Chapter 1:
The Evil Lord Weiss
“MAN, IS THERE REALLY NO ROUTE WHERE I can save Weiss?”
I sat in front of my computer, gripping my head in my hands. I had hopes for the latest update, but much to my chagrin, the feature I desired the most was nowhere to be found.
At the moment, I was super into this SRPG called Valhalla Tactics. In the game, the protagonist, guided by the hand of God, saved the empire from the control of an evil deity. It was a classic premise for a fantasy RPG, but its distinctive characters were popular with fans.
The cast of antagonists was particularly big among players: Two girls called Evil Bloody Mistress Aigis and Cruel False Saint Astesia were among them and even more popular than the main heroine herself.
The game also included things like a loyalty system for the citizens, which determined whether they listened to orders or revolted. That being said, you couldn’t just raise the number and expect everything to go perfectly; there were some characters you couldn’t recruit if the loyalty number was too high, so it had great replay value. Online, it was often called a “Rinse-and-Repeat SRPG.”
Personally, I was a huge fan of Weiss, the first villain our hero had to defeat.
“I get it, he’s the type of character that gets his ass handed to him at the start and never even had a chance, but there’s more to him than that…”
He was the older brother of the genius mage girl who was one of the heroines in the hero’s party, and after being compared to his more competent little sister all of his life, he developed an inferiority complex and lost his way. In that sense, he was a deeply sad character. The game itself never went into this backstory particularly deeply, so on the internet, people often said he was little more than a “rotten, stepping-stone hottie of a nobleman.”
But I understood. I, too, had a talented little sister, and I knew how painful it could be to be compared to your sibling like that. I couldn’t help but see myself in him, especially when I was at my lowest. Since realizing how similar we were, I started reading old comics and fanfics where he was saved. If I had the chance, I could’ve saved him! I spent so many hours letting my imagination race.
I was certain that plenty of other folks thought this way about their favorite characters who died tragically. Weiss was that for me. I just really enjoyed bad guys like him. For example, in that one game where you could summon a cute King Arthur, my favorite character was Mr. Seaweed. In The Witch from Mercury, my favorite character was Guel.
“I just know I could make you happy.”
“Then, would you like to try and save him for real?”
“Huh?”
Glancing around, I concluded I must be imagining things. I was the only one in my room. It was probably because I’d been gaming so hard. All of a sudden, I was exhausted.
Upon lying down, however, I heard the voice in my head again.
“All right, then I’ll give you a particularly fascinating skill. Whether or not you’ll use it properly is entirely up to you, but it could prove quite useful. I do hope that you make the game board a fun one.”
Then, my consciousness faded into the darkness.