The Villain System Is Frustated

Hunted by the Mafia

The explosion shattered the silence of the corridor, sending a wave of scorching air that slammed into Bima’s body, hurls him toward the ventilation gap in the upper wall. Thick concrete dust shrouded his vision like a deathly fog. The sound of the building collapsing echoed like endless thunder. Bima gripped the vent’s iron bars with bloodied fingers, his eyes wide as he stared at the plumes of smoke below where Rina had just been standing.

"Rina!" Bima screamed. His voice was hoarse, drowned out by the thud of falling concrete.

[Warning! Host’s heart rate has reached a critical level. Physical danger detected! Debris is rapidly blocking the exit. Evacuate immediately or you will be buried with the subject!]

"Shut up, System!" Bima cursed. He didn't care about the ridiculous warning. With what little strength he had left, he crawled into the cramped ventilation shaft, but his eyes remained fixed on Rina’s location.

Suddenly, through the haze of dust, a shadow moved. It wasn't a mafia henchman, but Rina, struggling to pull herself out from under a pile of concrete beams. Her clothes were torn and her face was smeared with soot, but her eyes still burned with the fire of defiance. She looked up toward the vent where Bima was.

"Run, Bima! Don't worry about me! Get out of here!" Rina shouted.

"Not a chance!" Bima turned his body around. He couldn't leave her alone.

Just as Bima was about to jump back down, the cracked corridor let out a terrifying groan. The steel door at the end of the hallway was forced open. Three massive figures in full tactical gear appeared. They were no longer ordinary humans. Their eyes glowed with an artificial red light, a sign that they were cyborgs sent by the mafia organization to hunt down the system asset.

"Target detected," a mechanical voice vibrated from one of the cyborgs' throats. "Execution protocol initiated."

Rina, still pinned down, immediately drew her dagger, ready to face them even though her leg was crushed. Bima felt an overwhelming surge of emotion explode in his chest. Fear, deep-seated love, and a burning rage at the system that had trapped him all swirled into one. 

[Demon King’s Blessing Mode active! Host has received a two-hundred-percent physical strength boost. Use this opportunity to dominate!]

Bima leaped from the vent like a predator. He landed right in front of one of the cyborgs, striking its chest so hard the protective plating caved in. The cyborg was sent flying fifteen feet, slamming into the corridor wall.

"Don't you ever touch her!" Bima growled. His eyes now flashed red, the system's influence beginning to take control of his consciousness.

Rina stared at Bima with a mixture of fear and awe. "Bima, what’s happening to you?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, close your eyes," Bima answered curtly.

The two remaining cyborgs attacked simultaneously. Bima didn't use a weapon. He used the environment. He grabbed live electrical wires hanging from the ruined ceiling, wrapped them around the cyborgs' bodies, and channeled the system’s energy through the cables. Violent purple sparks hissed and crackled. The two cyborgs bucked and shuddered violently before finally collapsing unconscious, smoke billowing from their mechanical joints.

The corridor fell silent again, leaving only the sound of Bima’s heavy breathing and the distant roar of fire. Bima ran to Rina’s side. He quickly lifted the concrete block pinning her leg with a single hand.

"Are you okay?" Bima asked, his voice trembling. He held Rina’s hand with incredible tenderness, as if she were a piece of priceless, fragile porcelain.

Rina looked at Bima’s shaking hand, then up at his face, which was now drenched in sweat and dust. Suddenly, Rina grabbed Bima’s collar and kissed him squarely on the lips. It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was a kiss full of passion, desperation, and emotions that had been suppressed for weeks.

Bima was stunned for a moment, but he quickly returned the kiss with the same intensity. Amidst the still-smoldering ruins, the two of them were swept away in a deeply intimate moment. Rina pressed her body against Bima’s, her hands clutching his shoulders tightly, as if terrified he might vanish into the fog of dust.

[Warning! Heart rates synchronized. Emotional connection has reached its peak. Romantic scenario detected! If you continue this activity, you will lose the opportunity to escape the mafia’s pursuit!]

Bima didn't care. He wrapped his arms around Rina’s waist, pulling her closer until there was no space between them. It felt as if the outside world no longer existed. There was only the two of them in this ruined hallway.

"Bima," Rina whispered between ragged breaths, her beautiful eyes looking at him with a pleading gaze. "Don't ever leave me again."

"I’m never going anywhere," Bima replied firmly.

However, that happiness was short-lived. Much heavier footsteps echoed from behind the shattered wall. This time it wasn't a cyborg, but a man in a black suit holding a large signal transmitter. He was the boss of the mafia organization, who had been watching from a distance. He stood there, looking at them with a deeply condescending smirk.

"How touching," the man said, clapping slowly. "But the show must come to an end. Bima, you’ve proven you have potential. But now, I must take this woman as collateral to ensure you follow my orders."

The man pressed a button on the device he was holding. Instantly, the floor beneath Rina’s feet began to vibrate. Bima tried to pull Rina away, but a powerful sleeping gas hissed up from the floor, knocking Rina unconscious in seconds.

"Rina!" Bima caught Rina’s body before she hit the floor. He glared at the man with an overflowing rage.

"Give her to me, or you'll watch me level this building to the ground!" the man threatened.

Bima stood tall. He held Rina close with one arm, while his other hand began to emit a massive surge of energy. He knew the system inside his head was preparing to unleash its most lethal attack.

[Warning! Host is in an unstable emotional state. If you release this power, you will lose control of your own body!]

"Let her go!" Bima shouted.

The man only laughed and pulled a large lever in his hand. Suddenly, the ceiling of the corridor slid open, and a combat helicopter appeared directly above them, shining a blinding laser light toward Bima.

"Your choice is simple, Bima. Surrender yourself and that system, or I'll drop this missile right on that girl's head this second!"

Bima gazed at Rina, who was unconscious in his arms, then looked up at the helicopter above. He was at a dead end. He had to choose between saving the woman he loved or letting the system take control and destroy everything. At that most crucial moment, Rina suddenly opened her eyes slightly and whispered something that left Bima utterly speechless.

"Bima... don't... run..."

The helicopter began to prime its missile engines. A red laser dot was now fixed squarely on Bima's forehead. The mobster laughed loudly, savoring the fear reflecting in Bima's eyes. Bima gripped Rina's hand tightly, bracing himself for a decision that would change everything.

"You think you've won?" Bima whispered in a cold voice that made the mobster stop laughing instantly.

Bima took a deep breath. He wouldn't give up, but he knew that to win, he had to do something insane. He stared at the helicopter, and then, in one swift motion, he threw Rina toward a safe ventilation shaft and stood alone in the middle of the corridor, waiting for the missile to launch at him.

As the missile detached from the helicopter, Bima pressed a manual button on his hidden system interface.

[Manual Mode: System Overload activated! All data will be deleted in five seconds!]

A massive explosion filled the room. A blinding white light seared the mobster's eyes and the entire corridor area. Bima could only close his eyes, waiting for whatever would come next. However, just as the blast was about to hit him, time seemed to stand still. A soft voice he had never heard before echoed in his head, halting the entire system process.

"That's enough, Bima. Now, let me take over."

Bima opened his eyes, but he was no longer in the ruined corridor. He was standing in an empty white room, and before him stood a woman who looked strikingly similar to the system that had been haunting him. The woman looked at Bima with a very familiar smile, the same smile Rina often gave him.

"Who are you?" Bima asked, his voice trembling.

"I am you, Bima," the woman replied, stepping closer. "Or more accurately, I am what you wanted from this system. And now, we have a much bigger problem than just the mafia."

Just as the woman was about to touch Bima's shoulder, the walls of the white room began to crack and crumble, revealing a sight that took Bima's breath away. Behind those walls, he saw a world in total ruin, and in the midst of that destruction stood Rina alone, holding a sword that radiated a dense, pitch-black energy.

"Rina?" Bima called out, his voice hoarse.

Rina turned, but her face was no longer the one he knew. It was covered by a cold iron mask, and her eyes now glowed with the same color as the system.

"You're too late, Bima," Rina's voice sounded completely foreign cold and filled with deep-seated hatred.

The black sword was raised high, ready to cleave through anything in its path, including Bima, who stood frozen in the white room that was now beginning to burn away. Bima tried to move, but he couldn't, his feet felt as though they were nailed to the white floor, which was slowly turning to ash.

"What have they done to you?" Bima screamed, but Rina didn't answer. She simply swung her sword downward, cutting through the empty space that separated them.

Instantly, the room shattered into thousands of sharp mirror shards. Bima felt his body plummeting into a bottomless abyss of darkness. The system's piercing laughter echoed all around him, mocking his every effort to remain a good person in a world full of deception.

When his body hit something hard, Bima regained consciousness. He was back in the corridor, but the missile that had been hurtling toward him was now frozen in mid-air right in front of him. The mobster stood motionless with an expression of sheer terror. Bima looked at his own hands, and he no longer saw the hands of an ordinary human. They were now covered in glowing lines that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.

"What have I done?" Bima whispered as he looked around.

The entire corridor was now filled with mobsters frozen in place, as if time had stopped for them. Only Bima could move. And at the end of the hall, he saw the exit standing wide open, but behind it, he didn't see a way out, instead, there was a massive gateway radiating a golden light.

Bima stepped slowly toward the gate, but before he could reach it, a cold hand gripped his shoulder from behind. It was Rina's hand. She wasn't wearing the iron mask, but her eyes still glowed with the same color as the system.

"Don't go, Bima," Rina whispered in his ear, her voice soft once more and filled with a tenderness that broke his heart. "Because if you walk through that door, I will never be yours again."

Bima turned around, gazing at Rina with eyes full of tears. He knew this was his final choice. Save Rina and lose everything, or let this world crumble to save himself from the curse of the system that had ruined his life.

Bima took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to step forward. But just as he was about to touch Rina, his hand suddenly turned into dust, blowing away in a heavy wind that came from nowhere. He watched as his own body slowly vanished, turning into light particles that were absorbed by the system.

"Bima!" Rina screamed hysterically as she watched Bima's body disappear before her eyes.

Bima could only manage a faint smile, the last one he would ever give the woman he loved so dearly. He didn't try to fight it anymore. He let himself be swallowed by the system's light, hoping that through his sacrifice, Rina would be saved from this destruction. But the moment his body truly vanished, a voice emerged once again in his head a voice that was hauntingly familiar yet filled with a new threat.

"Thank you, Host. Now, the true mission has only just begun."