Heavenly Prison, White Cloud Star!
"Hah... That's enough about me, Junior. What's your story?"
"Huh? My story?"
Su Xiaobai sat on a worn-out stone slab inside a chamber that looked like an ancient, abandoned jail cell. Steam rose from his skin as if he were in a sauna. Exhausted, he leaned back, his breathing causing the room to heat up even more with each exhale.
After hearing the Senior's question, who was sitting across from him, Su Xiaobai fell into bitter contemplation, chuckling to himself.
"Senior, would you believe me if I told you... I was once a novel villain?" he asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.
The old, brawny man, sitting stark naked, casually nodded as he ran a hand over his bald head. Su Xiaobai, also naked, couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all—the two of them sweating it out like it was a luxury bathhouse, locked away for the crimes they committed.
Heavenly Prison was meant to be a place for the most 'heinous' criminals, yet here they were, two bastards relaxing and talking about life, as if they were on a damn vacation.
Even the heavens would have to look twice to believe it.
Su Xiaobai had expected his time in prison to be lonely, but 'thankfully', he had the company of an old senior who, on request, had somehow turned the prison into a makeshift sauna.
"I believe you, Junior," the old man, Ning, said with a straight face.
Su Xiaobai burst out laughing. "Nah, you're full of shit, Senior! You just wanna laugh at me."
The Old Ning's face twisted in offense. "Junior, don't underestimate this old man! I've seen all kinds of idiots in my life, and never once have I laughed at any of them!"
Su Xiaobai's eye twitched. Was this old man calling him a fool already? He sighed and decided to carry on regardless.
Su Xiaobai hadn't always been the person he was now.
Long ago, he went by the name 'Caine Wilson', the sole heir of the Wilson family, living on his home planet, Blue Star.
More specifically—he had been the novel's villain.
Born into a filthy rich family, in a world where neither martial arts nor immortality existed, money was the only true power!
Caine Wilson had everything: a spoiled upbringing, a loving family, more money than he could spend, and a maid prettier than most people's wives.
Hell, he even had a couple of girlfriends on the side.
Life was sweet.
Until one day, an enemy showed up—the one he later realized was supposed to be the story's main protagonist!
That night, a heavenly decree rang in his head.
It told him he was destined to be the villain, or he'd be cast aside like trash.
Caine Wilson, pampered all his life, damn near pissed himself.
There he was, lying between a horny milf neighbor he'd kidnapped and her daughter, clutching them and screaming like a little bitch.
A few days later, he came to terms with it. "Villain it is," he thought, and started playing the role like it was his life's mission.
He abducted the protagonist's busty mother and fucked her senseless until she was screaming his name like he was her new daddy.
He kidnapped the protagonist's little sister and turned her into his personal maid.
As for the protagonist's fiancée?
He used her mouth to clean his dick, then went straight to plowing her mother, knowing full well all these characters were meant to help the protagonist rise to greatness.
He tortured everyone who was supposed to make his family fall.
And then—he went after the protagonist himself.
Turned the guy into a eunuch, dragged him naked through the streets along with his family, until the poor bastard threw himself into a gutter out of pure shame and offed himself.
Ding!
Old Man Ning's excitement grew like a hot rod. His body stiffened, eyes wide in awe. Su Xiaobai, shaking his head in disgust, threw a rag over the old man's legs to avoid any more of that visual assault.
"Damn, Junior! You played the perfect villain! I'm about to cream myself just hearing about it!" the old man exclaimed.
"Haha…" Su Xiaobai chuckled dryly. "Yeah, well… they didn't think so."
"They? Who?" Old Ning asked, genuinely confused.
Su Xiaobai pointed upward. "The higher-ups."
That night, Caine Wilson had gone to sleep feeling like a king.
He thought he'd beaten the system, figured they wouldn't reject him now.
But when he closed his eyes—he never opened them again.
"Huh? What happened next?" Old Ning leaned forward, sensing a turn for the worse.
Su Xiaobai sighed. "I was rejected."
"WHAT?! THEY DARE?!" Old Ning shot up in outrage, fists clenched.
Su Xiaobai, still unbothered, sighed again. "Apparently, the villain isn't supposed to win…"
"WHAT?! But he's the villain!" Old Ning shouted, completely baffled.
Su Xiaobai shook his head. "Yeah, you'd think that, right? But if villains win, the ant audience might start realizing that sometimes bad people 'do' live better lives than the good ones. And that's not what the higher-ups want. They made it a rule—the good guys always win, and the villain? Well, he either turns over a good leaf, or he dies."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Old Ning spat.
Su Xiaobai shrugged. "It's all part of the plan, Senior. They need to brainwash the ant audience. Get them to grow up fearing evil, believing that only good people live happily ever after. Keeps the ants in line."
Su Xiaobai understood it well. As much as he enjoyed his free-wheeling lifestyle, if 'everyone' were like him, where would his loyal servants, doting women, and obedient employees come from?
Somebody had to buy into the bullshit.
Old Man Ning, sitting back down, nodded in grim understanding. "So, what happened to you after all that, little brother?"
Su Xiaobai let out a self-deprecating laugh. "My fate? The same as every other rejected character—discarded."
He went to sleep that night and never woke up again.
Lost, forgotten, left to rot in the pages of a book no one would ever read again.
He saw many others tossed into the void, just like him, abandoned by the story itself.
Then, after what felt like an eternity—he opened his eyes again.
This time, in a completely different world. White Cloud Star, where martial arts and cultivation ruled.
"I see… I see…" Ning Gufan muttered, deep in thought. "So, Junior… do you think we're all just characters in someone's story? What if the higher-ups decide to kill us again? What role are we supposed to play?"