Pain.
A deep, bone-crushing pain spread across Lin Xuan's chest. Every breath burned. Every movement sent shocks through his muscles.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed wasn't the pain—it was the silence.
Gone were the honking cars, the busy streets, the noise of the world he once knew. Instead, there was a stillness, broken only by the faint chirping of spiritual birds outside the window and the gentle crackle of a lantern's flame.
He sat up with effort, his body wrapped in thick bandages. His skin was bruised and blood still stained his robes.
"Where… am I?" he whispered hoarsely.
The ceiling above him was carved from fragrant spirit wood. Incense lingered in the air. This wasn't a hospital. It wasn't Earth.
And then—
BANG!
A wave of unfamiliar memories exploded in his mind like a dam breaking open.
"Arghhh!" Lin Xuan screamed, clutching his head. Memories—foreign, yet terrifyingly familiar—rushed in.
Images of seven little girls calling him "Big Brother Xuan"...
A noble sect atop a mountain…
A kind master who taught him swordsmanship…
A powerful sect filled with spiritual beasts, cultivation manuals, and treasures…
A lonely young man sacrificing everything for the ones he loved…
And finally…
A cold blade piercing his chest.
Blood. Betrayal. Laughter.
"You really thought we loved you, Brother Xuan? How pathetic…"
Her face.
That girl… that girl he had fed with his own hands, raised with care, protected like his own blood…
She was the one who killed him in the end.
Lin Xuan gasped for air, trembling as the truth became clear.
"This… this is…"
His mind was spinning, his heart pounding so hard he thought it might burst.
"This is the novel I read before I died!"
Everything suddenly made sense. The ancient architecture, the cultivation, the familiar names, the plotlines flashing through his mind—
He had transmigrated.
He, Lin Xuan, a 25-year-old struggling man from modern Earth, had died in an accident and reincarnated… into the body of the villain from a web novel he once read obsessively.
Before His Death
Back on Earth, Lin Xuan had once been a genius.
Top of his class. Great grades. A bright future.
But all of that collapsed when his father died, leaving behind massive debts. To protect his mother and younger sister, Lin Xuan quit his university and started working—any job he could find.
Internships, deliveries, coding gigs, even washing dishes in secret. Anything to survive.
But his company was cruel.
His seniors stole credit for his work. His boss humiliated him. His ideas were suppressed, and threats were made every time he tried to resist.
"If you talk back again, I'll blacklist you from every company in the city."
He endured it all… until one night, exhausted from overwork and heartbreak, he crossed the street with a stack of papers.
A blinding light.
A horn blaring.
Then—nothing.
Now
"So I died… and woke up here," Lin Xuan whispered. "Inside the body of Lin Xuan—the tragic villain of the novel."
In the original story, Lin Xuan was a talented outer sect disciple who took care of seven orphaned junior sisters. He gave them everything—his spirit stones, his treasures, his time.
He raised them from when they were children. Fed them. Trained them. Fought for them.
But as the plot progressed, those same sisters joined hands with the protagonist. Manipulated. Deceived. Betrayed.
In the end, they framed him for treason, had him beaten, stripped of cultivation, and finally killed him with smiles on their faces.
"What a tragic fool," Lin Xuan muttered, clenching his fist. "I remember crying when I read his ending… and cursing the author for writing such garbage."
He slowly stood up, wobbling from the pain.
"But now… I'm him. I'm Lin Xuan."
He looked at his reflection in a bronze mirror by the wall.
Long black hair. Sharp eyes. A handsome but pale face.
"I was meant to die to a Qi Refining Stage 6 beast," he murmured. "But… the master saved me?"
The memories confirmed it. His master, Elder Lan Yuerong, found him in time and rescued him.
But Lin Xuan had no time to rest.
Because suddenly—
Ding!
A golden panel appeared before his eyes.
[Revenge Gift System Activated]
Welcome, Host: Lin Xuan
System Type: Gift-Return & Growth
Initial Multiplier: 10x Return
System Growth: Locked (Can Reach 100x, 1,000x, or Billions in Future)
Lin Xuan's eyes widened—but only for a second.
"So… a cheat system," he said with a smirk. "A gift return multiplier… like those cheat fan-fics."
"Give someone a spiritual stone, get ten back?"
"Give someone a pill, and get ten times the quality in return?"
The more he thought about it, the more excited he got.
"No wonder the heavens gave me this system. This world treated this character like trash… but not anymore."
His grip tightened.
"I won't be the same fool who gives everything blindly."
"This time, I'll make the world kneel."
His lips curled into a cold smile.
"Those seven sisters? You want betrayal? I'll show you what true regret feels like."
"The protagonist? You think this is your story?"
"No. This world now belongs to me."
"Even the heavens can't stop me."
The golden panel flickered, as if in response to his resolve.