"Damn it! Damn it all! Nothing is going right! I’ll never forgive that bastard Zenon... never!"
After the chaos at the hospital, Egos had somehow managed to lose Zenon. Now, he lurked within the shadows of a deserted forest, his breath hitching with venomous resentment.
He had been expelled from Luminous Academy—told point-blank that it was Game Over. He had tried to claw back some form of revenge, only to have Zenon, a fellow Reincarnator who should have been on his side, stand in his way. Nothing was working out the way he wanted.
He had intended to lead a life of luxury and acclaim as the Protagonist. Instead, he was a common criminal—an outcast from the academy and a fugitive from the law. The reality was a grotesque inversion of the story he had envisioned for himself. Egos let out a low, agonized groan.
"How did it end up like this? I was supposed to leave those miserable days behind. I was supposed to be happy!"
In his previous life as Kirio Egoshi, he had been a cog in a textbook-perfect black company, his soul slowly eroded by the grind. His only solace had been web novels and games. When he realized he had been reincarnated into the world of Luminous History—a game he had played religiously—he had felt like he'd finally won the lottery.
He was supposed to be loved and respected by everyone, just like the Protagonist he had controlled. There would be no more abusive bosses or colleagues with dead eyes; he had truly believed he was about to lead the ultimate life.
"So why? Why is this happening? I’m... I’m the Protagonist!"
The Protagonist. The center of the game's universe. By all rights, he should have been an absolute, peerless existence, standing head and shoulders above the mere game characters that filled this world.
So why was he being treated like something less than a Mob Character? Why did he have to endure this misery? Where was the happy life that was rightfully his?
"It’s all his fault... Yugo’s fault. If that piece of trash hadn’t poked his nose where it didn’t belong...!"
Ruining his big moment at the Cooking Club, creating the catalyst for his expulsion, and getting him arrested by the Security Force... it was all Yugo’s fault.
If Yugo hadn't existed, Egos would be enjoying a brilliant academy life surrounded by a harem of beautiful Heroines. He would have been happy. He ground his teeth, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. He didn't care what it took; he would have his revenge. He would drag that man down to ruin. Just as the thought crossed his mind—
"Tell me... just what do you think you’re doing?"
"Eh?!"
Egos jolted, his head snapping up at the sudden voice. Standing there was the Hooded Figure—Lost.
Meeting him for the first time, Egos was paralyzed by the suddenness of the encounter, yet he instinctively took a cautious stance. "Who the hell are you? Where did you come from?"
"Do you even realize what you were trying to do?" Lost ignored the question entirely, staring at Egos with an intensity that bordered on the divine. "A failure who has already met his Game Over has no right to lay a hand on him!"
"How do you know about that?!" Egos’s eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me you're a Reincarnator like me?!"
"Stop your babbling, you piece of trash. You nearly ruined a masterpiece of drama just now."
Lost’s voice was seeped with an unimaginable sense of rage. As Egos lost his words upon witnessing the fury that grew stronger with every word spoken, Lost continued, his hatred laid bare.
"The finale that he—My Hero—reaches must be nothing short of breathtaking! Whether it is a Tragic Bad Ending where he falls before an overwhelming foe, or a Grand Finale Happy Ending where he shatters every obstacle in his path! It must be an ending that defies all imagination! He can show it to me! Yugo Kurei is the ultimate material! But you... a piece of filth like you doesn't get to selfishly end a story like his. The value of your life and his are simply not comparable!"
"What are you... what are you talking about? What do you even mean?!"
In his confused state, Egos couldn't begin to understand Lost’s ramblings. He could barely grasp that Lost was something similar to himself, yet fundamentally different.
"There is no need for you to understand," Lost said coldly. "You will die here. You will meet a miserable end, known to no one."
"Wh-What?!"
As the words left Lost’s mouth, several axes fell from the sky, thudding into the ground around Egos. Lost watched as the fugitive stared in shock at the array of two-handed axes—his own preferred weapon type and the highest-grade gear currently obtainable.
"Use whichever you like. A conclusion where you are beaten to a pulp by an opponent you cannot match even at full strength... that is the ending most suitable for you."
"You bastard...! Don’t underestimate me! I am the Protagonist!"
Realizing he was being utterly mocked, Egos grabbed the most powerful axe and leveled it. True to his status as a Reincarnator with Game Knowledge, his selection was optimal. His anger flared, but Lost merely watched him with a gaze of absolute, sub-zero contempt.
"Protagonist, Protagonist... you're so noisy. You brainless fool with nothing else to be proud of."
"What did you say?!"
Egos’s shout didn't register with Lost at all. The man was still clinging to a title he had already lost, unaware that he had never even understood the weight of the word. Lost began to laugh—a hollow, mocking sound.
"Technically, we aren't allowed to touch your kind. Our combat specs are low compared to you lot who were handed bonuses during reincarnation. But... every rule has its exception."
Slowly, Lost raised his right arm. Egos noticed a bracelet on the man's wrist, embedded with a gemstone that pulsed with an emerald light. Then, Lost whispered a single word.
"Hen... shin...!"
A torrent of green and black energy erupted from the earth, swallowing Lost whole. Egos stood frozen, staggered by the sheer, crushing weight of the Magic Power. Then, the dark light shattered, and Lost stepped forward.
"How is it? I used My Hero as a reference. It turned out quite well, don't you think?"
He wore a suit of minimalist silver armor. Upon his helm, two massive, green compound eyes pulsed with an eerie, predatory light. Sharp barbs protruded from his forearms and joints, glinting with a lethal sheen. Lost fixed his gaze on Egos, his voice dropping to a glacial chill.
"Kirio Egoshi, consider this your Penalty. Since you refused to learn your place after your Game Over, you shall be written out of the story here and now."