Kai’s eyes snapped open. White light — blinding, sterile, and unmoving. For a moment, he couldn’t tell if he was awake or still trapped inside the VR world he had just conquered. The silence was deafening. Then reality hit him like a punch. This wasn’t the real world. This was... the story. The game world he had just cleared. But it felt different — more vivid, more tangible.

He tried to move and realized he was lying on a soft bed, dressed in dark, elegant robes that felt unfamiliar yet oddly luxurious. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he glanced at his hands — pale, slender, and unblemished.

No way...
Kai sat up quickly, panic creeping in. His mind raced, recalling the final moments inside Elysium Trials — the world’s hardest VR game that had taken him months to beat. He had finally reached the last stage, the final boss fight. And then — victory. But something else. Something he hadn’t expected. The crushing loneliness of that last moment... the hollow victory. And now, here he was. Not as himself. But as the villain. The infamous final boss: Lord Eryx.

“What the hell?!”

Kai scrambled out of bed and rushed to a large ornate mirror. Staring back was a cold-faced man with sharp features, icy blue eyes, and an expression that seemed carved from stone. A villain from every story’s darkest pages. Kai’s heart pounded. He wasn’t just inside the game world. He was the villain now. The game’s script echoed in his mind: Eryx was destined to be defeated by the heroine — the noble, kind-hearted heroine who was the story’s true protagonist.

And I’m supposed to die. Right here. Right now.

Kai clenched his fists, determination surging. No. If he was going to live, if he was going to break free from this tragic fate, he had to rewrite the story. And it started with saving the heroine — the one he was meant to kill.

A cruel smile curved on his lips. The final stage had ended, but his real game was only beginning.