Online Game: Confessing to a Noble Lady at the Start

"Victor, you've really made a name for yourself!"

From the study, a woman's furious voice rang out.

A beautiful woman with short black hair held a newspaper, angrily pointing at the image printed with magical ink on the front page.

"Are you trying to disgrace the Kleina name?!"

SMACK!

The newspaper was thrown right at the man's face.

Without changing his expression, he calmly took it off.

His obsidian-like eyes quietly scanned the content printed on the page.

The man in the image had well-defined features. Even in the black-and-white print, his handsomeness stood out.

It was the kind of face that could make thousands of girls swoon.

But not the one standing in front of him.

In the image, the man seemed to be inviting a girl to something, but she responded with a smile… a smile that carried a hint of disdain.

BANG!

A loud slam on the desk pulled him back to reality.

In front of him, Lia Kleina glared at him furiously after striking the desk with force.

"I sent you to represent the family at the banquet, and… you publicly confessed to the Duke's daughter?!"

"She's still a minor! Have you lost your mind?!"

Indeed, the headline on the newspaper made it very clear:

"SHOCKING! The Viscount of Kleina Pulled This Stunt at the Duke's Daughter's Banquet!"

There was no denying that the newspaper knew how to grab attention.

If Victor had seen a headline like that himself, he probably would've spent a few coins to buy it and read it over afternoon tea.

The problem was…

He was the subject of the scandal.

Victor Kleina.

As he looked at the mirror sitting on the desk, he confirmed that the reflection staring back at him was the same as the man in the newspaper.

However, as someone who had just been reincarnated into this world with zero memories of his new life…

He had no intention of taking the blame for this.

Even so, faced with the woman's shouting, he had no choice but to remain silent.

If a mentally ill person kills someone and says they did it because they were insane, can they avoid the death penalty?

…Actually, yes.

But only if they have a certificate proving it.

Victor didn't have one.

So all he could do was endure the insults in silence, his head slightly lowered.

However, his "in-one-ear-out-the-other" attitude only seemed to enrage Lia even more.

Eventually, after a long series of scoldings, she finished with a sharp, "I must be crazy to think you'd actually listen!", and stormed out, ending the one-sided rant.

Meanwhile, Victor used the time to piece together whatever information he could.

The study's furnishings, Lia's attitude, her appearance… everything matched perfectly with a game he had played before.

It was an adventure MMORPG.

In this world of swords and magic, players could customize their appearance, play as different races and classes, and experience various storylines and challenges.

And his previous "profession"?

He was a booster.

The game required leveling up and gathering materials, which was tough without spending money or grinding for hours.

If a player didn't want to pay but also didn't have time to farm for levels and materials, they would hire a booster to do it for them.

The same applied to PvP (Player vs. Player) ranked matches, where players wanted to reach higher ranks without actually having the skills for it.

Victor had made a name for himself in that field.

Just yesterday, he had spent seven days straight grinding for his seventeenth client of the month, with no sleep or proper meals.

Just as he was about to collect his payment…

Smack. He dropped dead.

His reincarnation was as simple and brutal as that.

Now, the character he had taken over was named Victor Kleina.

His title? Viscount.

In the Kingdom of Karensia, where noble titles determined power and influence, his rank was mostly symbolic.

He owned a small territory, but beyond that, he had no real authority.

To the commoners, he must have seemed like a powerful noble.

But… had he really provoked the Duke's daughter?

A Viscount was nothing compared to a Duke.

"No wonder he's a villain boss… He starts off in Hell Mode."

Victor muttered to himself.

"What did you just say?"

Lia's voice rose a few notches, sounding both confused and irritated by his indifferent attitude.

That finally made Victor take a moment to properly look at her.

Lia Kleina.

In the game, she was Victor Kleina's younger sister.

Her beauty had made her one of the most popular female characters, with players constantly chasing after her and calling her "wife" in the chat.

But her popularity wasn't just because of her looks…

It was also because she was the sister of a villain.

Because Victor Kleina was a boss enemy that players had to defeat in the early-mid stages of the game.

Due to his actions, the Kingdom of Karensia fell into chaos.

The current Empress issued a global quest, asking players to take him down.

And somehow, this villain ended up gaining a huge fanbase among players, thanks to his traits:

High difficulty (strong attacks + extreme speed)Ridiculously handsome"Womanizing Mage" reputation

In theory, reincarnating into a familiar game world should have been exciting.

But Victor was not happy.

Because…

He had way too many enemies.

Maybe it was because "the tallest trees catch the most wind." Or maybe the game's writers just hated attractive characters.

In the game, almost every single NPC could hold a grudge against Victor.

It could be a professor at the Magic Academy, an old man in the village… or even a stray dog he had once kicked.

The worst part?

Even the main storyline characters wanted to kill him.

Including his fiancée, his sister, and the Duke's daughter.

And that was how he earned his nickname: "The Womanizing Mage."

There weren't many highly popular female characters in the game…

But Victor had managed to piss off more than half of them.

Being alive up until now was already proof of Victor's exceptional survival skills.

And now, he had taken the place of the original Victor Kleina, becoming the current Victor Kleina...

Just the sheer amount of hatred the original had accumulated was enough to make his life miserable.

"I have no idea what point in time I've landed in."

After Lia's previous questioning, this time, Victor made sure not to mutter his thoughts out loud.

Instead, he quietly pondered the situation.

But his silence only infuriated Lia even more, making her think he was deliberately ignoring her to humiliate her.

Her anger maxed out instantly.

"Enough! Victor, do you even realize the mess you're in?!"

Fuming, she pulled a contract from her expensive designer handbag and slammed it onto the desk.

"If I hadn't used my connections to negotiate with the Academy and arrange a professor title for you immediately, the Duke's private soldiers would already be at your doorstep!"

"Yet here you are, lounging in your study, sipping coffee, reading books! And now, after all this, you can't even say a single word of thanks?!"

"Thank you."

"I hate you like— wait, what?"

Lia's words stuttered to a halt, and she blinked, momentarily forgetting how to vent her anger.

Victor, still seated, picked up the contract and casually flipped through it as he spoke:

"Thank you for handling this. Next time, I'll be more mindful of my words in public."

"…"

Seemingly caught off guard by her notoriously shameless older brother suddenly acting polite, Lia twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, looking a bit uneasy.

Her emotions turned slightly complicated.

"Anyway, I didn't do this for you. I just didn't want our family's name dragged through the mud. And keep in mind—I only bought you some time. You still need to go to the Duke's estate and apologize in person."

"Also, don't just thank me. Figure out how you're going to deal with Lady Gwen."

"Gwen Delynn?"

"That's right. My name alone wasn't enough to persuade the Academy. I had to ask Lady Gwen for help."

At this point, Lia's gaze turned cold again. The way she looked at Victor was as if she was staring at something filthy.

"You already have a fiancée, yet you still go around flirting with other women…"

"As expected of you, Victor Kleina."

Victor ignored the sarcasm.

"I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you have, but I'll be sure to thank her properly."

A name surfaced in his mind.

Gwen Delynn.

The second daughter of a prestigious knight family that guarded the northern border.

More importantly… Victor Kleina's fiancée.

She was a true knight of justice. And knights of justice were destined to stand against villainous mages.

In the game's storyline, even though Gwen was technically Victor's fiancée, they were never on the same side.

When the final battle against Victor came, it was Gwen herself who arrived and ended his life with a single spear thrust.

Their relationship was purely political, a forced engagement between noble families with zero romantic feelings involved.

The fact that Gwen was the one to personally kill Victor only reinforced players' speculations…

Unfortunately, the game developers never bothered to explain the backstory between these characters.

Even at the game's final stages, their relationship remained a mystery.

"Another dangerous character added to the list."

Victor let out a silent sigh, feeling that life was getting harder by the second.

Gwen Delynn wasn't just any ordinary character.

She was the strongest knight in Karensia.

Even during the endgame phase, when gods and demons were tearing the world apart, Gwen remained absurdly powerful.

At one point, she even became a boss that players had to fight.

Anyone who had played through that stage would never forget how terrifyingly strong she was.

Victor knew one thing for sure:

This woman was someone he absolutely could not afford to provoke.

No—if he messed with her, he'd actually die.

Sure, he had reincarnated… but as of now, he didn't seem to have any kind of cheat ability to help him.

Lia, noticing Victor's troubled expression, felt oddly satisfied.

She had assumed he was too arrogant to accept help.

In reality, Victor was just trying to figure out how to survive this inevitable death flag.

"Hmph. I still have matters to handle in the territory. I'll be leaving now."

With a cold laugh, Lia grabbed her bag and turned toward the door.

"Oh, and one more thing."

Just before stepping out, Lia looked back with an expression of pure disgust.

"You actually keep a raven as a pet? A one-eyed raven, no less?"

"Your taste is just as horrible as ever, Victor."

SLAM!

The study door shut violently behind her.

Outside, a maid's voice could be heard:

"Lady Lia, shall I prepare a carriage for you?"

But at that moment, Victor's thoughts weren't on Lia anymore.

He turned his head toward the dark creature sitting in the corner of his desk.

It looked like a raven, but slightly larger than normal.

And just as Lia had pointed out…

It only had one eye.

That single eye, filled with unsettling intelligence, rolled around in its socket before locking gazes with Victor.

Then, it smiled.

A twisted, human-like grin.

"You finally noticed me, huh?"

Its eerie voice echoed in the room.

"I am the Dark God—Habika."