Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Have you ever judged someone for being in a perilous situation that was totally avoidable and definitely their own fault?

That was me in my past life every single time the protagonist made a stupid decision in the game.

I used to scoff and say, "If I were in his place, I'd never have gotten caught up in that mess.

I'd have been smarter.

"Well… so much for that.

Because now, I was in the exact same situation as him.

A situation that was entirely avoidable — and definitely my own fault.

"Fuck!

" I cursed again.

From where I stood, the infernal explosions blooming across the distance looked like miniature suns clawing their way up from the western horizon.

Darkness was banished by the false dawn.

The night had ended.

Everything was suddenly so bright.

So violently bright that my eyes throbbed.

I winced, blinking against the harsh light, and took in my surroundings — now bathed in the searing glow of hellfire.

The shattered streets of the central plaza were littered with chunks of concrete and the mutilated remains of monstrous beasts.

Stone tiles — old and moss-covered — lay cracked.

Crumbling buildings, most long since withered by age and many destroyed by us, cast dramatic shadows all across the ground.

Above us, the heavens hadn't yet calmed — violent streaks of purple lightning still flashed between the turbulent black clouds.

And far, far in the distance...

Beyond the raging infernos…Beyond the haze of dark smoke rising from the explosions...

Beyond the false dawn that pierced even the deepest edge of the Night Sanctuary...

I saw them.

Barely visible but unmistakable jagged black peaks of a vast mountain range jutting into the sky like the ribcage of some titanic, long-dead god.

Carved entirely from obsidian.

So tall they looked like they could scrape the heavens.

That… was the Crown of Thorns.

One of the most treacherous Death-Zones in the entire Spirit Realm.

It was a mountain range so unforgiving and deathly that even the strongest Awakened throughout history had failed to conquer it.

But I only caught a fleeting glimpse of those peaks before a blinding column of pure white light crashed down from the heavens — falling in the midst of the swirling infernos.

In the very next instant, the flames from those infernos were snuffed out.

The world dimmed.

The light died.

And darkness came flooding back.

Once again, night returned to the Night Sanctuary.

"Selene," I whispered.

She must've intervened.

I had to admit that she was quick to react.

As expected of one of humanity's strongest.

…But even she wouldn't be able to stop what was coming next.

Those explosions were created by setting the souls of several Awakened on fire.

The heat generated by them should've been comparable to a miniature solar flare.

And buried beneath the foundations of the Night Sanctuary were hundreds of Solbraiths — Elder and Unholy Spirit Beasts that fed on solar energy.

Those blasts might not have been enough to wake up all of them… but some would definitely have stirred from their slumbers.

And soon they'd rise, drawn by the warmth and starving for violence.

"Wh-What's going on?!

""That was a drill, right?

Right?!

Tell me that was just a drill!

""No way.

That looked real.

Real and dangerous.

""This… this can't be happening…""Should we, like… go check it out?

""Are you crazy!?

I say we run in the opposite direction!

"I blinked, shaken from my thoughts by the fearful voices of numerous Cadets freaking out around me.

Ivan, who had been standing beside me, grabbed my sleeve.

His eyes were blown wide and his lips trembled as he looked at me.

"Wh… What was that?

"It wasn't really a question.

Just a gasp of disbelief put into words.

But I couldn't answer him.

Not because I didn't know what to say—But because a single thought was ringing in my mind.

Louder than any explosion.

Clearer than any scream.

'All these people are going to die.

'And when I looked at Ivan, another thought echoed even sharply.

'He's also going to die.

'I didn't know that for certain.

In the game, most of the Cadets died during the Massacre.

A handful survived thanks to Selene.

But even then, the death toll was insurmountable.

And most of the survivors were key figures.

Named characters.

Or side characters with arcs or influence.

Someone like Ivan…Someone who never impacted the story in any meaningful way…I doubted he was going to make it.

My heartbeat rose.

Ivan looked like he was about to say something else — maybe ask more questions, maybe panic further — but I didn't let him.

Before the words could leave his mouth, I grabbed his arm.

"Go to your friends," I snapped.

"Get out of here.

Now.

As fast as you can.

"He blinked in confusion.

"What?

Samael, what are you talking about?!

We need to wait for instructions.

There could be an emergency protocol—""There is an emergency," I interrupted, harsher than I meant to.

"Get the fuck out of here!

"He stared at me, breath stuck in his throat, not knowing how to react.

But when I shoved him, he finally nodded… albeit reluctantly.

Then turned to run.

THWAAAM—!!

However, he didn't even make it five steps before the ground shook again.

Much more violently than before.

This time, the tremor leveled entire buildings — structures that were already weak from age collapsed like dominos.

Cadets stumbled and fell, some screaming, others crushed beneath the rain of stone and debris.

Panic ignited.

Hysteria and terror spread like fire on dry grass.

And before anyone could understand what was going on, the very earth outside the western borders of the Night Sanctuary… broke.

The ground split apart with a deafening crack, as if the world itself was screaming — and from that yawning chasm, something began to rise.

It was a giant.

A nightmarish, godless thing, so massive that it dwarfed the dark sky above when it stood up straight.

Its body was made of jagged onyx scales, darker than black, each one cracked and glowing from within.

Streams of molten fire leaked through those cracks, sliding down its limbs like blood made of lava.

Its chest heaved with every breath, and with each exhale, smoke and ash poured from its body like a volcano ready to erupt.

Across its forehead were three eyes — lidless, blazing, and locked in a constant stare that made your skin crawl.

And where its mouth should've been… there was no mouth.

Just a gaping, uneven slit across its face — a deep fissure that glowed red-hot from the inside.

Like a burning crucible that churned with fire.

It was an Unholy Spirit Beast.

It didn't roar.

It didn't even charge.

It just stood there.

Watching.

As if it knew it didn't need to rush.

Because soon, everything would burn anyway.