Izé felt that he never wanted to recall that unbearable, humiliating past for as long as he lived.
Whenever he thought of it, the hairs on the back of his neck would stand on end, and cold sweat would drench his back.
Back then, calling himself foolish was an understatement; he was like someone carrying a lantern into a powder magazine—courting disaster with every step.
What on earth made him believe that an ordinary soul from a peaceful age, relying on nothing but a System, could command wind and rain in this world of swords and magic, with its rigid hierarchy?
All tragedies began with that damned “Villain Option,” and his ridiculous “Overconfident Infatuation.”
At the time, he’d just been rescued by Riya and hadn’t recovered from the shock when several figures, enveloped in powerful magical fluctuations, rushed over.
Leading them was a woman with a stern face, exuding a cold aura that seemed to freeze the very air. Her icy blue eyes swept over them, enough to silence even the most mischievous of children.
“Big sister…” Riya’s voice was barely above a whisper, with a faint tremor at the end that was hard to detect.
“You used magic?” The woman addressed as big sister—Angelica—spoke with a heaviness like the pressure before a blizzard. “Remember your identity. When we’re outside, call me ‘Teacher’!”
From the conversation that followed, Izé managed to piece together the whole story.
They were currently outside the Empire’s border. In recent years, those usually stupid Pig-headed Demons had grown much more intelligent, even learning to disguise themselves as humans to secretly abduct children as food stock. Riya, acknowledged as a genius by Liyue Academy, stumbled upon this while on a mission. She left clues and, risking her life, disguised herself as a child to infiltrate the demon lair alone.
Hearing the words “Liyue Academy” made Izé’s heart burn with excitement.
Wasn’t that the place where the Main Character, Lien, started his journey in the game?
Izé started to get excited again—would he, just like the Main Character, naturally be brought into the academy and even receive special treatment due to his life-saving connection with Riya?
However, reality struck him like a blow to the head.
“Foolish!” Angelica scolded sharply, raising her hand and delivering a crisp slap across Riya’s face. “Do you even know what you’re doing? You carry the most noble bloodline of the Arsède Family! For a few commoners, you dare risk your life alone and even use the family’s Bottom Card Magic!”
The sharp sound of the slap made Izé’s heart tremble, and blood rushed to his head. He instinctively wanted to speak, “You… how could you hit someone…” But before he could finish, Angelica’s gaze, cold as millennia-old ice, pinned him in place. That look held not only authority, but a real, crushing spiritual oppression that made him feel as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss, making it hard even to breathe.
Once again, he saw with complete clarity just how insignificant he was. Faced with true power, all his pride as a transmigrator and the luck given by the System was utterly worthless.
“Just now, the one you went so far as to protect with your Bottom Card Magic—is it this boy?” Angelica’s gaze was as sharp as an ice awl, stabbing straight through Izé, as if she could see right through him.
Riya pressed her lips together and lowered her head in silence.
“Hmph, quite the courage. A mere commoner dares covet the future pillar of my Arsède Family?” Angelica’s voice grew colder, every word biting as frost.
From that moment, Izé’s nightmare truly began.
It wasn’t until much later that he understood the roots of it all. The Arsède Family had passed down powerful fire magic for generations, but in this generation, none of the male heirs had the talent to inherit it. Only Riya, who was raised as a boy, met the standard. In this era where male preference was an iron law among nobles, a female lord was destined to face endless slander and opposition. Therefore, the family would never allow Riya, during her formative years, to develop even the slightest uncontrollable feelings for any “male”—especially after she risked using the family’s Bottom Card Magic to save a commoner boy.
Thus, Izé became a hidden danger that had to be “removed.”
After being brought back to Liyue Academy, he didn’t receive the new start he’d imagined. Instead, he was thrown directly into the pitch-black Secret Chamber.
Angelica used Spirit Magic, tormenting his will day and night without rest.
The magic did no physical harm, but it endlessly dredged up one’s deepest fears, magnifying and repeating them until the spirit was utterly broken.
During those days of utter darkness, Izé was forced to relive, again and again, the “ultimate terrors” of his modern life: a relative’s brat tearing his beloved figurines to pieces; discovering in the dead of night, stomach growling, that his stash of instant noodles was gone and his kettle had broken; a sworn brother stabbing him in the back; and, worst of all, finding that his sweet-voiced online girlfriend was actually a burly, bearded man picking his toes on the other end of the call…
Whenever he recalled those experiences, Izé found them both absurd and melodramatic, yet every moment back then had been nothing but pure torment.
What chilled him most was that when the mental torture failed to break him, the crazy Angelica instead demanded that Riya personally finish him off, calling it “severing unnecessary karmic ties and proving your resolve.”
Fortunately, at that time, Riya had not yet been fully assimilated by her family and held to her own bottom line, resolutely refusing this ridiculous and cruel order.
Yet her defiance only made Angelica all the more determined: “This child cannot be allowed to remain.”
During his imprisonment, Izé racked his brains day and night, thinking about how to survive in this world.
Drawing on his past experiences from web novels, anime, and games, he seriously set out a philosophy for staying alive.
First: absolutely do not meddle in others’ business. None of that heroic, draw-your-sword-to-help-the-weak nonsense.
Second: have a deep understanding of your own status, play the role of a commoner, a background character, an NPC, and avoid getting killed off by the plot.
Finally: stay far away from beautiful women. Oh, and men too!
He also figured his System needed a name change.
[God-level Choice System] NO
[NPC Nurturing System] YES
Just as Izé was resigned to being completely swallowed up by this endless hell, a turning point came quietly. The principal of Stellar Academy, Claire, came to Liyue Academy on official business.
She had always been at odds with Angelica, and when she learned of Izé’s situation by chance, she intervened immediately. “This child is destined for Stellar. He should come under my care.” With that as her excuse, she forcibly intervened and rescued the now-skin-and-bones Izé.
And that was the prologue to Izé’s path as the Supreme-Dao NPC—his entire reason for joining Stellar Academy.
On his way to the principal’s office, the bloody and humiliating memories flooded his mind, making his steps feel all the heavier. He shook his head, trying to shake off those unbearable recollections.
The very first lesson at Stellar Academy, of course, was the talent assessment.
And it was then that the System, as always, popped up once more, giving him a key choice that would decide his fate:
[Option 1: Display over sixty percent Elemental Affinity with five elements, and awaken a rare Martial Body Constitution. Difficulty: S. Reward: Protagonist Value +10]
[Option 2: Awaken Dark Attribute Magic Talent and fuse a random Demonic Bloodline. Difficulty: S. Reward: Villain Value +10]
[Option 3: Display five Elemental Affinities, each at five percent. Difficulty: E. Reward: NPC Value +10]
…