"I've become a villain?" Was the only thought in Leon's mind.
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Leon Carlisle stared at the translucent system interface floating in front of him. A deep frown creased his forehead, and a sense of disbelief washed over him.
Just last night, he had been tangled up in bed with a beautiful university student he had just met. But when he woke up this morning, he found himself in a completely different world.
Not just any world, but the setting of an urban wish-fulfillment novel filled with brainless clichés.
That alone might have been tolerable, but the real problem, the infuriating part, was that he wasn't the protagonist. Instead, he had been thrown into the role of an arrogant Villain young master, the early-stage villain who existed purely to be humiliated by the protagonist.
His current situation came straight out of a novel called God-level-Prodigy Doctor. According to the storyline, he was the first major antagonist the protagonist, Ethan Vaughn, would encounter after descending from the mountains.
'And my fate? A miserable death… of course!'. Leon Carlisle cursed the novel's author in his heart, sincerely hoping the bastard would have just made a decent novel… but no… he wanted to create a brainless novel for people.
By all logic, his identity and status should have made him untouchable in any normal novel. He was a business tycoon with a vast empire, and crushing some upstart 'miracle doctor' protagonist should have been as easy as stepping on an ant.
But thanks to the author's nonsense writing, where villains were nerfed for no reason while protagonists were handed absurd plot armor, his character had been destined to be nothing more than a stepping stone.
Not only was he written as the type of fool who always fought the protagonist over women, but he even had the annoying habit of letting out a cliché 'Kekekeke' villainous laugh.
His businesses covered every industry that typically served as conflict points in novels, high-end nightclubs, luxury hotels, elite bars, private hospitals, ensuring that he was always in the way whenever the protagonist needed someone to beat down.
The moment the protagonist started flexing his abilities, he 'the villain' would be the ones to take the beating. Then, in a ridiculous 'one after another' rescue mission, more of his subordinates would keep charging in to be humiliated, as if they were programmed to deliver themselves on a silver platter.
Just as Leon Carlisle was analyzing the system and trying to figure out how to escape this miserable fate, a knock echoed through his office.
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
"Come in."
The heavy wooden door swung open, revealing a man dressed in a tailored black suit. He wore a pair of thin gold-rimmed glasses, his demeanor refined yet carrying an unmistakable air of treachery, like a textbook example of a cunning schemer.
Stepping forward, the man gave a slight bow before speaking in a respectful tone. "Sir, there's been an incident at our hospital. A young man broke into the emergency room and assaulted our doctors…" His voice was calm.
The man glanced at Leon Carlisle's back, which remained motionless as if the report hadn't piqued his interest. After a brief hesitation, he added, "That young man seems to be quite close to Sera."
Leon Carlisle finally turned around, his gaze settling on the well-dressed man before him.
A textbook example of a refined yet devious subordinate, the kind that always followed the main villain in novels. In this world, every major antagonist had a fiercely loyal and highly capable right-hand man, and this one was his, Victor.
According to the original plot, Victor would later sacrifice himself in an attempt to save his master aka me, only to be brutally killed by the protagonist.
That was another signature trait of villain organizations, loyalty.
Leon Carlisle leaned back onto the sofa, tapping his fingers against the armrest before speaking in a calm tone. "Go through the legal procedure. Call the Authorities"
"Understood… Ah… Wait, what?" Victor, who had just turned to leave, suddenly stopped in his tracks. His expression stiffened as if he had misheard something completely out of place.
Calling the authorities?
'Shouldn't Sir be sending people to cripple that bastard? Since when did Sir begin to involve the authorities?'
Leon Carlisle casually poured himself a glass of red wine, swirling the liquid as he spoke in an indifferent tone. "Yes, call the related authorities. Several of our doctors were assaulted, weren't they? Shouldn't he compensate for medical fees, lost wages, and emotional distress? Psychological trauma and I assume they were seriously injured too?"
Victor felt as if a massive question mark had appeared above his head.
'Sir! Are you alright? That kid was getting close to Sera!' Based on his usual temperament, their Sir should have already sent people to beat the man half to death.
At the very least, the guy should have ended up in a wheelchair. But now, instead of flying into a jealous rage, he was calmly discussing compensation for doctors? And actually caring about hospital losses?
"Oh, right."
Leon Carlisle suddenly thought of something, his tone taking on a hint of amusement. "What about the hospital equipment? Any damages? Our medical devices are all imported and quite expensive."
Victor, who was still trying to process the situation, quickly snapped back to reality. "One device was damaged… No, actually, three. Each worth tens of thousands, wait, I mean, each worth several thousands. And he also seriously injured five highly paid foreign specialists. We definitely need to report this to the authorities."
Leon Carlisle nodded in satisfaction. "Now that's more like it."
"…"
After serving under the Leon for so long, this was the first time he realized just how cunning his master could be.
Once Victor left, Leon Carlisle stretched out on the sofa, staring at the ceiling.
"As expected of the protagonist, an arrogant bastard beyond reason." This was the first major conflict between him and the protagonist, Ethan Vaughn.
In the original timeline, Ethan Vaughn had just descended from the mountains when he happened to encounter the female lead, Sera, in a city park.
She had twisted her ankle.
Despite the park being filled with people, not a single person had stepped forward to help the stunning, elegant young woman struggling with her injury.
Then, in a dramatic entrance, the protagonist appeared.
After being stuck in the mountains for over a decade like a reclusive monk, the sight of such a beauty in distress was too much for him to ignore. Tapping into his so-called God-level medical skills, he treated her ankle on the spot.
Before he could even savor his heroic moment, Sera's phone rang.
It was the hospital, her grandfather's condition had suddenly worsened, and the family was being asked to rush over immediately.
Leon Carlisle smirked. "Now that's the kind of trashy plot I expected." He had seen this exact formula in at least a hundred different urban web novels.