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.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Alicia shrieked, clutching her staff.


She watched in horror as Lucien sprinted vertically up the Golem's shin, defying gravity with sheer momentum and Agility stats.


But the Gatekeeper wasn't just a pile of rocks. It was a machine designed to kill intruders.


The mana vents located on the Golem's chest and shoulders suddenly glowed blindingly bright.


Superheated steam infused with raw mana erupted from the Golem's armor plates. It was an omnidirectional blast designed to fry anything clinging to its body.


Lucien clicked his tongue. He couldn't tank that. Even with the Rune, his skin would melt off before it could heal.


He kicked off the Golem's thigh, launching himself backward into the air just as the steam exploded where he had been standing a millisecond ago.


He landed in a roll, skidding across the stone floor.


Chapter 113 - The Boss Fight [2]