Prologue: When I Fell Asleep, I Was Inside a Novel.
I fell asleep and woke up inside a novel.
"Still, I Want to Die"
A tragic tale of a girl born as the daughter of a rapist, slaying corrupt heroes—a pitiful villain who meets defeat after defeat, suffering endless humiliation.
Or so everyone thought. The hidden twist was that she wasn't the rapist's daughter at all, but the child born from pure, devoted love with an outer god from beyond the cosmos.
And in the end, the girl awakens that outer god's blood and wipes out all of humanity. A "happy ending" for the protagonist alone.
...Whether you could really call it a happy ending is debatable.
Anyway, that's the novel I ended up in. Complete with a gender swap, no less.
But I became a hero, too.
In this world where villains have no rights, there's something called a "arch-enemy". Think of it as your personal arch-enemy—mine included.
One hero marks one villain exclusively. The villain can only clash with their arch-enemy, and that right persists as long as they don't cause "collateral damage" to other heroes.
In short: Yeah. Arch-enemy. Arch-enemy fits perfectly.
The only ones who can end an arch-enemy bond are the pair themselves. Nothing else can interfere with their conclusion.
Of course, in this novel, it usually ends in tragedy for the villain...
But I planned to become the protagonist's arch-enemy.
I didn't know how it would play out, but if I had a shot at rewriting an ending I hated, only a fool would pass it up.
...I had no idea how our story would end.
But I would be the one to decide it.
Because I'm the hero.
Heroes are arrogant like that.
Villains just have to swallow the ending the hero hands them.
If they spit it back up, the hero shoves it right back down.
That was my justice. My chosen end.
"I hope it suits your taste."
It's too late to turn back now, after all.
A hero you never chose. One who'll endure through sheer malice and grit.