I Became the Villainess in a Game - Prologue

I, who was once a man, was reincarnated as the villainess of a game.

You’re probably thinking something like, “What kind of shit is that?” And honestly, I still don’t understand it either.

Being a man one moment and waking up as a woman the next isn’t exactly a common experience—unless, of course, you’re kidnapped by a crazy Thai surgeon and forced into gender reassignment surgery.

“Miss, it’s time to wake up,” 

There was no warning. And to make things worse, I hadn’t even played the game. I had only watched a streamer play it online.

I wasn’t particularly interested in its world or its characters. It just seemed flashy, something you’d watch to kill time. I also read a few articles about the game’s story out of curiosity, but it wasn’t enough to keep my attention; after all, it was a romance game aimed at women.

It had nothing to do with me. Or at least, that’s how it was before.

“I’ll tighten the corset now, so please hold your breath, miss.”

When I first awoke in a world completely different from my own, terror was the first thing I felt.

Everything around me was strange, and to make matters worse, people started calling me “Miss” and forced me to wear corsets and dresses—me, who had been a man.

The first time I wore a corset, the pain I felt as my lower ribs bent under the pressure almost made me faint. When I cursed reflexively, a woman who seemed to be a maid looked at me as if I had committed an unforgivable sin.

“All done.”

But that’s in the past. Now I’ve gotten used to it. Well, more like I had no choice but to accept it.

Looking at the mirror, I saw a young girl with striking red hair and crimson eyes staring back.

“I’ll start your makeup now.”

I closed my eyes.

The sensation of brushes tapping against my face faded into the background as my thoughts wandered.

This is already my seventeenth regression. I had no choice but to get used to it. Still, my memories as a man haven’t worn down enough for me to act entirely feminine.

The man I once was still lives inside me. The only reason I don’t protest while wearing dresses and makeup is that resisting wouldn’t change a thing.

Anyway, back to the point.

“It’s all finished, miss. Breakfast is ready, so please come down.”

I had reincarnated into Beneath the Moonlight’s Bloom, a romance game, as its Chapter 1 final boss—the infamous villainess doomed to die in every route.

When I first found myself in her body, I had no idea what was going on. I stammered uselessly, which led to me being stripped of my title as heiress for incompetence. So, they decided to marry me off to a count’s family, and when I desperately resisted, my father attacked me in a fit of rage and killed me.

“Good morning, Father, Mother.”

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Charlotte.”

During my first regression, the memory of my death still haunted me. I locked myself in my room and refused to eat or drink. They eventually dragged me out and married me off, but my body had already weakened so much by then that I died shortly after.

“Eat.”

In my second regression, I decided to keep a low profile and tried to figure out what was going on.

When I was old enough, I enrolled in the academy and met the protagonist. That’s when I realized this was Beneath the Moonlight’s Bloom and that I had reincarnated as the villainess of chapter 1.

Knowing the fate awaiting the villainess, I tried my best to avoid any involvement with the protagonist. But the world wasn’t that kind. In the end, I was betrayed and stabbed in the back by the maid I trusted the most.

Why? Because my stupid brother whispered sweet lies to her, promising her the position of duchess if she helped him secure the spot as head of the family.

“Today, a famous tutor from the capital will visit. Be thoroughly prepared, Charlotte.”

“Yes, Father. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Good.”

During my third regression, I resolved not to die again. Following fragments of the story I could recall, I acted kind toward the protagonist and her allies while putting up a strong front against my enemies.

But it was useless. People didn’t like me, calling me a hypocrite and an emotionless liar. Even the protagonist and her companions avoided me. In the end, someone dropped a flowerpot on my head and killed me.

“Oh, did you hear about the Marquis Zenas? They had a baby boy!”

“The fight for the heir’s seat will be interesting.”

In my fourth regression, I decided to always be kind to everyone, even to those who had betrayed me before. I constantly smiled and did good deeds, though it was all a facade born from my desire to survive.

At first, things seemed to go well. But then my father said I wasn’t suited to be the heir due to my gentle and soft image, and I was married off in a political arrangement. In the end, I threw myself off a cliff while laughing, thinking I’d rather die than be with a man.

“Thank you for the meal, Father. May I go prepare for my lessons now?”

“Go ahead.”

In the fifth regression, I became a victim of a rebellion. They tortured me and eventually left me hanging, naked, in the town square. It was probably the most humiliating death I’ve had so far.

The sixth? I blamed the protagonist for everything and embraced my role as the villainess, only for the protagonist’s ally to poison me.

The seventh? I gave up and lived aimlessly, only to end up involved in a political conspiracy and murdered. Ironically, that was the time I survived the longest.

The eighth? I tried everything to change my fate: I met the king, challenged norms, and worked to reform the world. In the end, the king branded me as a traitor and locked me up to starve to death.

“Miss, your steps are uneven.”

“Thanks. The corset is cutting off my circulation, so I felt a little dizzy.”

The ninth, the tenth, the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth regressions…

I’ve died in almost every way imaginable. I’ve tried all kinds of strategies: being kind, indifferent, hardworking, reckless. I’ve achieved great feats and acted like a fool. But nothing worked. The world seemed determined to kill me.

So this time, I decided to change my approach.

“By the way, Sera.”

“Yes, miss?”

This time I will become a villainess. But not just any villainess: I will become the worst villainess this world has ever seen.

I’ll be the shadow slithering beneath the surface, the viper in the grass, the darkness eclipsing the sky.

If being good kills me, then I’ll survive by becoming truly and completely wicked.

“…It’s nothing. Forget I said anything.”

Forcing a fake smile, I looked at Sera, my maid.

Ah, my lovely first betrayer.

You’ll be the first to meet your ruin.