The Tomb of the Forsaken was a place even high-rank Awakeners avoided like the plague. It was a "static dungeon"—a rift in reality that didn't follow the rules of the 2026 Mana Laws. In my past life, I had entered this place as the Hero with a party of twenty. Only three of us had walked out.
I stood before the entrance, a gaping maw of black stone hidden beneath an abandoned subway terminal.
[Warning: You are entering a Level 70+ Forbidden Zone.] [Current Level: 1] [Survival Probability: 0.00001%]
"Perfect," I muttered, gripping the hilt of The Traitor's Silence. "Those odds are exactly what I need to fail at."
I stepped into the darkness.
Meanwhile, above ground, the world had come to a standstill. Giant holographic screens in Times Square, Neo-Seoul, and London were all tuned to the same broadcast.
"THE AWAKENING: LIVE FROM THE HOLY CATHEDRAL"
The camera panned to a young man kneeling on a marble dais. He was handsome, with hair like spun gold and an aura of pure, unadulterated "goodness."
That was me. Or rather, it was the me that the world wanted. The "Past Han-Seol."
The High Priest approached him, holding a crown of white light. "Han-Seol, do you swear to protect the weak? To be the shield against the darkness? To serve the Holy System until your final breath?"
"I swear," the young man said, his voice echoing with conviction.
Millions of viewers cheered. They saw a Savior. I, watching from a cracked smartphone screen in the depths of a dungeon, saw a puppet.
[Ding! World Event Detected: The Hero has Awakened.] [The 'Holy System' has granted the Hero: 'Excalibur' (Rank: SSS).] [The 'Holy System' has granted the Hero: 'Absolute Charisma' (Passive).]
I turned off the phone. "Enjoy your crown, kid. I'm busy."
The interior of the Tomb was a labyrinth of bone-dust and ancient traps. Within minutes, I was surrounded. Skeleton Sentinels—Level 80 monsters with rusted spears—emerged from the walls. Their eyes glowed with baleful green fire.
"Target identified," one rasped in an ancient tongue. "Trespasser. Execute."
I didn't move. I didn't draw my sword. I simply stood there.
"I'm going to fail at defending myself," I said to the empty air.
The first spear lunged toward my throat. It was a killing blow, fast as a bullet. I "tried" to block it with a piece of rotting wood I found on the floor.
[Ding! Villainous Act: Defensive Maneuver.] [Result: ABSURD FAILURE. (Wood snapped. Spear is 1cm from your neck.)] [Calculating Refund...] [Refund Issued: 100x 'Invulnerability Duration'!] [New Passive Unlocked: 'Vicious Immortal'. For 60 seconds, all damage is converted into Mana.]
The spear hit my throat. Clang.
It sounded like metal hitting a mountain. The spearhead shattered. The Skeleton Sentinel froze, its jawbone dropping.
I stood there as nineteen other spears slammed into my body. Clang. Clang. Clang. Each strike that should have turned me into mincemeat instead felt like a warm massage.
[Mana +50] [Mana +100] [Mana +150]
In sixty seconds, my Mana pool doubled. I wasn't just surviving; I was eating their attacks.
"My turn to fail at attacking," I said.
I swung a lazy, slow-motion punch at the nearest skeleton. I purposely moved so slowly that a snail could have dodged it.
[Ding! Villainous Act: Combat Strike.] [Result: FAILURE. (Host is moving like a sloth.)] [Refund Issued: 100x 'Shockwave Radius'!]
My fist didn't even travel halfway to the skeleton before the air in front of me compressed into a white-hot pillar of pressure. The entire hallway—skeletons, stone walls, and ancient pillars—was erased. A 500-yard tunnel was bored instantly through the dungeon's heart.
I walked through the dust toward the center of the tomb: The Cursed Chest of the Forsaken King.
Legends said this chest contained a weapon that could kill a God, but it was protected by a "Suicide Seal." Anyone who tried to open it without the "Key of Light" would be erased from existence.
I didn't have the key. I had a crowbar I'd stolen from the subway.
"Let's fail at opening this," I whispered.
I jammed the crowbar into the lock and pulled.
[Warning: Suicide Seal Activating!] [Warning: Dimensional Eradication in 3... 2... 1...] [Result: TOTAL FAILURE. (Host has no 'Holy Blood'.)] [Calculating Refund...]
The room turned white. The universe tried to delete me. But the System was faster.
[System Glitch: You cannot delete a 'Villain' who is already 'Refunded'.] [Refund Issued: 100x 'Seal Reversal'!] [The 'Tomb of the Forsaken' has been forcibly Bound to the Host!] [New Territory Acquired: 'The Forsaken Shadow Kingdom'!]
The white light vanished. The chest didn't explode; it melted.
Inside sat a simple, black ring.
[Item: The Ring of the Usurper (Rank: ???)] [Effect: Allows the Host to 'Steal' the rewards of any Quest completed by a 'Hero' within a 1,000-mile radius.]
I slipped the ring onto my finger and felt a sudden connection to the world above. Far away, in the Cathedral, my "Past Self" had just finished his first quest: Accept the Holy Sword.
[Ding! The Hero 'Han-Seol' has completed the Quest: 'The First Step'.] [Reward: 10,000 Gold and 'Holy Light' buff.] [Ring of the Usurper Active: Refunding rewards to the Villain...] [You have received: 1,000,000 Gold and 'Corrupted Void' buff.]
I laughed. High above, the "Hero" was probably wondering why his gold felt a bit light.
"Welcome to the game, Han-Seol," I said, looking up toward the ceiling. "I hope you like working for me. Because every time you save the world, I'm the one getting paid."