The sword went through my chest....
Still Eighteen years old and I'd already died seventy four times now. The kid who pierced my chest-couldn't have been older than sixteen—twisting the blade with this look of pure determination on his face like he was saving the world or something....
"For the poor, innocent lives you've taken, Crimson Blade Zhao!"
I coughed up blood, more out of habit now. What innocent lives? I was just a low-level bandit boss with three caves and twelve drunk idiots who could barely swing a sword. We robbed merchants sometimes. That was it.
But sure, kid, you're the hero.
The feeling of a familiar coldness crept in me as my vision darkened. Here we go again.
I died.
And then I woke up in the void. It wasn't black or white—it was just... nothing. Empty space where I floated, while blue text started to appear right in front of my face.
[RESPAWN PROTOCOL ACTIVATED]
[TUTORIAL VILLAIN #463 - ZHAO YANG]
[DEATH COUNT: 74]
[NEXT CHOSEN ONE ARRIVAL: 6 cycles remaining]
This was real. Not a game. Not a simulation. I knew because I'd tested it. For here pain felt real, hunger felt real, and when I died it hurt every single time.It was an actual world where people lived, cities and empires existed, and cultivation was real.
When I first woke up in this world like thirty years ago which doesn't seem to pass I was confused as hell. One moment I was in my college dorm back on Earth and the next I was here, in the body of Zhao Yang, some bandit leader I'd never heard of.
I thought it was reincarnation.
It wasn't!
The moment I tried to leave the mountain range, I met the first Chosen One who instantly killed me. This kept happening again and again.
It took me seven deaths to notice the pattern.
Every Chosen One who came to kill me was between fifteen and eighteen years old, all at Foundation Establishment peak stage.
And every time I saw them, it was the same feeling—Like something behind them had already decided I should not exist.
Why did they even came here?
It was because of the quest notification that led them straight to Crimson Blade Mountain.
[Quest: Defeat the Crimson Blade Bandit Lord]
[Reward: Legendary Sword Technique, 1000 Spirit Stones]
I'd seen the quest screen myself once, reflected in a Chosen One's eyes before he killed me....For all of them.
I was the Tutorial Villain.
The system needed me to exist so heroes had someone to defeat, which was why I respawned again then again then again...
I couldn't escape... for I was a part of this world's system, tutorial content that resets every six months.
[RESPAWN COMPLETE]
I gasped, sitting up in my chair, back in the cave and back in my body, eighteen years old in the appearance of Zhao Yang.
I stood up, my legs shaky, and my bandits were outside, probably drinking around the fire, and they always reset too, their memories completely removed like NPCs following their script.
I walked to the cave entrance and stared out at Crimson Blade Mountain. They say a hundred years ago, blood flowed like rivers on its peak. And to this day, you can still find the rusted blades of fallen warriors buried in the red earth.
Then I turned to my strong hold. Six months until the next Chosen One arrived. Six months of knowing exactly how it would end.
But suddenly—I was about to turn back when something caught my eye. A small blue indicator in the corner of my vision was blinking.
That had never been there before.
I focused on it, and right then a new text appeared.
[SYSTEM ANOMALY DETECTED]
[TUTORIAL VILLAIN #463 has exceeded death threshold]
[Mortality loop creating instability in Chosen One generation cycle]
[New option available]
[Would you like to view ALTERNATIVE PROTOCOLS?]
My heart actually started pounding, for in all that time the system had never offered me anything except death and respawn.
And this… didn't feel like a reward window.
It felt like something that wasn't supposed to exist inside the system at all.
Like an error that had become aware of me.
"Y..es," I said with a rough voice. "Show me."
The blue screen instantly expanded.
[ALTERNATIVE PROTOCOL UNLOCKED: CORRUPTION PATH]
[Instead of being defeated, Tutorial Villains may attempt to CORRUPT the Chosen Ones]
[Successfully corrupted Chosen Ones will become your subordinates or you can exchange them as fate points.]
[Warning: Half failed corruption attempts will result in permanent death]
[Accept the new role?]
I read it three times.
My eyes stayed on the warning longer than anything else.
Permanent death!
For the first time in seventy four deaths, the system didn't feel like it was holding me.
It felt like it was offering me something that could finally kill me properly.
A choice, fight and die like always, or try something different, where the risk was high but a chance to actually win.
I thought about those seventy four kids with their righteous speeches running through me.
Then I exhaled once.
"…I accept."
The screen flashed.
[ROLE UPDATED: CORRUPTION-TYPE TUTORIAL VILLAIN]
[New skills unlocked]
[Time until next Chosen One: 6 months]
The text faded, leaving me standing at the cave entrance with a smile spreading across my face. "Six months to figure out how to corrupt a chosen one. I could work with that."