The ringing of his phone alarm pierced through the silence of a cramped apartment.
Chen Yu groaned as he rolled over on his worn-out mattress. Another day, another meaningless cycle of office work and exhaustion. Life in the modern world was gray and suffocating, with no path forward—no power, no wealth, no freedom.
But fate has its own cruel sense of humor.
As he dragged himself out the door, the blare of a horn split the air. A truck came barreling toward him. The world turned white.
When Chen Yu next opened his eyes, he was no longer on a cracked city street. Instead, he found himself lying on a luxurious silk bed inside a grand chamber. The faint scent of incense filled the air.
"What… what the hell? This isn't my apartment…"
Before he could comprehend, a sharp pain stabbed through his head. Memories not his own flooded in—a young master of the Azure Cloud Sect, arrogant, despised, and infamous for bullying others. A name surfaced: Chen Yu, son of a minor elder, destined to be crippled and killed by the sect's protagonist in less than a month.
"No way… I transmigrated? And into a villain's body!?"
As panic churned within him, a cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
[Villain System Binding…]
[Host Identified: Chen Yu]
[Identity: Villainous Young Master]
[Fate Value: -100]
[Objective: Survive. Defy destiny. Plunder fortune from the so-called 'protagonists.']
Chen Yu froze. A system? Like those from novels he used to read in his lonely nights? But this one… wasn't for heroes.
It was for villains.
Slowly, a grin spread across his face. If this world wanted him to be a villain, then so be it. He would not bow, he would not be trampled—he would use this "villainy" to climb higher than anyone.
"Fine then," he whispered, eyes gleaming with determination. "If I'm fated to be a villain, I'll be the last villain standing… the one at the very peak!"
And thus began the rise of Chen Yu, the villain who would walk the eternal Dao and seize the apex of all existence.