Chapter 9-10

A young student who has just finished his final high school exams is ready to start his new life as a college student.

On Friday morning, he has come to the store in the east of the city to buy his first laptop with the prize money given by his parents.

However, Yumo seems to have forgotten to check his fortune-teller before leaving home. 

As he stands outside the electronic store, ready to show the security guard his health code on his phone, an unexpected incident occurs.

The security guard, who was urging Yumo to show his health code just a moment ago, suddenly stops talking.

*Puff!!!*

Then, with a strange sound, a sticky liquid splashes onto Yumo's body, causing him to shudder all over.

Looking at the red liquid covering his phone screen, Yumo freezes on the spot.

"What the hell?!"

"Is this...blood?!"

"What's going on here? Is this a prank?!"

Yumo suddenly looked up and prepared to send the most sincere curse to those pranksters.

However, in the next moment, Yumo was horrified to find that the blood was not a prop for a prank, but real blood...

He saw that the security guard who had just stopped him was now dismembered, turned into a pile of rotten flesh on the ground, and the splattered blood dyed everything around him red.

Even the intestines had fallen onto Yumo's neck, making him nauseous.

Behind the security guard's corpse, a huge monster covered in black spikes and shaped like a unicorn beetle stared at everyone.

Why did he say, everyone? Because the monster's head had hundreds of red eyeballs, which was enough to make anyone who looked at it feel extremely nauseous and creepy.

"What the... Am I dreaming?!!"

Looking at the monster's constantly dripping blood from its mouth and its terrifying claws, Yumo's fear was suddenly aroused, and he trembled all over, with cold sweat pouring out of him.

He unconsciously stepped back, fearing that he would end up like the security guard, with nobody intact.

However, his backward movement attracted the monster's attention.

In the next moment, under Yumo's horrified and desperate gaze, the unknown black monster suddenly opened its blood-stained mouth and pounced toward him

Under normal circumstances, Yumo would certainly have died at the hands of that unknown monster.

However, even though he eventually fell to the ground, he has not torn apart like many other bystanders.

At this moment when he was about to be attacked by the monster, Yumo's good luck came into play.

At a critical moment, he accidentally stepped on an orange peel, causing him to fall backward and miraculously dodge the monster's attack.

But fate was not so kind to the hapless bystander standing behind him. The monster wasted no time in tearing the unfortunate soul limb from limb.

Taking advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Yumo regained his senses and, with the strong support of his survival instincts, quickly got up and ran toward the outskirts of the electronic store, regardless of everything else.

However, as usual, every time good luck came into play, a stroke of bad luck would immediately follow.

When Yumo thought he had already escaped death, he was immersed in the joy of surviving a disaster.

But God played a huge joke on him. Just as he rushed out of the electronic store, a truck driver who was also trying to escape recklessly drove out from the side!

And so,

*boom~~*

With a deafening crash, Yumo was sent flying into the air, spinning 360 degrees before crashing to the ground, utterly bewildered and confused.

"Motherf***er!" he cursed.

Every time he thought back to that incident, he seethed with anger, wishing he could somehow get his hands on that truck driver and teach him a lesson.

But of course, such thoughts were purely fanciful.

Looking around at the pitch-black void surrounding him, Yumo sighed in resignation.

As a disembodied soul floating in this emptiness, he had little choice but to accept his situation.

It was a far cry from his usual worldview as a staunch materialist, one who believed that death meant complete and utter dissolution into nothingness, leaving behind only a cold, lifeless corpse.

But now, it seemed that he had no choice but to reconsider his deeply ingrained beliefs.

After all, he was currently little more than a ghostly apparition, floating in some otherworldly realm.

And wherever that realm was, he had no way of knowing.

He was unsure of where he was - heaven? Hell? It seemed like neither.

There was nothing here except for boundless darkness.

He had lost track of how long he had been stuck in this void.

Did time even exist here? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that it was incredibly boring. As a soul, he couldn't even sleep and was left to wander alone in this darkness.

It was driving him to the brink of madness.

Strangely enough, his consciousness remained alert and he couldn't even lose himself in his own thoughts.

In this situation, the only way he could pass the time was to recall memories.

So, after accepting the fact that he had died and parted ways with his family and friends, and even accepting the unfortunate reality that he might never leave this place, he frequently found himself lost in his memories,

reconstructing in his mind the beautiful blue skies, the friendly faces of his loved ones, the delicious food, and the rich and colorful entertainment.

Memories of the past, both happy and sad, played in his mind like a movie, over and over again.

He had lost track of how much time had passed while he was lost in thought, revisiting his experiences before death.

"Ah, when will this end?"

he cried out in despair.

"Ugh, It would be better to die and scatter my soul than to keep floating here forever."

He cried out, frustrated.

"Oh, God! Please let me out of here! I don't want to be here any longer!"

"If this is what the afterlife is like, then it's even worse than hell."

It was the 223,000th time he had made this plea, and as expected, there was no response.

However, this time, something seemed different.

Just as he was about to launch into yet another tirade, a voice like that of a nightingale, soft and enchanting, suddenly spoke into his mind.

"Hey there, handsome. it looks like you're up for a challenge. How about you become my ultimate boss?"

Yumo was taken aback!!!

"heh!? ... who said that?!"The sudden voice made Yumo both surprised and happy.

happy because he had finally heard another person's voice in this godforsaken place after so long!!!

surprised because there could actually be other people's voices in this godforsaken place.

'What the heck?!'

Taken aback, Yumo's soul suddenly turned around and looked toward the source of the sound, which was a pitch-black place with nothing in it.

Suddenly, a golden crack appeared and rapidly expanded until it became a door-sized crack.

Immediately afterward, while Yumo was staring in shock, a young woman slowly walked through the crack and floated into this dark world of nothingness.

"??!!!!...."

Looking at the silver-haired woman who suddenly appeared in front of him, Yumo was extremely shocked.

Perhaps such feelings were inappropriate at this moment, but the woman in front of him was really too beautiful.

It caused Yumo's heart to race uncontrollably.

Her beautiful silver-white hair was like a flying waterfall, her slender willow eyebrows and her pair of golden eyes were soul-stirring.

Her exquisite and straight nose, pink and moist lips, flawless and crystalline face, and graceful figure combined to form a perfect and flawless appearance.

Paired with her pure and clean skin that was as white as white lotus petals, as well as her affectionate and loving expression,

In an instant, they all converged into an indescribable masterpiece of beauty.

Although the woman was only wearing a simple and elegant white long dress, this plainness and simplicity actually highlighted her holy temperament,

There was no doubt that she was the most beautiful woman he had seen in his entire life,

Although the woman was only wearing a simple and elegant white long dress, this simplicity and unpretentiousness only highlighted her holy temperament.

There was simply no comparison between the idols and models he had once followed online and the girl in front of him.

As a virgin, Yumo was stunned on the spot when he saw the silver-haired girl, not knowing what to do.

His brain suddenly froze, and it took a while before he regained his composure.

After frantically shaking his head and calming his restless heart, Yumo took a deep breath and slowly spoke,

"Um, who... who are you?"

Then he was surprised to find out that his soul could actually speak.

'What the hell is going on?! Clearly, I couldn't make any sound before when I was in this space! And, I'm a soul, right? How am I talking?'

Yumo was once again at a loss, staring blankly at his body.

At this point, the mysterious silver-haired Woman in front of him shook her head with both annoyance and amusement and couldn't help but reach out and give Yumo a smack on the forehead.

"Okay, stop speculating. The reason you're able to speak isn't important, is it?"

'??!'

"Ah, what!!?..."

Seeing that the other person had seen through his thoughts, Yumo was at a loss for words. But then he realized that the other person was right.

'What did it matter that I could talk now? There were already so many inexplicable things that had happened lately'

'One more thing wouldn't make a difference.'

With this thought in mind, Yumo no longer dwelled on the matter and calmed himself.

He respectfully looked at the mysterious silver-haired girl in front of him and asked,

"Miss? May I know who you are?"

"Hmm? That's a question I don't really feel like answering right now. Just know that I can help you leave this place. That's enough,"

the woman replied, lightly twirling her silver-white hair.

"Really? You can help me leave? You're not fooling me, right?"

"Really, I have no interest in fooling you."

"Then, do you need me to do something? You wouldn't just help me for no reason, right?"

Yumo clenched his fists.

He didn't think that good things would just fall out of the sky.

The other person couldn't have appeared in front of him without reason and claimed to help him leave this space.

As it turned out, Yumo's guess was correct.

The silver-haired woman smiled and nodded.

"Um, helping you leave this closed space is actually quite simple and doesn't require much effort. But, well, I do need you to help me with something."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Play the role of a boss."

"Huh? Boss? What does that mean?"

"It means being the villain, the one who causes trouble for the protagonists."

"Huh?!! A villain boss?"

"Okay, I'll explain it to you."

The silver-haired girl looked at the boy and said

"Do you know about the concept of 'transmigration'?"

The boy was taken aback. Memories of novels and anime where the protagonist transmigrated to become the villain flooded his mind.

"Are you asking me to transmigrate into a world of a novel or game and become the final villain? And what kind of ending will it have? A happy one?"

"A game? A novel? No, it's not like that, it's a world without a script."

"No script?"

"Yes, it's an independent world. You can think of it as a kind of parallel universe. Your job will be to become the final boss and make trouble for the protagonist team, to help them grow through challenges."

"A parallel universe? Who are these protagonists?"

"They're people who, like you, have been brought to this world for a trial. You can think of them as 'male leads' or 'female leads', *hero and heroine*, Your goal is to hinder them and make it difficult for them to complete their missions."

"What missions?"

"If you agree, I'll transfer the details of the mission to your memory."

Hearing this, the boy fell into a brief silence.

After a moment, he spoke with trepidation,

"As the final boss, will I die? Will the protagonists eventually kill me?"

"Not necessarily. It depends on how you handle things."

"If I survive and complete the mission, what happens after that?"

"You can do whatever you want."

The silver-haired Woman floated in front of the boy, lifteing his chin with her index finger, and said playfully,

"In any case, this is a deal. If you agree, I'll take you out of here. You'll become the final boss in that world and teach the protagonists team for me, helping them grow. When it's done, you'll be free. After that, you can do whatever you want, and I won't care. Who knows, you might even be able to return to your original world and see your family."

"It sounds like a good deal for me right now."

"So, what's your decision?"

After taking a deep breath, Yumo slowly nodded and said,

"I accept "

Anyway, for him right now, as long as he can leave this cursed place, it doesn't matter what he does.

Upon hearing Yumo's expected answer, the silver-haired girl smiled satisfactorily and said,

"Okay, then the contract is established."

"Oh, by the way!"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"How do I know who the male and female protagonists are?"

Yumo asked curiously.

"Those kinds of questions will be in the memories that will be passed to you later. You don't have to worry about it. But since you asked, I'll tell you. When you see the female lead, you will naturally have a [feeling]"

"What? What kind of answer is that?"

Hearing this answer, Yumo looked confused, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

'Wasn't this the same as saying nothing at all?'

However, the silver-haired girl in front of him did not seem to intend to answer Yumo's question. Instead, she absent-mindedly placed her index finger on her lips and said,

"Um, as for the 'male lead,' *that kind of thing* has a golden rune mark on their back."

"Uh..."

Yumo didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but he felt like the woman in front of him showed a hint of disdain or even disgust when mentioning the term 'male lead'....

Maybe even hatred...