Don't Look into His Eyes if You Value Your Life

Cold water poured down from the gold-plated showerhead, soaking the lean yet sturdy body that now belonged to me. I leaned my forehead against the cold bathroom tiles, trying to suppress the burning heat beneath my skin.

"Crazy... absolutely crazy."

Ten minutes ago, I nearly died at the hands of my own personal maid. Now, I had to prepare to face hundreds of other potential killers at school.

I turned off the faucet. While drying my jet-black hair in front of the foggy mirror, I tried to access the most important tool for every Transmigrator.

"System. Display Amon Von Zeroth's Status."

Whoosh.

Blue particles of light assembled in the air. Numbers appeared. However, instead of giving me hope, the rows of data made me want to bash my head against the sink.

[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Amon Von Zeroth
Role: Final Villain (Trigger for the Apocalypse in Act 4)
Current Condition: [Mana Poisoning Stage 3]

HP: 150/150 (Vulnerable. A serious punch from a Level 1 Orc will break your bones.)
Mana: 850,000 / 850,000 (Sealed).

Main Attributes:

Strength: F- (Equivalent to a malnourished middle schooler)

Endurance: F (Wet paper tissue)

Speed: E

Intelligence: S+ (Strategy Genius & Magic Theory)

Charm: SS (Fatal/Demonic Charm)

Luck: Z (The universe is actively trying to kill you)

Traits & Skills:

[Cursed Bloodline of Zeroth] (Passive): Extraordinarily large Mana capacity, but mana circuits are clogged by a 'curse'. Using magic above Tier-1 will cause coughing up blood and permanent HP reduction.

[Walking Calamity] (Passive): Chance of triggering a Bad Ending Event increased by 200%.

[Villain's Aura] (Passive): Intimidation aura is permanently active. Neutral NPCs will be fearful; 'Hero' NPCs will immediately become hostile.

"Strength F minus..." Amon stared at his pale hands. "In the game, Amon was a 'Glass Cannon' type mage. His attacks were lethal, but he was slow and physically weak."

But here? At the beginning of the story? He was just a glass cannon that was... jammed.

Amon's mana circuits were clogged. That was why he was notorious as 'Golden Trash' in the first year. He possessed insane amounts of Mana but couldn't release it without hurting himself.

"The solution lies in the 'Cave of Lamentation' Dungeon in Chapter 3. The item 'Goddess's Tear' can cleanse these mana circuits," Amon muttered, slicking his black hair back, revealing his forehead and sharp gaze. "Until then, I have to survive on nothing but brains, bluffing, and this fake charisma."

I put on the Helios Academy uniform. A military-style black jacket with gold thread ornaments, silver buttons, and a short cape on the left shoulder signifying high noble status.

As I took one last look at my reflection, I was no longer the exhausted gamer. I was an elegant predator. At least, that was how it looked from the outside.

"Young Master, the car is ready in the lobby."

I stepped out of the private elevator. Luna stood there, opening the door of a pitch-black, gleaming Magitek limousine.

Her attitude had returned to normal. Flat, cold, obedient. There was no trace of the assassin who served poison earlier. But I knew better. Her [Killing Intent] percentage was still hovering steadily at 65%.

"To the Academy. Do not take the upper skyway," I ordered briefly while entering the car, its interior as spacious as a living room.

"Why, Master? The skyway is ten minutes faster."

"Heavy traffic on the sector 7 aerial route. There's an illegal cargo Drone accident happening in five minutes," I replied while turning on a tablet to read the news.

Of course, that was a lie. The reason was that in the original route, if we took the upper skyway, this car would be attacked by 'Anti-Noble Rebels' who would cut the brakes. There are no Save Points in the real world. I wasn't taking even the slightest risk.

The car glided smoothly. Luna drove in silence. I stared out the tinted glass window.

Neo-Arcadia. The Capital of the Solaria Empire.
The view outside was both breathtaking and terrifying. Kilometer-high skyscrapers with neon holograms promoting magic potions stood side-by-side with ancient temples floating in the air thanks to gravity crystals.

This was a Science-Fantasy world. A place where you could order a magic sword via an instant delivery app, and dragons were bred in genetic laboratories.

And in the middle of a giant artificial bay, floating majestically above the seawater, was our destination.

Helios Academy. The gathering place for future 'Protagonists'.
A monster's den.

As the car passed the connecting bridge and the security gate scanned the 'Zeroth' family license plate, I felt my stomach churn. Not from car sickness, but from the body's muscle memory. Amon's body knew he was hated there.

"We have arrived, Master," Luna's voice broke my daydream.

The car door opened automatically. I took a deep breath, steeling my mentality. Put on that face, Amon. Put on the 'I Am Better Than All of You' face.

My footsteps landed on the asphalt. The chaotic noise of hundreds of new students and seniors welcoming the new academic year instantly died.

Like a broken cassette tape forced to stop.

I straightened my jacket, then lifted my chin.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on me.

There was no admiration. There was only disgust. Fear. And poisonous whispers that began to hiss like snakes.

"That's Zeroth... Why does he dare to show up?"
"I heard he burned down a commoner's house just because it blocked his view last week."
"Don't look at his eyes. My mother said anyone who stares into the eyes of the Zeroth family will be cursed with misfortune."
"Trash. Society's trash hiding behind his Father's money."

Wow, I winced internally, though my face remained as flat as ice. My reputation is truly at rock bottom.

In reality, the original Amon was indeed that bad. My task to clear his name? Impossible. The only way was to make them afraid to touch me.

[Passive Skill Active: Villain's Aura]

The air around me seemed to grow heavy. The students blocking the main entrance instinctively stepped back, parting the crowd like the Red Sea before Moses.
A wide path opened towards the academy's main gate.

"Hmpfh," I snorted softly—perfect acting—and started walking.

Every step I took echoed in the silence. One. Two. Three.
I felt like I was walking on a tightrope over a pool filled with sharks.

However, the laws of Protagonist Plot Armor (or in my case, Antagonist Plot Doom) would not let me enter class peacefully.

The air temperature suddenly dropped drastically.
The students' breath began to appear as white puffs of steam. Frost spread rapidly across the iron gate pillars.

My heart stopped beating for a second. I knew this aura. In the game, this was the sign of an incoming 'Raid Boss'. But here, it was the sign of the arrival of the most popular girl in school.

I looked up ahead.

Right in the middle of the path I was supposed to take, stood a girl. Pale blue hair reaching her waist fluttered gently even though there was no wind. Her skin was as pale as milk, almost glowing under the morning sun. Her face was beautiful beyond logic, as if sculpted directly by the god of art from a block of eternal ice.

Sylvia de Frosheim. The Daughter of the Northern Duke. Ice Element Genius. Main Heroine Rank 2. And the girl who—according to the original story—hated Amon Von Zeroth the most.

Her crystal blue eyes met my red ones.

In an instant, my survival instincts screamed: RUN! RUN YOU FOOL!

Sylvia stared at me expressionlessly. But that was scarier than anger. It was the gaze of someone looking at a cockroach that needed to be stepped on.

The crowd held their breath. They were waiting for a show.
'The Duel of Ice and Darkness', as the academy forums usually called our encounter.

Usually, the real Amon would hurl a sexist or arrogant insult, which would trigger Sylvia to freeze his legs.
But I wasn't that stupid Amon. I saw what others didn't.

Sylvia's right hand was trembling slightly, hidden behind her uniform sleeve. Faint cold sweat was visible on her temples.
Amon the Pro Gamer pulled up his memory archives at lightning speed.

First day of school. Year 1. Sylvia skipped breakfast due to a morning ritual. Body condition: Mana Overload.

She was holding back immense pain. Her heart—the 'Heart of Ice'—was turbulent, sending pain like thousands of needles stabbing her left ribs. That was why her aura was leaking out and freezing the surroundings. She wasn't showing off power; she was losing control!

If I provoked her now, she would explode. An uncontrolled ice magic explosion at this close range? I'd be instantly frozen. My 150 HP wouldn't survive.

We walked towards each other. The distance between us thinned. Five meters. Three meters.

People expected a collision.

I looked into Sylvia's eyes. In the game, to get her Hidden Route, you had to be sensitive to her suffering, not praise her.

Right as we passed each other in the middle of the path, where our shoulders almost touched...

I didn't stop. I also didn't step aside. I just tilted my head slightly, whispering in a super low voice that only her ears could catch.

"Stop the Mana flow in the third meridian of your left rib."

Sylvia's steps halted instantly.

I kept walking, not turning my head in the slightest. But I continued my whisper fast and sharp as I passed her. "Hold your breath for four seconds, then exhale towards your right pinky finger. That's the side effect of the Frosheim technique, isn't it? If you force yourself, your blood vessels will burst before lunch."

That was a high-level medical diagnosis that should only be known by a Grand Master Healer... or a nerd who read a 500-page Lore Book about the anatomy of ice mage races.

I passed her. Kept walking towards the main building entrance as if nothing had happened. My heart beat fast like a heavy metal drum. Did it work? Will she shoot me from behind? Did I act like a know-it-all? Don't kill me, don't kill me!

Silence. Still silence.

Behind me, Sylvia de Frosheim stood frozen. The strange advice entered her brain. Unconsciously, her body followed the instruction. Mana was withdrawn from the left rib. Breath held.

Gulp. The painful cold sensation strangling her heart this morning... vanished. Like a lump of snow doused with hot water. Her breath, heavy earlier, became light.

The blue-haired girl turned around slowly, a movement she rarely made for others. Her crystal eyes, which usually only radiated indifference, now narrowed sharply, staring at Amon's back moving away with arrogant strides.

"Zeroth..." her lips moved soundlessly.

Amon didn't know—because he didn't dare look back—that a notification window had just appeared above Sylvia's head, visible to the universe but hidden from his view.

[SYSTEM ALERT]
Target: Sylvia de Frosheim
Route Opened: [Curiosity of the Ice Queen]
Interest: 5% -> 25% (Huge Spike!)
Status: [Very Confused & Suspicious]

"Who gave you the right to know my secrets?" Sylvia muttered. A faint smile rarely seen—the smile of a hunter finding interesting prey—etched vaguely on her beautiful face. "You owe me an explanation, Trash."

In the corridor, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief after turning the corner.
"Damn it..." I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "One Heroine avoided. Four left."

But I was mistaken. In Web Novel, 'avoiding' a Heroine in a mysterious way is precisely the most effective way to summon them.

"Hey! You there! Stop!"

A shrill voice full of energy—and a bit of anger—sounded from the end of the corridor. I closed my eyes. That voice... I knew that voice.

"Oh, don't tell me she's here right now too," I groaned internally.

There, running towards me with a large wooden sword on her back, was Eylia, the tomboy-style Female Protagonist. The type who punches first, asks questions later.

It seems my first day at school really won't be allowed to be peaceful in the slightest.