Chapter 1- Unfortunate Ending

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Drowsily, I reached for my alarm clock and looked at the time. It was 8:00 AM

"Shit!"

I jumped out of bed and immediately looked for something to wear. My room was a mess. Clothes, books, and everything in between were everywhere. I grabbed a random pair of pants and a sweater and prayed that they were clean. Quickly checking the contents of my bag, I grabbed it along with my skateboard. I can't be late for class again!

I ran to my door. What kind of college student can't even wake up on time!? I'm paying all of this money, yet I barely learned to be responsible… well that was mostly my fault. I pulled an all-nighter playing a terrible RPG. The last time I ever listened to my friends' recommendations.

The moment I stepped outside, I jumped on my board. If I hurry, I should be able to make it to class in time. I used my foot to propel myself forward. Grabbing onto cars, taking shortcuts, and pulling off a few tricks, I managed to make it to campus. Now, I just needed to…

Crash!

I'm not sure what happened. My point of view suddenly shifted to the sky. I faintly heard screaming before… black. An abyss of nothingness. Maybe I was dreaming… or was I dead? Regardless, I accepted my fate since there wasn't much I could do. I thought about my life. I never accomplished anything really, but I was satisfied with my life. I had a loving family and good friends, and college wasn't so bad. Oddly enough, some things I worried about before didn't seem to matter. I just wished I didn't spend my final night on Earth playing that awful RPG!

It had a terrible story and an even worse soundtrack, and its only redeeming quality was the romance. Even then, it got repetitive and gross! It was obvious that the devs only wanted to portray their wildest dreams and revenge stories. Some of the scenes I skipped because of how awful it was. As a self-proclaimed pro, all gamers knew you don't skip scenes. That just showed how bad it was. I metaphorically sighed. No use in com… wait, suddenly I was sitting in front of an old guy. We sat on the floor with a tea table between us.

"Ho ho ho… You finally noticed me?" The man chuckled. "Welcome to the afterlife young Smarus."

"Are you God?"

"Nope. Just a guardian of this realm."

"Oh… cool," I shrugged.

"You seemed rather calm." The old man tilted his head.

"I mean, I can't change the fact that I'm dead."

"Oh you can"

"Really!" I slammed my hands on the small table between us and leaned forward.

"Ho ho ho. Indeed. I was trolling the guy who hit you with his car. I can send you to another realm to have a second chance," The man nodded his head.

Wait… he was the reason I died? I was grateful for the second chance, but he was just making amends. He just disregarded his responsibility to have some fun… wait, I can't say much.

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll take that second chance."

"Good good. I already picked a world based on your interest."

"Jiji, you're a real one. I'm sure it's a hardcore RPG where I will slowly rank up to be a godtier player!" I threw a fist in the air.

"Indeed! You were even playing it the night before you died!"

"Yeah, I was… Wait! NO! Don't put me in that Go…"

"Well, time's up, bye!" The old man snapped his fingers and everything went black.

Once again, everything was black. I sighed. I think I would have preferred to be dead. I saw a loading bar in the corner of my vision. Once the loading bar filled, a screen popped up in front of me.

Smarus Dragonborne

Age: 15

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 2

Agility:1

Charisma:2

Magic: 0.5

Class: N/A

Mana: 100/100

My status was a disappointment, but that's alright. In this game, stats were on a 10-point scale with a bonus point if certain conditions were met. Naturally, there were class bonuses. What stuck out to me was that my first name stayed the same. It might have been a decision that Jiji made to keep things simple for me.

My eyes opened only to see an unfamiliar ceiling. I sighed to myself as I sat up. My room was spacious, but a mess. I walked to my dresser and looked at my appearance. I saw a face that I knew all too well. I had black and white hair with purple eyes, and I was handsome if I said so myself. The game's antagonist. I wouldn't say villain since it's not completely his fault for turning into a villain, but he was still a general douche.

Ding! Message from Earth's Guardian!

I opened my status and saw a small envelope on the bottom right screen. I opened it and read it to myself.

"Ho ho ho! I saw how much you hated this game, so I thought it was the best choice. Why? Because what's better than playing a game you love? Changing a game you hate! You have all the knowledge, so knock yourself out. I also gave you a few perks."

Spatial Inventory acquired! Odin's Eye acquired! Character Log acquired!

The system's voice rang in my ear. The inventory space was always welcomed, and I was able to use Odin's Eye to see other people's stats. However why the character log? What can I use that for? I shrugged and closed the screen. I was 15. Three years before the start of the game. If I remember correctly, the villain and the hero were close until they entered the academy in a year. After that, everything went downhill for the villain. I sighed. An unfortunate life, but not one I intended to live out. 

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Young Master Smarus, may I come in?" An angelic voice called.

I didn't recognize the voice, but I let her in regardless. Upon opening the door, I saw a beautiful brown-haired maid. She was young, not too much older than me, but still older than me. I used this chance to test out Odin's Eye.

Name: Anne

Age: 20

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 3

Agility: .5

Charisma: 1

Magic: 1

Class: Maid Mage

Mana: 200/250

Character log Updated!

I checked the log. It seemed to have her basic profile along with some useful information like her likes and dislikes. This could come in handy later. It also seemed that she used some mana before coming here. Possibly to wash clothes.

"Young Master! Are you listening?"

I realized that I was staring for an unusual amount of time. Well, technically not, but she didn't know.

"Sorry Anne, can you repeat what you were saying? I was lost in thought."

"Jeez! Sir Ace and Lady Luna are both here to see you. They are waiting outside," She made a pouting face, which was cute.

I knew that my character was rather reserved, but that didn't match my persona. I wasn't gonna pretend to be someone that I was not. Also, with a beauty like Anne in front of me, why would I not try to show off my best cards?

"I see. Can you tell them that I will be out in a moment?" 

One thing I hated most was someone telling me how to play a game… though this wasn't a game anymore, just a world that resembled it. Regardless, I'll need to break everyone's perception of me cause I had no intention of playing as the villain.

"And thank you kindly, Anne," I kissed her hand.

She turned a deep shade of red and fumbled on her words for a moment. She played with her dress before bowing.

"Ah… You're welcome, Young Master Smarus."

She rushed out the door. I smiled to myself, as I assessed my situation. The villain was a pushover before he actually became a villain. Then he was a typical tyrant. He wasn't capable of reaching a balance of confidence and overbearing. As a result, a lot of misfortune happened in his youth which led him to a life of villainy. However, like I said before, it wasn't completely his fault. For starters, he was cucked by the hero, his former best friend, a month after they entered the academy. 

I changed into a more suitable attire before I went to meet my friends. I will still call them that for now since nothing happened yet. Then again, they may remain my friends since I plan to change the future of the game… er… of this world. I knew they were nothing more than characters before, but they were living people now. What a pain. I walked through my home to the field next to my house. It was a training field for knights that doubled as a hang-out area for the three of us.

"Wassup Ace, Luna!" I waved at them as I walked towards them.

Both of their faces lit up when they saw me. Ace gave me a fist bump while Luna hugged me and kissed my cheek. Embarrassing to say, I never had a girlfriend in my past life, so I was caught off guard which only made Ace laugh. Then both of their stats popped up in front of me.

Name: Ace Lionheart

Age: 15

Strength: 2

Intelligence: 1

Agility: 2

Charisma: 1

Magic: 2

Class: N/A

Mana: 200/200

Lunafreya Crestiala

Age: 15

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 1

Agility:2

Charisma: 3

Magic: 3

Class: N/A

Mana: 500/500

Character Logs updated!

I inwardly smiled. Both Odin's Eye and the Character Log were gonna come in clutch!