2 Weeks Later
I left her room that night and I'll regret it for the rest of my life.
After I left my mother's room, a nurse caught me walking in the hallway and carried me back to my room. At that point, my consciousness was hazy and I almost passed out. I had gotten a concussion from the accident and prolonged my recovery period by moving too fast. From then on, I was confined to my room and a nurse checked on me every hour. I wasn't able to see her again, not until the day of her death.
"Can I go now?" Ever since the day began, my stomach was filled to the brim with dread. I know that something bad was going to happen because this was the day that my mother died. At the end of my first life, I received a call from my father. He confessed that he had poisoned my mom while she was in the hospital. He was on friendly terms with the hospital director and paid a hefty sum to get the job done. At that point I had lost all will to live…
I bit my nails and anxiously asked the nurse countless times if I could use a wheelchair. I was too fatigued to walk, and was forbidden from using mobile devices. This was my only way to reach her. I could still see her in a casket in a white dress, but this life would be different. I would save her.
The nurse obnoxiously smacked her lips while chewing on a piece of gum. "Listen kid, if you want fresh air, I'll open the window." Her tone was as if she were chastising a child who was making a fuss for no reason. She was impatient and bad at her job; when she changed my bandages, I still remembered that they were crooked and unprofessional. But she was pretty, she had long blond hair and foxlike doe eyes that could hook in a man's soul. She was probably the hospital director's mistress. I remembered that I was cared for by the same nurse in my first life, and at the end of my recovery period, the director's wife visited the hospital and slapped the nurse angrily.
I feel my cheeks heat up and snap back angrily, "You can't confine me like this, my injury is better and the doctor said that I should be getting fresh air! Please, let me go outside." The end of my speech is pleading and desperate.
The nurse snorts and exits the room, but she forgets to lock the door. I know that this is my chance. I speedily climb off the bed and pull off the IV roughly with a wince of pain. I shoot towards the door and push it open hastily. Instead of taking my time, I take long strides towards the room, gusts of air lick the edges of my feet and my hospital gown flows wildly with the wind. I can almost see her door. My heart drops to the pits of my stomach when I see a hunched shadow inside. The intruder wears a black hoodie and mask. His eyes show undisguised malice.
At this point I run like the wind, my heart is pounding wildly against my ribcage. I pass by a few nurses and they call out my name but I can't focus on anything else; my mom is going to die.
I finally reach the door and push it open. The intruder is giving my mom a shot. Her face is becoming pale and her breaths are shallow. "No!"
I run towards the bed and push the intruder with everything I have, but it's too late. The heartbeat monitor slows down and my mom's grip on the bedsheets is loosened. Her face is filled with regret and despair and a vial falls down to the floor. It's empty.
I can hear shouts outside the room. The intruder attempts to run through the crowd of nurses but they hold him back. Someone calls the police and chokes out a few words through broken sobs. "Someone killed her!"
The heartbeat monitor slows down and comes to a stop. "Beeeeeep." My back goes cold and I clench my fists in resentment, my father did this to his own wife. Their marriage might have gone cold, but they must have shared past affections. He was also the one who pushed me off the edge and caused me to lose my life; even a vicious tiger will not eat its own cubs!
I will never let him go!
Mark my words, I will kill him if it's the last thing I do! My mother was the only one who ever truly loved me. Even the duke in my second life who supposedly loved this illegitimate daughter of his only did so because of my light magic. The object of my love, the crown prince, never fell in love with me, but instead fell in love with my reincarnated sister, and everyone else never genuinely liked me, as soon as I was condemned they turned away their backs one by one and pushed me towards the path of destruction with their own hands.
My fingernails dig deep into my palms and blood flows down onto the floor. My vision is blurry and my teeth are clenched. Heartbreaking sobs tumble out from my lips. I never felt this way even when I was condemned and abandoned by the whole world. I could endure humiliation and pain, but right now, I was a girl, a girl who needed her mother. I slowly reach towards her hand and clutch it tightly. I must've stood there for hours because when I'm escorted back to my room, her hand has already turned cold.
The nurses supervise me in my ward until I begin to feel drowsy. As I fall asleep, I can hear a faint mechanical voice in the background.
"Resentment passes the standard. Welcome host 2022."
***
When I wake up, all I see is white. The walls, the floor, and even the bed that I am laying on is white. The room is empty, and when I sit up, my movement echoes across the room. "Where am I am?" I ask unconsciously. To my surprise, I hear an answer.
"Welcome host 2022. This is the Villain Substitute System. You have reached the prerequisite to become a substitute villain for villains who have died before the main plots begin in their respective worlds or planes."
My voice is low and hallow. "I don't want to be your host."
A body mirror pops out of thin air and I recoil in shock. My hair is a deep shade of brown and flows down to my back. My eyes are a striking hazel and my lips are arched in a cold sneer. But the most important fact was that I was in my fourteen-year old body.
It's a scene I recall vividly, my fourteenth birthday and the night of my death.
My body is transparent and the tips of my fingers are see through. I immediately make a conjecture that I'm currently in my soul body.
My eyes narrow in contemplation. A system? Why didn't this thing attach itself to me in my second life? At that time I had already performed various evil deeds and was somewhat of a villain boss.
'Resentment' A word flashes across my mind. Resentment. I still remembered how my body burned when I had failed to save my mother for the second time. It felt like my body was on fire; I still remember how my clothes were drenched through with cold sweat. Maybe the requirement for activating the system was to reach a level of resentment that surpassed what the human body could contain.
"Host is right." The same mechanical voice says flatly.
"What do you want?" I ask icily. I loudly enunciate every word; I dislike this unknown entity that can listen in on my deepest thoughts. It feels like I am being stripped naked and displayed without consent.
The voice does not answer my question. The room is shrouded in an encompassing silence; if I were in my physical body, I would have felt a vein bulging out of my forehead. This silence continues to span on for minutes until I am irritated and shout. "Answer me!"
The mechanical voice finally decides to speak. "There are countless realms and planes other than the ones you know. In addition to this, there are different graded planes. Your current world would be graded as a high level plane while the plane you resided in your second life would be graded as a low leveled plane. Novel worlds are often one or two dimensional. This means that the protagonists are often the darlings of those worlds because they support the plot and without them and the proper progression of the story, the world would collapse. Mid-level planes are often game worlds, movie worlds, high leveled novel worlds, and regular worlds that are less technologically developed; the characters from these worlds are mainly three dimensional. The protagonists are favored by those worlds, and their demise often deals significant damage to those worlds. Many mid-level planes that lose their protagonists are demoted to low-leveled planes. High-level planes are often worlds like yours, every person can be the own protagonist of their own life, but there are often people who are favored more than others. There is a potential for many storylines within high-leveled planes whereas in low-leveled and mid-level planes, there are only one- or two-story lines that take place in these worlds. A mid-level plane might give birth to a new story line after one finishes, but most low-leveled planes loop in the same story line forever unless they give birth to a consciousness. High-level planes are very unlikely to be demoted to a mid-level plane because they can give birth to countless storylines. They can be dealt damage when they lose a protagonist, but the most that could happen is that they are unable to give birth to a new storyline for a few years which halts its progress as a high-level plane."
I take a deep breath while trying to digest the amount information that the voice informed me of. A high leveled plane? Low-level? My eyebrows furrow and I sigh. "Please continue."
The mechanical voice says. "Your job as a substitute villain is to travel to low-leveled and mid-level planes to fill in the role of villains who have accidentally died before the main plot has begun. Although the protagonists are a beloved existence, the villains and supporting roles play important parts in maintaining the order of the worlds."
I confusedly ask. "What about the high-level planes?"
"You won't be able to take on tasks on high level planes until you are promoted to an S-class villain. You are currently a D-class villain. The tasks on high-level planes are often difficult to complete because the characters are not completely tied down by the story lines. The protagonists can deviate from the plot and become evil, or the evil supporting side characters can become good. Your job will be to make sure that you can adapt to these sudden changes while continuing to antagonize your targets."
"Why should I be your host?" My tone is interrogative with a faint anticipation that even I don't notice.
"As a part of the beginner's package, we can revive your mother." The statement is said easily. It's almost like the mechanical voice is talking about what to eat for dinner, but to me, it's my whole world. But then I grow suspicious, what is the price for the revival of my mother? It shouldn't be anything small. As if answering my question, the voice soon continues. "Your soul is exceptionally strong; it can withstand travelling from a high-level plane to a low-leveled one without being connected to a system. Many of our villain's souls have weakened from constant travel to the different planes; they can only strengthen their souls through ghost cultivation and are forced to give up their mortal body to work as a villain full time or they choose to retire. We will make an exception and revive your mother if you sign a lifetime contract with us that is effective even after you die. Having a mortal body makes some of your missions easier. You might be required to traverse to different planes directly if a villain's body is destroyed. But if you fail to become a B-class villain by the end of the year, your soul will be obliterated."
Obliterated? The word is cold and menacing, but I don't care if I had to sell my soul to the devil at this point, I just wanted to see my mother alive.
"What about my everyday life?" I whisper.
"In order to accommodate our villains who have lives outside of the Villain Substitute System, each mission only lasts three to five hours in your world despite months or even years passing in the task worlds. Many villains can choose to take a task while their mortal body sleeps. Host will be required to take on a preliminary task so I can assess your style and skills as a villain."
I feel disturbingly calm despite deciding whether or not to become a host because in my heart, I've long decided. "I'll do it."