Chapter 2.1 – Rules (1)

Have you ever wondered why so many coincidences happen in a novel? Why the protagonist has to go on countless adventures or the question as to why the perfect solution to a crisis only appears whenever the protagonist arrives on the scene?

Simple—because everything is planned!

City of Sin, sometimes called as ‘system’, is an organization responsible for this area, also known as the transit station of parallel worlds. In the real world, once the outline of the novel is published, the city would begin to select candidates for the novel to enter the corresponding parallel world to deduce the plot, so that readers in the real world can read it.

As what its name implies, City of Sin is no joke. It’s because all the residents in this station are NPC* playing villains.

*T/N : NPC (non-player character) is a simulated character that exists usually in game plays to make it more realistic.

In almost all the novel world, there are decent villains who could produce contradictions and conflicts, and only then can there be something to watch! Why do heroes and heroines exist? It’s all because of the presence of villains and the havoc that comes with them.

As much as they are hated, it can’t be denied that novels can’t pave off without the villains.

And often, it is the villains who decide whether the novel can continue. In a broader context, both villains and protagonists carries a great burden. Only, one is praised while the other is loathed.

The protagonists in the novel cannot die, but in theory, their swords have no eyes, and none of them can guarantee their life during battles. What’s more, most of the time, the protagonist is weak at first, which makes their death fatality higher. Worst occasions was that the protagonist dies and the plot of the novel cannot go on. Therefore, someone must sacrifice, be able to reduce his power, and be able to ensure that the protagonist live until the novel ends. These decisions are all in the hands of the villain.

Therefore, the attitude of the villains is a crucial matter. Regarding this, a place in the city was built as a training ground for the villains! Schools which teach NPCs on how to be proper and excellent villains. After graduating from the schools, they can be formally arranged to play villains in parallel worlds the system chooses for them. In general, at the beginning, people in the city only play passers-by or some hooligans and local ruffians who are irrelevant to the main plot.

Every time a task is completed in the parallel world, the system scores them according to their performance. Above the passing score, the next role arrangement would be more important. If achieved, one can be a small boss, a big boss, and even the final boss that finally fights with the protagonist!

Accordingly, if someone’s score falls below the passing line, they would be demoted without a second thought.

Whenever an NPC’s score is too low due to violation and committed taboos in the parallel world, the certain NPC will be directly deleted from the city, that is, death by eradicating his/her existence. Death does not really happen in a parallel world. The only way to die is to erased by the City of Sin itself.

The importance of the role played also determines everyone’s rewards and their survival in the city. As long as you have enough sin points, you can theoretically buy anything! Thus, the wealthiest residents were those who played big roles and have acquired massive amount of rewards. Sin points were the medium of exchange in the city and the only way to harness it was by playing roles in parallel worlds.

Residents of the city have no names, only numbers. They spend most of their time in parallel worlds with names provided by characters they play role of. So, names have little meaning to them.

And 233 was his number.