By Zephyria 
Just as I exist in this world as simply ‘Noah Hamilton,’ he too exists in this world only as ‘Allen Hamilton.’ Isn’t that a statement that can be interpreted in many ways?
I wasn’t just a common villain in this childish game from the beginning, Noah Hamilton.
Originally, I was just an employee of a game platform who was busy trying to revive a game that had already failed. Now, I’ve been trapped in this world for too long, and I’ve been completely immersed in my identity as Noah Hamilton, but when I first regained my memories of my previous life, I identified myself as an adult man living in modern times, not a ten-year-old snot-nosed kid.
Even that is already a distant memory.
The System is right. In this world, all I had was the role of existing and functioning as Noah Hamilton.
And if that also applies to Allen….
It meant that Allen Hamilton, who exists before everyone’s eyes, might not be the ‘original’ who had been the object of all my abstract fears and envy until now.
If so, there is only one problem.
If Allen Hamilton is no longer the perfect protagonist of the original story, then from what point did he lose his ‘originality’?
If he had already lost his originality a long time ago, then strangeness should have been detected in the past Iterations. But there had been no exceptions until this Iteration, when I decided to end it all. This was truly the first time that he had shown a meaningful appearance and acted strangely when we were alone. Before this Iteration, when he appeared unusually quickly and regained his identity quickly, he was always just the cruelly innocent figure from the original game…. Did I miss something? Think. I have to think, Noah.
I anxiously and desperately racked my brain. I reviewed what had happened so far over and over again, desperately trying to recall even a shred of a clue to guess Allen’s identity or the limits of his abilities.
“Ah…!”
‘Do you regret it?’
Suddenly, those words came to mind. It was the line that Allen Hamilton had said to me in the Iteration right before, when I had come all the way to a death row inmate who was smiling with joy at finally being able to die, even though there was no part of his body that was unscathed, and asked if he regretted it.
Allen’s deviation from the scenario, the unscheduled lines he uttered, it all started then. Yes. Perhaps, that was the beginning. The world, which had been firmly fixed around Allen, began to twist, and Allen Hamilton began to lose his originality.
Whether that loss was forced or a voluntary erasure, there was room for further investigation.
In the previous Iteration, I faithfully followed the original’s true ending. I was undeniably the villain. The initial few mishaps could be excused as unfortunate incidents designed to establish Noah Hamilton as a villain consumed by jealousy and inferiority, but from the middle of the game onwards, I devised all sorts of wicked schemes to torment Allen. Of course, this game’s overall flow was heavily biased towards the protagonist, so my wicked schemes only served to highlight the abilities of the great Love interests, and I inflicted almost no effective hits on Allen.
‘Ah, I asked the wrong question. Someone as venomous as you wouldn’t regret it this easily.’
Those words, spoken by the angelic protagonist, were excessively laced with venom. Though spoken calmly and quietly, the resentment and hatred contained within them sounded quite deep.
Originally, what Allen should have said in this situation was… a word of empty forgiveness, saying that if I repented my mistakes even now and promised to get along well with everyone, he would somehow persuade the Crown Prince to release me. In the original story, Noah Hamilton had to reject Allen’s goodwill until the end and face the guillotine.
Allen Hamilton was a character who knew nothing of hatred and resentment. No matter how much I hated him, he had a Setting that prevented him from throwing words like ‘someone as venomous as you’ at me.
Now it was certain. There was no need to seek advice from the System.
This Iteration’s Allen Hamilton was not the protagonist of the original story. Even if that body was the real Allen, if the soul inside was different, or if that soul had already lost the qualifications of the protagonist… there was no reason to be afraid anymore.
“Ha, hahaha. Hahahahaha…….”
I suddenly burst into a dry laugh. The reason I hadn’t dared to dream of opposing Allen until now, and why I was shocked by his every move even in this Iteration where I had finally made up my mind, was all because… the grand principle of this world, built on ‘The Nobleman of the Rose Mansion’, was destined for the unconditional victory of the protagonist, wasn’t it?
“I thought it was like throwing an egg against a rock, but maybe, just maybe, there’s a real chance of winning.”
Mysteries still remained unsolved. If Allen, or rather, the ‘Player’ using Allen’s body, knew the original story like I did, and even if he had regressed with me at the end of the previous Iteration, how could he know about the events in the north, which had never happened in the original story or in any Iteration before? The powerful ability that had seduced the characters and instantly deprived the Countess and Carlisle of their reason could not be taken lightly either.
However, no matter how powerful he was, if he wasn’t the true protagonist of this world, I could somehow bring him down.
On a quiet night, having lost Carlisle, I rekindled the embers of hope.
“Maybe, just maybe, there’s a real chance of winning.”
“Ah, dear. You’ve already noticed. That’s why being too clever is a poison.”
The man shook his head as if he was very sorry and sighed deeply.
He could read all the unspoken thoughts of the characters. So, he could easily understand what complex thoughts and various emotions were sprouting and fading in Noah Hamilton’s small head, even easier than breathing.
“You were always like that. Thinking too much was always your problem. You could have gone simply, but you insisted on…….”
The flaws in the world that Noah Hamilton had noticed mostly matched reality. Allen, who had been nothing more than a marionette bound by the fate of the original story, finally had a proper manipulator, and because that manipulator’s personality wasn’t very good, the shining calling and qualifications he should have had as the protagonist of the world were long gone. The world no longer worked solely for the sake of one protagonist.
If that grand principle was still in effect, no matter how much Noah Hamilton struggled, people like Andrew and the Crown Prince could not have been so biased towards Noah.
“But it’s not bad. The closer you get to the truth, the more you work hard to build the tower, the greater the despair when it collapses.”
An arrogant smile curves up in a blissful arc. Eyelashes, dyed silver, droop densely. The protagonist who receives the gaze filled with endless affection is, as always, only Noah Hamilton.
“Now then. How much will you figure out?”
Will you even be able to guess who the true protagonist of this world is?
The love of an absolute being was too violent for a mere creation to receive in one body. Perhaps all the hardships Noah Hamilton was experiencing were caused by that.
“It’s all your fault, Noah. So why did you do that?”
This obvious fact could not be hidden from someone who had been granted the authority of omniscience.
However, Noah Hamilton’s true tragedy stemmed from the fact that the twisted absolute being deeply loved, and at the same time fervently hated, even the one who was suffering.
“If you hadn’t betrayed me and left, you wouldn’t have had to go through this pain…….”
The man shot his familiar sincerity towards the lover he still loved to the point of wanting to kill.
“I love you, Noah. Even the pain you will experience, this deeply.”
Appropriate deduction!
The System vehemently supports your cleverness in taking a step closer to the truth!