Chapter 1: Congratulations, You Have Been Disowned
The first thing I realized about reincarnation was that it felt remarkably like a hangover, but without the dignity of a wild night out.
The second thing I realized was that my pillow was unusually firm. No, not firm—muscular.
"...Why is my pillow warm… and breathing?" I muttered, my voice sounding smoother and deeper than a man who had spent his previous life screaming at spreadsheets should ever sound.
I peeled my eyes open. I wasn't in my cramped Tokyo apartment. I wasn't staring at a mountain of unfiled tax returns. Instead, I was staring at a chest. A very well-defined, pale, and hairless chest that looked like it had been sculpted by a Greek god with a fetish for skincare.
I looked down further. My hands were long, elegant, and devoid of the calluses from years of clicking a mouse. My waist was slim enough to make a Victorian debutante weep with envy.
"No way," I whispered, sitting up and feeling the silk sheets slide off my skin. "This game gave me premium visuals? I'm... I'm a masterpiece."
I spent a solid three minutes just poking my own cheek. It was bouncy. It was radiant. It was, quite frankly, criminally handsome. If the "me" from Earth saw the "me" right now, I'd have sued myself for unfair distribution of genetic wealth.
But then, the headache hit. Not a hangover—a Memory Sync.
Images flashed through my brain like a corrupt PowerPoint presentation.
I was in The Solaris Chronicles. A top-tier Otome game famous for its 300+ noble daughters, its convoluted political intrigue, and its habit of killing off side characters in ways that would make a horror director blush.
"Of all games..." I groaned, clutching my silky-ash hair. "Why the one where death flags are more common than commoners? And why him?"
I was Loki Morgenfels.
I searched my brain for his role.
Family: House Morgenfels. Mid-tier nobles.
Role: The "Trash Second Son."
Plot Relevance: About as important as a tutorial pop-up you skip. In most routes, Loki was the guy who got drunk at a banquet and accidentally got executed for "breathing too loudly" near a Heroine.
"Ah," I sighed, looking at my reflection in a nearby silver basin. "The classic. I'm the spare son. The disposable DLC content that nobody bothers to download."
The door to my chambers burst open. A group of nervous-looking servants stood there, led by a man who looked like he had swallowed a lemon and then found out the lemon was also a tax auditor.
My older brother, Edric.
"Still lounging in bed, you pathetic leech?" Edric sneered. He was handsome, but in that 'I kick puppies for fun' kind of way. "Father is waiting. Try not to trip over your own incompetence on the way to the study."
I didn't argue. I just watched his retreating back, my auditor brain already categorizing the situation. Hostile environment. Low job security. High probability of being fired from life.
The family meeting was short. My father, Count Kaelen, sat behind a desk that probably cost more than a village. He didn't even look up from his papers.
"Loki," he said, his voice as cold as a debt collector's heart. "You have no talent for magic. You have no interest in the military. You are a drain on the Morgenfels ledger. As of this moment, you are stripped of your name and your inheritance."
Edric smirked, holding out a tray. On it sat a small, pathetic pouch of gold, a rugged travel cloak, and a formal letter of "independence."
In the game, the original Loki would have cried or begged. But me? I saw the gold and felt a weight lift off my soul. No more noble duties? No more being a target for political assassins?
I stepped forward and bowed with such dramatic, flourishing grace that even the curtains seemed to applaud.
"Thank you, Father! Truly!" I beamed.
The Count finally looked up, blinking in confusion. "...Thank you?"
"For not poisoning me!" I chirped. "Very progressive parenting. Truly ahead of your time. I'll be taking this 'independence' and going now. Don't worry about the door hitting me on the way out—I'll be moving too fast for it to catch me!"
I snatched the gold and the letter, spun on my heel, and marched out before they could change their minds.
The sunlight hit my face as I exited the mansion's gates. The air smelled like freedom and horse manure. Mostly freedom.
"Freedom achieved," I told a passing bird. "Also homelessness. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be."
I caught my reflection in the window of a passing carriage. My silver-ash hair caught the light perfectly. Even in a dusty travel cloak, I looked like a fallen angel who had just decided to take a gap year.
"If I'm going to die in this game," I muttered, adjusting my collar to show just the right amount of collarbone, "at least I'll die hot."
As I walked down the main road, a carriage carrying a young noble lady slowed down. She leaned out the window, her eyes widening as they landed on me. She blushed a shade of red that suggested her corset was either too tight or I was just that much of a visual hazard.
I froze.
Inner monologue: Did I just trigger a charm stat? I haven't even unlocked my skill tree yet! Is my beauty a passive AOE attack?
I gave her a small, polite nod. She let out a tiny squeak and pulled back inside.
"Note to self," I whispered. "Your face is a weapon. Use it responsibly. Or use it to get free bread."
By the time I reached the edge of the city, my Earth-honed pragmatism had taken over. I didn't want to be the hero. I didn't want to be a villain. I wanted to be rich and invisible.
"The Plan is simple," I told myself, checking the small pouch of gold. "Step one: Avoid the main plot like the plague. Step two: Find a quiet corner of the world. Step three: Open a business. An inn, maybe? Or I could sell enchanted swords. Everyone needs swords in a world this chaotic."
I looked at the map I had swiped from the study. My eyes landed on the Kingdom of Arctheris. It was a bankrupt, crumbling mess.
"Perfect," I smirked. "A kingdom in debt is just an accounting firm waiting to happen. No flags, no heroines, and absolutely no empire nonsense."
I turned toward the distant, dark treeline of the Arctheris Forest. It looked ominous. It looked ruined. It looked like the kind of place where a sensible person would never go.
Naturally, that's where the road went.
I took my first step into the shadows of the ancient trees, unaware that the game's "Main Plot" was currently screaming in frustration as I walked in the exact opposite direction of where I was supposed to be.
"All I wanted was a quiet life," I sighed, as the wind began to howl with a strange, feminine melody. "The world, unfortunately, had purchased the chaos expansion pack."