Chapter 1: System Awakening, But Five Hundred Years Too Late

Atiste leaned back in his beloved chair, paintbrush in hand.

Before him stood an easel and a drawing board with a blank canvas.

He stared at the “artwork” beside him, examining it closely.

“Master, how much longer do I have to stand like this? It is not that I am tired, but you have me standing perfectly still with an apple on my head. What is the meaning of this, exactly?”

“Shut up, Eileen. Don’t speak; you are ruining my inspiration.”

He wore a suit made from Black Dragon skin, looking elegant and noble, his eyes focused intently on Eileen.

“Yes, Master.”

The beautiful black-haired woman, dressed in a short-skirted maid outfit, stood a short distance to Atiste’s left.

At her master’s request, she had to remain as still as a broken marionette, balancing a red apple on her head.

She had to maintain the pose—the apple could not fall, and she could not move.

The master said this would bring him artistic inspiration.

She did not understand it at all.

However, as long as it was the master’s order, she would execute it perfectly.

Forget being a puppet model; even if he asked her to sacrifice herself—to give her life—she would do so instantly.

“You know, I am an artist, and you are a perfect tool—a perfect tool to help me complete my artistic works.”

“Master, my body and soul belong to you, but there is no need to emphasize my status as a ‘tool’ so much. Even I can feel sad because of that.”

“Shut up. You’re disturbing my thoughts.”

“With all due respect, my Master, you are just lying in that chair without moving your brush once. You cannot create art that way.”

Eileen added, “Furthermore, you are a Transmigrator, not some artist. Stop pretending to be so refined.”

As soon as Atiste heard that, he could no longer sit still.

“What? You say I’m not an artist? What do you know about art? No one understands art better than I do!”

“Master, please calm down—”

Before Eileen could finish her sentence, Atiste suddenly heard a voice ring out inside his head.

[Congratulations, Host, on your successful transmigration. Your identity is: Ultimate Villain. Issuing your first task: Kidnap a commoner girl.]

“What the—? System?”

Atiste cried out.

“What is that?”

Eileen asked, confused.

“Oh, you should have awakened 500 years ago. Why are you just talking now?”

Atiste did not bother to explain.

Instead, he asked irritably, ‘System, I have waited so long for you! It has been 500 years! I have already cultivated until I am the strongest in the world, with no one left to challenge me. Why are you only appearing now?’

“Are Transmigrators always this strange?”

Eileen asked while maintaining her puppet pose.

A floating light screen appeared before Atiste’s eyes, displaying:

[Error, error, error. System scanning…]

[Host: Correct]

[Host Level: &%]

[STR: #@!@#*]**

[MP: %((^^^^]

*[AGI: ^&%%^&%]

[INT: 101]

[Host Status: Excited]

[System Determination: Host Level error, Attribute error, Intelligence normal, Timeline… *&%()#@]**

[Gibberish (^%&$## code %$#(&…]**

‘System? What’s wrong with you? Speak to me! Don’t break! I’m still counting on you to send me home!’

Atiste wanted to cry but had no tears.

He had been in this world for 500 years, and his only companion was his maid, Eileen.

Needless to say, he had endured much bitterness during that time, but he had survived and was now the strongest being in existence.

Because life in another world was too boring, he had picked up a hobby in art.

Whether it was music, chess, calligraphy, or painting—it was not that he was a master of everything, but rather that he understood none of it.

However, it was precisely because he was unskilled that he loved playing around with it.

The technology level of this world was relatively low, and Atiste himself was just an average person with mediocre intelligence.

He did not understand research at all and lacked the patience to develop high-tech solutions.

So, he could only study “art.”

On the other hand, his exclusive maid, Eileen, not only listened to his every command, but her strength had also reached a level rarely seen in the world.

She had never lost to him in chess, either.

Her loyalty to him was beyond doubt; after all, she and Atiste had faced countless life-and-death crises together over the past 500 years.

Yet, he always felt she was smarter than him, and it often seemed like she was making fun of him.

“Master, why are you acting crazy toward the thin air? Has your desire to perform overflowed again? An artist’s thoughts are truly unpredictable.”

“Sigh… the System is glitched. I thought I finally had a chance to go home…”

“It does not matter. I will stay by your side forever. You are already my inseparable family.”

“Eileen, thank you. I just thought the System had awakened.”

“So, what is a ‘System’ exactly?”

“Well… it’s hard to explain. Did you see the light screen in front of me just now?”

“No, I only saw you acting like a madman toward nothingness.”

“My dear Eileen, I am your master, after all. Could you show me a bit more respect?”

“Of course, Master. You are the most handsome man in the world.”

Eileen certainly was not lying; in her eyes, her master was indeed the most handsome man in the world.

“Thank you.”

[Restarting Villain System… Restart complete… Current location: Unknown]

‘System? You’re alive again!’

[Unable to detect Host status. Will force execution of Transmigrator duties. Issuing first System task: Kidnap a commoner girl.]

[Task Location: Lime Village]

[Target Character: Alisa, the righteous protagonist’s childhood friend]

[Task Objective: Capture Alisa and severely humiliate her entire family]

‘What kind of brain-dead task is this? Do I have to accept it?’

[If the Host refuses to execute the task, the System will initiate its self-destruct sequence.]

“Master, you are talking to the air again… Have you finally become obsessed to the point of madness for your art? How pitiful…”

“No, the System is threatening me!”

“Someone dares to threaten my beloved master? I shall kill them.”

As Eileen spoke, she immediately deployed her Killing Intent Perception Domain.

This was her exclusive skill, allowing her to detect any target with killing intent within a 2-kilometer radius.

As she took a combat stance, the red apple on her head fell to the ground.

The place where Atiste and Eileen resided was called “Outside the Three Realms,” a top-secret fortress Atiste had constructed using his Demon King’s Body.

Only those with Atiste’s permission could enter.

For hundreds of years, there had never been an intruder.

“Logically, it is impossible for an enemy to appear in Master’s fortress. After all, the name ‘Outside the Three Realms’ sounds so stupid that no one would want to come here, and it is impossible for anyone other than myself to enter.”

“Huh? Is that name actually stupid?”

Atiste felt a bit dejected.

“To dare invade the love nest of my master and me… damnable wretch… why can’t I detect them?”

While the Killing Intent Perception Domain was active, Eileen’s eyes glowed with a red light, making her look not only dangerous but lethal.

Any enemy she found would be killed instantly in a single strike.

There was no other reason than the fact that she was simply too powerful.

“They even hid their killing intent? It seems the opponent’s strength is not weak…”

“Eileen, calm down. This ‘System’ I mentioned is something only I can perceive, and it isn’t an enemy.”

Hearing this, Eileen felt somewhat relieved, but she did not let down her guard entirely.

“Deactivate the domain. There is no danger here.”

[System has determined the Host has accepted the task. The plot proceeds as normal.]

“This counts as ‘normal’?”

“Master, are you talking to that ‘System’ thing again?”

Eileen deactivated her Killing Intent Perception Domain and returned to her normal appearance, looking at Atiste curiously.

“That’s right. But you must keep this a secret, just like my identity as a Transmigrator. No one else can know.”

“I obey your command, my Master,” Eileen said submissively.

“But speaking of which, where is Lime Village?”

“I do not know its current location, but there was a village we passed 500 years ago that was indeed called ‘Lime Village.'”

Just as the two were wondering, a light screen automatically popped up before Atiste’s eyes.

It showed a map of the Abyssel Continent with a specific location marked.

[Task location located]

‘Oh? This System is actually quite convenient. It even has a built-in world map. If we had this thing 500 years ago, it would have saved us a lot of trouble.’

“Master, I cannot see the ‘map’ you are talking about.”

“Sigh, don’t worry about it. Just follow me. I don’t know if that ‘Lime Village’ still exists, but we’ll know once we go see for ourselves.”

Atiste’s body shifted, transforming from an elegant noble into a 3-meter-tall, terrifying monster wrapped in silver flowing light.

In this world, whenever he went outside, he would take on this form.

The reason was simple: first, to hide his identity, and second, because this appearance could terrify most people.

Eileen hopped onto Atiste’s shoulder, sitting gracefully as Atiste carried her.

“How wonderful! I can finally go out with Master again! I am so happy!”

Eileen was currently blooming with joy, her face flushed and her mood clearly excellent.

“Eileen, don’t forget our public identities. You are a Retainer, and I am a Tyrant. We are the terrifying legends that shroud this continent.”

“Yes~ As long as it is Master’s command, I will capture anything from a village girl to a newborn Demonic Dragon~”

The cheerful Eileen reined in her emotions, shifting her expression into that of a cold-hearted villain—emotionless and grim.

“Let’s move.”

Atiste snapped his fingers, and the two silhouettes vanished from “Outside the Three Realms,” instantly teleporting outside the fortress—into the skies above the Abyssel Continent.