Blessed to be the Villain

Ethan let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples as he leaned back against the creaky bed. Whatever. He had already been thrown into a world of magic, gods, and demons—what was so strange about having a chatterbox for a system?

The moment he thought that, he heard a soft huff, almost as if the system had taken offense.

"I heard that."

His eye twitched. Why did you hear that? Don't you know about privacy? Can't you leave a man alone with his thoughts?"

The voice, undeniably feminine and almost pouting, responded.

"It's not my fault! You're the one speaking out loud in your soul realm! I can hear everything! So what am I supposed to do, just not listen? Well… I could block it out, but you're my Host, so I should listen, right? But if you really want me to, I guess I can try not listening, but—"

Ethan groaned, slapping his forehead. What kind of idiot did I get as a system? Not only was it talkative, but he couldn't even have his own private thoughts without it eavesdropping.

"I heard that too!" the system chimed in.

Pressing both hands against his head, he rolled side to side on the bed in frustration. Great. Just great. A damn defective system.

Taking deep breaths, he muttered to himself, "At least it's not that—"

His own hand shot up, slamming over his mouth as his eyes widened in horror. He stopped moving and cautiously glanced around.

Nothing unusual.

He let out a slow exhale, relieved. Huff… almost triggered a red flag.

Surprisingly, the system also sighed in what sounded like genuine relief.

"Huff… Fortunately, you didn't finish that sentence, Host. Otherwise, something bad definitely would've happened."

Ethan arched an eyebrow. "Wait… you believe in that kind of thing too?"

The system responded with absolute confidence. "Of course! Everyone I know believes in it!"

He frowned. "Everyone? Hold on. How many people do you actually know?"

A brief silence. Then—

"Hmmm… Including you, Host? One person!"

Ethan dragged his palm down his face. This thing… is really an idiot.

Shaking his head, he asked, "So, you don't even know your creator?"

"Nope!"

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you're here!" the system said matter-of-factly.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "And what exactly does that mean?"

"Well, since you're my Host, I'm obviously going to be with you! I exist inside your soul realm! Isn't that obvious?"

Ethan sighed, rubbing his temples again. "Alright, then tell me this—do you know why I'm in this world?"

"Nope!"

His lips thinned. "Then do you know how I can go back?"

There was a slight pause before she answered.

"Not right now, at least."

Ethan's fingers clenched into a fist. "Not right now? So, does that mean you can tell me later?"

"Yes! Theoretically."

His eye twitched. "Theoretically?"

"Yep! My capabilities depend on how strong you are, Host."

Ethan's brow furrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you grow stronger, my abilities will also improve! So, theoretically, if you become powerful enough, I might be able to find a way to send you back. But I can't be sure yet, since even I don't fully understand it myself."

Silence settled over him. His fingers trembled slightly before he clenched them tighter, his nails digging into his palms.

If he wanted to return to Earth… he had to become stronger.

But could he really? He had always considered himself smart, sure—but a genius? A prodigy? No. And the original owner of this body was even worse—weak, corrupt, and despised.

Could he really change that? Could he actually become strong enough to defy fate?

A familiar warmth flooded his chest, memories surfacing like echoes from a life that felt far too distant.

His mother's gentle hands, ruffling his hair after school.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee from his father's study.

His little sister's voice, laughing as she clung to his arm.

Home.

Would he ever see them again?

The ache in his heart tightened like a vice, his vision blurring slightly before he forced himself to take a deep breath. No. He couldn't afford to dwell on that.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was survival.

"But right at this moment, the system revealed how awesome it was to Ethan!"

His thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"...Why are you narrating inside my head?"

"Pfft… hehe… sorry, sorry, Host!" the system giggled. "But you really shouldn't feel down! You have me—the system! So what's there to worry about?"

Ethan frowned. "That depends. Can you actually do anything useful?"

"Of course! Haven't you read any novels? Seen any anime? Don't you know how OP systems are?"

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. "This isn't a damn anime."

The system ignored him, her voice practically glowing with pride.

"Systems can take any loser, idiot, loner and turn them into OP protagonists with eight-pack abs and super handsome looks! They get an aura so powerful that girls fall for them just by their smell! It's science!"

Ethan stared blankly at the ceiling. Did she just watch Solo Leveling or something?

"So, don't worry! I'm here! You don't have to stress about anything! Just let me do my job!" she said confidently.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Alright then. Can you make me stronger right now?"

"...No."

"Can you dispel my curse?"

"...No."

"Can you at least make sure that if I break the contract with Lara, I won't get punished?"

"Umm… No." Her voice got quieter with each answer.

Ethan exhaled through his nose before slapping his forehead. "Great. Not only is my system an idiotic, boastful chatterbox, but it's also useless."

"H-Hey! I heard that!" she pouted.

"And it still doesn't understand privacy."

"I—I am NOT useless! Sniff… sniff…"

His brows twitched. Was she about to cry?

Ethan let out a long, tired sigh. This was ridiculous. He wasn't the kind of guy who could handle crying girls—let alone an AI throwing a tantrum.

Rubbing his temples, he softened his tone. "Okay, okay. You're not useless. I was just frustrated."

"Sniff… R-Really?" she asked, sniffling like a child.

"Yeah, yeah. You're actually very… um, special. I was just being mean. I'm a bad person, so don't mind what I say."

"Sniff… You… you're not a bad person, Host…"

Gods, this was exhausting.

Wanting to change the subject, he quickly asked, "Alright, so what can you do?"

Instantly, her voice turned cheerful again. "Oh! For starters, you can claim your reward from the skill called First Blood Reward!"

Ethan blinked. "Wait, I have a reward?"

"Yep! Two, actually!"

His eyes narrowed. "Two? One's probably from last night… but what's the other one?"

Frowning, he searched through the original Ethan's memories. It didn't take long to find the answer.

The second reward… was from the incident that got him exiled in the first place.

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