Chapter 2

Introduction to Tyrant Studies - Chapter 2 (2/300)

#002

“A~.”

Plop.

As I opened my mouth, a sweet fruit slipped inside.

I was happy. I had been happy.

“Your Highness, is there any place that itches?”

On top of the sofa, which felt soft just by looking at it, I was sprawled out, resting my head on the thighs of a beautiful woman.

Her slightly cool fingers gently combed through my hair, and the tickling sensation made me drowsy.

“A~.”

Once again, I opened my mouth, and another sweet fruit, the size of a grape, entered.

As I chewed it, the woman who had offered her thigh to me smiled lightly.

“Parsi, the mirror.”

“Here it is, Your Highness.”

I held the mirror Parsi handed me and met the gaze of the person inside. Even though it had been a week since I arrived here, there was only one thought that came to mind when I saw this face.

‘Damn, he’s good-looking.’

He was really, really good-looking.

It was the first time I had experienced the feeling of being good-looking, but that wasn’t the important thing.

Or was it?

Anyway, a week ago, I was lying in bed, falling asleep, when I regained consciousness here.

Ironically, my first thought was whether I had died and gone to heaven.

I had gone to church, but only because it was a habit from being dragged there by my parents when I was young.

Honestly, when I thought I had come to heaven, I felt like I had bowed in gratitude to my parents ten times.

Church coin cake, disobedient child, first to heaven!

But it didn’t take long for me to realize that this was a delusion.

When I regained consciousness, a maid introduced herself as Parsi and was by my side. I asked Parsi many questions and heard many stories.

And I finally came to a conclusion.

‘SSS-grade Otherworld Absolute Ruler (Suijue).’

I was now inside a novel.

I tried to sound profound, but it wasn’t really that big of a deal.

Bored, I would enter a novel, bored, I would fly to another world, bored, I would reincarnate, bored, I would possess someone.

I had seen a lot of such things.

“Shit.”

I tried to act calm like the protagonist in a similar genre of novel, but my mind went blank.

It was so absurd that I almost laughed.

Reincarnation.

The trend in genre novels was so similar that there was even a term for it: "Reincarnation, Possession, Rebirth."

Especially possession stories.

The demand and supply exploded after a certain work.

The author who wrote it and the readers who read it also entered.

But an editor entering?

If this were a novel, it might be a bit fresh as an introduction. Well, the content of entering a novel is always the same, so the later parts would be predictable.

“Is there anything uncomfortable?”

“No.”

The problem was the character I possessed.

...I never thought I would say this line. I had actually advised a certain author to remove a cliché line like this, and now I felt immense regret.

It’s not cliché, it’s too realistic.

A well-built, fair-haired, blue-eyed man in the mirror looked at me with a sullen face.

This face’s name is Leos von Rivera.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the protagonist, but he was a significant character.

He was the third prince of the Rivera Empire, which possessed the strongest power in the story, and initially opposed the protagonist but later became a crucial helper. According to the comments, he was a deus ex machina.

Leos von Rivera was good-looking, strong, and had his own power.

So what was the problem?

Everything mentioned earlier only became true in the middle to late parts of the story.

Currently, he was just a bastard prince, a playboy who had to watch the eyes of the empress and other princes.

Fortunately, a few months later, he would leave the palace and enter the academy. I planned to endure until then, lying low.

“Your Highness, are you not practicing today?”

As I lay sprawled out, recollecting recent events, Parsi spoke cautiously.

“I will, practice.”

Except for the first day when I was flustered by the sudden change in environment, I started practicing to get used to this body.

If someone asks what kind of practice, the answer is to follow clichés. That’s what the protagonists in the possession genre novels I read did.

Looking outside, the sun was high in the sky, indicating it was just past noon.

As I got up to stretch my stiff body, Parsi left to prepare, and I approached the desk in one corner of the room, opening a tightly closed drawer.

“Phew.”

I had experienced two failures.

I didn’t want to feel that terrible feeling again, so I diligently performed my assigned tasks and analyzed the works I was in charge of.

Especially for the SSS-grade Otherworld Absolute Ruler, I was confident I could win a debate with the author.

The result was a stack of parchment in front of me.

Future events, major characters, and hidden pieces. I wrote down everything I thought was important.

However, relying solely on memory without any materials, I couldn’t recall everything, which was a bit disappointing. But looking at the volume, I felt I had written about two-thirds of it.

If someone found this, they wouldn’t be able to read it as it was written in Korean, and I also made a backup to prevent loss or damage.

Ideally, the best option would be to return to reality, but I couldn’t be overly optimistic.

Therefore, I set out a plan to survive.

Knowing future events and not using them would be like kicking away an opportunity. Fortunately, I had seen many possessors and remembered how they acted.

First, I shouldn’t act recklessly. If I changed the story by moving clumsily, the future I knew might become useless.

I needed to protect myself while following the story.

Fortunately, I knew many things that could be helpful.

Hidden pieces that appear in the story but are not used, myth-level artifacts that instantly make the user a transcendent, mysterious elixirs that grant immense power with just one sip.

It wasn’t just items. There were also reclusive geniuses hidden in the shadows of this world, and the first to find them would benefit.

However, most of them were scattered across the continent. Being trapped in the palace, it was a pity I couldn’t go looking for them.

If I could enter the palace’s treasure vault, where all kinds of treasures were stored, without any complications, it would be perfect, but it was a sacred place.

Only the current emperor or those he permitted could enter, and even if I were a prince, I would be beheaded if I entered without permission.

But treasures weren’t only in the vault. The Rivera Empire’s palace had a long history.

Hidden pieces left by previous generations were scattered throughout, and the first to find them would benefit.

The problem was that their locations were vague.

I remembered the names of impactful items like Excalibur or Elixir, but the locations of hidden pieces in the palace were as unclear as a cloudy sky.

“...?”

Thinking Parsi was waiting, I picked up my coat to head to the training ground, but a noisy sound came from outside. Soon, heavy footsteps approached, and the door was roughly opened, revealing a figure.

“Your Highness! At least give some notice...!”

“Dare you command me?”

Parsi followed with a worried face. The unexpected visitor glared coldly at her and entered the room with a loud thud of his boots.

“You.”

The visitor was a man with fair hair and blue eyes, a handsome appearance like mine. I didn’t know why he was angry, but he frowned and glared at me coldly.

“Dare you make me come to you?”

A man I had never seen before growled at me as if he wanted to eat me. Glancing at Parsi, she was pale and clutched her hands, unsure of what to do.

‘Who is he?’

I desperately tried to remember.

Fair hair and blue eyes are the marks of the direct lineage of the Rivera Empire. He couldn’t be the emperor, so he must be one of the three princes.

Recalling the group illustration made for the 200th chapter, I quickly remembered his identity.

“Augustus von Rivera.”

Originally the third prince of the empire, but a bastard, Leos, appeared like a comet.

Despite being the same age, he had to give up the title of third prince because he was born later, and his succession rights were pushed back.

That’s why he was glaring at me now. Angered that a newcomer had taken his place, he hated Leos and acted cruelly.

“Hmph, I’m speechless.”

Augustus approached me and glared with a cold gaze. For a moment, I felt a chill from his eyes, but I held my ground.

‘Hold on, hold on.’

Leos didn’t bow to them out of fear but out of disgust.

I only had to endure for a few months. I would see them again at the academy, but without the palace’s constraints, they couldn’t easily touch Leos. At worst, they might plot behind his back.

And before that, I might return to reality. I wanted to punch that arrogant guy, but there was no need to create unnecessary trouble.

“I told you to live like a dead man.”

Augustus spoke to me, grinding his teeth. His face was close to mine.

His lustrous, flowing fair hair, smooth skin, and thick eyelashes would make even an idol hesitant to stand next to him.

This guy is also damn good-looking.

“Unless you want to end up like the lowly prostitute who gave birth to you.”

“...”

Despite his good looks, he spewed harsh words.

It was a statement that made me frown.

Even though I was a gamer from 21st-century Korea, used to receiving insults, hearing them face-to-face was a bit overwhelming.

In games, insults often traced back to ancestors, but this direct personal attack was the first since the military.

By your logic, your father is a trash who slept with a prostitute.

Do you know that you’re spitting in your own face?

“Hmph.”

Seeing me standing silently, Augustus seemed satisfied and turned his head with a nasty smirk.

“Still, you must be punished. Even a half-blood can’t hit a royal, so... Good, I have a good idea.”

What?

Augustus’s gaze shifted to Parsi, who was standing awkwardly behind me. Her face turned pale at his sinister smile.

Augustus strode past me and, before I could react, slapped Parsi’s cheek.

Smack!

“...!”

A disturbing sound echoed in the room. As I stared in shock, I saw Parsi rolling on the floor, having been slapped by Augustus.

“Huff...”

Her cheek turned red and swelled instantly, and her lips bled.

The shock was significant, and she couldn’t regain her composure, lying on the floor. Augustus squatted in front of her with a pitying look.

“You have a decent appearance, but you chose the wrong master. You could have been my maid. Unfortunately, you’re under that scum. Consider this your fate.”

“...”

Augustus raised his hand again, seemingly not satisfied with one slap. Parsi, terrified, trembled and bowed her head.

“Hmph, dare you defy me? Do you know the price of disrespecting a royal?”

Augustus grabbed Parsi’s hair, preventing her from resisting.

Her red, swollen cheek and the tear streaming down it.

Parsi, unable to resist, just trembled and cried. Seeing this, something snapped in my mind.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right. You... Gah?!”

“You fucking bastard!”