Roy had been a 27-year-old office worker before everything changed.
Last night, he'd been grinding through a mobile game called Heixuan Online on his phone, a fantasy cultivation game with demons, sects, and way too many women with impossible body proportions.
He'd fallen asleep mid-game, his phone still in his hand.
When he woke up, he wasn't in his apartment anymore.
It was a dark room, like a torture chamber.
Blood covered the walls and floor, pooled in corners where bodies had been left to rot. A beaten man lay in a cell, staring at him with hatred burning in his eyes.
"Kael Holyfield, you despicable demon. I will tear you apart," the man spat.
Kael opened his crimson eyes in shock.
Where... what is this? What's happening?
He looked around, taking in the blood-soaked chamber.
This place... he recognized it from the game. This was the final boss scenario from Heixuan Online, the torture chamber where Kael Holyfield Nightborn kept his prisoners after defeating them.
He stumbled to a blood pool and saw his reflection. Perfect black hair, sharp features, crimson eyes that looked like they could pierce through souls. This was Kael's body ,the final boss character, the demon lord who'd transmigrated from a lower realm and become an absolute tyrant.
I am... Kael? For real? Like Kael Holyfield Nightborn, the first young master of House Nightborn?
The memories came flooding in. In the game, Kael was supposed to be an absolute demon. He'd killed his own master, slaughtered his entire previous sect.
And his own father, the clanmaster of House Holyfield had thrown him into the Eternal Nights Sect just to keep him contained, to make sure he didn't accumulate more power or authority.
Didn't he have... a big harem later too?
Kael felt a strange mix of excitement and dread. In the game, he'd played through multiple routes as Kael, and in almost every single one, he'd ended up with dozens of disciples who became his wives.
But there was a catch, in every single route, those same women had tried to kill him in creative and brutal ways. He'd actually murdered his own disciples over 100 times across different playthroughs, each death triggering a different story route.
The villainesses. That's what the game called them.
Beautiful, powerful women who he'd seduced, trained, and ultimately destroyed because they wanted revenge or power.
Some routes had them poisoning him. Others had them stabbing him in his sleep. A few had orchestrated elaborate schemes to trap him.
Shit. This demon master was near his peak in the game, and now I am in a pathetic stage. Not even half his previous power.
He'd transmigrated into the body right after Kael had fought the Mystic Sect's blade maiden and received a devastating qi backlash. In the game, this was supposed to be one of the major plot points before his downfall.
"Let me rest first. This blood and stench is making me crazy."
Kael made his way to his chambers in the Eternal Nights Sect,the third last-ranked sect on the entire continent.
His father, Dmitri Holyfield, had arranged his position as Fifth Elder here, giving him enough authority to move freely but not enough to become a real threat to the sect leadership.
He rested for a few days, his mind processing everything.
The memories of being Kael were settling into his consciousness, mixing with Roy's knowledge of the game world and all its mechanics.
The next day, as he woke up. The system message he'd been waiting for finally appeared.
"So this is a few years before my death in the game. It's about time I get the system thing they have in novels."
[LOVE IMMORTAL SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[Welcome, Host Kael Holyfield Nightborn]
[Newbie Gift Pack Available - Open?]
"Yess, that's what I was talking about," he said, clicking yes immediately.
[GIFT PACK CONTENTS]
[Sword Flight - Flight capability on any blade]
[Superman Mode - Gain one level above opponent for 1 minute per opponent. Cooldown: Per opponent]
[Disciple Rebate System - Receive cultivation benefits from disciples' breakthroughs]
In the evening, he set out on his sword. The blade shot upward from his hands, and he jumped onto it, feeling the rush of wind against his skin as it carried him into the sky.
Woaah, this must be the most cool thing in this world.
He wore a white robe with golden linings, and his long black hair flowed behind him as he flew. The sun caught the fabric, making him look almost otherworldly.
"This villain had maxed charm. Crazy."
Disciples from the sect saw him passing overhead, and comments rose up from below.
"Look, it's the Fifth Elder!"
"So handsome."
"Sure enough, among all the elders he is the youngest. He is young, elegant and charming with dashing looks. Nobody can match him."
"Fifth Elder, where are you going?"
These many women actually noticing me. Is this my popular phase?
"I'm just roaming around," he called back, already moving past them.
Sigh. Shallow people. Only focusing on the villain's looks, not even knowing what this guy was planning for the future.
A notification flashed suddenly across his vision.
[DISCIPLE WITH EXTRAORDINARY FATE DETECTED]
Ooh, this system is actually referring them. Thank god, or else I would've had to choose them myself.
"Show info," he commanded.
[Name: Vivian Atlaris]
[Height: 170cm]
[Weight: 55kg]
[Three Sizes: 93, 59, 87]
[Status: Parents deceased. Village currently under attack]
[Fate: Child of Fate]
[Innate Physique: Supreme Dao Maiden Physique - PEERLESS]
[Skills: Peerless Refinery - GODLY TIER]
"Damn. I wasn't sure what to do if I get some random guy as disciple. Now it's like this system is baiting me with these stats. These are some godly abilities. But isn't Vivian... haha. It was from the game anyway. No way she will remember this guy from the past cycle of the world."
He angled his sword toward the direction the system indicated. A village was burning in the distance, smoke rising into the evening sky.
The village was chaos. People ran screaming, and women cried out as bandits tore through the streets. Fire consumed wooden buildings, and the smell of smoke and blood filled the air.
Vivian lay on the ground, trying to fend off a bandit who had climbed on top of her. He'd already torn her clothes, and his hands were moving with crude intent.
"Girl, you should come with us," the bandit grunted, his breath reeked of alcohol. "This body isn't something to keep like this."
She was sobbing, her voice was barely a whisper.
"Father... mother... now me too. All dead."
The bandit lowered himself toward her, and -STAB- ,his stomach suddenly exploded in a spray of blood as a sword pierced straight through him.
"Aren't you a bit impatient," a cold voice said from above.
The bandit screamed and fell away from her.
Kael stood there in his white robes, his expression utterly calm despite the violence. Other bandits froze, sensing the massive gap in power between them and this young man.
Huff. Thank god it was only some random guy with no skills, or else I would've ran away.
Kael walked toward the girl on the ground, extending his hand. She stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes.
"So you are... Vivian."
She froze completely at the sound of her name coming from this stranger's mouth.
And then, all at once, memories crashed into her consciousness like a tidal wave. Every cruel thing Kael had done to her in the game routes.
Every time he'd used her body as a cultivation cauldron. Every time he'd sent her on suicide missions as an assassin. Every humiliation, every betrayal, every moment of agony.
Her body went rigid, her eyes unfocusing as the weight of a thousand deaths settled on her shoulders.
Kael continued speaking, his voice carrying weight.
"I am Kael Holyfield Nightborn, next head of the Holyfield Clan and Fifth Elder at the Eternal Nights Sect. You should try cultivation too. Maybe get revenge, obviously not for you, but to save this from happening to others."
She stared at him, still processing the memories flooding her mind. Her legs trembled as she tried to back away, but there was nowhere to go.
He is... Kael. The man who... that sect... immortals... it's him.
"Hmm, what's taking so long?" Kael said casually, turning slightly away.
"If you're not interested, I will leave. No need for thanks."
Such great potential, and she is not even a cultivator yet. I could nurture her perfectly while also learning all things myself. I need that disciple rebate too.
She smiled awkwardly, a twisted expression that tried to hide the rage and fear warring inside her. In her mind, one thought crystallized clearly: I will kill him someday.
"This isn't the kind of expression a happy person has," Kael observed, turning back to look at her.
"Not that I mind. So what is your answer?"
"I'm willing to become your disciple," she whispered with her hollow voice.
She bowed to him, the movement shaky but deliberate.
"Please accept my vow."
"Likewise," Kael replied simply.
[DISCIPLE BOND ESTABLISHED]
[Vivian Atlaris - Child of Fate]
[10x Rebate Multiplier Activated]
[Rewards Granted]
[Foundation Building Pill - High Grade]
[Cultivation Technique: Heavenly Refinery Method]
"Woah... let's go," he said, pulling her to her feet.
The system notification continued in his mind.
[Granted Title: Peak of Heavens]
[System Gamified: Cultivation will be displayed as Levels rather than Realms]
He was slightly disappointed by the rewards.
This is all I got? Isn't she some child of fate?
But there was no time to dwell on it.
He helped her onto his sword as other bandits scattered, sensing they had no chance against him. The blade shot upward into the sky, carrying both of them above the burning village.
"Come on, let's go. After training for a few months, we can take revenge on the rest of these bandit groups too," he said as they ascended.
On the way back, he talked to her about various things. His webnovel knowledge mixed with Kael's memories made him sound almost naturally wise.
"Remember, cultivation is a long journey. Don't expect results soon. I will register you as my personal disciple in the sect. See that?"
He pointed toward the distant towers rising above the landscape. "That's the Eternal Nights Sect."
This sect. This time, I will kill him in this life, she thought, her eyes fixed on the approaching towers.
A young disciple suddenly appeared below them, screaming upward.
"Fifth Elder! The grand meeting is starting! The sect master is waiting for your arrival!"
"Alright, wait for me there," Kael called back.
He turned to Vivian as they landed at the sect entrance.
"Hey you, go to the barracks and set up. There's a book on basic breathing on the table in your quarters. Learn it."
"Yes, master," she replied,
He is way too different than the Kael she saw in her memories.
Kael watched her walk away toward the disciples' barracks, his expression unreadable.
Never did I think that the very first disciple in this world would be a top-class one. Even the body... nonono. You're her master.
He turned and headed toward the main hall, where the grand meeting awaited. Behind him, in the barracks, Vivian was already planning how she would poison him, just like she had in the game.