Delve - Chapter 5: Alone

Derek Carter never asked for a System, an apocalypse, or the pressure of being humanity’s so-called “last hope.”He was just trying to survive the daily struggles of being an orphan in Paleview City—dodging bullies, scraping together meals, and lying his way into school. Life was already hard enough.Then, one day, a blue screen pops into his vision:[Warning: The world is doomed. Try not to die.]Yeah, great. Just what he needed—cryptic doomsday messages and no instruction manual.Now, monsters are creeping into the city, reality is unraveling, and Damien’s “legendary” starting stats are barely above zero. The System promises him power, but there's just one tiny problem—he’s never won a fight in his life.Armed with sarcasm, questionable decision-making skills, and the sheer refusal to die, Damien is about to embark on the worst (and possibly last) adventure of his life. Because if the world really is ending… he’s at least going to make it someone else’s problem first.After all, heroes are overrated—survivors get to tell the story.

You are the ruler, I am a subject, you want loyalty, I’ll give you loyalty. You are the ruler, I am the subject, you want my sacrifice, I will sacrifice for you. This lifetime, we’ll only be ruler and subject…… cannot become the one who accompanies you to experience everything.

A deposed empress, a failure of a substitute. Charging into battle, he was the emperor, and she, his general. But within the intimacy of their military tent, he was her husband, and she, his wife.

But everything was star-crossed. For the one he loved the most, he would push her into hell again and again.

- Description from Novelupdates

I died in my world… and woke up in someone else’s story.But not as the hero. Not as the villain. Not even as a side character who mattered. I’m… an NPC—a nobody, a background observer, invisible to everyone.At first, I thought I was powerless. But then I discovered something strange: I could leave notes, whisper hints, move objects… small nudges that subtly changed the story. Every tiny action rippled through the plot, shaping outcomes, saving lives, and altering the fate of heroines, heroes, and even villains.The catch? The story is alive. It resists interference. Push too hard, and accidents happen. Plot twists turn against me. Minor disasters loom. The more I try to influence, the more the story fights back.So I play carefully. I study. I manipulate quietly. I watch the heroines, heroes, and overlooked side characters, weaving invisible threads that guide them. I don’t fight. I don’t cheat. I survive—and maybe, just maybe, I can change the story from the shadows.From an unnoticed NPC to the hidden hand behind the world, I’ll prove that even a nobody can rewrite the story.

The afterglow of the Middle Ages has not yet dissipated, but the best times have come.

The protagonist travels through Edward VI of the Tudor (duo) dynasty in the 16th century, centralizes power, rebuilds the parliament, and establishes the United Kingdom of Britain. It will take you to experience the most powerful dynasty in Britain, the dawn of the empire on which the sun never sets.