"Young Master Victor, you're awake?"
A slightly trembling voice sounded beside his ear.
Victor slowly opened his eyes.
What entered his vision was not the familiar ceiling of his rented apartment, but an extravagantly luxurious expanse of deep crimson curtains. Above him hung a massive chandelier made from magic crystals, casting a faint golden glow that made the entire room resemble the palace chambers of a medieval noble.
A faint medicinal scent still lingered in the air.
He did not sit up immediately.
Instead, unfamiliar memories surged into his mind like a raging tide.
The Saint Roland Empire.
Starlight Royal Academy.
Magic power.
Professionals.
Abyssal monsters.
And...
Victor Alves.
The only son of Duke Alves of the empire's northern territory, a second year student at Starlight Royal Academy, nineteen years old, a Tier Three Warrior, and one of the most notorious spoiled young nobles in the entire academy.
Relying on his family's influence, he bullied commoner students, seized cultivation resources, forced lower year students to run errands for him, and had even publicly humiliated a newly enrolled commoner genius because of a woman.
And that commoner genius was none other than the original protagonist of this world.
Ryan Carter.
Victor remained silent for more than ten seconds.
Then, he slowly raised a hand and rubbed his temples.
"So... I transmigrated. And I transmigrated into a villain?"
If he were merely an ordinary villain, it would not have been such a problem.
What truly gave him a headache was that he happened to know the general course of this world's future plot.
The original Victor was indeed extremely influential during the early stages of academy life. Backed by a ducal family and surrounded by a large group of noble students, even ordinary students would lower their heads when they saw him.
But everything changed after Ryan began to rise.
Three months later, the academy's secret realm would open.
Ryan would obtain the inheritance of an Ancient Sword Saint.
Half a year later, during the academy tournament, Ryan would crush Victor in front of everyone.
One year later, the Alves Family would become entangled in the struggle for the imperial throne.
The duke would die in battle.
The family would collapse.
As for Victor himself, he would be personally killed by Ryan while fleeing, becoming little more than an elite monster used to give the protagonist another burst of experience before his death.
It was the most standard villain template imaginable.
Thinking of this, the corner of Victor's eye twitched slightly.
Was this some kind of joke?
Other people transmigrated as heaven chosen protagonists, awakened hidden bloodlines, or, at worst, became ordinary side characters who could survive by keeping their heads down.
Yet the moment it was his turn, he had been handed a death countdown?
Just as he was about to continue sorting through his memories, an icy voice suddenly sounded deep within his mind.
[Ding!]
[Host soul fusion detected as complete.]
[Villain Investment System officially activated.]
Victor instantly froze.
In the next moment, a translucent black panel visible only to him slowly appeared in the center of his vision.
[Host: Victor Alves]
[Level: 21]
[Class: Magic Swordsman]
[Life Tier: Tier 1]
[Strength: 42]
[Constitution: 39]
[Agility: 37]
[Spirit: 51]
[Magic Power: 620]
[Talent: Advanced Fire Element Affinity]
[Current Fate Evaluation: Third Rate Villain]
[Estimated Remaining Lifespan: 367 Days]
Victor: "..."
Although he already knew he was not far from death...
Seeing the words "Estimated Remaining Lifespan" still felt rather unpleasant.
However, his attention quickly shifted to the name of the system.
Villain Investment System?
As though sensing his confusion, a new set of notifications quickly appeared.
[System Rules.]
[The host may invest in targets with "Villain Faction Potential."]
[Investments include, but are not limited to: gold coins, equipment, skills, potions, bloodlines, cultivation resources, and special opportunities.]
[When an invested target's strength, loyalty, status, or fate improves, the host will receive a randomized multiplier return.]
[Minimum return multiplier: 2x.]
[Maximum return multiplier: Unlimited.]
[The greater the target's potential and the worse their current circumstances, the greater the possible investment return.]
Victor's previously gloomy expression immediately changed.
Invest in his subordinates...
Then receive multiplied returns?
This mechanism seemed even more outrageous than a system that simply handed him rewards directly.
If he invested a potion worth one thousand gold coins and triggered a tenfold return, that would become resources worth ten thousand gold coins.
What if he invested an Epic grade piece of equipment and triggered a hundredfold return?
More importantly, the system said...
There was no upper limit.
Victor was about to continue studying the system when hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the room.
Bang!
The door was pushed open.
A tall young man with blood covering his face dropped directly to one knee.
"Young Master!"
"Bruno has been arrested!"
Victor raised his head.
The man in front of him was named Karl, one of the original Victor's most loyal followers.
Of course, to put it less politely, he was a lackey.
And not just any lackey.
He was the kind who, in the future, would have his chest pierced by the protagonist's sword while protecting Victor.
According to the original plot, earlier that afternoon, Victor had grown jealous because Ryan had gotten too close to Irene, one of the academy's most famous beauties, and had sent Bruno and several others to teach him a lesson.
The outcome was obvious.
Ryan, who had just achieved a breakthrough, defeated all of them.
Bruno had suffered the worst injuries.
Not only had his right arm been broken, but the magic core he had cultivated for years had also developed cracks.
After the original Victor learned about it, he did not care whether Bruno lived or died.
Instead, believing that Bruno had humiliated him, he kicked him out of his entourage.
And from that day onward, the followers gathered around Victor gradually began to lose faith in him.
When true disaster eventually arrived, nearly all of them fled, aside from a very small handful.
"Who arrested him?"
Victor asked.
Karl visibly froze. He clearly had not expected that to be his young master's first question.
"The Discipline Department."
"Ryan made the matter public. Bruno is being questioned there right now. They said... if you don't go over, they'll handle it as an unauthorized assault on another academy student."
Victor threw off the covers and got out of bed.
"Lead the way."
Karl froze again.
"Young Master, your condition..."
"I'm not dying yet."
Victor casually grabbed the black academy uniform beside him, draped it over his body, and headed straight for the door.
Only when he passed Karl did he suddenly stop because, at that exact moment, a new system panel appeared above Karl's head.
[Name: Karl Rosen]
[Level: 16]
[Class: Shield Warrior]
[Talent: Intermediate Earth Element Affinity]
[Potential Evaluation: B]
[Current Loyalty: 87]
[Fate Trajectory: Due to following Victor for a long period, he is regarded as an enemy by the academy protagonist faction and dies inside the academy secret realm three months later.]
[Investment Value: High]
Victor narrowed his eyes slightly.
As expected, the system's definition of "Villain Faction Potential" did not necessarily refer only to genuinely evil people.
As long as someone stood against the so called protagonist, the system could potentially categorize them as an investment target.
"Now that's interesting." An evil, devious smirk quietly spread across Victor's face.
...