A sharp headache woke Sion from a sleep that seemed to last for centuries. His eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the sunlight that filtered in through the carved wooden windows. The ceiling above him was made of dark wood with dragon ornaments carved in stunning detail.
"What... is this?" he muttered in a hoarse voice that sounded foreign to his own ears.
Sion tried to remember what had happened earlier. He remembered staying up late reading a popular web novel called "Path of Immortal Emperor" until morning, then falling asleep in front of his laptop. But now he was lying on a bed that felt very real with blood-red silk sheets.
He tried to get up, but his body felt heavy and foreign. His usually pale hands now looked stronger with small scars on his knuckles. His hair that was once short black was now long to his shoulders with a shiny jet black color.
"Don't tell me..." Sion's eyes widened, "I died?"
Panic began to creep into his chest. He got up hurriedly to the bronze mirror that stood majestically in the corner of the room. The face reflected was not that of 28-year-old Kim Sion, an ordinary programmer with thick glasses and a round face. Instead, he saw a handsome young man around 18 years old with sharp black eyes, a high nose, and a strong jawline that would make anyone think twice before dealing with him.
"Who is this?" he whispered as he touched his own face. "Wait... this face..."
Memories that did not belong to him began to flow in like a waterfall. Name: Sion Nightshade. Age: 18. Early Foundation Building stage cultivator. Inner sect disciple of the Crimson Moon Sect.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sion slapped his cheeks hard. "Sion Nightshade? Crimson Moon Sect? This is..."
His brain worked quickly to connect all the information. The novel he read last night! "Path of Immortal Emperor" - a story about Chen Feng, a genius cultivator who rose from a lowly family to become an immortal emperor. And Sion Nightshade was...
"The little villain who died in chapter 50!" he shouted in frustration.
In the novel, Sion Nightshade was an arrogant and cruel inner sect disciple. He bullied the outer sect disciples, especially the protagonist Chen Feng who had just entered the sect. Because of his arrogance, he was eventually killed by Chen Feng in a duel he provoked himself.
"Why did it have to be him?!" Sion ruffled his hair in frustration. "Of all the characters, why did it have to be the villain who dies at the beginning of the story?"
He paced back and forth in the luxurious room which turned out to be his room. The room was filled with expensive furniture, cultivation scrolls, and high-quality weapons. But all this luxury could not calm his heart.
"Okay, calm down Sion. You can change destiny, right?" he said to himself. "You know the plot. Just avoid colliding with the protagonist and you're safe."
But then he remembered something that made him pale. Based on the novel's timeline, Chen Feng had entered the sect yesterday. And based on this body's memory, Sion Nightshade had already taken on the mission to 'educate' the arrogant new disciple.
"Damn, I've already been involved in the plot!"
Knock knock knock!
A knock on the door made him jump. A familiar voice came from outside.
"Senior Brother Sion, are you awake? Elder Zhang summoned you to Jade Peak Hall to discuss yesterday's mission."
Sion recognized the voice. It was Lin Wei, Sion Nightshade's close friend who was also a supporting villain character. In the novel, he died with Sion after Chen Feng went on a rampage.
"Wait a minute!" Sion said as he tried to calm himself down. "I'll be right out!"
How is this? I haven't even had time to think of a strategy to change fate, but I already have to face the consequences of the original villain's actions.
He hurriedly put on the dark red sect robe with the crescent moon emblem that signified his status as an inner sect disciple. When his hand touched the robe's fabric, he felt a weak flow of qi flowing through his body.
"Really a cultivator..." he muttered in amazement and fear.
He opened the door and saw Lin Wei waiting with an anxious face. The 19-year-old looked nervous, different from the confident attitude he usually showed in the novel.
"Senior Brother, you look pale. Are you still in shock from yesterday's incident?" Lin Wei asked in a worried tone.
"Yesterday's incident?" Sion frowned. He had no complete memory of yesterday.
"When you met that new outer sect disciple, Chen Feng. He dared to fight you and even..." Lin Wei lowered his voice, "even showed a cultivation that was not inferior to yours even though he had just entered the sect."
Sion's heart was beating fast. This was it! The first meeting between the villain and the protagonist had happened!
"What happened after that?" Sion asked cautiously.
"You said you were going to teach him a lesson today. That's why Elder Zhang called you over. He probably wanted to make sure you didn't overdo it in 'educating' the new disciple."
Damn it! I've really gotten caught in a death plot!
Sion took a deep breath. "Alright, let's go to Jade Peak Hall."
They walked through the magnificent sect corridors with stone pillars carved with cultivation symbols. The other disciples they passed saluted Sion, but he could sense something was different in their gazes. There was a mix of fear and... sympathy?
Wait, why are they looking at me with pity?
Suddenly, a cold mechanical voice echoed in his head:
[Villain Cultivation System has been activated]
[Welcome, Host]
[Situation analysis... complete]
[Status: Early stage villain with 89% mortality rate]
[Main mission: Survive as a villain and return to the original world]
[Warning: Deviation from the villain role will result in penalties]
Sion stopped walking, his eyes wide in shock. Lin Wei who was walking in front of him turned around in confusion.
"Senior Brother? What's wrong?"
But Sion could not answer. His mind was filled with one question that made him shiver:
So not only do I have to play the villain... but I also have to die to return?
[System detects Host's confusion]
[Opening basic guide... 3... 2... 1...]