Chapter 1: Death in 52 Days
The taste of blood filled Chen Feng's mouth as his face met the cold marble floor.
Again.
"Pathetic."
The word echoed through the training hall, dripping with the contempt that had become as familiar as breathing. Chen Feng didn't need to look up to know who spoke—his third brother, Chen Wei, currently manifesting flames hot enough to melt steel at the tender age of seventeen.
A genius. A prodigy. Everything Chen Feng wasn't.
"How does it feel, Seventh Brother?" Chen Wei's voice drew closer, his footsteps deliberate. "Being the only one in our generation who can't even reach the Third Circle? Even our youngest sister surpassed you last month, and she's only fourteen."
Chen Feng's fingers curled against the floor. The proper response would be to lower his head, apologize for his inadequacy, and accept the "training" his brother so generously provided. That's what he'd done for nineteen years.
That's what got him killed.
The thought pierced through his mind like an icicle, sharp and sudden. Chen Feng's breath caught.
Killed.
The memories crashed into him like a avalanche—not of this life, but of another. A life where he'd been someone else entirely, playing a mobile game during his lunch break. A game called "Mage Emperor: Rise of Flames," where the noble Ling family produced generation after generation of fire mages who conquered the continent of Voderland.
A game where Chen Feng—seventh son, talentless disgrace—existed for exactly one purpose.
To die.
"Nothing to say?" Chen Wei grabbed him by the collar, flames dancing around his fist. "You shame our father's name just by breathing. The Archimage of the Eighth Circle, reduced to this—"
"Let him go."
The voice cut through the hall like a blade through silk. Chen Wei's grip loosened immediately.
Chen Feng finally looked up to see her—Yue Lian, his shadow guard. She stood in the doorway, her gray-silver eyes fixed on Chen Wei with the same expression a wolf might give a rabbit that had wandered too close.
"This doesn't concern you, shadow," Chen Wei spat, but he'd already released Chen Feng. Even a genius at the Fifth Circle thought twice before crossing a warrior at the Seventh Level—the Spirit of War realm.
Yue Lian didn't respond. She simply stood there, one hand resting casually on the hilt of her dagger, until Chen Wei cursed under his breath and stormed out.
The moment he left, Chen Feng felt her attention shift to him. He pushed himself up slowly, tasting copper, his mind still reeling from the cascade of memories that weren't his but absolutely were.
"You're bleeding," Yue Lian observed, producing a cloth from seemingly nowhere.
"I'm fine." The words came automatically, but Chen Feng's mind was elsewhere.
In the game, this scene had happened. Third Brother's daily humiliation. But what came after...
He remembered now. All of it.
In fifty-two days, the protagonist would arrive—Tian Wu, a "commoner genius" who would shock the magical world. The bastard son of Chen Feng's own father, though no one knew it yet. The story's hero would enter the family, challenge the corrupt nobles, and in a "tragic accident" during a public duel, Chen Feng would die.
His role in the story would end in Chapter 52, his death serving only to establish how ruthless and powerful the hero had become.
"Young Master?"
Chen Feng realized he'd been standing motionless, the cloth hanging from Yue Lian's outstretched hand. He took it, pressing it against his split lip, and made himself meet her eyes.
She was beautiful in the way a storm was beautiful—dangerous, untamed, and utterly captivating. Twenty-two years old, with the kind of lethal grace that came from a lifetime of killing. She'd been assigned to him four years ago, a "gift" from his father that was really just another reminder of his inadequacy. Why would the family's failure need such a powerful guard?
But Yue Lian had never treated him with contempt. Pity, perhaps. Concern, definitely. But never contempt.
"I need to go out tonight," Chen Feng said suddenly.
Her eyes narrowed. "Out where?"
"The Ruins of Winter's End. North of the capital."
"That's three hours by horse. It's nearly evening." She paused, studying his face. "What's in the ruins?"
Everything. His survival. His future. The divine artifact that would transform the hero from a talented nobody into an unstoppable force.
The Heart of Primordial Winter—a legendary treasure that could awaken dormant magical potential and grant the rarest of all gifts: a Celestial Physique.
In the game, Tian Wu found it in Chapter 15. Used it in Chapter 20. And by Chapter 52, used the power it granted to kill Chen Feng in front of cheering crowds.
"My only chance," Chen Feng said quietly.
Yue Lian's expression didn't change, but something flickered in her eyes. She'd been with him long enough to know when he was serious.
"The ruins are dangerous," she said. "Spirit beasts nest there. Fourth Circle mages have died attempting to explore them."
"I know."
"You're Second Circle."
"I know."
She was silent for a long moment. Then: "When do we leave?"
Not "if." Not "you shouldn't." Just acceptance.
Chen Feng felt something tighten in his chest. In all his memories—both lives—no one had ever simply believed in him like this.
"After dark," he said. "And Yue Lian... thank you."
She turned away, but not before he caught the faintest hint of color on her cheeks. "I'm your shadow, Young Master. Where you go, I follow."
The Ling family manor sprawled across the eastern heights of Voderland's capital like a monument to excess. Chen Feng moved through its corridors with practiced invisibility, keeping to the servants' paths, avoiding the main halls where his siblings might be.
In his room, he dismissed the servants and locked the door. Then, alone, he finally allowed himself to process everything.
A translucent screen appeared before his eyes—something only he could see.
[Welcome, Player]
[Status Window Unlocked]
His heart hammered. In the game, players could check character stats, track quests, manage inventory. But this was real. This was his life.
[Name: Chen Feng]
[Age: 19]
[Family: Ling (Seventh Son of Twelve)]
[Rank: Second Circle of Formation]
[Affinity: Fire (Weak) - 12%]
[Celestial Physique: None]
[Special Abilities: None]
[Reputation: The Ling Family's Shame]
[Main Quest: SURVIVE]
[Time Remaining: 52 Days, 7 Hours, 23 Minutes]
Chen Feng stared at the countdown. Fifty-two days until his scripted death.
But there was another notification, pulsing with red urgency:
[WARNING: Timeline Divergence Detected]
[Original Protagonist's Arrival: 12 Days]
[Divine Artifact Discovery (Original Timeline): 15 Days]
[Player Actions May Alter Fate]
[Consequence Level: UNKNOWN]
His hands trembled. This was real. All of it. The game he'd played during lunch breaks, the story he'd followed for months, the world he'd thought was fiction—it was all horrifyingly, wonderfully real.
And he was going to die in it.
Unless he changed everything.
Chen Feng opened his wardrobe and pulled out the darkest robes he owned. Black and deep blue, suitable for night travel. As he changed, he mentally reviewed everything he knew about the ruins.
The Heart of Primordial Winter lay in the deepest chamber, protected by ice-attribute spirit beasts and ancient formations. In the game, Tian Wu had nearly died retrieving it, only succeeding because of his protagonist's luck and a convenient power-up from his mysterious mentor.
Chen Feng had no mentor. No protagonist's luck. No power-up.
But he had something Tian Wu didn't: knowledge. He knew exactly where the traps were. Which beasts to avoid. The safe path through the formations.
And most importantly, he knew what the artifact could do.
The Heart of Primordial Winter didn't just grant power—it awakened dormant bloodlines. Chen Feng's mother had died when he was young, but he'd learned enough to know she came from the North, from a clan of ice mages that had been destroyed in a war decades ago.
Fire affinity from his father. Ice potential from his mother. The two had always conflicted in his body, leaving him unable to advance in either element.
But the Heart could change that. Could awaken the ice bloodline fully, transform it into something greater.
A Celestial Physique.
A knock on his door made him freeze.
"Young Master, it's Yue Lian."
He opened the door. She'd changed into her mission gear—tight-fitting black clothes that allowed freedom of movement, her twin daggers secured at her waist. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, revealing the elegant line of her neck.
"I've prepared horses," she said. "And supplies. If we leave now, we can reach the ruins by midnight."
"You work fast."
"I've learned to anticipate your... impulsiveness." Was that a hint of amusement in her voice?
Chen Feng grabbed a small pack—water, basic rations, a few gold coins. As he moved past her into the corridor, Yue Lian fell into step beside him, her presence as natural as his own shadow.
They were almost to the servants' exit when a voice stopped them cold.
"Going somewhere, Seventh Brother?"
Chen Feng's blood turned to ice.
Chen Wei stood at the end of the corridor, arms crossed, a knowing smirk on his face. And beside him—worse—stood their eldest brother, Chen Zhao.
The heir. Eighth Circle. Only twenty-eight years old and already matching their father's power.
"The Night Gardens," Chen Feng said smoothly, the lie coming easily. "I can't sleep."
"With a pack? And your shadow in full combat gear?" Chen Zhao's eyes were cold, calculating. "Try again."
Silence stretched between them. Chen Feng's mind raced. If they stopped him now, if they suspected anything...
"I'm going to the ruins," he said finally. Sometimes the truth worked better than lies. "To prove I'm not useless."
Chen Wei barked a laugh. "The Ruins of Winter's End? You? You'll die before you reach the inner chambers."
"Probably," Chen Feng agreed. "But at least I'll have tried."
Chen Zhao studied him for a long moment. Then, surprisingly, he stepped aside.
"Go," he said. "Die if you want. One less embarrassment for Father to explain."
The words should have hurt. Maybe once they would have. But Chen Feng was beyond that now.
He had fifty-two days to rewrite his fate.
And it started tonight.
As they rode into the darkness, leaving the glittering capital behind, Yue Lian pulled her horse alongside his.
"Young Master," she said quietly. "Whatever you're really planning... I'm with you."
Chen Feng looked at her—his only ally, his shadow, his one genuine connection in this world of backstabbing nobles and cruel family politics.
"I know," he said. "That's why we're going to survive this."
The ruins waited ahead, ancient and dangerous. In their depths lay the key to everything.
Chen Feng smiled for the first time in days.
Let the protagonist arrive in twelve days. Let his family expect him to fail.
He was done playing the role they'd written for him.
[New Quest Unlocked: Steal Destiny]
[Objective: Obtain the Heart of Primordial Winter before the protagonist]
[Reward: Celestial Physique Awakening]
[Failure: Death]
The countdown had begun.
[End of Chapter 1]
[Next Chapter: "The Frozen Heart"]