That man loathed losing.
He enjoyed winning, of course, but his hatred for defeat ran far deeper. Because of this, he was a cunning man, well aware of his own limitations. As he grew older, he made it a point to only pick fights he knew he could win.
Academics weren't his forte, so he abandoned them early. He was reasonably athletic, yet there was always someone faster or more enduring than him. While most sore losers would double their efforts to surpass their rivals, this man unfortunately despised hard work as much as he did losing.
He gravitated toward contests where the criteria for victory were simple, where he held the advantage, and where he could feel a visceral sense of exhilaration. He sought a simple, pure contest of strength—in other words, brawling.
As mentioned before, the man possessed a fair amount of physical ability. Choosing the life of a delinquent over organized sports, his natural gifts quickly propelled him to the top of the food chain. Yet, in terms of raw power, there were countless others far stronger than him.
The reason he managed to maintain his superior position despite this was simple: his Brake of Reason was broken.
Most so-called thugs are just ordinary people at heart. They fear the police, and even if they fight, they have no desire to actually kill anyone. Most of them are content to play within the unspoken rules of society.
But this man was different. His Brake of Reason was non-functional. He could casually deliver lethal blows, using blades or blunt instruments to crush skulls without a second thought. His peers quickly branded him a "Truly Dangerous Guy," and their fear-induced distance was exactly what kept him on his throne.
If he was going to lose a fistfight, he simply used a weapon. If winning was the priority, no tactic was too cowardly or too dangerous. Driven by a madness that sought only triumph, he was nothing short of a psychopath.
Even so, he occasionally encountered those who were the "real deal"—true monsters who could overpower even his unhinged violence. He eventually realized that there were opponents he could not beat through conventional means. Normally, one would either concede or train harder, but he chose a third path.
He would track his opponent to their home and set it ablaze in the dead of night while they and their family slept. It was an easy way to burn them away. Even if the target survived, their family often became sacrifices. Seeing his rivals wailing in grief brought him a refreshing sense of victory.
Direct combat wasn't the only path to triumph. What mattered was the visceral sensation of having utterly defeated his enemy.
From then on, anyone who displeased him was consigned to the flames. Whether he had won or lost the initial fight, he unleashed his Flames of Retaliation upon their homes, their workplaces, and their loved ones. Fire was the ultimate equalizer; no amount of muscle or technique could easily stop a raging inferno once it took hold.
Through these Off-board Tactics, he secured a streak of uninterrupted victories. However, such dirty methods naturally bred a legion of enemies, and eventually, the debt came due. One day, he found himself engulfed in the same flames he had inflicted on others, cornered by a mob seeking vengeance.
As he burned, his mind wasn't filled with regret, but with a pathological loathing of defeat. He refused to accept the loss that came with death and howled his resentment into the fire.
"I’ll come back! I’ll come back and burn every last one of you to ash!"
That dying scream became a half-truth. Reborn in a new world, he clung to the logic that as long as he drew breath, he had not yet lost. He used his newfound power to continue his winning streak, burning people, possessions, and the world itself—anything to secure his victory.
This was how he earned the name Burn. The Demon Who Burns Everything for His Own Pleasure continues his hunt for new targets even now.