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.

Stepping through the massive wrought-iron gates of the Academy premises, the familiar hum of murmurs and excited voices immediately flooded my ears.


"Wow, it's been so long, everyone!" "Tell me about it! I missed you guys!"


Academy cadets in their pristine uniforms were gathered in groups, greeting each other warmly after the break.


'Ugh, back here again,' I thought, adjusting my collar.


The impossibly long month-long break had finally ended. Looking back, I honestly couldn't believe what had transpired in a mere four weeks. Surviving a massive terror attack orchestrated by Marquess Vance, getting trapped in the ancient Aethelgard ruins in the desert, defending the northern borders against a monster horde… all of that, just in one month.


Chapter 222 - Back at Academy