My Villain-Raising Plan - Chapter 1

My father went into politics, my mother into business, and my brother into the military. Me? I’d been good since I was little.

That was why the system chose me.

It said I had an excellent reputation.

Then it gave me a mission: redeem a villain named Shen Zhuo. Turn a brooding, solitary mastermind into a good person.

The moment I heard the requirements, I felt the job had been made for me.

I agreed without hesitation. Nobody understood redemption better than I did.

Mostly because I couldn’t refuse. The damn thing wasn’t giving me a choice.

The system, however, was delighted.

After praising me as the easiest host it had ever worked with, it confidently transported me to an underground fighting arena.

[Like every villain in a romance novel, Shen Zhuo has a deeply unfortunate past,] it explained.

[You need to save him before all that suffering happens.]

Then it crammed my head with more background information.

[Shen Zhuo is in this arena right now. He’s just turned fifteen. His stepmother set him up and sold him here. He has no way out and nowhere to turn.]

[If you take him home now, look after him, raise him properly, and transform him with love, you can stop him from turning evil!]

“Oh,” I said, pretending to see the light, while quietly watching the ring outside my private box.

Five minutes earlier, a boy had been brought in.

His expression was bewildered, his eyes a little panicked.

Looking closer, I could see that he seemed to be trembling all over.

Utterly pitiful.

This was Shen Zhuo.

The system finished briefing me and immediately began to hurry me along.

[Host, that’s him! You can go down and save him now!]

“Mm-hmm. Any second now,” I said, nodding absently.

I didn’t move an inch.

Instead, I kept my chin propped on my hand and studied the boy in the ring at leisure.

There was no denying that Shen Zhuo had a flawless face.

Fine brows and eyes. Sharp, clean lines to his features.

But he was still young, slight enough that his shirt hung loose on him, all slender grace and thinness.

Injuries, large and small, covered his body.

He moved too slowly. His massive opponent easily picked him up with one hand, then slammed him back into the ground.

The impact sent dust billowing into the air.

There was a certain shattered beauty to a good-looking person being brutalized.

And so this seemingly fragile rag doll became the perfect catalyst for the underground kingdom’s frenzy.

“Tear him apart!”

“Break his neck!”

“Come on! Rip his clothes off first!”

“Hahaha! That’s what I’m here for!”

Malicious laughter. Mocking whistles.

A place steeped in money and excess, where blood and sin mingled with an appetite for the beauty of violence.

A glorious carnival of villains.

So no one noticed.

The boy who seemed to be scrambling so desperately around the ring was escaping serious danger with every beating. He avoided each vital spot with precision, protecting himself as much as possible.

Even the system missed it.

[Hurry, Host! This is the perfect moment to save him!]

I raised an eyebrow. Things were getting interesting.

“Wait a little longer.”

“Wait for what?”

“Shen Zhuo will die if you keep waiting!”

I didn’t answer. I simply settled into a more comfortable position and continued enjoying the match.

The one-sided beating didn’t last much longer.

Five minutes later, with the boy barely clinging to life, the organizers called a halt themselves.

Disappointed cries rose from every side of the stands.

Shen Zhuo lay on his back, covered in blood, his eyes drifting half shut.

His lowered lashes concealed his thoughts, giving nothing away.

Only the faintest relaxation at the corners of his mouth betrayed something he hadn’t managed to hide in time.

My interest piqued, I stood up and headed backstage.

[?]

[Host, what are you going to do?]

My lips curved.

“Why, I’m taking you…”

“…to meet our darling little villain.”