VOLUME [1]: Bearer of Fate

My story began on a bus.

It was just another day in the Philippines. I was on a land trip to Sagada, looking forward to seeing the hanging coffins in Echo Valley. Ever since I was a kid, I'd been curious about this place.

And… as I was starting to get bored, I decided to play a game on my phone. It was called Hunter Panic.

A pixel game set in a fictional world with a dark academia aesthetic. Rifts appear in random places and monsters swarm out of said rifts and attack humans. The one who does the damage control are the so-called hunters—the awakened ones with superhuman abilities, divided by ranks. S-rank being the strongest and F-rank the weakest. Said hunters are affiliated with different Guilds.

To win the game, your character—the hero—must prevent a certain number of people from dying and defeat the villain.

But there was one problem: The villain was way, waaaay too overpowered. There was just no way to outsmart the guy.

Aslan—the protagonist of Hunter Panic—stood no chance against the vermin that I, the player, couldn't help but rage quit multiple times. As if the game was designed to be unbeatable in the first place.

Over a month since I downloaded it from Playstore and not once did I win. NOT ONCE!

You cannot save your progress. Meaning, if you lose, you will have to start all over again. Not a pay to win. No ads you could watch in exchange for a clue or some cheats. No tutorials online. Heck! I even scoured through YouTube for any tutorials. There wasn't any.

Forget tutorials. There wasn't a single video about the game at all!

That was why as I stared at the pixelated GAME OVER text on my screen, blinking with a neon design as if mocking me, I almost threw my phone across the windshield. I barely managed to stop myself, thanks to the bus driver who threw a weird look at me.

"Ha!" I let out a heavy sigh.

Finally fed up, I decided to email the developers. I decided to give them a piece of my mind. A bit of constructive criticisms here and there and mostly rant. Stuff about the game balance and overall player satisfaction which was, if I were to be honest, nonexistent.

In less than five minutes, I received a reply.

[Subject: Re: Feedback on Game Balance and Overall Player Satisfaction]

[Noted! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! We truly appreciate the time you took to provide such detailed feedback about the villain and your overall experience with the game. We understand your frustration with the game's balance and the difficulty you're encountering, especially when it feels like the villain is too powerful. But just a question, though. What kind of villain would you consider a "perfect" fit for the game?]

For some reason, my eyes lingered on the last two sentences for a long time. I didn't like the way it was worded. It prickled at my nerves and I couldn't even explain why, which was unreasonable. I could almost hear the sender's condescending tone.

Besides, the only reason why I downloaded it in the first place was because the lore intrigued me. I was never into games. Other than this, the only mobile game I'd ever played was the Space Impact on an old Nokia phone.

This was what the game description said:

The hero discovers the shocking truth—the villain is none other than his childhood best friend from Somere Sanctuary, the orphanage where they grew up. The same friend who later became his lifelong benefactor. Now, he must decide: forgive the past or make the villain pay for his sins, all while carrying the weight of his duty as a hero.

An open-world game where every choice matters.

I'd always been drawn to hero and villain stuff. I love the angst. The clash between good and evil. I love it when the hero or the villain has to make a tough choice, making me question what's right or wrong. I love the growth, downfall, and redemption of either character. But most importantly, I am more curious about the villain's backstory.

Be it novels, comics, or manhuas… I devoured them all. Regardless if the trope had been done to death. Regardless if I had just read twenty different stories with the same plot structures for the last two months. I never get tired of them. I still anticipate the next chapter despite already predicting the ending.

I just love the trope so damn much that I often find myself awake past 4:00 am still reading—even going as far as paying for the locked chapters when my salary wasn't even that much.

As I thought about all these, a realization dawned on me.

Maybe—just maybe—the reason this game didn't sit well with me wasn't that I couldn't win. After all, the hero didn't have to win all the time. Maybe it was something else entirely that left me unsatisfied.

With this realization, I began to type a response.

[Thanks for taking the time to respond! I honestly wasn't expecting a reply, so I really appreciate it. (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)

I think the game is already great as it is. I understand that the villain needs to be this powerful to be a proper match for an S-Rank hunter, and I find the dynamic between them really interesting. What bothers me, though, is the lack of the villain's backstory. It's been a month since I started playing, and I still have no clue why he does what he does. What turned him into a villain? What's his motivation?

One of the main reasons I downloaded the game was the description, so maybe I just set my expectations a bit too high? That said, I think it would be amazing if players could choose a character—maybe even decide whether to play as the hero or the villain. It would be great to see the story unfold from both perspectives!(∩˃o˂∩)♡]

A reply arrived almost instantly, making me wonder if the sender even bothered to read my message.

[If, as you suggested, the villain becomes a playable character, will you be happy?]

I thought the question was weird. But before I could type out a response, another reply came.

[And… if you become the villain, will you make a different choice?]

At that moment, the bus I was riding suddenly stopped, and a group of four armed men hopped on. An M16 was then pointed at the driver's head, and the scent of gasoline permeated the air.

Before I could react, something cold touched my left temple followed by a loud bang. Next thing I knew, my beige T-Shirt had been dyed red and the windshield now had a noticeable crack.

I was just shot straight in the head with the bullet passing through my skull.

I didn't feel pain. Most definitely the adrenaline's doing and I couldn't be any more grateful.

I met my killer's eyes just before my vision dimmed. He was wearing a black ski mask, covering everything other than his eyes. They were the color of chocolates.