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.

One of Infernus's regional commanders. A fanatic who believed pain was the only path to salvation. A mid-game boss who usually required a full raid party to take down.


He turned as we entered, a polite, serene smile on his face.


"Welcome, guests," he said, his voice smooth as silk, echoing strangely in the large hall. "You are just in time for the birth."


Behind him, the rift widened with a wet tearing sound.


A claw—black, scaled, and dripping with void sludge—hooked onto the edge of reality.


A sound that wasn't of this world leaked out, causing the glass in the windows to crack.


I raised the shotgun, leveling it at Silas's chest.


"Sorry," I said, racking the bolt. Clack-clack.


Celestia's eyes widened at the vulgarity, but I didn't give anyone time to process it.


A Frag-12 Explosive Slug flew across the room.


Chapter 79 - Imps