Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 1 1: Death Flags Everywhere!
"F**K! I'm dead!"
The curse exploded from my lungs as a deluge of foreign memories shattered my sense of self.
Just sixty minutes ago, I was in my chambers, absorbed in my usual Cultivation. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck—but it wasn't the typical enlightenment of Martial Arts. Instead, it was the restoration of a life I had long forgotten.
Earth!
I remembered it all: the grueling nine-to-five jobs, the endless nights spent gaming, and the countless cultivation webnovels I had devoured.
And my current reality?
I scrambled off the silk-covered bed, my pulse racing. My bare soles met the freezing jade floor as the heavy aroma of incense filled the room.
The chamber was overflowing with spirit lamps, gilded screens, and priceless artifacts—the peak of luxury for a Young Master.
This was my room.
My identity... Bai Zihan!
I was a third-tier villain: haughty, sadistic, and a total failure!
I was the type of person who delighted in tormenting the weak, passing my days by harassing other members of my own clan.
I had no grand motive; I did it simply because no one could stop me.
With my parents serving as the Clan Master and Matriarch of one of the Empire's most formidable powers, few dared to challenge my whims.
Bullying was my outlet for the frustration and rage I felt, knowing that my mediocre talent made me a "waste" who was unworthy of being the Bai Clan heir.
But my personality isn't the reason for my current panic.
As my memories of Earth returned, so did my extensive knowledge of cultivation tropes.
The reason I am losing my mind is that, after comparing my life to those stories, I realized one terrifying truth...
I belong to a villain clan destined for total annihilation!
Consider this: just a week ago, my older sister called off her engagement to a fiancé whose cultivation had been destroyed. He is a walking cliché—the classic underdog destined for a meteoric rise.
There is no mystery to how that story ends. He will inevitably grow powerful, humiliate his former fiancée, and likely slaughter her entire family.
My sister's ex-fiancé is undeniably a protagonist, and I am standing directly in his path of vengeance.
"Why did these memories return only now?"
Had I remembered a week sooner, I might have stopped my sister from making an enemy out of this world's inevitable hero.
Actually, probably not.
Deep down, I knew that even with my future knowledge, I lacked the influence to sway her. I was merely a disappointment to the Bai Clan, completely overshadowed by my genius sister.
My talent was pathetic, and my reputation was even worse—I was a common bully who preyed on the weaker branches of the family.
Our bond was already shattered beyond repair because of my constant misbehavior.
Furthermore, terminating the engagement with that crippled youth was a move supported by both the Bai Clan and the Heaven Sword Sect—my sister's backing. No one would have listened to a "waste" like me; they would have just assumed I was causing more trouble.
"Sigh!"
And that was only the first death flag my sister planted.
As if that weren't enough to guarantee my demise, my mother decided to raise the stakes even higher.
In a desperate attempt to fix my poor aptitude, she forcibly extracted a Dao Bone from my cousin and implanted it into me.
While it improved my prospects slightly, it wasn't nearly enough to make me a genius.
Now, I have a cousin who will eventually come hunting for me, seeking bloody retribution for what was stolen from her.
There is a massive probability that she will become a powerhouse and return to reclaim her Dao Bone from my corpse.
Even if I somehow survive the protagonist ex-fiancé, my cousin will be waiting to finish me off.
These two catastrophes are just the beginning. My clan and family have committed countless other acts that only the most stereotypical villains would perform.
Then there is my own record—constantly stirring up trouble and making enemies at every turn.
My mother and sister might be major antagonists who last for hundreds of chapters.
But what about me?
Based on my track record, I am nothing but cannon fodder—a minor villain who dies within three chapters of meeting the main character.
"Sigh..."
My hands balled into fists, my fingernails drawing blood from my palms.
Looking at my reflection and my family's history, I could only reach one conclusion:
"I'm completely screwed!"
Everywhere I look, death flags are popping up like weeds. Between my family's crimes and my own idiocy, it’s a perfect recipe for disaster.
If even one of these plotlines follows the standard formula...
I am a dead man walking!
"What should I do… What should I do…"
I paced the room frantically, searching for any way to escape this fate.
Given the circumstances, cutting all ties with the Bai Clan seemed like the only way to stay safe from those destined protagonists.
There was no way to fix the relationships with those people now.
My sister had publicly humiliated the Lin Clan—the family of her ex-fiancé—by breaking the engagement in front of all the major powers.
And there was nothing I could say to my cousin. My mother had committed an unforgivable sin by stealing her Dao Bone for me.
After that atrocity, my cousin was kicked out of the clan, and her parents had vanished. I am certain that if she sees me again, she won't wait for an explanation before taking my head.
To make matters worse, I had treated her terribly even when she lived here. She undoubtedly harbors a deep grudge against me for that too.
"But leaving the clan might be even more suicidal!"
As I mentioned, I wasn't exactly a saint. Relying on my family's power, I had offended a vast number of people.
Those people would probably be even more motivated to kill me than the actual protagonists.
The moment word got out that I no longer had the Bai Clan's protection, I would likely be assassinated the second I stepped off clan property.
Even if I avoided them, this world is far more lethal than Earth. One minor error would result in death, especially with my mediocre cultivation.
I would probably die faster on my own than I would at the hands of the protagonists.
There was also the risk of running into another heaven-blessed hero while wandering alone and getting killed anyway.
Without the Bai Clan as a shield, dying would be far too easy.
"Wait! I still have this!"
There was one potential lifeline that could save me from this nightmare.
"It really is a System Screen!"
Floating before my eyes was a translucent window that refused to vanish—my very own golden finger.
It had been there since my birth, but I never understood what it was and couldn't find a way to dismiss it.
*************************
[ Host Info ]
Host: Bai Zihan
Age: 16
Cultivation Realm: Core Formation (Early)
Constitution: None
Martial Arts: None
*************************
I scratched my head, feeling more irritated than relieved as I recalled the years of frustration this had caused me.
"Why on earth is this written in English?"
The reason I had remained ignorant of its function or how to control it was simple...
The entire System interface was in English!
It was a language I didn't know at all—at least, not until I recovered my memories of Earth.
"Why would a System I was born with use a language that doesn't even exist in this world?"
Without those memories, I would have remained clueless, my vision obscured by these mysterious windows for sixteen years.
If I had known how to use this cheat, I never would have been labeled a "waste."
But because I couldn't read English for the past sixteen years...
This System has been nothing but a giant headache—blocking my view and making my life a mess.