Looking at the big crowd of nobles surrounding him, there was no doubt—this was too realistic to be a dream. He had been thrown straight into the cringiest novel series he once devoured as a lonely teenager, the holy land of every alpha-hole romance ever written.
But he was so addicted that he used his savings to buy the physical copies of the series. Much to his indignation, he was smacked in the middle of it, trapped between the breathtakingly beautiful female lead and the walking red flag of a male lead, whose glare alone could set fire to an orphanage. The pressure was suffocating.
All eyes were on him. His heart screamed, RUN! But his brain, ever the overthinker, whispered, Wait, let's analyze first—
"Why do you look so shocked? Has it finally occurred to you that this is outright dishonor? And at my very return celebration!"
The man, who he could only assume was Grand Duke Aldren, the thrill-seeking warlord with a deep, profound love for weak-looking things, practically snarled at him. Ah. Right. He knew this scene. This was the infamous banquet—the one Aldren threw after returning from war.
And to really spice things up, he invited Elira to his grand banquet. Even though Elira was just a young maid from the Silverheart house, she was here as a guest. And what got Lucien, the third-rate villain, to target her? Just the perfect moment for her shining knight to show up. And yes. Lucien was Aldren's little brother. A villain.
'Oh. Oh, shit.'
His blood ran cold. His vision swam. The guests were starting to look concerned. Okay, so I have two options, he thought. The first one would be to stay and figure this out like a responsible adult. The second one—
He bolted.
"Sorry!"
"Oof—uh, sorry!"
He zigzagged through the crowd. Now he fully understood the suffering of every historical character who had ever gasped.
"I can't breathe in this crowd!"
First of all, HOW could I NOT run?! This is too much! Overload! ABORT MISSION!
At last, he burst out of the place and into the cool night air. The moon peeked from behind the clouds, casting an eerie glow over the courtyard. He spotted a fountain—his salvation—and sprinted toward it.
Panting, he leaned over and stared at the water's surface. Straight gray hair. Eyes like obsidian. A pale face, sharp and silent—noble, yet unsettling, noble intensity...
His stomach dropped. "FCK!" he yelled, making a nearby owl take flight in terror. "I really did get transmigrated into the novel—and not just that—as a fcking third-rate VILLAIN?!"
Lurien Silverheart. He was The ultimate loser villain of the entire cringe-fest novel series.. Thought to be just a supporting character whose relationship with the future Duke was instantly broken off in the first book, only to be revealed as the mastermind behind all the nauseating love encounters and all the misunderstandings between MCs. Yes, a loser whose main goal was to kill every relationship he saw. He never loved someone—just held mere hatred toward everyone. It was a plot twist only a 15-year-old could think of, but what can you expect of a smut novel? Authors these days are so freaky…
And then, the author vanished, never explaining why Lucien's head was just like that in the first place. Classic. Now... what exactly did Lucien do again? Let me try to remember it—aka why I'm screwed...
"Stole the heroine's engagement ring and replaced it with a cursed one that made her fall for the WRONG man."
"Pushed a heroine into a fountain, then dramatically gaslit everyone into thinking she was the victim."
"Sent love letters to the male leads in the heroines' names—causing a full-blown duel where two Dukes almost killed each other."
"Poisoned a tea party."
"Kidnapped a heroine for fun—and forgot about her for three days."
"Manipulated a heroine into thinking the male lead was cheating—just to spice things up."
"Seduced a Saintess just to make the Bishop cry."
...Okay, since it was a women's novel, probably he targeted mainly the heroines. But this was not just any villain's role. This was the Olympics of villainy. And he was Lucien.
"Oh, I am so dead. "Well, there was always the foolproof option. Running away. And not just any kind of running away. Running away so hard that even the plot itself couldn't catch him.
First, I need to cut the relationship with the Silverheart house. Being tied up to where two main characters are is a sentence of death.
Then I need to secure some money. Gold, jewels, offshore accounts—anything that would keep him from eating dirt. And being part of the Silverheart house right now was useful.
Then I'll cut off all contact. No letters. No messengers. No dramatic shit. He'd be a ghost. A legend. A man who yeeted himself out of the plot entirely.
But just as he was hyping himself up for the Villain's Escape Plan, a cold, mechanical ding! echoed in his mind.
[System Scanning... System Scanning...]
[WARNING!]
[A major error in the plot detected.]
[A critical event is unfolding. Irreversible consequences imminent.]
[Resolution: Elimination.]
[Return to the event area within 10 minutes to avoid triggering a death sentence.]
[Penalty:
Temporary Curse Applied: Chillbind Curse (Movement -50%)
Temporary Curse Applied: Obscured Vision (Vision -70%)]
What…What kind of medieval MLM system was this?!Who wrote these rules?! And why was he being nerfed like an NPC with bad RNG?!
His eyes darted back toward the ballroom. He had 10 minutes before the Grim Reaper personally escorted him off the stage.
...Yeah, no. Running away later. Right now, he needed to survive.
With his pride shattered, his dignity bruised, and his limbs suffering from some unknown cold, Lucien stumbled his way back toward the ballroom. The Chillbind curse froze his lungs so tight he swore he could hear his ribs begging for mercy.
Every step in these Regency Slippers of Doom felt like he was walking on betrayal itself—thin soles, slippery fabric, and a 50% movement curse that was clearly more like 90%.
As he neared the grand ballroom doors, his foot wobbled, his ankle gave out, and—thud! He barely caught himself against a poor, innocent column before collapsing into full Regency-era disgrace.
"This is just so absurd..."The guards stationed at the entrance winced. A noblewoman gasped, fanning herself dramatically, while a servant girl looked away in secondhand embarrassment. Even the chandelier seemed to judge him.
Steeling himself, he forced his way inside. And then—silence.
All eyes snapped to him the second he entered. Hundreds of aristocrats, in their jewel-encrusted silks and towering powdered wigs, gawked at him like he had just crawled out of the underworld. He took another step. His boot squeaked against the polished marble. Someone coughed. His left eye twitched.
[Curse Removed: Chillbind Curse (Movement Restored!)]
[Curse Removed: Obscured Vision (Vision Restored!)]
'What is this? A magical dating-sim UI from hell?'
Sweet air filled his lungs. His spine relaxed. His limbs stopped plotting his murder.
He didn't know how nobles actually greeted people, so he just did the first thing that came to mind—
He bowed. Not gracefully. Not elegantly. Just a stiff, "I hope this is right" kind of bow that made some older noblewomen gasp like he had committed a federal crime.
Aldren opened his mouth. And the moment he spoke, he immediately regretted not running away.
"I see. So even in disgrace, my little brother still knows how to crawl back to me."
His soul left his body. His face scrunched in pure disgust. His entire bloodstream ran cold. Wow, that sounded so disgusting...
Before he could fire back with a verbal execution, another ding! sounded in his mind.
[System Calculating...]
[WARNING!]
[Mission Initiated: Avoiding the Mind and Heart Curse]
[A mind and heart curse will soon activate. To prevent it, immediately mark yourself onto a target.]
[Mandatory Mission: Mark yourself into a target and Steal that target.]
WHAT…