Prologue
“You scum.”
Swish- Crack!
A sound like the lash of a whip.
The silver-haired woman slapped me hard across the face.
As I looked forward, the sting made me feel like a tear might trickle out, but I didn’t actually cry.
I couldn’t cry.
Because this body I was in now was not my own.
There was no way a man like this—Winter Winslet, renowned for his cold and lofty disposition—would shed tears over something like being slapped by his fiancée.
Instead, this man used his fingertips to grasp the chin of the woman who had just struck him and spouted this nonsense:
“Even your angry face is quite a sight, Josephine.”
“Ugh, don’t you dare change the subject.”
She immediately slapped his hand away and confronted him, her anger palpable.
“How can a person be like this? Just last month you were caught, and now you’re rolling around with another woman. And this time, the other party is…”
Josephine’s face grew redder and redder, eventually twisting into a grimace of sheer disbelief.
“You’re saying the other party… is 42 people?”
Staring into the pair of blue eyes glaring fiercely at me, I finally accepted the situation I was in.
Professor Winter Winslet.
I had possessed the worst villain from Candela of Judgment.
And now, I came with the added bonus of being an unparalleled womanizer.
Episode 1
Playtime: Over 10,000 hours.
Like a true veteran of Judgment of Candela of Judgment, I grasped the situation in an instant.
Winter Winslet had been caught cheating. Again.
And he had gotten beaten up by his fiancée because of it.
Right in the middle of the party venue…
Josephine de Azetta.
She was a member of the Royal Guard, a noble knight, and simultaneously, one of the heroines you could romance in the game Judgment of Candela.
In other words, she was the heroine for the original game’s protagonist, not the villain, Professor Winslet.
She was a character constantly hurt by her fiancé, who, despite their one-sided engagement, openly fooled around, only to be saved later by the protagonist.
That was the beauty before me, Josephine.
As I looked at Josephine’s face, I thought:
Is he insane?
Why would he cheat when he has a fiancée like this?
…But now, that insane man is me.
“Say something.”
Josephine glared at me, her eyes narrowed as she pressed for an answer.
Her sudden intrusion and even physical assault had brought the party atmosphere to the brink of collapse, but she seemed oblivious to it all now.
I uttered what could be considered the textbook excuse.
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
Of course, it was a lie.
I could practically recite Judgment of Candela from memory, and I could say with certainty that Professor Winslet’s list of affairs was in the triple digits.
If it’s only 42 people this time, I guess he got caught less than usual.
Even so, with this track record, it wouldn’t be strange if he’d been stabbed to death long ago…
“Wow, how are you still alive?”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“Can’t you even be bothered to make excuses now?”
Misunderstanding my words, Josephine gritted her teeth.
Today, I learned exactly what it means to have fury blazing in one’s eyes.
Hoping someone would step in to help, I glanced around.
Winter Winslet was a socialite and the handsome man of the century.
In this gathering, where young nobles ostensibly discussed politics and philosophy but really just drank and gossiped, there were plenty who would take my side.
They just weren’t being helpful.
“Oh my, who is that woman causing a scene here?”
“Look at her hair. Silver hair? It must be that woman. Baron Winslet’s fiancée!”
“Ah, the one who shamelessly chased after the Baron without knowing her place?”
“Watch your tongue. I think she heard you.”
“So what if she’s glaring? A grown woman with no sense of dignity.”
“I heard her family are immigrants?”
“Is that why? How lacking in class. Why did the Baron get engaged to a woman like that?”
“It’s obvious she used some dirty trick. Probably to extort money from the Baron.”
“Poor Baron. Honestly, if a man like him cheats, isn’t it partly the woman’s fault? How unappealing must she be to drive her fiancé to cheat?”
“I guess she’s a saint in the bedroom.”
The unpleasant whispers continued.
Those who train in martial arts generally develop strong mental fortitude.
But unfortunately, that didn’t apply to Josephine.
A swordsman with exceptional talent but a timid personality.
That was my fiancée.
As a veteran of Judgment of Candela, I knew her character better than anyone. The urge to tell these chattering fools to shut up, to not provoke the armed woman, rose in my throat.
The meeker the person, the more explosive their anger.
There was no telling what Josephine, cornered mentally, might do.
As evidence, her hand gripping her sword hilt was white-knuckled.
“If it’s going to be like this… I might as well cut you down right here and die myself to protect my family’s honor.”
My fiancée was suddenly escalating.
And then, a notification message appeared.
[Warning]
[Death Branch Point has been updated.]
I was doomed.
I just got here, and I’m about to be killed in a crime of passion?
A myriad of thoughts crossed my mind in that brief moment.
First. What idiot allowed someone wearing a sword into the party venue?
Second. Was Josephine’s Swordsmanship talent S-Rank? It wouldn’t even take a second to slice my head off.
Third. In the original story, I mean, in the original game, what happened here?
The memory came back quickly.
I’d heard it directly from Josephine herself.
Once you got somewhat close to her as the player character, Josephine would complain about her fiancé as naturally as breathing.
And the events of today were one of the worst incidents Josephine recalled.
He probably said something like:
‘Go ahead, draw that sword. If you’re curious to see the expressions on your parents’ and sisters’ faces when they hang from the gallows.’
Winter Winslet was the eldest son of the prestigious Count’s family.
In contrast, Josephine was the second daughter of a knightly family that had fled their homeland in her grandparents’ generation.
The difference in status and power was like heaven and earth, and he implied that if he wished, he could easily retaliate.
And Josephine wasn’t strong-willed enough to remain unshaken by threats against her family.
In the end, if Josephine failed to draw her sword and backed down, Winter Winslet would whisper this in her ear:
‘Remember. After we are married, I am your master. It seems your father neglected your etiquette education… but I am a patient man. When the time comes, I will personally carve the virtue of obedience into your very body.’
Indeed.
He lived up to his reputation as the trashy villain voted number one in the official character dislike poll.
A sociopath who would crush any resistance with power, trample on pride, and use any weakness to get what he wanted.
That was the true nature of Winter Winslet.
If I were to follow his words and actions now, it wouldn’t be difficult to escape this immediate crisis.
But I didn’t want to.
…Was it really necessary?
There was an easier way. Why not?
I stepped closer to Josephine.
“Josephine.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
To her, who refused conversation, I responded with action instead of words.
I grabbed the wrist of her hand that was fidgeting on the sword hilt, pulled it up, and then pushed my body against hers.
Until her back touched the statue behind her.
And then… I went straight in for a kiss.
“Mmph?!”
Josephine’s eyes widened in shock.
She seemed surprised at first, but she didn’t refuse.
“Mmm…”
After a kiss that was not particularly short,
I looked into Josephine’s eyes from a nose-to-nose distance.
“The only one I truly love is you.”
Josephine demurely lowered her gaze.
“…Lies.”
“Look at my eyes.”
Our eyes met again, and I gazed deeply into her jewel-like blue eyes, speaking in a smooth tone.
“Do these look like the eyes of a liar?”
“……”
To suddenly plant a kiss and then ask to be believed…
It might seem like the act of a lunatic… No, it was the act of a lunatic, but I was confident it would work.
Because, according to her settings, this fiancée…
…was hopelessly lovesick.
And Winter Winslet was the handsome man of the century.
“T-this is really the last time…”
Saying that, Josephine pulled away, covering her lips with the back of her hand.
Her cheeks were flushed red, perhaps from embarrassment.
“I won’t disappoint you.”
With that final nail in the coffin, I had successfully extended my life.
[Notification]
[Death Branch Point Cleared.]
[Acquired Achievement Points as a reward.]
[Would you like to open the Achievement Store? (YES/NO)]
After placating Josephine and sending her away, and dissolving the party, I was left alone in the empty hall.
I had deliberately chased away the disappointed onlookers to hide what I was about to do next.
To others, it would probably look like I was blankly admiring the empty air.
[Winter Winslet]
Strength: D | Health: E
Technique: A | Wit: B
Intelligence: A-Talents: [Magic Power S] [Magic A] [Element: Ice S] [Dark Magic B] …(omitted)…
-Traits: [Born Noble] [Inherent Pride] [Lack of Humanity] [Aesthetic Eye] [Always Elegant] [First-Rate Gourmet] [Hygienic] [Heroic Will] [Glass Cannon] [Prodigal Son Returns] [Archetypal Mage] [Charming Genes] [Handsome Man of the Century] …(omitted)…
Slightly unbalanced stats and the harmony of two S-Rank talents, rare even within the game’s world.
Looking at this cheat-like status screen, I finally became certain.
I had entered the game.
I had become Professor Winter Winslet, a character from Judgment of Candela.
Judgment of Candela is a game where the player starts as a rookie in the Candela of Judgment Knight Order, solves various cases, gains experience, gets promoted, and ultimately becomes the hero of the kingdom.
The Candela of Judgment Knight Order is a secret direct subordinate unit of the royal family, a sort of group of royal inspectors.
And unfortunately, Professor Winslet was not the protagonist or some stellar supporting character.
Rather, he was a blatant villain.
He committed all sorts of evils, obstructing the protagonist’s path, and depending on the route, delivered some of the most challenging boss fights.
But the problem was, why had I become that villain?
…Was I being punished for doing a little client data mining?
Client data mining, or ‘client tearing’, is the act of acquiring game information through unauthorized methods not permitted by the developers.
I certainly had done that.
Not with ill intent, just to peek at some code related to a certain NPC.
It was quite the coincidence that this NPC happened to be Winter Winslet…
Where to even begin?
As a veteran of Judgment of Candela, even after unlocking all elements and viewing all endings, I had one unresolved question.
‘Why is Winter Winslet always dead?’
He was voted the most disliked character due to his terrible personality, but his handsome appearance and powerful stats also gave him a cult-like popularity among some fans.
Judgment of Candela was a game with high freedom, so many speculated that if you met hidden conditions, you might be able to recruit Professor Winslet as an ally.
I was one of them.
However, in all my playthroughs, I never found a way to take Professor Winslet as a comrade.
Because he always died.
There wasn’t a single playthrough where he didn’t die.
While it’s commonplace for villain characters to be defeated and killed by the protagonist, Judgment of Candela was a high-freedom game.
If you chose the right branches, you could avoid the boss fight with Professor Winslet altogether.
So, once, I saw the ending without even encountering Winslet once, and he only appeared in two lines in the epilogue:
‘What about Winter Winslet?’
‘He died.’
My competitive spirit ignited, and I eventually attempted client data extraction. Through sheer persistence, I succeeded in decrypting it.
All that was left was to examine the internal data… but strangely, I have no memory of what happened after that.
Did I doze off?
And thus, I arrived at my current situation.
One hundred out of a hundred, one thousand out of a thousand.
I had possessed the villain with a 100% mortality rate, who died without fail in every playthrough.
Without thinking, I touched the cheek that had been struck earlier; it stung terribly.
It was clear to me now that this was not a game but reality.
So now, I…
I wanted to go home, wash my feet, and get some sleep.
Having narrowly escaped death, my mind and body were exhausted.
It was also late at night.
Just as I was pondering where Winter Winslet’s house was and how to find it…
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The sound of someone pounding heavily on the door.
Before I could even answer, the hall entrance opened, and a squad of armed soldiers entered.
Armed with spears and swords, they recognized me and immediately approached.
“Baron Winslet, is that you?”
“Who are you?”
“We’re the Military Police. We received a report that you were in danger and mobilized.”
“A report?”
Winter Winslet was the eternal, unchanging villain.
Like a thief feeling guilty, I thought the Military Police had come to arrest me.
But it seemed someone had seen Josephine with her sword and panicked, filing a report.
Thinking that, I spoke to the one who appeared to be the squad leader.
“Josephine, I mean, the intruder, I talked her down and sent her away. So you can go back.”
“Huh? That can’t be right…”
“What do you mean?”
“The subject of the report we received hasn’t even arrived here yet. Kenneth of the Twin Flames has escaped from prison and is heading this way! Three checkpoints are already burning, and a hundred soldiers have been taken out!”
“Kenneth of the Twin Flames? Is that the escapee’s name?”
“Yes! We are here to assist in your evacuation…”
The soldier couldn’t finish his sentence.
A sudden roar drowned out his voice.
KABOOM!
The main hall doors shattered, sending stone fragments flying into the air.
Soldiers caught in the shockwave fell like rows of reeds.
I stared into the thick cloud of dust.
A faint silhouette walked out from within it.
“From the swamp-like depths, the pitch-black darkness… I have waited for this day. For the time of revenge alone…”
A wretched appearance, menacing eyes.
In the man’s outstretched hands hung broken iron chains and shaking, scorching flames.
So that’s what ‘Twin Flames’ meant.
As I was having that thought, the size of the flames suddenly seemed to grow.
Actually, they weren’t growing; it just seemed that way.
Because they were already flying towards me!
The guy had thrown a fireball.
“Receive the karmic flames that will judge your sins, Winter Winslet!”
[Warning]
[Death Branch Point has been updated.]
The second death flag on the first day of possession.
As expected of Winter Winslet, the villain with a 100% mortality rate, treating life-threatening crises like daily meals.
