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.

The morning sun filtered through the high windows of the lecture hall, casting long beams of light across the tiered seating.


I sat in my usual spot near the back, spinning a quill between my fingers.


The class was buzzing. Not the usual drowsy Monday morning murmur, but a sharp, hushed whispering that stopped whenever I looked in a specific direction.


The chalkboard was clean. The instructor hadn't arrived yet. The students were in their seats.


I looked at the front row, center seat.


Usually, that seat was occupied by a beacon of golden hair and righteous energy. Kael never missed a class. He was the type of student who arrived early to polish his desk.


There sat Elisha. The elf archer wasn't looking at her textbook. She was looking at me.


Chapter 89 - Mock Assessment [1]