Chapter 2.1: Transmigrated
Ryan stood in front of his mother's grave while his father sent away the few family members who came to offer condolences.
His mother was no longer there; she died giving birth to his baby sister. That was what most people told Ryan: their family couldn't afford a second artificial womb, so his mother had to give birth naturally.
It's not like he didn't understand what death meant, but seeing his father cry every day as if the world had collapsed with a newborn sister that still needed milk and new diapers every now and then, he didn't have time to cry.
The sound of tears and crying faded away from his ears, and he looked at his baby sister, who was sucking his finger, looking at him with a toothless grin.
"..." The 11-year-old boy was stunned and slowly retracted his hand in shock.
"Poor children." Someone made a comment filled with pity.
Ryan lowered his head and hugged his sister carefully out of view.
Within the three years that followed, Ryan had taken on the role of a parent, doing all the house chores, shuttling his sister between kindergarten and home like a pre-programmed machine.
Though it was hard, making peace with the passage of time was somehow manageable for a while, until the day he received a phone call that his father had been in an accident at a construction site, leaving him permanently confined to a wheelchair, plunging the family from a well-off middle-class life into the lower class overnight.
Ryan had to drop out of school and start working multiple part-time jobs.
When he turned 18, his childhood friend Andrew, the heir to a massive conglomerate, offered him a job as his assistant.
Ryan didn't have a choice but to agree at the time, but he was also grateful to his friend.
Now, at 28 years old, Ryan was the head assistant to the CEO and the future butler of the chairman.
Sitting on a squeaky sofa, his eyes were lined with exhaustion, further accentuated by his shaggy brown hair, slightly grayed by stress.
He was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and leather brown boots— a stark contrast to his friend Andrew, who was dressed in a sharply tailored navy suit.
"How does this suit look on me?" Andrew asked.
Ryan looked at his boss and said in an exhausted voice, "Well, that's too formal for a date. Try something less formal, but not too casual. You said your girlfriend doesn't know you're a CEO."
"Yeah, that's right. She doesn't care about my mone_."
Ding-
Ryan heard a notification coming from his phone just in time to interrupt Andrew's words.
He ignored his boss's bragging about his girlfriend, treated it as background noise, and opened the APTnovel app.
Ryan scrolled down to the link to his sister's novel. He had already read the original script and the edited version she was publishing.
He, who had no hobbies and treated his work like his life, had nothing better to do in his free time but to scroll through the comments and read the reactions of his sister's readers and the various criticisms of her work.
He was surprised to see how many people had read and praised the novel. He was a little proud that his sister was gaining recognition, slightly bothered by comments calling her a trash writer.
But unfortunately, it was understandable.
After a few minutes of reading, he felt no sympathy toward the readers.
None of them would ever expect that their favorite protagonist would be killed in the end.
"Let's go. You can drop me off near my date's place and go back," Andrew said, wearing mismatched clothing and a stupid grin plastered all over his face.
Ryan looked at the neon orange tie resting on his greenish outfit and shook his head.
"Alright," Grabbing his phone and putting it in his pocket, he continued with a bit of mild disdain, "Not my fault if you make a fool of yourself in front of your beloved girlfriend."
"..."
In the back seat of the car, Andrew wasn't at all happy as he sat in more presentable clothes that made him look even more handsome.
"Working for the rich is worth the effort." Ryan was driving the car with a smile. He had gotten a raise for simply helping his boss get all dressed up for his proposal date.
Andrew's mouth twitched slightly, seeing his smile, thinking, 'F*cking scammer. He's already earning as much as an executive but always wanted a raise.'
Uncaring of his boss' thoughts, Ryan drove to the restaurant.
"Be confident; you're the CEO." Andrew clenched his fist, filled with excitement and nervousness; a part of him felt like an excited teenager once again.
"Ahem," Conscious of people's gazes around them, he fixed his expression and looked at his haircut in the mirror, feeling smug about his handsome profile.
"Here, drive your fiancée-to-be back home when it's over." Ryan gave him the side-eye, handing Andrew a set of car keys.
He pointed at the parking lot where he had arranged for someone to keep a spare car nearby in advance; at the same time, he contacted the reserved family driver to stand by and pick up Andrew after the date in case he got rejected.
Before they parted ways, he wished him good luck, patting Andrew's back till he almost threw up and left with satisfaction.
Back inside the car, Ryan noticed a handful of lollipops Andrew had left behind in the glove compartment. He stared at them for a moment, took one before glancing at his incessantly ringing phone.
The caller ID was "the chairman's dog," calling him over and over again- someone he was sure called him just as such in his mind. After the seventh call, Ryan closed the line in his face, ignoring the chill that crept up his back, and drove back on the highway, back to the company.
Not responding to "the chairman's dog," but simply to avoid anyone tracking him back home. He didn't want anything that could link his family to his job, as it came with its set of risks.
Besides, such an antique design from modern times was sought after by many, and that alone was concerning; someone would see it on the street and decide it needed a smashing.
He diverted his thoughts to his dinner, ignoring the episode where the current butler for the current chairman had just called entirely and his jaw tightening so hard the lollipop in his mouth broke.
Entertaining himself with idle thoughts, he was driving when he suddenly witnessed a truck, three times the size of the largest vehicle on the highway, drive by and surpass him, but that wasn't strange; what was strange was that another identical truck with the same plate number passed by as well, followed by a third, circling a car in front and on both sides like they were planning a kidnapping right in the middle of the highway.
Catching on to something troublesome, Ryan decided to leave at the next highway exit, having no desire to get involved with whatever was happening in front; however, being in the middle of the lane left him trapped as well.
Just as the car on his right started slowing down to the shoulder lane before speeding away, and he was about to call the traffic police, the trapped car, a new model fresh from the factory, spun in the encirclement like a trapped beast before it stopped abruptly, its tires punctured like popped balloons, blocking his path with nowhere to hide and no time to respond.
Before he could react and pull back, the force of the impact sent his own car flipping a few times until it came to a stop on the side of the road.
_Crash!!!
The sound of metal scraping against the asphalt road reverberated on the busy highway.
"Kurrkhhh!" When he regained consciousness, Ryan was in immense pain and could only let out a few moans of agony.
His skin was scorched, and he was struggling to breathe.
He felt the intense heat of the fire and heard the deafening sound of the explosion. But he couldn't move an inch.
The other car was a complete wreck, burning beside his own.
Sparks flew out of the car, and the smoke engulfed the entire area.
He could even smell the acrid scent of the burning fuel and rubber, making his eyes sting and his throat burn.
Ryan tried to call for help, but his cries were lost in the chaos.
Looking up with his bloody eyes, through his blurry vision, he was sure.
He saw one of the trucks that hit them had stopped some distance away, relatively unharmed.
The truck driver got out, looking apathetically at the car beside him, before getting back in and driving away as if nothing had happened.
"Urrgh!" Ryan cursed his luck, but only blood came out.
He could only watch helplessly as the car exploded, plunging him into unconsciousness once again.
Chapter 2.2: The antagonist
"..."
It's been a while since Ryan opened his eyes, staring into the darkness.
Taking a few quiet breaths to comprehend his situation, he was still quite confused as he held up his knees. The pain of being burned to death was all but gone in an instant.
Closing and opening his eyes in the pitch-black that greeted him for the nth time, the overwhelming sense of fear finally found itself in his heart as he woke up in a cramped space.
There was no way he was in a hospital.
Even the cheapest hospitals in the area wouldn't put their patients in a box.
And no one was daring enough to kidnap him in the middle of the city.
'Where am I?' He wondered to himself, his throat unable to make a sound. Most likely his vocal cords were damaged.
He tried to scream to break the stillness, but only let out a low whimper.
His heart hammered frantically against his ribs, and his breath shortened as the aftermath of the pain assaulted him.
Panic slowly started to set in.
He opened his mouth, and his breathing became harsher and shorter.
Waiting a few more seconds until his heartbeat quieted down, he moved his hand forward, weakly, as if they were going to break at the slightest touch.
He managed to open the wooden door of a closet with zero effort and fell at someone's feet due to the momentum.
"Urgh!!"
Ryan raised his head but still couldn't see anything.
A hand reached out immediately and grabbed him by the upper arm, pulling him up a few inches from the ground.
The man who held him spoke in a deep, tired voice: "Finally, stop trying to play hide and seek."
The man's voice sent shivers down his spine.
"Ahhhh!" Ryan was almost out of his wits for a reason he didn't understand. It felt more terrifying than being stuck under a burning car.
This was the first time he heard this voice, kind and gentle yet it was ominous in his ears; the sound alone made him feel dizzy, as his toes curled up unconsciously, the thought of struggling free didn't cross his mind due to the shock.
It was this body's natural reaction to the man before him.
The series of events took place way too fast for him to register what was happening.
The pain of burning at this point felt like a mere illusion compared to the fear inflicted on him by a few simple words.
A sharp sensation assaulted his head, and he felt his consciousness slipping away.
"Are you alright? Child?" He said in a low voice, as if worried about startling the child, but his words worked oppositely to his intent, further solidifying the fear taking over Ryan's heart.
The old man, now confused, held the youth in his arms, his face filled with questions at the sudden shift in attitude that left him at a loss.
The man looked around the room, which no longer had any remaining furniture intact, and shook his head in thought, wondering if it was the same lively guy whom he had brought a few hours ago.
He looked at the boy, who was now unconscious.
That seemed so different from before— so fragile and helpless— a contrast to the wild animal that fought as if his life was on the line.
The old man sighed and gently placed him in the newly brought bed, draping a blanket over the boy's small frame.
A strange look flashed in his eyes. He looked at him for a moment in thought and went out of the room.
An unconscious child wouldn't answer his questions.
A few seconds later,
'I should have stayed inside the box.'
Ryan slowly opened his eyes, not expecting the darkness that surrounded him to persist.
He felt the unfamiliar, soft, fluffy bed underneath his body, but he didn't freak out and stayed calm. Although his face remained calm and unruffled, his mood was terrible, as if waking up blind and in another's body wasn't confusing enough.
From the bits and pieces of memories he received from the original body owner, spanning a limited number of days but enough to grasp who he was and where he was, he concluded that he had transmigrated into his sister's novel.
'If I wasn't hallucinating about a random stranger's life.'
"Haa..." Ryan sighed. He didn't know whether he was dreaming or whether he truly transmigrated.
He pinched his arm underneath the cover and felt the pain, which meant that what he was experiencing right now wasn't a dream. He hoped it was.
'Maybe a realistic virtual reality? That possibility was high... Status screen?' He called out in hope, after all, it wasn't uncommon for a patient's consciousness to be put in a virtual space to keep them in contact with the outside. This whole situation must have been a prank by his sister and Andrew but nothing happened for a long time, making him disappointed.
He was still in denial, but he knew more than anyone that implanting someone else's memories in another's brain wasn't possible using a virtual screen. He simply didn't want to believe it. Why would he, of all people, transmigrate into his sister's novel?
And to transmigrate into the novel's last boss, who would kill the protagonist in the future at the expense of his life.
Ryan suppressed a grimace.
'Dying once was already painful.'
He didn't want to die a second time, not even for a glorious feat such as saving the world and humanity from the villain protagonist.
'Yeah... This novel, borrowing my sister's words, is an edgy novel where the protagonist is pure evil.' Ryan mused.
The words that described the main focus of her novel came clearly into his head as if he was reading directly from its pages.
'The protagonist in my sister's novel is a reincarnated demon king, someone with very little compassion for humanity, a mass homicidal maniac who, by this point in time, has already slaughtered thousands in his boredom.'
The protagonist's purpose was to open the gate to another world, facilitating the entry of demons into this world and gaining control over it.
If he hadn't been killed by Hiro, the antagonist, he might have succeeded.
Humanity was saved, but Hiro was betrayed. Dying alone without a soul offering him a memorial, not even to curse his soul.
'And now I have become that antagonist.'
He became the boy that humanity turned its back on. Ryan lightly clenched and unclenched his fist in thought.
He had come from a chaotic world, albeit tamed in comparison, and had seen his fair share of people devouring each other for gains and pleasure.
However, since working for Andrew, he has never had to deal with the chaos himself, keeping his reputation and position clean.
His fighting prowess was limited as a result. He'd always figured it out using money, but now? Even money wouldn't save him.
The protagonist was someone whose humanity's strongest banding together couldn't face.
And in the unfortunate event he inherited this body's ability, history would repeat itself.
'I hope I wake up in a hospital bed by the time I open my eyes again.'
Still unable to speak, he closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep, feeling as though he was being forcefully pulled into dreamland.