The void pressed in from all sides, a suffocating blanket of non-sensation, before it shattered like cheap glass.
Zhen Wei's consciousness crashed back into reality with the force of a physical blow. A spike of pure, unadulterated agony lanced through his skull, followed by the cloying scent of cheap medicinal wine and something else… a faint, coppery tang. Blood.
His blood.
He tried to push himself up, but his arms felt like lead weights, his fingers clumsy and alien. His gaze swam into focus, taking in a room that was both familiar and terrifyingly wrong. Polished dark wood floors. Screens painted with cranes and misty mountains. A low lacquered table, and beside it, a shattered ceramic jug, its dark contents staining the floor.
*This is the master's chamber in the Silent Moon Sect,* a part of his mind supplied, cold and detached. *From 'Eternal Path of the Azure Dragon.'*
The knowledge hit him like a physical strike, a wave of disjointed memories flooding his senses that weren't his own. The sting of a palm strike across the face. The contempt in a young man's eyes, eyes that burned with the righteous fire of a protagonist. The humbling, public dismissal. The retreat, back to this sect, this room, this… life.
His life now.
"Son of a bitch," Zhen Wei rasped, the words tearing at a throat that felt raw. His voice was wrong too. Deeper. More… arrogant. He stumbled to a bronze mirror hanging on the wall, and the face that stared back made his stomach turn.
It was a handsome face, cruelly so. Sharp, aristocratic features, eyes that held a permanent sneer, and long, black hair tied back with a simple silver clasp. The face of Zhen Wei. Not the Zhen Wei who had spent a thousand hours grinding in 'Eternal Path,' but the Zhen Wei. The minor villain. The first boss. The stepping stone.
He remembered the forum posts. The wiki entries. *'Zhen Wei, Master of the Silent Moon Sect. A mediocre cultivator in the 3rd stage of core formation, notable only for his immense pride and three exceptionally talented disciples. He is the first antagonist to be 'dealt with' by the protagonist, Lin Fan, after a public humiliation at the Azure Cloud Grand Tournament. His death serves to establish Lin Fan's ruthless efficiency and pave the way for the recruitment of his disciples into the protagonist's ever-growing harem.'*
Harem.
The word echoed in the newfound silence of the room, a death knell. He had three disciples. Three world-class beauties, each a tragic backstory and a powerful bloodline waiting to be unlocked by the protagonist's heavenly luck and… other talents.
There was Lan Xue, the white-haired ice queen. Her family, a clan of ice-aspected cultivators, had been annihilated. He, the original Zhen Wei, had 'saved' her only to treat her with cold indifference, a living trophy of his 'mercy'.
There was Mei Hua, the purple-haired vixen. A Nine-Tailed Fox kin, cast out for her 'demonic' lineage. He'd taken her in, but her memories were filled with his lecherous gazes and veiled threats, a master who saw her as a prize to be won, not a person to be taught.
And then there was Long Xi, the green-haired dragon girl. The last of her branch of the Azure Dragon clan, fiery and proud, yet bound to a sect she despised and a master she hated. He knew from the game's lore that the original Zhen Wei had broken her spirit through cruel, relentless training, seeking to forge her into a perfect weapon for his own glory.
Three stunning, powerful women. And all of them despised him. Not just disliked, but *hated* him with the passion of a thousand burning suns. And in a few months, when Lin Fan's story truly began, they would watch him be cut down without a shred of remorse, before falling head over heels for the charismatic protagonist who had 'freed' them.
"Fodder crop," Zhen Wei whispered, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the table. "I'm the goddamn fodder crop."
The original Zhen from the modern world loved this three beauties especially Lan Xue she was his goddess, he loved her 3D crush with the passion as deep as the abyss.
He know was reincarnated into the body of the character he despised the most "how could this be why wasn't I transmigrated into the body of the Protagonist who would later get this legendary beauties but instead in the body of this waste of a man"
"At least send me the legendary golden finger that every transmigrator receives."
A sudden, piercing chime rang out not in his ears, but directly in his mind.
─[Ding! Heavenly Cheat System has detected host's extreme dissatisfaction with current circumstances and impending tragic demise! System activation initiated.]
A translucent blue screen flickered into existence before his eyes, floating in the air like an ethereal scroll.
┌--------------------------------------------------┐
│ HEAVENLY CHEAT SYSTEM │
│--------------------------------------------------│
│ Host: Zhen Wei │
│ Cultivation: core Formation (Stage 3 of 9) │
│ Sect: Silent Moon Sect │
│ Status: Disgraced Master / Villainous Fodder │
│ │
│ MISSION: Survive! │
│ OBJECTIVE: Gain the trust of your disciples. │
│ FIRST STEP: Resolve the immediate │
│ crisis. │
│ │
│ [Newbie Starter Pack Available] │
└--------------------------------------------------┘
Zhen Wei stared, his mind reeling. A system. A literal, game-like system. It was the most cliché, overused trope in the genre, but right now, it felt like a lifeline thrown into the abyss.
Before he could even process it, a sharp, cold voice cut through the heavy door, laced with impatience and disdain.
"Master. The elder council demands your presence. They wish to discuss your… embarrassing display at the tournament and its impact on the sect's reputation."
Lan Xue.
He could picture her perfectly: Standing ramrod straight outside, her face a mask of frozen fury, her white hair like a cascade of moonlight. She wasn't just calling him to a scolding; she was relishing it. This was the beginning of the end, the first crack in the dam before the flood of Lin Fan's arrival.
The system screen shimmered, new text appearing.
┌--------------------------------------------------┐
│ HEAVENLY CHEAT SYSTEM │
│--------------------------------------------------│
│ QUEST ALERT: The Frost's Judgment │
│ │
│ Lan Xue's hatred towards you is immense. │
│ Her respect is at rock bottom. │
│ Responding with your typical arrogance will │
│ further decrease her opinion and trigger a │
│ 'Humiliation' flag. │
│ │
│ OPTIONS: │
│ [A] Respond with typical arrogance. │
│ *Reward: None. Penalty: -100 Favorability with │
│ Lan Xue. Humiliation Flag Activated.* │
│ │
│ [B] Acknowledge your failure calmly. │
│ *Reward: +5 Favorability with Lan Xue. │
│ Unlocks potential dialogue path.* │
│ │
│ [C] Open the Newbie Starter Pack before responding. │
│ *System recommends this course of action.* │
└--------------------------------------------------┘
His old instincts, the gamer's mind, screamed at him. Always take the mystery box! Always check the inventory before a boss fight! He took a mental breath, centering himself.
"System," he muttered, the words feeling strange in this villain's body. "Open Newbie Starter Pack."
─[Ding! Newbie Starter Pack opened!]
─[You have received: x1 Qi Condensation Pill (Mid-Grade), x1 Soul Cleansing Elixir, x1 Comprehension Talisman (1 Hour), x1 Skill: 'Mindful Words'. x2 nascent soul imitation card.]
Information flooded his mind.
Qi Condensation Pill: Straightforward enough. A solid boost to his pitiful cultivation.
Soul Cleansing Elixir: His breath hitched. This was a rare item in the game, capable of mending spiritual traumas and purifying one's consciousness. It could smooth over the chaotic spiritual energies left by the fusion of his and the original Zhen Wei's souls.
Comprehension Talisman: One hour of perfect understanding. Any technique, any manual, any text. Invaluable.
And then there was the skill. 'Mindful Words.' The description was simple but profound.