Chapter 1 – The Hero Who Should Have Lost
The glow of a cracked phone screen painted Arjun's tired face in pale light.
It was nearly three in the morning, but he couldn't stop scrolling through the fan-translated chapters of Heaven's Twilight.
Once, it had been his favorite story — a tale about Aiden Vale, a chosen warrior blessed by fate, destined to gather companions and save the world from corruption. A classical hero's journey.
But that was before the novel had been hijacked.
By Chapter 600, another figure had stolen the stage: Lucian Duskbane.
Lucian was no ordinary character. He was a transmigrator, a man from another world like Arjun himself. With the help of a mysterious Villain System, Lucian turned every prophecy, every golden opportunity, every ally into his weapon.
Aiden Vale, the supposed protagonist, had become nothing more than a stepping stone — humiliated, betrayed, and eventually defeated.
Tonight's chapter had sealed it:
Aiden Vale was erased from the narrative.
Arjun stared at the words until the letters blurred.
So the hero never had a chance. The villain was always the real protagonist.
It made his chest ache. Not because he liked Aiden particularly, but because the story had started as a promise of hope… only to spit in the face of that hope.
He rubbed his eyes. "Maybe I'm just tired…"
And then the screen went black.
Not because the battery died — but because the world itself collapsed into darkness.
When Arjun opened his eyes again, the world had changed.
The first thing he noticed was the smell — acrid smoke, iron, and blood. The second was the weight of his body. His limbs were leaner, stronger, clad in dented silver armor streaked with crimson. His chest rose and fell rapidly, but not in his own rhythm.
He stumbled, boots sinking into churned mud. The sky above was a shattered canvas of crimson clouds, streaked with black lightning. On the horizon, armies clashed, their war cries a distant storm.
And in front of him… stood a man.
Tall. Perfectly composed. His obsidian hair fell like a curtain, his eyes glowing faintly with malevolent light. His very presence warped the battlefield. The soldiers around him shrank back, unwilling to approach.
Lucian Duskbane.
The villain who had stolen Aiden Vale's destiny.
Arjun's breath hitched. His heart pounded with a mix of fear and awe. It was impossible, yet undeniable.
And then came the memories.
They rushed into his skull like a flood: sword training under the old knight, swearing an oath to protect the kingdom, finding the first artifact of light, standing at the side of allies who later betrayed him…
And his last memory — kneeling in the mud, broken, as Lucian stood above him with that same mocking smile.
No, not Arjun.
Aiden Vale.
He had become Aiden Vale — the hero who should have lost.
Lucian tilted his head, amusement flickering across his perfect features.
"So… the little pawn still crawls?" His voice was silk and venom. "How pitiful. You cling to life even when fate has erased you."
He lifted his hand lazily. Black flames swirled into existence, coiling around his fingers like vipers eager to strike. Behind him, a faint shadow shimmered: the outline of his [Villain System], feeding him power.
Arjun's knees trembled. His body screamed at him to kneel, to surrender, to follow the script written for Aiden Vale. He knew this scene. This was the moment of erasure.
But another voice whispered inside him.
I've read this. I know how it ends.
The fear didn't vanish — but it sharpened into resolve.
Lucian's steps echoed on the scorched earth as he closed the distance. His smirk was cruel.
"This is where your story ends, false hero."
Something flickered before Arjun's eyes. Words that shouldn't exist — glowing text etched into the air itself:
[Paradox Fragment Acquired]
Condition: Witnessing divergence from canonical fate.
Effect: Awareness unlocked. Script no longer binding.
Arjun blinked. His heart thundered. The world around him pulsed with possibility.
For the first time, Aiden Vale's destiny didn't feel inevitable.
His lips twisted into a smile — shaky, but real.
"Not this time," he whispered. His voice echoed with defiance that didn't belong to the broken hero, but to a reader who knew the truth.
Lucian's smirk faltered, just slightly. His eyes narrowed.
And at that moment, the battlefield trembled — as if reality itself was startled that Aiden Vale had refused to play his role.