The last thing Lucian remembered was the screech of tires and the blinding flash of headlights.
He had been hunched over his phone in the passenger seat of his friend's old sedan, thumb scrolling furiously through the final chapter of Dominator of Noxthera — the trashy, addictive web novel that had consumed the last three months of his miserable 24-year-old life. The protagonist was about to claim his tenth harem member and absorb the final System Fragment when the truck ran the red light.
Metal screamed. Glass exploded. Pain lanced through his chest like white-hot fire.
Then… nothing.
No tunnel of light. No voice of God. Just darkness so complete it felt like being erased.
Until the pain returned — different this time.
It wasn't the sharp agony of broken bones. It was a deep, throbbing pressure behind his eyes, as if his skull was being stretched from the inside. His lungs burned. His heart hammered against ribs that felt both familiar and wrong.
Lucian's eyes snapped open.
He was lying on a massive four-poster bed draped in deep crimson velvet embroidered with golden sun motifs. Sunlight streamed through tall arched windows framed by heavy brocade curtains. The air smelled of polished oak, fresh lilies, and something sharper — like ozone after a lightning strike. Energy. Raw, living energy hummed in the atmosphere itself.
This was not his cramped studio apartment in Seoul.
This was… the Vale family mansion.
The realization hit him like a second truck.
"I'm… inside the novel."
His voice came out hoarse, younger, smoother than he remembered. He sat up slowly, heart racing, and looked down at his hands. Slender yet strong fingers. Pale skin. A faint scar across the left palm that he had never possessed in his old life.
He was Lucian Vale. Eighteen years old. Adopted son of the minor noble House Vale in the Human Continent of Valerion.
And he remembered everything.
Every plot point. Every betrayal. Every death flag. Every single one of the five destined fragments that the original five protagonists were supposed to claim and use to become the new gods of Noxthera.
He had read the entire 1,200-chapter monstrosity twice. He knew how the story ended — with the original protagonists dividing the world between them while the side character Lucian Vale died a pathetic death in a back-alley dungeon at chapter 347.
Not anymore.
Lucian swung his legs off the bed. The marble floor was cool beneath his bare feet. He walked to the full-length mirror framed in gilded wood and stared at the reflection.
Tall for his age. Lean but athletic build honed by years of mandatory academy training he hadn't yet lived through in this body. Sharp jawline, straight black hair falling to his shoulders, and eyes — dark violet with a faint golden ring around the pupils. The mark of someone touched by Devour Energy.
He smiled.
It wasn't a kind smile.
"Perfect," he whispered. "Absolutely perfect."
A soft chime echoed inside his mind.
[Welcome, Heir of Vale. System synchronization complete.]
A translucent blue window materialized in front of his eyes — visible only to him.
Name: Lucian Vale
Age: 18
Level: 3
Race: Human
Energy Type: Devour (Unique)
Core Rank: Normal (Evolvable)
Strength: 12
Speed: 14
Defense: 11
Mental Power: 28
Skills:
Desire Sense (Passive) – Lv.1
Basic Sword Arts – Lv.2
Special Trait:
Perfect Devour Affinity
Zero rejection on any core or fragment absorption.
300% increased energy gain.
Hidden evolution path unlocked.
Lucian's breath caught.
In the original novel, the side character Lucian Vale had awakened with a trash-tier "Minor Fire Affinity" and died because he couldn't absorb high-grade cores. This… this was the cheat he had prayed for while reading.
He could take everything.
The five fragments.
The power.
The girls who were supposed to belong to the original protagonists.
And he would.
Three goals crystallized in his mind with icy clarity:
Survive every death flag the original plot had prepared for him.
Steal every single one of the five destined fragments before the other protagonists even knew they existed.
Build a harem so absolute, so loyal, and so powerful that no force in Noxthera — not the Five Families, not the Demon Emperor, not even the primordial goddesses themselves — could ever take it from him.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
"Young Master Lucian? Breakfast is ready. Lady Mei Lin and the young misses are waiting."
The voice was gentle, respectful, and carried the faintest tremble of excitement.
Lucian recognized it immediately.
Lyra Vane. The head maid's daughter. Nineteen years old. Quiet, dutiful, and — according to the novel's side stories — secretly obsessed with the original Lucian Vale since childhood. In the old plot she had died protecting him in chapter 289.
Not this time.
Lucian smoothed his expression into the gentle, slightly aloof smile the original Lucian had always worn.
"Enter."
The door opened.
Lyra stepped inside carrying a silver tray. She wore the standard Vale family maid uniform — crisp white blouse, black skirt, and a delicate silver hairpin holding back her long silver-grey hair. Her emerald eyes flicked up to meet his for a fraction of a second before dropping respectfully.
Even that tiny glance carried heat.
Lucian felt the Lustful Fragment — already quietly active inside his core — stir. It whispered possibilities. Strategies. Ways to turn loyalty into something far deeper.
He smiled wider.
"Good morning, Lyra."
She blushed faintly, ears turning pink.
"Good morning, Young Master. Lady Mei Lin asked me to remind you that the carriage for the academy will arrive in two hours."
Lucian walked closer, deliberately slow. The morning light caught the faint golden ring in his violet eyes.
"Two hours," he repeated softly. "Plenty of time."
He reached out and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Lyra's breath hitched.
Inside Lucian's mind, the black-bellied schemer smiled.
First step: secure the people closest to me.
Second step: the academy.
Third step…
His gaze drifted toward the window, where the distant spires of Valerion Royal Academy rose against the morning sky like spears aimed at heaven.
Everything.
He turned back to Lyra, voice warm and gentle on the surface.
"Would you stay a moment longer? There are… a few things I wish to discuss before breakfast."
Lyra's emerald eyes widened slightly, but she bowed gracefully, cheeks still flushed.
"As you wish, Young Master."
Lucian sat back down on the edge of the bed, folding his hands.
The reader from Earth was gone.
In his place stood the future Sovereign of Noxthera — calm, calculating, and already three steps ahead of a world that had no idea what was coming.
Outside, the energy of Noxthera hummed louder, as if the living planet itself sensed the arrival of something new.
Something hungry.