Darkness. Silence. A void so vast it seemed to stretch beyond eternity itself.
Then—a whisper.
"Gu Tianxian."
The name echoed through the abyss like a decree from the heavens, yet the one who bore it did not kneel.
He opened his eyes.
Red like dying embers, they burned with the fury of a man who had once grasped life in his hands—only to have it torn away.
Memories flooded his mind. The world he came from: Earth. A place where destiny was shaped by one's own hands. And now… this world. A world of immortals, of divine laws, of chosen ones anointed by fate itself.
A world where he… was the villain.
He exhaled, his breath misting in the cold night air. Beneath him, the wooden floor of a lavish chamber stretched wide, its surface carved with ancient runes. Incense smoke curled in the dim candlelight, and beyond the silk-draped window, a full moon hung over a vast, ethereal city—a world pulled straight from the pages of a cultivation novel.
Then, pain.
Memories crashed into him like a tidal wave—this body's past, its hatred, its fate.
Gu Tianxian, heir to the mighty Gu Clan. A genius of profound talent, once revered, now condemned. Betrayed. Discarded. Marked as a villain in the grand script of heaven. His destiny? To be crushed beneath the boots of the so-called "chosen ones."
"No."
A whisper, yet it carried the weight of an unbreakable will.
Gu Tianxian rose to his feet, his long black robes billowing like a shadow in the candlelight. His fingers curled into a fist, nails digging into his palm. The world expected him to be a stepping stone? To bow his head and accept a fate woven by unseen hands?
Ridiculous.
A chime rang in his mind, cold and mechanical.
[ Villain System Activated. ]
[ Welcome, Host. Your task: Eliminate the Protagonists Chosen by Heaven. ]
A cruel smirk played on his lips. So that was it. He was to be the blade that severed the golden threads of fate.
He stepped forward, each movement deliberate, like a monarch descending his throne. He reached for a nearby mirror.
His reflection stared back—a face sculpted by both cruelty and beauty. Raven hair cascaded down his back, framing features that could bring kingdoms to ruin. But it was his eyes that defined him: deep, sharp, endless. Eyes that had seen death and returned to tell the tale.
For a moment, he was silent.
Then, he chuckled. Low, dark, brimming with something neither joy nor sorrow.
"Heaven has made a mistake."
"They should not have given me a second chance."
From beyond the chamber, the city bustled with life—heroes dreaming of their ascension, believing fate had carved their path.
They did not yet know.
A villain had awakened.
And fate itself would soon burn.