The morning bloomed with the rhythmic tweeting sounds of birds in the distance. And those distant sounds intertwined with the sharp morning cries of nearby roosters.

Sunlight filtered through an open window, brightening and illuminating the entirety of Lucien’s room.

These brilliant rays fell on Lucien, the young man who sat nervously at the edge of his bed.

He was a leanly built man with silver hair which framed an otherwise pale face. And his emerald eyes, framed by dark circles, twitched uneasily as he stared at the smooth tiles of his room floor.

His palms were clasped, and his jaw rested on said clasped palms.

It was already morning.

And Lucien hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep.

How could he?

It would be a miracle if he were able to get even a few minutes of sleep, seeing the fact that he was under pressure from his current predicament.

He let out a soft exhale.

The reasons for his current predicament were simple. But they were complicated in their simplicity.

A quarter of the reason for his sleepless night was his death and transmigration. Who would sleep gently after going through that?

Another quarter was the fact that his small bed was just uncomfortable. He couldn’t even rest properly.

And then, the majority of the reason for his sleepless night and even his current predicament was—

He moved his neck, gazing beside him at the innocent young child who lay fast asleep on his bed.

—Michael Johansefort.

The second calamity.

Last night, Lucien realized that Michael’s elder brother, the one whose death during the arrival of Eden propelled the spiral that led to Michael becoming a calamity... It was him.

He was that elder brother.

Lucien.

Now that he thought about it, Lucien didn’t even remember the character’s name in the novel. In Michael’s backstory Chapters, the young boy always called him by the nickname ’Luci’ and never his real name. In fact, it was safe to say that he wasn’t even a named character.

He was just a character meant to die for the plot. To foster Michael’s growth to a calamity.

He was a side character. An extra character.

Lucien sighed, rubbing his temple. He was damn sure he would soon get a headache.

The cliches just kept piling up.

Not only did he transmigrate into his favorite webnovel. He transmigrated as a character fated to die two months from now with the arrival of Eden.

’Transmigrated as an Extra.’

Lucien was sure that a webnovel with that exact title existed somewhere out there.

Enough of all that.

At least now he knew just how he would die if things followed the original route. So he could totally avoid his death by simply not sticking to the script.

Nonetheless, it was a scary feeling. Knowing exactly how and when one’s life would be extinguished.

The author romantically described Lucien’s death because it was a high emotional moment where Michael, a six-year-old kid, shed tears of blood.

But Lucien mentally discarded those flowery words and descriptions; he knew that he was just going to get eaten by a random monster from a gate outpour. And he would die right in front of Michael, screaming helplessly until he was devoured. And Michael would be unable to do a thing.

Lucien shuddered at this thought. Then he glanced at Mikky once more, a pale resolve blooming in his heart.

’I won’t die.’

As he gazed at the sleeping child, Lucien smiled a warm smile.

He hesitantly outstretched a finger, finding Mikky’s cheek.

And he poked it.

The boy let out a cute groaning sound as Lucien’s finger touched his chubby cheek.

’So soft.’

"Heh."

Was this cute kid really the calamity of wrath that seized the entire Rosegold Continent and made every citizen’s life a living hell?

Look at him.

Just look at how cute the boy was when he was asleep.

Lucien almost laughed out loud. It was truly comical.

’But this was not how I imagined a young Michael,’ Lucien thought as he gazed at the kid. ’I don’t know why I imagined him to be more aggressive. Like a mini-killer of sorts.’

Yeah, his imagination was way too different from reality.

This kid didn’t even look like he could hurt a fly.

"Mn... luci.. stop."

Lucien’s finger froze. He didn’t even realize that he’d been poking the boy’s cheek relentlessly. It just felt so soft.

He withdrew his finger, sighing.

The Lucien of this world once had loving parents who took good care of him. But unfortunately for him, his parents died in a car crash when he was only 4-years-old.

And in succession to that event, Lucien was taken in by his aunt. She was a woman registered in the Union’s database, just like his parents. But she was ranked high in her field, top 200. Higher than his parents. And so she was rich. She treated him well, like he was her own son. And she even sent him to school.

But, along with his parents, the woman died from a ghastly, incurable disease, just before Lucien turned 5-years-old.

As the age of five was the official age when children were supposed to be registered in the database by a registered guardian/parent, Lucien, whose guardians all died before he turned five, was unable to be registered.

And so, he became a zero. And with nowhere left to go, he was taken in by a zero orphanage.

He grew up in that orphanage. And when he turned fourteen years old, he tried to run away. He wanted to fend for himself, to build his own life. To find a way to get registered and become ranked.

He was always caught. But he still kept trying, even when he turned fifteen, sixteen, then seventeen.

And when he was eighteen years old, a young Michael was brought into the orphanage. A two-year-old kid whose parents, just like Lucien’s, had died in a car crash. Lucien never really clicked with the other kids at the orphanage, even the ones his age. But for Michael, he grew fond of the boy.

And it turned out the young boy really liked him too. They became inseparable, like real blood brothers.

But the young Lucien, who had dreams and aspirations, wanted to leave the orphanage to pursue them. He had to leave Michael behind.

And so, when he turned nineteen-years-old, he planned the perfect escape. It was stupid, because he could leave the orphanage in just a year when he turned twenty, and he’d be recognized as a real adult.

But he did it anyway. Just on the night he was to leave the orphanage, as he was about to make his way out, Michael discovered that he was leaving.

The kid was about to cry. And Lucien couldn’t afford to get caught. So he took him with.

That was how Lucien, uncaught, ventured out into the world. With a toddler.

In a way, he kinda adopted him.

Now, three years later, those dreams that Lucien once had?

All dead. The once naive kid had discovered the brutality and rigidness of the world’s system.

There was just no way up for a Zero.

But he and Mikky had to eat. Had to pay for a place where they could be sheltered. And so began his grind, with three part-time jobs.

’Heh. Weakling,’ Lucien thought. ’A real man should have at least five part-time jobs!’

What a pathetic statement.

But speaking of jobs...

Lucien raised his head.

...He was running late to one of his part-time jobs. The one at a factory where they processed milk.

’Great. I also have to labor in this life.’

Lucien sighed.

"Luci?"

The young man blinked and then gazed at Michael.

The boy had woken up, and he sat innocently on the bed, legs folded.

As they made eye contact, Mikky blinked, tilting his head.

"Good morning."

Lucien... nodded.

Mikky crawled closer to Lucien’s arm.

"What are you thinking about, Luci?"

Seeing the young, curious kid next to him, Lucien’s heart softened.

Look at him. The young child cared about him.

’Such a cutie.’

Lucien patted the boy’s black hair, ruffling it.

"Nothing of concern," he replied. "You had a good night’s sleep?"

The young boy, with his wide blue eyes, looked up to Lucien, nodding eagerly.

"Mn hm. I feel refreshed!"

Grrr!!

A rumbling sound echoed from the boy’s stomach.

"...And hungry," Mikky said in a low voice.

Lucien chuckled.

"Right. Breakfast."

He stood up immediately, stretching. And as he did that, he gazed at that white door he’d earlier assumed led to the bathroom.

It turned out the door led to Mikky’s own room. The bathroom was outside the apartment.

After escorting the boy to pee last night, Mikky decided to sleep with Lucien on his own bed.

Lucien smiled.

Okay. Forget about all that. Breakfast.

He gazed at the stove. Then at the fridge in the other corner.

’Hmm.’

He walked over to the rusting fridge, and he opened it.

Empty.

He sighed. Just as he was about to rub his forehead, his gaze landed on the bills resting on top of the wooden table next to him.

50 units. That was enough for two meals that would last them until evening.

Lucien grinned, then turned to gaze at Mikky.

The young boy blinked, confused.

"Takeout?" Lucien asked.

According to his memories—

Mikky beamed immediately, face lighting up with a bright smile as he nodded.

—Mikky loved takeouts.

"Yeah! Takeout!"

It looked like Lucien was going to be late to work today.

"Let’s get dressed then."