"I am Zephyr Venturi."
"I was not…But I am now."
"I have transmigrated into a game world."
"...to a game I was playing."
"...to a roguelite with a wizarding/magic theme."
"And I am not the main character. Or even a side character."
"I am a friggin villain."
Zephyr rested his head on the table, exhausted.
For some reason, the mystical transmigration that he had heard of only in novels and games happened to him. Zephyr had spent the past few hours trying to piece together the memories of the original owner and understand his situation. And all that thinking seemed to have exhausted him.
The dim crystal lamp before him suddenly flickered, dimming even more.
But Zephyr was not in the mood to be amazed by the magical device flickering before him. He had other things to worry about.
For example…
Why did he transmigrate?
Why did he come to this world?
And, for god's sake, why did he become a villain?
Every one of his questions must have an answer, right?
Zephyr closed his eyes, thinking intensely.
Transmigration, also known as Isekai-ing, was something difficult for ordinary people to comprehend. But for Zephyr, who grew up in the culture of reading novels, watching anime and playing games, it was not that hard.
However, exhaustion that couldn't be explained with words crept into his mind once again. Still, he didn't stop.
After resting for a moment, he once again returned to his train of thought, trying to piece together the puzzle.
"I am sure I didn't die before I transmigrated. The trigger seemed to be the last run I completed in the game."
Rougelites are a genre of game that allows a player to complete it in a few hours. But, at the same time, each death in the game world would send the player right back to the starting point.
Zephyr was casually playing the game, immersed in the power fantasy of being an ultimate mage and killing the final boss, when the world went dark.
"Yes, it went dark." Zephyr suddenly lifted his head.
"I didn't die. But the world went dark for a few seconds."
"Then, I woke up here."
Zephyr looked around.
The room was small and neat, featuring a wooden table and bed. On the table, a stack of old books and coarse paper was visible.
Just to the side of the stack of paper, there was a glowing crystal ball, a crystal lamp.
Zephyr had woken up late into the evening, exhausted.
His dreary eyes looked over the contents of the paper and books.
He quickly realised it was the same runes and spells he had seen a thousand times within the game.
That was how he came to the understanding that he had transmigrated into the game world.
Shortly after, a few memories of the original owner came to him, reminding him who he was and his role in the world.
"Zephyr Venturi, one of the most hated villains in the whole verse. Known for being extremely ruthless and murdering entire cities. I am that guy…"
A wry smile appeared on his face.
Even without giving it much thought, Zephyr understood that his life had become incredibly complicated. After all, the backstory of Zephyr was something he obviously knew.
'Zephyr… A neglected mage of the Storm tower who was banished to the outskirts of the kingdom for the crime of shaming the tower. Later, he will be captured by an evil, demonic organisation to do experiments on. Then, he will become a Chimaera monster that kills anything in sight.'
"That is his fate."
"That is my fate!"
Zephyr felt his head throb just thinking about it.
The reason he or the character he was occupying became a villain was to eliminate the people who made him into a chimaera. But later, he will lose his mind and embrace darkness, destroying everything and anything that stood before him.
"Sucks to be him…or should I say, me." He silently said.
The future of Zephyr was not promising. In fact, it was too dark and depressing. Fortunately, he had read the lore tablets found throughout the game world and knew the backstory.
If he had transmigrated without even knowing that, wouldn't he have been blindsided?
"Just thinking about it is making my skin crawl."
He dusted his coarse, grey, mage robe and closed his eyes once again.
"...but there is hope." He silently said in his mind.
"After all, I am not the original Zephyr. I know what is about to happen and the general plot of the world. Although what I know is lacking because the game world I know is severely limited and small, it can still help me navigate through the complexities of this supposedly real world and avoid trouble."
"In a way, that's good, right?"
"Ultimately, I just have to save my skin, right?"
"The Hero will save the world, right?"
Zephyr had no confidence in what he just said.
Despite knowing that there existed a hero character, the character that players use, who hunts and kills boss monsters and evil beings of the world, did not reassure him. The reason for this was simple. This was a friggin rougelite.
The Hero can die, and the player can redo the entire thing.
Zephyr himself had died dozens of times before completing the game. And each time, with each run, variations would accumulate, resulting in a totally different outcome upon reaching the end.
For example, the number of NPCs saved. The runes and spells are unlocked. The meta progression the game provides. And the optional items and tools he finds. The enemies he comes across. The region he explores first. All of these affected how the game is played and the ending reached.
It was a challenging game.
A wonderful game.
A game with infinite possibilities.
So, would the hero be able to save the world if it were his first try?
"Will, Aster, the Hero of the world, become the next Wizard King and save the world or will he fail like one of my first few tries?"
"Will his failure reset the world?"
"Or, just like in-game, would it be abandoned and the player moved to a parallel universe to try again?"
"After all, the official reason for the meta progression in the game was said to be parallel worlds."
"The developers said so themselves."
"So, each time I died, I was going to a parallel world and trying again."
"That is bad news for me because if the Hero fails, the world will end. What remains would be pure death and destruction."
"What would happen to me in a world like that? Wouldn't I also die?" Zephyr tapped the table with his fingers.
The boss monsters and evil beings in the game world were tremendously strong. Each time Zephyr played, he had to go through difficult regions in search of spells, runes, tools, potions and powerful helpers to gain enough strength to kill them.
A single mistake along the way could cost him his life. He only finished the game after dying dozens of times.
So, he knew how difficult it was to save the world.
Therefore, the world being saved by a hero who is not a player who has never experienced the world dozens of times is implausible.
"It really sucks to be me…" He silently muttered.
"Even though I don't want it, I would most likely be dragged into the power struggle between people of this world."
"To save myself, I have to grow strong and avoid all death flags. In the meantime, I should try my best not to become a chimaera."
Zephyr thought and looked at the bed nearby.
Despite wanting to go there and sleep, he took out an old fountain pen and began to write down a basic plan for the future.
Saving the world can wait.
First, he would have to save himself before he can save anyone else.
Zephyr quickly marked down some basic information he had, and a crazy idea began to form in his mind.