《Unwillingly transmigrated into a sweet and brainless otome game》 The ‘wronged villainess also deserves happiness’ system has come online! ¡°Thank you for your purchase, have a nice evening¡±, said the man behind the counter with a dispassionate voice. ¡°...Yes, same goes for you¡±, the highschool girl vaguely answered while leaving the convenience store. Sirius¡¯ dropping eyes lingered for a little while on her bouncing ponytail that quickly disappeared as she got farther and farther away from the convenience store. It was one of his rare customers on this cold winter day and it had slightly pulled him out of his lethargy. Looking down at his phone, the displayed time was 7:30 PM. His colleague would soon arrive to take over his shift. Contrary to him, Veronica was full of passion and ambition. She was in her last year of highschool and worked at the convenience store to save money to help pay for her studies since she was planning to go to a bigger city. Veronica and Sirius were like days and nights: one was always cheerful and smiling while the other was always gloomy and dejected-looking; one had a supportive family while the other had long cut ties with his family. At the convenience store, only Veronica seemed to not mind working alongside Sirius. Unlike the other workers of the store, she didn¡¯t care about his lack of reactions when one talked to him nor did she care about his dull appearance. It was also one of the reasons why Sirius always had more patience with her, and would sometimes take the initiative to interact with her. Even if he was mostly indifferent about others judging him behind his back, he still felt a bit uncomfortable doing small talk with people that, he knew it, kept ill-talking about his lack of ambition in life when he wasn¡¯t there. It was true that at 21 years old people were usually full of ambition and energy but¡­ Sirius lacked all of this. He was often dispirited and when he looked at people, his gaze was so bleak that it made one wonder whether or not he had done something wrong to the other. It wasn¡¯t like Sirius was a total dummy, unable to understand the simplest thing. When he was younger, he was a top student and was the pride of his family. However, the more brilliant he was, the less he could understand why he was doing all that. His parents wanted him to become a doctor and at first, Sirius was determined to follow their wishes. After all, his father and mother both worked in this field and were renowned in their profession. Sirius didn¡¯t want to disappoint them and for the longest time, he thought that he ought to follow their footsteps. Maybe there was some sort of twister logic behind this, having evolved in an extremely comfortable lifestyle, he might have wanted to thank them by fulfilling their expectations. Furthermore, he had a somewhat brightmind which, coupled with his constant studying, made him able to always be among the first of his classes. Until high school graduation, this confusion about his own desires and those of his parents kept growing but it was more similar to a chrysalid than a full butterfly, unable to totally break free from this childish need to make his parents proud. Actually, the realization sort of appeared from nowhere. He remembered very clearly, it was after finishing a tedious exam that would have let him integrate into one of the most prestigious universities of the country. He had come out among the last of the participants and while others were worriedly wondering about some part that they hadn¡¯t been able to finish or hadn¡¯t understood, Sirius was just blankly contemplating the peaceful night. Except for the moon, there were no stars and the black abyss of the sky made him think that, in the end, compared to the universe, his desires and his parents¡¯ desires were nothing more than a mere dust in the vastness of billions of forms of life. Surely, his hasty decision could have been considered as a form of teenage rebellion in the eyes of many, but even looking back at it, Sirius never regretted once having chosen this path. Though he had to admit that forcefully cutting ties with his parents would sometimes still hurt, like a nearly imperceptible open wound that wouldn¡¯t heal. Ever since he was born, Sirius has been at the center of everyone¡¯s attention. From a good family, with good grades and with a handsome appearance, it was impossible for him to not attract the gossip of people -be it from admiration or jealousy-. But Sirius had never liked this kind of attention. He was more of a quiet child and didn¡¯t really like to interact with others. And his parents¡¯ education didn¡¯t help with it at all. Though they loved him, they were especially strict with him. He wasn¡¯t allowed to talk unless they asked him to, he wasn¡¯t allowed to go out and play as studying was more important and they kept repeating that Sirius would make friends later, when he would be a successful doctor. In the end, Sirius was never given the opportunity to develop a friendship with anyone and with this mentality, him growing up as someone asocial wasn¡¯t that surprising, all things considered. This desire of living a peaceful and calm life, far away from being at the center of the storm was thus the result of having to carry a weight that was far too heavy for a child that only yearned for the affection and acknowledgment of his parents. By now, Sirius rarely thought about his parents. To some extent, he had made the bereavement of this unsolvable relationship. He was also quite satisfied with what he had achieved with his efforts. Thanks to his job at the convenience store, he was able to rent a two bedroom apartment and live a comfortable life. He had no expectations to fulfill and when he was off work, he could either doze off at home or go out to take a long stroll. Since he didn¡¯t have huge aspirations, he wasn¡¯t planning on ever changing jobs. However, the fact that he had been working for nearly five years at the same convenience store didn¡¯t go unnoticed by his colleagues. It also raised some gossip. For the elderly generation, they didn¡¯t bother to hide their disdain for this ¡°youngster¡± who didn¡¯t understand what it meant to work hard and criticized the fact that when he would be older, he would probably be homeless due to not having accumulated enough richess. For the young people that mostly worked at the convenience store for pocket money, they often looked at him with veiled disgust, probably scared that they would end up like him, a ¡°sad loser¡± who could only ever do odd or ungrateful jobs. Another reason why Sirius was disliked was due to his lack of sociability. Indeed, his default gloomy expression made it look like he was perpetually scornfully looking at people. Paired with his very rare answers, it really made him hard to talk to. But for Veronica, it seemed like such things didn¡¯t matter. She would naturally blabber on her own, seamlessly giving the impression that she was actually having a conversation with the person in front of her -though when she was talking with Sirius, it was more accurate to say that she was having a one-sided conversation-. At some point, Sirius had wondered whether for Veronica, it really mattered to whom she was talking to. While she appeared as the optimistic and gentle girl, Sirius often had the feeling that she didn¡¯t really look at him when she was talking. Another thing about Veronica was that she had one obsession: playing otome games. She wasn¡¯t shy about it and for some reason, she seemed to have the wrong idea that Sirius was also interested in this subject. It was probably partly his fault, having never interrupted her passion-filled speeches. Today was no exception: as soon as Veronica had changed into her working clothes and arrived near him, she barely greeted him before talking about her new favorite otome game -every two days, she would find a new one-. ¡°Yo Sirius! Guess what, I found my favorite otome game of ALL time!¡±, she enthusiastically started talking, throwing a fleeting glance toward her apple watch. ¡°Oh dear, we only have 30 minutes to talk today¡­ Well, I¡¯ll try to be as fast as possible because this one is really really good!! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll also be amazed by the storyline!¡± While Veronica had a very delicate and doll-like appearance, her speech didn¡¯t reflect it at all. Indeed, she was a fast talker and when she was passionate about something, her words would come out like a deflagration of never ending bullets. Usually, Sirius wouldn¡¯t really pay attention to what she was saying, mostly nodding here and there in a vague attempt of showing her that he was still paying attention to her speech. But today had been a very long day and Sirius welcomed her energetic demeanor with relief, thinking that it would ephemerally pull him out of the boredom that was gnawing at him, menacing of devouring him at any moment. At first, he truly tried to listen to everything that Veronica was saying but he soon started to treat her voice as background noise. It was truly hard for him to make out most of the words she was saying and her fast flow didn¡¯t let him time pierce everything together. In the end, Sirius only understood the basic story of the otome game. Named My white knight, the game was set in a heroic fantasy setting. The heroine which Veronica played as was a poor commoner. At some point, magic started to manifest and the heroine was thus able to enrol into the magic academy. However, what awaited her here was contempt and discrimination. But despite all those hardships, the heroine never gave up and always did her best. Thankfully, she showed unusual affinity with magic, which caught the eyes of 4 outstanding men. Nevertheless to say that it triggered the jealousy of people, making it even harder for the heroine to find true love as well as graduating. ¡°...So of course I choose to date the crown prince! But believe it or not, I keep getting a bad ending! Tonight when I get home, I must absolutely get him, you understand? As a seasoned otome game player, I can only succeed¡±, Veronica solemnly said. ¡°I see¡±, Sirius answered her for the first time, though he regretted talking as soon as the words left his mouth. Seeing that Sirius had answered for the first time since she had arrived, Veronica smiled mysteriously and said in a confidential tone, ¡°You see, the villainess here is OP. She¡¯s originally the fiancee of the crown prince and has a lot of power. You don¡¯t know how many times I was framed by her¡­¡± Sirius surreptitiously looked toward his phone: he only had 5 more minutes and he could go home. He couldn¡¯t believe that he had thought of her long and boisterous speeches as a lifeline in his boredom. While she was still rambling on about the ¡°horrible¡± villainess, Sirius casually wondered about what was wrong with those types of games. Even if the crown prince really did fall head over heels for the poor commoner, it probably wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to just dump his former fiance to pursue this new girl that came out of nowhere. Furthermore, why would the original fiancee of the crown prince be the villainess? It would be more appropriate for the ¡°heroine¡± to be the villainess since she¡¯s the third party in this situation¡­ Oh, well. It wasn¡¯t his issue and in the end, it was just fiction. Sirius soon relegated his thoughts in the back of his mind and rather impolitely cut Veronica in her monologue, lying without batting an eyelash: ¡°Sorry Veronica, it¡¯s the end of my shit and I have some urgent things to take care of. I¡¯ll be on my way, have a good evening.¡± ¡°O-oh¡±, Veronica disappointedly answered. Sirius politely nodded toward her and threw a laconic, ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± ¡°Wait, that¡¯s right!¡±, Veronica energetically called out to him. ¡°I forgot to tell you but I won¡¯t be here tomorrow. We¡¯re going on a school trip so we¡¯ll see each other in one week!¡± Sirius who was already at the door of the convenience store didn¡¯t turn back toward her, he merely hummed to show that he understood and raised his hand to signal her that he was leaving. The temperature plummeting around him, Sirius felt a bit cold and regretted not having dressed more warmly. The lingering warmth of the store quickly disappeared after performatively fighting for a commendable three seconds with the penetrating cold of the night. On this side of the country, winters were always particularly harsh. The nights were also pretty early, starting to fall only shortly after 6:30 PM. Alongside night, a harsh cold that didn¡¯t mingle with snowflakes would also appear. Sirius had read that some people thought that winters were the perfect setting to talk a walk and feel melancholic and he would have liked them to come here and ¡°take a revitalizing stroll¡± and dare to say that their desolate and glacial winters were the best place to feel melancholic. Only brave people would go out of their own initiative during their winter nights. Most of the time, it was teenagers, boys or girls that felt that they ruled the world. By tomorrow, they would be sick like a dog but it still didn¡¯t prevent them from going outside and then get scolded and punished because of their recklessness. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Sirius was one of those people who liked to take a walk after leaving work but he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to do it when it was winter. Most of the time, when he didn¡¯t finish too late, he would go straight home and lay down on his hamilton chesterfield sofa with a warm plaid. There, he would either scroll on his phone or read a book with a nice cup of coffee, laid on the ground at arm-length. Tonight, he already knew that as soon as he would enter his small apartment, he would go take a warm shower to shake off his lethargy -half due to his boredom of the day and half due to the cold that kept prickling his skin like a bunch of fine needles-. Regardless of Sirius'' painstaking efforts to go faster, the cold kept slowing down his limbs, making him feel as if what he was moving wasn¡¯t his own body but rather, an unknown mass that he could only clumsily try to move forward the way a child tried to walk when he first stood up on his two legs. Knowing that the apartment he rented was near his job made him inwardly thankful about his old self foreseeing. In the familiar deserted street, Sirius found the force to go a bit faster, knowing that the desired warmth of his home was only a matter of mere minutes. At last, Sirius reached the entrance of his building. Swiftly composing the passcode, the electric lock opened with a ¡®Bip¡¯ and Sirius quickly entered with a victorious smile. However, his relief was only short-lived: the inside was even colder than the outside. Blame it on the fact that the owners of the building didn¡¯t have the money -or maybe didn¡¯t feel like wasting the money-, to heathen it up. Under his cursing, his breath flew out of his mouth like a little cloud and quickly disappeared toward the ceiling. Meanwhile, Sirius had already started climbing the stairs with big steps. The owners of the building also seemed to not have enough money to repair the elevator as it had been three months since it stopped functioning and despite some tenants¡¯ complaints, it had remained this way ever since. Usually, Sirius didn¡¯t really pay attention to the elevator but today, he would have loved to take it. Moving his body around didn¡¯t warm him up at all and his frostbite limbs kept protesting against the forced movement. It was only when he reached the 4th floor and strugglingly opened the door of his apartment that he dared to relax. Closing his door with a ¡®Bang¡¯ without any hesitations -he was the only tenant of the 4th floor-, he slid down to the floor like a disarticulated puppet. Waiting for his mobility to progressively return, Sirius closed his eyes. Though he was always a bit reluctant to program his heather to start one hour before it came back because it costed him more than it would have if he only turned it when he was home, Sirius had to admit that it was the only way for him to not drop dead from cold during the horrible period that was winter. The freezing cold having mostly dissipated, Sirius could finally move again without feeling that he could shatter at the slightest touch. Standing up, he got rid of his long coat and casually hung it up on top of the heater, not caring whether or not it was a hazardous casualty in case it fell. His fingers were still a bit stiff so he rubbed them together and without even turning on the light, hastily crossed the living room to reach his bedroom. The bedroom was small but gave off a cozy feeling. Mostly occupied by the bed there was also the habitual wardrobe and bedside table. The room was currently extremely messy. There were random and sparse piles of books, notebooks and pens thrown here and there. As for the bed, it wasn¡¯t made so the different blankets he used to keep himself warm at night were still half falling off the bed, a sign that its owner rarely slept still. Quickly rummaging through the blankets, and despite the disorder, Sirius easily retrieved his pajamas. Then, without further ado, Sirius started to undress before even reaching the adjacent bathroom. He was impatient to feel the warm water run down his limbs. Despite feeling a bit warmer than before, he still felt that the chilliness was still stubbornly clinging to his body, like a leech. Shoes and clothes casually thrown onto the ground, Sirius distractedly made a note to himself to pick them up after he had finished showering while turning on the shower. Just like the rest of his apartment, the bathroom was cramped so it was easy to trip on the clothes he had previously thrown. The bathroom was very simple, it consisted of a shower that took nearly all the space and a pitiful sink with a mirror on top. The mirror also served as a small cabinet and Sirius put in it his medicine essentials. Now naked, Sirius couldn¡¯t control his small shudder and hoped that it wasn¡¯t the early sign of cold. He waited for a bit before carefully testing the temperature of the water. The water wasn¡¯t hot yet so Sirius resolved himself to wait a bit more before finally fully entering the shower. Feeling the water gradually washing away the tenacious permeating chilliness, Sirius sighed with contentment. While washing himself, the scent of warm milk progressively enveloped him and his body felt as light as a feather. ¡°...Feels so nice¡±, Sirius muttered to himself. Maybe it was due to living alone, but Sirius had taken the habit to talk to himself. Sometimes, it was to say some benign remarks, sometimes it was to make a decision or reflect on something. *** After a little while, Sirius reluctantly turned off the shower. His damp hair fell rather comically on both parts of his head and he noted that he shouldn¡¯t delay going to the hairdresser or else, he would scare people away. His chestnut hair was usually very straight, but due to not having been cut for a while, they were now at shoulder length and started to get wavy at the tip of his hair. Sirius distractedly played with the tip of his hair while drying his body. Upon doing this, his gaze fell on the mirror that was in front of him and he looked at his reflection like one would look at a stranger. The man in the mirror gave off a lackluster countenance. His faded gray eyes were perpetually terse, betraying the staid lifestyle of its owner, and his slightly waifish appearance made it perpetually look like someone that was on the verge of giving up on life. Per se, Sirius wasn¡¯t a bad looking person. He had a good figure and youthful features. When he smiled -only on modicum occasions-, it made one can¡¯t help but take a second look. Sadly, his nice features belied his cheerless appearance, and people would usually speak in innuendos -be it directly or behind his back-. Shaking his head to break the stillness of the reflection, Sirius casually wiped his hair with another towel. He didn¡¯t feel like blowing them dry but he also knew that there was a higher chance of him getting sick if he chose the lazy solution of not doing anything. In a vain attempt to retard this moment, Sirius chose to put his pajamas on and to pick up the clothes he had worn earlier before finally deciding to dry his hair. Yawning, Sirius stretched and, as if knowing that its owner would finally give him attention, his stomach grumbled and the sound was especially loud in the silence of the apartment. Patting his discontent stomach, Sirius left the bathroom to join the kitchen, grabbing on his way his phone. The ¡°kitchen¡± wasn¡¯t a real kitchen. Though it had everything necessary to cook, Sirius had had to arrange the living room to make sure that he would have a place to cook. To this day, it was still a miracle that Sirius was still able to cook himself a meal without making a mess out of everything. The constricted space dedicated to the cooking area was far from being fancy but since Sirius had no one to invite to his home anyways, it didn¡¯t matter. Also, if there were two things about which Sirius had been intransigent, not caring whether they would take up all the space, it was the fridge and his cherished Chesterfield sofa. The former because he needed enough space to stock food up to one month and the latter because he liked to have a comfortable place to sit or lay down when reading or watching TV. It was already the end of the month so the fridge was nearly empty. Nevertheless, there was still the carbonara pasta he had cooked a night ago so Sirius quickly heated them up. Then, taking his meal and cutlery toward the sofa, he puts them on the coffee table before turning on the TV. Sitting down with an audible ¡®Plop¡¯, Sirius retrieved the plaid that had been casually thrown on the ground and put it on his knees. Then, turning on the TV, he finally satiated his hungry stomach while focusing on the movie that was playing. It wasn¡¯t a very good movie. The beginning seemed promising but the following was executed rather poorly. The main character was an orphan teenage boy that suddenly discovered that he could freely travel across different realities when he fell asleep. Everytime he woke up, he would be in a different version of himself. Sometimes he would be a prince, sometimes he would be a vampire¡­ However, the boy didn¡¯t seem to have any precise goal and would just discover a bit of this new world before immediately moving on onto the next one. Sirius finished eating just when the boy finally seemed to want to settle down in a world but he didn¡¯t have the slightest curiosity about the end of the movie. Not dwelling for one bit, Sirius turned off the TV without any hesitation. Expertly throwing the plaid on the ground, Sirius mechanically raised to go rinse his plate and cutlery before putting them in the dishwasher. Then, he habitually made himself some tea and while it was cooling down, he started to scroll on his phone. For some reason, he thought about what Veronica had talked to him about earlier. He wondered if everyone also disliked the villainess of My white knight or if some people also shared his opinion. He wasn¡¯t particularly keen in learning more about the plot than the vague idea he already had of it so he rapidly skimmed through the content that didn¡¯t interest him. After some time, he finally found a small and mostly ignored forum specially dedicated to talking about the main villainess, Selina. Sirius ended up disappointed. There seemed to be no one that cared about why she would oppose the protagonist so harshly. Most people were just complaining about how hard it was to outsmart her due to her huge ressources and backups. In the end, only one comment brought his attention. [You guys, while I really dislike Selina¡­ I have to admit that it is quite in line with her character to have so many advantages compared to us. She¡¯s the legitimate future wife of Azrael after all¡­ Well, obviously she doesn¡¯t deserve such a man with her psychotic personality but I won¡¯t complain about a little challenge once in a while¡­] The comment had a lot of downvotes and the answers were mostly some brainless complaining about how Selina needed to learn her place as the villainess. Uninterested, Sirius exited the forum and drank his tea that had cooled down while he was scrolling on his phone. The sweet taste of hibiscus was warm but not to the point of burning his mouth. It was the only tea that was left and it wasn¡¯t his favorite due to his dislike toward overly sweet things. Distractedly dissing the tea inside his mind, Sirius also couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the mind of those passionate girls. After all, he really couldn¡¯t understand how their likes and dislikes worked. He was pretty sure that if it was something that happened in real life, they would rally behind the original girlfriend and diss the third part girl who had dared to make a move on a taken man. ¡°Though if I¡¯m being completely honest, the so-called crown prince really deserves the title of scum¡­ Knowing he has a fiancee, he still let himself get seduced by someone he only got to know for a short while¡­¡±, Sirius softly said. Ultimately, it wasn¡¯t like Sirius had a strong sense of kinship with this pitiful villainess that got robbed of everything. He was merely confused about why she was considered as the villainess. Maybe it was due to the fact that it wasn¡¯t her story? After all, from the point of view of the heroine, she was probably a vile and unreasonable person that made her life harder despite the fact she didn¡¯t do anything to her¡­ Well, except for unawarely stealing her future spouse. Sirius amusedly thought that he was getting a bit too much invested in something that was by nature unrealistic and didn¡¯t hurt anyone. If those girls were happy playing those types of games, then let them be. It was harmless and it¡¯s not like it had a strong influence on their everyday life. Well, maybe except hurting the ears of people that had the unluckiness of having to listen to their never-ending rambling. ¡°Whatever.¡± Having finished drinking his tea, Sirius was hit by a wave of drowsiness. Holding back a yawn, he put down the cup on the counter and upon hitting the ceramic, it produced a crisp sound. In a zombie-like way, Sirius spinned toward the bathroom where he started to sluggishly brush his teeth. After he was done with this task, he finally got to go to bed. Hastily gathering his messy blankets into a somewhat acceptable way, he got into his bed and found a comfortable position. When he was all set, Sirius decided to check on his mail before going to sleep. He had received new mail from the owner of the convenience store. It was about Veronica¡¯s absence and about how they would need to work a bit more than usual. Probably feeling a bit sorry about having to overwork his employees, the owner added at the end of the mail that it would be counted as overtime. There was also the new schedule attached to it so Sirius clicked on it and wearily looked at the hours he would have to do. After he was done with it, Sirius, whose eyes started hurting, gently rubbed them and the rim of his eyes adorned from a red hue, making it look like he was either drunk or sick. Looking at the time displayed on his phone, he realized that it was nearly midnight and understood why he was starting to get so sleepy. Sirius rarely stayed up past midnight unless it was forced by external events. He liked to go to sleep early and to rise early. In the morning, his favorite activity was to go outside and take a long walk, a portable of steamy hot coffee in hand. He enjoyed this brief moment of stillness where the borders between light and day were blurred. No matter whether it was cold, hot or rainy, he would do this walk. The peaceful town that had not yet awakened was something precious to him. It was a reminder that life was simple and that it was better to simply enjoy it, to not uselessly complicate it with issues that, in the end, weren¡¯t really issues. Already thinking about his morning walk, Sirius put his phone on the bedside table and turned around to nudge against his pillow. Another thing about Sirius was that he was a fast-sleeper. So no sooner had he closed his eyes that he was already sleeping like a log. However, somewhere in his distant conscience, a persistent beeping sound disrupted the calm expression on his face, making him frown. The sound was similar to the one made when a device connected to another device. It was extremely unusual since the only electronics that Sirius possessed were his phone, the TV, the toaster and the microwave. Not even a micro-second after, an expressionless and emotionless voice was heard in the silent apartment. The system is loading¡­ Please wait patiently¡­ 1%...50%...80%...99%.... Beep! Beep! The ¡®wronged villainess also deserves happiness¡¯ system has come online! Does this thought make your heart race? Groaning with dissatisfaction, Sirius squinted his eyes in a half awake state, readjusting his sleeping position into a more comfortable one. His mood was horrendous due to a bad quality of sleep and he could only hope that the last part of his night would be more comfortable. However, as he tried to fall back into morpheus¡¯ arms, a strange feeling of fretfulness arose. Sirius couldn¡¯t understand why he was feeling so unease. In hypnagogia, Sirius confusedly wondered about whether or not to go and make sure that everything was alright. Just when he was starting to slowly disconnect from reality, he was jerking back awake. This time his instinctive restlessness was impossible to ignore. Even the fine hair of his body had stood up at some point. He swallowed, feeling the tightness of his throat, a natural reaction of rejection and fear. Now wide awake, Sirius inhaled and exhaled twice to make sure that he had somewhat calmed. However, when he finally decided to open his eyes, what greeted him was pure ink darkness. It wasn¡¯t a normal sight, usually, even if he woke up during the night for one reason or another, he could still make out the vague shape of his room. Fully aware that something was wrong but unable to come up with any reasonable explanation, Sirius could only hear his rapid heartbeat, as if it could jump out from his chest at any moment. The prescient intuition that something would soon happen made him restless. But what was Sirius supposed to do? The natural human fear of the unknown paired with his inability to see anything made it hard for him to come up with any solution. Already guessing that it would be useless, Sirius still tried to look left and right and also moved his hand in front of his face. But besides feeling the swinging of his hand, only darkness filled his vision. In his growing despair, Sirius furiously stood up, recklessly leaving the warm nest of his bed, not caring about accidentally hurting himself by hitting or tripping over something. However, his worry was useless as what awaited him was nothing more than emptiness. Indeed, after realizing that he couldn¡¯t touch anything, Sirius vaguely calmed down. ¡°Ahah, the f*ck is going on here? It¡¯s not like things could disappear out of thin air, right?¡±, his voice was slightly trembling. Extremely agitated, Sirius instinctively tried to go back to his bed but, as crazy as it sounded, the bed could not be food anymore. A huge piece of furniture quietly disappeared when he had stopped paying attention to it. Realizing that the bed had truly disappeared felt like a bucket of cold water. Having completely snapped out of his confused woe, Sirius finally became aware of the ice cold floor against the sole of his feet. Repressing a shiver, he was feeling unusually calm as he even took the time to shun the sensation of cold by alternatively rubbing his feet against his legs. After a while, he couldn¡¯t even feel the cold anymore. His eyes completely empty of any feeling, he robotically sat down, putting his hands around his knees and looking straight in front of him. Sirius wasn¡¯t thinking of anything in particular. Not one bit curious about the place he was in or how his bed disappeared out of nowhere, he was dreamily wondering whether or not someone would realize he was missing or if he would disappear from the surface of the earth just like those cold cases. Then, his drifting thoughts led him to think about his parents. Would they ever know that their disappointing son had, one day, noiselessly disappeared? And even if they did come to learn about it, would they feel sad about it? Would they feel like searching for him? With schadenfreude, Sirius thought that they would probably think that he had searched for this outcome. He was convinced that they would not even feel the slightest drop of sadness. Maybe they had dearly loved him at some point but this love was buried alongside the little boy desperate for the acknowledgement of his parents. His hazy conscience that kept getting fainter suddenly caught the unusual movement of the empty space. At first, it was faint, barely a ripple of a nearly imperceptible light that made Sirius wonder if he had finally snapped and had started to hallucinate. Thus, when the semi-transparent panel fully materialized in front of him, he didn¡¯t show any surprise. It was only when he started skimming through the content of the strange panel that astonishment appeared on his face. If Sirius had to put a word on his feelings, he would be unable to do so. The nonsensical things that had happened so far had made him angry, confused, hopeless¡­ But, this type of situation, this type of game-like system panel that forced him to accomplish a quest, gave him a strong sense of d¨¦j¨¤-vu. Wasn¡¯t it similar to a novel he had previously started reading? Titled, Woke up, I became the notorious¡¯ villain wife, it told the story of Irma. Hit by a car, she didn¡¯t immediately die but instead, found her soul floating on top of her body. She also wasn¡¯t alone, a ball of light was by her side and introduced itself as a system capable of bringing her back to life. To do so, Irma would have to transmigrate into a certain novel and accomplish the tasks given by the system. Since she didn¡¯t want to die she agreed to the system and was thus transported into the world of the novel where she had to follow the system¡¯s instruction. Left speechless, Sirius didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. He needed some time to process everything but, as if aware of his state of mind, the system -it seemed appropriate to call it that way- started to urge him by flashing several times. At last, Sirius seriously focused on it and by the time he was done reading, he had a poker face. Welcome to the world of My white knight. The host prayers have been answered. You will now be able to help the wronged villainess. It has been detected that the host felt that the villainess should have ended up with her fiance. The ¡®wronged villainess also deserves happiness¡¯ system has thus chosen you to restore her happiness. How is it? Being able to be the perfect toolman to help your favorite character must make you overjoyed! The weirdly enthusiastic punctuation at the end contrasted sharply with the robotical, emotionless-like tone of the beginning. Sirius, who had gone through a remarkable variety of feelings during a short time, finally let out a hearty, ¡°F*ck yourself, what¡¯s up with those so-called ¡®payers¡¯?! I¡¯m just a normal dude with common sense so of course I¡¯d find this story weird !¡± How is it? Being able to restore commonsense in a brainless story, does this thought make your heart race? In front of his very eyes, the system seamlessly and shamelessly changed the content of its last paragraph. This time, Sirius could only say ¡°...¡±. Like a deflated balloon, Sirius felt that his anger and unwillingness were probably nothing more than an ant''s cry in the eyes of the system. With this constatation, Sirius tried to focus on his current predicament and not to get overwhelmed by all those confused and ever-merging mess of feelings. ¡°Hold up now?¡±, he tentatively said and seeing that the system didn¡¯t write anything else, he boldly continued. ¡°Let me get things clear¡­ Are you telling me that I¡¯ll have to go to a different world? But why? Why should I go to another world, I¡¯m perfectly happy with the world I¡¯m in and I don¡¯t think I died¡­?¡± The host is correct about the assumption that he will be going to another world. As for the other questions, the answer was already told earlier, it is to help the villainess achieve happiness. The system then had a subtle pause, as if trying to gauge which answer would be appropriate for his last question. Although the host didn¡¯t die, since the system has already binded to the host, It is impossible to refuse this mission. However, fret not, once the host has accomplished his task, He will promptly be sent back to his own world at the exact time he left it and he can also keep the magic skills that he acquired in the other world. ¡°Despite this tempting offer¡±, Sirius said with his voice dripping with sarcasm. He then tried to advocate for his cause, ¡°Is there really no way to not do this? Can¡¯t you find someone else¡­ For example my coworker, Veronica. I¡¯m sure she would be over the moon if she¡¯s given this opportunity so¡­ think about it.¡± Regretfully, the system wasn¡¯t convinced and new words quickly appeared on the panel. The process of binding cannot be undone. If the host really wishes to go back to his world, there¡¯s only one way: Let the villainess reach the pinnacle of life alongside her childhood sweetheart. And do not worry, the host¡¯s role is really simple. The character that the host will replace is also named Sirius and is the devoted follower of the villainess. Unimpressive in every way, he¡¯s a solitary and silent person that rarely makes an impression on other people to the point that even the villainess sometimes forgets about his presence. The host¡¯s role is also very simple. While interacting with the characters, tasks will be issued. The tasks may come from everyone as long as it is judged that they can impact the happy ending of the villainess. Similarly to a game, the host will be given the choice to accept or refuse to fulfill the task. However, please note that the choices made will directly impact the future. PS: some tasks are inevitable and refusing to accomplish them will result in a punishment and in the system forcibly taking the control of the host. Flummoxed, Sirius wondered about how the system could qualify a task as ¡°unavoidable¡± while a choice was possible for the others. It was quite puzzling and Sirius faintly felt that there was more than meets the eyes behind the possibility of making a choice and that the results of those choices wouldn¡¯t necessarily be in his favor. Holding his forehead with the palm of his hand, Sirius asked, ¡°Then it is like a game, right? By making different choices the ¡°likes¡± and ¡°dislikes¡± of the characters will vary and it will influence the ending¡­? Will there be safe points in case I made the wrong choice?¡± However, the system bespoke his unsaid fears, as if telling him that his pathetic attempt at probing information by using a roundabout speech was seen through and put to light. The world of My white knight isn¡¯t a game. Thus, there¡¯s no such thing as ¡®reloading¡¯. If the host makes the wrong choices and ends up in a difficult position or even dies, the system will not give him a second chance. ¡°What does this mean?!¡±, Sirius blurted out with vivid ire written all over his face, a rare loss of control over his feelings which betrayed his usual appearance. Indifferently, words continued to appear on the panel. The host does not need to concern himself with the details but the host needs to remember that this world is as real as his own world. A friendly reminder: the thoughts and actions of the protagonist of My white knight may differ from their bearing in the game as they¡¯re real people whose thoughts cannot be 100% accurately predicted. By then, despite being still angry, Sirius knew that it would be useless to throw a tantrum here and there. The system was clearly hiding something crucial from him and wouldn¡¯t tell him, no matter what. Still, with the mentality of ¡°give it a try, you never know what may happen¡±, Sirius questioned the system, ¡°Alright, understood. However, I feel like it would be nice to explain why I absolutely need to interfere and make sure that the villainess reaches her happy ending.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. This information is unrelated to the host task. The host solely needs to focus on the villainess and her happiness. ¡°Fire¡±, Sirius conceded defeat. ¡°Then can you assure me that I will go back to my world after accomplishing this task?¡± Of course, the system guarantees that the host will go back as soon as he has completed the mission. While reading the answer, Sirius inwardly swore at the system. He didn¡¯t even know what the characters of My white knight looked like, how was he supposed to accomplish this mission? Was this broken system trying to trap him in this world? At this point, he didn¡¯t even care about how the system could exist or what was his purpose. He just wanted to go back to his world and tell the villainess that she could go rot in hell for all he cared. He strongly regretted having listened to Veronica. If he had known, he would just have ignored her, like always and would have never known about the existence of this game. Alas, it was too late to regret everything. Probably having guessed why Sirius had felt silent, the system updated. If the host is worried about not recognizing the main cast of My white knight, those worries can be put aside because the competent system will indicate their name and their role. ¡°Ok then. Let¡¯s do it. But I better go back to my world after this ridiculous masquerade has ended.¡± Please prepare yourself, the process of crossing over another world may make the host dizzy or experience symptoms of nausea. Sirius was halfway through coldly sneering when his surroundings started to distort. Instinctively closing his eyes to escape this strange sight, he experienced a brief sensation of floating which made him feel nauseous, just like the system had predicted. When the situation around him stabilized, Sirius didn''t immediately open his eyes. Still dizzy and unwell, he tried to inhale and exhale slowly. After a few minutes, sensing that his nausea had receded, he finally opened his eyes. The surroundings had radically changed. He was now in a spacious looking study. Standing behind someone he could not see, in front of him were several ladies that were sat around a round glass table -presumably having their tea-time, looking at the prominent teapot at the center of the table, the teacups in front of each of the ladies and the plate full of various snacks-. Against the dark red of the mahogany chairs, their colourful dresses seemed even more vivid and exquisite, a clear indication that they came from a rich background. Despite looking like they were having a conversation, the scene was totally still and silent. It was a strange sight, as if he was looking at extremely realistic looking sculptures and not real human beings. It made one feel uneasy. Before Sirius had further time to look at who was the person he was standing behind, the scene abruptly resumed, similarly to a movie where the button ¡®resume¡¯ had been pressed. Immediately, the world came back to life, not letting him the time to truly process that in the blink of an eye he had been transported to another world. Thankfully, the familiar scene of girls gossipping between each other somewhat reassured him. At least, there would be some familiarity with the environment. Though Sirius really felt out-of-place, he resisted the urge to excuse himself to leave the room. Trying to focus on the ongoing conversation, his expression turned subtle very fast. Indeed, the ladies were currently engrossed in discussing the boys they were interested in. Sirius wasn¡¯t sure whether he was supposed to feel aggravated or not because, clearly, the ladies considered him as a part of the background. On one side, he was happy to not have to interact so soon with the people from this world. On the other, it was still somewhat vexing to have the status of ¡°furniture¡±. ¡°Either way¡±, Sirius distractedly thought, ¡°From the system¡¯s own words, I¡¯m just here to be a toolman, a perfect nobody¡­¡±. The thought of being as remarkable as background characters who only appeared for a fraction of seconds in movies reinvigorated Sirius. Feeling that there was still justice in this world, Sirius was thankful that his task hadn¡¯t been to become stupid like ¡°become the crown prince¡± or ¡°gain the love of the heroine¡±. With this new state of mind, Sirius, who was habituated to feeling bored, patiently waited on the side. As for the ladies, they were still passionately talking about the same subject of conversation. While waiting, Sirius took advantage of this opportunity to observe the three ladies that were in front of him. They were all rather plain, neither particularly pretty or ugly. Thanks to their pretty dresses and well combed hair, they still had a certain charm. However, it was only the type of charm that could catch one¡¯s attention for a determined period of time. The discussion of the ladies was endless. Despite having spent some time examining them, when Sirius focused back on their talk, they were still talking about the boys they were interested in as if they couldn¡¯t get enough of saying the same thing over and over again. As soon as one lady stopped talking to take a sip of the tea -that had most likely turned cold-, or to take a bite into one of the snacks, another would take over. Only the lady whose Sirius could not see was silent. Giving the false impression that she might be ignored. However, Sirius dared not to entertain the idea that this lady was one of his ¡°kind¡±. After all, looking at the attitude of the other ladies, it was clear that they were trying to please her. Indeed, they kept covertly looking in the direction of the villainess and they had a certain look in their eyes, a mix of reverence and disquietude poorly dissimulated, that made it even more apparent. Although he couldn¡¯t directly confirm his suspicions, he had already assumed that the mysterious lady was the villainess. After all, the system had told him that the person he would replace was the devoted follower of the villainess. And as a devoted follower, there was a high chance that he would spend most of his time near the villainess. Speaking of, it wasn¡¯t sure where the original owner of the body had gone. The system had told him that it would send it back at the exact same time he had left his world but what about this unlucky owner? Had he just evaporated out of thin air? While his mind was wildly swirling around with all sorts of guesses, Sirius was forcibly brought back from his daydreaming by a loud bang. Surprised, Sirius blinked twice before focusing on the source of the sound. Seeing how the three ladies horrifyingly looked in his direction, he belatedly realised that they were in fact looking at the villainess. ¡°T-that¡­ Of course I may have been mistaken¡­¡±, the girl with the freckles cautiously said, clearly feeling anxious. ¡°That¡¯s right¡±, her friend chimed in. ¡°After all, it was dark and Susu was really tired so¡­¡± ¡°Enough.¡± The voice cut through their tentative explanation like a sharp razor and even its innate mellowness couldn¡¯t hide the extreme iciness contained in this sole imperative. Then, still with the same tone, the girl raised a finger and pointed it toward the freckled girl: ¡°Susan, I wonder why you would tell me such a thing and then immediately contradict yourself. Are you maybe trying to make me mad?¡± The atmosphere was heavy with the veiled anger of the girl. It was suffocating and even though Sirius wasn¡¯t the one concerned by her wrath, it was as if an invisible force was trying to crush every person present in the room. ¡°A-ah¡­¡±, under pressure, Susan was incapable of answering. Her mouth kept opening and closing, like a fish trying in vain to breathe. Instinctively, she looked toward her friend and her pleading eyes. However, her friend was as immobile as a statue. Her eyes were stubbornly stuck toward Sirius¡¯ direction and even though they slightly twitched, it seemed that she didn¡¯t dare -or couldn''t¡¯, look in the direction of the other. At this moment, the appearance of the person that had remained hidden until now was finally revealed. Indeed, the main villainess had slowly stood up and Sirius could see fiery silky red hair cascading down her back in a thick braid adorned with pearls. Floating on top of her head, the same semi-transparent panel Sirius was familiar with crudely displayed, ¡®The villainess: Selina¡¯. Towering over the other girls who could only honestly shrink, Selina cynically inquired, ¡°Judith, I see that you still baby Susan very much. Since you have such a desire to protect her, maybe you should consider becoming a knight.¡± ¡°Well I ¡­¡±, Judith hesitantly answered, ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ her parents asked me to take care of her¡­ and I¡­¡± ¡°Alright¡±, Selina simply answered. Then, she turned around and SIrius could finally see her full appearance. Selina¡¯s appearance was truly worthy of praise. Her eyes were as vibrant as her hair, like two freshly bloomed poppies. She was nothing like the crazy and desperate person Sirius had portrayed. On the contrary, she had a pearl-like appearance. She was like an unscathed asiatic lily, proudly showing her beauty yet totally unaffected by the rest of the world. She had the bearing of someone who always got what she wanted and that no one could ever tame. Seeing her like that made it impossible to foretell that without Sirius, she would have been doomed to lose everything because of the heroine. ¡°Sirius.¡± Hearing her dissatisfied tone, Sirius answered a tempo later with a lackluster look: ¡°Yes?¡± Then, as if possessed by some ghosts, words smoothly flew out his mouth, ¡°Excuse me, I was just thinking about the girl and about inviting her for a cup of tea.¡± In response to those words, Selina¡¯s expression eased and the tension around the room also slightly lowered. With a dismissive wave of her hand, she said, ¡°Forget it, she does not deserve to enter my sight.¡± While Sirius was mulling over the words he hadn¡¯t meant to say but that had instinctively left his mouth, the heavy atmosphere had already dissipated. Selina was now boredly observing him, making him a bit uncomfortable. It was a probing gaze and in the deep red eyes, he could only see a melange of pity, indifference and contempt. ¡°You know Sirius¡±, I really don¡¯t understand why I still keep you by my side¡±. To this, Sirius really wanted to say that she really didn¡¯t need to keep him by her side. He wasn¡¯t the original owner and despite her great beauty, he really wasn¡¯t willing to become one of her minions. ¡°If I think about it, you¡¯re really uninteresting, awkward and despite having been by my side for a long time, I still need to always explain everything to you everything¡±, she added in a pensive tone, mostly talking to herself. ¡°The only redeeming quality I can find in you is your loyalty.¡± Sirius stayed silent. He really had no idea about what he was supposed to say. He was cutting a sorry figure with his lowered eyes and his lusterless expression. It was quite similar to the expression a child would make, knowing he was wrong but unable to understand why. Losing interest in talking with him, Selina diverted her gaze, falling onto the window. There was nothing worth seeing but she refused to look again at Sirius, feeling like, by looking at him for too long, she would be infected by his stupid appearance. ¡°Forget it¡±, she magnanimously snided. ¡°Our girls¡¯ conversation must be boring¡­¡± ¡°No-¡±, Sirius instinctively started to deny her. ¡°...So you should probably go over to Azrael''s side and tell me if he¡¯s still with this girl¡±, she had nearly spat out the last two words. Her expression had also turned somber with her forehead creasing into aversion. However, this time, the atmosphere was still. The three girls¡¯ facial expressions were still numb from Selina¡¯s previous anger but there wasn¡¯t the same obvious fear from before. They were clearly accustomed to her volatile feelings. After Selina dismissed him, no one paid Sirius any more attention. He was back to being the invisible man. Thus, even when he opened and closed the door with an audible sound, not a fleeting gaze was thrown in his direction. Once he was alone in the hallway, Sirius¡¯ tense body relaxed. He hadn¡¯t thought that interacting with the villainess would be so nerve-wrecking. Maybe it was due to this body¡¯s familiarity with her but as soon as her eyes had fallen upon him, his body had instinctively tensed up and he had felt a distinct mix of nervousness and excitement. Now that he was able to breath, he dully looked around him and was left surprised. The hallway was very clean and richly decorated. It was divided in two parts with one side that gave view on a huge courtyard and the other that gave on a series of doors identical to the one he had just closed. On the walls, there were tapestries that each represented a different person. Finely embroidered, the images were so lifelike that Sirius wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if the character represented suddenly started moving. On the windows¡¯ side, there were little white wooden tables with vases full of blooming and vibrant flowers which diffused a sweet odour that permeated the whole hallway. As Sirius started to walk down the hallway and pondered about really going to look for Azrael, a familiar panel popped out in front of his eyes. Character Selina gave you a task: go see what Azrael is up to. (Confirmed) As soon as his eyes fell upon the ¡®(Confirmed¡¯) Sirius¡¯ eyebrows twitched. Even if the trashy system had told him earlier on that some tasks were inevitable, being immediately confronted with one of them left him with a bitter taste in the back of his throat. A bit annoyed, he tried to make the panel disappear with a vague movement of his hand and, to his surprise, it actually disappeared. Knowing that accomplishing the task was inevitable, Sirius¡¯ walk noticeably slowed down in a vain attempt of delaying going down the glass staircase that was becoming closer and closer as he approached the other side of the hallway. He was really reluctant to search for someone whose appearance he didn''t even know. Selina hadn¡¯t even given him any lead so he already guessed that he was doomed to aimlessly wander the school in hope of finding this damned Azrael. When Sirius was only a few steps away from the staircase, the last -or first depending which way you look at it- door opened right in front of him, nearly hitting him directly in the face. Bemusedly looking at the dark wood of the door that was a mere centimeter away from his skin, Sirius even forgot to let out a sound of complaint. Meanwhile, unaware that he had nearly knocked out someone by opening the door so sharply, a blonde-haired student bowed deeply, beads of sweat rolling down from his temple. His eyes were slightly dilated and he said with distress, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry! I will make sure that everything is resolved by tomorrow!¡± But the person he was talking to inflexibly answered, ¡°In one hour, I¡¯ll personally make sure that the problem has been resolved.¡± ¡°But¡­¡±, the student started to say before shutting up with a fretful expression. ¡°His highness is counting on you so I hope you won¡¯t disappoint him.¡± The voice tingled agreeably in Sirius¡¯ ears. It was velvety and deep and contrary to Selina¡¯s voice, despite the audible sharpness that belied the steeliness of his owner, it didn¡¯t give this sense of aggression. However, the student obviously didn¡¯t share this opinion. He immediately started to furiously nod, like a little chicken pecking rice and answered with urgency, ¡°O-of course not! Don¡¯t worry butler Nayaz, I will make sure everything is perfect!¡± After saying those words, the blonde haired student hurtled down the stairs, nearly tripping but still didn¡¯t stop and quickly disappeared from sight. Silence fell upon the hallway and Sirius hesitated about going down the stairs or waiting for this ¡°Butler Nayaz¡± to go back inside his room. He didn¡¯t want to look like he had purposely eavesdropped on their conversation but casually passing in front of the other person would still betray the fact that he had been secretly listening to their conversation. It felt like an eternity before a sound was again heard in the hallway. Indeed, rather than going back into the room, the named ¡°butler Nayaz¡± had silently bypassed the opened door to come face to face with Sirius. There was a deafening silence in the hallway.