The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the cold. A sharp, biting wind that felt like it could cut through bone. I shivered beneath layers of fine silk I didn't remember putting on. Rings studded with gemstones gleamed on my fingers. My reflection in the polished floor showed a face I didn't recognize… yet somehow knew.
"…No… this can't be real."
I stumbled to a mirror and stared at myself. The face of the villain from the novel I had read countless times—the one I laughed at, mocked, and despised—looked back at me. His sharp jawline, the arrogance in his eyes… and the faint scar on his temple that marked him as the doomed heir.
Panic gripped me. My mind raced. I was supposed to die in Chapter 100, humiliated, betrayed, and forgotten.
A voice rang out—not in the room, not in the world, but inside my head.
[Ding! God-Tier System has been bound to you.]
"What… what the hell is this?" I whispered.
[Welcome, Master. Your fate is yours to rewrite. Quest 1: Survive until Chapter 100.]
I blinked. A system? In my head? Staring at me through some… magical interface? My fingers twitched instinctively, and suddenly a glowing hologram appeared in front of me. Stats, abilities, and blank spaces for skills I hadn't unlocked yet filled the air.
[System Function: Steal, Learn, Upgrade]
I swallowed hard. This wasn't a dream. It wasn't a hallucination. Somehow… I had been given a cheat.
And a second later, my first lesson began.
I barely had time to process the system's abilities before a commotion erupted outside the mansion gates. My heart sank. Of course—the hero. Always appearing at the most inconvenient moment, with his perfect hair, perfect smile, and perfect aura that made everyone around him fawn like he was some god descended from the heavens.
"Lord Xian," he called politely, but his eyes… his eyes narrowed slightly as they scanned me. I could almost hear his thoughts: This isn't the villain I expected.
I smiled. Slowly. "Hero. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
The hero's smile didn't falter, but the slightest twitch betrayed irritation. He hated me. Good. He would never like me.
The system pinged softly in my mind:
[Target Identified – Hero Rival. Recommended Action: Outplay or Avoid]
Challenge accepted.
I let him strut into the hall with all the grace of a hero destined to save the world. Meanwhile, I sipped my wine, calm and calculating. Every movement, every glance, every polite nod was a test, an analysis. The system was feeding me data in real time. I could feel it—strengths, weaknesses, tendencies… all mapped neatly like a game.
By the time he finally turned away, I already had a plan for how to manipulate events to my advantage.