System.
A widespread term in the world of fantasy stories.
There would hardly be any fan of fantasy stories who doesn't know what a system is.
A holographic screen giving tasks and rewards if you complete them, a status window to display your stats in numbers.
A way to level up your skills and get items from a designated store.
These are all the basic features of a system and almost every web novel based on fantasy genre uses it.
Naturally, I was familiar with this concept too, considering I have read many web novels so far.
Moreover, the world I am in also has a system bestowed upon the protagonist himself.
The Swordmaster System.
A gift from the heavens. A cheat that guides him to glory, power, and endless plot armor.
But what I heard just now was different.
[Villain System Initializing…]
Then came a sound. A click. A beep. A hum.
And then—
[System Successfully Loaded.]
[Welcome, Designated Villain: Dorian Valen.]
[Alignment: Chaotic Evil – Potential Unknown.]
A translucent screen appeared in front of my eyes, visible only to me.
The text floated on the interface, pulsing with red light.
[Main Objective: Survive and Spread Despair.]
[First Mission: Escape Execution.]
[Failure Condition: Death.]
[Reward: 20 Story Points"]
[Timer: 00:02:58]
At the sight of this, I laughed.
The laugh was so loud it resonated throughout the entire gallery of viewers and the emperor.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The priest stuttered mid-ritual. The executioner flinched. Even the emperor narrowed his eyes.
Here I was, bound, neck ready for the rope… laughing like a madman.
Because I was.
Something deep inside clicked so hard that I suddenly felt the urge to live.
The visitors were watching me laugh, as the soldiers pulled my chains and brought me near the guillotine.
I noticed the messanger of yesterday's night standing behind me, near the emperor.
"System, you can talk, can't you?", I said fairly audible to the soldiers.
[Affirmative. You have 1 Minute 41 Seconds left to complete the task.]
"That's nonsense, isn't it? Even if I can't complete the task, I am still going to die. What does it matter, if I do this or not?", I asked.
The soldiers looked at each other in confusion.
[No. IF you fail to complete the task within the time limit, then you will regress back to the SAVE POINT.]
This became a whole lot interesting now.
[Timer : 00:00:47]
"You know what, system?", I said.
They locked my head under the guillotine and started the praying process.
[Your time is almost over now. And there is one more thing , I forgot to mention. If you regress one time, your memories from the point of time you died to the point of time you regressed, or the SAVE POINT, would be erased.]
"...Ever since I heard your mechanical voice and your beautiful holographic screen, there is one thing I have the urge to do, so badly that I am ready to die a few times for that."
[.....What?]
"I am gonna find you, and then I am gonna kill you."
The prayers of the priest concluded as the emperor ordered the soldiers to cut my head off.
I finally looked at that female messanger and shouted.
"Next time, I am gonna fuck you up for real!"
THUNK.
The guillotine blade fell, cold and final.
My world went black.
No thoughts.
No pain.
Just void.
Then—
a flicker.
[User Dorian Valen has died.]
[Failure Condition: Mission Unsuccessful.]
[Initiating Regression…]
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[WARNING: Critical System Error Detected.]
[Villain Path Progression: Undefined.]
[Save Point Corrupted.]
[Emergency Protocol Active.]
[Regressing to Earliest Safe Narrative Checkpoint…]
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[WARNING: Severe Memory Loss Imminent.]
[Erasing Data… 99.7% of mental imprints purged.]
[Restoring Core Personality Layer…]
[Timeline Reset: Chapter 1 – Imperial Capital Arrival]
[Rebooting Villain System…]
[System Recovery Incomplete – Residual Emotion Detected.]
[Syncing…]
[Villain System Loading Complete...]
[Welcome User - Dorian Valen
Allignment - ?????????????
Potential - Villain]
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Author's Note:
Please do comment your thoughts on the story.
And, add it to your library, of you like it.
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