Lin Fan was not special.
He wasn't a a genius born once in a thousand years, or the secret heir of some billionaire.
He was, in every way, aggressively average.
He lived in a cramped apartment above a convenience store. He worked a dead-end office job that required him to wear a tie but offered no dignity. And his greatest ambition in life was to climb out of Iron Rank in Battle Nexus: Ultimate Arena, a MOBA so toxic it made Dark Souls look like a mental health retreat.
For Lin Fan, Battle Nexus was more than a game.
It was war. It was life. It was the only place he could pretend to be someone who mattered.
Unfortunately, he was bad at it. Objectively, statistically, irredeemably bad.
Every match, he would try to climb—only to be thwarted by AFK teammates, jungle trolls, and that one guy who locked in the support role and then built five swords. He'd watch streamers with diamond badges and whisper, "One day... one day I'll be bronze."
Then came The Session.
Forty hours. Non-stop. Fueled by cold pizza, lukewarm energy drinks, and a hatred so pure it could bend steel. He was on the cusp. One final game, one final win, and he'd finally make it to Bronze IV.
He lost.
His team surrendered at minute 15 after his ADC ran straight into enemy towers while typing, "I'm doing this to protest capitalism."
Lin Fan's headset hit the wall.
His eyes rolled back.
He collapsed onto the keyboard, his final breath whispering:
"I was so close..."
🌌 Moments Later...
He awoke not to the sound of ambulances or angels, but... birds.
Chirping birds.
A cool breeze fluttered over his skin. Silk sheets cradled his body. The scent of incense drifted from a corner of the room.
He blinked.
Above him stretched an ornate jade ceiling, painted with celestial dragons and swirling lotuses. A hanging lantern flickered with soft, golden light.
And he was not in his gaming chair.
He was in... a palace?
He sat up slowly, groaning. His limbs ached, but his body felt strangely leaner, younger.
And then he saw it—his reflection.
In a polished bronze mirror beside the bed, he saw the face of a stranger: long black hair, delicate yet defined features, eyebrows so sharp they could kill someone's self-esteem.
"…Who the hell is this pretty boy?"
Just as confusion began to set in, a flood of memories surged into his brain like someone had clicked Import Save File.
Lin Xuan.Age: 18.Third son of the prestigious Lin Clan, one of the Four Great Families of the Skywind Empire.Cultivation Status: Meridians shattered.Talent: Trash.Reputation: Utter disgrace.
Formerly engaged to Bai Lu, the proud daughter of the Bai Clan. Engagement broken the moment he failed to awaken his spirit root. Publicly. With fireworks.
Frequently insulted with phrases like "You bring shame to the Lin name!" and "Even a pig could cultivate better than you!"
Current assets: One torn robe, two bruised ribs, and a storage ring containing absolutely nothing.
Lin Fan sat frozen on the bed.
And then he whispered:
"This... This is literally the backstory of every trash protagonist ever. Did I reincarnate into a third-rate webnovel?!"
🐉 The Lin Clan
From the memories he absorbed, the Lin Clan was an ancient family that prided itself on strength, tradition, and ridiculous hair accessories. Their sect compound was larger than most towns and had more elders than he could count.
Each elder was a walking cliché—mysterious old men with long beards, who spoke in cryptic one-liners and appeared randomly just to cough up blood or say things like:
"The heavens weep for his wasted talent."
"He was once our brightest hope. Now… a stain on our legacy."
"I told you not to train him under the waterfall at midnight!"
Lin Xuan had once been promising, even gifted. But then, in one tragic cultivation session involving an ancient jade, a lightning strike, and suspiciously slippery steps, he'd fallen and shattered all his meridians.
Now, he was a cripple in the eyes of the clan.
A walking disappointment. A magnet for pity and ridicule.
He had enemies among his own cousins, disdain from the clan patriarch, and a servant who once stole his last spirit stone to buy snacks.
And of course—of course—his ex-fiancée, Bai Lu, dumped him the second he lost value.
Lin Fan, now Lin Xuan, took a deep breath.
He should've been upset. Or panicking. Or screaming.
But instead…
He laughed.
It started as a snort. Then a chuckle. Then a full-on, unhinged cackle.
Because he knew what this meant.
If he was the "trash protagonist"... then fate was about to change. That's how these stories worked! Trash today, treasure tomorrow. The worse the start, the better the comeback.
This was it. His chance. His new beginning.
He would rise, cultivate, dominate, and surround himself with women described as "ethereal jade goddesses with eyes like stars."
He threw off the silk sheets with renewed vigor.
And then—just as he stood up—
DING!System initializing: 1%... 10%... 60%... 100%Welcome, Host. The Young Master System has been activated.
His eyes lit up like a kid in a spirit stone shop.
"A system?! YES! I knew it! Finally! Cheat codes, power boosts, cultivation hacks—this is how I get my ten divine physiques and ancient dragon bloodline!"
Correction: This is not the Supreme Immortal Dao System.Not the Nine-Heaven Dragon Body System.Not the Eternal Cultivation Godscript System.You have awakened... the Young Master System™.
Lin Xuan blinked.
"…What?"
Objective: To become the most arrogant, overpowered, cliché-abusing Young Master in the Eastern Realms.Primary Features Include:– Auto-Trigger Arrogant Poses™– Hate Point Accumulation for Power-Ups– Free Use of Ancestor Summoning Crystals™– Villain Dialogue Generator: Say lines like:
"You dare?!"
"You're courting death!"
"Just a frog at the bottom of a well!"
"Kneel or die!"
"Trash like you doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as me!"
Lin Xuan stared into the distance, hollow inside.
"This isn't a cultivation system," he muttered. "This is a cringe generator."
Correction: This is your destiny. Embrace the arrogance, Host.
He took a long breath. He was in too deep now. He'd died. Reincarnated. Got a system. And no matter how absurd this path was…
He was going to walk it.
Even if he had to scream "YOU DARE?!" at every third person he met.