Chapter 1

Over 10,000 hours of playtime.

As a longtime veteran of Candela of Judgment, I understood the situation instantly.

Winter Winslet had been caught cheating again.

Caught and slapped by his fiancée, no less.

Right in the middle of a party, too…

Josephine D. Azetta.

She was a member of the royal guard, a noble knight, and also one of the heroines you could romance in the game Candela of Judgment.

In other words, she wasn’t the villain Winter Winslet’s heroine. She was the main character’s heroine.

She was a woman who, despite being trapped in a one-sided engagement and constantly hurt by her cheating fiancé, eventually found salvation in the protagonist.

That was the beauty standing in front of me. Josephine.

I looked at Josephine’s face and thought,

What kind of lunatic was this guy?

Why would he cheat when he had a fiancée like her?

…But that lunatic was now me.

“Say something. Anything.”

Josephine glared at me with her eyes wide in accusation.

Thanks to her sudden outburst and the slap, the party atmosphere was moments from collapse, but Josephine clearly didn’t care in the slightest.

I went with the classic defense.

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

Of course, it was a lie.

I had memorized every detail of Candela of Judgment, and I could say with absolute certainty that Professor Winslet had slept with well over a hundred women.

Forty-two meant he’d actually been caught with fewer than usual this time.

Honestly, with numbers like that, it was surprising she hadn’t stabbed him already…

“Wow, how is he even still alive?”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“So now you can’t even be bothered to make excuses?”

Misunderstanding my words, Josephine clenched her teeth.

That day, I finally understood what it meant when someone’s eyes were “burning with fury”.

I glanced around, hoping someone—anyone—would step in to help.

Winter Winslet was a socialite and one of the most handsome men of the century.

At this gathering where young nobles pretended to discuss politics and philosophy but really came to drink and flirt, there were plenty of people who could’ve taken my side.

They just weren’t any help.

“Oh my, who is that woman causing such a scene?”

“Look at her hair. Silver…so it must be her. Baron Winslet’s fiancée!”

“Ah, the one who tried to seduce the Baron without knowing her place?”

“Watch your mouth. I think she heard that.”

“So what if she did? A grown woman, glaring like that without a shred of dignity.”

“I heard her family came from immigrants, didn’t they?”

“Is that why? How disgraceful. Why would the Baron even get engaged to someone like her?”

“She must’ve pulled something shady. Probably trying to get money out of him or something.”

“Poor Baron. Honestly, isn’t it kind of the woman’s fault when a man like him cheats? How boring must she be to drive her fiancé to cheat?”

“Apparently, she’s like a stone statue in bed.”

The snickering was sickening.

People who trained in martial arts usually developed strong mental discipline as well.

Unfortunately, that didn’t apply to Josephine.

A swordswoman with incredible talent in swordsmanship but a fragile heart.

That was my fiancée.

As someone deeply familiar with her nature from being a longtime player of Candela of Judgment, I was biting my tongue, resisting the urge to tell her not to provoke anyone while holding a weapon.

The more timid a person is, the more explosive their anger can be.

Josephine who was cornered emotionally could do something irreversible.

As proof, her hand gripping the sword hilt had turned pale from the pressure.

“At this point… I’d rather cut you down right here and die myself to at least preserve my family’s honor.”

My fiancée had suddenly snapped.

And then, a system message popped into my head.

[Warning]

[A death branch point has been updated.]

I was doomed.

Was I seriously about to get murdered over a love affair the moment I possessed this body?

In that brief instant, a thousand thoughts flashed through my mind.

First: What kind of idiot let someone wearing a sword into the party in the first place?

Second: Was Josephine’s talent in Swordsmanship ranked S? It probably wouldn’t even take her a full second to slice my throat.

Third: In the original timeline, meaning the original game, what was supposed to happen here?

The memory came back quickly.

Because I once heard it directly from Josephine.

Once the player character built up some connection with her, Josephine would start complaining about her fiancé as naturally as breathing.

And what had happened today was one of the worst incidents on her list.

He had apparently said something like this:

– Go ahead, draw your sword. If you’re curious to see the expression your parents and sisters make as they hang from the gallows, that is.

Winter Winslet was the eldest son of a powerful count’s family.

By contrast, Josephine was the second daughter of a knightly house that had gone into exile in her grandparents’ generation.

Their status and power were as far apart as heaven and earth, and if he wanted to, he could retaliate as much as he pleased.

Winter Winslet’s words had carried that exact implication.

And Josephine wasn’t the type of person with the resolve to stay composed after hearing threats involving her family.

In the end, when she failed to draw her sword and backed down, Winter Winslet had reportedly whispered in her ear:

– Remember this. Once we’re married, I’ll be your master. Looks like your father skimped on teaching you proper manners… but I’m a patient man. When the time comes, I’ll personally engrave the virtue of obedience into your body.

Of course.

No wonder he was voted the most hated villain in the official fan poll.

If anyone dared defy him, he’d crush them with force, trample their pride, and exploit their weaknesses to get exactly what he wanted. He was a textbook sociopath.

That was the true nature of Winter Winslet.

If I mimicked his behavior and way of speaking, escaping this immediate life-threatening situation wouldn’t be difficult.

But I didn’t want to.

…Why bother?

There was an easier way.

I stepped in close to Josephine.

“Josephine.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

She refused to talk, so I chose action over words.

I grabbed her wrist which had been fidgeting with the hilt of her sword and lifted it. Then I pushed my body against hers.

Until her back touched the statue behind her.

And then… I went in and swiftly kissed her.

“Mmph?”

Josephine’s eyes went wide with shock.

At first, she looked surprised, but she didn’t resist.

“Mmm…”

When the kiss that was longer than brief finally ended,

I looked into Josephine’s eyes from close enough that our noses almost touched.

“The only one I’ve truly loved… is you.”

Josephine lowered her gaze slightly.

“…Liar.”

“Look into my eyes.”

Our eyes met again, and after gazing into her jewel-like blue irises, I said in the cheesiest tone I could manage,

“Do these look like the eyes of someone who’s lying?”

“……”

I had kissed her out of nowhere and then asked her to trust me.

It probably looked completely crazy… and honestly, it kind of was. But I was sure this would work.

Because, according to the setting, this fiancée of mine—

Was a hopeless sucker for pretty faces.

And Winter Winslet was the most handsome man of the century.

“Th-This really is the last time…”

Josephine said that as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and stepped away from me.

Her cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment.

“I won’t let you down.”

With that final promise to seal the deal, I succeeded in extending my life.

[Notification]

[You’ve cleared a death flag.]

[Achievement points have been awarded.]

[Would you like to open the achievement shop? (YES/NO)]

***

After calming Josephine down and sending her on her way, I disbanded the party and was left alone in the now-empty hall.

I had deliberately driven off the lingering onlookers so no one would see what I was about to do next.

To everyone else, I probably just looked like I was absentmindedly staring off into space.

[Winter Winslet]

Strength: D Health: E

Dexterity: A Wisdom: B

Intelligence: A

– Talents: [Magical Power S] [Magic A] [Element: Ice S] [Dark Arts B] …(omitted)…

– Traits: [Diehard Aristocrat] [Innate Pride] [Lack of Humanity] [Aesthetic Eye] [Always Elegant] [Top-Class Gourmet] [Obsessed with Cleanliness] [Heroic Will] [Glass Cannon] [Prodigal Son] [Archetypal Mage] [Genetically Alluring] [Most Handsome Man of the Century] …(omitted)…

A somewhat unbalanced stat sheet—

Combined with two S-rank talents so rare, you’d be lucky to find ten people in the entire world with even one.

Looking at those absurdly overpowered stats, I was finally certain.

I had entered the game.

I had become Professor Winter Winslet, a character from Candela of Judgment.

Candela of Judgment was a game where the player started as a new recruit in the Candela Knights and, by solving various incidents and gaining experience, gradually rose through the ranks to become a hero of the kingdom in the end.

The Candela Knights were a unit directly under the royal family whose very existence was kept secret. A kind of covert inspection force, like secret royal agents.

And unfortunately, Professor Winslet wasn’t the protagonist or some standout supporting character.

He was a villain. He was blatantly designed as one.

He committed all kinds of atrocities, blocked the protagonist’s path, and, depending on the route, even became one of the worst boss fights in the game.

But the real problem was… why had I become that villain?

…Was this punishment for me doing some client poking?

“Client poking” referred to extracting data from the game through unauthorized means, without the developers’ permission.

I had definitely done that.

Not with any malicious intent though. I had just wanted to peek at some code related to an NPC.

That NPC just happened to be none other than Winter Winslet.

A coincidence? Maybe.

Where should I even begin?

As a long-time veteran of Candela of Judgment, I had unlocked every feature and viewed every ending the game had to offer. But there was still one mystery I could never solve.

Why is Winter Winslet always dead?

Despite his terrible personality that won him first place in the “Most Hated Character” poll, he had a cult following thanks to his stunning looks and powerful stats.

Since Candela of Judgment offered a high degree of freedom, many players speculated that there might be hidden conditions under which you could recruit Professor Winslet as an ally.

I was one of them.

But no matter how many playthroughs I completed, I never found a way to recruit Professor Winslet.

Because he always died.

There wasn’t a single route where he survived.

Sure, it was common for villain characters to be defeated and killed by the protagonist. But Candela of Judgment gave players a lot of freedom.

If you played your choices right, you could even avoid the boss fight with Professor Winslet entirely.

So once, I went through an entire playthrough without ever seeing him face-to-face, hoping that might change things.

And in the epilogue, he appeared in just two lines:

– Winter Winslet?

– He’s dead.

Driven by sheer stubbornness, I eventually went so far as to attempt a client extraction. And after relentless effort, I finally succeeded in decrypting it.

All that was left was to check the internal data… but strangely enough, I had no memory of anything after that.

Did I doze off or something?

And so, that’s how I ended up in this current situation.

I possessed the villain with a 100% death rate in every single playthrough who would definitely die every time.

Without thinking, I touched the cheek that had just been slapped, and it stung badly.

It was painfully clear to me now that this wasn’t a game anymore. This was real.

If that was the case…

I just wanted to go home, wash my feet, and sleep.

Coming back from the brink of death had left me mentally and physically exhausted.

It was late at night, too.

I was still trying to figure out where Winter Winslet’s house even was and how I was supposed to get there when—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone started pounding loudly on the door.

Before I could even answer, the entrance hall swung open and a full squad of armed soldiers stormed in.

They were armed with spears and swords, and as soon as they recognized me, they marched straight toward me.

“Are you Sir Baron Winslet?”

“Who are you people?”

“We’re the Military Police. We received a report that the baron was in danger and came to investigate.”

“A report?”

Winter Winslet was an unchanging, irredeemable villain.

As the saying goes, guilty conscience needs no accuser. I had thought they were here to arrest me.

But it seemed someone must’ve seen Josephine with a sword and gotten scared enough to call them in.

Thinking that, I spoke to the one who looked like the squad leader.

“Josephine….no, I calmed the intruder down and sent them away. So you can go back.”

“Huh? That can’t be right…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The target we received the report about hasn’t even arrived yet. Kenneth of the Twin Flames escaped from prison and is headed this way! Three checkpoints are already in flames, and a hundred soldiers have been taken down!”

“Kenneth of the Twin Flames? Is that the name of the escaped prisoner?”

“Yes! We came to help you evacuate, Baron—”

The soldier didn’t get to finish his sentence.

A sudden explosion drowned out his voice.

Boooom!

The front doors of the hall shattered, and stone fragments flew through the air.

Soldiers caught in the shockwave collapsed like stalks of grain.

I stared into the swirling cloud of dust.

A shadowy figure began to emerge from within.

“From the swamp-like underground… in the pitch-black darkness… I waited for this day. The day of revenge, and nothing else…”

He was ragged and filthy. And his eyes gleamed with menace.

In both outstretched hands, broken chains swung alongside blazing flames.

So that’s what “Twin Flames” meant.

That thought had barely crossed my mind when the flames suddenly began to grow.

Or rather, it looked like they were growing.

Because they were already flying straight at me!

He had thrown a fireball.

“Receive your karmic judgment for your sins, Winter Winslet!”

[Warning]

[A death branch point has been updated.]

Second death flag, on the very first day of possessing this body.

As expected of Winter Winslet. An irredeemable villain with a 100% death rate who collected death flags like daily meals.