The smell of ozone and burning circuitry was the last thing Kaelen Thorne remembered before the world turned into a kaleidoscope of screaming pixels.
Then came the silence. A cold, heavy silence that felt like being submerged in deep water.
"System synchronization... 98%... 99%... Complete."
The voice wasn't human. It was a rhythmic, melodic chime that vibrated inside his skull. Kaelen opened his eyes, expecting the charred remains of his gaming rig. Instead, he found himself staring at a ceiling covered in gold leaf and intricate, moving constellations.
He tried to sit up, but his body felt leaden, as if his muscles were made of cooling iron. His hands—pale, slender, and unscarred—gripped silk sheets that cost more than his entire apartment back in the "real" world.
"Where...?"
His voice was different. Deeper. Smoother. It carried a natural edge of command that made his own skin crawl.
Memory hit him like a freight train. He wasn't just Kaelen Thorne, the world-ranked speedrunner of Aethelgard: The Last Echo. He was looking at the hands of Kaelen von Astora.
The High Prince of the Shadow Realm. The prodigy of the Dark Arts. And the first "Major Boss" who gets his head lopped off by the Hero in Chapter 14.
"You've got to be kidding me," Kaelen muttered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
He caught his reflection in a floor-to-length mirror made of polished obsidian. The man staring back was breathtakingly handsome in a way that felt dangerous. Sharp cheekbones, midnight-black hair, and eyes the color of a dying star—a swirling, glowing violet.
This was the Final Villain. Or at least, the man destined to become him. In the game's lore, Kaelen von Astora was a tragic stepping stone. He was arrogant, cruel, and obsessed with a prophecy that eventually led him to sacrifice his own soul, only to be defeated by the "Chosen One" and a ragtag group of friends using the 'Power of Friendship.'
"Status," Kaelen whispered.
A semi-transparent blue screen flickered into existence before his eyes.
[SHADOW SOVEREIGN SYSTEM]
Host: Kaelen von Astora
Role: Designated Villain (Act 1)
Fate Status: [DEATH DESTINED] – 42 Days remaining until 'The Siege of Ravenhold'.
Current Level: 45 (Peak Awakening)
Mana Heart: Corrupted Shadow (Grade: S)
Attributes:
Strength: 38
Agility: 42
Intelligence: 85
Luck: 0.5 (Fixed)
Active Passive: [Villain's Presence] – Increases intimidation by 50%. Decreases charisma with 'Heroic' NPCs by 80%.
Kaelen stared at the Luck: 0.5. It was practically a death sentence. In Aethelgard, Luck didn't just govern loot drops; it governed "Plot Armor." A character with 0.5 Luck was someone who would trip on a stone and accidentally impale themselves on their own sword during a climactic monologue.
"Forty-two days," Kaelen calculated. "Forty-two days until Lucius, the protagonist, gains the 'Blade of Dawn' and comes to this palace to reclaim his 'rightful' heritage."
In the original story, Kaelen would spend the next month taxing the peasants into a revolt and trying to kidnap the Hero's childhood friend. It was a classic, brain-dead villain script.
Not happening, Kaelen thought, his violet eyes narrowing. If I'm the one holding the controller now, the script is going in the trash.
A sharp knock at the heavy oak doors interrupted his thoughts.
"Your Highness? The High Council is waiting. The execution of the border spies is scheduled for noon."
Kaelen recognized the voice. It was Malphas, his loyal captain of the guard—the man who would eventually betray him to the Hero in exchange for a pardon.
"Enter," Kaelen said, testing the weight of the word.
The doors creaked open. Malphas stepped in, clad in jagged black armor. He bowed low, but Kaelen could see the flicker of boredom in the man's eyes. To Malphas, Kaelen was just a spoiled prince playing at being a tyrant.
"The prisoners, Highness. They refuse to speak. Shall we proceed with the soul-drain?"
In the game, this was the choice that locked Kaelen into the "Evil Path." Soul-draining the prisoners gave the player a temporary Mana boost but alerted the Hero's party to your location.
Kaelen stood up, the long silk robe trailing behind him like a shroud of shadows. He walked toward the balcony, looking out over the city of Astora. It was a gothic masterpiece of spires and floating islands, but he could see the rot—the poverty in the lower districts, the inefficiency of the magical ley lines.
"Cancel the execution," Kaelen said coldly.
Malphas froze. "I... beg your pardon, Highness?"
"The spies. Release them to the labor camps in the Northern Vein. We need miners, not corpses. And Malphas?"
"Yes, Highness?"
"Stop wearing that armor. The joints creak. If an assassin wanted to kill me, they'd hear you coming from three hallways away. It's embarrassing."
Malphas blanched, his hand instinctively going to his shoulder plate. "I... I will see to it immediately."
As the captain hurried out, a new notification pinged in Kaelen's vision.
[WARNING: FATE DIVERGENCE DETECTED] You have ignored a 'Villainous Choice'. Fate points are being recalculated... Calculating...
[NEW REWARD UNLOCKED: Knowledge of the Hidden Archive]
A smirk played on Kaelen's lips. He knew exactly what that archive was. It was a secret area developers hid in the game's code—a place containing the "Primordial Shadow Script," a power that didn't rely on the world's mana.
If he couldn't have Plot Armor, he would build a bunker.
He walked over to his desk and picked up a quill. He didn't need to kidnap the Hero's girlfriend. He didn't need to burn villages. To survive, he needed to become so vital to the world's survival that the "System" couldn't afford to let him die.
"Lucius wants to be the Hero of Light?" Kaelen whispered to the empty room, his shadow beginning to detach itself from his feet and crawl up the walls like a living thing. "Fine. Let him have the light. I'll own the darkness that makes the light look bright."
The violet glow in his eyes intensified. He had 42 days to turn a doomed boss into a Sovereign.
"System," Kaelen commanded. "Show me the map of the Forbidden Zone. If I'm going to be the villain, I'm going to be the only one this world actually fears."
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: Path of the Sovereign Initiated. Good luck, Villain.]
Kaelen laughed. It was a cold, dry sound. With 0.5 Luck, he was going to need a lot more than just 'luck' to kill a God.