My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

My name is Sung Ae-Ri... or well, it used to be.

After reading my favourite web novel, [The Hero Wants to Save the World-Ending Villain!?], also known as simply 'World-Ending Villain', for about the twelfth or thirteenth time, my immeasurable bitterness at the story's shockingly bad resolution renewed once more and I couldn't hold myself back on writing an angry comment on the author's channel.

The truth is, I already left a review, so I couldn't post a second one, so I put a comment instead and um... Well, although I called it a comment, it turned out to be over 1600 words, but anyway...

The night after I used all my energy to leave that comment, I went to bed, exasperated, and when I woke up-- Poof! I found myself in another person's body.

That person was Araceli Arévalo, a beautiful young lady from a prestigious family.

The only thing is...

Araceli Arévalo was a character in the novel, World-Ending Villain.

She was an extra―a side character who didn't appear in the story much―but I knew in an instant because, well, I was a megafan of the series, so I had memorised even the names of such unimportant side characters.

Oh, of course, the biggest reason for me realising that I had somehow possessed the body of a character in World-Ending Villain was the fact that Araceli had a supernatural power called a Measurement.

In fact, everyone in this world had one; though, they weren't very good.

Honestly, it might as well have been that Measurements were rare rather than everyone having one because, in the novel, they were treated as though only a few people possessed an ability worth mentioning.

To be honest, I think that part was a plot hole missed by the author, because it didn't make much sense to me, but anyway.

Araceli had an ability that let her protect herself, and it extended to whoever was in her line of sight if she willed it. In the novel, it had only been described simply, but it was easily recognisable by those few traits alone and was even used to save the main character's life a few times.

In the past, I had read many novels with the main theme being a transmigrated main character, but never did I think it would happen to me. I was not prepared for it, and accordingly, my first days in this world were tough.

I didn't retain any of Araceli's previous memories when I possessed her body, and since she attended some prestigious all-girls school that had only briefly been mentioned in passing in the novel, I found myself under a lot of stress trying to keep up.

I was also still puzzled by what caused all this in the first place.

Was it because I wrote that angry comment criticising the novel's ending?

Did the author get fed up with me?

In the novels I had read in the past, the pattern usually went something along the lines of, 'if you don't like how the story ended, then do it yourself'.

Does that mean I was brought here to try and change the ending to a better one...?

I could only hope so because I hated the ending with a passion.

You see, the premise of the novel, [The Hero Wants to Save the World-Ending Villain!?], is that it is primarily a time loop story; it revolves around the main character, Azaki Kiryuuin, being sent back in time to save the world from destruction.

In the prologue, the novel starts with Azaki and the organisation he was a part of, the Wardens of Future's Blight, trying to capture the main antagonist of the series, Cipher, who was, to put it in a certain way, the impetus for trouble.

Azaki died countless times trying to capture Cipher, but thanks to his power related to time, he was always able to rewind up to three days in the past and find a different path whenever he died.

Ultimately, he failed, unable to complete his goal, and at the end of the prologue, Cipher wound up awakening his true power through a process called artificial Measurement evolution, destroying the world.

After that, the main story begins with Azaki waking up seven years in the past, his power having evolved to a higher form and gaining a new 'system'-type power that grows as the novel continues. From then on, he would try to save the world by stopping Cipher from awakening his power and ending everything.

However, every time, he failed miserably.

One attempt after the other, the titular hero Azaki Kiryuuin witnessed the end of the world dozens of times before finding himself back on that same day, seven years in the past yet again.

Cipher's ability of near-infinite knowledge allowed him to know whenever Azaki would make his move as well as how he would go about it, letting him make any kinds of preparations he needed in advance.

Even if he was from the future, there was no way for Azaki to counter something like that, and after the seventh regression, he quickly fell into a spiral of despair.

Still, he didn't give up―he couldn't, and that's what made him a hero.

As the story went on, the reason for Cipher continuously destroying the world, again and again, was gradually revealed to be that he discovered the world was 'fake' and just a story; because of that, he wanted to find a way to break free to the 'real world'.

Azaki knew from the beginning that Cipher wasn't inherently an evil person―that's exactly why he refused to kill him, even though the opportunity presented itself plenty of times―but after learning the reason behind his world-ending actions, he began to feel the desire to save not just the world, but the catalyst of it all―Cipher―too.

He realised that saving Cipher in and of itself was the most ideal way to save the world too, as that way no one would lose.

And hence the title of the novel, [The Hero Wants to Save the World-Ending Villain!?].

It instantly became my favourite novel as soon as I started reading it, and I couldn't put it down. As I've mentioned, I even ended up reading it thirteen times before I possessed Araceli's body.

The characters were funny and rich with personality, and it was a great story overall, it really was...

...Except for the ending, that is.

The reason I and so many other readers had posted so many comments and reviews bashing the author.

The reason I screamed, "What the hell kind of ending is this?!", at the top of my lungs the first-through-fifth times reading it.

And...

The reason Cipher became my favourite character.

It was all... All because of that darned ending. Haa, even just thinking about it riles me up.

In World-Ending Villain, Cipher has numerous allies who help him throughout the novel. As the story went on, Azaki naturally began to realise he couldn't save everyone just by going after Cipher himself over and over again, and so he changed his target to the villain's allies instead.

Though I say 'target', it wasn't something so malicious―it couldn't have been, as the story's hero.

No, he visited them privately and only requested their help to save Cipher because Azaki thought he could count on them to do that.

It was a sharp, accurate judgement of their characters that resulted from the aggregate experience collected and combined over many years, and dozens of regressions' worth of interactions.

If it didn't work out, he would just try a different method in the next regression.

At first, it was exciting that we, the readers, were able to peer through the window into the characters on Cipher's side, such as the widely popular "Vampire Twins", the "Contract-user Emir", or infamous "Foul-mouthed Delinquent, Sophie Asanami", that we had only been able to see in brief interactions with the main character until then.

It was revealed through these events that these characters, despite not always being treated warmly by Cipher, had come to find themselves caring rather deeply about him after he saved each of them from the various struggles of their own personal circumstances.

And thus, throughout the later half of the novel, the involvement of those close to Cipher who wished to save him from destruction grew. Their cooperation became more and more vital to the hero―Azaki Kiryuuin's plan to save Cipher, and eventually, the end of the story neared.

During the final regression, everything was set up perfectly.

Azaki had meticulously planned everything that needed to happen right from the beginning, and because he had experienced different variations of the future so many times, he was able to avoid all the obstacles that got in the way almost flawlessly despite Cipher's incredible power, that used to feel unbeatable.

He could do this only because Cipher's power of knowledge didn't work when it came to Azaki's power to regress, as well as that he continued to grow stronger for every regression.

Like that, it was going so well.

It was going so well, and it really seemed like Azaki would be able to save Cipher from his own self-destruction once and for all, thus preventing the destruction of the world.

It was like that until a certain event.

A certain chapter.

I remember the day I first read it well, like a core memory.

The intense emotions it made me feel, it was something I wouldn't be able to forget for as long as I live. Something that made me, as well as many other avid fans of the series, quake with anger and even drop it then and there.

The absolute worst―Chapter 469.

The chapter where, for some ungodly reason, the author suddenly decided to kill off a bunch of my favourite characters out of the entire novel.

...It occurred at the end of the final regression.

Everything was in place for success; a happy ending could even be seen closing in on the horizon, and many readers, including myself, could practically predict what was going to happen to end the story in a clean and satisfying way.

The hero, Azaki Kiryuuin, confronted the villain, Cipher, in the middle of Weinstell, the main city in which the story takes place.

Many beloved characters of the cast were present, whether spectating from the sidelines or playing a role in the midst of action.

Lured to a place he couldn't easily escape, Cipher had been caught in a trap.

Naturally, he tried to use the powerful allies he had trained until then to beat Azaki, but it was futile.

Not only had Azaki grown incomparably stronger than at the start of the novel thanks to his system power and countless regressions, but Cipher's allies also had other plans, unbeknownst to him, and refused to listen to his orders.

All he had was his power of infinite knowledge, so there was no need for a great amount of force to hold him down. Still, they were prepared for the worst-case scenario.

However, something even worse than the worst-case scenario occurred.

In previous regressions, if Azaki took too long to subdue him, Cipher always ended up developing a drug that forcefully evolved his Measurement. Even if he was captured but escaped later on, it was inevitable.

And it was that very power that destroyed the world so many times in front of Azaki's eyes.

But in the final regression, Azaki was able to make a move quick enough that Cipher didn't have the time to finish manufacturing the drug, and he succeeded in capturing him without casualties.

Finally, having captured Cipher before he could have a chance to take the drug and destroy the world, Azaki felt the relief of success after all this time. All he had to do now was ensure that Cipher was rehabilitated so he didn't want to destroy the world any more, and everything would be fine.

...However, there was one thing he failed to take into account.

And that was the phenomenon of natural Measurement evolution.

When Cipher was caught in a trap, restrained, and unable to resist even a smidgen, he was naturally confused and frustrated. Still, he would've ordinarily been fine. After all, there were many times during previous regressions where Azaki had successfully trapped Cipher. It's just that he had never been able to follow it up properly or keep him there.

But, this time was different. There was nothing Cipher could do.

The straw that broke the camel's back was when he witnessed those few people he trusted―Sana, Sona, Emir, Sophie Asanami, Minami Mochizuki, and everyone else―side with the enemy.

That sense of betrayal, coupled with the crippling powerlessness, was soul-destroying even for someone indifferent like him.

In an instant, it felt as if he lost everything he had.

'Why?'

He asked that question over and over again in his mind, and eventually, his ability called Truth caved in and gave him the answer.

That this world was a novel, and the current situation was entirely scripted.

At that moment, he experienced something supernatural, and his power evolved.

For the first time in the novel, Cipher's power had evolved without the assistance of a drug, but it wasn't any less devastating.

In an instant, he broke free from the restraints Azaki had placed him in as easily as tearing wet paper.

Of course, Azaki was shocked, but before he knew it, a tragedy occurred.

―Over a dozen of the characters present were slaughtered mercilessly without even a chance to defend themselves.

And they weren't characters with a small presence in the story, either.

Saburou Fushigimi.

Avon Laura.

They were all characters with great strength; not people who it should've been possible to take down in a single attack.

It was indescribably abhorrent, and ultimately, over a third of the cast was massacred by Cipher before Azaki could even think to make a move.

The chapter ended with Azaki hurriedly using his overpowered Measurement and system power to try and nullify Cipher's as he used it to try and destroy the world once more.

It worked, barely, but it was a technique so immense that it rendered him completely powerless, meaning his ability to regress was no more.

That was when Azaki conceded.

He reluctantly accepted the fact that, if he wanted to save the world, Cipher could not be allowed to live.

And so, before Cipher could use his power once again.

Before things got to a point where he could no longer stop it.

Azaki killed him.

In the end, he had successfully prevented the world from being destroyed, but at what cost? He had foolishly let so many of his close friends die to accomplish it.

If he could regress, he would have gone back to save them, but alas, it was no longer possible.

It was an incredibly depressing end to the story that seemed to be heading in such a good direction, and everyone who expected Cipher to be saved was irrevocably disappointed.

Titled "Bane of the Regressor", Chapter 469 was the one and only chapter in the entire story that was told from Cipher's perspective.

For the first time in the novel, it told us readers about what everything was like from his view, and it was heartbreaking.

Most readers foresaw a scene where the hero and the villain sat at the same table, eating the same meal, but it never came.

That's why, even after reading the novel thirteen times, Cipher remains my favourite character.

While reading the novel for the first time, you're naturally led to want Cipher to live by the end, but after reading Chapter 469, you sympathise with him more than even the main character of the story.

You find tears streaming down your face as that wish is ruthlessly denied, or at least I did.

So, that's why.

Having possessed the body of Araceli Arévalo, and having all my knowledge of the original novel.

No matter what.

I will find a way to do what the hero couldn't do and save the villain.

Because I am his biggest fan.