Pain.
That was the first thing I felt,a sharp, throbbing agony radiating from my neck. My eyes snapped open, and I immediately regretted it as the world spun violently around me. The ceiling above was ornate, decorated with faded golden patterns that spoke of past wealth now neglected.
This wasn't my apartment.
I tried to sit up, but my body felt heavy, unresponsive. My hand instinctively went to my neck, and when I pulled it away, my fingers were stained crimson.
Blood.
What the hell?
Panic surged through me as I forced myself upright. The room tilted, and I had to grip the edge of the mattress to steady myself. That's when I noticed the sheets,once white, now marred with dark red stains that had soaked through the fabric.
More blood. Too much blood.
My heart hammered in my chest as fragmented memories that weren't mine began flooding my consciousness. A cold blade pressed against skin. The taste of betrayal. Darkness creeping in at the edges of vision.
Someone had tried to kill the owner of this body.
No,someone had succeeded in killing him.
And yet, here I was, alive and conscious in a body that should have been a corpse.
I stumbled toward the mirror across the room, my legs weak and unsteady. The reflection that stared back at me was unfamiliar yet somehow expected,sharp features softened by youth, white hair that fell to my shoulders in disheveled strands, and piercing silver eyes that seemed almost lifeless.
"Zane Morgenstern," I whispered, and the voice that came out wasn't my own.
The memories solidified like pieces of a puzzle clicking into place. Not my memories, but his. Zane Morgenstern, third son of the Morgenstern family,a once-prestigious noble house now fallen from grace. Disowned at fifteen after a scandal orchestrated by his own siblings. Engaged to Seraphina Ashcroft, the only daughter of Marquess Ashcroft, in an arrangement made when both families held considerable power.
And I knew this world. I knew it because I'd read about it.
"Chronicles of the Fallen Star",a web novel I'd binged in my previous life. A story about Liam Ashford, the prophesied hero who would unite the fractured kingdoms and prevent the world's destruction at the hands of the Abyssal Tide. A protagonist blessed with the Celestial System, gathering allies, growing stronger, and ultimately... failing.
Because I'd read all 847 chapters. I knew how it ended.
The world fell. The Abyssal Tide consumed everything. Liam's party was wiped out, the kingdoms crumbled, and humanity's last bastions were reduced to ash. The author had titled the final chapter "The Inevitable End."
It had been the most depressing, nihilistic ending I'd ever read. Readers had rioted in the comments. Some claimed it was profound. Most just felt betrayed.
And Zane Morgenstern? He was barely a footnote in that story. A third-rate villain who appeared in a handful of chapters during the academy arc, causing minor trouble before being expelled and never mentioned again. His fate after expulsion was never even described,he simply ceased to exist in the narrative.
But Seraphina? She appeared much later. After Zane's disappearance, she became one of the story's most terrifying antagonists,a woman driven mad by grief and obsession, hunting down anyone she believed responsible for her fiancé's death. Despite her high status and her family's attempts to control her, she'd abandoned everything, killing indiscriminately and even targeting members of Liam's party before finally being put down in a brutal fight that left half a city in ruins.
The readers had loved her tragic villain arc. I remembered the comments praising her as "better written than the protagonist."
"This is insane," I muttered, staring at my blood-stained hands. "I'm in a doomed world, in the body of a murdered extra villain."
As if responding to my words, something shimmered in my vision.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[WELCOME, HOST]
[SOUL INTEGRATION COMPLETE]
I froze. Text boxes appeared before my eyes, floating in mid-air like a holographic interface. My breath caught in my throat.
A system. I had a system.
Just like Liam.
[STATUS WINDOW]
NAME: Zane Morgenstern
AGE: 16
TITLE: The Disowned, The Marked
TIER: Novice III (Aura) | Novice II (Mana)
ATTRIBUTES:
- Strength: 12
- Agility: 14
- Endurance: 10
- Intelligence: 16
- Willpower: 18
- Charm: 8
SKILLS:
- [Basic Swordsmanship - Lv 3]
- [Mana Manipulation - Lv 2]
- [Aura Sense - Lv 1]
UNIQUE ABILITIES:
- [Reader's Insight] - Knowledge of future events (Limited)
- [???] - Locked
CONDITION: Severely Injured (Neck Wound - 73% Healed)
WARNING: Residual death energy detected. Soul anchoring successful.
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE]
My hands trembled as I processed the information. The original Zane had been at Novice III for Aura and Novice II for Mana,mediocre at best. His attributes were low across the board except for Intelligence and Willpower, which explained why he'd been considered a disappointment by his family of renowned warriors.
But that "Condition" line made my blood run cold.
73% healed.
I touched my neck again, feeling the raised, tender skin beneath the dried blood. The wound was closing impossibly fast,far faster than any normal injury should. And that warning about "residual death energy" and "soul anchoring"...
Someone had slit Zane's throat. He should have died. But my soul had somehow taken over the body in that critical moment, and the system had... what? Saved us both?
[QUEST: SURVIVAL'S FIRST STEP]
The original Zane Morgenstern is dead, but his body lives on through you. However, danger still lurks. Your assassin may return to confirm the kill.
OBJECTIVE: Survive the next 24 hours
REWARD: Basic Recovery Potion x3, 100 EXP, Skill [Danger Sense - Lv 1]
FAILURE: Death
My jaw clenched. Of course. Of course someone had tried to kill him. In the novel, Zane's disappearance from the story had been abrupt and unexplained. Now I knew why,he'd been murdered.
But by whom? His siblings, who despised him? A hired assassin from a rival family? Or perhaps someone connected to the main plot that the novel had never bothered to explore?
I looked around the room more carefully. It was spacious but clearly neglected,dust accumulated in corners, the furniture was outdated, and the walls showed signs of water damage that no one had bothered to repair. This was the room of someone the family wanted to forget.
A knock at the door made me jump.
"Young Master Zane?" A timid voice called from the hallway. "Are you awake? You missed breakfast, and Lady Seraphina has arrived to see you."
Seraphina. Zane's fiancée.
From the memories, I knew she was one of the few people who genuinely cared about Zane,perhaps the only person. The engagement had been arranged years ago when the Morgensterns still held power, binding them to the influential Ashcroft family. Even after Zane's disgrace, even when her family urged her to break the engagement and preserve their reputation, she'd refused. She clung to him with a devotion that defied reason, that bordered on obsession.
In the novel, she'd barely been mentioned until after Zane's death, when she transformed into something terrifying. A yandere of high status who'd lost the only person she loved, with the resources and power to make the world burn for it.
And she was here. Now.
"I'll be down shortly," I called back, trying to match Zane's usual tone. My voice came out hoarse, damaged from the neck wound.
"Understood, Young Master. Shall I prepare hot water for a bath?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Footsteps retreated down the hallway. I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
I needed to think. I needed a plan.
According to Zane's memories, the current date was March 15th. The academy term at Argentum Academy,where Liam would begin his rise to power,started in two weeks. Zane was still enrolled, despite his family's disgrace, because breaking an academy contract would bring even more shame to the Morgenstern name.
Which meant I had two weeks before I'd be thrown into the same institution as the protagonist and his growing harem of powerful allies.
Two weeks to prepare for a world I knew was doomed.
Two weeks to decide: Would I try to help Liam and change the ending? Or would I find a way to survive on my own terms, even if it meant going against the so-called hero?
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, at the white hair that marked me as a Morgenstern, at the silver eyes that now belonged to me, at the fading wound on my neck that should have killed me.
"Screw fate," I whispered. "If this world is heading toward ruin, then I'll carve my own path. Even if I have to kill the protagonist myself."
The system chimed again.
[OBJECTIVE ACCEPTED]
[ALIGNMENT SHIFT DETECTED: CHAOTIC NEUTRAL]
[NEW TITLE EARNED: "One Who Defies Destiny"]
A cold smile crossed my lips.
The extra villain was dead.
But I was very much alive.
And I had no intention of following the script.