Prologue - And So, I'm Fucked
I was the empire's greatest villain.
"If only you weren't here... the empire wouldn't have crumbled so pathetically..."
Those were the final words she spoke to me—my fiancée, the peerless genius who served as the empire's prime minister, holding the collapsing nation together until the very end. She died defending the imperial palace to her last breath.
"...Go fuck yourself, you piece of shit."
Those were the last words left to me by the great archmage who swept across the battlefield, hunting down the Demon King's lieutenants. She dealt a fatal blow to the Demon King himself but perished as her limbs were torn apart by the backlash.
"Thank you truly for making us realize, even now, that the gods have abandoned us."
Those were the final words from the saintess said to appear once every thousand years. She scurried about trying to evacuate even one more imperial citizen, only to meet a miserable end at the hands of the Demon King's army.
"...Disgusting."
Those were the last words from the cursed black mage who had attended me since childhood. She rebuked my ugliness and took her own life right before my eyes.
"...You're the ugliest person I've ever known."
On the day of the final battle, those were the parting words from the imperial princess hailed as the empire's hope. She resisted the Demon King until the end but was captured and sacrificed as the catalyst for a grand spell that manifested hell across the continent.
"Even the demons in hell must be less repulsive than you, foolish human."
Those were the words she spat at me with roaring laughter when I surrendered to the Demon King, clutching the hero's armament passed down through my family for generations.
"...I know."
But that laughter turned into a murmur laced with shock the moment I triggered the hero's armament I carried in my embrace to go berserk.
"...You bastard, why?"
To the Demon King, who stared at me with a dumbfounded expression, I flashed a smile and gave a simple answer.
"...To get the system."
With those words, I gazed at the system window that popped up before my eyes with a cheerful chime, then vanished alongside the Demon King in a blaze of light.
Villain's Path
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in the bed of the inn where I'd stayed the day before enrolling at the academy.
"Haa... I really did come back..."
Confirming the date on the calendar on the desk and truly feeling the regression sink in, I muttered softly under my breath.
"...System."
Villain's Path: A inescapable fate granted once more to you, who allowed the world to perish once. Defile your name with villainy and save the world.
Cumulative Villainy Points: 0
I stared contentedly for a moment at the system window I'd barely earned through deeds that didn't suit my temperament at all—the one that would save everyone—before feeling a pang of hunger and trying to get out of bed.
Penalty Occurred!
"Huh?"
Sure enough, when I checked the new window that appeared before my eyes, I froze in place mid-motion as I tried to rise from the bed.
Penalty: The 5 main heroines have awakened to memories of the previous loop!
"...What the fuck is this bullshit?"
And so, I'm fucked.