The world where the story of "How to Survive as a D-Grade Talent" takes place
The surviving realm.
Asmos.
It was very much like the world Cyrus had spent his childhood in.
In the beginning Asmos was the Earth he knew.
Until researchers in Antarctica noticed strange energy fluctuations. Before they could study it more, cracks started to appear in space.
Reality broke like glass. From those cracks came monsters, a species calling themselves the Ends.
They were intelligent, so communication was possible. They came from a higher realm called the End Horizon.
But after true gods and god-kins destroyed their home, the surviving fraction escaped to Asmos.
At first, humans were fascinated to find alien life and wanted to learn more about mysterious of space. But as talks began, the real horror of the Ends showed itself.
"Either submit to our rule and be our slave or die!"
Of course, no human wanted to live as a slave forever.
And so began the united war against the Ends. Every country, enemy or ally, even those with small resources, came together and gave their everything.
Nuclear weapons, even the strongest hydrogen bomb, which was humanity's trump card, did nothing against the Ends.
There was no hope.
The alien species they had been so eager to find was far more horrifying than they could ever imagine.
At that time, all humans could do nothing but pray to the gods and hope for a miracle.
And it came.
The miracle they asked for.
The ever silent god heard their prayers and descended.
The Humanity Goddess.
The goddess blessed humans with power, talents, martial arts, aura, magic and mana.
Everything they have imagined in frictions and fantasy.
She pushed the Ends back to Antarctica and reformed human society into a single country. And thus began a new age of humanity.
Cyrus opened his eyes in an unfamiliar place. Though hazy, he could remember everything that had happened.
"So I did die at the end, huh? You can't change fate that easily."
His eyes darted around the room he was in.
It was large, spacious, and luxurious.
Chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
The walls were painted in royal colors. Every room was equipped with the latest technology.
There were total of five rooms.
Along with the basics, there was a study with a built-in library and a spacious open training ground with wooden dolls.
He was standing in the gallery.
Looking down, it had to be around the 25th floor high.
The gallery gave a cold, natural breeze of wind and showed a stunning view of the entire city.
Even after seeing all this, the kind of thing that would make a man from a small apartment burst out in astonishment, he stayed calm.
He had an idea of what this place could be, but he wasn't sure just yet.
Was I really transmigrated into the novel's world?
That doubt was finally confirmed with a single look in the mirror.
The reflection staring back wasn't his short body, but a tall, slender figure. Strikingly handsome, with long flowing black hair styled in a wolf cut.
How could he not recognize that face?
Cyrus Volford.
As he feared, he had indeed transmigrated into the body of the novel's main villain.
Cyrus Volford was the reason he kept reading that novel. Cyrus had been his favorite character. But being transmigrated into his body?
That was a completely different thing and honestly, the last thing he wanted.
As the main villain in a story where the protagonist was so favored, his fate was cruel.
Arthur Ashton
That was the protagonist's name.
And to give a glimpse of his power:
Arthur was a transmigrator just like Cyrus.
He had regressed.
He had a cheat-like Skill Plundering System with a shop.
He had the soul of a martial master living inside an old necklace he wore.
And if that wasn't enough, he had an unawakened yet, legendary shield, an artifact that could change form and absorb the essence of the Ends.
This was the person Cyrus went up against and fought for 3,000+ chapters.
But in the end, he suffered a cruel fate.
"Going against Arthur is madness. Now that I'm Cyrus, why do I have to follow the villain's path? I could just switch my role to a supporting character, right? That way I could easily survive."
Cyrus thought. But for his plan to work…
He quickly looked at his phone.
3 a.m.
Date: 12th October, 12th year after the Humanity Goddess.
His face turned stern, and a self-mocking laugh escaped his lips.
Again and again, why was he so unlucky?
The date was exactly when the story began.
He was at the very starting point, but the event that sealed his fate as a villain had already happened.
Cyrus had molested Arthur's sister, even touched her.
Because of Cyrus's unbeatable background, Arthur couldn't do anything at that time. But now that Arthur had all his cheats, his animosity had grown.
Cyrus was disappointed.
But since it had already happened and couldn't be changed, he wasn't planning to surrender to fate.
"Anyway, I always wanted to put Arthur's arrogance in its place. In a way, you could say my wish was granted."
A smirk appeared on Cyrus's face.
His fist clenched.
Cyrus's situation wasn't really that helpless. At the beginning of the story, it was actually much more favorable.
Along with his memory of future events.
He was a third-year student at the United Nation's Talent Nurturing Program.
A prestigious academy with real authority over nurturing talent, given full autonomy.
It was built to raise the next generation of humanity's leaders, a joint association where governments poured in huge resources.
And Cyrus had great influence there.
Not only that, his background was his main golden finger.
Heir of the prestigious Volford family.
Son of Volford's patriarch, Duke Ragnar Volford.
Ragnar was also the Guildmaster of Volford Guild, which ranked among the top five in the world.
But that was just on the surface. His real influence went even further.
He was the First Seat of the Hollowed Assembly, a villain association that controlled the world from the shadows, only for Arthur to later create problems for them.
And on top of that, his grandfather was humanity's hero and one of the Three Gods, Sword Supreme Silas Volford.
Silas was partly the reason humanity survived the Agantha War after the disappearance of the Humanity Goddess.
With this kind of background, he could easily handle early-stage Arthur.
But his real trump card was…
A wide smirk spread across Cyrus's face as his eyes started glowing.