Chapter 1: The Ordinary End and the Confusing Beginning

The wall clock above the cash register read ten minutes past eleven at night. 

The convenience store's white neon lights hummed softly, keeping company with the quiet of the final shift hours. 

My name doesn't matter, at least not anymnore. In my old world, I was just an ordinary guy living on a meager monthly salary, renting a small room on the edge of town, and spending my weekends reading fantasy web novels online. 

There was nothing special about my life. My days revolved arounda monotonous cycle of inventory shelves, the cash register, and a silent apartment hallway.

I sorted a few rows of soda cans on the refrigerator shelf and then left when my shift officially ended.

The autumn night air was freezing and biting. I pulled my worn jacket tighter around myself as I walked home along the empty sidewalk.

At a quiet intersection, I stopped at a red light.

The asphalt looked wet from the afternoon drizzle, reflecting the yellowish glow of the streetlights.

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps rang out from across the sidewalk.

I glanced over and saw a boy, about five years old, chasing after a toy ball that was rolling straight into the middle of the street.

His eyes widened in terror as a large truck came speeding around the corner from the right, showing no signs of braking.

Time seemed to slow down for a fraction of a second.

Without a thought for my own safety, my body moved on pure instinct.

I ran as fast as I could, dashed across against the red light, grabbed the little boy, and shoved him with all my might toward the safety of the sidewalk. However, before I could pull my foot back, a brutal, searing impact slammed into my body.

The screech of tires against the wet asphalt rang loudly in my ears.

The world spun instantly. My body was flung into the air before crashing hard against the cold road surface.

A wave of searing pain shot through my bones, but strangely, the sensation slowly faded into numbness.

As my consciousness rapidly slipped away, my vision blurred.

Yet, just before my eyes closed for good, I saw the little boy I had saved standing behind the roadside guardrail.

The boy stared fixedly at me.

A faint smile curled his lips—a smile that felt utterly strange and cold, completely unlike the expression of a child who had just escaped death.

Then, everything went pitch black.

---

As I slowly regained consciousness, the first thing I heard was a woman sobbing inconsolably right beside my ear.

"Alicia... please, wake up..."

The voice was soft and anxious, yet strange—and it pierced my heart.

I blinked slowly. My eyelids felt heavy, as if they were glued shut.

Who is Alicia?

Why did the name feel so familiar, even though I had never known anyone named Alicia throughout my entire life in my old world?

Before I could process my thoughts, a pair of warm arms wrapped tightly around me.

A woman dressed in luxurious Victorian-style clothing held me close as she wiped tears from her cheeks.

"Darling, Mama is so worried," the woman whispered, her voice trembling. "The doctor said you fainted from exhaustion because you pushed yourself too hard practicing magic." Don't scare Mother like that again.

Mother?

My heart was pounding—not from emotional warmth, but from sheer panic.

In my deepest memories as a modern working man, my mother had passed away from an illness five years ago.

The woman standing before me was not my mother.

Or, to be more precise, this body was not mine, and I was definitely not in a world I recognized.

"Mother..." The word escaped my lips. It sounded so melodious, clear, and delicate—the voice of a teenage girl, not the baritone of a man in his twenties.

The woman smiled in relief and affectionately stroked my hair.

"Yes, dear. Rest in your room for now. Don't go anywhere today."

After the woman claiming to be my mother finally left the room with silent footsteps, I sat up abruptly on the large bed, which was adorned with carved antique wooden posts.

My steps were unsteady as I approached the large, gold-framed mirror standing in the corner of the room.

As soon as my reflection stared back at me from the surface, I was completely paralyzed.

The figure looking back from the mirror wasn't my usual self—clad in a plain T-shirt and worn-out jeans.

Instead, it was a teenage girl with long, snow-white hair cascading gracefully, and striking ruby-red eyes that radiated a fierce yet cold allure.

That face was breathtakingly beautiful—flawless, without a single imperfection.

And along with that vision, an avalanche of strange memories stormed into my mind.

The girl’s name was Alicia Valerian.

The world she now inhabited was the setting of a popular web-based fantasy novel titled *The Crown and the Sword*—a story I had read from start to finish during breaks at my convenience store job.

And the most terrifying fact, the one that made my blood run cold, was this...

Alicia was not the beloved female lead.

Alicia was the villainess.

In the novel's original plot, Alicia Valerian was born as the only daughter of Duke Valerian—the head of the most influential noble family, which held absolute control over the kingdom's army and served directly as the King's right hand.

She was the brightest student at the Royal Magic Academy, possessed rare ice-element magic, and was the official fiancée of Crown Prince Leonhardt Arcelion.

However, that perfection was marred by her own boundless arrogance.

Driven by blind jealousy toward the female lead—a talented commoner named Elena Rosehart—Alicia gradually transformed into a cruel monster.

She bullied Elena, abused her family's power, tried to harm those close to the Prince, and ultimately became the story's final antagonist, meeting her end at the gallows during the narrative's climax.

Wait... wait a minute..." I whispered softly to myself in front of the mirror, my hands gripping the edge of the vanity table tightly.

An ordinary guy who just wanted to live in peace after working part-time was now trapped inside the body of a noble villainess fated to meet a tragic end at the hands of the hero.

Outside the bedroom window, the stone spires of the Royal Magic Academy stood majestically against the twilight clouds, welcoming the dawn of a new nightmare I had to face all by myself.