Chapter one:
The princess, the hero, and the trash-tier villain… and also a maid
“Hmph!” I scoffed with the vilest smirk a low-tiered trash villain could muster in order to scare a few cornered girls. I stood there with my arms crossed and chin held high like an egotistical brat who was rolling in his father’s money and believed the whole world revolved around only one person. Lust-filled eyes gazing upon women as though they were no better than pieces of meat to be devoured. Yes, that was me, happily playing along with the role of a cheap B-grade Bollywood villain. ‘Charon Blackbridge’. “Damned commoners don’t even know their places anymore!” I shouted and stomped around like the arrogant prick I was meant to play. It was my job, nay, my sacred duty to dig holes – my own grave to be exact.
Backed into a wall at the end of a deserted and very clearly shady alleyway was a young noble lady with the fairest skin I’ve ever seen. Really, I could reflect light off that. She appeared to be in her late teens, but really no one could tell with women these days. Truth be told, I had no interest in children, but unfortunately for the both of us this was a role I had to play in order to progress the plot forward and establish some facts in this world. I’d feel a little better if only she could understand the importance of my actions, but alas the forgotten side characters oftentimes have some of the most crucial parts without the audience even being aware.
The girl’s platinum gold hair shimmered in the light as she tried to suppress her anger and fear. She bit down on her lower lips in disgust to the point it started bleeding, tarnishing her pretty little face. There really was no need to go that far, but I couldn’t just suddenly show concern for her out of nowhere or else the script was going to be ruined. Of course, I knew all about her; she was a person who couldn’t excuse the existence of someone like me – a villain – but at the same time had no power to do anything about it. In a way she was like a child who cried at injustice but could do little more than liking Facebook posts about it thinking it’d make some sort of difference.
On a purely visual level I’d say she was quite the looker, and in maybe five or six years she might actually be within my strike zone. In fact, her charm was out of this world for a girl of her age, almost as though she were deliberately manufactured to be perfect by the deft hand of an author of a fairy tale. She was the very picture of a princess; pretty, dignified, and utterly useless. Those ragged cloaks and dusty clothes she wore in an attempt to hide her obvious highborn heritage was comical at best and dangerously naïve at worst. There so many genuinely awful people hanging out in these kinds of slum areas that she should rather be thanking her lucky stars it was me who ran into and cornered her.
There was another girl hiding timidly behind her who was probably a personal attendant, but her role in this matter was insignificant. It was almost as if the girl understood herself she was meant to just be a prop in this scene – an NPC – and she kept her mouth shut and only glared at me with tears in her eyes.
In any case, even a child could look beyond her ordinary clothing and recognize immediately she was part of the aristocracy. In fact, she was a literal princess of this Empire. The second princess of our Holy Pallasian Empire: her highness Eurielle Avon Goldenlight. Now, what was such an important figure doing so far away from the royal palace without proper guards and disguised in the clothes of commoners? If I had to hazard a guess she was probably curious as to what life outside her gilded cage was like, and I wasn’t suggesting she was some naïve girl or anything disparaging. There were rumours about how headstrong our second princess was about matters concerning justice, proper governance, the roles of nobility, and other such inane rubbish. Even a former NEET and shut-in like me could admire her adventurous spirit and courage. It was certain a noble goal – and credit where credit is due – in the game she was said to be exceptionally talented with the sword, but I couldn’t help but feel it was a little a too short-sighted. Like, what would she have done if she ran into an opponent stronger than her? Or if her maid was taken hostage? She wasn’t thinking past her own capabilities and limits. I suppose children will be children no matter what world it is; lessons and experience are what transform kids into proper adults. Though… ‘proper adults’ are exhaustibly lacking in our sacred empire.
Anyways, continuing with my villain role-play. “What’s this?” I drew closer and lifted her chin with my hand. The maid behind her tried to interject but back down when my cronies behind me stepped ominously closer. “Aren’t you quite the looker for a noble? What do you say about becoming my woman?” I asked in the creepiest tone possible. “You… urk…” it was difficult to hold in the verbal diarrhea spewing out of my mouth. “Ahem, you won’t have to wear… those rags anymore and I’ll buy you new clothes truly befitting of your beauty?” the last part somehow ended up as a question as my voice was breaking due to the headache I was getting from my own speech.
Our princess glared back at me with disgust, holding in her urge to slap me across my face. “I’ll politely refuse,” she told me, though her tone of voice was anything but polite. The only reason she hadn’t drawn her sword and stabbed me was because I was a noble. With how corrupt the nobles in this empire were, there was no doubt the fallout of killing me would be huge. “We’re kind of busy, so if you don’t mind we’ll be on our way.”
As soon as she attempted to leave I stopped her by pinning her against the wall. “I don’t think you get it. This isn’t how that’s going to work,” I managed to say it properly this time like a true evil-doer. “Commoners like you don’t get a choice. You’re supposed to just shut up and listen to what your superiors have to say.”
“You rude man!” finally, unable to hold in her temper the attendant who had been quivering behind her master all this time burst out to reprimand me. Actually, I was the one who wanted to say something to her; did she know we’re just extras in all of this and our roles were ultimately disposable ones? Neither she nor I was supposed to stand out! She’s ruining the scene! “Do you not know who this person is?!” she shouted at my face. If the situation had been any different I’d be praising her bravery. She pushed past her princess and stood between us. “If you continue to act this way you’ll regret it!”
I already knew nothing was going to happen since I had knowledge of the script beforehand. However, to these two girls it would’ve seemed very real. Unfortunately for this naïve maid, even if I had been genuinely pestering the princess knowingly, the only thing I would get is a small smack on the wrists. The tragedy of our ‘Holy’ Pallasian Empire was how corrupt the nobles were and how little power the royal family had in the governance of their own nation; the title of ‘Emperor’ and ‘royal family’ were about as useful as car bumper stickers supporting a certain presidential candidate. Our fair princess, without connections, without money, without power, and only a title to call herself had no capacity to change the evils of our misfortunate realm. It wasn’t a fact which pleased me either as my own father was one of those corrupted members of the shadowy cabal masterminding the downfall of this great nation. Though, there was no need for the princess to despair too much as once she meets her future husband things will eventually start to change for the better.
The princess held back her attendant and faced me proper. “Sir noble, you should reconsider your malicious ways, or else you’ll find yourself regretting it in the future.”
Hearing her words, I involuntarily let out a sigh of relief. It was the exact line I had remembered from the game, and when this line was triggered it meant the scene would progress naturally. I thought things might’ve gotten out of sync with that earlier outburst from the maid, but there was no need to worry after all. A few more things had to be done, but it wouldn’t be as deplorable as harassing children in the middle of the street. It was actually quite nostalgic recalling this scene from all the way back then. I used to see it so many times whenever I restarted a new save file.
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The villain corners the heroine, and the hero would come to her rescue in…
3…
2…
1…
“Is this what the big city is like? I’ve heard pig squeals more pleasant than your barking,” a voice came from the other side of the alleyway. Like a knight in dirt-covered armour, some punk smelling of fields and manure approached me and my paid-off minions. My delinquent friends who had been chilling back until now moved forward to protect their business interest – me – and decided to gang up on the hero. How pitiful they were as they didn’t have a clue what they were up against, but they too had an important role of getting beaten up to make the protagonist shine brighter. “What? Four against one? Is that how you city boys like to play?” he said with a smirk.
It was like I was watching that dating-sim game playing in real time. I was actually quite exhilarated to see the protagonist’s skills all animated in real life!
Incidentally, the hero was supposed to be a half-divine, half-human entity who grew up in the countryside with his human mother. Of course, this was a fact even the person himself didn’t know, but he would’ve been aware of how his strength was on another level compared to ordinary people, and how he healed much quicker too. My villainous sidekicks wouldn’t last more than a few seconds against this guy.
“Boss, do we get extra if we get rid of this pest?” one of my men asked with a scowling laugh. I know I was the one who instigated this whole affair and hired this black-hearted criminal, but they really were worth the money with how great their act was. It was like seeing a master in action.
“Heh,” I laughed. “Fine. I’ll pay you an extra 5 gold to whoever takes out this loser first.” A single gold coin was roughly worth a 100 USD.
Blinded by the sight of money, my delinquent friends drew out their hidden blades and rushed the guy. However, the outcome was obvious before the fight even started, and in just a couple of seconds all four of them found themselves lying on the floor with their face all bruised up. A few of them got up, wondering what just happened, but didn’t seem to be able to learn with their limited brain capacity and rushed him again. The hero’s movement was way too fast for anyone to understand with just the naked eye. My men, beaten and pulverised by the insurmountable strength of their opponent, flew across the cramped alleyway, and fell face first into the floors and walls. It was over; they definitely wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.
I had witnessed this scene so many times before but never from this perspective. I was a little moved by it and almost dropped my act. My heart was racing seeing my favourite game play out right in front of my eyes. ‘Holy crap!' I thought to myself unable to hide my wobbly grin. Despite my mob-tier actions until now, I was still part of an Earl-level noble faction, yet this man had the balls to walk up and punch my fellow corrupted compatriots. Kudos. ‘Amazing’. For about five seconds I was nothing more than an avid fan, but because I was so invested in this I couldn’t afford to slip up and break the scene.
“Well, well, look at you,” I took a quick breath and reformed myself. “Acting all tough just because you were able to take care of a few pieces trash.” Upon closer inspection the young man was fairly built; even through his rather baggy clothes I could tell he was hiding a toned body under there. However, those muscles weren’t the kind developed from fighting and training just yet, the power he has right now was only due to his divine constitution. “And? The hell are you supposed to be?”
“Is this person bothering you?” the dude asked the girls whilst ignoring me.
If I was more of a reckless idiot I would’ve stepped in and shouted something like ‘stop ignoring me you peasant!’. On second thought that was a surprisingly good line, why was I even holding back? I took a deep breath and shouted back angrily, “disgusting peasants! You dare ignore me?!” my screams echoed through the alleyway, yet neither the hero nor the princess took any actions and continued on as if I didn’t exist. Since I said my piece I was kind enough to give them the time to converse a little. I took this moment to look at the maid who coincidentally made eye-contact with me.
“Eeek!” she crept back with an obvious shiver. Honestly speaking, though I was a villain, I didn’t think I looked that bad. “Yes! That’s right! Those thugs are extremely bothersome!” suddenly the maid shouted as she pointed at me. At that moment I wanted to scream at her for ruining the story but doing so would break it even further. I had to suppress my anger and be satisfied with just glaring a hole into her.
“Remy, please,” the princess tried to rein her in. She then moved her attention towards the young man. “I don’t like asking for help, but if you could lend me a hand I’ll see to it that you’re rewarded handsomely.” Though she says that, I knew for a fact she didn’t have her own savings or a treasury. The best she could do was give him an important heirloom from her deceased mother, though he would refuse it when he learns of how precious it is.
Our dear protagonist let out a small laugh and replied with a simple, “no problem.”
“You dare…” I grumbled beneath my breath. Nobles were all taught how to utilize magic from a young age by their tutors so most of them were quite confident in their strength. In my case, I was a little bit different than the others. “Let’s see if you can still laugh after this!” I yelled as I launched a [Flame Bolt] out of my palms. The small ball of flames flew out of my hands, but before it could do any significant damage the hero dodged it with minimal effort. “What?!”
Taking advantage of my ‘surprise’, the hero rushed in… or so I want to say but he was incredibly slow. It was almost comical how slow he was moving with such a serious face. No, that wasn’t quite the case; it wasn’t the hero who was moving slowly but me who could perceive the world much faster. Right, this was how I differed from everyone else: I had memories of a previous life playing a certain fantasy dating sim, in other words the future story of this world. However, that wasn’t the only thing, I also retained the abilities and stats of the hero which stacked up after numerous new-game+.
Though it was primarily a dating sim game, there were some combat elements where the player was able to raise their stats and levels, and those stats carried over each time a ‘new-game+’ was done. Meaning, each successive playthrough continued to accumulate more and more stats. The puzzling thing is that the developers didn’t bother putting a cap on just how much the player can stack their stats. I suppose they probably didn’t think people would play it more than a few times. But me? I was a diehard fan of this game and spent every moment I got off work or had free time to absorb myself over and over into this world. In the end, this means that the stats of a first-run hero could never hope to match mine.
Still, I wouldn’t tarnish my favourite game by playing god like this. It felt like forever, but eventually the hero’s fist collided with my face and I flung myself backwards and deliberately smashed into a nearby wall. I feigned unconsciousness and continued eavesdropping.
“What? That was it?” the hero seemed puzzled. “With all that crap he was talking about earlier I thought he’d be a little stronger than those goons. What a disappointment.” He then turned to the princess and studied the sword on her hip. “Are you sure you even need my help with something like this? I feel like you could’ve handled it perfectly on your own.”
The princess chuckled a little. “I have my own reasons why I couldn’t but thank you for your help. I appreciate it.” She then took out a small locket from her pocket and handed it over to the hero. “I promised to reward you, so please take this.”
He stared at it for a moment before asking, “that looks precious. Are you sure?”
“It’s fine.,” she replied with a solemn expression. “If they find this they’ll take it away… if that’s how it’s going to be then I’d rather give it to you.”
What she meant by that was referring to one of the duke’s family’s daughter. The Emperor’s brother’s daughter, meaning the princess’ cousin, didn’t get along well with the headstrong princess and would steal stuff from her with no consequences. Again, the ugly head of corruption was abundant in this nation. Well, when the protagonist learns of this later he’ll eventually give back the locket so there wasn’t any problem.
“It seems even you city folks have it tough,” commented the young hero.
“Quite, but I’m sure I can make things better. No… I have to make things better.”
There was an awkward moment of silence between the two before the hero broke it. He extended his hand for a handshake and introduced himself. “The name’s Castilon. I don’t have a last name since I’m not a noble.”
The princess accepted the hero’s hand. “I’m Eurielle… just Eurielle.”