Alexander's chest burned as the hazy fluorescent lights of his cubicle blurred above him. He clutched the dog-eared novel he'd been reading during lunch break—"Emblems of Destiny," a trashy fantasy he'd become oddly obsessed with lately.
"Help!" he tried to shout, but only a wheeze escaped his lips. Heart attack. At thirty-two. How pathetic.
His last thought before darkness claimed him: At least I finished the book.
But darkness wasn't the end.
Pain jolted through him, followed by a gasp of air rushing into unfamiliar lungs. Alexander's eyes snapped open to an ornate ceiling painted with dancing flames.
"Young Master Flamingo! You're awake!" A servant girl stood nearby, relief evident on her round face. "We feared you wouldn't recover from the fever."
Alexander bolted upright, hands flying to his face, his chest, his arms. This body—younger, leaner, stronger—wasn't his. And that name...
Flamingo? As in Alexander Flamingo?
Memory fragments filtered through his mind, but they weren't his own. They belonged to this body, this person whose consciousness he'd apparently hijacked. A spoiled noble brat with fire magic who would become—
"Oh gods," he muttered, recalling the plot of the novel clutched in his dying hands. "I'm that Alexander Flamingo?"
The servant girl tilted her head. "Young Master?"
"Leave me," he commanded, surprised by the authoritative tone that came naturally to this body.
Alone, Alexander stumbled to the mirror across the richly appointed bedchamber. A handsome youth of perhaps seventeen stared back—fiery red hair, amber eyes that seemed to flicker with inner flames, and aristocratic features twisted now in horror.
In "Emblems of Destiny," Alexander Flamingo was the perverted noble who tried to spy on the water-mage heroine in the bath. His punishment? Expulsion from the Royal Emblem Academy, followed by a humiliating death at the hands of the hero two volumes later.
A throwaway character. Comic relief. The perverted idiot who existed solely to make the protagonists look good.
"This can't be happening," he whispered, touching the small flame emblem etched on the back of his right hand—exactly as described in the novel.
[Oh, but it is happening, handsome! And what a delicious turn of events!]
Alexander whirled around. "Who said that?"
[Only you can hear me, darling. Consider me your... special companion through this wonderful new life.]
Blue text appeared before his eyes, floating in mid-air:
[Harem King System initializing...]
[Host identified: Alexander Flamingo, age 17]
[Original fate: Perverted villain, expelled, eventually killed]
[New potential: Unlimited]
"A system?" Alexander whispered, recalling similar plot devices from other novels. "Like some kind of interface?"
[So much more than that, sweetheart! I'm here to help you avoid your pathetic canonical fate. The original Alexander was written off as a simple pervert with no depth. But you? You can rewrite this story.]
Alexander's mind raced. According to the novel, tomorrow would be his first day at the Academy—the same day he'd meet Claire Aquamarine, the water-mage heroine. The same day his perverted actions would set him on the path to expulsion and eventual death.
"What exactly are you offering?" he asked cautiously.
[The Harem King System offers power through connection, charm, and, yes, seduction. Each relationship you forge increases your strength. Form your harem, and you'll gain abilities beyond anything in this little story's original plot.]
"And you want me to become a... harem king? Why?"
[Let's just say I have a vested interest in making this story more... interesting. The original was so predictable! Good triumphs, evil falls, blah blah blah. But with you—a villain who knows he's a villain, who knows the future—things could get juicy!]
Alexander paced the room, mind calculating possibilities. He remembered every plot point from the novel—who would become powerful, which families would rise and fall, every secret and betrayal.
That was power. Real power.
"I was nobody in my previous life," he murmured. "Overlooked, underestimated, a corporate drone working himself to death for others' profit." His lips curled into a smile. "But now? I know everything that's supposed to happen."
[That's the spirit! Now, about tomorrow's fateful perving incident...]
"I won't be making that mistake," Alexander said sharply. "The original Alexander was an impulsive idiot. I'm not."
[But you'll need to start building your harem somehow. First quest: Establish a positive connection with one potential harem member at the Academy Entrance Ceremony. Reward: Basic Charm Enhancement.]
Alexander laughed softly. "Oh, I'll do better than that. I'm going to turn this entire story upside down."
He returned to the mirror, studying his new appearance. Handsome, yes, but with a hint of cruelty in the eyes that betrayed the original Alexander's nature. He softened his expression, practiced looking earnest, kind, approachable.
"Perfect," he murmured. "The mask of a hero, hiding the mind of a villain."
[Ooh, I'm getting shivers! So what's the plan, handsome?]
Alexander's smile widened. "In the original story, Claire Aquamarine arrives tomorrow escorted by her childhood friend, Lucas Stoneheart—the eventual hero who kills me. They're attacked by bandits on the forest road, which becomes their 'meet-cute' when he saves her."
[And?]
"What if those bandits encounter an unexpected defender? What if Alexander Flamingo—known throughout the Academy as a lazy, entitled pervert—happens to be in the right place at the right time?"
[You'd save the very people who destroy you in the original timeline? How deliciously twisted!]
"Knowledge is power," Alexander said, eyes gleaming with intelligence never possessed by the original character. "And unlike my predecessor, I won't waste it on petty perverted stunts. I'll build my harem, yes, but I'll also build an empire."
[First quest updated: Save Claire and Lucas from the bandit attack. Reward: Basic Charm Enhancement and 50 Charm Points.]
Outside, the sun began to set, painting the room in crimson light that matched the flame emblem on his hand. Tomorrow, the story would begin—but not as written.
Alexander Flamingo, the perverted villain destined for an embarrassing defeat, was gone.
In his place stood Alexander Flamingo, the calculating mastermind who knew exactly how this story was supposed to end.
And he had absolutely no intention of following the script.