Returned to the Past, the Hero is Protected by the Villain?

Chapter 5: Hiiro Seraphim

An average college student on earth remembers reading about a pretty popular online novel he had found during his breaks at his part-time job.

In that story, it was about a weak man that had died. However, when he died, he would get reborn. However, he would be reborn as the same person.

With that power, he was able to right every mistake he ever had in each new incarnation. He was truly the only real 'Reincarnated' person in that world.

However, because of his power, he was always prone to dying quickly.

He was still weak, and all he had was the powers to restart his life with every death. The longer he lived, the more progress he would lose.

However, one day, he was blessed with another power accidentally. He was able to become strong in that life, but not strong enough and died once again.

But, to his surprise, that power had been carried over in his next life! Not only did he get reborn, but any experience he accumulated would also transfer over.

With that, he was able to constantly grow stronger, and, after his nth life, he became even more powerful than the strongest person in the world.

It was an almost cliche story about a man that was righteous and heroic. However, with the influx of anti-heroes and morally grey protagonists in stories lately, it was almost a breath of fresh air. Yes, it was a power fantasy, but it was an interesting story nonetheless.

That average college student continued to read till the end of the series and was pretty satisfied with the ending. There was no unnecessary harem, and the main character was able to live a peaceful life in the countryside.

However, his eyes became hazy and blurry all of a sudden, as his breathing became shorter. It was painful and hard to bear, but he soon fell over as he collapsed and fainted.

He had died.

It was from a heart attack.

He didn't expect to die at that young of an age, as he had always thought of himself as healthy. However, he had also stayed awake for 15 days straight and he's only been living off of vitamins and headache medication. After thinking about it, it's surprising he didn't die earlier. However, he had planned to go to sleep after finishing the novel, as he had finally finished his final project.

Either way, there wasn't any use being hung up over the past.

However, he had never expected to take over the body of another person.

Much less the body of the main character of the novel he read!

He had become Hiiro Seraphim!

However, there was one big problem.

This novel was an action-heavy novel, so how could he be expected to do the things the Hiiro from the novel could do?! He also didn't want to repeatedly die! Not to mention, he doesn't have any knowledge of this world, which was a vital part of the rift system!

Yes.

He was a coward.

However, he had a right to be. He was just an ordinary college student that didn't have to worry about fighting. How was he able to do any of the stunts that are pulled off in the novel?!

That's why he decided to just run away.

Maybe to the capital and live a normal life, and let everybody else handle everything. They're already handling it pretty well anyway.

The problem was that he had forgotten the date the first major event in the story happened, the gate that appeared in his hometown.

In the novel, this is when the main character had first died. He was killed by a giant snake monster, and then he finds out his abilities. He was a 'Reincarnated,' but he would've only found out after he had died.

That's when he starts to hone his skills and slowly work to escape future deaths before getting his true powers.

However, since he had forgotten this date, he didn't escape the city in time and ended up meeting his doom.

However, to his surprise, someone saved him.

It was a black-haired man with red eyes. If this man said that he was second place in terms of looks, then no one would dare claim first. He was like an Adonis, and his features when he swung his sword made anybody gasp in awe.

However, unlike the people there, he knew who he was. It was the main villain from the novel! He not only remembered the description from the novel, but also the fact that he looked extremely similar to the villain on the cover!

What was this situation, the antagonist saving the protagonist?! This didn't happen in the original novel either!

However, what he didn't expect more was what had happened afterward, as he was dragged into the rift!

...

Slowly, Hiiro opened his eyes, as his entire body ached from head to toe.

Where was he?

He sat up, but it still hurt. However, the soft and silky texture of the blanket and linen made things more bearable.

He looked around the room that looked extremely luxurious and high quality.

"What..."

He got up from the bed, but the pain on his feet was almost unbearable, as his blisters and cuts had not healed yet. However, it was wrapped in bandages and treated it seems.

Continuing to look around the unfamiliar room, he began to worry if he had been kidnapped. However, since they seemed to have treated him, they probably don't have any bad intentions... probably.

He walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection. He was still Hiiro Seraphim. He sighed as he looked at himself.

Hiiro wasn't bad looking, and he was above average honestly. However, after he became stronger and older, he became a man that rivaled the looks of Deus Manachi.

Thinking back to how handsome the latter was, he would be lying if he said he wasn't excited for that, as just having a tenth of Deus's looks would already be extremely handsome.

His attention was then drawn to the door opening, but the color quickly drained from his face as he saw who was at the door.

It was Deus Manachi.

He backed away a little, still wincing from the pain.

However, before he knew it, he was on the bed, with Deus on top of him.

In his head, he was panicking about the situation and what was going on. Not to mention, Deus's looks were no joke, especially up close. If he had done this to anyone else, they would've fallen for him instantly.

"Stay in bed."

"W-what do you..."

"I said, stay in bed."

"Hiiik!! Yes, sir!"

His words were more like orders than anything, and since Hiiro can't be as blindly courageous as the original Hiiro, he could only obey in fear. He began trembling like a little bunny again, unsure what was happening.

Although Deus saw the way Hiiro was acting as annoying, he remembered that the real Hiiro was still in there. Not to mention, his current actions could kind of be cute, as he's never seen him act like this before. He reached his hand out without thinking and caressed the trembling Hiiro's face that was under him. However, he stopped himself after realizing what he was doing, and his eyebrows knit into a glare, before getting up from on top of him.

"Your injuries are still healing so don't do anything to make it worse."

"R-right...!"

Hiiro answered back, but he was also extremely confused at what Deus had done before he got up. Why did he touch him like that?! Isn't something a little strange?! Why is he even meeting the final boss so soon?!

'Is this how the Villain should be behaving?!'