Chapter 1

Somewhere in the city of Grusoire, Clement Lakeworth was sitting behind the wheel of a Bugatti Veyron Hermes Special Edition with mixed emotions.

An hour ago, he'd just been chewed out by Jenny Bronson, his pent-up female manager. After that, he was stuck in the office revising the design draft that had been rejected eight times by the client. It was his fifth day of working overtime.

A brilliant idea had just come to mind. Alas, before he could even open up his design application, his mind shut down, and he fell face-first onto the keyboard.

When Clement opened his eyes once more, he had transmigrated into the parallel world he was in right now and into the body of a young man who shared the exact same name.

All decked out in Hermes, with a Patek Philippe watch around his wrist, he was holding his phone—the latest iPhone model—while sitting in the driver's seat of a Bugatti Veyron. He also had an eight-figure sum in his bank account.

After receiving the memories of his new body, Clement realized he was the only son and sole heir of Michael Lakeworth, the head of the Lakeworth family, one of the three most prestigious families of Grusoire.

All of Clement's exhaustion immediately disappeared without a trace. In his excitement, he even began humming an upbeat tune. He was thrilled!

Once he got a taste of what it was like to be a wealthy scion, he felt like life couldn't get any better. His life had just taken a dramatic upswing. He had gone from being a lowly member of the working class to the heir of a rich family!

Luxury cars, gorgeous women, a flourishing career, a slew of subordinates, and all the connections he needed… These were all things the old him dared not even dream of having, but he now had them all in the palm of his hand. He could even have as many as he wanted.

Clement felt like he'd hit the jackpot. His life was about to take off!

Alas, his excitement lasted all of three minutes. It came to an end when his tag-along friend, Royce Stone, brought a menacing man with a scar on his face to see him.

Clement was dumbstruck. It turned out that not too long ago, the original Clement had been drinking at a bar when he spotted a stunning bombshell on the dance floor. Banking on his status as a wealthy scion, he'd brazenly hit on the woman, only to get roughed up by the young man accompanying her.

Being the heir of a wealthy family, he wasn't going to take that lying down. He'd threatened the young man, warning him not to leave. Royce then suggested hiring a thug from the local area. That was how Nate Duran, the scarred-face man, came into the picture.

Now that Clement knew the whole story, he got the feeling that something wasn't quite right. In fact, he jumped in alarm when Royce told him the young man's name, Ethan Hunter.

Ethan Hunter?

A name like that could only belong to someone who couldn't be underestimated. It was the classic name given to the usual protagonist archetypes in his past life. With a name like that and the situation they were in, Clement was certain about one thing. Ethan had to be the "Chosen One" of this world—the main character!

He, on the other hand, was obviously the villainous scion who was about to get stomped on and repeatedly humiliated!

"Oh, man. You totally screwed me over! With your wealth and status, all you had to do was snap your fingers, and you'd have a line of young, gorgeous women throwing themselves at you! Why did you have to offend the Chosen One of all people? Are you some kind of masochist?" Clement grumbled to himself, his expression bitter.

Back in his past life, anyone who'd ever read a novel would know that rich guys like Clement were merely the stepping stones that aided the Chosen One in his journey to greatness. Soon, he'd be completely destroyed by the Chosen One. He'd end up broken and destroyed, coming to a tragic end.

"I'm so screwed!"

The thought of his upcoming downfall made Clement feel like punching a wall. In his past life, he'd thoroughly enjoyed reading about the righteous hero teaching the arrogant scion a good lesson. But now that he'd become the villainous rich guy…

He grew utterly depressed.

"Everything's ready, Clem. I'll take Nate over to that bastard, Ethan, and have him chopped into pieces!" Royce declared with an ingratiating expression. "Then, I'll grab that bombshell and bring her over. By the way, Clem, will I also get my turn…"

He trailed off with a leery chuckle.

"Hold it."

The longer Clement eyed Royce, the more disgruntled he became. He knew that based on the damn author's usual tropes, Royce must've screwed him over more than once. Royce could very well be the reason for most of his troubles.

Clement smacked Royce in the face—and he had to admit that was quite enjoyable. That explained why Jenny, his manager in his past life, loved lashing out at him so much.

"Huh?" Clutching his cheek, Royce asked in confusion, "Are we not going to get our revenge, Clem?"

This didn't seem at all like Clement's usual reaction!

"Give me a minute to think."

Clement rubbed his temples with a conflicted expression. He knew he couldn't rely on physical methods. While he didn't know what kind of protagonist Ethan was, he'd read plenty of fiction and knew all the usual possibilities.

Ethan was probably either a returning war hero of some kind, a general who'd come home to get married, a reincarnated godly figure, or perhaps some genius doctor who'd just rejoined society.

Regardless of which of these identities Ethan had, there was one thing in common—he was undoubtedly an incredible fighter. Therefore, they would only be giving Ethan another notch on his belt if they marched up to him with Nate in an attempt to cause trouble for him.

For all Clement knew, Ethan might end up convincing Nate to switch sides and come after him instead. He wasn't dumb enough to allow that possibility.

"What should I do?" Clement wondered to himself, his mind a mess.

"System activated. Congratulations, Clement. You have been granted the Villain Experience System," a robotic voice suddenly rang out in Clement's head.

"A system?"

Clement's eyes lit up. Having read more than his fair share of novels, he knew what a system was. He also knew just how important it was for a transmigrator. Plenty of male leads in various novels relied on their systems to make something out of themselves!

But then again, what he received was the Villain Experience System. What kind of a system was that?

"Binding successful."

"Where are you, System?"

Clement touched his head, but he didn't find any sort of antenna that might help him communicate with some advanced cosmic civilization.

"I am located within your mind, Clement. If you wish to summon me, you simply need to call out to me in your head."

"I see."

Eyes still bright, Clement asked, "What can you do, System?"

"I will assess your attributes and award points to boost them based on your actions. There is also a system store that can provide you with all manner of rare treasures."

"Oh?"

Following the system's prompts, Clement pulled up his attributes.

"Host: Clement Lakeworth"

"Physique: 60 (Average threshold for ordinary humans: 60)"

"Luck: 15"

"Villain Points: 300"

"Skillset: None"

"What the heck? Why is my luck so low?" Clement exclaimed.

The system had explained that an ordinary person would have approximately 60 luck points. Those who were luckier had somewhere between 70 and 100 points. Meanwhile, someone like him, with just 15 points, would basically trip even when walking on a flat surface.

That wasn't luck at all. It looked more like an indicator of just how unlucky he was!

"What can I do with the villain points, System?"

"You will receive villain points if and when you engage in villainous behavior. The points can be used for a lottery draw or to redeem items at the system store."

"I see," Clement remarked.

After glancing at the system store, he noticed that all the options were grayed out. The store would only be available to him once he earned 3,000 villain points.

"What's up with my luck points, System?" Clement asked ruefully. With luck like that, he might get struck by lightning even on a clear day. "Why do I have so little luck?"