The sword went through my chest again....
"Akhhh."
Still Eighteen years old and I'd already died seventy four times now. The kid who pierced my chest—couldn't have been older than sixteen—twisting the blade with this look of pure determination on his face. Like he was saving the world or something....
"For the poor, innocent lives you've taken, Crimson Blade Zhao!"
I coughed up the blood, more out of a habit now. What innocent lives? I was a low-level bandit boss with three caves and twelve drunk idiots—who could barely swing a sword. We robbed merchants sometimes. That was it.
But sure, kid. You're the hero.
The feeling of a familiar coldness crept in me, my vision darkened.
Here we go again.
I died.
And then I woke up in the void. It wasn't black or white—it was just... nothing. Empty space where i floated, while blue text started to appear right in front of my face.
[RESPAWN PROTOCOL ACTIVATED]
[TUTORIAL VILLAIN #463 - ZHAO YANG]
[DEATH COUNT: 74]
[NEXT CHOSEN ONE ARRIVAL: 6 cycles remaining]
This was real. Not a game. Not a simulation.
I knew because I'd tested it. Here pain felt real. Hunger felt real and when I died, it hurt every single time, the pain of death felt real.
This was an actual world - people lived here, cities, empires existed, Cultivation was real. Magic was real.
But it also had its own rules. System rules. Like someone had built game mechanics into reality itself.
...…..
When I first woke up in this world thirty years ago, I was confused as hell. One moment I was in my college dorm back on Earth, the next I was here—in the body of Zhao Yang, some bandit leader I'd never heard of.
At first, I thought maybe I'd reincarnated, like in those web novels I used to read.
I was WRONG.
I wasn't reincarnated for the greatest heights but assigned for the people who will reach the heavens above me.
This world which I have never explored— somehow created Fated children or what i call them heroes. Every six months, Heaven itself would designate someone as a "Chosen One" and give them a system, quests, cultivation boosts, all of it. Their job was to grow stronger, defeat evil, and save the world or whatever.
And my job? Being their first quest which I figured out around when I died the seventh time.
I started paying attention to patterns. Every single Chosen One who came to kill me was between fifteen and eighteen years old.
Every single one was at the Body Refinement peak stage and when they arrived—weak, but with some kind of dog shit luck.
Every single one got a quest notification that led them straight to Crimson Blade Mountain.
[Quest: Defeat the Crimson Blade Bandit Lord]
[Reward: Foundation Establishment Breakthrough, Legendary Sword Technique, 1000 Spirit Stones]
I'd seen the quest screen myself once, that reflected in a Chosen One's eyes before he killed me.
I was the Tutorial Villain.
The system needed me to exist so heroes had someone to defeat. That's why I respawned again then again then again then agai...
That's why I couldn't escape. I was part of this world's system—tutorial content that reset every six months.
And I was losing my mind every single time….
[RESPAWN COMPLETE]
I gasped, sitting up in my chair. Back in the cave. Back in my body. Eighteen years old in the appearance of Zhao Yang—
Thirty years. Seventy four deaths.
I stood up, my legs shaky. My bandits were outside, probably drinking around the fire. They always reset too, but their memories were completely removed. Like NPCs following their script.
I walked to the cave entrance and stared out at Crimson Blade Mountain. They say a hundred years ago, blood flowed like rivers on its peak. And to this day, you can still find the rusted blades of fallen warriors buried in the red earth.
Then I turned to my strong hold. Six months until the next Chosen One arrived. Six months of knowing exactly how it would end.
But suddenly—I was about to turn back when something caught my eye.
A small blue indicator in the corner of my vision. Blinking.
That had never been there before.
I focused on it, and a new text appeared.
[SYSTEM ANOMALY DETECTED]
[TUTORIAL VILLAIN #463 has exceeded death threshold]
[Mortality loop creating instability in Chosen One generation cycle]
[New options available]
[Would you like to view ALTERNATIVE PROTOCOLS?]
My heart actually started pounding. In three years, the system had never offered me anything except death and respawn.
"Yes," I said with my rough voice. "Show me."
The blue screen instantly expanded.
[ALTERNATIVE PROTOCOL UNLOCKED: CORRUPTION PATH]
[Instead of being defeated, Tutorial Villains may attempt to CORRUPT the Chosen Ones]
[Successfully corrupted Chosen Ones will become your subordinates or you can exchange them as fate points.]
[Warning: Half failed corruption attempts will result in permanent death]
[Accept the new role?]
I read it three times.
They were giving me a choice. Fight and die like always, or try something different.
Risk permanent death for a chance to actually win. I thought about my seventy four deaths. Seventy four kids with righteous speeches running me through. Thirty years of the same torture on loop.
"I accept," I said.
The screen flashed.
[ROLE UPDATED: CORRUPTION-TYPE TUTORIAL VILLAIN]
[New skills unlocked]
[Time until next Chosen One: 6 months]
The text then faded, leaving me standing at the cave entrance with a smile spreading across my face.
"Six months to figure out how to corrupt a chosen one. I could work with that."