THE PERFECT VILLAIN

The universe calls him a monster. But monsters are made, not born. And 少年完美 Wánměi was made in the dark. Zambezi 7 is not a planet. It is a grave with air. Fourteen hours a day, children swing picks at purple crystal veins while overseers watch with whips. The crystals light the tunnels. They light the faces of the dying. Wánměi is six when he learns hope is a lie. He learns it from Makena. Makena has golden eyes. Real gold. Warm. Like the sun he’s only seen in dreams. She’s the first to speak to him like he’s human. The first to share her ration. The first to whisper, "you're going to live." Then the overseers come for her golden blood. For her royal lineage. They drag her away. She screams his name. He breaks his shoulders against iron bars trying to reach her. Seven days of screaming. Seven days of listening. On the seventh day, the screaming stops. The dead speak to him. Thirty-six thousand voices. Slaves worked, beaten, drained to death. They beg him to make their suffering mean something. He spends eight years becoming a ghost. He trains in secret. Steals manuals. Fights in underground arenas. By fourteen, he escapes through a waste vent. Three days crawling in filth. He emerges covered in blood and ash. But he is free. In Dustfall, an old woman named Elder Nia gives him soup, a blanket, and no lies. "The rest you must earn," she says. He earns it. He bleeds. He wins. He becomes a God. But he dies as the perfect villain. Betrayed by the one he trusted most. You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain. — Description from novelcodex.org