12 Miles Below - Chapter 5: A knife to a dream

NightmaresCreatures that appeared from the unknown a millennium ago continuously threatened humanity, pushing and pressuring people who once inhabited it aside. These Entities brought the world into utter chaos, furthering their influence to what was once a land that belonged to its rightful owner.In the end, humanity was forced to adapt.They kept trying different ways to fend off the Nightmares, and the solution they finally settled on was… why not become one themselves?Cesar Sparrow, an unfortunate fellow born in an era full of corruption, horror, and the unknown, was desperately trying to escape from its clutches… until he found an enigmatic, dying eyeball that latched itself onto him.“Hehehe, what a great fellow you are,”“How are you talking—. Just what are you…?”The dying eye that latched itself to his empty, bleeding eye socket chuckled, its voice groggy as it answered.“What do you think am I? I’m just an old and weak Nightmare, Sparrow. Though, you can call me Eyes of Deceit. And I'll borrow your body for a moment if you won't mind. Hehe,”“No, why would I give you my body?! Get the fuck out!”Entrapping himself in a series of encounters, uncovering secrets that belong to the Nightmares… and the humanity wanted to remain hidden, Cesar Sparrow ventures into the unknown.To keep struggling, to keep resisting, to keep persevering… will all that be enough?Will he be finally the one to break the chains humans had found themselves in, ending a millennium of suffering? Or succumb to the curse of the Nightmares?

God rewards hard work, and there must be rewards for paying.

And no matter how hard you work, you will gain 100%!

So, for things like cultivating immortals, don’t you just need to have hands?

- Description from novelbuddy

“With my knowledge, give me a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world!”

Villain System: Activated> Alignment: Chaotic EvilObjective: Obey the plot, serve the empire, die like a good villain.Yeah, no thanks.I woke up as Dorian Valen—sadistic noble, arsonist, war criminal, mid-tier villain with a face everyone wants to stab. The story wants me to beg for my life, cough up secrets, and die at sunrise so the hero can get a shiny new power-up. Been there, read that.But I'm not here to follow the script. I'm here to flip the table.I’ll expose the cracks in the empire, dismantle the hero’s halo, weaponize every trope, and corrupt the system that tried to cage me. And if I have to burn the world down to do it?Well… I’ve got the villain system. Might as well make it earn its name.