Aljen tried to recall the events where he was talking to the self-proclaimed God. The veins on his forehead appeared as he analyzed the situation right now. He decided to call the person who was responsible for his forced transmigration into the gaming world as Stump G, befitting for his image. He was infuriated at his own face in the mirror because Hermes Archnemesis was the character he was seeing as his reflection.
"Why him? Why him? There are a lot of goddamn characters in this game but why him? Curse you, Stump G! If I ever see your face, I will smack it into pieces. Do you hear me? I will smack you!" he condemned, stomping his feet several times on the ground.
Suddenly, someone knocked thrice on the door.
"Boss, are you alright?"
"Who might you be ?" he asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Oh my, boss. What a surprise, you don't even recognize my voice? I must have had too much alcohol last night that my voice sounds a bit hoarse. But anyways, greetings, my beloved boss. It is me, Justin. Your personal head butler, at your service," Justin said, the Head Butler of the family and the Consigliere of the organization. He's also the instructor of Hermes Archnemesis for the past few years.
As for the young boy, he couldn't accept the reality he was facing. But for now, he must act as the real Don of the game in order to avoid unpleasant circumstances to happen unexpectedly.
His first objective was to convince this servant that he's his master. Right now, he was now experiencing a nervous breakdown because of this man. He had to do something to deceive him.
"Umm, uh, sorry, Justin. I was just angry about something. Sorry about that," Hermes explained as he took a sit on the chair next to him.
"Boss, may I come in?" Justin asked.
"Yes, you may. Please proceed," Hermes concurred.
A young black-haired man entered his room, wearing a black suit and trousers. His hand, covered by white gloves, closed the door as he went in. His pair of green eyes with black flecks searched for the other gentleman.
The young Don pointed out his position with his index, and he called, "I'm here, Justin."
Justin placed a hand on his chest and heaved out a sigh of relief. Facing his boss was like facing God in its physical form. His life was solely devoted to serve his boss until the end. The deep sigh he produced was the impact of his self-imagination that he was approaching his almighty leader in his own dark authentic appearance. In his own mind, he was showing his dark aura - but technically, there was no such thing behind the young boy's back.
"Boss, I heard your scream outside. You sound so angry. Is there something bothering you? Maybe I could offer the service that someone in my caliber can do?" he asked, then immediately moved closer to his boss and scanned his body from head to toe.
"I'm alright, Justin. Don't worry about me." Hermes irritably pushed him away. The butler instantly made a step back and knelt down on one knee in front of him. Hermes got astonished with cold sweat but he kept his facade properly.
Justin, relieved, let out a sigh once again, and murmured. "I'm glad, you're alright. There are no signs of a deadly curse in your body."
'C, Curse?' Hermes commented inside his mind with sweat kept dropping down on his forehead.
He quickly wiped his face before his servant noticed it.
"Hey Justin, get up," he asked, waving a hand which Justin took with the wrong idea that his boss was asking for his hand to be held. "Just don't even try to examine my body. Wai-"
"But boss," Justin held his right hand and kissed it while maintaining his position. "... as the butler of the Archnemesis family, I must ensure your safety and health. If you get cursed, I must dismantle it. If you get severely injured, I must heal you immediately. If you get hurt, I must find the person responsible and torture him to death." Hermes just gave in and tried to compose himself even if he was a little bit embarrassed by his butler's caring nature. He didn't realize there was a character like him existed in this game. He then tapped his butler's right shoulder twice, showing a deep sense of satisfaction at his service.
"Boss," his eyes sparkled as he looked at him directly. Justin lowered his head and took his boss's hand off his shoulder. "Oh Don Hermes, you're the last heir of the Archnemesis family. I won't let any harm to put you in danger. I will suppress the enemies and won't let anyone escape again... alive."
'V, vicious butler,' Hermes's face turned blue with a fake giggle after he heard the phrase, 'won't let anyone escape again... alive.'
"Lift up your head and … and.. you're a good man but don't do that again," Hermes commanded.
Justin tilted his head to the side with a confused face. The message, 'don't do that again', was mistakenly believed that he meant his works of suppressing his enemies and unable to catch the survivors disappointed him too much. Therefore, his butler cried inside his heart and took it personally.
"I'm sorry, my Don. I won't disappoint you again," he vowed.
'Umm, what?' Hermes questioned it.
Hermes pressed a hand on his forehead, and he heaved a sigh, "Okay, fine. Next time, do your job properly and act like a normal person, Justin."
The butler coughed blood and he wiped it immediately. He misunderstood again his message as a warning.
"Forgive me, but this is how I must act. The most trusted attendant under you among the organization. I know I lack self-restraint and moderation when it comes to my enemies, but I have to do it. I'm going to be the most vicious man in your organization if I must. Unlike the others, I won't dare to betray you. I'm the only servant who won't let himself left his master alone and I would rather stay behind until the end than to choose the path of being a rascal. I know my salary is low, but it's not enough to convince me to disobey my oath. I won't even dare to complain, unlike the others, unless necessary."
There's a word that caught Hermes' attention.
"W-what are you talking about? The only servant... I have?" he asked, curiously.
"Aah, regarding that... " Justin saw the time in the clock. "Boss, it's almost time for breakfast. Let me help you dress up... "
"No need," said the young boy who took a step back after immediately standing up from his seat, his arms embracing his upper body which made the butler baffled.
The color of his pupils disappeared, and his butler got froze for a short period of time.
Every morning, he assisted his boss to dress up because his master didn't know how to do it. But now, he was looking at the face of someone who didn't like to be touched by him, he felt sad and anxious. Sad, because he's no longer interested in his help. Anxious, because he won't be able to touch his boss' frail body.
"Boss, are you sure you don't need my help?"
Hermes nodded twice, his lips pursed.
"B, boss, you don't want me to dress you up?" Justin shivered as he approached him.
"No, I can handle myself," Hermes confirmed.
The butler's whole body trembled after the young Don confirmed it again. He could feel his soul, shattering into pieces.
"I, I, I will leave right now," he said.
Justin stood up with a heavy heart and he turned around. His trembled hand grabbed the doorknob, ready to make his exit from the room.
The young Don asked, "Hmm... Where are you going then?"
His servant turned his head half-sided, surprised by this question.
"B, boss, you're so funny. Of course, I'm heading for the kitchen. I will be going and prepare your breakfast." He bowed his head once before he exited himself.
After the butler left, Hermes went back to his own predicament: How the fuck did he end up inside this character's body and how the fuck did he get transmigrated into this world by that self-proclaimed God. Hermes tried to recollect the basic information of the whole game.
The RPG game [[Mafioso]] was an action-fantasy game set in the late 19th-century era of the mafia world.
Italia was one of the primary major countries and a top spot playground for veteran players. This nation was divided into different states and still in chaos every day. There were a variety of events that could encounter here and numerous clans who were fighting for territories around the place could be selected by the players.
Advertently, the game developers' purpose of creating the game was to produce an otome game in which the players will choose sides and unify the whole nation. They deliberately decided to make it bloody and copied the mafia system of the real world to make it interesting. Not only that, but they also added to increase the territorial dispute of the new bosses, so the players won't get bored at all. The developers also added a lot of rankings to the system, so they would know who were the best among them all worldwide.
To make the game more exciting and unique compare to its competitors, they created a plot to make it more RPG-like: A reversed otome game where the protagonist was a girl and taking all the territories from the rival bosses especially Hermes who was ultimately one of the last bosses who will fight her and destined to die by public execution made by her harem boys.
The game became so famous in just one year and it continued its legacy for ten years.
Aljen, who stole Hermes' body, started to get chills down his spine when he pictured his character's tragic death. Not to mention, he couldn't imagine the devastation and destruction of his own territory once one of the events took place. With that, he gulped his saliva and listed out on his mind all of the possible escape routes to prevent his impending death in the upcoming Second Holy Mafia War.
'How could I even prevent that?' — He asked to himself.
He walked around his room while thinking about it. He repeated saying these phrases, "What should I do?" and "How should I possibly handle this one?"
From what he know, Hermes Archnemesis was one of the villain bosses who would die in the end. His territory would be annexed by one of the playable bosses, and one of the rascals and captured targets would turn it into hell. His name was Arata Kingsman.
He pressed his head as he remembered the bad ending for him and his people.
There was also the Verdugo Crime Family, the main rival of the Archnemesis in Scily. They controlled the eastern side of the island, and they were one of the strongest clans that could match the Corleon and topple down the flags of low leveled clans.
Hermes rubbed his head as he failed to recall the description of Donna, the leader of that organization. It was almost ten years since the game successfully ended in his world, so he couldn't ingest all of the information he needed from the previous world.
Consequently, He believed that he got some members he could rely on, and with their assistance, he could gather some information he didn't know yet by asking them directly. He had to prepare himself for the upcoming crisis, and he had only three years to accomplish his task.
"I've got to gather the information about the current situation, geographic data, and the newest update about this world. I need to know all of them. Should I ask for Justin's help?" he muttered to himself and laid his back on his bed, lotus position.
Frustrated, Hermes heaved a sigh and stared at his hands for a while. He was not merely the player, he was also the character.
After a long pause, he decided, "I should go outside to unwind. There's nothing I can do right now though."
Exploring the place like a tourist, his eyes wandered and glowed in amazement as he examined the elegance and delicacy of the hall in his mansion. As he walked deeper into the mansion, he saw Casta paintings and portraits to large-scale religious altarpieces hanging by the walls. Once he reached the stairway, his glistening eyes followed the high ceilings painted with several beautiful angels dancing in a circle of the alluring Greek half-naked woman, leaving him totally in awe.
He never imagined how beautiful and magnificent the whole place was. It was different from the original illustration of the game back then. Impressed by his character's hobby, he started to like this man. The only thing Hermes read from the developers' details, this character was a die-hard archeologist who loved collecting rare and ancient artifacts such as tools used by Neanderthals, clay pots with cuneiform writing, footprints of ancient creatures, bones, and fossils
The boss's curious and intuitive personality was reflected by the appearance of his mansion. However, there was a slight problem. As he strolled the hallways, he had never seen nor met anyone inside the mansion besides Justin.
"That's unusual." Hermes looked around. "Something feels off."
As an heir of an influential family, his mansion must be full of his servants to maintain the tidiness of the place; and security personnel to keep his own safety. Where is everyone anyway?
He recalled that the Archnemesis Family was known for its evil management of its territory. They had been known for criminal acts such as human trafficking, a protection racket and illegal possession of firearms imported from other countries. They had records of countless assassinations of innocent lives.
In the game setting, five years ago, the 8th Godfather Don Resure Corleon had discovered their action and declared the mafia war against the family, sending thousands of his troops to fight the family, however, the assaulters had failed their mission as the family had hired a lot more of mercenaries to defend their turf. Due to consecutive defeat, the humiliation suffered by the Don in the public forced him to reconcile with the family and promised to never interfere with their business.
Hermes had been curious where the other family members could be right now. As the youngest among the three brothers in the family, his parents and elder siblings must be around somewhere.
Maybe, I'll find them later.
~~~Growl~~~
"Where is the kitchen anyway? Man, I'm starving. The Dining hall and other rooms must be on the other side. Shit man, this mansion is huge." Suddenly, a savory aroma crossed his nose. His stomach started to growl much louder. He followed the smell like a dog sniffing to find its favorite bone. He realized the aroma was coming through the left side.
"How come there are no people around this mansion? Maybe I should ask Justin when I meet him again," he said, continuing his steps towards the place.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the kitchen door. The wonderful and unique features amazed him so much. The huge door had two flowery paint around the corner and a black skull in the middle, the symbol of his clan. He then opened it with his two hands; a big round table appeared in front of him as he entered.
'Is this really the kitchen? So.... so huge! But the smell, the smell is very strong here.' he said himself.
"Oh boss, you're here," Justin arrived, holding a tray covered with a round cover. "It is amazing that you come here without calling me. I was planning to get you from your room. But you really come by yourself."
"Enough of that. Where's my sit?" Hermes wanted to say the opposite in a polite way. He wanted to reply, "No need to worry. Where should I sit then?" But his mouth said something he unexpectedly spouted out.
When his butler heard his response, he smiled. "Here, my beloved boss," he put down the tray on the table and slowly pull away from the chair, offering to be honorably seated by his boss.
"Boss.. ?"
"Ah sorry, my bad." Hermes startled. "I apologize I was thinking something earlier. What do you ask again?"
Justin suddenly halt his movement and looked surprised.
"Nothing, sir," he replied. "Please take a seat."
Hermes sat down in the chair he offered while gently waiting for him to reach its end.
Justin knew his boss won't apologize even for a simple matter. That was the first time he heard about those words, making him a little bit unpleased.
His eyes turned sharp like an eagle.
"Boss, are you really alright?" Justin asked.
"Uh, yes. I'm okay. Don't worry so much, Justin," he replied, smiling at him.
'H, He smiles!' the butler was surprised.
Justin covered his mouth and a shed of tears dropped to his eyes.
"Boss, are you really okay? What just happen during New Year's' Eve? Have you reconcile your own sin and now decided to change yourself. Oh my gosh, I never thought it could happen. What could be the main reason for your sudden change? Where is my evil and cunt boss?"
"S, Stop it, will ya. What kind of person do you think I am, Justin?" Hermes spluttered.
"A timid and weak boss who will use his money to annihilate his enemies. A cunt leader who will let his hired men do his dirty job and let his servants taste his shoes with their tongue whenever they commit a mistake," the butler professed, opening the cover of the tray. A special marinade turkey appeared in front of Hermes' eyes.
Hermes's eyes turned blank with a wrinkling face.
"Oh... really? What a splendid and precise description of me," he infuriatingly responded. "Well, whatever."
Justin nodded. "Precisely, that's what you are."