🪄 Chapter 1: "The Villain Wakes Up" (Sample)
> Darkness pressed against me like a heavy blanket.
For a second, I thought I was still in my room — the one with a cracked ceiling and posters of fictional heroes who were way cooler than I'd ever be. But then… the smell hit me.
Blood. Smoke. A fireplace.
"Lord Kael," a voice whispered. "It's time."
Lord… Kael?
My eyelids snapped open. I was lying on a bed big enough for three people, wrapped in red velvet sheets. A mirror on the wall reflected a pale face — sharp jawline, black hair like spilled ink, eyes the color of silver coins.
Not me.
Him.
The villain.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I knew this face. I knew this room. I knew exactly what happened next in the book.
In three months, this guy dies screaming.
"No way," I muttered. "I got isekai'd… as the villain?!"
The servant waiting at the door frowned. "My lord?"
I sat up, running a hand through my hair. Think, Daniel. Think. If this was Chapter 1 of the book, then the hero hadn't arrived yet. I still had time. But how much?
My chest tightened.
This wasn't a dream. The pain in my hand was real. The fire in the hearth was real.
And so was my death.
"Bring me… the royal history," I said slowly, testing the way Kael's voice sounded. Deeper. Sharper. Dangerous.
If I was going to survive this story, I needed to become the villain smarter than the plot.