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.

The simulation dissolved into motes of light, and the opulent reality of the Imperial Banquet Hall reasserted itself.


The magical screens faded, replaced by the glittering crystal chandeliers. The smell of blood and ozone was gone, replaced by the scent of expensive perfume and roasted duck.


For a moment, there was silence. Then—


It started as a ripple and grew into a tsunami.


The nobles were chanting his name. The footage of the final "Sunfall"—the golden beam that had obliterated the Undead Warlord—was replaying on the massive screens above the dais. It was the perfect propaganda piece: the Golden Prince saving the world from darkness.


I quickly stepped off the teleportation platform, blending into the crowd of other returning participants. My Shadow-Weave Suit retracted its helmet, the nanoweave fiber folding neatly into the collar, revealing my face.


Chapter 123 - Rewards