Whoosh—

As if a stone had been suddenly thrown into a placid, wave-less well, sending ripples outward, the originally solemn and dignified great hall of the mage tower stirred with commotion following the bizarre "resurrection" of a certain protagonist.

"What's going on?"

A student below couldn't help but exclaim, "Wasn't that lowly wretch just tortured to the brink of death by Her Highness Louise's forbidden Arcane spell? How has he recovered so quickly?"

"And... is it just my imagination?" Another apprentice narrowed their eyes, carefully sensing the ambient magical fluctuations. "That Dust Clan servant actually has the aura of the Arcane Art about him?"

"That's impossible! In this world, only the Sun Clan can cultivate the Arcane!"

"Could he be a hybrid? But even a Sun-Moon hybrid like Sophie is one thing—a mere Dust Clan, even if carrying a trace of noble Sun Clan blood, couldn't possibly reach the level of resonating with magic!"

Watching as Ivan, who had been writhing in agony under the forbidden spell, emerged unscathed and radiant from Llyn's magic barrier, the apprentices below were all marveling, utterly dumbfounded.

"Phew..." Llyn, witnessing all this, let out a sigh of mixed emotions.

‘It seems this world hasn't gone completely mad yet.’

Originally, seeing the plot finally return to the right track after all his painstaking efforts, with the protagonist finally staging that familiar hot-blooded plot routine—a desperate counterattack to slap faces—Llyn should have felt excited.

But the problem was...

‘Why is the most important female lead, of all people, completely unmoved?’

Glancing at Louise, whose face was as cold as frost and whose eyes showed not a trace of admiration, Llyn truly couldn't figure out what was wrong with this princess.

Shouldn't she be just as shocked and puzzled as the students below, while also feeling a hint of rising respect?

Why was she still wearing that stony expression?

And what did that "shameless thief" comment mean just now?

"Hmph, you ignorant fools."

As Llyn was utterly baffled, the protagonist Ivan reached out to adjust the unremarkable medallion on his chest and, with heroic spirit, looked down upon the Sun Clan nobles who had just looked down on him.

‘Unlike all of you young masters and ladies who rely on your bloodlines, think so highly of yourselves, and only know pleasure and amusement.’

He sneered condescendingly several times, declaring smugly to himself in his heart.

‘I, Ivan, am the future Savior destined to save the world from annihilation!’

"It seems the so-called First Disciple is nothing more than this."

With that, Ivan turned his gaze back to Llyn and spoke with a provocative coldness: "To kick someone when they're down and add insult to injury in the middle of a sacred duel? Do you Sun Clan nobles hold the honor of a duel in such contempt? And to think you are the Prefect of the mage tower, the Vice President of the Society."

Glaring fiercely at Llyn, Ivan challenged him word by word.

‘The honor of a duel? Oh, now that you mention it, I'd almost forgotten that setting.’

Llyn, who had been agonizing over the female lead Louise's "abnormality," was not angered but delighted upon hearing Ivan's accusation. He even felt a sudden clarity, his gloomy mood swept away.

‘That's it!’ Just now, Louise did indeed say shameless thief... but she was talking about me. Thief, stealing what? The sacred honor of the duel, of course! As for why she didn't curse me directly and instead looked at Ivan? Heh, don't I remember that Louise's character setting also includes the tsundere trait?’

Llyn applauded himself for his rigorous deductive logic.

‘Although she feels a bit of acknowledgment for Ivan in her heart, their backgrounds are too far apart, which is why Louise is being so indirect. Really, nearly scared me to death. This male lead and female lead, each one more troublesome than the other. It's just that…’

First Ivan's "adding insult to injury," and now Louise's "shameless thief."

‘Being criticized by both the male and female leads simultaneously—if this continues, I'm afraid my script is going to devolve from a passerby male supporting character into a villain? That's not impossible.’

Llyn shrugged nonchalantly.

‘In the original game, my role as First Disciple had multiple possible routes. And according to the Guide, as long as we ensure the growth of the Child of Destiny, nothing else matters. Besides, in a sense, the villain route might be even better? After all, in all those novels I read before transmigrating, there's no shortage of villains who arrogantly give the protagonist experience, opportunities, and even their own heads, only to end up, flesh and bone, as stepping stones for the protagonist's rise?’

But acting as a villain for the first time—how should he perform?

Looking at Ivan, who was glaring at him with righteous indignation, Llyn devised a plan.

"Jie jie jie... ahem, I mean, hmph." Adjusting his expression, Llyn, in his eternally unchanging icy tone, curled the corner of his mouth mockingly and said, "Duel... honor? You? A lowly Dust Clan is worthy?"

A lowly Dust Clan?

Ivan's face alternated between red and white, his whole body trembling.

Those words again?

In his mind, countless humiliating memories surged.

‘Don't get angry, boy.’

Just as Ivan was about to loudly argue with that contemptuous, damned aristocrat, his Mentor's earnest teachings echoed in his mind once more.

‘The reason Llyn is so arrogant is merely to mask the fear in his heart.’

Fear? Ivan felt a sudden understanding.

That's right. If Llyn truly despised him so much, he could have just dueled him directly. Why resort to stabbing him in the back secretly?

"Utterly laughable." Thus, Ivan rallied once more and loudly questioned, "Sir Llyn, are you suggesting that the high and mighty Sun Clan doesn't even have the courage to fight one-on-one against the lowly Dust Clan you speak of?"

Murmurs, murmurs, murmurs.

With Ivan's words, the students below began to waver.

"Although his status is lowly, that Dust Clan servant seems... to have a point?"

"Sigh, His Excellency the Prefect was too hasty. Though we can understand his efforts, how to put it... to sabotage a duel just to deal with a mere Dust Clan is truly unbecoming?"

‘Excellent! As expected of the protagonist? In just a few sentences, he's already changed the tide of opinion on the scene?’

Sensing the unusual gazes from below, Llyn grew increasingly delighted inwardly, yet on the surface, he pretended to be "flushed with anger" at being exposed and refuted in a deep voice: "Courage? A mere Dust Clan is simply delusional. I was merely pondering why you Dust Clan dare to be so arrogant, and reached out to test you. And now..." Llyn narrowed his eyes, staring at the medallion Ivan was clutching tightly. "I have a few ideas. Tell me, boy, where did you steal that medallion on your hand?"

With that, Llyn advanced step by step, reaching out to snatch the medallion, acting exactly like the cannon-fodder villain from a clichéd novel who foolishly tries to seize the protagonist's secret treasure.

‘Hahaha, this will definitely work this time!’

Feeling the fury erupting from Ivan's eyes, Llyn was not angered but overjoyed. It seemed this villain route was indeed a good one?

‘Hurry, Louise, hurry and stand before the protagonist to harshly denounce this sore loser, this despicable villain!’

Llyn could barely wait as his fingers touched the medallion.

Thump.

A muffled footstep.

"Hold it!" A clear, resonant voice echoed through the great hall.

The grand doors were pushed open, and two figures stood within.

‘Sophie?’

Looking at the girl dressed in magnificent attire, with short violet hair cropped at the ears, a string of glistening pearl necklace around her snowy neck, and exuding an air of competence, Llyn stopped his action.

The eldest daughter of the Rockhill Family, the core trade alliance of the Golden Oak Confederation, Ivan's early-plot benefactor, and the newly admitted student of the Five Rings Mage Tower, had arrived.

"I had thought that the esteemed disciples of the Neutral City-States would certainly possess talent and magnanimity befitting their status. I never imagined they would be scum who kick someone when they're down and blatantly seize another's ancestral heirloom!"

Sophie was ablaze with fury. She seemed to view her servant's "miserable condition" as an affront to her own dignity, her sharp eyes full of indignation towards Llyn, the culprit.

‘Not bad, this expression! Much easier to deal with than that troublesome princess. No wonder she's considered second only to the female lead by players. You've got to admit, she's dedicated.’

Feeling the almost tangible hatred, Llyn was secretly blooming with joy, eagerly anticipating the humiliation from this wealthy, powerful young lady.

‘In the original work, after Ivan just solved the spell formula, Llyn framed him. That was when Sophie stepped forward, and then the two sides made a pact to duel in the Academy Grand Tournament three years later to settle the score? And the final victor? Naturally, it was the great hero, the destined Savior, the protagonist~ Ahem, doesn't this routine feel overwhelmingly familiar? It's just that before I transmigrated, I was so focused on the satisfaction of face-slapping that First Disciple, I didn't pay much attention to these details.’

Shrugging his shoulders, Llyn spoke that famous line.

"Kick someone when they're down? Miss Sophie, please mind your words. I was merely correcting this lowly thief's overstepping behavior..."

Llyn raised his head and smugly asked the female lead beside him: "Louise, don't you agree?"

Attracting the antipathy of the protagonist, the female lead, and an important female supporting character all at once—this villain path of mine is bound to succeed, right?

"..." Louise ignored Llyn's frivolous question.

She simply turned her cold gaze towards Sophie.

And then...

"Take back what you just said, wretch."

Llyn rubbed the back of his head.

‘Oh dear, this reaction is beyond my expectations? To think that in just a few short minutes, the female lead's hatred for me has nearly reached its limit?’

"Lord Llyn, he..."

‘Hm? Lord? How is it that she insults me one moment and uses an honorific the next?’

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

A fierce wind howled.

"Is not someone a wretch like you is worthy to judge!"

* * *

‘Kill you, kill you, kill you!’

Louise's eyes were bloodshot, fury boiling in her heart. Her peerlessly beautiful face now oozed a chilling murderous intent, the coldness in her eyes so freezing it gave one goosebumps.

Sophie.

If Louise, since her rebirth, had to rank the people she detested most, then that shameless thief Ivan would undisputedly be first. As for second?

It was none other than Sophie, the root of it all.

In her previous life, because of this foolish woman, she had failed to realize Lord Llyn's painstaking efforts.

She had allowed that true hero, who silently endured humiliation and sacrificed everything for the world, to die before her eyes, even deceived by that clown Ivan.

That thief even dared to claim the medallion in his hand was "ancestral"?!

That was clearly proof of Lord Llyn's true heritage, yet that shameless bastard used it to deceive the world and steal his glory...

Hah.

Louise's eyes grew increasingly icy. In a voice only she could hear, she whispered, "In this life, I won't allow anyone to bully Lord Llyn again."

‘Because he belongs only to me… My beloved.’

Louise revealed a sickly smile.

Boom—

In that instant, the world fell into dead silence.