[System Warning: Critical Anomaly Detected]
[Error: Subject Does Not Match Designated Fate]
[Correction Protocol Initiating…]
I wake up gasping for air.
The sensation is wrong—like I've been thrown into a body that doesn't belong to me. My heartbeat races too fast, my vision flickers, and the air feels artificial, as though I'm breathing in something that was never meant to exist.
I reach for my chest—only to realize that my hands… aren't mine.
The fingers are longer, stronger. The muscles leaner. My skin is paler than I remember. I lift my hand to my face, and the sight of it sends a chill down my spine.
This isn't my body.
This isn't me.
Memories come flooding in like a shattered mirror reassembling itself in the wrong order.
I am Ezra Veyne.
I was an ordinary reader.
I died.
And now, I have become… Calveros Nacht.
A sharp pain splits through my skull, like glass cracking under pressure. Two overlapping identities scream in conflict. I clutch my temples, struggling to breathe. Something is missing. My thoughts are my own, but the memories—
The memories are wrong.
[Status Window]
A glowing blue screen appears before me, floating in the void of my mind. My breath catches as I recognize the familiar format—stats, abilities, and a title bar.
✔ This is the system from Chronicles of the Eternal Throne. ✔ This is the world I read about. ✔ And Calveros Nacht… is the villain fated to die.
Relief washes over me like a cold tide.
✔ I have a system. ✔ I can see my stats. ✔ I can use my knowledge of the novel to survive.
But then I see it.
At the bottom of the screen, something flickers.
A stat that shouldn't exist:
[Sanity: ???]
A chill runs through me. That shouldn't be there.
The moment I focus on it, the system glitches.
The letters twist, shifting into unreadable symbols before snapping back into place.
I stumble backward, knocking over a chair. The loud crash shatters the stillness—and the system screen vanishes.
Like it was never there.
I force myself to breathe. This is fine.
✔ I've read enough stories about reincarnation. ✔ I just have to follow the plot. ✔ Avoid the hero, don't interfere, and survive.
Then the door to my room creaks open.
A shadowy figure stands in the doorway, his face hidden by the flickering candlelight.
I know who he is. Even before he speaks.
Aurelian Veris.
The protagonist of Chronicles of the Eternal Throne. The man destined to kill Calveros Nacht.
The so-called hero of this world.
Except… something is wrong.
He isn't supposed to be here.
Not now.
Not yet.
Aurelian's golden eyes lock onto mine, studying me with a gaze that pierces through flesh and thought. His expression doesn't match the noble hero I remember from the story.
He tilts his head slightly—and smiles.
Not a hero's smile. Not a friendly one. But something cold. Unreadable. Calculating.
And then, in a voice far too calm, he speaks the words that make my blood run cold:
"You're not who you're supposed to be, are you?"
[System Warning: Fate Divergence Detected] [Error: The Black Crown System Has Reacted] [Correction Event Pending…]
The world has already noticed that I don't belong.
And for the first time, I realize—
I may not be the only one.