He clearly remembered that day.

The sun had already risen. The streets were filled with people commuting to work. The sounds of cars and bicycle were mixed with the sporadic noise of people talking and cellphones ringing. The heat from the midsummer weather beat them down relentlessly, which filled the air with the stench of sweat and car exhaust.

That day, his complexion as he stared at the mirror was particularly bad. Large, dark circles hung underneath his eyes. A dangerously lethargic sensation clung to his body.

He worked to live. He always felt that it was a shame that he wasn’t like others. It was different from someone who lived to work. He hated his job. But because of the economic crisis that loomed darkly over their shoulders, he had no choice but to continue toiling.

Seven years of toiling. It was roughly a fourth of his life. During that time, he hadn’t experienced anything that people could dream of. There were no job promotions, no lasting friendships, no big opportunities, no romantic encounters... it was a life wasted just to see the following day.

His life before then was equally pained. Bullying, sickness, poverty, and many other things stifled him. Everything was done in a struggle. He clawed his way upward desperately, only to be met with seemingly-random circumstances that kicked him back down.

He had realized it since long ago, but he couldn’t get himself to improve his standing. After so many years, he had grown afraid of what it was like outside his life of suffering. He couldn’t remember a life that didn’t involve spending multiple days in the office without any sleep, or being summoned to work on their few holidays. Many times he would spend the night drinking alone in a pub, and with the help of alcohol, manage to summon the courage to simply tell himself to change. But when the morning came, all that bravery would vanish.

And when he heard that his mother, his last source of warmth and comfort, had died over the phone, he simply felt the world turn black.

Maybe that was why he didn’t even feel his death had come – because there was no difference.

As the white-clad god looked at his burnt-out soul from above, the deity couldn’t help but sigh in sadness.

The god cupped his hands around the small flame, worried that the gentlest of breeze would extinguish it even from heaven. He then lowered his divine gaze and addressed the poor soul that couldn’t even muster enough strength to flicker.

“I’ll grant you a new start. Go with my blessings, become the protagonist of your story.”

He had read those kinds of stories before. Of course, what he knew about them was that they were all purely fantasy. Never in his life did he think that he would experience it for himself. He became hopeful. And in that hope, he found renewed vigor.

It will be different this time, he thought.

I will live a better life, he thought.

I will become successful, he thought.

I will raise a loving family, he thought.

And sure enough, for most of his life in the new world, that was the destined trajectory.

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With the god’s blessings, he was born to a caring, affluent family. He had excellent looks and was incredibly talented. He even had a beautiful childhood friend who he was betrothed to at an early age.

Life looked secure. He had every opportunity available to him. Due to his hunger for excitement, he chose the life of an “adventurer”.

In a world with magic, he desired to live in fantasy instead of pursuing the politics he had grown tired of.

He set his sights to the goal of every hero in storybooks: defeat the Lord of Demons and become the champion of the people.

That was his dream. And with the god’s blessings, he knew that it was achievable. He provided the effort, and the heavens would reward him.

... That was what was supposed to happen, anyway.

The party of like-minded heroes didn’t come to his side. Instead of noble souls, he instead attracted notorious criminals. An army of knights didn’t rally behind him. Instead, a gigantic horde of monsters followed them.

Though he still had his childhood friend with him, nothing else had gone according to his plan.

Most of all, he didn’t end up becoming the protagonist of the story.

It was the Lord of Demons. It was she who led them all.

And against them stood humanity. Heroes from all walks of life banded together against his side. Gallant knights in shining armor, mystical elves and their enchanted bows, powerful dwarves in their heavy armaments; all of them that represented the pinnacle of civilization stood in confrontation against him and his liege.

“I’m sorry I crushed your dreams.”

The Lord of Demons addressed him. Her voice alone carried enough power to shake the soil beneath them. But he didn’t cower, not at all. Because after many years, he had already grown familiar to it.

“But it can’t be helped. This is what the world needs.”

He thought back on his previous life. It was filled with nothing but misery. He punished himself only to be punished further. Nobody acknowledged him. He was below even a member of the crowd. Even when he met his past classmates, nobody could even recall his name.

“This time, you will be remembered... not as a hero, but as the villain.”

He had no friends. Nobody wanted to talk to him. Nobody even wanted to get close to him. Perhaps, he was just a gloomy, unlikeable person? There was no doubt in his mind that in his death, nobody even noticed him disappear.

“Today, all of us, together, will die.”

Being a fatherless boy, all he had was his mother, who worked herself to the bone to support the family. She was his only ally, even if she had never had the time for him. For the lonely boy, he never had a back he could look up to. He was aimless, lifeless and without purpose.

“So, follow me, for I am the Bringer of Calamity, the greatest evil in the world.”

Back then, he never dared to hope for something else. He never tried to dream big. Deathly afraid of failure, he rotted away. He felt abandoned by the gods.

“I stand against all that hopes, all that dreams, and all that reaches to the gods.”

And even though he was blessed with a second life, one filled with fortune and happiness, he still found himself at the very bottom in the end.

“I will extinguish their hopes. I will crush their dreams. And I will destroy the heavens.”

So, was it a wonder why he would rebel against the world? From an outsider’s perspective, it was expected of him to do so.

“Come at me, humanity, and make your stand.”

... But he wasn’t rebelling. Nothing was as it seemed. He didn’t hate the world at large. Rather, he loved it. It was pure, innocent, childish love.

And that was why he stood against it. Everything was necessary.

He stared at his precious friends, and they looked back with conviction on their faces.

A necromancer.

A cannibal.

A heretic.

A traitor.

And finally, the Lord of Demons, the Grand Evil, the Great Scourge... the true protagonist of his story.

They were his family. And together, they all shared one simple, yet impossible dream.

“Let’s save the world.”