The last thing I remember from my old world was the gunshot.
Not exactly heroic. One second, I was bleeding out behind a rusted dumpster after a drug deal gone sideways. The next, I was choking on air that burned my lungs and staring up at a sky the color of dried blood.
No lights. No sirens. Just wind. Sand. And chanting.
Oh no. No, no, no. This isn't real.
I was lying in the center of a scorched ritual circle. Jagged obsidian runes surrounded me, still glowing faintly with residual energy. Hooded figures in tattered robes stood around me, eyes wide with frantic hope and desperation.
"He lives," one of them whispered. "The ritual... worked?"
I sat up too fast and nearly blacked out. My ribs screamed. My hands were still trembling, still slick with blood that wasn't mine.
Where the hell am I?
"Dark Lord Nihil," the leader croaked, stepping forward. "We offer our bodies and our faith to you once more. Please, bring back the Night Eternal."
What.
I blinked. My brain tried—and failed—to connect the dots. Dark Lord? Night Eternal?
Another hooded man leaned in, whispering nervously, "He doesn't look like Nihil…"
"He's not supposed to. His soul was destroyed. We summoned the essence of his will. Maybe... reincarnated?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but that's when the System activated.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
Red text appeared in my vision, translucent but clearly readable. My pulse actually quickened.
[WELCOME TO THE VILLAIN SYSTEM!]
[SCANNING USER SOUL...]
[ANALYZING MORAL ALIGNMENT...]
[CALCULATING COMPATIBILITY...]
This was it. My second chance. My shot at power, at purpose. Back home I was Cain Delacroix — a high school dropout with a prison record and a bullet in his gut. But here? Here I could be someone that mattered.
[SCAN COMPLETE]
[USER PROFILE: CAIN DELACROIX]
[MORAL ALIGNMENT: SELFISH/VIOLENT/COWARDLY]
[COMPATIBILITY: 93%]
[PREPARING VILLAIN ABILITIES...]
The one-eyed cultist was still talking about rebirth and vengeance, but I barely heard him. Ninety-three percent compatibility? That was practically perfect. I was going to be amazing at this villain thing.
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[CRITICAL SYSTEM MALFUNCTION DETECTED]
My stomach dropped. The red text flickered, turning blue for a moment before stabilizing.
[ATTEMPTING SYSTEM REPAIR...]
[REPAIR FAILED]
[ATTEMPTING ALTERNATIVE INITIALIZATION...]
"Uh," I said, raising a shaky hand. "I think there might be a prob—"
[SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE]
[WELCOME TO THE HERO SYSTEM!]
The text was no longer red. It was a bright, nauseating blue that practically sparkled.
[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS THIS WORLD'S PRIMARY SAVIOR!]
[YOUR MISSION: ACCUMULATE HERO POINTS THROUGH ACTS OF COMPASSION, COURAGE, AND SELF-SACRIFICE!]
[CURRENT HERO POINTS: 0]
[CURRENT MORAL RANK: DANGEROUS SCOUNDREL]
"What the hell?" I whispered.
[LANGUAGE! THAT'S +10 HERO POINTS FOR RESTRAINING YOUR TEMPER IN A HIGH-STRESS ENVIRONMENT!]
[CURRENT HERO POINTS: 10]
[CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST HEROIC CHOICE!]
The cultists were still looking at me with reverent awe, clearly expecting some evil proclamation. One of them held up a blackened crown. Another offered a dagger carved from bone.
I stared at them, brain flatlining.
"I…" I started, then stopped. What was I supposed to say? Sorry, but apparently I'm meant to be the good guy now?
[TUTORIAL QUEST ACTIVATED!]
[QUEST: FIRST IMPRESSIONS]
[OBJECTIVE: MAKE A MEMORABLE HEROIC ENTRANCE]
[SUGGESTED ACTIONS: SAVE THE SUMMONERS FROM THEMSELVES, GIVE AN INSPIRING SPEECH, OR CLEANSE THE CORRUPTED ALTAR]
[REWARD: 100 HERO POINTS + BASIC HERO STARTER PACK]
[FAILURE PENALTY: BEING MISTAKEN FOR A FALSE PROPHET AND SACRIFICED TO AN ELDER BEAST]
My blood ran cold. Failure penalty: sacrificed to an elder beast?
Oh, the system wasn't kidding around.
I looked at the cultists again. They were gaunt, burned, dying. Not monsters—just people who had no hope left. This place… this world… it had already fallen. The only thing keeping the darkness at bay was the seal, and they want me to break it.
[TIMER STARTED: 60 SECONDS TO COMPLETE TUTORIAL QUEST]
[59...]
[58...]
"Dark Lord?" one asked, stepping forward. "Will you lead us?"
I don't want to lead anyone, I thought. I don't even know how to survive here. I should just run.
[SYSTEM TIP: DENYING DESTINY WILL RESULT IN MENTAL FRACTURE. EMBRACE THE LIGHT, CAIN DELACROIX.]
[47...]
[46...]
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to think. Maybe I could fake it. Maybe I could pretend to be some wandering hero—one who saves people quietly, without fanfare.
[35...]
[34...]
[33...]
[32...]
I took a breath. Shaky. Shallow. There were too many things happening at once—the cult, the system, the countdown ticking in my head like a bomb strapped to my spine.
I wasn't a hero. I didn't feel like one. But this world didn't seem to care.
"Right," I muttered, rubbing a hand down my face. "Hero speech. Let's give the people what they want."
I stepped forward, ignoring the bone dagger and the crown, and looked them in the eye—well, as best I could with the hoods.
"You don't need a Dark Lord," I said, forcing my voice not to shake. "You need someone who won't abandon you. Someone who doesn't want to destroy the world just because it's broken."
Their confusion thickened. One of them actually took a step back.
"I'm not here to end the light. I'm here to stop the darkness from swallowing the rest of it."
A pause.
[+25 HERO POINTS FOR INSPIRING MONOLOGUE]
[+50 HERO POINTS FOR REJECTING A SYMBOL OF EVIL POWER]
[+15 BONUS: EMOTIONAL VULNERABILITY DETECTED]
[CURRENT HERO POINTS: 100]
[HERO STARTER PACK UNLOCKED!]
[CONTENTS: CLOTH ARMOR (BLOODSTAINED), LIGHT ATTRIBUTE (DORMANT), ABILITY - "SECOND WIND (LV.1)"]
[EMOTIONAL STABILITY: 62%]
[GOOD JOB! KEEP UP THE SELF-IMPROVEMENT, CAIN! :)]
I winced at the cheerful emoji. The system was too perky. It felt like someone had programmed Siri with a morality complex and a permanent smile.
The ritual circle beneath me hissed—steam rising from the runes as they cracked, splintered, and dimmed.
[ALTAR CORRUPTION LEVEL: 78%]
[HEROIC INTERVENTION REDUCING DEMONIC RESONANCE…]
[REDUCED TO 61%]
[SECONDARY OBJECTIVE SUGGESTION: CLEANSE THE ALTAR COMPLETELY TO DELAY THE DARK AGE]
I turned my head.
The child they were preparing for sacrifice was still curled beside the altar—small, shaking, wrists raw. I didn't even think. I knelt, snapped the rope, and pulled him behind me.
"Go," I whispered. "Hide. Anywhere but here."
He bolted. I stood.
"Don't touch another kid," I told the cultists. "Or I will become someone worse than your last Dark Lord." Deep inside i don't give a fuck about the kid.
A silence fell.
Then—
[QUEST COMPLETE!]
[+100 HERO POINTS FOR SAVING AN INNOCENT LIFE]
[+25 BONUS: FIRST LIFE SAVED - "THE PATH BEGINS"]
[CURRENT HERO POINTS: 250]
[TITLE UNLOCKED: RELUCTANT SAVIOR]
[REPUTATION: LOCAL – CONFUSING, POSSIBLY DIVINE]
[DIMENSIONAL VIEWER COUNT: 13,209]
Wait. Viewers?
[NEW SYSTEM NOTE: YOU ARE BEING BROADCAST ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE. PERFORMANCE SCORES WILL BE EVALUATED IN REAL TIME.]
[PLEASE CONTINUE TO MAKE HEROIC CHOICES TO MAINTAIN AUDIENCE APPROVAL.]
"Are you serious?" I hissed.
[LANGUAGE WARNING: SARCASM DETECTED]
[+10 HERO POINTS FOR STAYING HUMBLE UNDER PRESSURE]
[CURRENT HERO POINTS: 260]
The earth rumbled beneath me.
No, not earth—something beneath it. Moving. Breathing. A presence older than memory, pressing against the edge of the seal i think?
[WARNING: THE SEAL HAS DETECTED A NON-NIHIL ENTITY IN ITS PRESENCE]
[WARNING: COUNTERSUMMON RESPONSE INITIATED]
[SEAL GUARDIAN MANIFESTING: 02:43 REMAINING]
"You've got to be kidding me."
[NOPE! GET READY, CAIN! >:D]
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: ESCAPE THE BLACK SANDS SANCTUARY]
[OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE YOUR FIRST BOSS FIGHT]
[OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE: SAVE CULTISTS FROM COLLATERAL DAMAGE]
[REWARD: 300 HERO POINTS + UNLOCK FIRST REAL ABILITY]
[FAILURE PENALTY: MAJOR LIMB LOSS / DEATH]
I stared at the sky. Still that awful, dried-blood red. Still no stars.
"I'm not a hero," I whispered. "I'm just... not a villain either."
[STATEMENT ACCEPTED]
[NEW ALIGNMENT REGISTERED: THE UNWILLING]
[PATH: PARADOX HERO]
[NOTE: HIGH READER INTEREST IN "MORAL CONFLICT" TRACKED – PLEASE KEEP BEING AN EMOTIONAL DISASTER]
The altar cracked behind me.
The sand trembled.
And far beneath it, something woke up.