Karl had such a dislike for pain that he'd probably argue it should be illegal, only if that could make any sense.

His fear of pain was so strong that he'd happily meet the Grim Reaper and go with him willingly as long as the guy promised a no-pain policy.

As for exercise? He claimed to have a rare condition called 'Sweat Allergies'.

For him, the thought of running on a treadmill was scarier than attending a poltergeist party.

Long walks were out of the question unless they were to the fridge in the kitchen or it involved a virtual reality headset and a comfy sofa.

Also, his relationship with his parents was more like a WiFi signal from a basement, always spotty and rarely available.

They probably had him on a 'Don't forget you got a son' subscription plan, automatically sending money every month to his bank account.

It was their way of saying that he was not out of their mind, well, at least not out of their accountant's mind, yet.

Of course, no parents would be over the moon of a son who was more of a hermit with an indoor lifestyle.

God only knows what he does inside the locked room and his parents figured that whatever rituals he was up to in there was best left unknown.

Exhausted from their failed attempts at his reform, they finally decided to outsource the problem. They rented his own burrow far away from their home and washed him away from their life.

With a daughter who was practically a walking trophy case, they figured one prodigy in the family was more than enough and left the Lazy panda in hibernation to do whatever he wanted.

The last time Karl met his father was the move-in day at his new bachelor pad. His father tossed him the house keys and said

"Enjoy your cave son. Just don't turn into a troll and let some daylight in once in a while will you?"

And Karl ever the literal one, solemnly vowed to open the window…someday.

After that, he never met his parents or much less of a 'Hello' on the phone, not like he cared or anything.

For him, he was living the dream, unnoticed and unbothered, free to pursue his hobbies with the stealth of a cat and the passion of a kid in a candy store.

He spent his carefree existence, diving into novels, movies, and anime.

People like him were known as 'Otaku' in Japan it seems. And Karl seems to be very proud of the title even though it was never intended to be a compliment.

But Karl's life took a wild turn one fine day.

It was all thanks to the sneaky little survey that popped up just as he closed the last page of a lengthy fantasy Webnovel called ' Champion Of The Guardians.'

The damn story has been dragging its feet for more than a decade and Karl might just have been the last man standing to see its end.

Little did he know that clicking the 'Submit' button would shake up his life like a smoothie in a blender.

Seriously, who the hell in their right mind would stick around to read a never-ending War and Peace cousin? Right?

But when it comes to Karl, his middle name is actually 'Patience' (Not really!)

And if patience were a sport he'd be winning gold medals in the Olympics. Well, at least that was what he thought. He really underestimated the temperance of the countless jobless geeks in the world

Since he had all the time in the world to kill, so of course, he was the first and most definitely the last to thoroughly finish that novel.

So at the end of the final chapter when a new web page popped up and asked him to complete a survey to get a free reward, as any typical human, he couldn't resist the chance of losing a freebie and dove straight into answering the questions enthusiastically.

It was not like this was his first rodeo with online surveys.

Any moron with shitty Wifi and a clunky laptop can whip up a survey these days. And for Karl ticking those boxes in surveys was one of his leisure activities.

The survey consisted of just 4 questions, and it wasn't a multiple-choice type of survey where you tick boxes. Karl had to type in his answers himself.

The initial question asked whether he was willing to be born in the world of 'Nevora,' which is the setting for the story 'COTG' (Champion Of The Guardians)

Karl, who had seen better world-building in other stories, gave a vague answer.

His exact reply was

'Well, Nevora ain't half bad. But I don't want to mingle with those lame Heroes and snooze fest of villains, so a hard pass. But if there is a no-go zone for those buggers, I'd think about it.'

Karl wasn't sure who was gonna see his answers, maybe the author himself or a bored AI. Either way, he didn't hold back and just answered whatever popped into his head first.

The survey's second question asked if he would be willing to be an Emperor or a King in any fantasy world.

His response was quite clear

'Well, being a King or Emperor will be too much hassle and too much work. So probably a Prince of a wealthy Empire perhaps? I'll just push my responsibilities to others and enjoy life. It's all the perks with none of the works. Hehe..'

The third question asked Karl, what kind of individual would he choose to follow, a creator, a protector, or a destroyer.

'Creator, Protector, or Destroyer, huh? It all sounds like too much work. So, I chose none of them. And I don't want to be a follower of any. I choose my own path. And If there's a path where I can just chill, make moves, and control stuff from my seat, then that's the one for me.'

Finally, the fourth question asked him to state the abilities he would like to have in a fantasy world.

"Oh. Any abilities that don't need to break a sweat would be good for me. I've read tons of stories where the hero has a powerful ability but has to work his ass off to level up. So, if I can level up without training, that's perfect."

With that being his final answer, Karl hit the submit button and the screen went blank.

After a few seconds of nothing, a series of messages started popping up.

[Your answers are being analyzed]

[You have called forth for a different era from Champion of the Guardians. The Dark Era has claimed you.]

"The Dark era? That sounds creepy!"

[Your yearning for the birthright of wealth and power has been noted. You are chosen to walk through the veiled times as the hidden heir to the crumbling throne.]

"Hm. I didn't yearn for anything. I'm a man of honesty living a life with simplicity. I'm basically a Buddhist monk with hair ya hear me!"

[You have appealed for a role that doesn't follow the rules under The authority of The Three Great Ones]

[Searching for a suitable Path]

[…]

[…]

[Suitable Path not found]

[Searching for a Path beyond Cosomos]

[Error]

[Error]

[Access denied due to the restrictions of Cosmos] 

[Path outside the rules of The Three Great Ones are not found]

[Searching for a Path that closely fits your conditions under the rules of The Three Great Ones]

[Path is Found]

[Your Path is The Eternal Watcher]

[Activating the Path]

[...]

[...]

"Holy Jesus that's a lot of pop-ups in just a few seconds. Wait... What the heck is Eternal Watcher?"

[Error]

[Error]

[Restrictions of the Cosmos is breached]

[Interception beyond Cosmos Detected]

[Overriding the Interception]

[...]

[...]

[Overriding Failed]

[...]

[...]

[A temporary passage is opened from beyond the Cosmos]

[??? gazes upon you in their final breath]

"What is this weird ass messages? Is this a Virus? Did I click on something shady!? Ah.. Dammit!"

[??? smiles upon your answers]

[...]

[...]

[??? chooses you as the successor of The Forgotten One ???????????????]

[??? gifts you the Mark Of The Forgotten One ???????????????]

[Your Path Eternal Watcher is being altered]

[The Path of The Forgotten One ??????????????? is selected]

"Mhmm?? Probably this is some kind of new marketing gimmick to introduce a new RPG I suppose!!"

[Accesing the abilities of the selected Path]

[Error]

[Error]

[Access Denied]

[The Transient Holders of the abilities beyond the cosmos gaze upon you]

[??? Shields you from the sight of ????]

[??? activates the Mark of The Forgotten One ??????????????? placed upon you]

"Okay. This shit is getting weird. I'm shutting down the comp…"

But out of nowhere, Karl felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He immediately fell into a state of trance.

[???? are enraged]

[The abilities recognize you with the Mark of the Forgotten One ??????????????? as their rightful owner]

[You reclaim the abilities of The Forgotten One ???????????????]

[???? attacks your existence]

[??? blocks the attack]

[The Temporary passage beyond the Cosmos is shut down by the authority of The Three Great Ones]

[???? are blocked by the restriction of Cosmos]

[??? wishes you well along your journey]

[??? dissipates from existence for breaking the rule of the Cosmos]

[Your conditions for the abilities are being analyzed]

[Three abilities based on your conditions are selected]

[The rest of your abilities are blocked due to the restrictions of the cosmos]

[Activating the selected abilities]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[You've blended with the spirit of the originator. Your perception leaps the boundary of the universe and your existence is present beyond eternity. You wield the power to ascertain the unknown and uncover the concealed truth that lies ahead.]

[You embraced the will of destiny itself for it now flows through you. You can see the unseen and change that cannot be changed. You are the sole augmenter of fate across the entire universe.]

[Your spirit has entwined with the everlasting Ouroboros forging an eternal bond with it. Granting its approval, the Ouroboros now favors you. You alone have the privilege of moving against the flow of time.]

[Activating the Path]

[Path is activated]

[Your path is The Mys...]

But right before Karl could read the final words, he completely lost consciousness as the darkness enveloped his entire world.