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.

I'd heard this feedback before. I knew it. That's why I needed Merle.


As the class continued, I stood on the sidelines, my eyes scanning the other students.


Even in the original game, the identity of the serial killer was a mystery until the final reveal. There was no mention of which class she was in.


"Hand on your conscience, were you really listening?"


I got chewed out again by Samantha for daydreaming.


I packed up my rifle case in the classroom. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the desks.


"Wait a moment. I need to talk, Cadet Lucien."


And behind him stood Celestia, Elisha, Bordon, and Mariella.


The full "Protagonist Party." The Avengers of the Academy.


Chapter 128 - A variable