Lin Chen opened his eyes.
For a brief moment, his mind refused to accept what it was seeing.
The ceiling above him was not the sterile white of a hospital room.
It was too high.
Too vast.
Too expensive.
A crystal chandelier hung overhead, its golden light scattering into soft fractured patterns across the ceiling like flowing liquid glass. The room itself stretched wide and silent—built with a level of luxury that felt almost unreal. Dark mahogany furniture lined the space, polished until it reflected light like water. Thick velvet curtains framed floor-to-ceiling windows, slightly parted to reveal a city skyline glowing beneath the night.
A world of glass towers and distant lights.
A world that belonged to the wealthy.
Lin Chen slowly sat up.
Then froze.
His body moved.
No resistance.
No pain.
No paralysis.
His fingers curled.
His arms lifted.
He swung his legs over the bed—
They responded instantly.
Perfectly.
"…I can move."
His voice came out hoarse, but real.
A sudden surge of emotion hit him so violently it almost left him dizzy.
Excitement.
Disbelief.
Freedom.
After two lifetimes of being trapped in a broken body, he was finally whole again.
His hands clenched tightly.
This feeling… it was almost enough to make him forget everything else.
Almost.
Because before that warmth could settle—
A cold voice echoed directly inside his mind.
Ding.
Lin Chen's entire body stiffened.
Then—
The voice continued.
"Ultimate Villain System activated."
Silence.
No external sound changed.
But Lin Chen felt it instantly.
Something had appeared inside him.
Something unseen.
Something that did not belong.
System.
His breath quickened slightly.
Not fear.
Recognition.
He had read novels before.
Countless ones.
System hosts. Rebirths. Second chances beyond logic.
This was supposed to be the moment everything changed.
A cheat.
A new life.
A path to power.
But then—
One word cut through his excitement like ice.
Villain.
His expression froze.
Slowly, the faint smile forming on his lips disappeared.
A weight settled deep in his chest.
Villain.
That word did not mean hero.
It did not mean survival.
In every story he remembered, it meant one thing only.
Death.
A stepping stone.
A sacrifice.
A role written to lose so others could win.
His fingers tightened unconsciously.
A faint unease crawled up his spine.
Then—
Something clicked in his memory.
Familiarity.
This room.
This building.
The skyline outside.
He had seen it before.
Not in reality.
In a novel.
His breathing slowed.
His eyes sharpened.
Fragments of memory surfaced rapidly.
A young master from a top-tier family.
Wealth beyond reason.
A life of luxury and arrogance.
And—
A future ending in destruction.
Destroyed by protagonists who rose on his downfall.
A villain whose only purpose was to be removed from the story.
Lin Chen's chest tightened.
"…No way."
His voice was barely audible.
Then he asked slowly in his mind.
"System. Is there any way for me to survive?"
A brief pause.
Then the system responded.
"Host exists in a world where multiple novels have merged."
Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Merged?
The system continued.
"Due to host's identity as a Villain-type existence, host is classified as a target of Son's of Luck."
"…Son's of Luck?"
His tone sharpened.
The system answered without emotion.
"Individuals favored by Heaven's Luck System."
"They possess abnormal growth speed, extreme fortune, and narrative protection."
"Their survival probability increases when facing fatal situations."
Lin Chen's expression darkened slightly.
"So they can't be killed easily."
"Correct."
A cold silence filled the room.
Lin Chen exhaled slowly.
Then asked the real question.
"So how do I survive them?"
The system paused.
Then answered.
"Plunder their Luck.""Interrupt their opportunities.""Seize their destined heroines."
Silence.
Lin Chen slowly leaned back on the bed.
His mind began processing rapidly.
Plunder luck.
Steal opportunities.
Take what was originally theirs.
It wasn't a system for saving the world.
It was a system for breaking it.
For rewriting fate through force.
A faint smile slowly returned to his lips.
Not warm.
Not kind.
Something sharper.
More controlled.
"…So that's how it is."
He sat up fully.
Then spoke clearly.
"System. Open status panel."
A translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Ultimate Villain System ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Host: Lin Chen
Strength: 68 (Average human: 100)
Charm: 187 (Average human: 100)
Endurance: 37 (Average human: 100)
Condition: Kidney Deficiency
Villain Points: 0
Villain Halo: 100
Skills: None
Inventory: None
Lin Chen stared at the screen.
His eyes stopped at the last line.
For a moment—
The entire room went silent.
Then slowly—
"…Kidney deficiency?"
A beat.
His face darkened.
"…System."
"…Explain."
The system did not answer immediately.
Instead—
A faint distortion rippled through Lin Chen's mind.
Then a second notification appeared.
"Initial data scan complete."
"Body condition: incomplete recovery due to forced timeline reconstruction."
"Side effect: physiological imbalance detected."
Lin Chen's expression stiffened.
"…So it's a side effect."
"Correction: necessary compensation for soul transfer stabilization."
A long silence followed.
Lin Chen rubbed his forehead slowly.
"…Fine."
He accepted it.
For now.
Because something more important had already formed in his mind.
Survival wasn't enough.
Not anymore.
If this was a world where protagonists ruled fate…
Then he would take fate itself apart.
Piece by piece.
A faint light flickered in his eyes.
Then—
Ding.
A new notification appeared.
"First Main Quest Generated."
Lin Chen's eyes sharpened instantly.
"…Already?"
The system's voice turned slightly different.
Colder.
More deliberate.
"Target identified."
A pause.
Then—
"Son of Luck detected nearby."
Lin Chen froze.
His gaze slowly lifted toward the window.
Outside—
Neon lights flickered across the skyline.
But somewhere in that endless city…
Something had already noticed him.
Something was already moving toward him.
And then the system delivered the final line.
"Survival Rule One: When a Son of Luck discovers you…the story has already begun."
Lin Chen slowly stood up.
His expression had completely changed now.
No confusion.
No hesitation.
Only calm awareness.
A predator realizing the hunt had already started.
He walked toward the window and looked down at the city below.
Somewhere out there—
His first enemy was already waking up.
And he didn't even know it yet.
"If I am destined to be the villain…"
"Then I will make sure this world has no protagonist left to stand above me."