Mandy let out a long sigh as he looked at the chaotic mess that the training hall had become.
Splintered wood, shredded straw, and cloth stuffing were scattered across the floor like battlefield debris.
The constant sound of slicing still filled the air, a rhythmic shhk… shhk… shhk that made Mandy flinch with every swing.
The wreckage was impressive enough to intimidate even seasoned knights, but to Mandy, this was simply another Tuesday.
His master was training again or maybe it was more accurate to say he was taking out his emotional issues on defenseless training dummies.
His gaze landed on the cause of the destruction.
Ren Crowhurst, a very handsome young man with damp blue hair and eyes burning with the intensity of someone trying to murder their problems, moving like a sharpened blade himself.
His sword cut through the air with precision and every motion was fueled by discipline.
His physical build was enough to make half the Empire's knights jealous… lean muscles across his arms and core and footwork that outclassed even seasoned veterans.
Mandy often thought that if raw handsomeness and murderous talent had a child, it would look exactly like his master.
Ren was a prodigy.
A natural with the sword, gifted with an overpowered magic affinity, admired by women, praised by nobles, feared by enemies yet despite all his accomplishments, he lived in the shadow of one person: Jace Hayes, the Hero chosen by prophecy, fate, and apparently the entire universe.
No matter how hard Ren trained, Jace stayed one step ahead and after last week's humiliating defeat… right in front of the Saintess, the one girl Ren had actually bothered to like.
Ren's inferiority complex had reached record-breaking levels.
"Master… Don't you think you need to calm down?" Mandy asked tentatively. He already knew the answer. Ren didn't even know what calming down meant.
But before Mandy could mentally prepare to dodge a flying sword, Ren suddenly froze mid-swing. His blade stopped an inch from the final training dummy and his entire body turned rigid like a statue.
"Huh…?" Mandy whispered.
Ren did not respond.
…
Jordan blinked as clarity returned to him.
His new reality snapped into focus all at once… it was a training hall with shredded dummies on the ground, and a sword in his hand. He could feel his muscles aching.
He lifted his arm, flexed his fingers around the hilt, and sighed.
'Great,' he thought. 'Now I'm in the body of this maniac.'
It wasn't that he disliked Ren Crowhurst. More like… he sympathized.
Ren was a douchebag with a superiority complex, sure, but he was also someone who'd gotten his crush stolen by a man covered in plot armor.
Jordan couldn't blame him for going slightly insane over it. If anything, it made the transition into Ren's body feel strangely comforting.
For once, he wasn't the loser with a dripping sink and no future. He was someone powerful and someone feared too.
And most importantly… he was someone with abs.
Then the memories hit, they weren't painful like novels described. More like a wave of clarity washing over him.
He suddenly knew how Ren fought, how he trained, his schedule, his grudges, his magic affinity, the names and ranks of nobles, even the exact moment the Hero humiliated him last week.
They had merged perfectly… Jordan was Ren and Ren was Jordan but strangely, it didn't frighten him.
He exhaled slowly, letting the sensation settle.
'This… actually feels nice,' he admitted internally. 'I have power, status, muscles and women who at least know I exist.'
Most importantly, he was no longer the guy whose landlord was one missed bill away from kicking him into the street.
His eyes drifted to Mandy, who was frozen in panic near the wall. Ren would have insulted him without hesitation.
That was just what Ren did… throw the word "peasant" around like seasoning.
Ren opened his mouth out of habit. "Get me a bottle of water, you pea—"
He stopped himself.
Wait. How could he call someone a peasant when Mandy's living situation was better than Jordan's old apartment?
The guy had a full salary, a room in the estate, and access to functional plumbing. Compared to Mandy, Jordan had been living like an NPC in a poverty simulator.
"Master, I actually have one here—" Mandy started timidly.
"Get me one that's cold," Jordan corrected, waving him off. "Cold."
"Yes, Master!" Mandy bowed and bolted out of the hall, relieved his master wasn't in one of his "throw the sword at the wall and yell about destiny" moods.
Jordan dropped onto a bench with a groan.
His new body was fit, but his soul still carried the fatigue of a depressed Earth man. He rubbed his forehead. "Alright… what did that guy say again? Right... System."
He muttered the word softly.
A blue translucent screen materialized instantly in front of him.
『System Initializing…』
Jordan almost smiled.
Finally… something familiar, A System was something he'd seen in countless novels and games..
'Great,' he thought. 'I finally get an advantage like every other reincarnated MC.'
Then another message popped up.
『For complete initialization, all Earthly desires must be abandoned.』
『The 「Almighty Supreme God of Games」 demands all your Earth money in exchange for the System.』
『Y / N』
Jordan stared at the glowing confirmation prompt in disbelief. "…Is this bitch serious?"
He resisted the urge to yell.
'Fucking scammer! What Earth money?! The few dollars I had left? The coins under my couch? What is he going to do? Start a divine lemonade stand?'
Still, he hit "Y."
The screen pulsed and turned purple and a voice sounded from it… loud and annoyingly familiar.
『Ahem. If you're hearing this, that means you've successfully made it into the world of The Protagonist's POV. Congratulations on not dying along the way.』
Jordan internally rolled his eyes. 'You better explain this System properly…'
The voice continued.
『And now, I will explain your System so you won't complain and say I ripped you off—』
Jordan leaned forward.
Finally.
『Actually, nevermind. Figure it out yourself, you fucking Earthling.』
"…Excuse me?"
The echo faded instantly, leaving Jordan staring at the screen in murderous disbelief.
Was this god being racist? Against mortals? Was this… godism?
Jordan rubbed his temples. "Of course. Of course he would do this. Why explain something properly when you can gaslight a newly reincarnated soul?"
He opened the System tab manually and immediately whistled.
"Oh hell yeah… this is stacked."
The door creaked open. "Master, I brought your wat—"
"Stay outside for now," Jordan said firmly, not even looking up. "I'm checking something and don't dare look inside."
Mandy squeaked, nodded rapidly, and closed the door so fast the walls shook.
'Now let's see what we're working with.'
『The Protagonist Crusher System v53.1 has two modes』
『Affection Mode: This will automatically activate when you're in the presence of Heroines or females in general. With this, you can read their Affection points toward you.』
『Note: When Affection Points reach 100, a Heart will be created. Once a female has a Heart, it becomes very difficult for her to lose those feelings. Hearts can stack.』
『Combat Mode: Your regular System stuff…』
『Ding』
『You have received a Minor Mission』
Jordan read through the floating screens with his brows slowly rising.
He felt like one of those overpowered protagonists equipped with a full hentai-tier affection scanner… a portable cheat device that could read what women wanted, how close they were to falling, and exactly how badly he messed up with a wrong sentence.
It was basically emotional hacking.
'With this, I can know if I made progress or if I ruined my chances,' he thought. 'And on top of that, a regular combat system… I wonder what the complete uses are.'
He tapped the mission tab. It unfolded smoothly like obedient magical origami.
『Mission has been accepted』
He blinked. "I didn't accept it though?"
『Minor Mission: Open your Status Tab』
『Reward: None』
『Assigned by the 「Honored Venerable God of Games」』
Jordan stared at that part with a deadpan expression.
'Is bro glazing himself in my system?'
Seriously… not only did the God of Games shove his divine fingerprints everywhere, but he was awarding himself fancy titles in mission descriptions.
Then again… that shameless, condescending god was technically his employer now. Jordan reluctantly accepted that fact.
A man needed to keep his job, even if the boss was a divine clown in a colorful suit.
『Say or Think "Status" to open the Status Tab』
"Status."
Jordan muttered the word out loud, because whispering it mentally felt like a waste of the moment.
Saying "Status" out loud was a rite of passage, it was one of the whole reasons people wanted systems in the first place.
A glowing blue window unfolded in front of him.
『STATUS WINDOW』
『 Name: Ren Crowhurst 』
『 Age: 18 』
『 Race: Human 』
『 Class: Sword Prodigy (Rank 2)』
『 Role: Main Villain 』
『 Titles: Prodigy of Crowhurst, Second Star of the Empire 』
『 MAGIC AFFINITIES 』
『 Starfire: S 』
『 Lightning: A 』
『 STATS 』
『 Strength: 55 』
『 Agility: 68 』
『 Endurance: 80 』
『 Mana Capacity: 536 』
『 Mana Control: 100 』
『 Perception: 69 』
『 Intelligence: 58 』
『 Willpower: 80 』
『 Charm: 100 』
『 SKILLS 』
『 Arcane Blade Arts (S): High-speed swordsmanship fused with mana. Greatly increases attack power. 』
『 Starfire Blast (A): Allows the host to release white-hot flames capable of melting even the strongest alloy. 』
『 Blade Resonance (A): Synchronizes mana with the weapon, boosting sharpness and accuracy. 』
『 Lightning Cover (B): Grants near-invisibility in rain. Best used during storms. 』
『 Hero-Killer Mentality (B Passive / New): Boosts focus and aggression when facing Heroes or Heroines.』
『 Fatebreaker (EX / New): Completely nullifies Protagonist Plot Armor. Allows events to deviate from destiny. 』…
Jordan stared at the glowing status window for a good five seconds before his internal monologue exploded.
'What the absolute fuck?!'
He genuinely had to take a moment to process the absurdity of the numbers.
'What was Ren ON? This guy's stats are god-level for someone with a Rank 2 class… Strength fifty-five? That's fine. Mana capacity five hundred and thirty six?! Is that even legal?! Charm one hundred?! WHY? How? Was he secretly bathing in love potions?!'
He could finally understand why so few people could stand toe-to-toe with Ren in the original novel.
Ren wasn't just a villain, he was a full-blown mini-boss, a walking cheat code... hell he was a prodigy with all the talent in the world and all the personality of a spoiled lemon.
The most ridiculous part was his affinities. Rare Lightning Affinity and a Rarer Starfire Affinity… a cosmic flame so hot it could melt almost anything if held long enough.
And yet, despite all this raw potential…
'Still, he's not much to talk about in the skills section,' Jordan thought with a sigh. All this magic, all these stats… and Ren barely had spells.
His combat style in the novel was basically "hit things hard with sword and ego." A waste of talent so severe it was criminal… but it did help in farming aura.
『You have completed the Minor Mission』
『You have received a new mission』
Jordan closed the Status Window and tapped open the new mission tab.
『Minor Mission: Meet a woman to access Affection Features』
『Reward: None』
『Assigned by the 「Honored Venerable God of Games」』
Jordan inhaled slowly through his nose.
"Okay… okay…" he murmured to himself, rising from the training bench. "Meet a woman, that should be easy. It's a mansion so there's women everywhere."
He walked to the door and swung it open to find Mandy standing there like a timid puppy, holding the bottle of water out with both hands like he was presenting treasure to a dragon.
Jordan took it, twisted off the cap, and drank like a dehydrated camel. Cold water was an absolute blessing, it was simply heaven-tier hydration.
His throat felt refreshed.
When he finished, he crushed the bottle effortlessly and flicked it toward the trash bin. It soared perfectly and landed with a satisfying clatter among a pile of crushed water bottles.
Mandy's jaw dropped.
Jordan blinked at him before speaking. "Pe… Mandy."
The correction startled the butler. "Master?"
"Clean up that training room."
"Yes!"
Jordan turned away. Behind him, Mandy stared at his master's retreating back with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"…He called me by my name…"
Jordan didn't hear it, but even if he did, he wouldn't have had time to unpack Mandy's emotional meltdown.
He was already walking through the winding mansion hallways in search of a woman to fulfill his system quest.
Where were all the housemaids when he needed them? Usually, they swarmed the corridors like terrified bees but right now? It was completely empty.
'I might have to visit Ren's sister downstairs,' he thought reluctantly. In the original memories, she was always around this floor at this hour, drawing or sneaking around with her sketchbook.
Ren used to torment her regularly… steal her drawings, tease her, and mock her interests so she probably hated him.
"Well whatever… I didn't come to fix family ties," he decided. Although… a convenient female presence was a convenient female presence.
When he reached the end of the hallway, he found her.
A small-framed girl with matching blue hair and gold eyes, wearing a neat noble dress. At first she didn't notice him, humming softly while staring at her sketchpad as she walked then she looked up.
Their gazes met.
She froze instantly, shrinking back like she had seen a hungry monster.
『Minor Mission Complete』
『Affection Mode Loading…』