The academy harem love comedy Loveholic gained considerable popularity, and in the end, the protagonist Bryden ended up with one of the main heroines, Celine.
Although Loveholic had many heroines besides Celine, the other heroines were left with unresolved endings.
Because of this, countless harem genre fans, myself included, were infuriated, but those who supported Celine were relatively satisfied with the conclusion.
A few years later, a new work was released claiming to be the official sequel to Loveholic.
However, instead of another web novel, it came out as a game titled Holy Warrior Bryden NX.
Given Loveholic’s popularity and the dissatisfaction surrounding the unresolved heroine endings, most of us, myself included, assumed the game would address those issues.
So, we bought it without hesitation…
But then—
“Is this even a goddamn game?!”
In reality, it was one of the worst games of the year—no, even in the past decade, it would easily rank as one of the worst.
If the original was an academy harem love comedy, what do people expect from its sequel?
A continuation of Bryden and Celine’s story?
Maybe an epilogue for the abandoned heroines?
Isn’t that obvious?
Up until its release, the only thing the developers emphasized was that “characters from Loveholic will appear!”
The promotional material only showcased the character designs, and I finally understood why once I started the game.
This game was merely an action RPG featuring characters from Loveholic.
How did a supposed official sequel to an academy harem love comedy turn into an action RPG?
Did the people who bought the IP even understand what fans of the original wanted?
And even if the game had been enjoyable, that might have been somewhat acceptable—but it wasn’t. Not even close.
It was as if the developers intentionally wanted to mock fans of the original.
The story had none of the sweetness of Loveholic, maintaining a consistently grim and serious tone.
Any joy from seeing familiar characters was short-lived because a significant number of them ended up dying in the game.
Even the abandoned heroines were included among the casualties.
Fans who had supported those heroines were so enraged that they smashed their game discs and posted proof of it in various ways online.
And as for Bryden and Celine—did they at least get a happy ending?
Of course not.
In almost every route, they either died or faced misfortune.
The internet exploded with criticism of the developers.
Thousands of hate posts were uploaded daily, and even death threats against the developers became commonplace.
This was trash beyond trash.
Holy Warrior Bryden NX flopped spectacularly due to its infamy, leading to a massive wave of refund requests.
The only redeeming quality of the game?
The female characters were hot.
That’s it.
It was such an atrocious game that barely anyone finished it.
Yet, out of loyalty to the original, I forced myself to endure it to the very end.
And after exploring every route, I found nothing remotely satisfying.
In the only route where Bryden and Celine achieved a “happy ending,” the abandoned heroines were all slaughtered by Bryden’s own hands.
How is that a happy ending?!
Unable to contain my rage, I unleashed a profanity-laced rant on my social media account, detailing exactly why Holy Warrior Bryden NX was a complete disaster.
My furious, desperate cry spread across multiple community sites, racking up tens of thousands of retweets.
Amidst the viral explosion, I received a DM.
[You actually played through the whole game? No one else has managed that.]
The message itself was unremarkable, but the sender was anything but.
Because the DM was from none other than the original author of the Loveholic web novel.
Overwhelmed with frustration,
I vented my grievances—not to the developers, but to the original author.
I told them how much I had loved Loveholic, how I had criticized the ending but still found it a hundred, no, a thousand times better than this disaster of a game.
I asked why they had sold the IP to such a terrible company.
After listening to my long-winded rant, the author replied with just one sentence:
[I sincerely appreciate how much you love Loveholic.]
[That doesn’t change the fact that this garbage game completely disrespected the original and its fans.]
[You are exactly the kind of person I’ve been waiting for.]
[…?]
At that moment, my monitor suddenly grew larger.
Wait, what—?
That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room.
I turned to the mirror standing nearby—and nearly lost my mind.
“No way… this is—wait, Alvis?!”
The man in the mirror was a tall, slightly roguish-looking young man with brown hair.
I had definitely seen this character before.
It was the very same illustration from Loveholic.
Is Alvis supposed to be the villain of Loveholic?
He was always targeting the heroines around Bryden, but since the story was a rom-com, it never escalated to anything seriously dangerous.
He was just a character meant to trigger various events or situations.
If I had to be reborn in this world, why couldn’t I at least become Bryden, the protagonist who was on the path to building the harem he couldn’t achieve in the original?
Instead, I ended up as some lowly extra nobody cared about…
Before I could even fully process this sudden change in circumstances, words appeared in front of me.
▶ You have chosen the path of ‘One Who Resists Fate’.
▶ As ‘One Who Resists Fate,’ you will gain the power to defy predetermined destiny, but you must find the means on your own.
Every choice you make will be tested by fate, and if you fail to change a destined outcome, you will suffer a backlash.
There are five levels of backlash.
â–¶ Your journey begins once you step out of this door. If you do not choose your path at a crossroads within 14 days, you will receive a level-five backlash.
What kind of nonsense is this?
Even before digesting the content, I felt my mood sour immediately.
The reason?
The UI, font, and overall structure of these messages were identical to those from Holy Warrior Bryden NX, the JOAT game that had completely ruined my fond memories of the original.
Reading through the messages again, I realized I had an immediate crisis on my hands.
To summarize: I had gained power, but if I made the wrong choices, I would suffer penalties.
I had no idea how severe those penalties were, but there was no way they’d be pleasant.
And to avoid them? I had to figure everything out myself.
What kind of bastards designed this system?
Nothing about this JOAT game ever fails to piss me off.
Looking at the title ‘One Who Resists Fate,’ it seems like this system is telling me to carve out a different story instead of following the trash plot from the game.
Well, luckily, this shouldn’t be too hard.
I don’t know exactly how strong I am yet, but I do know one thing—the events that will unfold in this academy.
Not just Bryden and Celine’s fates, but also the paths of the abandoned heroines—their personalities, preferences, and even the various branches of the future that determine their eventual outcomes.
Surveying the books and other items in the room, I confirmed that this was indeed Alvis’s dormitory room in the academy.
Many of the romantic events in Loveholic occurred because Alvis flirted with the heroines, setting things into motion.
Regular academy activities like classes, exams, training, and meals—those were the usual settings for his advances.
If I exaggerated his flirting just a bit and turned up the WWE-style drama, the heroines—who would normally take things as UFC-level serious—would naturally gravitate even closer to Bryden.
The worst part of the Holy Warrior Bryden NX sequel was how it forced Bryden and Celine to turn against the abandoned heroines, leading them to draw swords against each other until someone inevitably died.
Even now, I still can’t fathom what kind of deranged mind thought that was a good idea.
There’s no way I’m letting those heroines suffer such a tragic fate again.
If I step out of this door, I need to fully commit to maximizing my flirting—escalating the WWE-tier drama—to ensure that the heroines get even closer to Bryden.
If I can keep everyone on the same side, at the very least, I can prevent the insanity that unfolded in Holy Warrior Bryden NX—where the protagonist and heroines turned into enemies trying to kill each other.
And in doing so, I’ll also be fulfilling the role of ‘One Who Resists Fate.’
“Alright, let’s get started.”
Muttering to myself, I grabbed my bag.
Since I didn’t know what day it was or what classes were scheduled—after all, just because I read the original story doesn’t mean I have a full calendar memorized—
I just packed every textbook I could see and stepped into the hallway.
The corridor was bustling with academy students all moving in one direction.
As I walked, a few students glanced at me, tilting their heads in confusion.
“Huh? Alvis, why’d you bring your bag?”
Imitating Alvis’s speech pattern from the original, I responded:
“Why would I bring my bag? Is that even a question? Of course, I’m getting ready for class.”
“What are you talking about? Today’s graduation day. There are no classes. After breakfast, we have to be at the auditorium by 9 AM, so if you want to eat, you better hurry.”
Wait… what?
▶ Your journey as ‘One Who Resists Fate’ has begun! If you do not choose your path at a crossroads within 14 days, you will receive a level-five backlash.
…Excuse me?
To be continued.
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