The immense shock made Sean swallow hard, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.
The last model he had completed before his sudden death was Sheryl, but that was the supporting character Sheryl with his new design from the later stages of the storyline.
The differences between the game and reality, compounded by the design changes across different versions, left Sean momentarily stunned.
Sheryl... he was Sheryl.
He had wanted me to escape...
In that case, Sean's own identity was all too obvious.
Sean...
The character in the game who shared his exact name—Sean!
Paradise City, the game's main hub, boasted a population of twenty million. Rebuilt after the apocalypse, the city was exactly as its name suggested—both a paradise and a living hell.
Four major factions ruled the city: the Gold Ghosts, the Academy, the Company, and the Twilight Tower. As an early-game villain boss, Sean was the second-in-command of the Gold Ghosts, the largest gang in the western district.
His mouth twitched.
Thanks to the concept artist's incredible skills, Sean had won over countless players with just a few shots in the initial promotional trailer. Regardless of gender, fans had been screaming for him, calling him their "husband."
Once the game officially launched, however, his anti-human actions caused his reputation to plummet. He became a universally despised figure, proudly claiming the number one spot on that month's "Top Ten Most Pathetic Bosses" list.
A screenshot of him saying, "I really am despicable, aren't I? (Proud face)" had even broken out of the gaming community, spreading like wildfire across group chats and making him look like an absolute joke.
As a side-quest boss and the supposed brains of the villains, the puzzles leading up to his stage were incredibly intricate. The mobs and Elite enemies were far more difficult than what players usually faced at that point in the game. Yet, when they finally confronted the boss himself, the players were stunned to realize why he was considered the brains of the operation...
He was weak. Utterly, pathetically weak. His area-of-effect attacks were ridiculously slow, his single-target strikes felt like a tickle, and his health bar was shorter than an Elite's. In the strategy guides, players wrote thousands of words on how to solve his puzzles and handle the Elites, but when it came to the boss fight itself, the advice was just two words: face-tank him.
At the same time, the players' narrative choices all invariably led back to Sean. Whether defeated in direct combat or scripted to die in a cutscene, one thing was certain: if you wanted to progress the story, Sean had to die.
Keep in mind, this was a game where even the final boss had a "spare" option in the beta test...
To make matters worse, Sean the boss was entirely the creation of Sean himself, back before he crossed over.
His company hadn't had a lot of staff, so as a 3D modeler, he would occasionally help out with character design. For the character of Sean, he had even hovered over the concept artist to personally oversee his defeat CG.
However much satisfaction his twisted sense of humor had given him back then, that was exactly how much regret Sean felt right now.
The downpour raged on. After the upper half of the skyscraper was cleanly sliced off, Sean and the woman found themselves standing completely exposed in the torrential rain.
A sour smell assaulted his nose. Sean knew this was a "specialty" of Paradise City. Thanks to the perpetual Vile Canopy that shrouded the sky and the toxic gases venting from the Great Rift, the rain in this world was incredibly hazardous.
Of course, a little dirty rain was the least of his problems right now. The real issue was the person standing in front of him.
Between the scene before his eyes and the memories flooding his mind, he already knew exactly who she was.
Through the rain, the white-haired, crimson-eyed woman calmly walked over and looked Sean straight in the eye. "Hello, Mr. Trophy—"
As more memories surfaced in his mind, Sean actually breathed a sigh of relief.
I know this part of the story... and I know you even better...
As the thought flashed by, he forcefully shoved down his anxiety and fear, deciding his course of action in an instant.
"You just killed my confidant and my bedmate, yet you stand there looking so calm... Anyone else would think you came here to rescue me... Princess, Miss Luo Xi."
The moment his voice faded, a terrifying surge of power erupted. Before Sean could even process what was happening, a massive force slammed him into the wall. The hollow metal sphere in the woman's hand instantly transformed into a blue, double-bladed Energy Warblade.
With the Battle Blade pressed flush against Sean's throat, a flash of murderous intent flickered in Luo Xi's crimson eyes.
"Where... did you learn my identity?"
Sean simply swallowed hard, showing no signs of panic. He knew he wasn't going to die here.
He understood Luo Xi. She wasn't one to act carelessly, but when she did strike, it was with the force of a thunderbolt. She never gave anyone the chance to regret their actions—and she never gave herself that chance, either.
The two people who had just died were his trusted aide, Sheryl, and the leader of the Mist Ghosts.
Tonight's storyline was supposed to be Sean coming to negotiate with the Mist Ghosts.
In reality, within the Gold Ghosts' territory, a "negotiation" simply meant, 'Submit, or I'll kill your entire family.' Ultimately, the two of them had negotiated their way right into bed together, which was completely normal here.
Luo Xi hadn't suddenly broken in to assassinate Sean. She came to take him hostage.
First, one of Luo Xi's clansmen was locked in Sean's secret room, and only he could open it. Second, Luo Xi needed to use Sean as leverage to hijack an Airship from the Academy so she could rescue the rest of her people.
In this particular story branch, there were three ways for Sean to die.
One: Killed by collateral damage during a skirmish with pursuers on the way.
Two: Killed by collateral damage in the massive battle that breaks out when the leader of the Gold Ghosts arrives just as Sean is handed over to the Academy.
Three: Killed by collateral damage when Luo Xi meets with a catastrophe and pushes her genetic potential to the absolute limit, triggering an explosive awakening.
Being an intelligence-type villain really was tragic...
At the thought of this, Sean narrowed his eyes slightly.
In this part of the plot, an extremely important item would appear on the Airship. Since he had already crossed over into this world, his top priority was doing whatever it took to survive, and then getting stronger!
And Luo Xi was the very first opportunity he could seize!
The sheer audacity in his bones broke through his earlier hesitation, his adrenaline skyrocketing.
Was he going to take the gamble? Of course!
"Miss Luo Xi, since you were able to find out I'd be here tonight, isn't it only fair that I know a little something too?" Sean asked, entirely composed.
Luo Xi stared at him for a moment before pulling the Battle Blade away, letting it shift back into a metal sphere.
She broke into a smile that completely shattered her aloof image. "The Gold Ghosts' leader, Jin Kui, is stuck inside a therapeutic capsule twenty-four hours a day. The second-in-command, Sean, is a lustful, cruel man who runs the gang, yet lacks the expected drive and intelligence. Under your management, the Gold Ghosts' territory has shrunk significantly. But looking at you now, it seems your reputation as a notorious thug is nothing but a disguise... At the very least, your intelligence network is incredibly sharp."
Here we go, Sean thought helplessly. This woman looked cold and haughty, but deep down, she was highly sensitive, relentlessly paranoid, and quite often, a bit of a petty scumbag.
He pursed his lips. "Miss Luo Xi, I know the predicament you and your people are facing. Trading me for an Airship is pointless. Back in your homeland, Airships can't even fly."
A cold glint flashed through Luo Xi's eyes. She hadn't expected Sean—a man infamous throughout Paradise City for his mindless brutality—to have investigated her background so thoroughly.
She was the princess of the Iris Hive Tribe, a tribe of genetic evolvers born after the apocalypse. Her entire people lived at the peak of a towering mountain, trapped by an impassable frenzy beast tide roaming at its base.
As time dragged on, their resources dwindled to nothing. The Iris Hive Tribe dispatched an expeditionary team down the mountain in a desperate bid for survival, but a long time passed without any word from them.
As the newly appointed princess, she had descended the mountain alone, only to discover that the expeditionary team had suffered catastrophic casualties. Half of her clansmen were dead, one was missing, and another had been captured by the very butcher standing in front of her.
And as for Sean's reputation...
He only had a few hobbies. The first was women—especially beautiful, sexy women. The second was torture; the sound of screams always put him in a fantastic mood. And the last was a love for twisted theatrics, sick little games that satisfied his depraved sense of humor.
With one of her clansmen captured by him, it meant all three of his sick hobbies were being satisfied at once.
That was one of the main reasons she had struck so hastily the moment she received the news.