Clovis Dreadthorn wasn't a major villain.
He wasn't even a decent mini-boss.
He was somewhere between "Wait, who's this guy again?" and "Oh, it's that loser who keeps getting kicked through walls."
A glorified tutorial enemy.
A walking, talking XP piñata for the protagonist.
And now, he was him.
Clovis sat on the edge of a luxurious red cot inside the massive noble-class tent, his pale hands clutching the sides of his head like a man who'd just realized he bought non-refundable tickets to a disaster.
'This can't be happening.'
According to what his brother had explained, Clovis was the comedic relief villain who popped up just to show off how strong the hero was.
Every time Clovis tried to flex his noble superiority or seduce a heroine, it would backfire so hard that players used him as a meme.
"Dreadthorned" was an actual term in fan forums for when a character suffered maximum humiliation in a short period of time.
Even worse, he remembered how Clovis died — offscreen. In a dungeon. Somewhere around arc 3.
No epic duel. No dramatic farewell. Just a message:
[Clovis Dreadthorn has perished.]
[You gained 2 Rare Crystals.]
Even the creators were clowning him.
"Unbelievable…" Clovis muttered, dropping his hands and exhaling shakily.
Across from him, his room-mate in this tent blinked at him like one would a half-cooked potato that suddenly started talking.
"You good? You've been zoning out like a mage on mushroom stew."
Clovis glanced at him. His mind was fuzzy, but… strangely, the boy's name came to him.
Oliver.
A minor character. The kind that disappeared from the game after the opening arc but existed long enough to provide banter and die in some sad optional side quest.
In the original game, Oliver and Clovis were friends though Oliver wasn't as temperamental as Clovis.
"Where… where are we?" Clovis asked, trying not to sound like someone who had just reincarnated.
Oliver raised a brow. "You hit your head or something?"
Yes. Clovis wanted to say. On the edge of death and then straight into the fourth wall.
"You don't remember? We're camping out near Astralis Academy. Entrance exams are tomorrow. You said — and I quote — 'Let us noble-borns claim our rightful place before the plebeians track mud on the carpet of destiny.'" Oliver scratched his head. "Which I think was your fancy way of saying you wanted to beat the crowd."
"…Right. That sounds like me," Clovis muttered.
Oliver shrugged and went back to polishing his blade. "Well, you said we'd play some card games before bed. I just finished winning, so…"
Clovis held up a hand with a half-smile. "Let's call it a night. I want to be fresh for the exams."
Oliver gave him a suspicious side glance. "Huh. First time I've seen you give up while winning."
Clovis let out a soft chuckle. "Don't worry. I'll trounce you after we get into the academy."
With a grunt, Oliver blew out the mana lamp and rolled over on his cot, snoring within seconds.
Clovis waited.
And waited.
Once the rhythmic snoring reached earthquake levels, Clovis silently got to his feet and slipped out of the tent flap.
The cold night air greeted him with a soft breeze.
They'd set up camp in the academy's vast training grounds, which were now empty save for the noble-only tent behind him.
The stars above glittered like someone had spilled diamond dust across the heavens.
Of course Clovis had insisted on camping early. The original Clovis was nothing if not extra.
And that's when it happened.
A glowing blue screen popped into the air right in front of his face.
[Would you like to completely assimilate Clovis Dreadthorn's memories?]
[Y / N]
Clovis blinked.
He considered rejecting it. But honestly, stumbling through a game world blind while wearing someone else's body was a recipe for disaster.
He needed intel. If there were skills, names, secrets, or embarrassing noble diary entries hidden in Clovis's brain, he'd rather know.
"…Y," he whispered.
The screen accepted the input and vanished.
For a moment, Clovis braced himself, expecting pain, screaming, maybe dramatic anime flashbacks.
Instead, he felt like a sponge being filled.
No pain. No disorientation.
Just a flood of clarity.
Suddenly he knew.
Clovis was an 18-year-old son of the Dreadthorn noble house, an ice mage with decent magical aptitude but a horrendous ego-to-talent ratio.
He had been trained in etiquette, magic theory, and even sword arts. He was about to take the Astralis Academy entrance exam — a multi-phase test that would be attended by not just the protagonist, but the main heroines as well.
In the game, Clovis had spent his time heckling the protagonist — an orphan commoner with exceptional talent then got absolutely bodied in the first duel.
The player defeated him just by using a stick.
Clovis ran a hand through his blond hair.
"…The original wasn't evil. He was just… an idiot."
And really, could he blame the developers? Clovis was the perfect example of a noble used to set up the hero's rise.
"Ice magic though," he muttered, raising a hand.
A flicker of blue mist danced around his palm before fading. Not bad. Not amazing either, but at least he had some fighting chance.
"I just have to survive the exams… meet the main cast… and not be turned into comic relief stew."
He took a deep breath.
That's when the screen appeared again.
[Cast Seduction System Initializing…]
"…The what now? Why does the name sound like it came from some webnovel?"
[Welcome, Host.]
[You are now registered to the Cast Seduction System.]
[Objective: Seduce the Main Cast of the game to Gain Power and Rewrite Fate.]
[Rewards include: Skill Unlocks, Memory Fragments, Stat Boosts, and Romantic Endings.]
"…You mean like a dating sim but with stats?"
[Correct.]
Clovis blinked several times. "Why not just give me a sword and a training montage?"
[Because seducing the main cast is the only way to change your fate.]
Clovis rubbed his temple. "Okay… but why me?"
[Because your original fate is pathetic, and the developers gave you zero redeeming qualities.]
"…Fair."
The screen didn't disappear.
[First Mission: Survive the Entrance Exams.]
[Bonus: Trigger a Unique Interaction with a Main Heroine.]
[Optional: Don't trip over your cape in front of everyone.]
Clovis sighed. "You had to remind me about the cape thing…"
In the entrance exams, Clovis had worn a cape.
He looked at the horizon. Tomorrow was the start of Astralis Academy's entrance trials.
Dozens of characters from the game including the destined protagonist and the entire harem of heroineswould be there.
The elite, the monsters, the broken, the beautiful, the terrifying.
"This should be better than being in a hospital."