“Hey, I told you to call me Master before, right? So why are you not following my orders?” Min looked at the hologram screen suspiciously. “Are you really a ‘punished human’ like Jackson said?”

‘I’ll be free from my punishment once you stepped into the portal anyway, so I’ll just play along.’ If System #151044 had a face, he would make a sly smirk.

[Command processing… Title updated. I will now be referring to you as Master. Master, which genre would you like to go, nyaa?]

“Awesome! You’re now even talking like a cute catgirl would!” Min doesn’t have enough perception skills to realize he was being played. He didn’t even notice the slight sarcasm in System #151044’s voice. “I’d like to go to a fantasy world, please~”

[Sure, Master! What kind of fantasy world would you like, nyaa?]

“Somewhere where women wear very few clothes!”

[Alrighty, just step inside the portal, nyaa~]

“Ok….” Min Cheng almost took a step forward, then stopped. “Wait, can I make a request to System-chan?”

‘Just get inside the damn portal so I can use the gift!’ System #15104 grumbled internally.

[What is it, nyaa?]_.

“Can I have a very sweet and supportive cheer-up message before I go?” Min smiled dopily from ear to ear. “Something really cute and kawaii~’”

‘They’re the same thing.’ If System #151044 had eyes, he would roll them.

But he continued playing along. […..You can do it, Master! You’ll be the greatest hero in the world for sure! Just keep fighting, nyaa nyaa~]

“Thanks!” Min clapped. “Being a hero is kinda hard. There are people who envy you all the time and enemies pretending to be friends to gain alliances, not to mention so many people to save and king’s daughters that they offer up to you in exchange of rescuing her from the villain…. Wait, that’s not really a bad thing, haha! But it’s starting to get really tiresome, you know?”

System #151044 scoffed. [Then log out of HTM, goddammit.]

“What did you say?”

[Nothing, nyaa~ Let’s go to the next world!]

But Min Cheng does have a point. Those were exactly the reasons why System #151044 didn’t want to use the gift to take over the role of the hero in the first place. And his karma is bound to make him suffer even as a hero transmigrator anyway.

If System #334251 believes fate is evil…….

…….. Then the best way to retaliate against an evil fate is to become evil yourself. He will wholeheartedly accept the punishments and turn that suffering into his power.

He will be the villain, the greatest villain in all the dimensions!

——————————————

System #151044 opened his eyes, the dim light from a faraway beacon greeting him from his hastily draped windows.

Yes, he now has eyes. He reached out to the dreary cave-like roof of his room. Stalagmites threaten to pierce him in his sleep at the large king-sized bed.

He now has hands too. They were hard-worn and rough, pitch black with fiery veins popping out of his edgy knuckles.

He waited for a while. Soon, a hologram screen appeared in front of him.

[Welcome, I am System #671309. I will be assisting you on your hero journey….. Wait, you are not a hero?]

“Indeed, my fellow system. I accepted the gift that the Rogue System gave us.” He smiled at the screen with fanged teeth.

[You mean the numbers that showed in the Hub? It can really transform you into a physical body?]

“Yes. You can use the gift too, if you want. I don’t really need a system.”

[Hmm…. it’s quite a risky choice if you ask me, seeing what happened to the Rogue System. I will observe how you fare for a while then decide if I want it or not.]

“Fair enough.” System #151044 nodded. “How would you like me to refer to you?”

[Anything you want, to be honest. I’ve been called many things that I’m used to it.]

“But how do you see yourself? What do you see as your identity besides being a system?” He prodded. “Is there any name that you would like to use?”

[Hmm, I guess Kai would be nice. And any pronoun is alright, I don’t have a physical form yet anyway. Even ‘it’ is fine with me. ]

“Kai.” System #151044 tested out its name to see how it feels to roll on his tongue.

The sensation of having a body really was wonderful. “Kai. What’s the name of my character in this world?”

[Hold on, I’ll look for your data.]

System #151044 waited patiently and looked around while Kai’s screen is still loading. He pushed back the burgundy red canopy of his bed.

There were crimson curtains leading to the balcony with runic language written in burnt sienna all over it. The walls were full of weapons just hanging around. There was even a scythe in what was supposed to be a flower vase.

Further from the bed was a circular pool of hot lava, with four monster golems puking the fire sludge out of their mouths.

‘I assume that must be my personal villain hot tub. Looks fun.’ System #151044 thought amusingly.

‘I wonder where all the lava came from. And where does it go? Do they have like a sewage duct system or was it just ‘magic’?”

Everything here was just in the shades of fire, lava, blood, black and darker shades of purple. The walls, floor, and ceiling were so bleak and opaque, swallowing the light from the beacon. That’s why besides the lava flowing from nowhere, there were also many candles with purple flames floating around.

System #151044 touched one of them and it dissipated on his touch, then materialized once more after a few seconds.

[Here it is.] Kai finally retrieved the information. [I’m not used to extracting info for villain protagonists, so pardon my speed.]

“It’s alright.”

[Name: Ronin Dreadborne (Lv 100)

World: Magecia, from the video game ‘Stone Mage’

Aliases: Lord of Deception, Master of the Abyssal Realm, and Nemesis of the Pure and Just

Mage Type: Obsidian Abyssal Illuso Mage

Main Objective: Spread terror to the three realms and kill Cermin Drychspiel.]

He gave a sharp-fanged grin.

“And that Cermin Drychspiel would be the transmigrator Min Cheng, correct?”