sweeping my eyes across the room, a sense of desolation sprouted in my chest. It was deserted, but worse still, it reminded me of the shipwreck in the web novel. The sense of desolation was actually because of that. Disdain flashed across my face. Despite everything, I regarded a mere story like a true historical event. I was mocking myself like a downer.