The Strongest from the Start, Yet I Can't Even Slack Off [Western Fantasy]

[Important: My campus novel next door has nuanced characters and a mature, thoughtful protagonist, with the same handsome bottom. The main story is complete and updates are coming fast. Please stop by and give it a try!]

50% anti-piracy protection. The author loves Western fantasy. Please add it to your collection and support me!

This is a nontraditional Western fantasy novel, designed to be easy for Chinese readers to follow. It's a light read; you only need to roughly match up the characters' names to enjoy it.

A corporate drone who started working at 20 and worked hard just to earn money as soon as possible died from overwork after staying up late. He woke up as the Empire's most powerful mage, who looked exactly like him: the kind who spent all his time studying magic in an underground castle, had no friends, and eventually worked himself to death.

Unlike him, the original had died for love of his work.

Pale skin, long hair, and a rumpled old mage's robe. He lived in... a large but shabby castle. Luckily, the original seemed diligent, and both he and his surroundings were quite clean.

This didn't seem much like the strongest mage he'd imagined.

The original apparently only did academic research and practical experiments, and never earned a penny. The claim that he was at his peak from the start... seemed to be a lie.

Looking at the few copper coins he'd found in the enormous castle, the corporate drone shed tears of despair.

The underlying logic of magic was... mathematics?

Same-sex marriage was legal in every country?

Taking part in national competitions came with a guaranteed job?

Antelis, a modern science student, bisexual, and unemployed, quietly put on a secret identity overnight.

Did he have anything to do with that gloomy, weird, hideously ugly mage who practiced dark arts?

No. Absolutely not.

All that awaited him was the modest work life he'd been looking forward to, followed by the blissful life of lying flat once he'd worked hard and made enough money.

He'd planned to keep a low profile and place somewhere in the middle at the Frasier Empire's talent-selection competition, just enough to get hired.

Instead, he accidentally made a name for himself in the Empire's talent selection and was hired as the only professor serving the nobility.

The Empire's Third Prince, who was both politically astute and powerful in magic, also seemed to suspect that he was plotting something and kept testing him in all kinds of ways.

To make matters worse, the noble students loved causing trouble and wore their hatred of studying plainly on their faces.

Having to make a name for himself in the Empire was already painful enough.

Meanwhile, the revenue from the intelligence agency he had established kept skyrocketing. The magical devices he'd invested a little money in and put up for sale unexpectedly took the entire continent by storm, and the beverage shop whose trademark he'd sold was suddenly hailed as the best around...

A fanatical businessman exposed his secret identities as the founder of magical devices, the creator of the drinks... and the Empire's number one mage.

Antelis: Thanks, I guess. Listen, I really appreciate it.

Antelis, now somewhat numb to it all, thought he could at least keep his last secret identity under wraps: the owner behind the intelligence exchange.

Who could have guessed that Third Prince Iles would show up at the intelligence office in person and force him to answer every question about himself?

With his cover about to be blown, Antelis claimed he had hidden his multiple identities because he "liked" Iles, hoping that would stop him from suspecting Antelis was a "professional spy."

After all, Third Prince Iles was famously aloof and untouchable, like a flower on a high mountain.

He'd definitely turn him down, right...?

Then why hadn't he moved away? Why was he getting closer instead?

Reader's Guide:

1. SC, a handsome, universally adored bottom x a cool, gentle beauty of a top.

2. The setting is in the future, but the futuristic elements don't appear until later. They don't clash with the fantasy elements!

3. As mentioned above, this story includes many original ideas. It's fantasy, but not entirely traditional Western fantasy, since the bottom is a modern, upstanding young man. The writing is easy to understand and not at all complicated! The names are just labels! We can't reject handsome Western hunks just because of their names, right? [Dog with a flower in its mouth]

4. This novel is entirely based on the author's imagination. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

[Synopsis captured on January 29, 2023]

Theme: Keep a low profile and work hard at life.