《I have to be scum? So be it!》 chapter: 1 assend to hell When George died, his life didn''t flash before his eyes. He only saw snippets, portions, and bites; some were his mother screaming for him to wake up; sometimes it was phone calls with his father or fights with his younger brother; but what he remembered most vividly was Heather telling him all about the book she was writing. Maurice Feather, the protagonist, was blessed with a handsome face, and that''s where his good fortune ended: his father died in a factory accident, his mother committed suicide a few months later, he struggled to survive since the age of 10, and only managed to sleep under a roof after the owner of the shop he worked at allowed him to sleep there. In the first arc, Hailey Whistles, the shop owner''s daughter and the female lead, taught him violin and helped him get a scholarship to the music academy with her. The second arc was when Scott Willows, the main villain, was first introduced. He was a teacher at the academy and a thorn in Maurice''s side. By carrying out extensive plots to sabotage all Maurice''s attempts at a better life, our trusty mainman managed to emerge victorious as the top of his class. The next arc was Maurice''s fall from grace. Scott turned to sabotaging his relationships, which culminated in him falling out with the female lead and losing his scholarship over a fight that was arranged by good old Scott. The upcoming arcs involve him rebuilding his career as an artist and trying to rekindle his relationship with Hailey, who became a famous composer, which he does manage to do after trials and tribulations. They even get married and have a daughter and a son on the way. But when Scott hears of this happy family, he decides to murder Hailey while getting checked at the hospital. And this is where Heather stopped writing; she wasn''t sure if she wanted Maurice to murder Scott in a vengeful rage, kill Scott in a failed attempt to kill Maurice, or both. her reason for the latter option? Maurice was too soft-hearted to desiccate a corpse, but she wanted Scott''s death to leave him an ugly corpse, and corrupting the protagonist was tempting too. Stolen novel; please report. He tried to argue that Scott''s motivations were too mundaine for his extreme actions, but she insisted that she didn''t want to write a hypothetical villain, and the more absurd his motivations are, the more loathsome he is, and that''s where the debate ended. Back to the present: when he opened his eyes, he saw a maid attending to his bedside. "Young master, you''ve woken up." She bowed slightly. "Would you like me to help you change?" The offer angered him for some reason. "No, I would not like you to dress me; I''m perfectly capable," he said with poison in his voice. "Madam, do you know my name?" "Scott Willows." Of course! This was the punchline to the joke that was his life. "Now, go get me my breakfast." He ordered, making sure to maintain his calm tone. "And maid, take your time." When the maid left, he went straight to the bathroom to find a mirror. The man in the reflection was a handsome yet skinny guy with sharp black hair and black hair that reashed his sholders. On the mirror, he saw a red light flashing from the bedroom. He ran to it and saw a wooden doll that had a red flashing light coming out of its eyes. The doll jumped down from the shelf and began to clap slowly. "wow! You truly are the man for the job!" "that job being?" "being the worst king of villains there can ever be!" The doll raised its arms in excitement and began to laugh. "Heather is facing problems getting her book published, so she''s decided to make the story even more tragic." Wasn''t the story''s problem that the villain was too unbelievably awful? Whatever, Heather''s the writer, and she''ll face the consequences, not him. But wait... "Heather has finished her book." He asked in shock, and the doll only nodded. "For how long were I dead?" "Hmmm," the doll said, raising its head and tapping its nose like a child in deep thought, then beginning to count on its little fingers. "three years!" "Three yours? How come I didn''t reincarnate sooner?" "It''s because of Heather!" The doll pointed up like it had a great idea. "She didn''t accept your death, and because of that, your soul has lingered on and now resides in her imagination." Heather puts all her energy into her work, so if he helps her finish this book, she''ll be able to move on, and he will be able to reincarnate. At least that''s what he hoped for. He looked for the doll and found it offering its hand. "What do you think, George?" "I think we have a deal." He took its hand and tried to shake it, but it was so light that he ended up lifting it. "We have a long way to go." chapter 2: wearing the vllains clothes "Long way to go?" He threw the doll into the corner of the room. "I assure you, I''ll be the worst kind of monster you''ll ever see." George wasn''t normally a bad person, but when he awoke, it was with an awful anger that he wanted to take out and a disdain for all that he laid eyes on. The doll jumped up and flicked its fingers, causing a jolt of electricity to pass through Scott''s body. "Don''t get too excited, you still have to maintain a good image, at least until the story''s end." "Noted." Scott said while trying to recollect himself, only to suddenly be electricated again, this time harder. "And one more thing!" The doll approached him, its red eyes glowing brighter with each centimeter. "If you try to cross me ever again, you won''t be the cause of this story''s tragedy! I will! And you''ll be my victim!" To that, Scott only offered a thumbs up and a weak smile. "That maid will be coming, dress yourself as you said." Scott nodded weakly as the red light in the doll disappeared and it fell to the floor. He struggled through the headache and got up to change out of his pajamas. He heard a knock on the door and a voice calling out his name, it was the maid from earlier. He was gonna tell her off, but he supposed his brand of evil should be more sophisticated than bullying everyone who crosses his path, no matter what his heart desired. "Hey, miss. I''m sorry for being less than a gentleman earlier," he said while putting on his trousers. Still lightheaded, he had trouble balancing. "It''s just... I feel -uncomfortable exposing myself to others, ...especially women." "No, sir. I- I- I''m the one at f-fault for making the suggestion, I too would be livid if a m - man had made it to me." the girl seemed flustered and nervous. "I could never hold your good morals against you." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Could you spare me your name?" He tried to add a sweet tone to his voice, while struggling to button his shirt. " I feel so embarrassed for forgetting, but I have to ask." "Molly Miller, sir. My father is the chef." She gave a sigh of relief. before speaking. "Can I come in." Scott looked at himself, he was decent-looking, but then he had an idea, He unbottoned his shirt to expose his not-so-impressive chest and said: "Wait up! I''ll open the door." He opened the door and saw a simple looking girl, She was short and looked even shorter standing next to his towering figure, her eyes were hazel and her hair was in a bun except for the few strands that were her bangs, but most importantly, she silently looked at him with a deep red covering her face. He leaned close and said while they were feeling the heat of each other''s breaths, "I''m sorry to have you wait for so long." Her blush got deeper, and she began to sweat and stutter. She said something about him being her first priority, but he wasn''t listening, and then she ran out in embarrassment. That''s good, he can seduce his way to getting a few minions. Now, back to the closet! This Scott guy had quite the wardrobe. He didn''t settle for less than perfect. Too bad most of it won''t fit for long. To be an adequate villain, one must stand face-to-face against the protagonist. This frail body won''t do! He looked at the plate on his nightstand, a cup of coffee, a single cookie, and a cigarette. George used to whine whenever he had to second hand smoke even for a few seconds, but George is no more. He''s Scott now! Scott smoked like it was air, and he lived long enough to have a mid-life crisis! All of George''s constant yapping about maintaining his health gave him nothing but an early death during a holiday. The perfect son, friend, and student, gone too soon! He put the cigarette on his lips. one drag to his early death, one for the wasted tuition, one for the love he never had, one for the boring teenage-hood, one for the bleak childhood, and as he went on to list his sorrows, he found that the cigarette was unable to catch up. This man was a meal away from being an anorexic, or maybe he is one... He didn''t ponder the idea, so he tasted the coffee. It tasted so bitter that it almost erased the memory of sugar from his brain. This guy is definitely anorexic. He was still hungry, so he moved on to the cookie, He took a small bite and almost spat it out. It was no sweeter than the coffee and had a salty taste that had his stomach trying to jump ship. It was so disgusting that it made him disgusted by the thought of eating again, even breathing was revolting! To take his mind off things, he began to search the room, and after some long searching, he found a few doctor''s notes thrown in the trash. chapter 3: sleeping in the villains room There were two prescriptions in the trash, each signed by a different doctor. He couldn''t make out what the medication was so he went to look for it. While looking, he found a piece of old bloody bondage hidden under the mattress. he looked at his wrists and arms and there''s no signs of scaring. this guy doesn''t seem to have been self harming so where could the blood have come from? he remembered that he was getting side tracked, he was originally looking for the meds. he looked on the cabinets, the drawers, the closet and under each article of furniture. This meant he needed to investigate this bastard like the police would a drug dealer. which worked out well he found 5 bottles of pills within the vents, 1 small bottle and a few tins inside the bathroom mirror''s frame and a couple bottles in the plant pots. He assumed he could find a thing or two inside the toilet''s water tank but he was still too nauseous from his "breakfast" to do something that disgusting and it was too high. Which reminded him that this place is rather vintage. heather must''ve changed the modern setting for an older one. there is no sign of plastic, dark wood is the primary material for most furniture, the labels on the tins seems to be printed and there are few details along with the medicine but the medicine seemed to be mass produced and there was electricity even if he couldn''t presume the size of the electric grid since he''s clearly rich and could be one of the first to be introduced to electricity, this must be set in the early 20th or late 19th century. He looked at the medicine and picked a pill from the one that seemed to be the newest he put it in his mouth and found the same bitterness found in the coffee from earlier. He assumed the biscuit''s saltiness was also from medicine. Usually it''s people with mental illness that avoid medicine and who could blame him? medical practice in psychology was so bad back then... well now... that he''s surprised that such a rebellious case didn''t get lobotomized. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. but he''s jumping to conclusions, it could be that the guy had a debilitating illness and was simply suicidal, so he refused food and medicine because of that. Either way he hoped it was something he could find a solution to since he needed to deal with his health before he could establish himself as an important character. He went back to the room and found that the breakfast was gone. A servant probably took it, probably not molly who learned to knock. All that research gave him a headache so he decided to sleep it off but his nap didn''t last long and he woke up to a man sitting by his bed side. "Scott, why can''t you comply with your treatment?" the man spoke, his voice rough and , his messy hair was graying, his eyes were barely opened,his skin pale and clothes wrinkled. The look of a man who''s been striped of the ability to stand on his own two feet. that makes two of them. though one is sickly as a president the other as a consequence. "Your mother weeps day and night for your sake, can''t you do this not for your sake or mine but for hers?" "I wonder what trouble she''s weeping for?" He snickered, his headache getting worse and worse, he supposed it was a symptom. "Is it really because I''m refusing to dump what you call ''medicine'' down my throat or is it because my own father is poisoning my food and drink causing me to rot away as i starve in those few square meters he allocated to be my grave?" "You know that''s not true." Mr. Willows said, heartbroken. "I''m trying to save your life!" "And what a life it is." Scott said calmly. "You''ve dragged me to so many doctors that I can put them on a map and every single one offered what would prolong my misery but never cure it." "Am I supposed give up my only heir to disease?" Oh, so It''s heir he care''s about, not his son! "You are trying to watch him die slower than previously thought." Scott responded. "But I assure, no matter how many years those pills add to my resume they wont be more than what you have left." Mr. Willows turns his head to the side unable to counter this point. George was happy that this worked he didn''t know how much generic ''I''m not taking my meds'' dialog he could spit out. He needed to take control, he won''t get his way if his father isn''t satisfied with him. "Father." Scott reached for Mr. willows and used the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from the man''s forehead. "I will try to continue with the treatment, but I have one condition." "Speak." "I''ll only continue with the treatment if I have full control over it." He declared. chapter 4:taking the villains seat After Mr Willows left, Scott ordered a maid to bring him the local news papers from the last 10 days. This story seems to be using a different dating system than the real world, the label 42-680-wealth was on top of the news paper, the country he''s in seems to be called "Hertia" and the publishing house is located in Old Dillington. Heather changed a few things, huh? He moved on to read the actual articles, there are several social movements politically struggling, a labor shortage, military campaigns and rebellions in the colonies. On the local news however there''s reports of a new factory, a girl won a flour company''s best young chef and a group of people were arrested for selling pharmaceuticals made using unauthorized magic. Magic? So there''s magic in this version. This could help him. when he moved on to the older papers he found that similar crimes happened on a regular basis although with different intensity, the punishments seemed to very based on the complexity and lethality of the products produced and sold without license but the biggest one of all was the crime of black magic which was so severe it warranted a death sentence and so taboo it was not discussed in detail but instead a bunch of religiously inspired rhetoric was used to shame the late criminal before society. Calling it crime against god and those who commit demons, the usual. "Wow! To think that people would dare sell all those objects without going through the proper means!" He exclaimed loudly, making sure that the maid can clearly hear him, she nodded politely. "and black magic too, the audacity! To go against scripture! against god!" The maid, affected by the bit about black magic said shyly but with determination. "They can''t hurt anyone now!" "All thanks to the police! Say, what''s your name." He asked. "..." she stayed silent, working hard to contain her anger but failing ever so slightly. He dragged a chair close so he can sit right in front of her. "If you would please look at me, I would find the words to explain myself." He made sure to put on a pitiful face and a hopeful smile when she looked at him. "There''s no need for you to know my name, I''m your servant and you''re my master." She said through gritted teeth. "It is me who''s at fault for getting offended." it was obvious she believed non of that but was trained to say it. "I don''t believe that at all." He told her. "I''m your employer''s son, and your services should not extend further than your contract." He saw a spark in her eye but there was still a curiosity he needed to feed so he decided to be creative. "I was willing to die, I was waiting for it, longing for it, even! It is a useless ordeal to live for yourself when you don''t have much to live." She leaned down to be face to face to him, her hand on the chair''s back. "See, I was trying to cut all my attachments to life. So I loathed learning new named and seeing new people." He felt a soft hand on his shoulder. "But now I know, that one''s life is lived to the fullest when it''s lived for someone else!" This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "It''s Rose." He looked at her, when she saw the confused look on his face, she continues; "my name is Rose, Rose Fieldstone." "Rose, I hope you understand me." He tried the name. "That''s why I find those officers so breathtaking, even though they are in good health, they still risk to cut their lives short." "I understand." She nodded. "I''ve always found my work loathsome but if it''s to make your life easier I''ll be sure to surpass my past efforts!" He stood up so quickly he felt every joint in his body squeak in protest, which wasn''t even that quick, and grabbed both of Rose''s shoulders. "I''m so happy to have inspired you!" She matched his tone the best way she could. "Yes!" "It''s why we exist in this world! to inspire!" He said a sigh escaping his lips and right before they could fall into an awkward silence a call echoed in the halls. "Rosie! Rosie!" "It seems I cant keep you trapped here for long." He smiled softly. "It''s been a pleasure to be in your presence." she responded, realized what she said and ran away in embarrassment, she ran so fast that he didn''t find enough time to prepare himself to drop the act. He prepared himself for lunch and called a servant to help him walk down the stairs and subsequently escort him to the dinner table. At least this illness works in his favor in a few ways. That servant was an older man with a strong build, while walking behind him Scott noticed a few leafs on his body, Scott reach in to take a leaf from the man''s collar. startled, the man quickly turned around guarding his neck with his hand. Scott was surprised by the reaction and reassured him by lifting the leaf to eye level and giving a silly smile. The man sighed, and shook the rest of the leafs off. "I''m sorry, I don''t usually work inside." Does he usually walk out of work decorated in greenery? that wasn''t his business. He offered his hand to he man. "well, I''m sorry you have to but I''m forces to rely on you." The man looked at his hand, ignored it, brought his arm around his shoulder and carried the majority of his weight and walked down the stairs. Scott was sure that the only reason he didn''t find the man fully carrying him was to save his dignity. It failed to do so but it did motivate him to get his health to a manageable level or at the very least some sort of mobility aid. But upon seeing the stairs he found that mobility aids wouldn''t help too much as looking at the structure bought a debilitating feeling of nausea that made it hard to settle his feet, even with the gardener''s help he still tripped multiple times making the poor man lift him several times. The walk down the stairs felt like it took a whole hour, and maybe it did, just his new body failing him more than his car in his previous life. The thing crashed upon seeing stairs! To think he was planning to bulk up! The whole experience made him want to throw up until his blood ran dry but looking back on the underwhelming breakfast this morning, throwing up would most likely actually empty up his veins. When they reached the dining room there was a woman waiting outside and looking at her it was like looking at the mirror again. She must be Mrs willows! While looking at the woman he was suddenly hit with a terrible coughing fit. The woman rushed to his aid crying. "My poor baby! How you used to pace the gardens! someone bring him some water" so he wasn''t always this sick. Mrs.willows wiped away the sweat on his forehead. "I''m so glad you decided to humor your old mother." He smiled softly and looked at the tiny woman in front of him. "You don''t look old at all! I don''t think you ever will." The woman smiled sadly. "It''s so nice of you to use what little energy you have to flatter your mother." she stroked his back. "But I''ve long accepted my age." the table was filled with dishes which were unfamiliar but were clearly exquisite. Mrs. willows leads him to his seat and hands him a pill. "This is to stop the vomiting." she said, and moved on to the seat right next to him. Taking a glance or 10 every now and then. He lifted his head up and saw Mr.willows looking like this morning''s conversation wasn''t so lovely to him. He took the pill and began to taste the thing that disgusted him the least, vegetable soup but one spoon made him feel like there were demons in his stomach and they did not welcome any sort of company. This is gonna be a long lunch. chapter 5: feeding the villain Despite the tantrum his organs are making over soup he wasn''t about to let the metaphorical demons win, so he swallowed hard and waited for the nausea to wear off enough to take another sip. To busy fighting the urge to puke he couldn''t start small talk with the father and ended up falling to the mother''s babying. "My poor boy! just last year you could feast on a horse!" she cried, so it was a year since this started..., she leaned close him and brought some sort of exotic fish. "dearest, you seem to be struggling with that, why don''t eat this instead?" He picked the soup because it was a similar dish and he felt like those strange dishes would add to his nausea, but he can''t really reject his own mother''s kindness, at least not openly. He gave her an uncomfortable smile and awkwardly said: "if you say so, mother." He cut the fish multiple times visibly trying to avoid spices and then when he finely managed to find a piece to his liking he decided to bite it little by little, when he finally tasted it, it was actually a bit better than the soup but the woman needed to learn not to intrude so he pretended to suffer with it even more than the soup. She grabbed his hand with both of hers'' and apologized. "You don''t have to force yourself just to please me." "He does." Mr. Willows cuts in. "If it''s not for your sake it''s for his. Whatever the motivation is, it''s a good one as long as it keeps him alive." "Dear, don''t be so..." she began to protest, but struggled to find the words that''s when Scott tightened his grip on her hand as a gesture of reassurance. "Alright, father." He went back to the fish taking occasional glances at Mr. Willows and after several minutes of silence save for the sounds of utensils clicking as they eat or, in Scott''s case, play with their food , the butler came in with a letter. Not wanting to waste his opportunity, Scott speaks: "Father, there''s something I''m passiona-" Mr. Willows grabs the letter and stands. "Not now, I have work!" Mrs. Willows was quick to react. "Dear, you promised!" but her words were in deaf ears. So mister ''Your mother weeps day and night for your sake'' had to be nudged to join his family for this one dinner because of course his dying son deciding to finally spend time with them wasn''t enough to convince him to keep his ass on that chair for a full half hour! Scott realized that he was getting angry at a father that wasn''t really ''his'' and put his fork and knife to the side, he wasn''t putting it to any use seeing from the modest hole he dug into the fish. He excused himself from the table and offered Mrs. Willows to walk her to her room, she rejected the offer as it was clearly out of obligation. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. the humiliating trip through the hallways was repeated but Scott''s ego can''t get more damaged than it already is so when he''s in his room he doesn''t bother to try to heal it instead he prepares for bed. After a long shower and an exhaustive session of self grooming he leaves the shower to find that someone is knocking on the door. ______ molly has been knocking on the young master''s door for a long while, the master has previously ordered her to storm his room if he wasn''t responding on account of his depression but he also seemed to value his privacy and she didn''t want to breach it again. she decided to sit on the floor and continue knocking with the back of her hand hoping that the young master would save her from her dilemma. Her prayers where answered and she heard the delicate voice say: "come in." She quickly grabbed the papers to deliver them and rushed to the room only to find the young master in extremely inappropriate attire or rather... lack thereof. With nothing to protect public decency but a mere towel, Molly was overwhelmed by embarrassment and lost her balance causing her to slip on her own feet and fall to the floor. The young master was quick to drop down to help her from the floor. Which was the opposite of helpful as his undressed figure was the cause of her clumsiness and him being so close will only serve to increase it. She manged to get up anyways soon found out that the papers she was holding were scattered on the floor. She began to apologize. "I''m so sorry, sir! I didn''t mean to cause such a mess! I''m so incompetent and-" He pinched her lips shut. "What''s important is that you''re fine, how about you collect those files from the floor while I dress in the bathroom?" He released her lips but she only nodded as the physical touch caused her access to speech to significantly collapse. She quickly grabs the papers and puts them on the nightstand and rushes to the door. ______ Scott leaves the bathroom to find his room empty and the files staked on the nightstand, he tries to read them but he quickly finds out that they were mixed up and impossible to read, Molly was probably illiterate and didn''t know how to order the pages. While organizing the pages he realizes that those are last week''s police reports. Seems that his acting in front of that maid has paid off but he spent too much time organizing and he cant think past the headache anyways. But twin lights flicker in the edge of his room pushing him back to wakefulness. The doll... The doll jumps to his bed. "Congratulations! you won 32 misery points but lost 28 leaving you with 4! yes 4! points to spend!" the doll oh so helpfully held up 4 fingers. "Alright, I don''t want to spend them." "Okay... but they will be reset at midnight." the doll blew on it''s non existent nails "What?" Of course the points reset at midnight. "Is there anything else I should know?" "yeah! If you get a negative total your soul disintegrates and you die forever and ever!" the doll jumped in delight. Scott facepalmed. "What can I buy?" accepting the fact that the world is set against him/ "I''m glad you asked." the doll smiles mischievously.