BXBX NOVEL Chapter 0: Prologue
When playing a game, most people tend to immerse themselves in the protagonist.
The cool protagonist and comrades who trust and follow them.
An adventure full of energy, searching for a ray of light in the darkness.
The ending credits and the feeling of accomplishment after defeating the final boss.
However, Jung Jinhyuk's immersion was quite different.
The beings opposing the protagonists.
He sympathized more with those who are commonly called villains.
He related more to the crazy clown rather than the bat-human with a code of non-violence, and to the terrorist boss of Afghanistan rather than the chaebol scientist in red iron armor.
[T/N: Joker, Batman, Raza and Iron Man references]
The final bosses and villains had a different impact from the protagonists.
They had a different weight and their stories were often more impressive than the heroes when delved into.
Jinhyuk admired such villains, immersing himself in their stories while playing as the protagonist.
However, there was one boss that even Jinhyuk couldn't empathize with.
"Isn't this character too trashy?"
Reed Adeleheights Roton
The mastermind behind the seven disasters of the game's title!
Also the fake final boss of the fantasy game, <Disaster 7>!
However, even Jinhyuk, who loves villains, couldn't help but shake his head at this villain.
He was the first-ever trashy character that made Jinhyuk, who loved villains, lose interest for the first time.
"Even if he's the final boss, isn't this a bit much?"
Jinhyuk muttered while watching the rising ending credits.
The main villain of <Disaster 7> was an absolute evil character.
Absolute evil was something that came out in classic games, so it could be easily overlooked.
However, Jin-hyuk felt something unsatisfying about the absolute evil he felt from Reed Adeleheights Roton.
He created monsters through the deprivation of love and brainwashing, and those monsters made Jinhyuk feel uncomfortable until the end.
He played several times, expecting a different twist in the latter half, but it only ended pathetically, and the question that eventually burst out was, "Isn't this character too trashy?"
"How did he become the main boss?"
The only conclusion was that more than 80% of the game company employees were either headless dullahans, or they had gone mad due to frequent overtime work and projected the CEO onto the final boss.
Jinhyuk's principle was not to play a game again, no matter how much of a masterpiece it was, if the villain was not attractive.
Yet, he was playing this game for the fifth time.
It was because the other villains were so impressive, except for this pathetic final boss.
"They're all pitiful."
There were too many characters that were heart-wrenching even without looking from the villain's perspective.
The seven disasters created by the tower were particularly so.
A female swordsman who joined hands with absolute evil to be recognized by her father.
An orc warrior who reached the extreme of despair due to racial discrimination.
Reed used their darkness to turn them into monsters.
However, if there was one being that was undoubtedly the most pitiful.
"The real final boss."
The ultimate monster created by Reed Adeleheights Roton, "Code Name: Cosmo."
In the setting, she was 17 years old and had been turned into a monster after going through various tortures and brainwashing by Reed since the age of 7.
She appeared by splitting Reed's head in half, who didn't die until the last moment, and threatened the protagonist and his party.
-I'll kill you. I'll kill you all.
-Humans must die. Orcs, elves, dwarves, goblins! Everyone! Everyone! I will destroy all life on the surface!
-Hahahahaha!!!
The final boss, who laughed maniacally with an unsettling female voice from the beginning to the end.
Jinhyuk sympathized with the final boss.
If he took over Reed's tower and read the records, he could catch a glimpse of the stories about Cosmo.
The ultimate monster created by the villain Reed Adeleheights Roton, and the intended failure.
He sympathized even more because it was not a failure of her own, but a failure deliberately created by someone else.
'If I were a villain, I could have made her cooler...'
A girl who was raised wrong by the wrong person.
She had talent, but he envied it, and in the end, both Cosmo and Reed faced a terrible fate.
Jinhyuk didn't like that story.
It was inevitable that he would not like such things which left a lingering regret.
"Sigh... let's just sleep."
Jinhyuk sighed and turned off the computer.
It was time to sleep since it was late at night.
* * *
"Tower Master..."
...
"Tower Master nim~."
A whispering voice tickled Jinhyuk
He tries to ignore it, thinking it's a voice from a dream.
"Tower Master, it's morningggg…"
The voice becomes clearer.
Realizing it's not a dream, Jinhyuk opens his eyes wide.
Turning his head, he sees golden snake-like eyes staring at him.
"Ugh!"
"Uhah!"
Startled, Jinhyuk frightens the woman next to him.
An unexpected woman was standing in his studio apartment.
"Wh-who are you!?"
"Y-yes?! I'm Phoebe!"
"No, why are you in my room!?"
"Ah, uh! Sorry! I apologize for entering your bedroom without permission, Tower Master!"
The woman kneels and apologizes.
Master? Is she calling me Tower Master?
"What’s going on…?"
As Jinhyuk says this, his view expands.
What he sees is not his small studio apartment which had a desk, a bed, and a computer worth five months' rent.
His room should have clothes worn for two days scattered on the floor.
But what he sees now is not his room.
A room the size of ten of Jinhyuk's rooms, with a bed the size of his room, and a marble floor.
'A hotel room?'
It was a 5-star hotel room he'd never set foot in his entire life.
'Is this a hidden camera prank?'
But that seemed far-fetched.
Ordinary people with no connections are rarely involved in such situations.
'Besides, this room layout… I feel like I've seen it somewhere before…'
Though unrelated to Jinhyuk, the scenery felt familiar.
It wasn't just about the room he was looking at now.
'And the woman next to me…'
There were more than one or two things that bothered him.
Her blonde hair and golden snake-like eyes were tolerable.
But when a pair of alien-like horns on her head were added, she resembled a very familiar woman in his mind.
Despite never having seen her in reality, even her flustered state felt familiar.
"Uh, I'm sorry, Tower Master. I know you're tired these days, but you weren't waking up, and I thought your morning routine would be ruined, so I had to take the liberty of entering your bedroom to wake you up. I committed a grave sin. Please don't kill me! I'm sorry!"
Her speech was usually slow, but when flustered, she spoke rapidly like a machine gun.
Her quirky and timid personality.
'Her personality and appearance… Could it be…'
Jinhyuk uttered the name that came to his mind.
"Phoebe Asteria Roton… right?"
"Yes! Yes! That's right! I'm Phoebe! Ah, my tongue…"
She was so excited that she bit her own tongue.
Her name was correct, but Jinhyuk felt chills down his spine.
'What's wrong with my voice?'
He thought his voice was just groggy, but even after coughing repeatedly, it didn't return to normal.
'The fact that Phoebe Asteria Roton calls me Master means…'
A word that crossed Jinhyuk's mind sent chills down his spine.
In a hurry, he gets up and looks into a mirror.
No way.
It can't be.
It's impossible!
"This is insane…"
The reflection in the mirror was exactly what Jinhyuk had thought.
The worst villain, Reed Adeleheights Roton, was standing there.