God's Prophecy - Chapter 0 - The Way Third-rate Villains Die is Comical

“Hehehe… being alone in the mountains like this in the middle of the night is like asking to be attacked. All that is missing is a little nudge, a shout, maybe. “Come and get me!” would do.”

“Eh… no… stay away! Ahhhh!”

Amidst the darkness of the forest, a helpless young girl could be seen being harassed by a group of shady-looking men. There was no one else in sight.

A red-haired man with an exceptionally ugly appearance and messy clothes stood out among the group. He jumped on the girl, pushed her down, and licked his lips indecently. He had a smile plastered on his face.

“No… please.…”

The girl pleaded with tears streaming down her cheeks, terrified. But to the man, hearing her pleas only added fuel to the fire; he grew more and more excited. With a gleeful smile, he ripped the girl’s clothes off.

“N-Noooo, stop. Please stop!” she screamed.

His comrades didn’t show any signs of stepping in. The girl screamed and struggled in desperation while pinned down. However, how can she, a weak and delicate girl, resist a fully grown man?

“Wow! Isn’t this one nice catch!”

“Hey, hey, Gilaru, take it easy. I don’t want you breaking her. We still want her to fetch a good price.”

“I know, I know. I won’t make the same mistake as last time. I’ll just give her a little taste. She’ll still make a fine slave after I’m done.”

As the girl’s scream rang in his ears, the man let loose to his desires.

“I’d rather you don’t do that, if possible.”

“Huh?!”

At that moment, a voice rang out from behind, breaking the man’s fun. He turned around as he pulled up his half-lowered pants in panic. Or he tried to turn around. But he found his vision shifting as he stood in place.

“What… what is happening?”

The man’s body was split cleanly in half, each half going its separate way. It made for the perfect entrance, as a young man appeared at the front.

“I’m sorry… for interrupting your fun.”

In front of the gruesome sight stood a youngster with a sword in his hand. He appeared like a warrior, or perhaps a hero, who swooped in to save the day. The once despairing girl was suddenly filled with joy, while the other men screamed in terror.

“What…Gilaru, Gilaru was split in half!”

“Is this a joke?! That huge sword… could it be the legendary Elemental Blade that only a hero can wield!”

“Hmm, so even bandits like you know about it…. You are right. This is Elemental Blade, a weapon that could only be wielded by a hero.”

⁂

“What, what is this?” I couldn’t understand what I was looking at. I don’t even know where I was or what happened to me. And what brought me the greatest shock was the image in front of me. A shining black plate projecting a hologram.

It was a scene inside a hero story, where the protagonist, the hero, rescued a pitiful girl. A man was gorily killed in the process without hesitation, split in half, just to produce the scene of villains being brutally killed.

If it was anyone else watching, they would be pointing their finger and holding their stomachs in laughter…. However, not me… because the man who had just been killed had the same name as me.

I felt cold shivers running through my body as this thought crossed my mind. My legs gave way as they trembled and I could feel how dry my mouth had become.

The “God” who was sitting cross-legged in front of the shining black plate, across from me, muttered as he gave me a look, “The fate of villains is the same in any story, isn’t it? Generic and boring.”

At that moment, I realized what I was looking at…. This was the Book of Prophecy, the book that only the gods in the heavens could possess. And what I saw must have been the future fate of myself…. The scene where I, Gilaru, would meet the worst of fates.