I chose to be the Villain myself.
A MC, deeply dissatisfied with his life, is reincarnated into a world where a goddess has summoned 100 souls to save her dying planet. These souls are promised a return to Earth five years in the past after defeating the demon overlord. However, the MC strongly opposes this return, even with the promise of a five-year rewind. He instead decides to become a villain, preventing the heroes from killing the demon overlord. His goal is to ensure the demon overlord remains alive so he can stay in this new world and enjoy his overpowered abilities. However, he must also prevent the demon overlord from destroying the planet, ensuring a peaceful and long-lasting second life.
As the MC delves deeper into his new world, he begins to strategically undermine the efforts of the other summoned souls. Using his overpowered abilities and cunning, he manipulates events from the shadows, turning hero factions against each other and sabotaging their quests without revealing himself. However, he soon realizes that the other heroes are growing stronger and more organized, especially with the help of the goddess’s guidance. To counteract this, the MC seeks alliances with powerful non-human factions—beasts, demons, and other creatures who have also been oppressed by the heroes. Despite his villainous intentions, these alliances are built on shared interests, and some non-human factions even see him as a savior.
As the heroes grow closer to the demon overlord's stronghold, the MC is forced to take more drastic actions to maintain his hidden villainy. He begins using forbidden magic and ancient artifacts to control the battlefield, ensuring the demon overlord remains alive while subtly keeping the overlord’s destructive tendencies in check. Along the way, the MC's power attracts attention from both sides—some of the heroes start suspecting a traitor in their ranks, and the demon overlord begins to sense a mysterious force aiding him. Meanwhile, the MC grapples with the risk of losing control over the demon overlord and his growing notoriety among powerful enemies. His delicate balance of villainy and peace becomes harder to maintain.
Tensions rise as the goddess herself becomes suspicious of the strange anomalies surrounding the heroes’ quests, leading her to send a powerful champion directly after the MC. This forces the MC to come out of the shadows more frequently, engaging in battles with both the goddess’s forces and the heroes, though he still carefully hides his true identity. At the same time, the MC starts developing deeper relationships with some of the non-human factions, questioning whether he’s still acting for purely selfish reasons or if he’s starting to care about the people and the world itself. The conflict between heroes, non-humans, and the demon overlord grows, with the MC positioned precariously in the center of it all.
In the final confrontation, the MC’s hidden machinations are exposed, and the heroes, demon overlord, and the goddess herself all turn their attention toward him. With the future of the world hanging in the balance, the MC must decide whether to fully embrace his role as a villain or find a way to create peace between all factions without the destruction of either side. His choices will determine not only his fate but the fate of both Earth and the new world, forcing him to confront the deeper reasons behind his desire to stay and the true nature of the power he wields. In the end, his manipulation of the demon overlord, the heroes, and even the goddess will come to a head in a battle of wills and ideals.
