EPISODE 1: “WELCOME TO YOUR DEATH ROUTE”

                                   📖 Premise

Two best friends — Arjun and Kian — are suddenly

pulled into a mysterious novel they once mocked.

When they wake up, they are no longer readers.

They are side villains inside the story, destined to

die at the end.

A system appears:

“MISSION: Make the Crown Prince or his son fall

in love with you within 90 days.

Failure = Death.”

But there’s a twist.

They are NOT allowed to fall in love with each other…

or the story will collapse and erase them both.

And the worst part?

The prince they must target… already hates them.

🖤 Main Characters

🔥 Arjun (transmigrated as “Lord Aric Vale”)

Cold, sharp-tongued strategist

Calm under pressure

Assigned to seduce the Crown Prince

❄️ Kian (transmigrated as “Duke Kael Rowan”)

Emotionally expressive, impulsive

Secretly soft-hearted

Assigned to the Prince’s mysterious son (a feared

war heir)

👑 Crown Prince Lucian

Beautiful, cruel, intelligent

Thinks both of them are threats

🖤 Prince’s Son, Ethan

Silent, dangerous, emotionally sealed

Rumored to have killed before

EPISODE 1: “WELCOME TO YOUR DEATH ROUTE”

The world shattered before Arjun’s eyes.

One moment, he was laughing with Kian on a couch,

watching a badly written fantasy drama.

The next—

A blade of light split the air.

And everything went white.

When Arjun opened his eyes again, the smell of roses

and iron filled his lungs.

He was lying on marble floors.

A ceiling painted with golden war scenes stretched

above him.

“Where… am I?” he muttered.

A voice suddenly echoed in his head.

[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

Arjun froze.

Beside him, someone groaned.

“Kian?” Arjun turned sharply.

Kian sat up, clutching his head. His face went pale.

“Arjun… why are you dressed like a medieval rich

villain?”

Arjun looked down.

Long black noble robes. Gold embroidery. A sword at

his side.

“…You too.”

Before either of them could react—

The air turned cold.

And a floating blue screen appeared.

📜 MISSION SYSTEM

You have entered the novel: “Crown of Ashes and Blood”

ROLE ASSIGNMENT:

Arjun → Lord Aric Vale (Target: Crown Prince Lucian)

Kian → Duke Kael Rowan (Target: Prince Ethan)

MAIN OBJECTIVE:

Make your assigned target fall in love with you.

FAILURE CONDITION: Death

SPECIAL RULE: Do not interfere with each other’s

mission.

Silence.

Then—

“…This is a joke,” Kian whispered.

“I don’t think dying counts as a joke,” Arjun replied

flatly.

A second notification appeared.

SUB MISSIONS UNLOCKED:

🔸️Make target hate you (to trigger obsession route)

🔸️Attend royal banquet within 24 hours

🔸️Survive first encounter

Kian swallowed hard.

“So basically… we have to flirt with dangerous royal

psychopaths or die?”

Arjun looked toward the grand hallway doors.

“They didn’t say we had to succeed fast,” he said

quietly.

Kian blinked. “What does that mean?”

Arjun’s eyes narrowed.

“It means… we learn the story first.”

The doors suddenly opened.

Heavy footsteps echoed.

A man walked in.

Golden eyes.

A crown tilted slightly like it didn’t deserve to sit

properly on his head.

Crown Prince Lucian.

His gaze landed on them instantly.

Cold.

Sharp.

Predatory.

“So,” Lucian said slowly, voice like silk over a blade.

“The two nobles who tried to poison my court last

month… are finally awake.”

Kian whispered under his breath:

“…We are SO dead.”

Arjun, however, smiled faintly.

“No,” he said softly.

“We just started playing the game.”

Lucian stepped closer.

“And tell me,” the prince said, tilting his head.

“Which one of you is first to be executed?”

To be continued…

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