(Fuck.. I'm dead!)
Han Shuo stared at the reflection in the bronze mirror, but he didn't recognize the face looking back. The man in the mirror was young, perhaps nineteen, with the sharp, predatory features of the Asura Clan. His skin was unnaturally pale, his hair a deep, dried-black crimson, and his eyes carried a flick of cold arrogance that felt like a physical weight. But behind those eyes, the soul was screaming.
He wasn't Han Shuo. Or at least, he hadn't been until a few minutes ago. He remembered a life of mundane noise traffic, a flickering computer screen, the smell of cheap coffee. Now, he was standing in a room carved from obsidian and bone, draped in silks that cost more than a mortal village.
The realization hit him like a physical blow. He had been reincarnated. But this wasn't some heroic fantasy where he was the chosen savior. As the memories of this body flooded his mind, a cold dread settled in his gut. Han Shuo was a third-tier villain. In the hierarchy of this world, he was the disposable trash used to show how cool the protagonist was before the real story even started.
(I really took his cousin's bone. I actually did that.)
Han Shuo reached up and touched his chest. Beneath the sternum, something pulsed with a rhythm that wasn't his own. It was the Heaven-Slaying Dao Bone. In his memories, he saw the flickering torches of a secret chamber. He saw a young girl, his own cousin, screaming as the clan elders held her down. He remembered the feeling of the blade and the sickening warmth as he forced the glowing, celestial bone into his own ribcage.
He had maimed his own family for a power he couldn't even control. And it didn't stop there. He thought of Ye Fan, the "obvious" protagonist of this region. Han Shuo had spent years making that boy's life a living hell. He had suppressed Ye Fan's cultivation, insulted his parents, and eventually, he had used his status to imprison Ye Fan's first love on a fabricated charge of treason. She was currently rotting in the lower pits of the Asura estate because of a lie Han Shuo had told to feel powerful.
(He is going to kill me. He isn't just going to kill me; he's going to erase my entire bloodline.)
In every story like this, the protagonist eventually rose from the ashes. Ye Fan would find a hidden master, or a drop of ancient dragon blood, or a forgotten manual. And when he did, the first person on his list would be the arrogant young master who stole his girl and his dignity.
Han Shuo tried to circulate his energy. In the world of cultivation, the path was clear: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul. As a member of the Asura Clan, known for their violent talent, he should have been halfway to Foundation Establishment. Instead, he felt a pathetic trickle of energy. He was at the third stage of Qi Condensation. He was the weakest "genius" in the history of the clan, a fraud living on borrowed power that was currently rejecting his soul.
System initialized. Scanning host potential... Scan complete.)
A voice rang out in his mind. It wasn't the regal, holy voice of a deity. It was cold, sharp, and carried a distinct tone of mockery.
(Assessment: Host is a cosmic-level failure. You have inherited a body with high hatred-aggro and zero combat capability. The protagonist's killing intent toward you is currently visible from space. Congratulations on your upcoming execution.)
Han Shuo's eye twitched. (Is this supposed to be my golden finger? An arrogant system that talks trash?)
(System: I am merely stating facts. You are a third-tier villain with a stolen bone that is currently causing internal necrosis. If you don't reach the fifth stage of Qi Condensation within forty-eight hours, the Dao Bone will simply explode, saving the protagonist the trouble of murdering you. Would you like to view the survival missions, or would you prefer to start writing your will?)
Han Shuo sat down on the edge of his bed, his heart hammering. The room felt smaller. Outside these doors, the Asura Clan expected him to be a ruthless tyrant. If he showed weakness, his own father would likely kill him for shaming the name. If he stayed the way he was, Ye Fan would turn him into a red mist.
(How do I fix the cultivation?)
(System: You can't. Not with your current method. You are trying to force Asura Qi into a body holding a Divine Dao Bone. It's like putting swamp water into a jade vase. It's disgusting. Open the shop. Or don't. I'm fine with either.)
Han Shuo closed his eyes and focused. A translucent screen appeared in his vision, glowing with a sinister violet light. There were tabs for techniques, pills, and "Villain Points." Everything was locked behind a currency he didn't have.
(System: You get one freebie because I find your desperation mildly entertaining. The 'Asura Heart-Purging Scripture.' It will stop the bone from killing you for now. But in exchange, you have to do something about the girl in the dungeon. Her despair is feeding the protagonist's luck. The more she suffers, the faster Ye Fan grows.)
Han Shuo felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. He was trapped in a nightmare. He had the "villain" name, the "villain" crimes, and a "villain" system that seemed to hate him.
(If I get the golden finger, I should be good, right? That's how these things work.)
(System: Typically, yes. But usually, the host isn't an idiot who already spent his plot armor on a stolen rib. Get to work, Han Shuo. The clock is ticking, and the protagonist just broke through to the fourth stage of Qi Condensation. He's already stronger than you.)
Han Shuo stood up, his legs shaking slightly. He looked at the obsidian walls and the banners of the Asura Clan. He had to change. He had to hide his fear, act the part of the arrogant young master, and somehow undo the damage the original Han Shuo had caused without getting caught by his own murderous family.
(I'm not going to die. Not again.)
He began to circulate the new scripture, feeling the icy energy of the system bite into his meridians. The path ahead was covered in blood, mostly his own, but he would walk it. He had no choice.