It was a dark mansion in the middle of a rainstorm, accompanied by deafening lightning strikes and cold wind permeating the place.

Several people sat in the room with dejected expressions and heads hanging down. Among them was an aristocratic young man with shoulder-length blond hair and a bewildered look. He glanced at the unfamiliar surroundings, wondering what was going on.

"Ahem, Young Master..."

The Old Butler coughed audibly, and the blond noble felt rush of information straight to his brain, especially when he locked eyes with a black-haired youth with shabby clothes. The youth casted gaze of suspicion towards him, with sharp eyes that seemingly wish to peer through his being.

"I have transmigrated!" he thought, "I was just an ordinary novel enjoyer, but after I randomly browsed a certain novel on my usual site, I found myself in this place."

Furthermore, as the villain of a third-rate mystery novel, Arthur Scott. The eldest young master of the Scott family. In this scenario, Arthur would be 'caught' by this rookie detective, Jiang Yang, after going through several 'easy' deductions that no other character seemed to notice. Right after this 'break', Jiang Yang becomes a famous detective that would solve many 'world-class' crimes.

Arthur murdered his brother, Kevin, after a series of disputes concerning their late parents' wealth. It wasn't a premeditated murder, but an impulse that led him to pull the gun and shoot his brother in the chest. Especially when Kevin started to provoke him.

Arthur was indeed a good-for-nothing who only spent money having fun but he never looked down on anyone, even the lowly servants. He even treated him as an equal.

Kevin, on the other hand, is authoritative, arrogant, strict, and generally disliked in the house. Despite owning several successful businesses, none of his subordinates liked him.

When their parents decide to let them equally inherit the fortune, Kevin bursts into a rage, not even respecting their last wish, and eventually got forcibly escorted away.

That's when Arthur started to have a murderous rage towards his younger sibling. He apologized over and over for Kevin's rudeness and their parents smiled at him, holding his hand in the final moment.

He always tried to put up with Kevin's antics since he was talented and reliable, but now he suddenly just couldn't stand it anymore. Especially after he decided to kick him out of the house, but what made him actually do such impulsive things was when it continued by his brother insulted their dead parents.

Taking out the pistol in a swift motion, the muzzle flared into the night and loud gunshots rang across the abode. That shot accurately hit the chest without Kevin being able to react. 

For Arthur, who only practiced marksmanship for fun, it might be more of Kevin's bad luck.

Realizing what happened, Arthur snapped from his rage; he went to panic and accidentally dropped his gun beside the corpse. The only saving grace is that he wore gloves on habit so the fingerprints weren't there.

Later on, in the story, Jiang Yang made Arthur confess without actual confrontation. The rookie detective didn't start by accusing him, but trying his best to be a listener and getting into his shoes, before making him spill the beans without the noble even realizing it. Arthur was more of a straightforward person and a bad liar. That's how it was considered one of the easiest cases.

But now, a random novel reader from Earth took over his body and got his memories, in addition to future information.

In addition, there's a mission: Escape the Villain's Fate!

Don't let the detective catch you for your crimes. Do whatever you can to escape conviction, or if you're daring enough, kill him yourself!

Reward: Return back to your own world + Rich Rewards

Failure: ??? (Don't worry Host won't be punished at all)

Though here's the thing. He wasn't a big fan of mystery novels in the first place and his brain wasn't even much better than Arthur himself.

There's only one thing he can leverage: he wasn't Arthur and he didn't murder anymore.

Perhaps he can just bullshit his way through this?

While he was deep in thought, Jiang Yang closed his eyes and muttered the classic line, "The murderer is somewhere in this room."

Several people swallowed their saliva and refused to meet eyes with him, but Arthur simply observed everything like watching a show.

In the story, the real Arthur would go on a panic attack, which caught the Protagonist's attention, though he will ask others first before leaving him last.

"While I have the hunch who did it, I need to ask some questions first. It'd be great if everyone can cooperate so we can understand this case together."

Jiang Yang started by questioning the old butler, "What are you doing when the crime happened?"

Adjusting his monocle, the Butler recounted, "It was around six o'clock. This servant was receiving guests for Lord Kevin. I believe Mr. Jiang was among them."

Indeed, this gathering had to invite several distinguished guests that support Kevin's cause, before it ends by kicking out the prodigal son Arthur in full humiliation and leaving him with nothing.

As for Mr. Jiang, it was supposedly for his mentor, Jules Crawford but Jiang Yang came in his stead.

Originally Kevin's plan should go without a hitch since Arthur had always been timid to him and never would fight him even once.

If only he didn't go too far.

Later, Arthur would storm in rage when he knew of such things in advance from the same butler, though that person deliberately concealed such fact.

"...and when you all gathered here, I heard a loud gunshot from the third floor and when everyone rushed there, we found the gun and Lord Kevin, god bless his soul."

"Is there anything suspicious about the murder weapon? Such as who it belongs to, or any fingerprints?"

The Butler kept his calm, "This gun model can belong to anyone in the family, and for the fingerprints, I do believe it has ones from several security guards. But how does this one explain this? It felt really strange, this old man couldn't fathom, perhaps Mr. Jiang can enlighten us?"

The Detective made a subtle frown, and that sign didn't escape Arthur's observation.

At this point, Jiang Yang knew that the Butler deliberately made things difficult for him. As someone on Arthur's side, he tried his best to make sure his Young Master got away while trying to frame others without casting suspicion on himself. Though in the story, Arthur failed to live up to his support and both of them went to prison.

"But what if the real murderer doesn't leave any fingerprints?" Jiang Yang pushed.

"Then that broadens up the suspects. Several people in the house wore gloves regularly, esteemed detective," the Butler smiled, "Lord Kevin himself had gloves in his hand. Are you suggesting that this is actually a suicide instead of murder?"

There was a hint of sarcastic ridicule in his tone, and while it's really faint, there's a sneer. The Butler cast a slight glance at the Young Master, calm as still water.

Inward relief washed the old servant's psyche.

Jiang Yang continued questioning the others but they didn't know much more than what the Butler said until he cast eyes on Arthur.

"Mr. Jiang, before you started to accuse me, please understand that in terms of motive, I'm the one suffering the greatest loss here. Without my brother, I will be forced to inherit the business and no longer able to laze around as I please."

The Detective's eyes lit up as if he caught a lead and the Butler's expression tensed. He expected the Young Master to feign ignorance, but even the third-rate novel's detective couldn't be underestimated.

Especially since the story might work in his favor.

"Master Arthur, do you have any idea who benefits the most?" in a rather inquiring tone, Jiang Yang couldn't restrain his excitement on 'landing gold'.

"How should I know!" Arthur's temper flared up, "I never know anything about my brother's business, but among them, there should be a lot of competitors and many subordinates that are unhappy with him."

Knowing that Arthur has no business acumen and is lazy, the Businesses would either get sold out or closed down. The loss of the family pillar would mean the fall of Scott family and it's not like they have no enemies at all. In fact, Kevin probably made more enemies than the sum of previous generations. Arthur's explanation was pretty sound in terms of motive.

"Though I did hear from the previous questioning that Master Arthur is the last person to arrive in Master Kevin's room before the gunshot happened, any answers regarding that?" Jiang Yang threw a curveball.

"Who is the eyewitness? Do they have evidence that I'm here? And for what reason am I there? In my habits, I rarely ever set foot in that room, unless I want Kevin to kill me."

"Really?" Jiang Yang facepalmed, "So you don't know for what occasion Kevin held this party?"

"How should I care? All I know parties are meant to be enjoyed. There's good food, wine, music, and beautiful women!"

"I don't think you will enjoy it if the party was meant to kick you out of the house."

"And is that my problem? Someone as likable as me can make friends anywhere. I probably can just go to your house and be a butler to great Mr. Crawford. I've always been a fan! Perhaps we can foster friendship since Mr. Jules and Kevin also had a relationship."

The utter shamelessness and confidence, despite throwing empty-headed responses truly gave Jiang Yang a headache. This carefree person truly didn't leave him any chance to crack down.

That was until several servants who were on Kevin's side decided to speak up at the same time.

"I really saw Young Master Arthur that time. He stormed in rage upon hearing the rumors from the servants."

"I saw him too, his movements are large. There's no way not to notice them."

"There was a gunshot, and I heard hurried footsteps from the direction, and the door was closed in frantic. No one dared to approach at a glance, but isn't Young Master Arthur the last one arriving for questioning?"

Arthur was dumbfounded, "Is this the story's way to make the protagonist win?" though he kept his composure, and spoke calmly, "So you think me, a timid weak chicken, was actually capable of killing him? Knowing his temper, wouldn't he be the one to shoot a gun and scare me to death, humiliating me for one last time?"

There's a fatal flaw in the story, that the death by a single bullet, through a lucky shot, was highly unlikely to happen. Especially since Kevin is actually much better at guns than him. In a realistic scenario, even if Arthur was enraged, Kevin could easily dodge an untrained marksman and even shoot back and neutralize him. Then he could even double down by calling the guards and sending his brother to prison.

"It was true. Judging by the bullet wound, it was a perfect shot on the fatal area." a guest, who's also a forensic doctor, spoke up, "It's either the murderer is extremely lucky, or they are a skilled assassin. It's most likely the latter."

"No offense, but Master Arthur isn't actually apt in marksmanship. I went on yesterday's shooting range and he only hit one out of ten shots."

The others kept nodding.

"In other words, the most likely scenario is indeed Master Arthur rushing in rage to question Master Kevin, and amidst their quarrel, the Assassin murdered Kevin when he wasn't alert. Conveniently placing the blame on Arthur to divert the attention. I must say, it's a pretty brilliant plan to overthrow the Scott family." the Butler surmised.

They understood that Arthur had lied at that time but they can understand. After all, as an heir of the Scott family and a noble, he still understood that he has to keep his face than admit such humiliating truth.

"And when we're wasting time here, the Assassin would have gotten far away after thoroughly erasing their tracks."

Jiang Yang interjected, "But after all, it's just a theory. There's no real evidence that an Assassin did it. No matter how unlikely it seemed, doesn't mean it cannot happen. Let us check the murder weapon. There should be a serial number and the documents in the manufactory of whom they're purchased--"

"Ahem, Mr. Jiang. Allow me to clarify that it won't lead to anything because all guns are purchased in the name of the Scott family and the government did not document the individual serial numbers because it was too inconvenient for them and has no real practical use. In case of such guns arriving on the black market, don't you think it's too preposterous to blame the Scott family if a murderer were to use them and got caught?" the Butler didn't even hide his distaste anymore.

"Not to mention it takes a lot of time to request to the government, it may take days or even weeks and that's for a prestigious Scott family. More than enough time for the murderer to erase all traces, even if they're incompetent."

Finally, a counterattack!

Though Jiang Yang didn't lose his cool and immediately pressed, "But that also means Master Arthur is the only one who was able to see the Assassin. Can you tell me what they looked like? So we can--"

"Ahh! No...don't, Kevin...you murdered him, I won't ever forgive you! He's my only brother...you..."

Arthur went into a hysterical fit before passing out on the spot.

"Young Master, he held out that well despite losing the brother he's so dependent upon. They might fight a lot and dislike, but to him, Master Kevin is the sole reason he was able to live a carefree life." the Butler shed a tear and looked to the distance, before telling the servants to carry him back to his room.

"Poor Master Arthur...he's so young but has to undergo such a burden."

...and for the first time, Jiang Yang felt guilt for opening up the old wounds. While his intuition told him that Arthur did it, his logical circuits told him otherwise.

Arthur woke up in his bed in the morning, in addition to the Butler and the servants, there's also Jiang Yang and an old detective that smoked pipe leisurely.

He's the great Jules Crawford. Facing him, even the worst criminals would shiver. Though Arthur simply looked at him as if a cool uncle just visited, which made Jules grin.

The legendary detective walked up to him, "Brat, you have really outsmarted my best disciple and slapped me in the face," he puffed towards the air and the smoke made Arthur want to cough, but even the Butler couldn't stop such rude behavior.

"But if you're this shrewd and cunning, then the Scott family will be safe in your hands. I look forward to seeing your growth. Though if you dare to try anything again, I will face you personally."

Arthur wasn't even sure how to respond so he just treated it as seeing a cutscene in video games.

After Jules led Jiang Yang out, a long-awaited System notification rang in his mind.

[Congratulations, Host, for beautifully completing the mission. The evaluation is A rank!]

[As the reward, the Host can return to your own world at any time. You can also transmigrate to a copy at any moment.]

[Additional rewards: Character Card (Arthur Scott), with character cards, you can transmigrate as a certain identity that will also work in all worlds. If not selected, you will be assigned a random identity that may either work against you or actually be beneficial.]

[In Host's own world, gain a million dollars in cash! The host can check the bank account at any time. The money is guaranteed to be legal.]

Arthur Scott (Noble) – Rank A

Will transmigrate as a charismatic prodigal noble, Arthur Scott. Will have loyal servants, wealth, and distinguished identity in all worlds.

[The next copy is unknown whether it will be generated. In the meantime, the Host can either enjoy the life of Arthur Scott or return back. Though, the time spent here won't advance time in your original world.]

Arthur thought again about his stunt at that time. It was strange how he could act so well and even pass out for real.

Though he remembered that back then, he was also dependent on a particular person, who was actually nice to him. Imagining that person dying in place of Kevin, sparked an uncontrollable rage that made him faint.

"When I finally get back, I hope that person no longer has to work so hard for my sake. I will become successful enough, that they can rest easy and live in comfort."

==

In the meantime, Jules and Jiang Yang rode the carriage back to their office.

"Jiang Yang, do you remember the expressions of every criminal I faced head-on? He is the first one who never shivered or show any signs of guilt, as if he never murdered anyone."

The rookie detective could only nod.

"Though, I didn't feel any hint or malice nor evil in him. This will make him an extremely dangerous person in the future, and that person will be left to you. When you're able to defeat him, you will fully grow as a detective...cough, cough..."

"Mentor, how many times I tell you not to smoke too much!"

"I'm fine, I still have long, long years ahead of me. Now, onto the next case."

The murder of Kevin Scott was marked as unsolved and Jules Crawford decide to turn a blind eye. In the upcoming investigations, what actually happened remained a big mystery.

Several servants that took Kevin's side were all fired and Arthur gradually took over the family business in his own way, actually producing better results and stabilizing the family.

After some time had passed, a new copy was formed.

"Interesting, it's great that I don't always have to be a villain."

Escaping the Villain's Fate - END

LazyCultivator

I rarely wrote and read something like this, so the quality may not be that good. It's just something short I did to get back to writing and posting stories again.