Death

Chapter 1: Death

* * *

5 S-Ranks.

13 A-Ranks.

120 B-Ranks.

And thousands more.

That was the number of heroes I had killed.

Names blurred together after a while. Their faces didn’t matter. They all screamed the same way in the end.

In this world, they were called heroes.

In this world, I was called a villain.

I never understood the difference.

I looked down at my chest.

There was a hole where my heart used to be.

Rain poured from the night sky, washing over my body. Blood mixed with the water, spreading beneath me in a dark red pool that reflected the city lights above. I sat there, unmoving, in the middle of a deserted park. I was too weak to stand and too stubborn to lie down.

So this was it.

After everything I’d done…

after everything I’d survived…

I was dying.

A sudden pressure pressed down on the air.

Light split the sky.

I narrowed my eyes as a figure descended slowly from above, wings of radiance unfolding behind her. Blonde hair shimmered in the rain, untouched by blood or filth.

A hero.

No… The hero.

Beautiful.

Annoyingly so.

“Villain Uriel,” she said, her voice calm and unshaken. “On behalf of the Hero Council, I, Hero Celestiv, sentence you to death.”

As she spoke, the sky filled with movement.

Figures landed one after another behind her. The sound of boots hitting the ground echoed through the park.

Hundreds of them.

Some S-Ranks.

Mostly A-Ranks.

I laughed weakly, blood spilling from my mouth.

“…Seriously?” I said. “You really need this many just to finish me off?”

No one answered.

Figures.

I slowly raised my hand.

The rain stopped.

Every droplet froze in midair, suspended like glass.

“Villain Uriel,” Celestiv warned. “Do not resist. If you surrender now, we will grant you a dignified death.”

I looked at her.

At the heroes behind her.

At the weapons. The righteous eyes.

“Fuck off.”

The rain moved.

A sharp pop echoed through the night.

One hero collapsed, a hole cleanly punched through his skull.

Then another.

And another.

Screams erupted as the frozen raindrops twisted and surged forward, piercing through armor, flesh, and bone. Blood splattered across the park, staining the ground where moments ago they had stood proudly.

“You—!!” someone shouted.

The storm turned toward Celestiv.

Raindrops slammed into her like bullets….

…. and bounced off.

Only shallow scratches remained.

As expected.

High-ranks were always like this. Too strong for most of my attacks to land a fatal blow.

Celestiv extended her hand.

Light swallowed the darkness.

A sword formed in her grip, its brilliance forcing me to avert my gaze. It felt like the sun itself had descended into the park.

So this was death.

I stared at the blade, my vision blurring.

Is this really how it ends?

Here?

On my knees?

No.

No…. Fuck that.

I clenched my teeth.

I wasn’t done yet.

Darkness spilled from my body, wrapping around my arms, my legs, my entire frame. It condensed, sharpened, and took shape.

A scythe.

The temperature dropped instantly.

The suspended raindrops cracked and froze, turning into shards of ice.

“I’m not dying this easily,” I snarled. “Not to you.”

I lunged.

“You do have many abilities,” Celestiv said, meeting my charge head-on.

“But that is precisely your weakness.”

Our weapons clashed.

My scythe shattered like glass.

“Mother fu…!”

Blue flames burst from my hands, surging forward in desperation, but a wall of light blocked them effortlessly.

“You collect skills,” she continued, stepping closer. “But you’ve mastered none.”

She moved faster than I could react.

The sword flashed.

My arm hit the ground and blood splattered all across.

“FUCK!”

Pain consumed everything.

I collapsed, my body finally refusing to move.

No power left.

No strength.

Celestiv stood above me, blade raised.

“Remember this, Villain Uriel,” she said. “Someone who dabbles in many weapons will never defeat someone who devotes their life to one.”

The sword rose higher.

“This is the end of you.”

The light fell.

And then….

Nothing.

* * *

“Ugh…!”

I jolted awake, breath ragged, my body drenched in cold sweat.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My chest felt tight… Instinctively, I looked down.

No hole.

…What?

I slowly raised my head.

A ceiling. Low. Cracked. Stained with yellowing water marks. The air was stale, heavy with dust and something faintly rotten.

“…Where the fuck am I?”

I sat up.

The bed creaked beneath me, thin and cheap. The room was small… too small. The walls felt uncomfortably close, like they were pressing in on me.

My eyes drifted to the side.

A phone lay on a cluttered desk.

I grabbed it.

January 1st, 2013.

“…2013?”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“That’s… thirteen years ago.”

I stood up and flicked the light switch.

The bulb buzzed before flickering on.

A cramped, filthy room came into view. Peeling wallpaper. A narrow desk. A half-broken chair. Barely enough space to live… let alone breathe.

My stomach twisted.

This place…

“…No.”

I knew this room.

I had lived here once. Long ago. Before everything.

“Is this some kind of hallucination?” I muttered. “A mental-type ability?”

That damn light hero.

Celestiv.

I clenched my fists.

“Celestiv!” I shouted. “Enough of your tricks! Let me out!”

This had to be a power. Memory entrapment. Illusion. Some kind of psychological prison.

“LET ME OUT OF THIS INSTANCE!”

Silence.

Then…

“Shut the fuck up!!”

The voice came from the other side of the wall.

I froze. I almost thought this was reality for a second.

“Go ahead. Play your little tricks,” I scoffed. “This won’t last. You’ll let me out… one way or another.”

* * *

It had been a week.

A week of waking up in the same room.

A week of waiting for the illusion to break.

A week of nothing happening.

I finally accepted it.

This was reality.

I had been sent back in time.

I didn’t know how.

I didn’t know why.

But I had.

I pulled on a worn jacket and stepped out of my new… or rather, old, home.

Cold air brushed against my face.

The streets looked familiar.

I headed to a nearby convenience store, keeping my head low. The bell above the door chimed softly as I walked in.

Two cups of instant ramen.

I placed them on the counter.

“That’ll be 20 credits,” the clerk said.

I slid the card I’d found in my jacket across the counter.

A beep.

“Oh… sorry, sir,” the clerk said awkwardly. “It seems the card was declined.”

“…Then just one.”

I removed a cup and tried again.

This time, it worked.

Back in the room, I filled a kettle and turned on the stove. The water slowly came to a boil as my thoughts raced.

Thirteen years into the past.

Before I was branded a villain. Before Celestiv became a hero.

I poured the boiling water into the ramen cup, steam rising into the air.

So… what now?

I stared at my hand.

Devour.

That was the name of my ability.

By touching someone, I could copy their power, but only once. A single use before it vanished.

To make it permanent…

I had to kill them.

I slurped the noodles slowly.

My goal hadn’t changed.

Kill the heroes.

Fix this rotten world.

Celestiv’s words echoed in my mind.

“Someone who dabbles in many weapons will never defeat someone who devotes their life to one.”

“…One weapon, huh?”

She wasn’t wrong.

In my previous life, I had thousands of abilities, yet none of them could bring her down. I had power, but no edge and no mastery.

I set my chopsticks down.

“Alright,” I said quietly. “I’ll do it your way, Celestiv.”

I clenched my hand.

“I’ll master one ability.”

This time…

I would kill her for good.

I stood up.

“But first…”

I needed money.

I opened my phone.

If I needed money, real money, there was only one answer.

Bitcoin.

At the moment, its price is laughable. Barely worth talking about. A few hundred credits at most. People called it a scam and a fad that would disappear in a few years.

Idiots.

In the future, a single coin would be worth over ninety thousand credits.

I leaned back against the creaking wall and scrolled through the exchange app. The interface felt primitive, clunky, almost nostalgic.

Thankfully, the bank account tied to this body still had some money left. Not much. Probably savings from some part-time job I didn’t remember.

I didn’t hesitate.

All of it.

Every last credit went into buying bitcoin.

100 coins.

The confirmation screen appeared.

Transaction complete.

I stared at the number for a long moment.

A hundred bitcoin.