Prologue

The hallway lights flickered half-broken, half-alive  like this school’s dying soul trying to remember

what it once was.

Paint peeled from the walls in thin, curling strips. Lockers were dented, some streaked with rust, others with dried blood that no one bothered to clean. Far down the corridor, something heavy crashed a desk, a chair, or maybe a body and the echo rolled like thunder trapped indoors.

This wasn’t a school anymore.

This was a battleground.

And at the front of it all, standing as if it were just another Monday, was Lee Seojun, third-year, infamous vice leader of ROMZ, the gang everyone either feared, respected, or secretly wished to join. His uniform jacket hung half-open, his tie long abandoned, and his face was a mess of cuts and purple bruises that hadn’t yet learned to fade. Still, he smiled that reckless, wolfish grin that said he’d already accepted the price of fighting.

He looked over his shoulder, voice calm but carrying the sharp edge of command.

“We’re ready.”

Behind him, the hallway exhal

ed.

Seo Joonwoo stepped forward.

The faint scrape of his shoes against the floor seemed to echo louder than the chaos around him. His jacket,  the one everyone at Jungang High had come to recognize moved with quiet weight as he slipped on his black gloves, pulling each finger tight like sealing a promise. His hair was slicked back; sweat caught the dim light and made it gleam like polished steel.

His eyes, calm and cold, swept the ruined corridornot to assess, but to remember. Every mark, every shadow, every broken light held a story he’d already lived through once.

And on his chest, beneath the bruises and cloth, a faint light pulsed invisible to everyone but him.

[Conviction: 78%.]

The system’s glow was steady, rhythmic, like a heartbeat whispering that he was still alive for a reason.

Joonwoo’s lips curved into a quiet smirk.

“Let’s go.”

No one questioned it. Not Seojun, not the rest of ROMZ the boys who’d once ruled the school by fists, loyalty, and unspoken code. They followed because they had seen him bleed and still stand. Because when

Joonwoo moved, something inside people stirred not fear, but belief.

Let me tell you all… these guys weren’t just a gang.

They weren’t heroes.

They weren’t saints.

They were just teens scarred, angry, hopeful fighting for something that still mattered when everything else had stopped meaning anything.

For respect. For their names. For a sense of us in a world that kept saying you’re nothing.

And maybe, just maybe, for something more something people had stopped believing in.

Something romantic.

Because in a school where power was the only language, conviction was the only poetry left.

And this?

This was the first verse of their legend.

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Author’s Note / Novel Introduction

Hey everyone! 👋

This is my first novel, and I’m really excited to finally share it with you all here on GoodNovel.

The story is called Romanticism System, and it’s something very close to my heart.

It follows Seo Joonwoo, a quiet, awkward boy who suddenly remembers his past life as David Lee, a nineteen-year-old who died of cancer.

But instead of finding peace, he wakes up in a new body in a new world where high school isn’t about

grades or clubs…

It’s about fists, loyalty, and conviction.

Now enrolled in the notorious Taeyang Technical High, Joonwoo discovers a strange power within him, the Romanticism System which makes him stronger the more his heart believes in something.

In this chaotic world of gangs, fights, and brotherhood, he’ll chase the one thing that makes life worth fighting for: romanticism the beauty of living with meaning, emotion, and heart.

💥 Expect:

Intense street fights with emotion and style

Deep friendships and rivalries

A heartfelt journey about second chances

A system that rewards conviction, not cruelty

And maybe… a little love along the way

Thank you for reading and supporting this story.

If you enjoy it, please leave a comment, review, or share. it means the world to me as a new author. 🙏Let’s bring back the feeling of romance, loyalty, and fire in a world that’s forgotten it.

Welcome to Romanticism System.