Sometimes bad endings are inevitable no matter what game you're playing.
But for someone like me who has exploited almost every route of the game those bad endings can be countered.
Noah lay on the bed, shirtless.
His chest was bandaged tightly.
The pain was still sharp, still fresh.
He had been near death before.
In this life, and his past one.
One thing was certain—he did not like it.
The scar would last forever.
That was the curse of the Holy Sword.
Even now, his mind wandered back to how it had all played out.
He remembered the original game.
If the main characters reached Starlight Manor too late, the bad ending would trigger.
The final boss, already infused with demonic power, would kill them all.
There was no mercy in that fight.
It was supposed to be impossible to win.
But Noah had found a way.
He remembered how he had spent hours in the game, testing every possibility.
And then he discovered it—a certain sword could kill the boss.
It wasn't just any sword.
It was a replica of the Holy Sword used to defeat the Demon King ages ago.
But crafting it wasn't easy.
Noah had to get five rare items from the system shop.
Each item had a specific purpose.
The first was a Common Steel Ingot.
Basic, but necessary as the foundation of the blade.
Next was the Rare Mana-Infused Shard, which gave the sword its magical properties.
Without it, the blade wouldn't even scratch the final boss.
The third was the Heroic Dragon Fang.
It added durability and strength, ensuring the sword wouldn't shatter on impact.
Then there was the Legendary Phoenix Feather.
This feather granted the sword the ability to pierce through powerful barriers of demonic energy.
And finally, the last and most important piece—The Godly Essence of Light.
This was the hardest to get.
It had cost Noah dearly.
The system took something from him for it.
Something personal.
Noah still didn't know exactly what it was, but he felt its absence.
With all five items, he crafted the replica of the Holy Sword.
It wasn't as powerful as the original, but it had one use.
One perfect strike.
He had given the sword to Maya.
Told her exactly what to do.
"If anything happens," Noah had said, "make sure you kill whatever is generating the demonic red energy."
He told her to stab it through the chest.
One use. No second chances.
If she failed, it was over.
Noah knew it was a huge risk.
But taking risks was how he survived.
How he exploited other routes and endings in the game.
To his surprise, Maya never questioned him.
She just went along with the plan.
No hesitation. No doubt.
And she did it.
She actually did it.
She stabbed him.
Even though she hadn't expected the final boss to be Noah, she still followed the plan.
Now Noah was alive, but barely.
If he had gotten the full demonic blessing, his core would have exploded.
It would've killed him instantly.
He exhaled slowly, wincing at the pain in his chest.
That sword.
That cursed Holy Sword had saved them all.
But it had also left a permanent scar on his body.
He stared at the ceiling.
Even though he had won, he still felt hollow.
The system had warned him about the sword's curse, but he hadn't listened.
Now, he was marked for life.
The scar was a reminder.
A reminder that in this world, there were no easy answers.
No perfect endings.
Only survival.
And survival always came at a cost.
"...and yet I still feel that there could be that perfect ending..."
"I just know it..."
"And that's my reason for being here...to see the perfect ending I was never given to my favourite game..."
Noah stretched his hand upwards as he lay there.
Staring at the ceiling, the events of the battle replaying in his mind like a haunting melody he couldn't shake.
Being the final boss.
The thought felt surreal even now.
His body, though still sore, was the least of his concerns.
His mind kept drifting back to that moment—the moment—when everything changed.
It wasn't supposed to feel like that.
At least, not in his head.
He had imagined it a hundred different ways when he played the game, always seeing himself in the shoes of the heroes, never the villain.
And yet, when he felt the demonic energy surge through his veins, the raw power flooding every part of him, it was nothing like he had expected.
It was ethereal.
The red aura had surrounded him, seeping into every pore of his skin, lighting him up from the inside.
His eyes had glowed with an intensity that no human should possess.
Every breath had been colder than ice, every movement sharper than a blade.
The sheer power—he hadn't just felt unstoppable; he had been unstoppable.
For a moment, standing at the top of Starlight Manor, looking down at Rylan and the others, it was like everything made sense.
He wasn't the scared extra anymore, scrambling for survival.
He was the force they had to face, the villain of the story, and it felt strangely… right.
There was no way to resist it.
There was no turning back once the demonic blessing took over, no alternative but to become the final obstacle in their path.
It had to happen.
The system had chosen him, the constellation had marked him, and for the first time in either life, Noah had felt like he was meant to be there.
Not running.
Not hiding.
But standing tall in the midst of battle, watching as the very characters he once admired now saw him as the enemy.
He couldn't deny it—it was intoxicating.
The power. The control. The dominance.
It was everything he had never thought he wanted, yet in that moment, it fit like a second skin.
And he wasn't just an ordinary boss; he was the final boss of the first act.
The one they had to overcome.
The one who stood between them and their path to victory.
He remembered the way they looked at him.
Fear. Confusion. Disbelief.
It had been almost satisfying to see them struggle against him, their every attack deflected, every strategy falling apart before his eyes.
Noah closed his eyes, his hand brushing against his bandaged chest.
Even now, the memory of the Holy Sword piercing him lingered like a ghost.
That sharp pain, the jarring realization that Maya had stuck to the plan.
He had told her, hadn't he? If it came down to it, she had to strike the source of the demonic energy, no matter what form it took.
And still, part of him hadn't expected it. Not fully.
Yet, it had felt inevitable.
That was the truth he couldn't escape.
Being the final boss, losing to the heroes, it was written into the very fabric of the game.
He had been living that story from the moment he transmigrated.
It was never a matter of if, only when.
Noah sighed, shifting in the bed.
His entire body ached, a reminder of the clash between the demonic energy and the holy relic that now left a permanent mark on him.
But beyond the physical pain, it was the experience that weighed on him.
Something formidable.
Something he hadn't seen coming.
And yet, something that felt like it had to happen.
The story couldn't progress without him playing that role.
The final boss always stood in the way, always made the heroes stronger by pushing them to the brink.
And now, that had been him.
Despite the outcome, despite being on the losing end, there was a strange satisfaction to it.
He had seen it from the other side, felt the overwhelming power that had once terrified him as a player.
And in the end, as the demonic disciple, he had been formidable.
He ran his fingers through his hair, remembering the surge of energy, the way it felt to have the world bend to his will.
It was something no ordinary player could ever understand.
Not unless they stood where he stood.
Noah's lips curled into a faint smile, a bitter one.
"Yeah," he muttered to himself. "It had to happen."
There was no resisting fate.
"But on to further matters..."
He muttered looking at the calendar etched on the wall.
Turns out Noah had been out for 2 months or so after the first act had ended.
And he knew it was time for him to arrive and play his role.
"Draven Lockwood..."