The next few hours were a blur of decorations, arguments, and me desperately trying to remember if I'd written any way to prevent what was coming.
I'd known this scene was coming, of course. It was the inciting incident—the moment Akai's family was slaughtered by Hao Jun, the First Vestige of the Morbid Insect. But reading about it and living it were two very different things.
"You're spacing out again," Noel said, smacking the back of my head as she passed. "Get to the kitchen. Now."
I grimaced, rubbing the back of my head.
"You're always weird," Noel called from across the room.
I forced a laugh, but my hands were shaking.
I had to do something.
The System taunted me, unwarrantedly:
«---REMINDER---»
[---Main Plot Event: "The Massacre" begins at 14:32.---]
Right on cue, it started.
Smoke curled through the window like it had read the script—shaping itself into a gun, then a sword… then a hand. It pointed. Beckoned.
«---QUEST UPDATE---»[---Follow the Smoke (Mandatory)---][---Reward: Unlock "Full System capabilities, Rael's Bargain(Platinum), Avoid Death"---][---Penalty: Death---]
I didn't hesitate. I sprinted to the kitchen, grabbed Nez and Noel by their wrists, and yanked them after me.
My mom called from the kitchen: "Akai! Cake's almost—"
"I'm okay, Mom! We're just going to buy some sweets!" I shouted as we bolted through the door.
Yeah. Lies. All lies. I wasn't saving them from sugar cravings—I was dragging them away from death.
The smoke quickly moved forward.
I stumbled after it, heart pounding, dragging my still-confused siblings, telling them that I'd explain later.
As I ran after the smoke, the system screen pulled up in front of me.
[---Soul and Mental Synchronization complete: 100%---]
[---Memory Synchronization: 10%---]
[---Current Identity: Akai Varn (Side Character)---]
[---Death "Chapter:" 35---]
[---Current "Chapter:" 2---]
«---REMINDER---»
[---Main Plot Event: "The Massacre" begins in 10 minutes.---]
I locked onto the trail of smoke, my feet pounding the dirt. It led us to a tall tree on a hill near our home. Of course it did—dramatic reveal location 101.
"What the hell are you doing?" Noel snapped, slapping me. "I thought you said—"
She stopped.
The smoke shifted.
And just like I'd written it, the thing took form.
Twisted, semi-humanoid. Horns. Wings. A warped face you couldn't quite describe. Every line of its form looked like it was drawn wrong on purpose. This wasn't your average "demon" or monster.
This was Rael. The Entity of Hindering Smoke. One of the Fallen.
I kept my cool on the outside. Inside? Pure panic.
Rael began to speak. About the Entities. About loyalty. About how the Entity Realm was torn apart by a god-tier battle that shattered 30% of their entire dimension and left remnants behind like cracks in divine porcelain.
[---No Conversation Detected, Memory Synchronization will resume---]
[Memory Synchronization: 96%]
And then he mentioned them—the Unholy Fallen. The ones coming to destroy everything. And of course, he wasn't here to fight them out of the kindness of his corrupted heart. He was looking for vessels. Hosts. Human champions.
Of course, he'd pick me.
Because I had the kind of mana that screamed "main character energy," even though I was technically not the main character.
Rael shifted into a crow and floated near us. "I will follow to see if you are worthy," he said.
Yeah, that wasn't ominous at all.
I sighed, trying my best to follow the script of what I wrote, and suddenly, Rael's "expression" crumpled, and turned soggy. "A Fallen's Vestige is here, but that one vestige is a lot of trouble. The Unholy Fallen also seek humans with dense mana reserves, even if it's dormant."
I went still. My blood iced over.
Vestige.
That word meant only one thing.
Hao. Freaking. Jun.
I knew his personality. I created it. If Rael was a Fallen made for divine politics, Hao Jun was pure chaos—no order, no restraint. A walking slaughterhouse wrapped in a smile. The guy didn't kill for fun—he harvested emotions like an artist. Pain was his palette. Terror was his muse. Every death? A masterpiece.
His role was simple: show up, wreck the status quo, and leave the cast scarred for life.
"Do your parents have large mana reserves?" Rael asked quietly.
Noel nodded. "A+. They used to be royal guards for the Bleak family."
I clenched my fists. That was all Hao Jun needed.
And just like that, we bolted toward our home—heart pounding, gut twisting.
"Then they're probably gonna be the first to die in this town, and there will be more to…" Before Rael could finish his sentence, I, Noel, and Nez ran at full speed to our house, but before we could even reach our home, we witnessed one of the worst things ever.
The streets were a bloody mess, the entire city was cleared out, and not a single soul was alive. Gritting their teeth and running forward, they reached their house, and they witnessed something even worse.
A man in a black cloak hummed as he arranged hearts on the floor. Nez's cake was now a pedestal.
For their hearts.
"Where's the rest of them?!" I screamed, my voice loud as .
The man turned, his grin splitting his face like a wound. "Oh, I claimed them all. Even the cat."The last sound was mom's choked gasp before her head hit the floor.
"Who… no, what are you?" Noel asked, rage evident in her eyes.
"I am the First Vestige of the Entity of Chaos and Violence, Hao Jun," he said, bowing "You can also call me the Heart Harvester."