I Was Reincarnated as an Incompetent Leader With Zero Popularity Who Met His Downfall Early On. Instead of Banishing the Hidden Cheat Protagonist, I Decided to Embrace Him, and Somehow, I Ended Up Being Treated Like a Hero Instead

Takumi Haimura, a 35-year-old single office worker, is devastated when his mother casually tells him she burned the novels he passionately wrote during his student days, dismissing them as tr*sh. While drowning in despair, he’s fatally attacked by a random assailant. In his final moments, Takumi recalls his dream: to become the protagonist of his own story.

When he awakens, he finds himself in a familiar fantasy world—not as the hero Chrono Knightley he idolized, but as Alva Grayblood, the incompetent leader of an adventuring party destined to betray the protagonist and meet a pitiful end early in the story.

With his pride already in tatters, Takumi feels no jealousy toward Chrono and instead chooses to support him as a senior adventurer, helping to reveal Chrono’s hidden potential to the world. As Takumi steps into Alva’s role with unexpected resolve, the scorn once directed at him begins to shift, earning him recognition from even his harshest critics…