Chapter 1 – I love Villains
"Anyone? Anyone at all? Can someone please kill me? I am a useless bastard! I truly am!" Noah shouted with all his might, startling the crowd of students chatting inside the classroom.
They looked at him with eyes far too used to his antics, then went back to their own conversations without giving him another glance.
Still, whispers could be heard.
"This guy is truly nuts. What in the hell is wrong with him?" one said in a hushed tone.
"I heard Christelle broke up with him. Maybe that's why."
"Oh? No way! I thought they were going to last a week. They only lasted—!"
"Two days." A girl cut in. "And mind you, Amelia is already planning to try her luck with him. That bitch!"
"You are just jealous."
"Shut up!"
The whispers went on without end, his classmates busy dissecting his love life while the man himself couldn't care less about any of it.
It was true he had broken up with Christelle. It was also true that Amelia had already slid him a date proposal. But none of that mattered to him right now.
After all…
"You failed again?" A voice spoke — firm, yet oddly soft — coming from just above Noah sprawled across his desk.
He half-opened his eyes, letting his black irises peek through his lids and land on the handsome face of his friend, Kaden.
He sighed, dragging an exasperated hand down his face. "Yes."
"Why don't you just give up?" Kaden shook his head, stretching a hand toward him in their usual handshake. "I need the First Game back, dude. I lent it to you months ago. My brother won't stop pestering me about it."
"Be patient, man." Noah grumbled, taking the hand and pushing himself up. "I'll finish it soon."
"You said that two months ago."
"Did I?"
Kaden rolled his red eyes. "You could have finished the First Game and even the Second by now if you'd stop your unhealthy obsession with saving that villain family."
"You know I like villains. I just can't watch them die."
"Then kill Isolde, damn it! Their downfall starts with her."
Noah looked at Kaden as if he were the dumbest person alive. "Hell fucking no. How am I supposed to kill my goddess? Are you an idiot?"
"Dude, what the fuck…" Kaden was speechless, opening and closing his mouth soundlessly.
Noah understood his friend's point of view. But honestly, he just couldn't bring himself to kill the Villain Family, nor the first spark of their destruction, Isolde.
"Your love for dangerous, toxic women is going to be your downfall."
"God forbid a man has a type."
"That's why you're no longer with Christelle." Kaden slapped the back of Noah's head. He yelped. "Now I heard Amelia slid into your DMs."
"Christelle is too gentle and sweet." He whispered, not wanting others to hear. "I didn't reply for six hours for no reason and she just comforted me and told me how much she loved me. Isn't it crazy?"
"And you're not satisfied?" Kaden was incredulous.
"Of course not!" Noah looked on the verge of tears. "I wanted her to blackmail me into not doing it again. Dude, girls these days are too damn soft. Amelia seems the same. I'm already planning to say no."
Kaden stared at Noah for a long moment, eyes fixed on his unfairly handsome face — caramel skin, black braided hair tied into knots, matching eyes — opened his mouth to speak, then closed it at the sudden loud bang of the door.
"Everyone, class starts now!"
The teacher had arrived. Students immediately shuffled to their seats.
Kaden and Noah sat together, and the former still couldn't stop himself from saying…
"You are fucking crazy."
Noah grinned at him.
"I just have taste."
Kaden scowled. The class began. He rolled his eyes and immediately focused on the chemistry lesson. He loved chemistry.
Noah, meanwhile, had his head in the clouds. He checked the time and noticed two more hours of boredom before he could get back to his apartment and play again.
'This time I'll succeed. I have to, damn it.' He mused inwardly, deciding to use the two hours to think of a new strategy.
…
[Chosen Ones]
That was the game Noah had been obsessed with for months, playing it nonstop, trying desperately to clear it.
And yet he was stuck on the ending of the First Game, unable to properly finish it. Not because he was bad at the game, but simply because he refused to let the Desdemona Family — the archetypal villain family of any fantasy — die at the hands of the Main Characters. A bunch of Heroines and heroes of varying degrees, led by the Main Protagonist.
The reason was simple. Noah loved villains. He loved reading them, watching them, quoting them in his sleep.
And because of that, and because the developers had confirmed it was possible to save them, he had committed himself completely.
The easiest way was obviously to deal with the big sister of the Chosen Heiress — one of the Main Heroines — Isolde. But that would mean killing his dream woman.
He would rather die.
So he needed another way. He had found one. His 333rd attempt, to be exact.
And it had failed again.
"Argh… just forget it." He cursed, tired and defeated, slapping the controller aside and staring at the scene in front of him: the eradication of the Desdemona.
Fire raged, blood rained down, screams could be heard even though it was supposed to be a silent cutscene.
He watched it for a moment, heart hammering in anger, frustration and pity all knotted together.
"If only Cassius wasn't so useless." He hissed, "If only that spoiled bastard wasn't the main weak point of the whole family…"
If not for him, things would have been far simpler.
Noah sighed and finally checked the time.
5am. Class in four hours. And an exam to pass on top of that.
That realisation, paired with his exhausted mind and burning eyes, sent an electric jolt through his body.
"Oh God!"
His heart skipped. He sprang to his feet, his erratic movement sending the hot cup of coffee beside the gaming PC spilling across the keyboard.
Noah froze. He turned his head mechanically and watched arcs of electrical light sizzle around the keys.
Time stilled completely. The silence of the night flooded his room and seemed to choke him from the inside.
In that instant, the screen glitched sporadically. Through it, Noah thought he saw the slaughtered eyes of every Desdemona family member staring back at him through raging blue fire.
The colour was so vivid he almost believed it was real.
It was.
Across the sizzling keyboard, arcs of blue fire flickered.
Noah opened his mouth for a horrified scream.
"Oh f—!"
The blue fire was faster.
Darkness.
—End of Chapter 1—