1 Scenario: Washroom
"Even without 'them', the world will choose to continue on its journey. The blue skies will remain the same. The deities will continue to gaze upon this world as nothing more than a chess game. A small competition between themselves. A past-time."
Soren let out a faint laugh. His former clear eyes had long ago become bloodshot. He emitted a demonic aura, a trait which was unfitting of a Hero.
He did not look at all like the glorious young man praised by the masses for his heroic deeds. Rather, he looked like a person wallowing around in insanity.
"Although I am the Hero, what does that amount to? In the end, power matters more than anything else. If I had power, I would've been able to protect all of them. But, I was too weak! I don't want to be weak! If I'm weak, I'll be manipulated by stronger people, just like..."
The images of his lovers, friends, and even his enemies flashed by his mind.
Soren let out a laugh and shook his head. His laugh was twisted, and there were hints of chaos scattered within it.
"I'll massacre, lie, steal, and manipulate... Until I become a god myself! No, even above that! I'll become the god of gods! Once I reach that point, then I'll become the pinnacle itself!"
On that spot, the Hero who was praised as the 'Saviour of Humanity' vanished.
Replacing him was a villain who would shake the universe itself.
►
"I'm really tired!"
After typing out the last part of the 198th chapter of 'Hero of Eternity', I rubbed my eyelids.
The story's original draft which had been faithfully followed for a year had been rewritten by me, so naturally, I felt a bit mentally taxed.
The base plot was that of the extremely popular 'transmigration' genre.
The main character is a human from modern earth, who was reincarnated into a fantasy world. In that world, the Demon King and his minions threaten to take over the world. He gets a system which grants him cheats and seeks to defeat the Demon King, saving the world.
The original intended 'route' of the story, in essence, was the following:
The main character saves beautiful women, kills evil demons, uncovers conspiracies, etc. until he finally reaches the end of his journey and kills the Demon King.
After that, he impregnates his harem and goes back to his old world with help from the god's, the end.
But, half-way into the story, I noticed a lack of views compared to other stories with the same amount of chapters. So, I made a huge alteration to that story.
I wrote a conspiracy where the deities decided to send their servants to assassinate him. This was because of his growing power and influence over the masses.
These 'servants' include mighty figures like the King, the Pope, SSS-Rating Adventurers, etc.
However, they failed. The Hero's lovers decided to buy him time to escape by using forbidden abilities. Consequentially, they die because of this.
As a result, the Hero becomes a twisted psychopath who seeks only power.
'With this, I can gain the attention of all those people who aren't reading my story. Even if I can't do that, at the very least, I can keep my current readers interested-'
I drank a sip of coffee, and then let out a sigh. My expression probably matched that of a tired corporate slave who had just arrived home.
"-Is what I would like to say, but I'm not very sure this is going to work. Worst-case scenario, this novel will flop and the current readers will stop reading it. Ah, decisions, decisions...'
Whilst muttering my inner thoughts out loud, I also moved my mouse until the cursor hovered above the 'publish' option.
"This isn't a good idea, after all. I should just stick to the generic story formula. Suddenly making this a 'tragedy' is too random of a decision, after all. Yeah."
As these words left my mouth, I noticed a fly land on top of my mouse. I disliked bugs, so without thinking, I tried to squish it. I failed, and on top of that, my finger pressed down on the left button.
Basically, this meant that...
[Ding! Your chapter has been released. Redirecting you to the published version...]
I published the chapter.
Oh, and by the way. The content of the chapter can't be changed after the author publishes it. Neither can the author delete it by themselves. They have to file a request, which usually takes two days to get confirmed by the site admins.
Thus, by the time it gets deleted, most people will have already read it.
"Eh?"
Suddenly, my laptop's screen became white. Then, a line of black text appeared. I scrambled to read it.
[Beep! 'The 'Author System' has been initiated! Transporting you right now...]
My emotions which were beginning to build up began to disperse before I could identify what type they were. A drowsy feeling overcame me.
I felt lethargic. I imagine that the level of drowsiness I felt at the time was the same as if I had been shot by a tranquilizer gun.
Before I could even finish reading that line, I went unconscious.
***
"AH! FUCK! NO! SHIT! THAT FUCKING FLY!"
After letting out a barrage of curses, I paused, taking in a deep breath. Then, after that pause, I continued.
After a bit, I finally reigned in my emotions.
'Something's wrong.'
I reached out with my hands and felt the seat under me. For some reason, it was colder than normal. It also felt a little bit wet and greasy.
'There's definitely something wrong. Not just that, but why did I fall asleep? I clearly drank that mug of coffee...'
I rubbed my chin contemplation. After a second, I realized something and looked around me.
I was in a washroom stall. Also, from the stall right next to me, there was the sound of someone whimpering.
It was probably out of fear of me, who had been repeatedly swearing at nothing in particular.
"Eek! P-please d-don't hurt me!"
At this realization, my expression quickly changed at a visible pace. It went from angry to extremely confused - two extremes which were nearly polar opposites. If an outsider saw it, then they would probably laugh at how comical it was.
'What the hell is this situation?'
This thought, combined with the sound of an unknown person whimpering, marked the beginning of my life in a foreign world.
