episode_0001

In a small, cold room, two girls with golden hair and red eyes faced each other.

The girls looked so identical they were indistinguishable.

Who could they be? Were they twins?

The answer was simple: ‘Me’.

Both of them were me!

In the bland, white room, I held my duplicate and lamented.

“…I’m sick of this!”

There was no one else to complain to in this boring, stifling space but the duplicate I had created.

A cute whimper escaped my lips, making me realize the reality once more.

I had become a beautiful girl.

My life as a man, which had lasted over twenty years, was forcibly ended one day when an air conditioner outdoor unit fell on me while I was walking down the street.

I thought everything had ended there, but when I came to, I was a girl.

When I happened to look into a mirror, I was startled.

Because reflected there was a beautiful girl with golden hair, rabbit-like red eyes, and fair skin, dressed in a fluttering hospital gown.

She was a beautiful porcelain doll, a perfect blend of youthful innocence and an incomplete maturity that hadn’t yet become a woman. The bridge between child and adult was there.

“This is me? That’s amazing!”

When I first realized I had become a girl, I was truly impressed. ‘I’ was beautiful enough to make even myself gasp in admiration.

My face was smooth and spotless, and my figure was slender, yet it possessed the appropriate curves and maturity where they should be.

It was such a cute and lovely appearance that it easily overshadowed any sudden confusion about gender identity.

I felt like my thinking ability had slightly declined since becoming a girl, but I wasn’t sure. Anyway, isn’t it enough to just be pretty?

Goodbye to this boring life! I’ll become a happy internet idol star!… I briefly entertained such a dream.

“…But what good is it, when I’m trapped?”

However, I couldn’t rejoice.

First, I had transmigrated into a game. And into the body of a villain who dies by the protagonist’s hand, at that.

*Crimson Scholar* (深紅學士), global service name *Crimson Scholar*.

A notorious copycat gacha game created by a Chinese conglomerate heir otaku, who poured money into it.

It was a dystopian open-world action game set in a world crumbling under an interdimensional invasion, where you led students and companions from an academy city to fight.

As an aside, for very Chinese reasons, the game’s service was terminated early after only completing Part 1 of the story.

‘Out of all the characters, to become Witch Violet!’

Witch Violet of Boundless Evil, an executive of a certain terrorist organization and a sadistic murderer. She accumulates all sorts of bad karma until she dies at the hands of the enraged protagonist.

‘This is a bit troublesome.’

Of all things, to be an evil villain – this was a bit difficult.

However, I still had one chance.

‘It’s before the main story!’

In the main story, Witch Violet, who committed rampant evil deeds, was a decadent and mature woman.

However, the girl standing before me, while similar in appearance to that villainess, was younger and shorter.

In other words, I had fallen into the past of the main story, the villain’s childhood. If I lived without doing bad things, I wouldn’t become a villain, and I wouldn’t die.

However, a second problem remained.

Currently, I was trapped in the secret laboratory of a wicked pharmaceutical corporation, Laplaxia.

This corporation called me and others “test subjects,” monitored us 24 hours a day, and conducted strange experiments. If we didn’t obey, they would even beat us.

On top of that, they put a stiff, thick collar around my slender neck.

“It’s suffocating.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t take it off. This collar had an electric shock function. I’d been shocked once, and it hurt terribly.

Therefore, any resolve about not becoming a villain was meaningless. This research facility, this corporation, could easily treat me like a slave.

The thought of being brainwashed or having a chip implanted in my head, becoming a slave or a bioweapon, sent shivers down my spine.

Since I had become a beautiful girl at the cost of emptiness in my lower body, I wanted to live comfortably for myself. To achieve this modest dream, I planned to escape this place no matter what.

If I had been in the body of an ordinary girl, I might have given up, but I had one trump card.

To check the situation, I uttered the all-purpose word.

“Status window.”

A shimmering, translucent screen appeared before my eyes.

————————————————- Name: Violet Dunhind Ruzilin Alias: Test Subject 10-6-8 Status: Research Lab Test Subject HP: 1000 MP: 1500 Unique Ability: ■■■■: ??? Lv1 Duplicate Art … ————————————————-

‘As expected, I really am that Violet!’

In the world of *Crimson Scholar*, there existed superhumans called ‘Awakened Ones’. They wielded powerful physical strength, mastered magic, and each possessed unique superpowers.

The ability of the body I possessed was quite unique among them.

That was Duplicate Art.

Witch Violet, true to her name, could create and control multiple duplicates identical to herself. And I could use Duplicate Art too.

Currently, I could only create one, but once I became familiar with the ability, I would be able to create hundreds, no, thousands.

I planned to develop this ability, exploit the gaps in the lab’s security, and somehow escape.

‘What should I do after that?’

I didn’t know either.

Perhaps I would live quietly in the outskirts, hidden from the corporation’s eyes, or if I was lucky, I might even go to an academy.

Thinking for too long made my head hurt.

“Come here!”

I brought my duplicate, the girl who looked just like me, onto the bed and hugged her tightly.

Lying on the bed, holding my soft self, I felt at ease. There was also a subtly pleasant scent. My duplicate, mimicking my movements, also hugged me with her arms.

Touching myself like this, I realized I was truly soft. I should sleep like this from now on.

Having someone hug me made me feel a bit more at ease. In this suffocating world, the only one I could trust was myself.

While I was maintaining this peace of mind, I heard loud footsteps running down the corridor beyond my dormitory door.

“Test Subject 10-6-8!”

Someone yelled from outside the door. They were pounding loudly on the door. I should just pretend to be asleep.

“Test Subject 10-6-8! We know you’re not sleeping! Get up right now!”

“Aaargh!”

I jolted upright in surprise.

I had forgotten that there were surveillance cameras in every test subject’s room!

Clank!

The door clanked open, and armed guards burst in. The guards aimed their guns at me and my duplicate.

“Hey! Stay still!”

“Don’t move!”

Behind the guards, a researcher with slicked-back hair, dressed in a white lab coat, entered. I immediately lowered my head with a frightened expression. The researchers here treated test subjects like animals, so it was best not to provoke them carelessly.

That way, I’d get beaten less.

“10-6-8! Aren’t you going to get rid of that duplicate right now? Who told you to use your unique ability in the room without permission?”

“I’m sorryy…”

“You disobeyed orders, so you’ll be punished.”

The slicked-back haired researcher took out a small switch, about the size of a car key, and pressed a button.

Crackling!

“Aaargh!”

My duplicate and I collapsed onto the floor, shocked by the electrifying pain that coursed through our entire bodies. It hurt so much that we writhed on the floor.

“Ughhh…”

My duplicate and I teared up. I’d noticed something since becoming a girl: it was harder to endure pain than before transmigration.

“We are always watching test subjects like you. If you disobey orders, we will punish you again. Understood?”

The cruel researcher threatened me by holding the electric shock switch in front of my eyes. I sniffled and nodded.

With a snap of his fingers, my duplicate, whom I had just been hugging, vanished.

In the room vacated by the guards and the researcher, I sniffled for a while. As I gradually calmed down, I wiped my tears and lay down again.

‘Escape is one thing, but I can’t take this anymore!’

As I lay still, swallowing my anger, murderous intent welled up in my heart.

‘If I get a chance, I won’t let any of them off the hook.’

In this dehumanizing and unethical place, I tried to roughly remember everyone who had wronged me, even slightly.

I don’t know if I can do it, but if I get the chance, I want to crush all of them.

For a moment, I imagined myself commanding hundreds of duplicates to beat everyone down. I grinned idly at the thought of dragging out the survivors for public humiliation and burning down the entire lab, then suddenly felt hollow.

‘Sigh… For now, I need to train my abilities first.’

My abilities aren’t properly trained yet, so these thoughts are all pointless. More importantly, this lab has too many people watching. There are also many cameras.

First and foremost, I need to understand the internal structure.

‘And I need to get some tools.’

A hammer would be best. That way, I could smash the back of those damn researchers’ and guards’ heads!

Tossing and turning with these thoughts, sleep wouldn’t come.

My swollen chest felt uncomfortable, so I turned over several times. It felt soft and nice to touch, but when I lay down, it moved around, which was inconvenient.

For a moment, I pondered how I had ended up in this world.