"I guess we were never meant to be..."

"No wait please I-"

"Luna, even though I was blinded by my love for you, I'm not dense. I knew long ago that your heart had already belonged to someone else. Yet, despite that painful truth, I kept fighting, thinking that one day, my love would find its way to you."

"..."

"But I was wrong, so very wrong. I gave you everything I had just to get you to even glance at me. My family, my wealth, and even my dignity, it's all yours now."

"..."

"And yet, you're the same as you were when we first met. If anything, you despise me even more now."

"..."

"But even so, I still don't regret giving you everything."

"..."

"It's just that I've now realized you never cared about any of those things to begin with. No, you just want me gone from this world."

"..."

"So I'll go ahead and fulfill your wishes now."

"..."

"Luna, I truly wish you the best in life, and I hope that one day, you can find it in your heart to forgive me..."

"Please don't-"

"Goodbye, Luna."

And with those parting words, Ronald took a step back beyond the edge of the cliff and descended far into the abyss...

'Finally...'

'I'm free.'

***

Death.

The mere thought of this single word is enough to instill fear into most people.

Everyone only has one life after all.

Once it's gone, what happens then?

Heaven?

Hell?

Reincarnation?

Nothing?

Who knows.

One thing's for certain though.

Death is a finality that no one can escape from.

Mortals, special beings, and even gods.

Everyone eventually meets their end someday. 

It just varies from person to person.

But for some people, death is a blessing.

It cures their suffering.

It ends their pain.

It can even bring peace to their restless souls.

And for Ronald, all three were especially true.

However, death wasn't a finality for him.

Not this death at least.

Why?

Because...

"Holy cow that was cringe, but YES! I'm finally back on earth!" Ronald jumped right off the bar booth and shouted like a maniac in an insane asylum.

Even though he didn't know why Luna was there to witness his death when he was pretty sure that he was supposed to have a gruesome death alone, none of that matters anymore because he has finally escaped that godforsaken novel and returned back to earth!

Hearing Ronald's sudden outburst, everyone in the bar weirdly looked at him for a few seconds before going back to what they were doing.

Ronald paid no attention to his surroundings however and excitedly went up to the bar counter.

"Yo, what's the date today?" Ronald leaned his elbow over the counter and asked the bartender with a big smile on his face.

"It's the 20th of July." 

"What about the year?"

"Uh, 2023."

'So really only a day has passed on earth during the time I was gone for 7 years, huh.' Ronald thought to himself.

This was honestly great news for him.

After all, he was worried that he was going to miss out on a lot of new important things such as the latest technology and whatnot.

But it seems like he can just return back to his normal life as usual.

Just as Ronald was deep in his thoughts however, the bartender spoke out.

"You alright, Master Kuangge? Should I call you an ambulance or something?" The bartender gave him an odd look.

He was sure that Ronald wasn't drunk since his speech wasn't slurred and he didn't reek of alcohol, but he seemed to be acting way too... normal compared to his usual arrogant self.

"Wait, did you just call me Master Kuangge just now?" Ronald's eyes widened up in surprise.

"I did... sorry if I off-"

Before the bartender could even finish apologizing to him however, Ronald suddenly ran off into the bathroom.

Then once inside the bathroom, Ronald checked himself out in the mirror, and when he saw that he was wearing extremely expensive custom made clothes and accessories, Ronald turned pale.

"No way, don't tell me... I'm back inside the novel?!"

Ronald Kuangge was someone who was originally from earth. He had been reading a novel called "The Dragon King in The World" late one night and felt drowsy halfway through the novel and fell asleep.

The Dragon King in The World was your typical Chinese face slapping novel. The story was about the protagonist Ye Fan who was born into a rich family that ended up getting targeted and destroyed overnight.

The protagonist, with his plot armor, miraculously escapes in the midst of chaos and flees overseas, determined to seek revenge for his family.

A few years later, Ye Fan ends up coming back to China much more powerful than ever and while trying to find out about the cause of his family's downfall, he ends up meeting all kinds of heroines like school flowers, cold female presidents, princesses, queens, etc and builds a harem with them during the process and bla bla bla you already know what happens next.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Ronald though, who was considered a villain in the story.

That's right, after Ronald had woken up from falling asleep while reading the novel back on Earth, he realized that he ended up transmigrating into a different body, and that body was from none other than the villain who shared his first and last name.

And like every other reincarnator and transmigrator out there, he too was given a system that informed him that he needed to play the role of the arrogant villain, Ronald, in the novel if he wanted to get back to earth.

Now back then, Ronald had obviously been hesitant to do this as he knew how the villain Ronald acted in the novel and the miserable fate that awaited him. However, when the system promised him wealth and power that could be brought back to Earth if he finished his role properly, his attitude did a complete 180, and he quickly embraced his villainous role.

"Oi system!"

[Yes, host? How may I be of service?]

"Don't you give me that 'how may I be of service' crap! You better explain to me why I'm back inside this novel world again!"

The system didn't respond back immediately, and it made a chiming sound while processing the reason.

Eventually, the chiming sound stopped and the system's mechanical voice finally responded again.

[Host. The good news is that you did everything perfectly according to the original plot, and your death ultimately served as a stepping stool for the protagonist's growth as intended. The bad news however, is that it is required for the host to play the role as a brainless rich-second generation villain again.]

"What?!" Ronald angrily slammed his hand on the bathroom walls, "Why do I have to play this stupid role all over again if I did everything perfectly the first time around?"

[It's because the novel's plots and storyline after your death have severely deviated from their original course, host.]

"So what? Why the hell should that affect me? I've already done my part and spent 7 years in this novel getting constantly face slapped by the heroines and protagonist! You think I'm a masochist that wants to get abused everywhere I go or something like that?"

[No host, but-]

"Then send me back to earth right now!"

[Please let me explain first, host. It's not that I don't want to send you back to earth, it's just that I don't have the ability to send you back to earth until you complete your role again. I don't know why this is the case, but that's what my current parameters tell me.]

"And you're absolutely positive that I have to complete my role again if I want to return back to earth, right?"

[Correct, host.]

Ronald couldn't help but let out a dejected sigh when he heard the system's confirmation.

He knew that the system wasn't lying to him and all that, but he honestly didn't want to play his villainous role again.

It was so much to endure after all, and he was sure that not even a mind of a saint could bear playing this role after a year or so.

But on the bright side of things, he's already completed his role once already and knows everything that's to come.

Additionally, compared to what he was feeling like days before he had jumped off the cliff in his previous life, he didn't feel tired whatsoever.

As a matter of fact, he honestly felt extremely energetic right now.

And while he didn't know if it was because he got regressed back to when his mental state was healthy or if it was due to the adrenaline rush he had a few minutes ago, he felt that he could endure playing his role once more.

With that in mind, Ronald scratched his head out of fustration.

"Fine, I'll play my stupid role all over again. You regressed me back to the day you first transmigrated me into this world, right?"

[Thank you for understanding host, you're correct. As a reminder, your first plot begins at the trade show tonight. Good luck again, host.]

"Whatever, this is absolutely the last time I'm going to be doing this for you. I don't care what the reason is, but if I still can't go back to earth even after my role is over then I'm going to wreak havoc in this novel world completely."

After Ronald remarked and he didn't hear back from the system, he gazed at himself deeply in the mirror.

'Sigh, can't wait to do this again.'