Chapter 1: I Refuse

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the silence—thick, complete, and unnatural.

This wasn't my room.

The realization crept in slowly, like waking from a heavy dream. The last thing I remembered was the truck—its headlights glaring at me, cold and almost mocking. Then came the impact, the pain, and after that… nothing.

Now, I was lying on hard, uneven ground. The air was damp and cold. Jagged rocks surrounded me, dimly lit by a pale glow seeping in from somewhere. A cave. I was in a cave.

My head throbbed, and my body felt… wrong. Every movement was sluggish, like I was dragging around limbs that no longer belonged to me. Just sitting up left me breathless.

Where was I? How did I end up here?

The questions circled in my mind, each one heavier than the last.

Was this a dream?

But dreams didn't feel like this. Dreams didn't make your lungs burn when you moved. Dreams didn't chill your skin or send aches through your bones. No, this was real—too real to be anything else.

Then his past memories filled his mind.

In my past life, I was just a regular guy—Kai Zheng. The eldest of three brothers. A son my father could be proud of.. Stern but supportive, he'd raised me to be dependable. My younger brothers admired me, listened to my every word. I was their rock. Their guide.

On the outside, I was the perfect older sibling. Stable. Mature. Strong.

But underneath that mask?

I was a dreamer. A nerd. The kind of guy who disappeared into stories instead of parties. While others sought love or ambition, I sought escape—fantasy novels, strategy games, anime, cultivation worlds… those were my sanctuary.

In those tales, I wasn't Kai Zheng the responsible brother. I was the chosen one, the tactician, the ruler. A hero. A god. Someone important.

But life? Life didn't care about dreams. It gave me textbooks instead of swords, deadlines instead of destinies. But still i loved that life everyone cared for me. that was the life everyone dream of.

I remember that final night. I was picking up groceries after class. Plastic bags cut into my fingers as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the street.

That's when I saw it.

A truck.

Parked on the side of the road. Engine dead. Headlights glowing—sharp, focused, unblinking. Like eyes. Watching.

Something about it felt wrong.

Still, I brushed it off. "Too much late-night reading," I muttered.

But when the crosswalk light turned green, I stepped forward.

And the horn blared.

I froze.

A truck was speeding toward the crosswalk—toward someone behind me. A boy in a hoodie. Pale. Fragile. He looked like a nerd, just like me.

He stood frozen as the truck bore down on him. The driver slammed the brakes—tires screeched—but nothing stopped it.

Then, something impossible happened.

The truck swerved.

Not around the boy.

Toward me.

As if it had chosen me deliberately.

It didn't make sense. It didn't have to. The last thing I saw were those headlights, glowing like they were laughing.

And then…I died.

Suddenly, a voice echoed inside my head.

[Congratulations. You have been chosen.]

It didn't come from the cave. It wasn't a whisper in the dark. It was in my mind.

A glowing message appeared before me, floating in the air.

[Welcome, Host. Please choose your path: Hero or Villain.]

I stared at the screen, frozen.

This was the kind of thing I'd read about a hundred times. Transmigration. A second chance. A new world. A system.

It should've been exciting.

But it wasn't.

It felt… hollow.

Hero or Villain.

Two choices. So simple, so absolute.

Heroes were beloved. Revered. Champions of justice, protectors of the weak.

Villains were feared. Powerful. Untamed. But they always lost in the end.

I knew how this worked. I'd read enough to understand what the system wanted. But something inside me rebelled at the thought.

Why only two paths? Why be forced into a role at all?

I clenched my fists.

"I refuse," I said, my voice rough but clear.

The screen flickered.

[Invalid input. Please select your path: Hero or Villain.]

"I said no," I snapped. "I'm not your toy. I won't be caged by some fantasy rulebook."

I didn't know where the defiance came from—maybe from the death I'd just suffered, maybe from something deeper. But I knew one thing:

I would not be shackled by labels.

[Selection overridden. Both paths assigned.]

Both?

[As the Hero, you shall rise to protect the innocent and uphold justice. As the Villain, you shall wield fear and chaos, cutting down the righteous in your path. Both fates are yours to bear. Walk the line between light and shadow, and let the world decide what you truly are.]

I stared at the glowing words, my mind racing. Both paths? The thought of being forced into two roles stirred something deep inside me.

I wasn't going to let anyone—not even this system—dictate who I should be. I'd make my own path. I always had.

I had worked hard for everything in my past life. I studied, worked, and built an image until people saw me the way I wanted them to: strong, capable, trustworthy.

My father trusted me, and through that trust, I proved I was superior to my brothers—stronger, smarter, better.

They saw me as their big brother, their mentor, but I was so much more—I was their master, shaping them to follow the rules of the world.

Society doesn't value kindness as much as strength, control, and power. I learned that from every novel I read. Each story taught me something—about strategies, human nature, or simply how to win.

Through all the books, I learned to manipulate situations and shape the world around me, even if I appeared to be nothing more than a quiet nerd on the surface.

In those novels, heroes were praised for their noble hearts while villains were celebrated for their sheer power. But the truth was, neither side was truly free; both were trapped by the world's expectations.

So I forged my own path. I didn't care about labels like hero or villain. I cared only about proving that I was in control.

I was the talented one, the one who had it all together—handsome, smart, strong—everything society admired. I had crafted a perfect image: a balance between the peace I craved and the power I needed.

And that's how I had lived my life.

No one ever saw the real me. I hid behind masks, played roles, and followed a path I thought was mine—crafted, calculated, and predicted with precision. I worked for a future that never came.

But now? Everything was gone.

All those years of planning, all the effort, the sacrifices... meaningless. My dreams, my ambitions—nothing more than dust scattered in the wind.

Now that I think about it, I died a virgin.

Never even had a girlfriend. Never experienced love, warmth, or even the simplest connection. I spent so long trying to secure a future that I forgot to live in the present.

What a joke.