The last thing I saw was his face.
Lin Feng. The universe's favorite son of a bitch. He stood over me, his sword dripping with my blood, his eyes filled with that infuriating, protagonist-brand pity.
Around him stood his harem—a collection of beauties that included my own fucking fiancée. And next to him, her face a mask of tragic acceptance, was Lyra.
My sister. My obsession. My reason for living these last twenty-five miserable years.
"Pathetic fool," Lin Feng said, his voice echoing with the mandate of heaven itself. "You never knew your place."
I tried to spit, but only a wet gurgle of blood came out. My life was fading, a pathetic fizzle at the end of a long, humiliating story where I was nothing but the villainous side character.
Unfair. The word screamed in the ruins of my soul.
Why does that motherfucker get a cheat? Why does he get the destiny, the women, the power, while I crawl in his shadow?
My consciousness frayed, tearing apart at the seams.
If I had another chance... If I had a goddamn system like the novels from my first life... I wouldn't just take back Lyra. I'd burn this whole fucking world to ash and build a throne from its bones.
And then, nothing.
A gasp.
My own. It was sharp, ragged, and filled lungs that shouldn't exist anymore.
Sunlight stabbed at my eyes. I flinched, throwing an arm over my face. The silk of my sleeve felt real. The scent of sandalwood incense in the air was real. The pounding in my head was painfully, undeniably real.
What is this? The afterlife? Some kind of shitty reincarnation package?
I sat up, my body moving with an ease it hadn't known in decades. No old wounds. No lingering poison from that failed assassination attempt. No… scars.
My chambers. This was my old room in the Ravencrest Imperial Palace. The one I hadn't seen since I was exiled.
My hands flew to my face, then my hair. Smooth skin. No beard. I scrambled out of the ridiculously opulent bed and stumbled towards a polished obsidian mirror.
The face that stared back wasn't the bitter, 41-year-old man consumed by hate.
It was me.
Fifteen years old. Handsome, arrogant, and utterly untouched by the twenty-five years of hell that were seared into my soul. The calendar on the wall confirmed it. A full year before my sixteenth birthday.
A year before Lin Feng walks into the capital and shits all over my life.
A hysterical laugh bubbled up in my chest. It wasn't a laugh of joy. It was the sound of a predator being handed the keys to the slaughterhouse.
Before the madness could fully take hold, a shimmering light bloomed in front of my eyes. It wasn't a soft, holy light. It was a cold, geometric pattern of gold and deep blue, coalescing into a holographic codex that hovered in the air.
Words etched themselves onto its surface in a script of pure, emotionless light.
...SYSTEM BOOT-UP COMPLETE.
...GREETINGS, SCRIBE OF CORRECTION.
...THE NEXUS CODEX IS NOW ACTIVE.
...OBJECTIVE: RECTIFY THE ANOMALY. REWRITE YOUR STORY.
...WELCOME BACK, KAELEN RAVENCREST.
I stopped laughing.
A smile spread across my face. It was not the charming smile of the dandy prince I once was. It was a cold, cruel, and utterly vicious thing. The warmth in my eyes had been extinguished, replaced by a glint of calculating ambition.
"So," I whispered to my reflection, my voice a low growl. "The heavens finally decided to give the villain his cheat code."
The pathetic, love-sick fool who died at Lin Feng's feet was gone. The Kaelen who begged for Lyra's affection was a ghost.
I was no longer a side character.
"Nexus Codex," I thought, testing the name. "Show me my status."
The codex flickered, its page instantly reforming.
Name: Kaelen Ravencrest
Cultivation: Body Tempering Realm - 5th Stage
Physique: Mortal Body (Flawed)
Cultivation Technique: Ravencrest Imperial Scroll (Common Grade)
System Points (SP): 0
Lifespan: 64 Years Remaining
Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. A joke. But it was a starting point.
In my last life, my goal was simple: get Lyra back. A flawed, emotional goal that made me weak and predictable.
My new goal was simpler. Purer.
Power.
Absolute, world-crushing power. The kind of power that makes "protagonists" piss their pants and makes heavens tremble. Lyra, other beauties, revenge... they weren't the goal anymore. They were the spoils of war. They were the rewards I would claim on my path to the top.
A notification pinged softly in my mind, a new line of text appearing on the codex.
...NEW USER PROTOCOL INITIATED.
...ISSUING FIRST 'CORRECTION' QUEST.
I leaned closer, my heart thumping with dark anticipation. What would it be? Kill a beast? Find a treasure?
[URGENT QUEST: The First Thorn]
Description: The servant in charge of your morning rituals, Marcus, is a spy for your Second Brother, Prince Valerius. In your previous timeline, he passed information that led to your first public humiliation. A villain does not tolerate traitors. It's time to take out the trash.
Objective: Publicly humiliate Marcus. Break at least one of his bones and make him lick the dirt from your boots.
Reward: 50 System Points, [Low-Grade Qi Recovery Pill x1].
Alternative (Ruthless) Completion: Cut the little bastard's tongue out so he can never speak again. Then kill him and dispose of the body.
Ruthless Reward: 100 System Points, [Skill: Shadow Stealth - Basic], [Random Item Chest - Bronze].
My grin widened until it felt like it would split my face. There was no choice here. The system understood me perfectly. Efficiency over sentiment.
Just as I finished reading, a soft knock came from the door.
"Your Highness?" a familiar voice called out. "It is I, Marcus. I have brought your morning tea."
The timing was impeccable.
I turned from the mirror, my posture shifting from that of a lazy prince to a coiled viper.
"Enter," I commanded, my voice cold as the abyss.
The handle on the heavy oak door began to turn.
Wait a second.
A thought, sharp and clear, cut through my rising bloodlust. A memory from a life before this one—a life of novels, video games, and cheap instant noodles.
Hold on. Before anything else...
"System," I projected the thought with demanding force. "Where's my damn newbie package? Every transmigrator gets one. Don't tell me a high-end 'Nexus Codex' is too cheap to follow the rules."
There was a half-second of silence. The doorknob had stopped turning, as if Marcus was hesitating on the other side.
...QUERY RECEIVED.
...AFFIRMATIVE. THE 'NEW USER INITIALIZATION CACHE' IS AVAILABLE.
...WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN IT?
A shit-eating grin stretched across my face. There it is.
"Would I like to open it?" I scoffed internally. "Does a starving dog want a steak? Open the fucking thing. Now."
...COMMAND CONFIRMED. OPENING INITIALIZATION CACHE.
A new screen, this one glowing with a faint, abyssal purple, materialized before me. Five distinct icons pulsed within it. With a thought, I tapped the first one.
[ITEM OBTAINED: Shadowfang Dagger (Heaven Grade - Sealed)]
Description: A blade forged from the solidified shadow of a fallen god. It thirsts for blood and souls. Currently sealed. Can be upgraded by feeding it the life force of your victims. Its first meal awaits.
My fingers twitched. A Heaven Grade weapon, right off the bat. Even sealed, it was leagues better than any trash in the Ravencrest armory. A weapon that grows with murder. Perfect.
I tapped the next icon.
[CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE OBTAINED: Abyssal Shadow Devouring Art (Divine Grade - Fragment)]
Description: A forbidden art that treats the world's Aether and the life essence of others as a feast. Devour your enemies' cultivation, absorb their souls for SP, and forge a physique from the abyss itself. Warning: This path is anathema to the Heavenly Dao. You will be hunted by fate.
Hunted by fate? I laughed. Fate was the bastard that put me in this position. I'd enjoy tearing it a new asshole. "Integrate it," I commanded the system. A torrent of profound, dark knowledge flooded my mind, settling into my soul like it had always belonged there.
The third icon.
[SYSTEM POINTS AWARDED: 1,000 SP]
Description: The currency of gods and demons. Spend it wisely, or don't. Your choice.
A good start. Enough to get the ball rolling.
The fourth icon was an image of a single, piercing eye.
[SKILL OBTAINED: Eye of Scrutiny]
Description: The first tool of any predator is to know their prey. Allows you to view the basic status, cultivation level, and 'Disposition' of any target below the Nascent Soul Realm.
Now that was a tool for a villain. No more guessing who was a friend, who was a foe, and who was just a stepping stone.
Finally, the last icon. A small, bubbling vial.
[CONSUMABLE OBTAINED: Marrow-Cleansing Elixir]
Description: A potent elixir that purges impurities from the mortal body and refines the physique. Will fix your current 'Flawed' status and grant you a superior starting foundation.
Excellent. A direct upgrade. "Use it."
The vial materialized in my hand. I downed the bitter liquid without hesitation. A searing heat, like molten lava, coursed through my veins, burning away years of laziness and indulgence. It was agony, but it was the sweet, beautiful pain of becoming powerful.
...PHYSIQUE PURGED. MORTAL BODY (FLAWED) HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO MORTAL BODY (REFINED).
...CULTIVATION POTENTIAL HAS INCREASED.
The doorknob finally finished turning.
The door swung open, and Marcus entered, balancing a tray with a steaming teapot. He was a weaselly-looking kid, maybe a year or two older than me, with eyes that shifted nervously.
In my first life, I saw a servant.
Now, with my new skill, I saw something else entirely. I focused my will.
...ACTIVATING [EYE OF SCRUTINY].
A small, translucent panel appeared in my vision, hovering right next to the little bastard's head.
Name: Marcus Thorne
Cultivation: Body Tempering Realm - 2nd Stage
Disposition: Disloyal (Loyalty to Prince Valerius: 78/100. Loyalty to Kaelen Ravencrest: 0/100)
Hidden Thought: 'The Fourth Prince is such a lazy piece of shit. I can't wait until Prince Valerius takes the throne.'
My smile became a razor's edge.
The Shadowfang Dagger materialized in my hand, its form hazy and cool to the touch, like holding a piece of frozen night.
Marcus froze, his eyes widening at the sight of the strange, dark blade. "Y-Your Highness? What is that?"
"This?" I said, my voice a silken purr. I gave the dagger a casual twirl. "This is your retirement package."