Vee wandered through the forest for hours after the girl and her bodyguard vanished.
No destination.
No plan.
Just walking.
The adrenaline from the fight had finally faded, leaving behind something heavier—
thoughts he didn't want to think.
The Death Matrix hummed faintly inside him, shifting, adjusting, doing… whatever it did.
He didn't understand it yet.
But the world around him?
He understood that part just enough to feel the dread crawling up his spine.
Because something inside him began clicking into place.
A memory.
A scene.
A paragraph.
From the novel.
Not the world—
but the story.
And suddenly… he froze.
"Wait," he whispered. "No… no, no, no… don't tell me…"
He racked his brain, flipping through the plot, the arcs, the characters—
And then his face went pale.
"…Don't tell me I reincarnated as him."
The useless boy.
The weakling noble.
The one readers joked about.
The stepping stone character who shows up once—
meets the protagonist—
provokes him by accident—
and dies like a pathetic fly just to make the hero look cool.
His name was:
"Verein Astora."
The Duke's disappointing second son.
A character destined to die before the first major arc even begins.
Vee's eye twitched violently.
"ME? I got reincarnated as that clown? The author hated him! The fandom hated him! Even the villains hated him!"
He dropped to his knees.
"Gods, system, whoever did this—you did NOT have to disrespect me like this…"
The trees creaked gently, as if the world itself was agreeing.
But realization struck deeper.
The girl from before…
If she was who he thought she was—
If her father really was the king—
Then she was:
Aurelia Vaelis.
The future Saintess.
The heroine.
The light of the empire.
And if she survived…
If the plot was still on track…
Then sooner or later—
Vee was going to meet the protagonist.
Face to face.
Just like in the novel.
And if the story didn't change?
He would die.
Again.
"…Not happening," Vee muttered, standing back up. "I refuse to be a tutorial-level corpse."
He dusted himself off, taking a deep breath.
"Fine. I'll go home. I'll figure out what this new body can do. Then I'll survive this cursed book if it kills me."
He paused.
"…Actually, bad phrase. Let me reword that."
He cleared his throat.
"I'll survive this book. Period."
He headed toward the distant path, guided by faint memories and the Death Matrix's strange tugging sensation.
Home wasn't far.
But he wasn't ready for what waited.
The Duke's Manor
The sun was setting when Vee finally reached the stone walls of House Astora.
Massive pillars.
Dark banners.
Soldiers patrolling with silent discipline.
The Astora Duchy was one of the empire's pillars—
known for iron, war, and a family history drenched in bloodshed.
And Vee was… the disappointment of this house.
The gates opened.
Knights stared.
Some frowned.
Others whispered.
"Isn't that the second young master?"
"He looks… different."
"He disappeared for two days. I thought he ran away again."
Vee forced a smile.
"I missed you all too."
He definitely didn't.
A maid hurried to him first.
"Young Master Verein—!"
But another voice cut her off.
A stiff, cold one.
"Where have you been?"
Vee turned.
A tall man with sharp eyes and colder presence approached.
Iron-gray hair.
A long coat with the Astora crest.
A scar running across his cheek like a blade mark.
Duke Cassian Astora.
His father.
Biologically.
Emotionally?
A glacier had more warmth.
Vee bowed stiffly. "I, uh… went to the forest. To train."
The Duke stared at him for a long, uncomfortable moment.
Then—
"…Useless."
Just one word.
And then the Duke walked past him without another glance.
Vee stood there, blinking.
"…Okay. Fair. Expected. Accuracy: 10/10. Delivery: 2/10. Could've been nicer."
He sighed.
"At least let someone pretend to be proud of me—"
"Verein!"
A pair of arms wrapped around him tightly.
Too tightly.
He choked. "Mother—! Need… air…"
Lady Lyria Astora hugged him like she was squeezing grief out of her heart.
"My sweet boy! Look at you! Your hair is a mess, your face is dirty, your clothes are torn—were you attacked? Did you fight? Did you eat? Did you sleep? Did you DIE?"
"Uh—define die—"
She smacked his back. "Don't joke!"
Behind her, the Duke sighed in irritation.
"Lyria. He's alive. That's already more than expected."
Vee muttered, "Can someone revoke his speaking privileges?"
But his mother held his shoulders, looking him over.
"You're… different," she whispered softly. "You feel… heavier."
Vee blinked. "Heavier?"
She frowned slightly but didn't explain.
Instead—
She grabbed his wrist.
"We're testing your talent right now."
"Wait—what?!"
"No arguments."
"I just came back from dying!"
"Yes, and you look stronger, so perfect time!"
She dragged him through the manor like a child being taken to school.
Vee sighed.
"I knew this body came with problems."
The Talent Hall
A crystal orb the size of a heart floated in the center of the room.
It pulsed with faint mana, glowing with soft silver light.
The ranks flashed around it:
Common
Uncommon
Rare
Elite
Mythic
Ancient
Heavenly
Heavenly.
A rank so rare only three people in history had ever awakened it.
Vee gulped.
His mother nudged him forward.
"Go on. Touch it."
He hesitated.
What if…
What if he really was weak?
What if the novel didn't change?
What if he woke up the same pathetic rank Verein had originally—
No.
He wasn't the old Vee.
He wasn't the original Verein.
And he wasn't dying for someone else's character development again.
He placed his hand on the crystal.
It was cold.
Then warm.
Then—
The orb exploded with light.
Wind roared through the hall.
Mana surged like a storm.
The crystal vibrated violently.
Sirens flared along the walls.
The Duke turned sharply.
His mother gasped.
Maids screamed.
The orb shifted through ranks rapidly—
Common → Uncommon → Rare → Elite → Mythic → Ancient—
Then it stopped.
Froze.
And the light bled into one final color:
Pitch black.
The screen behind it cracked as a single word appeared:
HEAVENLY RANK
— DEATH MATRIX BLOODLINE —
Silence.
No one breathed.
Not even Vee.
His mother covered her mouth, eyes trembling.
The Duke's expression finally broke—
Shock.
Pure, silent shock.
The room trembled as if reacting to something ancient awakening.
Then—
A cold whisper brushed Vee's ear.
"Found you."
He jerked back.
No one else heard it.
But he recognized the feeling.
Something dangerous had just awakened with him.
Something that wasn't supposed to exist in this world.
A chill ran down his spine.
"…Crap."
He looked at the cracked crystal.
Then at his stunned parents.
Then at his shaking hands.
And in that moment—
Vee realized something terrifying:
He wasn't just a side character anymore.
He was a mistake.
A threat.
A variable the world wasn't designed to hold.
And every part of the story…
would react to him.
Especially the protagonist