Involuntarily, tears came out of my eyes, and I was left frozen.
It was as if the world came crashing down around me, and I felt as though my heart had stopped beating.
"Seo-ah!."
I couldn't help but cry out her name, yet my inability to even scream in agony left me in a state of extreme loss.
I couldn't believe that the woman I loved so deeply was gone forever.
Even after arriving in this world, I at first believed that I would eventually find a way to return home using the many magical means at my disposal.
But now, according to the Villain Simulator, Earth was hit by a big meteorite while I was out drinking with Seo-ah last night.
This ended up wiping out all life on the planet.
Since I was an orphan on Earth, Seo-ah was the only family I had.
But now that she was dead in another world, I suddenly lost everything.
A strange emptiness crept into my heart, and I just couldn't understand what to do.
'No matter what I say about her or argue with her about, the fact that she was everything to me doesn't change, and now that she was no more, everything feels so unreal.'
"Dream! Dream, yes, this must be a dream. Yes, Seo-ah can't die. She must be alive."
I clutched my head and pulled my hair in a state of complete insanity, but nothing I did could wake me from this horrifying dream.
Even this body, which was designed to keep composure in any situation, lost all sense of control, and I felt like I was drowning in despair.
The realization that I would never be able to see her beautiful smile, hear her sweet voice, or hold her close again was too much for me to bear.
My mind began to flood with memories of our time spent together, and images of the times we laughed, shared secrets, and held each other's hands flashed before my eyes.
All of a sudden, the future that we had planned together seemed like a distant dream, and I was left with a sense of emptiness and an overwhelming feeling of loss.
My emotions started to spiral out of control.
*Sob* *Sob*
And finally, I wept uncontrollably like a baby, tears pouring from my eyes like a dam had burst.
My body shook from the intensity of my grief, and for some reason, I felt angry at the world for taking away the one person who meant everything to me.
In some moments, I felt numb and unable to process the reality of her death, while in other moments, I felt the pain and loss more intensely than ever before.
Then, suddenly, a thought came into my mind, and I screamed inwardly.
'System, you said you could do anything right. Can you bring back my Seo-ah? Tell me.'
[Yes, the Creator knew this would happen and has stopped that soul from reincarnating because of it.]
[This ensures that if her soul is resurrected and given a body, she will return to normal with all her memories intact.]
[The creator left the message that this would be the last thing she would do for the host, and how you fare in the future solely depends on the host.]
'Tell me how much it would cost to resurrect her in a young, healthy body.'
[Answer: It will cost 1 million UC to bring her back.]
'Definitely. I will definitely do it.'
With a raging madness in my eyes, the figure of one million was now etched in my brain.
After that, knowing that there was a way to bring Seo-ah back, it took me a few minutes to calm down again, but my eyes were still red.
As for the authenticity of what the Villain Simulator told me, I believed it because, for one, I had no other option.
And second, because according to this system,『Darkness』 was one of the only two primordial goddesses, the half ruler of anything and everything and the destroyer of everything—every reality, time, space, matter, energy, or the entire infinite cosmos.
But because I was her favorite author and a good source of entertainment, she decided to save my life.
And the reason I was sent into this world was because I wrote a book with a f*cking hero-protagonist.
Which infuriated 『Darkness』because she enjoyed the villain genre and lost a bet to the second primordial goddess because of me.
Therefore, I was transmigrated into this world in the body of a trash villain as a punishment.
However, 『Darkness』 claimed that being in this body would be a little unjust for me, and because she had always enjoyed my work, she decided to give me a chance.
So she gave me this particular system, also known as the Villain Simulator.
The function of the Simulator was simple.
As a villain, it would transport me to different worlds, where my task would be to perform like a villain, destroy the protagonist's destiny, or kill the protagonist in the most miserable way possible.
Making their lives hell by breaking their hearts, stealing everything from them, torturing them, or by any means that could destroy the protagonists.
The better I performed, the better my mission would be evaluated, and in a similar manner, I would receive better rewards and more coins, which I could then use to get stronger or do anything I wanted.
It was like "universal currency," or, in short, "UC."
[Does the host understand his situation?]
My body, which had awakened Alex's traits, was already back to its unfazed composure, making my mind instantly calm.
Nevertheless, a fire of unquenchable ruthlessness now burned in my soul, and the only reason I was communicating with this system was to gain as much knowledge as possible before stepping into a new world.
'Yeah, I got the gist of it. I had read some novels with the same trope, but they didn't have this kind of particular objective to kill the protagonist in the most miserable way.'
[Does the host have another question?]
'Are these worlds that I would be visiting fake?'
[Answer: Except for the tutorial world, which is a simulation, every other world that the host would visit is real and one-of-a-kind, created by the creator herself.]
It seems like "Darkness" doesn't care if the world gets destroyed or whatever.
But talking about making worlds in that way, when the name of the system was Villain Simulator, made me doubtful.
'And if she really dislikes the protagonists so much, then why does she allow them to exist in the first place?'
So, I directly addressed my doubts to the system, after which it replied.
[The creator used the name "Villain Simulator" on a whim, and just like that, she can create and destroy universes on a whim, let alone some worlds.]
[The host can change the name if he so desires to.]
'No, just leave it like that. Give me the answer to my remaining question.'
[Reply to host: Since the creator lost the bet, she has to let the main characters in the worlds she's in charge of grow up on their own, and according to the terms of the bet, she can't mess with them for a certain period of time.]
Although I got the gist of the remaining background story, there was still a doubt in my heart.
'Then, what if this 『Light』 comes to kill me because I am killing the protagonists?'
[Both goddesses do not intervene in each other's worlds, and the Creator is not actually bound by any rules. She's accepting the results of the bet because of her own will and because she respects the promises she made.]
[If Goddess Light breaks the primodial rules, then she would first have to face the Creator before any harm could come to the host.]
[The creator already knew that you would ask such a question, so she has already programmed me to tell you that the host doesn't have to worry about anything.]
[And you can use the Villain Simulator for the next one billion years as long as the host doesn't fail in his mission of killing the protagonists.]
[After which the host can ask for anything from her.]
[Even becoming the third primordial God, and the only male is not impossible.]
"I see."
This much information was enough for now to clear some of my doubts, and it was a relief that Seo-ah's soul is safe for now if the "Darkness" has given her assurance.
Suddenly, though, just as I was about to ask the next question in my mind, the system prompted me with another notification.
[Ding! Does the host want to start the Tutorial World?]
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Life is an enigma wrapped in mystery, a riddle waiting to be solved. We are all players in this grand cosmic drama, each of us contributing our unique part to the unfolding story of existence.