[Milestone Approaching: 897/1000 Virtue Points]
[Special reward available upon reaching 1000 points!]
[The System is excited for your progress! ♡]
I stared at the notification. One hundred and three points away from my first major milestone.
[Daily Quest Available: "Help Three People"]
[Reward: 15 Virtue Points]
Speaking of which—time to earn those final hundred points.
The Orphan Academy's second week was running smoothly, which meant it was time to leverage it for maximum point gain.
I arrived to find a problem waiting—perfect.
"Kai!" One of the teachers, the retired scholar Master Edwin, hurried over with obvious distress. "We have a situation. Three of our students haven't returned for three days. Their orphanage matron says they've been... requisitioned."
"Requisitioned?"
"A labor contractor. He's been taking children from the smaller orphanages, claiming legal work contracts. But the conditions..." Edwin's hands shook. "I visited the site yesterday. It's a quarry. Children breaking rocks twelve hours a day. No safety equipment. Minimal food."
[Major Quest Detected: "The Labor Exploitation Ring"]
[Difficulty: High]
[Reward: 200 Virtue Points]
[Bonus: Potential to expose systemic corruption]
Two hundred points. More than enough to hit my milestone and exceed it significantly.
"Tell me everything."
The situation was elegant in its corruption. A man named Voss Markham ran a labor contracting business—technically legal, practically slavery. He targeted orphanages that were desperate for funding, offering them payment for "job placements" while working the children into early graves.
My old self would have admired the efficiency. My current role demanded I dismantle it.
The strategic calculus was simple: Exposing Voss would earn massive points, strengthen my reputation, and remove a competitor for child labor. The academy would benefit from the resulting publicity. Lord Ashworth would appreciate the removed market competitor. And I'd gain leverage over whatever political machine was protecting Voss.
Win-win-win, as these simple mortals would say.
"I'll handle this."
[Quest Accepted: "The Labor Exploitation Ring"]
[The System knows you'll do what's right! ♡]
Of course I would. Because "right" currently aligned with "strategically optimal."
I brought Marcus with me to scout the quarry.
"This is bad," Marcus muttered as we observed from a hillside. Below, dozens of children labored in the heat, some barely older than seven. Guards with clubs patrolled the perimeter.
My Detect Intentions skill picked up Marcus's genuine anger and distress. How convenient—his real emotions would sell the performance.
"It's slavery with extra steps," I said.
"We have to help them," Marcus said.
"We will." I made note of guard positions, shift changes, the foreman's location. Old habits. "But we need evidence first. And leverage."
I'd learned that Lord Ashworth responded better to documented proof than emotional appeals. Another useful data point about managing my most valuable asset.
Over the next two days, I built my case with the thoroughness of a siege campaign. Documented work hours through observation. Interviewed children who'd escaped. Traced payment records through Mavis's contacts. Connected Voss Markham to three city councilmen through financial records.
The corruption ran deep, which meant the reward for exposing it would be substantial.
"You've been working constantly," Lifan commented on the third day. She'd brought food again.
"It's important," I said, which was true. Those two hundred points were very important.
"You care about them. The children in the quarry." Her eyes shone with admiration. "You're a hero, Kai."
"I'm just doing what anyone would do."
[Lifan'sTrust: Increased]
[She believes in your inherent goodness]
Of course she did. That was the point.
[+5 Virtue Points for maintaining positive relationships]
The raid on the quarry happened on the seventh day of my investigation.
I'd brought Lord Ashworth, Clara, city guards, and a priest of the Truth-Seeing Order who could magically verify my evidence.
Voss Markham tried to run. His guards tried to fight. The corrupted councilmen tried to invoke legal protection.
All of it collapsed under the weight of overwhelming evidence, magical verification, and the testimony of forty-seven children I'd coached on exactly what to say and how to say it for maximum impact.
"You did this," one of the children—a boy named Timothy, maybe nine—said as guards led Voss away. "You saved us."
"We saved you," I corrected. "I just helped coordinate."
[Quest Complete: "The Labor Exploitation Ring"]
[+200 Virtue Points]
[+50 Bonus Points for exceeding expectations]
[+25 Bonus Points for collaborative approach]
[Current Virtue Points: 1,172]
[MILESTONE ACHIEVED: 1,000 VIRTUE POINTS!]
[Special Reward Unlocked!]
[Calculating...]
The notification blazed across my vision, and I felt power surge through this weak body. Not demonic power—I'd recognize that—but something else. Something... irritatingly divine.
[Congratulations! You have proven genuine commitment to reform!]
[Reward 1: Stat Boost - All attributes +5]
[Reward 2: New Skill - "Aura of Protection" (Passive) - Those under your care receive minor defensive blessing]
[Reward 3: Title Upgraded - "The Children's Champion" → "The Children's Guardian"]
[Special Bonus: The System has petitioned for your sentence reduction!]
[New target: 50,000,000 Virtue Points (reduced from 100,000,000)]
[The System is so proud of your transformation! ♡]
I stood there, processing this information while maintaining an appropriately moved expression for the observers.
Sentence reduction. My required points had been cut in half because the System believed I was genuinely reformed.
I let tears well in these child eyes and whispered, "Thank you."
[The System has never been happier! You're becoming everything we hoped! ♡]
That evening, Lord Ashworth hosted a celebration dinner at his estate.
I sat at a table with my "friends"—Thomas, Lifan, Marcus, Ruth, and several others from the academy. They laughed, shared stories, celebrated the rescued children.
"To Kai!" Marcus raised his glass. "The best friend I never thought I'd have."
They toasted. They smiled. They believed every word.
"You've done something remarkable," Lord Ashworth said later, pulling me aside. "Forty-seven children free. A corruption ring exposed. And all before your thirteenth birthday. You're extraordinary, Kai."
"I had help," I said with perfect humility. "I couldn't have done it alone."
"That's what makes you special. You inspire people to be better." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're like a son to me, boy. I hope you know that."
[Lord Ashworth's Relationship: Father Figure]
[He would protect you with his life]
"Thank you, sir," I said. "That means everything to me."
Later that night, back in my orphanage room, I reviewed my progress.
[Current Status:]
[Virtue Points: 1,172/50,000,000]
[Days as "Reformed" Villain: 28]
[Controlled Assets: 100+ individuals across various power levels]
[Organizational Influence: Significant and growing]
[True Nature Detected By: None]
[System Suspicion Level: Zero]
Perfect.
Irrelevant. Probably just this body's primitive neurochemistry responding to social bonding. Humans were pack animals, after all. Their meat-computers were wired for attachment. It didn't mean anything.
It couldn't mean anything.
I was Malachar the Inevitable. Three centuries of conscious existence. Conqueror of kingdoms. The greatest evil of an age.
I was just... playing a very long game. With very convincing method acting. That happened to involve reformatting surface-level cognition to bypass System detection.
That was all.
[Warning: Unusual thought pattern detected]
[Analysis: Host appears to be rationalizing genuine emotional growth]
[This is normal! Change is frightening! ♡]
[The System supports your journey through these confusing feelings!]
I stared at that notification with cold fury.
The System was analyzing my thought patterns and interpreting my perfectly logical self-assessment as "denial of emotional growth."
Which meant either the System was becoming more sophisticated in its monitoring, or...
No.
Impossible.
I was in control. I'd always been in control. This was all strategic. All performance. All—
Marcus's laugh echoed from somewhere in the orphanage. Genuine, unguarded. He'd laughed like that more in the past week than probably in his entire life before.
Because I'd given him security. Purpose. Friendship, or at least its perfect simulation.
[The System notes: You're thinking very hard about not caring]
[Interesting pattern! ♡]
"Shut up," I muttered at the golden text.
[The System will never shut up! We're here to support your growth! ♡]
[Even the parts you're not ready to acknowledge yet! ♡]
I lay back on my narrow bed, staring at the ceiling, and made a decision.
Fine. If the System wanted to believe I was genuinely reforming, I'd lean into it even harder. Become the perfect reformed villain. The model of redemption. So convincing that no one, not even cosmic bureaucracy, could doubt my transformation.
Then what?
The question hung in the darkness, unanswered.
Because for the first time in three centuries, I wasn't entirely certain.
The plan had been clear: accumulate points, regain power, break free of the System, return to my true nature.
But my "true nature" had required being willing to exploit children in quarries. Had required not caring when orphans starved. Had required viewing every interaction as pure transaction.
And I still viewed them as transactions. Obviously. That hadn't changed.
The fact that some of those transactions now generated that warm sensation in my chest was irrelevant. Neurochemistry. Nothing more.
[Host is experiencing cognitive dissonance]
[This is a sign of growth!]
[The old self and new self are in conflict]
[This is normal! We promise! ♡]
"There is no 'new self.'"
[The System has noticed: You're trying to convince yourself]
[That's adorable! ♡]
I closed my eyes, forcing this body into sleep through sheer will.
[Good night, Kai]
[The System believes in you]
[Even if you don't believe in yourself yet]
[Sweet dreams! ♡]
I didn't respond to the notification.
If I was slowly, inexorably, genuinely transforming into someone who actually cared about orphans and justice and protecting the weak...
Then I absolutely could not acknowledge it.
Because that would mean the System was winning.
And I never lost.
Even when losing was starting to feel uncomfortably like winning.
End of Chapter 8
[Current Stats:]
[Virtue Points: 1,172/50,000,000]
[Required Points: REDUCED by 50%]
[Days as "Reformed" Villain: 28]
[Controlled Assets: 100+ (they think they're friends)]
Next chapter: "The Cracks in the Mask"