The cold marble floor bit into his bones, yet Lein Ascente remained motionless before the large, gold-framed mirror. His breath quickened, leaving a faint mist on the clear glass surface. There, a seventeen-year-old youth stared back with a pair of sharp, silver-gray eyes. They were supposed to be eyes that symbolized the glory of the House of Ascente, but to the soul newly awakened within, those eyes were a sign of death.
His jet-black hair fell messily over his forehead, contrasting sharply with his pale skin. Lein touched his face with trembling fingers. His memories as a player who had spent thousands of hours in-game had just violently collided with the memories of the body's original owner.
He knew exactly who he was now. He wasn't Elias, the protagonist of the game "The Outer Descent." He was Lein Ascente, the second son of the House of Ascente in the Kingdom of Asteria, and the figure destined to be the primary villain of the second Arc.
"Two years..." Lein muttered in a low voice that sounded foreign to his own ears.
There were only two years left before Elias's village was razed by monsters. And shortly after that, this very body would become a vessel for one of the 13 Outer Gods. In the original storyline of the game he played, Lein Ascente was merely a "shell"—a vessel that would be destroyed, his soul erased, once the Outer God perfectly manifested its avatar.
Lein closed his eyes tightly, trying to dull the throbbing in his temples that felt as if they were about to explode. Behind his eyelids, memories of thousands of hours playing "The Outer Descent" spun like a broken film reel.
This wasn't just an ordinary RPG. This was a nightmare for players.
The game was known for its "World Corruption Rate" mechanic. The longer a player remained idle, the stronger the Outer Gods became as they manifested. If Elias—the original protagonist—was too late in reaching a certain level or failed to defeat an Avatar within the allotted time, the world would automatically trigger a "Bad Ending," plunging it into total chaos.
And the biggest problem lay with Lein Ascente.
Lein clutched his chest, feeling a heartbeat that still felt human. However, he knew that within the cells of this body lay the "seed" of the second Outer God: The Circle of Despair.
In the original scenario, by the time Elias began his journey from the border of Lumeria, Lein would start losing control of his emotions at age 19. The seed would begin to take root, eating away at his sanity bit by bit.
By age 20, Lein would have become a bloodthirsty, homicidal sociopath—a monster hiding behind a noble's cloak.
And the climax: at the exact moment he turned 21, his soul would vanish entirely. The identity of "Lein Ascente" would be erased from existence, and this body would become the perfect avatar for The Circle of Despair. He was the final boss who would bring total destruction to the Kingdom of Asteria in the second Arc.
"Crazy... this is absolutely insane," he thought, clutching the fabric of his shirt over his heart.
Lein chuckled softly. It wasn't a laugh of victory, but the bitter laugh of someone who had just realized he was trapped between two apocalypses.
If he surrendered to his circumstances and let himself be a "normal" Lein, then death was the only finish line waiting for him.
His thoughts then turned to the figure who would kill him in the second Arc: Elias. The protagonist of "The Outer Descent" possessed something no one else in the world had—a skill called [The Chosen One]. That skill allowed Elias to grow exponentially, surpassing the logic of ordinary human growth. Elias was designed by the world's narrative to be the apex predator, the only human capable of defeating or killing the Outer Gods.
Yet, herein lay the sickening dilemma.
To Lein, Elias wasn't an enemy to be destroyed. Quite the opposite—Elias was the only life insurance for himself and the world. If Lein killed Elias now to remove the threat to his life, there would be no one to stop the other 12 Outer Gods. The world would be destroyed, and Lein would perish along with it.
However, if he let Elias grow according to the original scenario without interference, Elias would become too strong—a perfect hero who would eventually take Lein's life to "save" the world from The Circle of Despair.
Lein smiled bitterly, an expression that looked out of place on his usually stiff and cold, handsome face. The shadow in the mirror seemed to mock the misfortune of a soul now trapped in the body of a future monster.
If Lein wanted to live, he couldn't rely solely on becoming "strong." Physical strength or magic alone wouldn't be enough to fight the will of an entity that originated beyond human comprehension. He had to do the nearly impossible: suppress the seed of The Circle of Despair within himself as tightly as possible while acting as if he were just an ordinary human. He had to hope, by any means necessary, that no one would ever find out he was the vessel for an Outer God.
The moment that secret was exposed, the world—including Elias—would have no choice but to eliminate him.
"I have to move before this seed takes root too deeply," Lein thought.
His grand plan began to take shape systematically, complete with a list of items he had memorized by heart. He had to obtain the [Saintess's Prayer: The Holy Grail of Aethelgard] from the underground vault of the Holy Empire of Lumeria. In the game description, that artifact was the only object capable of performing a "Soul Partition."
However, Lein wasn't foolish enough to bet his life on a single item. As a player who knew how terrifying those entities were, he predicted the success rate of that ritual was below 5%. An almost impossible number.
Therefore, Lein also planned a dangerous journey to the Elf Nation to obtain [Yggdrasil's Amber]. This legendary material was the core component for the ancient ritual of "Nature's Suppression," the only way to freeze the power of an Outer God within him to prevent it from manifesting.
"By combining the two, my chances of survival will increase several times over," he muttered, his resolve now turning to stone.
Knock... knock... knock...
The sound of knocking on the oak door broke the cold reverie in his head.
"Y-Young Master Lein...?"
The voice was small, trembling, and full of fear. It was Lina, a young maid who, in the original Lein's memories, was always the punching bag for his rage. Lina's fear was a vivid testament to how depraved Lein's character was—even before the evil influence of The Circle of Despair took over completely.
Lein took a deep breath, brushed away his bitter smile, and replaced it with a sharp, calm gaze. He remembered this moment—or at least, fragments of the original Lein's memory told him clearly. This was the routine grand banquet for all members of the Ascente Family. There, he would have to face his authoritarian father, his cold mother, and his two sisters who always looked at him with a mixture of hatred and fear.
"Enter," Lein said flatly.
The door opened with a soft creak. Lina stepped in with her head bowed low, her hands trembling violently as she held a tray with a warm towel. She froze near the door, not daring to approach more than three steps.
"A-Are you awake?" she whispered, almost inaudibly. The girl's eyes darted toward the glass bottles on the vanity, as if calculating which one would fly at her head this time. "Lord requests your presence in the banquet hall, Young Master."
Lein looked at Lina, who was still shaking with fear. He stepped closer. That sudden movement made Lina flinch and shut her eyes tight, her shoulders hunching to protect her neck. She waited for the blow or the outburst that had become her routine.
However, Lein simply passed by the girl calmly.
"Stop trembling," Lein said without so much as a glance back. "Set the towel down, then prepare clothes that aren't too conspicuous. I will head to the banquet hall shortly."
Lina blinked, still frozen where she stood. Her hands holding the tray slowly stopped shaking, but now she was struck by an overwhelming sense of confusion. She found no explosion of anger, no shattered glass, and no deafening insults.
Her young master's silver-gray eyes hadn't looked red with rage; they were clear and cold—a stillness that felt far more intimidating than usual. Lina remained silent, her eyes fixed on Lein's back as he slowly disappeared.