章 6: Prince of Acting (1)

Edited by: Kuro_kama, Lille, and Nyxx

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[Host, are you ready?] The Host opened his eyes to see System 225 sitting next to him. System 225's expression was calm, never changing, but his voice was gentle.

The Host rubbed his eyes and then yawned. He waited for a moment to come back to himself before nodding. He had always been a slow waker as he needed a few minutes to reboot himself. The Host was relieved to find himself still in the space instead of waking up in a random body, making him trust System 225 a little more.

[Alright, Host, put your hand on the UniOrb when you are ready. The world you will be transferring to is already within the sequence, and the information of the world will be in your head when you successfully transfer over. Missions will come when you aren't busy. If you need me to read the information for you, let me know.]

"Understood... And thank you, System 225."

[It's no problem, Host. I will be here if you need anything, so please do not hesitate to call me in your head.]

The Host nodded, but he didn't move his hand, he only looked at the UniOrb for a moment. He thought about his blinding trust in the beginning. The promise to help people, the lives he could change into a better one. It was as if they were all just figments of his imagination like they were dreams he had when he suffered in the Villain System.

He pushed all those thoughts down and put his hand on the UniOrb.

Maybe this time he would finally be able to help someone again.

*****

The Host came to and found himself sitting in a tall black chair, looking in a mirror. The makeup artist patted the Host's tannish face lightly with the powder foundation while the hairstylist fixed his hair. When he looked in the mirror, he saw a handsome man staring back at him, but his slightly narrow dark brown eyes seemed to look black. The stylist slicked his hair back, showing off his fade. His clean beard emphasized his chiseled jawline. He had a 5 o'clock shadow look, but it was well-groomed and tidy, making him look a bit older.

According to the world data that System 225 gave him, the man reflected in the mirror was known as the Dark Prince of Acting. His name was Alec Matthews, and he was 22 years old. Alec was an orphan at birth, but a loving family adopted him at the age of 8.

Ever since he was young, he had no clue as to how to express his emotions, so he seemed expressionless and cold. Deep down, he was shy, innocent, kind, and gentle. Instead of darkness, he was like a light in that darkness, but only a selected few knew the real him.

When he was a child, his biggest dream was to become an actor. When that dream was finally achieved, unfortunately, due to his frigid, handsome face, he was always made to play the villainous roles. The media portrayed him as a cold man because he didn't know how to interact outside of acting. His roles and the media shaped the audience's opinions of him, portraying him as rude and mean.

On the other hand, his complete opposite, the Light Prince of Acting, was rotten to the core. Light Prince, Stephan Lambert, was an actor famous for his princely good looks. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, like your average tall actor. He seemed like a prince from any fairytale, but it was only a persona. In private, his true nature emerged. He was aggressive, nasty, and sexist. He hated everyone except for one person.

That one person, his first love, was a rising star named Kyle Davis. Kyle was a dark-skinned young man, with dark curly hair, and his smile was big and bright, truly mesmerizing to look at. Though Kyle was just starting, he was talented and well-rounded. His fresh and cheerful personality drew many people in, making him a fan favorite of all ages. He was genuine. No one could get mad at him, and many people fell for his charms. Even Alec looked up to him and wished he was able to attract people like Kyle.

Anyways, when Kyle saw people's misconceptions about Alec, he decided to become his friend. He tried to get Alec to come out of his shell, but he realized that Alec was perfect the way he was. They were best friends until Stephan got jealous of their interactions. Since Stephan already saw Alec as a threat when news got around that he was a better actor, he schemed against Alec. Scandal after scandal, the icing on the cake was when Alec was accused of raping Kyle under the influence of drugs.

Even though Kyle denied it until the end of his life, everyone saw the well-planted evidence, and they heard the verdict of the jury and judge who was bribed by Stephan. People came up with conjectures as to why Kyle still stood up for Alec. There were three main points that people used. Everyone knew Kyle was Alec's only best friend. It was no surprise that Kyle would defend the man. They also thought that Kyle was in denial about the situation, choosing to forget the painful and traumatizing experience altogether. Lastly, they saw it as the pride of a man to deny getting assaulted (which was highly toxic). Whatever it was, no one listened to the man himself, even when Kyle tried to clear Alec's name.

After all of this, Alec was labeled as a rapist and a drug addict by society. Those labels ruined Alec's career and life, so in the end, he killed himself. The only person to mourn for him was Kyle, his manager, and his adopted family.

Stephan, who then tried to pursue Kyle after Alec was gone, was rejected. Stephan brutally murdered Kyle because he felt that if he couldn't have Kyle, no one else could.

The Host, seeing that Stephan made it out safely and richly in the end, was infuriated. How could this disgusting, twisted man be the main protagonist of this world, and poor Alec was the main villain? And Kyle, who was genuinely kind, was also killed in the end? Who made this disgusting story!? The story was utter bullshit; it was like everyone was stupid!

Seeing the visible frown on Alec's face, the hairstylist stopped moving. "Alec, dear, did that hurt?"

The Host, now known as Alec, shook his head. "I apologize, I was thinking of a story I read a while back."

"It must've been horrible if you ended up frowning when thinking about it."

"Oh, it was dreadful. The main character was an evil brute while the so-called Villain and his friend died unjustly."

"That sounds like a horrible plot twist. I bet the readers were outraged."

"Yes, readers were bashing the author for it." He, the reader of the world plot, was bashing it.

System 225 couldn't help but smile, seeing that his Host was adjusting well. Even after all those years with the Villain System, the Host's personality stayed pretty constant. He also learned many things and absorbed them like a sponge, using them to his advantage. System 225 felt like a proud father.

After the stylist finished his hair and makeup, he grabbed his clothes from the rack and got dressed. He was playing the "evil" noble in a fantasy movie filled with magic, monsters, and knights. His nobleman's clothing was black and purple, form-fitting, and well-detailed. He looked like a prince, but the lack of gold on his outfit told of his status as Marquis and Prime Minister.

His role in this story was to start a revolution, only to be killed at the very end by the Crown Prince and the Knight Commander. Stephan played the role of Crown Prince, and Kyle played the Knight Commander.

After putting on his outfit, he slowly walked out of the dressing room and into the studio. He was in character the moment he stepped out of his dressing room. Every step Alec took had confidence and grace, but also pride. The moment he left the room, Alec had already gotten into character.

It was a habit for him, the original body, to go into the character's role from start to finish. It was a habit for the Host as well.

He was Alec, and Alec was now him.