The first thing I felt was cold.
Not the refreshing kind.
A deep, uncomfortable cold that had settled into my bones.
My entire body ached.
Every movement sent dull pain crawling through my muscles, like I had been beaten unconscious and dragged across stone afterward.
"…Ugh."
A groan escaped my throat as I slowly opened my eyes.
The ceiling above me was unfamiliar.
White.
Clean.
Wooden beams crossed overhead, polished carefully enough that faint candlelight reflected off them.
…Where was I?
I tried sitting up instinctively.
The moment I moved, pain shot through my body.
"Ah—!"
My arms immediately gave out, and I dropped back against the mattress with a quiet thud.
For several seconds, I just lay there breathing heavily.
Damn.
What exactly did that old man do to me?
My hand slowly moved toward my abdomen.
Toward the place where the Patriarch's mana-infused strike had landed.
Even remembering it made my stomach twist.
I carefully lifted my shirt slightly.
No blood.
No scar.
Not even bruising.
My skin looked completely normal.
"…What?"
I pressed against the area cautiously.
A faint ache lingered beneath the surface, but nothing serious.
Phantom pain, maybe.
Or perhaps healing magic.
Honestly, I had no idea how medicine worked in this world yet.
Still, the fact remained—
I should've been in far worse condition.
I let out a slow breath and touched my face next.
Everything felt sore.
My jaw especially.
But again, there were no visible injuries.
No swelling.
No broken bones.
That was… surprising.
The Patriarch clearly hadn't held back during that last punch.
For a moment, silence filled the room.
Then reality slowly returned.
Expulsion from the family.
"…Right."
I closed my eyes briefly.
None of that had been a dream.
Unfortunately.
After calming myself a little, I forced my head to turn and looked around properly.
The room was larger than the one I'd been confined in earlier.
Far larger.
Soft gray curtains hung beside tall windows, gently swaying from the night breeze slipping through a partially opened frame.
A fireplace crackled quietly near the corner.
Bookshelves lined one wall.
There was even a couch and a polished table nearby.
Compared to the prison-like room from before, this place looked almost luxurious.
Anyways, I don't have time to dwell on these thoughts.
Now that I have officially disowned by family, I have other grave matters that needed my attention.
For example getting stronger.
Hmm, Now that I think about it the power system of this world is rather easy to understand.
The world has over two billions of people and yet only five percent of it's total population has been awakened till yet.
Humans awakened at young age from 11 years to 15 years.
And soon as they awakened their Mana Core they also get to know their [Potential Cap] which indicates the maximum level their powers can reach.
For example, if someone has an [A-rank] [Potential Cap] , they can only elevate the powers up to [A-rank].
Ranks are structured as follows: G »F»E»D C » B » A » S » SS » SSS.
To advance through these ranks, one must gather Mana into their Mana Core.
There are two ways to do that: either by refining the impure, latent Mana from the atmosphere through meditation — the classic xianxia cultivation method — or by slaying Beasts and absorbing the already refined Mana from their Mana Core from their dead bodies, which is much faster but riskier.
For instance, while it might take one month of meditation to progress from Rank [G+] to [F-], killing a few low-level Beasts can achieve the same result much quicker.
But keep in mind that once you reach your Potential cap, you can't grow any further, no matter how much you meditate or how many abominations you slay.
That said, there is one way to break this Potential limit, though this world doesn't know about it right now—only I do.
For the record, my potential is [SS-rank], while my current Awakened Mana Core Rank is [D].
An [SS-rank] Potential.
Even within the original story, that level of talent was absurd.
The number of people born with potential that high across the entire continent could probably be counted on two hands.
And Damian?
This idiot wasted it all.
I let out a long sigh and rubbed my forehead slowly.
Honestly, it was almost impressive.
With that level of talent, Damian should've become one of the strongest figures in the empire.
Instead, he spent his life drinking, bullying weaker students, and chasing meaningless validation like a spoiled brat.
He relied entirely on his family name and natural gifts without ever refining them properly.
That was why his current rank remained stuck at [D].
Pathetic for someone with [SS-rank] Potential.
Of course, in the novel, readers mocked Damian endlessly for this.
A talentless villain pretending to be important.
But ironically…
They were wrong.
Damian wasn't talentless.
He was wasted potential incarnate.
And now that body belonged to me.
"…That's probably the only good thing about this situation."
Slowly, I pushed myself upright again.
This time the pain was manageable.
The moment my feet touched the floor, I paused.
Then blinked.
"…Soft."
The carpet beneath my feet felt absurdly luxurious.
Seriously.
Even after disowning me, these people still put me in a room richer than my old apartment from Earth.
Nobles really were built differently.
I exhaled quietly before focusing again.
Right now, I had two major problems.
First—
The apocalypse.
A problem slightly more important than family drama.
In roughly upcoming ten years, the first major catastrophe would begin.
At first, it would seem small.
Random disappearances.
Mana disturbances.
Minor dimensional fractures.
Then the absurd amount of Gates would start opening, more than the world has ever seen.
And after that…
Humanity's nightmare truly began.
Monsters.
Corrupted lands.
Ancient abominations.
Entire cities erased overnight.
By the midpoint of the story, over thirty percent of the continent was already gone.
"…Damn."
Just remembering the later arcs gave me a headache.
Second problem—
Me Or more specifically Damian Valtor.
Rebecka has asked me to Change the fate of the irredeemable villain but I don't even know where to start.
But one thing is for sure staying alive would be starting point to change of mine.
Because in the novel Damian was dead and i won't die that's for sure.
No matter what.
Suddenly—
Knock. Knock.
I froze slightly.
The door opened carefully.
The maid from earlier stepped inside hesitantly.
The same terrified expression remained on her face, though now it seemed mixed with confusion.
Behind her, Fenrir immediately trotted into the room happily.
The oversized shepherd practically ignored the tension entirely as he walked toward me and dropped beside the bed with a satisfied huff.
Traitor.
The maid carefully carried a tray filled with food.
Actual food this time.
Warm soup.
Fresh bread.
Meat.
Tea.
Quite the upgrade from prison meals.
"…Young Master," she whispered nervously.
"Tell me, where are we?"
"Ohh, we are at hotel Young Master, 3 star hotel. I am very sorry that it's up to not your standards but I didn't had any choice in the budget we have and also you were knocked out for whole two days, I also had to bring healer to heal you so your funds become quite low. And here this is the receipt of the payment of last two days."
Saying so, she handed me receipt with expenses Total of 80,000 Credits !!!
That's quite bit of expenses that happens just in two days.
The currency of this world fowlled in credits also referred as [C].
It's univarsal currency in this world, used almost everywhere.
So, yeah the expenses was very bad. The healer alone took 40,000 C.
Sigh...
Anyways, expenses aside, I still have a one question for the maid before me.
"Why are you still here?"