Minsoo blinked at the floating letters, incapable of understanding them. Was it a joke? It must have been. His father organized all of it just to laugh at him, didn’t he?

Or maybe it’s one of my brothers’ doing. He glanced toward the stranger. Well, they poured a lot of effort into this. They even hired an actor. And this set is well-done.

"Aide Glennhort?" The man frowned as if he was somewhat displeased. "Should I throw you in jail?"

Minsoo chuckled. "As if. Look, I know this is all a joke, so you can stop now. Where’s my father? Is it his doing?"

"Your father?" The frown grew deeper and a strange light flashed in his violet eyes. "Have you gone mad? You have no father."

"Technically, I do have a father. But I agree with you since he’s a prick most of the time." Minsoo stood up and patted his shoulder. "Well, thank you for this little play. It was entertaining. I’d give you a tip, but I don’t know where the doctors put my wallet."

He headed toward the door, but the stranger grabbed his arms and threw him onto the floor. A pang of pain echoed in his bones, running from the tip of his hair to his toes, and Minsoo gasped for air.

The man loomed over him, his violet eyes piercing. "Have you lost your mind, Aide Glennhort?"

Minsoo swallowed. The situation was turning bad very fast. That stranger didn’t seem at all like an average actor. And besides, why would his father or one of his brothers have acted that way?

But if he isn’t an actor, then what is he?

"Good thing you asked. I was starting to think you were an idiot."

Something flickered beside the man with violet eyes, like a translucent shadow, then it gradually took a more defined form. A chubby body covered in scales, a pair of horns and a pointed tail. Two golden eyes pierced him, and the dragon — a small one, with a mischievous smile on his mouth — landed on his head.

"Well, maybe you are an idiot."

Minsoo almost cried. "What are you?"

"I’m the System. I don’t have a name; you can call me as you wish." The little dragon glanced at the stranger. "Are you trying to get yourself killed by the villain?"

"What?"

The System turned back to him and pointed with his claw at the man. "That’s Corvaliso Maythorne, the villain of the visual novel Hearts of the Rosen Garden. And you just reincarnated as his right hand, Archievald Glennhort."

"What?"

"You’re pretty pathetic. Anyhow, that’s your life now. Oh, and if you die, there’s no second chance."

"WHAT?" Minsoo sat up abruptly and hit his forehead against Corvaliso’s. "Are you kidding me?"

Corvaliso Maythorne smacked him on the head. "What are you blabbering about, you idiot? Hitting your head made you stupid all at once?"

Minsoo glared at him. "Look, there’s clearly a misunderstanding. I’m not—"

A siren rang again, and a translucent screen popped up in front of his eyes for the second time. The message was: WARNING! FORBIDDEN ACTION!

The dragon appeared next to it, shaking his tiny head. "You can’t say it. If one of the characters knows that you don’t belong to this world, you’ll die."

"Why? Why the fuck am I in this situation?"

"Well, since you asked…" The dragon took out a scroll and unfolded it. "You were hit by a tram, and then you asked for a second chance. This is your second chance."

"I meant in my world, not in this… game."

Not to mention that he had reincarnated as the right hand of the main villain, the same man that was destined to die at the end of the game. The same fate that awaited Archievald.

The dragon shrugged. "I don’t make the rules. Not outside this world. But since I’m a selfless System, I’ll help you reach the end of the game safe and sound."

"You mean that I’ll survive?"

"No, you’ll die as well. You’re not Yun Minsoo anymore. From now on, you’re Archievald Glennhort." The dragon chuckled. "Wanna hear the rules?"

He didn’t want to hear them. He just wanted to go back to his world. To his life.

He sprang up to his feet, pushed Corvaliso Maythorne back and ran out of the room. He ran even though his head started to throb. He ran until he was out of his breath.

Outside the palace — now he knew that he wasn’t in a medical clinic in Switzerland — he ran through the gardens until he reached the gates.

He started to fumble with the lock, but before he could open it, a siren echoed again and the now-too-familiar screen popped up again. Minsoo made an irritated sound and dug his fingers into his head.

"What do you want now? You fucking, annoying system!!!"

"You can’t escape." The dragon appeared at his side. "If you listened to me, you would have known."

"I don’t want to listen to you! I want to go home!"

"You’re dead, Yun Minsoo. There’s no home to where you can come back."

"So I should die here as well? As a fucking psycho freak?"

He didn’t want to die. He didn’t even want to act as that maniac of Archievald Glennhort.

"Aide Glennhort." Corvaliso Maythorne stepped forward, a sword in his hand and a chilly expression on his face. "Are you trying to escape?"

Minsoo flinched. "No, I…"

"Should I consider you as a traitor or a spy?"

"Wait a moment…"

But the man raised his sword and lowered it again toward his neck. Minsoo stumbled and avoided the blow at the last moment.

"Are you fucking crazy?! You can’t kill people like nothing!"

"I’m your master, and you tried to escape." Corvaliso grabbed him by the shirt and pointed the sword at his neck. "Was it the Emperor who sent you?"

"No, no, no, it was a tram. I swear! I was hit by a tram and—"

"Minsoo," the dragon appeared again by his side, "you can’t tell him."

"So should I get killed without trying to save myself?"

Corvaliso squinted. "What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?"

"I’m just talking with that fucking dragon!"

"What dragon?"

The man glanced briefly around them, his brows furrowed, and Minsoo realized that he couldn’t see the System. He should have realized it before; it was his typical luck.

I want to die.

Corvaliso gestured to his knights and ordered them to restrain him. Minsoo didn’t protest when they tied his wrists, nor when they dragged him toward the palace. They would imprison him, but in that moment he didn’t care at all.

He just wanted to wake up from that nightmare and return to his boring, uneventful life.