Lucien Ashborne was supposed to be a nobody — an early-game villain who existed only to be crushed by the protagonist. After provoking the wrong person, he vanished from the story without even a dramatic death scene.

When a player named James dies and wakes up in Lucien’s body, he inherits every bit of the villain’s broken reputation and zero of his privileges. Bullied, scorned, and abandoned by his own noble family, Lucien now stands at the bottom of the academy hierarchy.

To make matters worse, the world he knew as a game has no guaranteed happy ending… and the protagonist’s party treats him like a criminal.

But James isn’t the Lucien they think he is.

With fragments of meta-knowledge, a half-broken system that barely works, and a determination to avoid becoming cannon fodder, he chooses a different path.

He doesn’t seek glory.
He just refuses to disappear.

This is the story of a former villain trying to rewrite his role — not as a hero, but as someone who survives on his own terms.

In the real world, a Level 4 Dungeon was a nightmare.


Under international law, it required a Raid Team of at least thirteen Gold-Rank Knights just to attempt a clear. Sometimes, a Platinum Knight was deployed to ensure survival.


Throwing a bunch of rookies—even elite ones—into a Level 4 dungeon sounded like a massacre.


This was an Artificial Dungeon. The damage was dampened, the fatal wounds were simulated (mostly), and the scenario was a "Guaranteed Victory" history reenactment. We were the protagonists of a scripted war.


Or at least, that's what everyone believed.


[Benelli M4] - Loaded. [Winchester] - Loaded. [Potions] - Secured.


Alicia wasn't here. Due to a strict regulation regarding "Proxy Knights vs. Direct Heirs" that I had overlooked in the fine print, she couldn't enter as my retainer for this specific event category. I was on my own.


Chapter 119 - Dungeon Competition [1]