"W-what was that?" one of them stammered, his voice a pathetic squeak.
Mark, for all his bravado, could only stare at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. No sound came out. He was speechless.
The irony was so thick I could have choked on it.
The power in my throat faded, leaving behind a faint, cold tingle. The single-use item was spent. But it had been enough.
With a shared, strangled cry of terror, they scrambled. They didn't just walk out the door; they fled.
They tripped over their own feet, shoving each other out of the way in their desperate haste to escape. The door slammed shut behind them, and the little bell chimed one last, frantic time.
And then, silence.
A real, profound silence, broken only by my own ragged breathing.
I stayed there, kneeling on the floor, for a long time. The adrenaline began to fade, and the throbbing in my head returned.
But it was different now. The pain was just pain. The despair was gone.
A new notification pinged into existence on the red screen, which had never left my sight.
[Mission Complete: A Villain's Debut]
[Calculating Rewards…]
[50 VP awarded.]
[System Feature Unlocked: Status Screen.]
[Host's performance has been evaluated as 'Exemplary.' Bonus Reward: 'Persistent Voice (Grade F)' has been granted.]
My breath hitched. I tentatively opened my mouth, half-expecting the familiar silence.
"Hello?"
The voice that came out was weak, raspy from disuse, and shaky. But it was mine. It wasn't the terrifying, multi-layered echo from before.
It was just… a voice. My voice.
Tears, hot and sudden, welled in my eyes and streamed down my cheeks, mixing with the drying blood. I could speak.
After sixteen years of silence, I could speak.
The red screen shimmered, and the store interface reappeared. My balance now read VP: 50. And there, in the list of items, was a whole new category I hadn't seen before.
[Body Modifications]
[Voice Enhancement (Grade F)] - Cost: 500 VP
[Accelerated Healing (Grade F)] - Cost: 1000 VP
[Enhanced Strength (Grade F)] - Cost: 1200 VP
The numbers were staggering, impossibly high. But they weren't zero. It was a path. A ladder.
I looked down at my trembling hands, then back at the screen. The world had forgotten villains. The heroes were corrupt.
And I, a mute orphan who had been given a voice by a system that called itself 'Evil,' had just made three bullies run for their lives.
A slow smile spread across my face. It was the first real smile I'd had in years.
The smile on my face, foreign and fragile, finally faded as the cold reality of the situation crashed back in on me.
The adrenaline was gone, leaving behind a bone-deep weariness and a throbbing headache that the system-granted voice hadn't quite erased.
I was still kneeling in a puddle of my own slowly congealing blood. The store was a disaster zone of scattered chips, dented cans, and spilled noodle cups.
And high in the corner, a small, black dome with a single blinking red light stared down at me. The security camera.
Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through my newfound confidence. It had recorded everything.
The assault, my injury, me kneeling on the floor. And then… what? What did it see? What did it hear?
Did it capture that unholy, reverberating voice? What would my boss say? What would the authorities do?
Would they think I was some kind of monster?
My new voice felt like a lump of ash in my throat. I was already a freak. I didn't need to add 'potential paranormal entity' to the list.
My eyes darted around frantically, and the translucent red screen, which had been hovering patiently in my peripheral vision, seemed to brighten, as if demanding my attention.
The store. The system store. I had 50 VP left.
With a surge of desperate hope, I mentally commanded the store to open. The list of Body Modifications vanished, replaced by the more affordable basic items.
[Basic System Store]
[Item: Minor Healing Potion (Grade F)]
Description: Heals minor cuts and bruises. Cost: 50 VP
It was right there. A perfect solution, for the exact amount I had. The system had given me the problem, and now it was offering me the solution.
It felt less like a coincidence and more like a carefully orchestrated test.
Buy it, I thought, focusing all my intent on the potion.
[Confirm purchase of 'Minor Healing Potion (Grade F)' for 50 VP?]
Yes.
[Purchase confirmed. VP: 0. Item has been dispensed to Host's inventory.]
Inventory? I looked at my empty hands, confused.
Then, a new icon blinked on the screen, a little backpack symbol.
I focused on it, and a small, grid-like window popped up, showing a single item: a small, corked vial filled with a shimmering, pink liquid.
[Would you like to retrieve 'Minor Healing Potion (Grade F)'?]
Yes!
The air in front of my hand shimmered for a second, and with a faint pop, the vial materialised in my palm. It was cool to the touch, the glass smooth and solid. It was real. This was all real.
Not wasting another second, I uncorked it and downed the contents in one gulp.
The taste was… exactly as described. A wave of artificial cherry flavour, followed by a strange, lingering bitterness.
The effect, however, was instantaneous. A warm, tingling sensation spread from my stomach outwards, concentrating on the gash on my head.
The throbbing pain vanished, replaced by a gentle, soothing warmth. I reached up and touched my hair; the stickiness of the blood was still there, but beneath it, the skin was smooth and unbroken.
There was no cut. No lump. Not even a scar.
I let out a shaky breath, a sound of pure, unadulterated relief. I was okay. I wasn't going to have to explain a bleeding head wound to my foster mother.
Now, for the other reward. The system had said it unlocked a 'Status Screen'. How did I access it? I tried thinking the words, focusing my intent.
"Status Screen," I whispered, testing my new, scratchy voice.
As soon as I spoke the words, the store interface vanished, replaced by a new panel, this one more detailed and personal.
[STATUS]
Name: Luna
Title: Fledgling Villainess
Level: 1 (0/100)
Villainess Points (VP): 0
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 3 (Below Average)
Agility: 5 (Average)
Stamina: 4 (Below Average)
Intellect: 7 (Above Average)
Charm: 2 (Negligible)
[SKILLS]
Persistent Voice (Grade F).