As often as things go, bad luck sometimes comes disguised as good luck. Like you wouldn't know what's actually happening to you. Vachi was facing the very same issue.
She was just planning to make a virtual world so that her team of Normals could train. But she was transported somewhere else. It looked like she stepped on a teleportation array.
How could the academy be this lazy? They had no idea about rogue arrays transporting students anywhere. Luckily, she called her employer so that he could bear witness to the fact she was working when the accident occurred. It could be tagged as a work-related injury. In this case, work related to random teleportation. She could earn back something from him.
Adi was doing what a budding villain like him could be doing in the early mornings. He was sleeping when the connection between them blared to life and made his sleep go to therapy.
He rubbed his eyes and wondered if he was going mad otherwise why would he want to do such a troublesome thing and ask her to create a team for him?
"What now?"
It wasn't hard to find irritation in his voice. Vachi wasn't annoyed by this because she knew sleep was important. If her life wasn't on the line, she wouldn't be this excited to work for him.
"Can you see that I'm working for you?"
He looked at her sleepily.
"Im working and you are sleeping. Tch, tch, a minion should always work hard. Sleeping like this will make you go back in the race of time."
She put a philosophical look on her face while she admonished him.
Her words with irritating effect removed the spell of sleep from his mind.
"I'm a villain, not a minion. So I can sleep while you and all the heroes keep working."
That sounded really good to her. From what she knew heroes had to follow a strict discipline and also a very strict diet. She hated that and she also dreaded the future where she had to control her cravings.
Being a villain never sounded as cool as it is now.
"Where is this ghostly place?"
Vachi rolled her eyes perfectly.
"I'm asking you that. I'm here because of a teleportation circle in the academy. It's all because of you. If you hadn't blackmailed me, I wouldn't have gotten early to work for you and I wouldn't have struck here. So it's all your fault."
"I'm not giving you any extra benefits so you can stop complaining. Tell me the exact details."
Seeing his serious look, Vachi also became serious. She was cracking jokes because she knew there wouldn't be any problem here. Her magic had predicted a good result for her and she wasn't worried.
"There is a long tunnel-like thing that is covered with plants and creepers but the path is clear. It is self-illuminated and the light changes every ten steps."
As she described, the place looked like a scene from an amusement park rather than whatever it was. She kept walking because she had no other way to go. She walked for just fifteen minutes and she saw the tunnel ending leading to a central room.
Now the room was a different kind of spectacle. The ceiling was transparent making you feel like you fell into a pit. But she knew that there was a ceiling somewhere that she couldn't see. Good magic.
"This room should be made by someone super powerful," Adi responded to her to which her reply was nothing.
Vachi wanted to say that he pointed out the obvious here but she didn't waste her words.
He could only see the front because she faced the communication device that way.
"Now how should I get out of here? I read a book where the rabbit got out by digging the ceiling?"
"Was it the children's book?" Adi retorted.
But he was right. It was indeed a children's book. She loved it because all the characters in the stories were animals. Her favorite thing about the books was that she liked to see how that animals behaved like humans.
But later because her parents didn't buy the subscription, she couldn't read the books. She decided to renew the subscription after she went back.
Adi didn't know what Vachi was thinking when he was busy trying to decipher and decode the inscription on the wall.
"Villain Hero Academy"
"1 a 2 b c 3 x9"
"Do you see something from the inscription there?"
Hearing what Adi said, Vachi turned her attention to the wall.
"It's right that this is the villain hero academy. But what are the letters and numbers below it?"
Adi was quiet for a long time.
"Just see if you move them or not?"
Vachi didn't think twice and acted.
She touched the wall and found that the letters and numbers were attached like a board game. She quickly brought the letters and numbers together and then separated them.
"abcx 2319"
The wall moved and disappeared.
"Wow, it really is the password."
Then a net started forming. It was like countless laser lights were shooting from the walls and slowly a man could be seen.
He opened his eyes and Vachi was ready to run. Anyone who saw horror movies knew this was the beginning of a horrible haunting.
"I have a message for you. Academy number 2319 is going to be transferred to the third tier of world administration and the graduates will be sent to work in third-tier worlds from now on. Only when the world faith increases to level seven, the tier will be upgraded to level two. The book worlds will be disconnected from your academy and the graduates living there will not come back till the restrictions are lifted. We hope to see you again soon. Signing off."
Then the man who had no features vanished.
"Did you understand anything?"
Adi remained silent.
"Hey? Are you there? Don't tell me you fell unconscious because of the shock?"
"Stop babbling. Did you hear what he said?"
"Yes."
"And you still have this kind of reaction?"
Vachi was amused.
"Just that the graduates of the academy can be sent to work in the third-tier world. I know this. My parents work in the real world. I've been there."
"No need to show off. I'm talking about the part about the book worlds. Did you understand that?"
Vachi didn't understand that. She was focusing on the first part and she had the tendency to neglect what she didn't understand. Her motto was to focus on the present. The stuff she didn't understand was for the future.
"It means book worlds. Like the worlds formed from books. As in story books, get it?"
That sent a huge wave in her mind ocean. Book worlds. That meant traversing, book wear, and rebirth. So that was all true. Then what about the people who were living in book words but couldn't come back because their original world cut connection? That was horrible to imagine.
Heroes would be fine, but villains will be tortured there because of their job description.
"But I have a doubt. If the graduates are sent there to become heroes and villains, then nothing is actually real, right? Heroes and Villains are not born because of their choice but because of someone's deliberate attempts?"
Adi sighed.
"You are still living in a happy bubble. Nothing is actually real. We are all strung together by some thread woven by someone. Our whole life, our actions, our likes, our goals, our family, our relationships, these are all decided by someone. Like you play a game and buy stuff for your avatar someone out there is doing this for you. We are not independent. We are like pets. This whole system, this world, they are controlling everything."
Vachi felt like her whole world collapsed. She had thought that this world was wrong and corrupt but she didn't expect that the whole thing was like a giant illusion. If nothing she did was her own choice, then what was she?
She felt the crisis now clearly.
She understood why her future self, warned her.
Her powers landed her in trouble in the future so she had to change her future.
"Then what should we do?"
Adi was surprised at how fast she recovered. He knew about this when he was a kid because his mother had told him the truth. She had known this but she still didn't leave the world.
She told him how to break out too.
He looked at the face in his communication device. That immature girl somehow got involved in his struggle. She even had the same experience. But was he willing to make her his partner?
Could he trust her to have his back? He was alone and he had nothing to gamble.
"What do you think we should do?"
He asked her.
Her answer would tell him if he could bet on her, and also bet on his last option.
He was scared and terrified but waited with bated breath to hear her answer.