The rain was an afterthought, vaporized before it could touch the pinnacle of Aegis City Tower. All that existed was the blinding, resonant blue of the legendary Magic Sword, Aether, and the ragged, final roar of its wielder, Kaito. He was the archetype: heroic, flawless, and utterly resolute, a man whose narrative trajectory was as straight and true as the blade he held.
Facing him, Lord Vortex dissolved. The final, earth-shattering Aether Strike: Zenith had delivered the ultimate victory. The metropolis below, secured by this monumental sacrifice, glowed in indifference. Kaito stood victorious, backlit by the furious blue light, ready for the narrative-mandated collapse of relief.
But the narrative had not accounted for physics.
The pressure exerted by the Zenith attack—a decade of specialized mana training funneled into one instant—was too much. Before the victorious police choppers could even position their searchlights, a microscopic tear occurred in Kaito's temporal lobe. There was no theatrical scream, no final tear. There was only a quiet, immediate cessation of all life functions. Kaito simply pitched forward, dead. The Aether dissolved back into shimmering dust, leaving only an empty space where the Main Character had been.
In the non-place known as the Axiom, the fundamental core of this reality, the monitoring systems went berserk.
AXIOM-01, the logic core, narrated the disaster in its sterile, digital chime:
STATUS UPDATE: Main Character Kaito is Dead. Cause of Death: Genre-Deviating Biological Failure. 0% Villain Involvement.
CRITICAL WARNING: SECTION COLLAPSE IMMINENT. Dimensional Integrity Degradation.
AXIOM-02, the Field Operator, materialized as a geometric construct of frantic, flashing code, screeching in pure digital panic. "Section Collapse?! That's a nightmare scenario! The uncontrolled ingress of high-level threats across all 35 designated Gates! Filter for a replacement! Now! We need an anchor who can use the Aether signature!"
AXIOM-01: "Search Protocol initiated. Filtering for required high latent mana and a public Alignment of Lawful or Chaotic Good."
SEARCH COMPLETE. Output: Zero Viable Candidates Found.
Axiom-02 vibrated with digital despair. "Zero?! How can the heroic population be so useless? Lower the parameters! Find anyone with the latent power who isn't currently institutionalized!"
AXIOM-01: "Rerunning algorithm with parameters set to 'High Latent Mana Reserve' and 'Available for Immediate Sync'…"
CANDIDATE FOUND.
Target Designation: Ren. Age 17. Residence: Section 35.
A profile materialized, displaying a blurry image of a skinny boy in a faded hoodie and thick glasses, his expression one of perpetual, harassed exhaustion.
AXIOM-02: "Ren. Sixteen, high school student, Section 35. Public Status: Academic Nerd, Bully Target. Alignment: Unknown. Mana Signature: High, compatible with Aether-Class. Private Alignment Data… Wait. Private Alignment: Chaotic Neutral/Villain-Adjacent. Motivation: Excessive wealth accumulation. Severe distrust of authority and heroes."
"A cynical, money-obsessed, bullied high school nerd who actively wants to be a villain?" Axiom-02 wailed. "This is an aesthetic disaster! It violates every rule of the Protagonist Archetype!"
AXIOM-01: "Section Collapse Status: 35%. He is the only high-Sync candidate. We must inject the Main Character Protocol now. Failure to anchor the narrative will result in the immediate obliteration of all 35 Japanese Sections."
"Fine!" Axiom-02 shrieked, its logic overridden by sheer existential terror. "Inject the protocol! We'll brute-force the heroic alignment later! ACTIVATE PROTOCOL: RELUCTANT SUCCESSOR!"
A ferocious pulse of gold energy shot out from the Axiom core, aimed at the forgotten, low-rent district of Section 35.
The apartment in Section 35 was a monument to enforced poverty. It smelled faintly of old instant ramen and cleaning solvent. Ren, the target of the Axiom's desperate attention, sat hunched at a desk, the picture of a pathetic, bullied nerd. He wore thick, black-rimmed glasses, and a perpetually slumped posture that screamed "please ignore me."
He was meticulously calculating the cost of a fake dimensional artifact on a cracked tablet.
"If the Guilds are paying fifty thousand yen for a stabilized Type-B Slag, and I can make an unstabilized fake for three thousand yen using industrial resin…" he muttered, ignoring the sound of the microwave dying with a resigned groan in the kitchen.
"Ren! The microwave is dead again!" came the cheerful, yet demanding voice of his twelve-year-old brother, Haru.
Ren instantly snapped into his performance. He slammed his fist dramatically on the desk, his voice rising in a whiny lament. "Oh, the tragedy, Haru! Our meager budget! We are forever doomed to the cold, unfeeling embrace of poverty!"
Haru merely poked his head in and rolled his eyes. "Okay, Raid. You made your point. I'm just going to use the gas stove."
Raid. That was the name the real Ren preferred—the calculated, cunning, money-obsessed version of himself that only Haru was allowed to know.
As Haru retreated, the fluorescent bulb in the ceiling popped, plunging the room into darkness, then instantly, unnaturally, replacing it with a searing, golden light. The sound of the thousand digital bells—the Axiom's sync chime—screamed directly inside Ren's skull, an invasive, terrifying neurological seizure.
Ren's nerd facade vanished.
In one impossibly fluid motion, he ripped off the glasses and tossed them onto the desk. The pathetic slouch evaporated, replaced by the coiled, lethal grace of an athlete. His white hair, no longer flattened by the beanie, sprang up slightly, and his previously hidden red eyes narrowed into hyper-alert, analytical slits .
"Invasive synchronization," he noted, his voice low and devoid of the previous whininess, the voice of a tactical genius who had just identified the enemy's flanking maneuver. "High-level mana injection. Telepathic resonance. The Protagonist is officially dead. You're looking for a replacement."
The golden light solidified, manifesting Kaito's enormous, shimmering blue sword, the Aether, floating hilt-first before him.
AXIOM-02 (V.O., reeling from his sudden, massive persona shift):W-wait! Your emotional baseline is 'amusement'! You're supposed to be terrified! And your name is Ren! Why did your brother call you Raid?!
"Ren is the public face. Raid is the profit margin," Ren corrected smoothly, walking toward the sword with the relaxed confidence of a man approaching an ATM. "And I'm amused because your system, the one that rewards the foolish altruism of heroes, has just come crawling to the only person smart enough to be a profitable villain."
He placed his hand on the hilt. The blue energy instantly bonded with him, inscribing the geometric Aether tattoo onto his skin with a surge of agonizing, invasive heat. Ren's breath hitched, but he suppressed the sound, allowing only a wide, sharp grin— pleased-esque in its confident malice—to spread across his face.
The golden interface flooded his vision:
Quest 1: The Villain Vortex's True Heir.
Objective: Locate the backup phylactery of Lord Vortex and prevent Section Collapse.
Reward: Survival of Reality. (Optional: $10,000,000 AC bounty).
AXIOM-02 (V.O.):Sync Complete! The stakes are planetary, Ren! Section Collapse is at 40%! You must—
"Stop," Ren interrupted, dismissing the Aether with a flick of his wrist. The sword vanished instantly. He leaned back against the cheap, cracked paint of the wall, crossing his arms and holding the system in a stalemate.
"I hate heroes. I hate being chosen. And I hate working for free," he stated, his red eyes glinting. "You want me to save your world, Axiom-02? Then we negotiate. You've offered a $10 million opening bid. That's cute. But I'm poor, handler. Comically, tragically, existentially poor. My little brother needs to eat more than instant noodles, and Section Chaser tuition costs are designed to keep people like me down. So, the ongoing contract is where we differ."
Ren held up his hand, displaying the glowing blue tattoo that marked him as the new, unwilling anchor of reality.
"I am motivated purely by money," he emphasized. "Justice is a scam. Generosity is a vulnerability. The only thing that provides security in this cruel world is absolute wealth. Therefore, I am adding a non-negotiable clause to your system: The Villain Money Point (VMP) System."
AXIOM-02 (V.O., horrified):VMP?! That is a rogue protocol! It's highly unregulated and counter-productive to the hero economy!
"It is my condition for accepting the role," Ren countered, walking over to his wallet and pulling out the pitiful two yen notes as evidence. "Listen carefully, Handler. Every villain or high-level Dimensional threat I subdue, you will calculate how many times I had to 'beat them up' or neutralize them before they stopped being a threat. For every calculated 'Subdual Loop,' the Axiom transfers a set VMP, which you convert to yen and deposit instantly into my account. The more effort, the more theatrics, the more creative pain I inflict, the more money you owe me."
He paused, the Gojo grin widening. "Do you understand, Axiom-02? I get paid for prolonged, lucrative violence. I am financially incentivized to enjoy the fight."
AXIOM-02 (V.O.):This actively encourages delaying the climax! It generates unnecessary risk! It's a breach of—
"It is my price," Ren cut in, his voice hardening. "Collapse is at 45%. Do you risk a global existential void over proper accounting, or do you pay the only person capable of holding your world together? Choose."
Axiom-02's protest died in a whimper of digital resignation.
AXIOM-02 (V.O., defeated):…Contract Accepted. VMP System integration initiated. $10,000,000 AC deposit transferred. Please, Ren, do not tell anyone about the VMP system. It is strictly unauthorized.
Ren checked his phone. The small, cracked screen displayed a staggering new balance. He allowed himself one moment of pure, unadulterated shock before locking his face back down into calculating calm.
NEW ACTIVE ABILITY: Villain Money Points (VMP)
Defeat Calculation: 500,000 AC per Subdual.
Goal: Maximum Efficiency in Wealth Accumulation.
"Perfect. You see, Axiom-02, the beauty of this contract is that I can be the good guy—protecting the Sections—while still being motivated by the absolute evil of rampant capitalism," Ren murmured, satisfied.
He grabbed his glasses and beanie, restoring his meek facade. This was the most important part of the job: The cover. The world could not know the true depth of the new Main Character's power, or the true nature of his motivation.
He had another rule: The Puppet Master must never be the star.
AXIOM-02 (V.O., attempting to regain control):Now, Ren, you must proceed immediately to the Section 31 boundary. Vortex's phylactery is destabilizing the area. You must stop it!
"Section 31? That's the high-end shopping district," Ren said, a new, mischievous spark in his red eyes. He pulled his hoodie tight. "Excellent. First, I'm buying a new, luxury microwave for Haru. Then, I'm buying the most obscenely priced suit in the city. If I'm going to be saving the world for profit, I'm going to look like a proper villain CEO while I do it. We'll discuss the apocalypse after I've secured my shopping list. By the way, call me Raid in the field. Ren is too weak for this kind of work."
He opened the apartment door and stepped out, the blinding sun of Aegis City hitting his white hair. He was the least heroic person imaginable, yet he was now the only thing standing between the world and utter dimensional ruin. He was the new Main Character, and he was determined to prove that saving the world could, and should, be the most profitable scam in history.