At this moment, the Arch-Bishop was still having tea with Mirexia, while inwardly scolding his two troublesome subordinates.

Seriously, of all the times to start arguing, why did they have to pick when the royal family was visiting?

I just praised you for your high standards, and you immediately slapped me in the face with your actions.

Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?

Even if the person being scolded is that notorious Winnie, whom the princess utterly despises, this is still not the time to do it, right?

Doesn’t this make the church staff look unprofessional?

What were you thinking??

At this point, he couldn’t very well say, “Oh, they only act like this with specific people, they’re not like this with other believers,” could he? That would just make him look like a snob.

As for Winnie, at this moment, he was also inwardly fuming, though not at the church staff, but at the statue in front of him.

Hey, buddy, where’s my gold coin??

Old woman, I’ve been praying in front of you for almost two hours now, and I haven’t gotten a single hair from you!?

If it weren’t for the fact that there were so many church staff and believers around, Winnie might have had the impulse to kick the goddess statue to see if it would drop some gold.

As for what the two church staff were muttering about beside him, he didn’t pay much attention.

Even if he heard it, he couldn’t care less.

What?

You’re insulting me?

Go ahead, just don’t interrupt my gold farming.

Finally, two hours passed.

Winnie couldn’t take it anymore.

Just as he was about to pull out his double-barreled shotgun on the goddess statue, he suddenly noticed a line of text appearing on the statue.

‘Virtue +2’

“Alright, alright! Praise the goddess!” Winnie was instantly overjoyed, and the double-barreled shotgun he had instinctively reached for was reluctantly put away.

The goddess statue had narrowly escaped disaster.

This reaction startled the nearby church staff, and even Mirexia and the Archbishop, who were watching from the second floor, were taken aback.

To be fair, is +2 virtue a lot? Not really. But for Winnie, it pointed him in a new direction.

That direction was prayer!

Praying to the goddess statue for two hours could earn him two points of virtue.

For the impoverished Winnie, this was a massive boost!

Glancing at his current virtue points, he now had four.

This meant that even if he didn’t “spend money to avoid disaster,” as long as he prayed to the goddess statue for two hours every day, in thirteen more days, he could awaken his family’s bloodline!

Not bad, not bad.

A little trick to awaken his family’s bloodline every day.

After standing in front of the goddess statue for two hours, Winnie stretched his stiff shoulders and, ignoring the stares and whispers of those around him, leisurely walked out of the hall, completely unaware of the gaze from the second floor of the church.

He was in a good mood now, feeling quite pleased with himself.

No matter what anyone said, he could just smile it off.

Oh no, he was starting to get addicted to stacking virtue points. It felt a bit like stacking Nasus’s Q—no matter how rough things got, stacking those points was just satisfying!

With his virtue points secured, it was time to move on to more important matters.

Ignoring the noise around him, Winnie set his sights on the glittering royal family castle ahead, his eyes shining as if he had found a new direction.

Looking on the bright side, being transmigrated as a notorious cannon-fodder villain wasn’t all bad.

At least it was better than lying dead in a coffin.

As long as he was careful and didn’t give the protagonist a chance to kill him, things should be fine, right?

Being a somewhat powerful side character didn’t seem so bad.

As for being disliked by everyone?

Who cares??

He wasn’t the same Winnie as before.

He didn’t care about what others thought of him.

I’ll live my life, and what you think of me is none of my business.

After all, people can say whatever they want, and I can’t control that.

But even if he didn’t follow the original story’s path as the main antagonist, sticking around the protagonist and their group of troublemakers would inevitably lead to disaster.

So, cherish your life, stay away from trouble.

Why not leave the capital and head to a small nation where his infamy hadn’t spread?

He could become a knight captain, or maybe get a small fief and become a minor lord.

Then he could find a girl who liked him, settle down, and live a peaceful life.

Doesn’t that sound perfect??

Thus, Winnie, the ideal man from Camella, came up with another brilliant plan.

How could he achieve the aforementioned goals?

The little king wasn’t a fool, and with Winnie’s current “hardware,” could he really manage to become a knight, or even a minor lord?

Obviously not.

But these weren’t insurmountable problems.

Education from a prestigious institution could solve most issues.

Take, for example, the renowned Carillian Academy, known across the continent.

Graduates from this academy were all exceptional individuals, and the value of its diploma went without saying.

Anyone who held one would undoubtedly rise above the rest.

The fact that the game was titled Carillian Citrus likely had something to do with the story’s setting being the Carillian Academy.

That’s right, the game’s story begins at Carillian Academy.

Aesphyra, Mirexia, and most of the other female protagonists were all at this academy.

As for whether being in the same academy as all these troublemakers posed a risk, Winnie only had two words: all in!

Going all in was a form of wisdom.

Fortune favors the bold, and besides, Carillian Academy, as the top institution on the Terraria continent, was as large as an island.

As long as he deliberately avoided certain people, it would be hard to run into those troublemakers.

As long as he steered clear of the main storyline, disaster would always be one step behind him!

As long as he could tough it out through the most challenging period and graduate from the academy, a bright future awaited him!

He’d be soaring to new heights!

Under normal circumstances, someone like Winnie would never qualify for the entrance exam to Carillian Academy.

But that wasn’t a problem, King Camella would provide.

King Camella was quite devout and, out of respect for the goddess, had shown considerable care for the declining Varelis family.

However, this care only went so far.

In the original story, Winnie’s entrance exam qualification, tuition, and living expenses were all provided by King Camella.

The church had seized the Varelis family’s assets but dared not touch Winnie, likely because the Varelis family held a Viscount title granted by the king.

At least the current Winnie wouldn’t blame the Pavone royal family for not stopping the church.

After all, even taking in the Valeris family in the first place was done out of respect for the goddess.

The Valeris family wasn’t particularly close to the Pavone royal family, and they owed them no favors.

In fact, the royal family had done them a kindness.

Given that the church’s actions were “justified,” why would the royal family risk offending the colossal entity that was the Church of Radiance for Winnie’s sake?

As for how the original Winnie managed to pass the entrance exam?

The Unorthodox path was always a shortcut, offering a quick way to gain power.

But in the end, he paid a steep price for it.

The price of life.

This time, if Winnie wanted to enroll in Carillian Academy, there would be no shortcuts.

Given his natural abilities, the pressure was immense.

This path might not work out, but he had to give it a try.

If he could find a suitable Soul Art, there might still be a chance.

Winnie let out a sigh of relief.

As he approached the gates of the royal castle, two fully armed Dragon Knights blocked his path.

They certainly knew who Winnie was, but without a pass, no one was allowed to enter the royal castle.

“Gentlemen, I am Winnie Valeris. This is the pass granted to me by the king, allowing me to enter the royal family collection to select a suitable Soul Art,” Winnie cleared his throat and spoke respectfully, handing over his pass.

The two knights were visibly surprised.

Polite words like these wouldn’t be strange coming from anyone else, but hearing them from Winnie, the infamous troublemaker of the capital, was quite unusual.

Who didn’t know that this guy was a sycophant to those above and a tyrant to those below, notorious for his misdeeds and never having a kind word to say?

However, they didn’t ask any further questions. Matters outside their duties were none of their concern.

After carefully inspecting the pass and confirming that it bore the king’s personal seal, the knights returned it to Winnie, saluted him, and stepped aside without a word of unnecessary chatter.

Winnie thanked them and entered the royal castle.

This wasn’t his first time in the royal castle.

The old Winnie had often used various excuses to come here and pester Mirexia.

The royal castle lived up to its name, grand and magnificent, but Winnie had no time to admire the scenery.

Once inside, he headed straight for the royal Soul Art Collection.

Success or failure hinged on this Soul Art guide.

If he could find a one-star Soul Art with a compatibility rate of 80%… no, even 70% would be enough.

Winnie’s demands weren’t high, just this one thing.

“Stop right there.” Just then, a young man’s voice called out from behind.

Winnie pretended not to hear.

With so many people in the royal castle, surely the call wasn’t meant for him?

Winnie didn’t want any trouble and quickened his pace.

“I said stop! Are you deaf?” But fate had other plans.

The faster Winnie walked, the more persistent the voice became, chasing after him like a specter, accompanied by hurried footsteps.

Soon, a tall, armored figure strode up to Winnie and blocked his path.

Winnie glanced up at the tall, handsome young man before him. Upon recognizing who it was, he inwardly rolled his eyes.

Trouble.

He’d run into a sticky situation.

The young knight before him was named Charon, the son of the Wrathful Dragon Knights’ commander.

A prodigy in magic, he had absorbed the [Dragon’s Eye] Soul Art at a young age and joined the Wrathful Dragon Knights, becoming the youngest Wrathful Dragon Knight in the order’s history.

At the same time, as a named character in the game, he was also one of Princess Mirexia’s most fervent suitors.