Episode 1

“P-Please… take this!”

“Hau!”

A whip swung down onto my head, wielded by the maid in front of me.

It wasn’t the first time I’d felt the sting of a whip. I had experienced it plenty of times before. Yet, that day was different.

Suddenly, memories flooded into my mind.

—I understood the reality that I had been reincarnated as Reis Validor, the villainous noble from a game.

“L-Lord Reis…? A-Are you alright…?”

The maid, whip still in hand, froze in surprise as she noticed my abrupt stillness. She looked at me, her expression a mix of concern and uncertainty.

…..Could this have come at a worse time?

Reis Validor was a villainous noble from a certain game. One of his hobbies? Indulging in SM play. He would force the maids to hold a whip and hit him.

…..To think I’d regain my past-life memories in the middle of such a situation.

I wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear from the sheer embarrassment. But I composed myself and spoke as calmly as I could.

“I-I’m fine… That’s enough for today.”

“R-Really? Or… am I wrong about that…?”

“Hm?”

The maid tilted her head with a face that screamed, “Wait, I get it now!”

“Th-This is… all part of the play, isn’t it!?”

“No, it’s not!”

“L-Lord Reis, do you truly believe you have the *option* to say ‘stop’!?”

“No, no, no! This is seriously over! I just remembered something important for today! Leave! Now! Or I’ll kill you!”

I shouted, mimicking the tone of a villainous noble. My intensity seemed to get through to her, and she hurriedly left in a panic.

…Phew.

I felt a little bad for the maid. But for now, this was fine.

Afterward, I took a moment to review my memories.

…Yeah, no doubt about it.

I had lived a past life in Japan. And now, somehow, I had been reincarnated as Reis Validor, a villainous noble from the game Holy Orb Fantasy.

…Ugh, why did it have to be like this?

Leaving the dungeon-turned-playroom, I headed toward my personal chambers.

“If I had to be reincarnated, couldn’t it have been as someone normal…?”

…This world is the setting of the fantasy RPG Holy Orb Fantasy.

Reis Validor is one of the antagonists and a mid-level boss who opposes the protagonist.

…What am I supposed to do now?

If the story follows the game’s plot, I’ll end up clashing with the protagonist and meeting my death.

I definitely don’t want to die.

That means I need to come up with a way to survive.

In Holy Orb Fantasy, there were several possible endings. Depending on the route, it might have been possible for me to survive.

I desperately combed through my memories of the game. I grabbed a piece of paper from a nearby desk and began scribbling down every event related to Reis I could recall.

…Alright, the first route. Misjudging my own strength, I challenge the protagonist—and die.

The second route. I harass the protagonist’s heroine, which leads to various events—and I die.

The third route. To defeat the protagonist, I borrow the power of demons, attempt to absorb their energy—and fail miserably, dying in the process.

…………Wait, where’s my happy ending?

Something feels wrong here. Is Reis’ life just one big thorny path?

Why did I have to reincarnate as such a hopeless character?

With another sigh—one of many—I slumped into a chair, burying my face in my hands.

As I sat there brooding, a thought suddenly struck me. I looked at my arms.

“…Wait, why do I still have both arms?”

…In the game, Reis was a one-armed character.

There was even a memorable event where the protagonist noticed his missing arm and tried to offer help, only for Reis to fly into a rage.

Why? Because the idea of receiving help from a mere commoner infuriated him.

That event left such an impression that Reis being one-armed was an undeniable part of his character.

On top of it all, Reis is still a noble right now…

At the start of the game’s main story, Reis was no longer a noble.

…In other words, an event must occur that leads to me losing my arm and having my family’s title stripped.

The cause of my missing arm… And the reason why the Validor family fell into ruin…

“I’m pretty sure the game’s timeline had all this detailed out…”

Desperately, I racked my brain, trying to recall the information from the game’s lore compendium. I jotted down everything I could remember onto the paper in front of me.

All of this was for one purpose: to avoid my doomed future.

I wrote down everything I could recall—events directly related to the downfall of me and my family, and even things that weren’t directly connected.

After pouring everything I could remember into creating this rough timeline of the world, I leaned back with a sigh.

The first thing I realized: the current timeline is before the game’s story begins.

From now, there’s about a year until the events of Holy Orb Fantasy start.

And before that, a major event happens—one that’s critical to my fate.

“..…It’s coming back to me now.”

The reason my family fell was simple:

We were attacked by monsters.

The Validor Marquisate managed the town of Vale. They were tasked not just with its governance but also with its defense, both of the town and the nation.

(Note: I’ve changed the town’s name to Vale. Hope you guys don’t mind.)

To the north of Vale lies the “Forest of Rebellion”, a dungeon overrun with dangerous monsters.

A sage had sealed the area with a magical barrier centuries ago, keeping the monsters contained. Even so, some would occasionally spill out.

The Validor family’s duty was to suppress these monsters whenever they broke free.

But the Validor family had become corrupt…

They embezzled funds allocated by the kingdom for military expenses.

Instead of using the money for defense, they squandered it on personal luxuries and entertainment.

As a result, when a stampede of monsters erupted from the Forest of Rebellion, the Validor family was utterly unprepared.

The stampede overran Vale, the nearby town under their jurisdiction, and spread to several neighboring towns. It caused massive destruction.

It was only then that the Validor family’s misdeeds were exposed.

The family’s noble title was revoked, and we lost our status as aristocrats.

To make matters worse, during the stampede, Reis lost an arm to the monsters. Though he managed to survive, he became the one-armed Reis the game introduces at its start.

Afterward, Reis—who, unfortunately, was unnecessarily clever—enrolled in an academy. There, he met the protagonist, harassed them endlessly, and eventually was deceived, manipulated, and killed by the demon tribe on the final boss’ side.

That’s more or less Reis’ fate in most routes.

Oh, my God… What am I supposed to do with this…?

Original Author’s Comment:

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Published! Check out the details in the activity notes!
We’ve included character designs and other references for your enjoyment as you continue reading!

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