Tags: Comedy; Drama; Fantasy; Romance; Anti-Hero Lead; Gender Bender; Magic; Reincarnation; Slice of Life; Strategy Warning, this fiction may contain: Gore; Profanity ;Sexual Content; Traumatising content Synopsis Given a rare chance to reincarnate together after dying in a plane crash - the brother and sister duo found themselves in quite a difficult predicament. They could either separate and start wonderful new lives without any worries or if they wanted to stay together... they would have to become the main villains in one of the five different worlds and strive to achieve connected to it scenario: A - burning the world as demon lords B - plunging the world into an atomic war C - causing a zombie apocalypse D - destabilizing the mana core of the world E - becoming the cause behind a planetary exodus And that was only the first out of the three choices they had to make before being allowed to reincarnate! Content Chapter 1 - First question: how would you like to end the world? Chapter 2 - Second question: an option just for the two of us? Chapter 3 - Third question A: do you want to design your sister? Chapter 4 - Third question B: do you want to design your brother? Chapter 5 - My sister's a walking danger zone Chapter 6 - I took a weight off my mind and crushed his head More can be read here: https://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/19614/forced-to-be-the-villains
I would absolutely read this, not only is the concept fun, but it seems like your writing skills are good, that passage didn't read like amateur work. Just remember to post on this thread if you end up writing this story, I wouldn't want to miss it
Which elements exactly where the worst written ones? Should I add more descriptions in between the dialogues or the conversation itself felt a bit 'stiff'? Or make the transition between each paragraph smoother?
I think A and E are too similar. Maybe 'Summoning a horde of monsters to destroy all life' or something like that. Not really to my taste, but the concept seems unique and interesting enough to be workable.
So I've made some corrections and wrote the rest of the first chapter. It still needs some work, but I would love to hear everyone's opinion again. Spoiler “Hey, brother. Is that you?” She asked me in an adorable and slightly confused voice. “Yes, sister. You’ve changed as well.” We were floating in an empty white space - two little soul flames without a specific shape. “Remember when I told you that even in the afterlife I would find you no matter what?” The superficially calm tone she used was the only clue as to what was really going on inside her mind. “You’ve never said anything like that. You were crying like a baby, hugging me with all your strength and the only thing you’ve managed to say before the plane crashed was ‘please kiss me, brother’. And it was like ten minutes ago.” “Huh?! Did your brain got squashed in that crash?! I would never say anything like that! It was you who completely freaked out and started kissing me!” “You didn’t protest at that time, I bet you also wanted to experience kissing at least once before dying!” “...” “...” “... so you really are my brother.” “... and you’re my sister.” We were playing the game of ‘prove your identity’, but at this point, it was pretty much concluded. Also, this banter had two other goals. One of them was to confront the thing we did right before dying and decide what to think of it, the other was to help us collect ourselves before facing the situation we were in. “Let’s forget about the past and focus on the future.” Her stance was to erase the whole incident from the official record while mine was the opposite. Trying to forget and avoid mentioning would only create a potential wedge between us and I couldn’t allow for that to happen. Incest or not - I didn’t care. It was an important memory that I wanted us both to cherish. This might have looked like the worst place and time for this type of deliberations, but it was exactly because neither of us knew what was going on that we tried to face the problems one by one starting from the kissing incident. “No. That was my first kiss. There’s no way I’m going to forget about it or allow you to do that.” “Huh?! Then I also won’t forget about all the hentai movies and pictures I found on our PC… goddamn lolicon.” “Wait… you know about the secret folder?” “Your ‘secret’ folder took half of the hard disk space, tracking its location was easy… but whoaaa the stuff I found there… no wonder you attacked own blood related younger sister as soon as the chance presented itself.” This was a hard hit that shook me to the core, nevertheless, I couldn’t allow her to win so easily. “Hooo~, you really want to play this card? Especially when you go crazy over ‘that’.” “... w-what ‘that’?” “Older men.” “Hah! That’s it? You got me worried for a sec-” “With our father as the main target, ‘oh~, papa, aaahhhh~’. We shared a room you dimwit, I would have to be deaf not to hear you masturb-” “STOP! You won, I give up.” “Good, so you accept that we had our first kiss with each other?” “Sure… whatever.” She tried to sound indifferent, but I could easily imagine the redness of her cheeks… or not. I couldn’t remember how she looked like and as soon as this realization hit me, the fear I tried to drive away came back with double power. To calm down, I moved my thoughts in the direction of things that were easy to recall. Like the rules we had established between ourselves. No matter what happened we would always talk about it together and strive to resolve any problems as soon as they appeared. All in order to avoid stupid misunderstanding or situations in which we would keep our real feelings bottled inside. When neither of us said anything in the next few minutes and the situation didn’t change at all - we were still floating in an endless white space - it was time to tackle the main problem. “Hey, brother… I can’t remember my name… or our father’s name… or mother’s… or even your's…” Her voice was completely different to the one she previously used. It was filled with worry and uncertainty. “Hey, sister… I also can’t remember any of that and as a bonus, I can’t even remember how we looked like.” Mine state wasn’t much better, the only thing stopping me from panicking was my sister’s presence. “... same here. What do we do… we died, right? Is this really the afterlife?” “Allow me to answer that.” We heard a woman’s voice coming from the inside of the white space, but that was it, she didn’t show herself. “Who are you?” That was the most basic of things that I could ask, and yet it was such a crucial one. “Rhea, your afterlife counselor. I will ask you a series of questions and depending on your answers the destination of your souls will change. Your case is a bit unique, normally it shouldn't be possible for two common souls to enter this place at the same time and yet here you are. Be happy, thanks to that you will receive a special set of questions.” She sounded to be amused with this unusual occurrence. This short introduction was enough for us to catch the gist of the situation and calm down. The number two of the things we feared the most right now was being left for all eternity in this empty space. Well, it was too early to say that the crisis had been averted, but Rhea’s existence was akin to a light of hope. Actually, I was kind of looking forward to the questions she mentioned and I knew that my sister wasn’t any different. We had little attachment to the previous life. “I would like to ask one thing before we start the official part. What spurred the two of you to chase after the other even as mere souls?” Asked Rhea in a curious tone. “I couldn’t leave him. Life was only fun with him by my side and he was the only one who never broke any of the promises he made to me. Let’s aim for a nice reincarnation in a medieval world, brother.” Said enthusiastically my sister. “I couldn’t leave her. She was the best hugging pillow ever and she was the only one who never broke any of the promises she made to me. Let’s aim for a comfy transmigration as rich kids in a modern world, sister.” “Brother… fantasy and magic is the way to go.” “Sister… comfort and money is the way to go.” “Dungeons, guilds, monsters, spells, and handsome kings for the win!” “Jacuzzi, high-class restaurants, pc games, and technology for the win!” Sincerely, I liked my sister’s option more. The only reason why I didn’t want to agree with her was that it would mean taking us to a world full of dangers. It was obvious that she would reincarnate as a world-class beauty, so the risk of her being raped and enslaved or killed was significantly larger in an undeveloped world. “I know what you’re thinking brother, but it’s alright. In the worst case scenario, you don’t even have to worry about avenging me, just kill yourself as fast as possible and join me on this side.” “That’s a given, but-” “Come on, don’t be such a wussy brother. I love it when you worry about me, but there’s simply so much more fun we can have in a magical world! And you’re forgetting about something really important.” “Hmm? About what?” “In a modern world, you won’t get slave girls, cat girls, monster girls… On the other hand, in the one I want, there may be even a race in which females look forever thirteen. Just imagine it, legal lolis everywhere.” “Say no more, my dear sister. You won. The medieval world for the win!” “You guys are misunderstanding two things.” Interjected Rhea when we were done with resolving the difference in our opinions. “First of all, there’s no coming back here. If you die again, that’s game over for you.” This piece of information successfully hampered our zeal to live in a dangerous place. Nevertheless, neither my sister nor me were going to change our minds that easily after making a decision. “... brother, you will protect your little sister, right?” Each of her words was filled with trust. If I denied this question we could give up on the medieval fantasy and aim for a safer place… but there was no way I could deny it. “Always.” “Sorry guys…” Resumed Rhea in a fake apologetic tone. “There’s still the second misunderstanding. You see, this works a ‘bit’ differently to how you imagine it. All I can guarantee is that the two of you will stay together. As for the rest... well, good luck with that. But don’t worry there are only three questions. Alright, here goes the first one. If you had to choose one, which one would it be: A - burning the world as demon lords, B - plunging the world into an atomic war, C - causing a zombie apocalypse, D - destabilizing the mana core of the world, E - becoming the cause behind a planetary exodus? Take your time, think carefully.” All of our choices seemed to be ‘the end of the world’ scenarios with us playing the role of the main villains! ““What kind of question is that?!”” We shouted in unison. “There aren’t that many open positions for pairs in the first place and those are the only five we’ve got right now, well something else may pop up with time but this means waiting hundreds of years in this place. You can always switch to the solo route if you’re ok with being separated.” When we heard the word ‘separated’, our minds went into the overdrive to pick the best option among those five. But first, we had to ask some additional questions. “Time limit?” Asked my sister. Some of those options would be more plausible than others depending on the answer. “None. A year or ten thousand years, it’s not important how long it takes as long as you get the job done.” “Then we can just ignore it and have fun in our new lives?” I was looking for a loophole. “Sure, but remember. You will carry that destiny upon your shoulders and a lot of ‘good guys’ will appear to stop you - no matter what option you choose. Some may be reasoned with while others will just focus on finishing their own missions.” In other words, do whatever you want but don’t blame me if it gets you killed. “But why? What’s the point?” “Completing the objective will give you the possibility of ascending one step closer to godhood. In your case, it will be some minor evil duo god title, but it’s still a pretty neat deal if you ask me. Way better than dying and turning into cosmic dust.” It was time for a quick consultation between me and my sister. “Sister.” “Brother.” “Do we want to kill billions of people?” “I would prefer not to.” “Options B and C rejected.” “Why you didn’t include A and D into that?” “Because we can simply conquer the whole world, issue a ban on reproduction and wait for people to die out from the old age. Then we can either burn an empty world or destabilize the core or something. B requires a worldwide atomic war, there can be no war without people. The same can be said about C, what kind of a zombie apocalypse it would be without zombies?” “Brother, I nearly wanted to call you a genius, but... conquering the world without killing millions of people? Issuing a reproduction ban without facing riots and civil wars? This is unrealistic. And what about E? We simply need to make them all evacuate from the planet.” “And kill every single person who decides to stay, including women, elderly and children.” “We will wait for them to die out - your own words. And it’s easier to control smaller groups of people.” “Why would everyone want to escape from the planet in the first place?” “Because… we would be... scary I guess? Ok… this is not going to work.” After exchanging our thoughts, we were now silently analyzing them on our own. Each option involved spilling blood. At this point, it was like a choice between striving to kill everyone or just a lot of them. B, C, D were especially brutal and bloody… wait... “Rhea, destabilizing the mana core. What does it exactly mean?” “Let me see…” It sounded as if she was turning the pages of some book. “Oh, here it is. It equals planetary explosion.” For a moment I thought that it might have been something entirely different, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. “What about the planetary exodus?” “The only intelligent lifeform left on the planet has to be the two of you, and you can’t simply kill everyone else. At least seventy percent of the planet’s initial population needs to be evacuated into space.” Rhea’s answer helped me to realize what an enormous task it was going to be even without the ‘good guys’ disturbing us. However, my questions seemed to give some kind of an idea to my sister as she followed it with: “What about burning the world part? What does it exactly mean?” “Hmm… got it. Let me read it for you, ‘the goal will be achieved when there is no city left anywhere in the world with a population greater than five thousand.’” For a moment we couldn’t believe in what we just heard. I even had to ask an additional question to make sure. “We actually don’t have to burn, kill and plunder?” “Nope, doesn’t look like it.” “”THAT’S IT!””
Good! sounds interesting to me by the way, at the line "asked me an adorable voice..." I think it should 'in' instead? Also at the end where rhea read the part of burning the world, you don't have to use single quote inside the quotation. good luck and keep writing!
I've finished editing and decided to publish it on webnovel, if someone's interested in keeping an eye on the story you can find it here: https://www.webnovel.com/book/11235579305307905/Forced-to-be-The-Villains
Spoiler: "Chapter 1 - First question: how would you like to end the world?" "Hey, brother. Is that you?" She asked me in an adorable and slightly confused voice. "Yes, sister. You've changed as well." We were floating in an empty white space - two little soul flames without a specific shape. "Remember when I told you that even in the afterlife I would find you no matter what?" The superficially calm tone she used was the only clue as to what was really going on inside her mind. "You've never said anything like that. You were crying like a baby, hugging me with all your strength and the only thing you've managed to say before the plane crashed was 'please kiss me, brother'. And it was like ten minutes ago." "Huh?! Did your brain got squashed in that crash?! I would never say anything like that! It was you who completely freaked out and started kissing me!" "You didn't protest at that time, I bet you also wanted to experience kissing at least once before dying!" "..." "..." "... so you really are my brother." "... and you're my sister." We were playing the game of 'prove your identity', but at this point, it was pretty much concluded. Also, this banter had two other goals. One of them was to confront the thing we did right before dying and decide what to think of it, the other was to help us collect ourselves before facing the situation we were in. "Let's forget about the past and focus on the future." Her stance was to erase the whole incident from the official record while mine was the opposite. Trying to forget and avoid mentioning would only create a potential wedge between us and I couldn't allow for that to happen. Incest or not - I didn't care. It was an important memory that I wanted us both to cherish. This might have looked like the worst place and time for this type of deliberations, but it was exactly because neither of us knew what was going on that we tried to face the problems one by one starting from the kissing incident. "No. That was my first kiss. There's no way I'm going to forget about it or allow you to do that." "Huh?! Then I also won't forget about all the hentai movies and pictures I found on our PC… goddamn lolicon." "Wait… you know about the secret folder?" "Your 'secret' folder took half of the hard disk space, tracking its location was easy… but whoaaa the stuff I found there… no wonder you attacked own blood related younger sister as soon as the chance presented itself." This was a hard hit that shook me to the core, nevertheless, I couldn't allow her to win so easily. "Hooo~, you really want to play this card? Especially when you go crazy over 'that'." "... w-what 'that'?" "Older men." "Hah! That's it? You got me worried for a sec-" "With our father as the main target, 'oh~, papa, aaahhhh~'. We shared the room you dimwit, I would have to be deaf not to hear you masturb-" "STOP! You won, I give up." "Good, so you accept that we had our first kiss with each other?" "Sure… whatever." She tried to sound indifferent, but I could easily imagine the redness of her cheeks… or not. I couldn't remember how she looked like and as soon as this realization hit me, the fear I tried to drive away came back with double power. To calm down, I moved my thoughts in the direction of things that were easy to recall. Like the rules we had established between ourselves. No matter what happened we would always talk about it together and strive to resolve any problems as soon as they appeared. All in order to avoid stupid misunderstanding or situations in which we would keep our real feelings bottled inside. When neither of us said anything in the next few minutes and the situation didn't change at all - we were still floating in an endless white space - it was time to tackle the main problem. "Hey, brother… I can't remember my name… or our father's name… or mother's… or even your's…" Her voice was completely different to the one she previously used. It was filled with worry and uncertainty. "Hey, sister… I also can't remember any of that and as a bonus, I can't even remember how we looked like." Mine state wasn't much better, the only thing stopping me from panicking was my sister's presence. "... same here. What do we do… we died, right? Is this really the afterlife?" "Allow me to answer that." We heard a woman's voice coming from the inside of the white space, but that was it. She didn't show herself and her timing was suspicious as if she was waiting for one of us to ask that specific question. "Who are you?" That was the most basic of things that I could ask, and yet it was such a crucial one. "Rhea, your afterlife counselor. I will ask you a series of questions and depending on your answers the destination of your souls will change. Your case is a bit unique, normally it shouldn't be possible for two common souls to enter this place at the same time and yet here you are. Be happy, thanks to that you will receive a special set of questions." She sounded to be amused with this unusual occurrence. This short introduction was enough for us to catch the gist of the situation and calm down. The number two of the things we feared the most right now was being left for all eternity in this empty space. Well, it was too early to say that the crisis had been averted, but Rhea's existence was akin to a light of hope. Actually, I was kind of looking forward to the questions she mentioned and I knew that my sister wasn't much different. We had little attachment to the previous life. "I would like to ask one thing before we start the official part. What spurred the two of you to chase after the other even as mere souls?" Asked Rhea in a curious tone. "I couldn't leave him. Life was only fun with him by my side and he was the only one who never broke any of the promises he made to me. Let's aim for a nice reincarnation in a medieval world, brother." Said enthusiastically my sister. "I couldn't leave her. She was the best hugging pillow ever and she was the only one who never broke any of the promises she made to me. Let's aim for a comfy transmigration as rich kids in a modern world, sister." "Brother… fantasy and magic is the way to go." "Sister… comfort and money is the way to go." "Dungeons, guilds, monsters, spells, and handsome kings for the win!" "Jacuzzi, high-class restaurants, pc games, and technology for the win!" Honestly, I liked my sister's option more. The only reason why I didn't want to agree with her was that it would mean taking us to a world full of dangers. It was obvious that she would reincarnate as a world-class beauty, so the risk of her being raped and enslaved or killed was significantly larger in an undeveloped world. "I know what you're thinking brother, but it's alright. In the worst case scenario, you don't even have to worry about avenging me, just kill yourself as fast as possible and join me on this side." "That's a given, but-" "Come on, don't be such a wussy brother. I love it when you worry about me, but there's simply so much more fun we can have in a magical world! And you're forgetting about something really important." "Hmm? About what?" "In a modern world, you won't get slave girls, cat girls, monster girls… On the other hand, in the one I want, there may be even a race in which females look forever thirteen. Just imagine it, legal lolis everywhere." "Say no more, my dear sister. You won. The medieval world for the win!" "You guys are misunderstanding two things." Interjected Rhea when we were done with resolving the difference in our opinions. "First of all, there's no coming back here. If you die again, that's game over for you." This piece of information successfully hampered our zeal to live in a dangerous place. Nevertheless, neither my sister nor me were going to easily change our minds after making a decision. "... brother, you will protect your little sister, right?" Each of her words was filled with trust. If I denied this question we could give up on the medieval fantasy and aim for a safer place… but there was no way I could deny it. "Always." "Sorry guys…" Resumed Rhea in a fake apologetic tone. "There's still the second misunderstanding. You see, this works a 'bit' differently to how you imagine it. All I can guarantee is that the two of you will stay together. As for the rest... well, good luck with that. But don't worry there are only three questions. Alright, here goes the first one. If you had to choose one, which one would it be: A - burning the world as demon lords, B - plunging the world into an atomic war, C - causing a zombie apocalypse, D - destabilizing the mana core of the world, E - becoming the cause behind a planetary exodus? Take your time, think carefully." All of our choices seemed to be 'the end of the world' scenarios with us playing the role of the main villains! ""What kind of question is that?!"" We shouted in unison. "There aren't that many open positions for pairs in the first place and those are the only five we've got right now, well something else may pop up with time but this means waiting hundreds of years in this place. You can always switch to the solo route if you're ok with being separated." When we heard the word 'separated', our minds went into an overdrive so that we could pick the best option among those five. But first, we had to ask some additional questions. "Time limit?" Asked my sister. Some of those options would be more plausible than others depending on the answer. "None. A year or ten thousand years, it's not important how long it takes as long as you get the job done." "Then we can just ignore it and have fun in our new lives?" I was looking for an easy way out. "Sure, but remember. You will carry that destiny upon your shoulders and no matter what option you choose a lot of 'good guys' will appear to stop you. Some may be reasoned with while others will just focus on finishing their own missions." In other words, do whatever you want but don't blame me if it gets you killed. "But why? What's the point?" "Completing the objective will give you the possibility to ascend one step closer to godhood. In your case, it will be some very minor evil duo god title, but it's still a pretty neat deal if you ask me. Way better than dying and turning into cosmic dust." It was time for a quick consultation between me and my sister. "Sister." "Brother." "Do we want to kill billions of people?" "I would prefer not to." "Options B and C rejected." "Why you didn't include A and D into that?" "Because we can simply conquer the whole world, issue a ban on reproduction and wait for people to die out from the old age. Then we can either burn an empty world or destabilize the core or something. B requires a worldwide atomic war, there can be no war without people. The same can be said about C, what kind of a zombie apocalypse it would be without zombies?" "Brother, I would love to say that you're smart, but I don't want to lie to you... conquering the world without killing millions of people? Issuing a reproduction ban without facing riots and civil wars? This is unrealistic. And what about E? We simply need to make them all evacuate from the planet." "And kill every single person who decides to stay, including women, elderly and children." "We will wait for them to die out - your own words. And it's easier to control smaller groups of people." "Why would everyone want to escape from the planet in the first place?" "Because… we would be... scary I guess? Ok… this is not going to work." After exchanging our thoughts, we were now silently analyzing them on our own. Each option involved spilling blood. At this point, it was like a choice between striving to kill everyone or just a lot of them. B, C, D were especially brutal and bloody… wait... "Rhea, destabilizing the mana core. What does it exactly mean?" "Let me see…" It sounded as if she was turning the pages of some book. "Oh, here it is. It equals planetary explosion." For a moment I thought that it might have been something entirely different, but it wasn't going to be that easy. "What about the planetary exodus?" "The only intelligent lifeform left on the planet has to be the two of you, and you can't simply kill everyone else. At least seventy percent of the planet's initial population needs to be evacuated into space." Rhea's answer helped me to realize what an enormous task option E was going to be even without the 'good guys' disturbing us. However, those questions seemed to give some kind of an idea to my sister as she followed them with: "What about burning the world part? What does it exactly mean?" "Hmm… got it. Let me read it for you, 'the goal will be achieved when there is no city left with a population greater than five thousand anywhere in the world.'" For a moment we couldn't believe in what we just heard. I even had to ask an additional question to make sure. "We actually don't have to burn, kill and plunder?" "Nope, doesn't look like it." ""THAT'S IT!""
Spoiler: Chapter 2 - Second question: an option just for the two of us? "I think you two are again misunderstanding something. True, compared to the futuristic world from the option E, the population of the medieval world A may seem insignificant, but that's still a lot of people. And this is not limited to humans only! No city in that world, no matter the race, can have more than five thousand citizens living in it. Also, don't forget about the part that you need to be recognized as demon lords by the people. I don't see any way to achieve that without some good old killing and stuff." Rhea did her best to try and pour cold water on our parade. We were starting to suspect that she was an evil god herself. However, she didn't seem to realize that by saying 'futuristic' and 'medieval' she confirmed our guess that each of those worlds had different development level. "At this point, I can think of two ways to achieve that without dirtying our own hands. What about you, sister?" "Three, you lost." She said in a smug tone. "Three ways?! Impossible!" Exclaimed Rhea and I agreed with her completely, that was a one too many. "I know, right? I bet she just made up the third one right after I said that I've got two. It's probably some low-chance natural disaster like a huge asteroid impact or supervolcano eruption that will kill most, if not all, of the planet's population… us probably included. Sister, I would say it's a draw, but since you tried to use petty tricks it's my win." My sister clicking her tongue was all the information I needed to confirm this conjecture. Actually, how did she made the tongue clicking sound without a tongue? That was the true mystery. "Wait, wait, wait! You're talking as if the remaining two ways are actually plausible." "Of course." Answered the shapeless soul next to me and followed with an explanation. "The first way is to push the world forward. Help it evolve and develop. Accelerate the society on its road to self-destruction. And have loads of fun while at it." Since Rhea remained silent and it seemed that she was thinking about my sister's words, I decided to supplement this idea with a few details. "You've said that we can take as much time as we want, right? That's one problem solved. You've said that the 'good guys' will come for us, right? Then what's worse, fighting with the 'good guys' only or facing them and the entire world at the same time? Isn't it better to make the world our ally by helping in its development? And just as my sister said, every planet-bound civilization is destined to self-destruct due to one reason or another. For example lack of resources causing a worldwide war, catastrophic climate changes or a rogue AI taking over. With a bit of luck, we may be able to peacefully convince everyone to move into a new age of space exploration before any of that happens and leave the planet to us. Starting in the medieval age gives us more than enough time to amass power and wealth, not to mention that it's also possible to change the image connected with the demon lord title to a positive one. Option A is the only one that allows us to actually help everyone while at the same time be the main culprits behind the incoming catastrophe since our meddling accelerated the end result. Ultimately, reaching the goal where there will be no cities left with a population greater than five thousand is just a matter of time. On the other hand, options B, C, D, and E require us to actively work toward a specific cause of the apocalypse and dirty our hands with innocent's blood. A is the win-win solution. Not to mention that if something goes wrong there's still the second way to achieve our goal." There might be some things I missed or didn't include into this hypothesis, but for me and my sister, it was more important to have fun together in a brand new world. The rest was just a long-term goal we could slowly work toward while at it. "Wait! Are you saying that you're going to speed up the technological development of that planet so everyone can commit a suicide faster? I need to think about it…" It was a pity that we couldn't see how Rhea looked like at that moment, I bet there would be literal smoke rising from her head. But my sister wasn't merciful enough to give her the time she asked for and instead proceeded with presenting the second way. "There's no upper limit on the number of cities, right? Then we will just have to split the big ones into something like districts called cities. We can achieve that by creating a new country with administrative units that suit our needs, slowly work toward making the world adopt the same organization system and finally the people will take it for granted that they're living in many small cities that are veeeery close to each other. We can call such groups of cities - clusters. No unnecessary killing, no forced resettlement or mindless destruction. We can use the money, power, influence, knowledge or even religion to achieve that goal. It's a bit like a game. The best part is that the two ways we came with to achieve 'burning the world as demon lords' scenario aren't mutually exclusive. It's possible to work on them both at the same time." "You got me worried with your first idea, but this?! It's pure rhetoric! It will still be a big city only with a different name and districts called cities! Argh… this is confusing... It can't be that simple! Burning the world without using fire and sword?! I know that the book says that it can be done… but actually doing it…" Rhea's raised voice contained a stream of rejection, but only the first few sentences were full of conviction. The more she said, the more uncertainty crept in between the gaps separating each word. "... what kind of demon lord would do that… it's against the tradition... there's no way that's possible… or is there… no, no, no… but... I don't know… wait here... I need to call my senpai." A huge part of the 'professional' image she was trying to build just crumbled to dust. A few moments after Rhea told us to wait, my sister couldn't contain the laughter anymore and erupted. "P-pff… ha… hahaha! 'Senpai' she said!" "Sister, from now on I want you to call me onii-chan." "Scum-ni-chan, *haha*, loli-chan, *hehehe*, dumb-ni-chan *pfff-hahaha* or do you prefer *haha* 'senpai'?" At first, I simply wanted to add to the joke, but her answer interwoven with laughter rubbed me the wrong way. Now I really wanted to make her call me 'onii-chan'. "Sister, what about a bet? If I win you will call me onii-chan instead of brother." "And if I win, from now on your name will be Oniichan! Everyone will call you that, wouldn't that be amazingly hilarious? Just listen to this, 'Demon Lord Oniichan'… pff-a-hahahaha." The desire to have this bet evaporated like water poured on lava. It would be one thing to be called 'onii-chan' by my little sister and something entirely different when I imagined a sweaty muscular middle-aged shopkeeper saying that. Or me entering a throne room and being announced as 'here comes Demon Lord Oniichan!'. "What's wrong onii-chan~? It's not too late to take back your words onii-chan~. But my onii-chan~ ain't a coward, right onii-chan~?" She used the sweetest, the most alluring and the most adorable voice she could possibly muster each time she said that word. She knew well that I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of making her say it every day. "... but I will choose the exact kind of a bet… and we will postpone it for later." "And that's my brother! Doesn't retreat even while facing the risk of eternal shame! I agree to your conditions." "Good that at least the two of you are having fun…" Rhea must have returned while we were busily talking and before we could ask her anything she continued. "There's no precedent, and yet it turned out that everyone, except me, already knew about this loophole! They simply ignored it because no one had ever tried using it. In the end, it was decided that if you can actually pull off any of those two ideas then it will be counted as completing your goal. It's your reward for being the first ones to think of it. So many of the famous demon lords would turn over in their graves if they heard that… At least the next edition of the rulebook will contain adequate corrections." "You don't sound too happy about this." Voiced our thoughts my sister. "Of course I'm not happy! This is a black day for all the evil gods! But… he-hehe *ekhm*. Anyway, let's proceed to the question number two." We floated closer to each other as if trying to prepare ourselves for the incoming attack. Rhea's voice suggested that the next one would be at least as wicked and morally wrong as the first, if not worse. "Here comes question number two. If you were to choose ONLY ONE of the following things to help you achieve the goal from the first question, which one would it be: A - the ability to bend any monster weaker than you to your will, B - the ability to mind control up to three people, C - being completely ignored by the zombies and immune to the infection, D - a profound knowledge of taboo magic, E - starting as one of the richest people in the world." It was easy to notice that each of the options was specially crafted to help with the corresponding world end scenario. An army of monsters for demon lords. Mind controlling world leaders to cause an atomic war. Walking through hordes of zombies as if they were our best friends. Taboo magic to help in the destabilization of the world's mana core. A mountain of money to test our creativity in the exodus scenario. However, Rhea had something else to add after a momentary pause. "You see, I may have said that you can take as much time as you want, but I never said anything about having a lot of it in the first place. That's why there's a special option just for the two of you, F - unlimited lifespan. Normally, if you decided to pick the option A from the previous question it would allow you to start in the position of demon lords who possess a lifespan of up to five hundred years. But, since your plan requires a looot of time and preparations, even the few hundred years could not be enough. That's why they've told me to include an additional choice. However, if you pick F then you will have to literally start from ZERO. No huge army, no castle to live in, no demon lord title, no full treasury and no chance against the 'good guys'. Moreover, if you decide to pick something else then you can forget about your plans, they will be no longer accepted as valid solutions. So, will you end this foolery and decide to carry out a traditional apocalypse? Come on, don't be stupid now." Rhea was doing her best to make us change our minds as if it would be a stain on her honor if we proceeded with our initial idea. It was time for another quick consultation. "Sister, what do you think?" "One moment brother. I want to ask her a few things first. Rhea, if we start without the demon lord title then it's possible for us to obtain it, right?" "... yes." Rhea answered reluctantly. "What race we would reincarnate as, in the world burning scenario? For sure not as humans?" "... question number three allows you to choose that." "Will we have to start from the very first moment of being born and grow up?" "... no." "Come on, expand your answer and tell us everything connected to it." "Ehh… the age you start at is set to eighteen years old. The starting place will be semi-random, but it will be guaranteed to ensure a certain degree of safety to help you develop your... powers." It seemed that even if she didn't want to, Rhea had no choice but to reveal the details after my sister phrased her question this way. ""Powers?"" We asked in unison. "Ahhh… whatever! I will tell you. Since you will be entrusted with the fate of burning the world and becoming demon lords, even if you start from zero there will still be a huge difference in your basic stats when compared to other rookies in that world. But you won't be the only 'special' ones! Mark my words, you will regret it if you go down this road! It's way better to start with as big of an advantage as possible." At this point, there was no need to confirm anything else with my sister. Our choice remained unchanged and starting from zero… seemed to be even more fun. [\spoiler]
Spoiler: Chapter 3 - Third question A: do you want to design your sister? My sister's blue soul flame was crazily orbiting around mine, reminding me of the time when she had drunk ten cups of coffee in a row. She was in the best mood since we had found ourselves in this place. Would be great if I could toss her up into the air a few times or make a flag out of her panties to celebrate, but this could be done later. "The last question changes slightly depending on the answers to the previous two, so I need to confirm everything. You want to choose: A - burning the world as demon lords and A - the ability to bend any monster weaker than you to your will, is that correct?" Rhea said in a way as if she was giving us the final chance to save ourselves. "Nope!" "No, that is not correct." "... Idiots. When you die after a week or two, you are not only going to ruin my reputation but also the good work results…" "Don't worry Rhea, it's the opposite. We're going to make you famous, right sister?" "Exactly, I'm thinking about picking you as my personal god, do you have any temples in that world by any chance?" Even if Rhea was only doing her job and viewed the two souls in front of her as nothing more than a potential smudge in her work history, we were still grateful to her. After all, she offered us such a wonderful ticket to a world full of fantasy, unlimited life, and on top of that, we were going to be given some special 'powers' only waiting to be developed. "... I do. Ehh… fuck it." That was the moment she gave up on us. "You want to choose: A - burning the world as demon lords and F - infinite lifespan, is that correct?" ""Yes."" A brief flash of light enveloped our souls as if to confirm that our destiny had changed. It didn't mean that we would reach the goal no matter what happened on the way, but we were given the key to a previously locked gate. At least, that's how it felt like to me. And this assumption wasn't completely baseless. "Sister, your soul has grown a set of two small bluish horns. Do you feel any different? They're kind of cute by the way." "Thank you brother, I don't feel any different. But… I can't say that I like this huge phallus growing on the top of your soul." "Pha- WHAT?!" Was this the sign that my perversion had crossed a forbidden threshold and contaminated my very soul?! Never in my entire afterlife, I regretted the fact of not having arms as much as at that moment. There was a ninety-nine percent chance she was just making fun of me. But I couldn't, simply couldn't, rule out that cursed one percent possibility. And there was no way check it… or wait… there was one! "Rhea! Is there a dick growing out of my soul?" Based on the previous questions we asked her, she had to answer truthfully. "... no, and please don't ask me such things. I'm a goddess for god's sake, I've got my own dignity. The horns are the soul marks allowing the 'good guys' to easily recognize you as the villains. Can we move on with this farce already?" The background sound to her answer was created by my sister's long series of loud laughter, crisscrossed with smaller periods of uncontrollable giggling. "*Pff-hahaha!* Sorry… *hahaha*... sorry brother… *haha*… such a pity you lack a face I could see. Don't worry you've got... *pff-haha*. *Ekhm*, ok I'm alright now. You've got horns just like me." My sister floated next to me as if wanting to cuddle. "…" I tried to move away, but she followed. "Ok, ok, I owe you one, I promise. Are we good?" Instead of a verbal answer, I stopped and accepted her attempt at closing the distance between us. "Alright. The last question." Rhea used the momentary silence to try and get this over with. "As members of which race do you want to be reincarnated?" She made a small pause during which we heard her turning multiple pages of some book. "Ok, you know what? Thanks to your unique setting there are so many different choices to pick from that it will be simpler if you just say what do you want, and I will check if that's possible - it just has to be humanoid in shape and not completely broken. Is that fine with you? Oh! One more thing, your infinite lifespan opened quite a lot of races that shouldn't be normally available to pick from, but even if you decide to go with the good old human you will still be forever eighteen… at least till the time someone kills you." "Do we have to choose the same race or can each of us be different?" Depending on the answer to my question I might be able to pull off something incredible. "Each can be different." "Sister, you just said that you owe me one, right? And it was a promise." "Ugh… have mercy..." She already realized what a huge blunder it was. "Then I want you to choose the blond loli vampire race. Can't wait to hug the hell out of you ufufu~." Even if the chances for this specific race to exist were close to null, that didn't mean all hope was lost. I simply had to try out the many other races that were up to my liking until one of them would finally be accepted. "Brother, there's no way a race such as blond lol-" "It exists. What's more, it's the third most popular choice. 'Shinobu' style, right?" Rhea calmy denied my sister's attempt at wiggling her way out of it. I was quite sure she did it with premeditation. "WHY?!" The soul flame next to me just broke a little. "You've got no idea how many perverted souls went through this place. At one point we simply added the ten most popular choices to the standard set of fantasy races. It's easier that way and saves us time." "Brother, think-" "Wait." This time it was me who interrupted my sister. "Rhea, let me just confirm something. Nearly all of the souls that come here are alone, right? That means people are choosing the race for themselves, not for someone else?" "That's right. It's exactly as fucked up as you think it is. The people who choose the most popular choice number three are mostly males. I had trouble with understanding this as well... now I just ignore it. There was a proposal once to group all of those deviants together and push that planet into a black hole, but it was unfortunately rejected. They're evenly spread among the many worlds." I knew it! Rhea asking 'Shinobu style?' was the only clue I needed! Goddamnit. I couldn't allow my sister to be a part of a race whose members were going to be mainly composed of middle-aged male souls inside little girls! I needed to preserve her honor. "Let me just make sure, Rhea… what about a small innocent succubus?" "The most popular choice number eight, 'Astarotte' style" "Young nine-tailed fox?" "The most popular choice number five, although there's no premade style since there were too many variations. This choice is actually popular among both genders." "Give up brother, give up and let me choose by myself." "I will let you influence my race later." I would feel guilty if only my fetishes were reflected in my little sister's appearance so I wanted to let her do same… to a certain degree of course - upper hand in this matter was mine. "Rhea, what about a fairy?" "Hmm… it's not in the top ten. Shall we move on to the customization process with this one?" The more my sister was dejected the more Rhea tried to push me forward. I bet she was later going to reverse her stance. "No matter how cute, I don't want to be a palm-sized bug. Please brother… pick something else." My sister was right, I didn't want her to be that small either. She had to fulfill her role of a hug pillow after all. It had to be unique, it had to be cute, it had to be small but not too small, it had to be huggable, it had to be convenient, it had to be something my sister would accept, it had to be a proud and powerful race, it had to possess a certain charm, it had to be magical in nature, it had to be humanoid in shape… I couldn't think of a single race that would fulfill all of those requirements. However… "Rhea… how many races can we join together?" "Joining races? Let me check…" Rhea was yet again leafing through some kind of a book. "Brother, I'm not sure if I like the thing you're trying to achieve." "... up to three and it's a case by case scenario, some may merge easily, others won't at all." "Take the blond loli vampire, add to it the demonic yet innocent succubus, and finally sprinkle everything with a bit of fairy dust." "..." "..." "What? It won't work?" "There's no way it would work!" Shouted my sister, after which she turned in the direction from which Rhea's voice was coming, waiting for her to confirm this. "Vampire… succubus… and fairy… let's see… I don't think it's possible, but… hmm... It says here that the vampire's undead nature and the succubus's demonic one are quite compatible with each other but the fairy is on the opposite side of the spectrum. However, if we switch the fairy with its corrupted equivalent called fae and remove most of the impact it has on the overall appearance then… it will work. Huh, who would have thought." Rhea was definitely having fun at the cost of my sister. She was way too enthusiastic about this, especially when compared to how she was acting not so long ago. "What kind of a chimera the two of you want to make out of me?" The victim of our machinations was on the verge of tears, but I steeled my heart. One day she was going to be thankful for that. "A cute one. Rhea, is there any way to preview the character creation process?" In response to my words, a projection appeared right in front of us. She was a beautiful, although quite evil, girl in her late teenage years and wore a plain set of white underwear. "Some parts of my specification were lost along the way... if only she looked like six years younger." To my surprise, the projection immediately changed to reflect this command and the girl was now in her early teens. This was probably the customization part mentioned earlier by Rhea. "The hair has to be longer and blonde, make it flow freely up to the waist." I immediately started shaping her up to my liking. "Keep the wicked eyes but the overall facial features should be more adorable and add a tiny amount of freckles. The chest area is waaaaay too big... smaller... smaller... smaller... ok that's about it, pointy apple sized. She needs to be slimmer and remove the horns and tail. Make her skin tone less red… a bit more pale, perfect. Now-" "Brother… there's only one way I'm going to accept this without hating you for life. You will have to allow me to create your character and you won't object to ANY of the changes I want to make." "Deal." Not even a second was required for me to agree to her proposal. I would probably regret it later, but this was soooo going to be worth it. Contradiction? My mind was busily modeling every detail of my sister's body, I didn't have the capability to think about anything else. "Now remove the pant-" "WAIT! Brother, I beg you. At least leave this part to me. You never saw a real one anyway, it will be better for me to shape that part. And please don't look." "Alright… it's up to you." I floated a small distance away, to take my mind and view off the intimate parts modeling my sister was going to do. Her remark about not seeing a real one kind of stung... a lot... "I should tell you that merging three different races comes at the price of shouldering three different races strengths and weaknesses." Started talking Rhea. "The vampire part of her nature is going to be dominant since you removed the horns, tail and minimalized the breasts which were like succubus trademarks. There will be some minor visual changes in the final product compared to the projection due to the fae's magical influence. And she may act a bit strangely from time to time." That last piece of information got me worried, I didn't want my sister's personality or character to change. It was time to stop joking around and take it seriously. "Is she going to stop being herself?" "Nothing that big. She will still be the sister you know but with a lot of new quirks. Like a severe aversion to everything that's holy, the urge to drink blood from time to time, succubus aura attracting males, or fae's perfectly smooth skin devoid of pores and without a single hair except for the ones on the head." "You heard that sister? I take everything back. Pick whatever race you want." "Too late for that brother, she already bought me with the 'attracting males aura' and 'no depilation needed ever' parts. Not to mention that without pores in the skin I will never get sweaty, that's like a girl's dream come true. Earlier, I was worried that no handsome middle-aged knight would take me seriously in this undeveloped body, but since I can tempt them with the succubus nature, it may be even more fun to watch as their morals crumble and they slowly become a carbon copy of you, brother. Aaaand I'm done." "You're really ok with such body?" I asked after floating closer to her. My sister's soul flame was flying around the projection, examining its every detail and making really small additional adjustments I wouldn't even think of. "I am. In the end, you will be the one who hugs, carries, looks at and protects it the most. And I really like the look in those wicked eyes of mine. Now, can you let me have my dose of fun? I'm really looking forward to it."