Severus Snape was a convicted murderer. And one of the youngest too. Others spoke of a tragedy, of a young man lost to his environment. Severus just thought himself to be a prodigy. Who else had his bodycount at only sixteen ?
But people were determined on being empathetic. Poor child, they said. And as a result, instead of being in the high security prison he deserved to be at, he was in some shitty nursery they tried to pass off as a prison. Well, at least that meant he had access to a computer, he thought.
Severus has a bit of a fantasy. He has a strange obsession with Snape, a famous Harry Potter character who, strangely enough, has the same name and surname as him. He likes reading fan fictions about him, looking at fan arts depicting him. So when an anonymous person sent him a fan-made Harry Potter game where he could incarnate whichever character he wants, he obviously chose to play as Snape. The game was fun, and surprisingly well-made, with hyper-realistic graphics. The plot was a bit boring however, as it didn't differ from the plot at all. There were no unexpected twists, and no way to change Snape's fate. It was just like watching Snape's life as a spectator.
The moment he finishes the game, a quiz pop up. It was one of those quizzes where you could tell the creator what to change or what to keep. Severus answered truthfully. The game was great and all, but he just wanted to be able to fully change everything, to trace his own path.
[ Are you sure this is what you want ? ]
Severus tilted his head. He didn't really understand the question. Either way, he clicked 'yes' .
[ Level Restriction lifted ]
[ Story Restriction lifted ]
Nice, Snape had hated these two restrictions who stopped him from making all the choices he wanted and from growing as powerful as needed. Was that it ?
Another window opened. Except this time it didn't open on his computer. No, the screen was right in front of him, like an hologram. Snape jumped back. He blinked, making sure he wasn't dreaming. He pinched himself hard. Nope, still there. He looked back at his computer, wondering if this was some new feature he was unaware of. But his computer had disappeared. No, he looked around him, it was more like he was in an entire different apartment.
The walls looked older, although just as shabby. The room was about the same size, but his furnitures had been entirely replaced by older, and seemingly less sturdy furnitures. For some reason, this place was familiar. His eyes widened. This was Snape's room in the game ! He looked back at the hologram-thingy.
[ Severus Snape
Lvl 0
Exp 0/1
HP 1/1
MP 1/1
CHA 1
DEX 1
STR 1 ]
Yeah, this was definitely Snape's status screen at the start of the game.
[ Hogwarts I : Letter
Get a letter from Hogwarts ]
Right, and this was the first quest in the game. It arrives the day Snape receives the list of new materials to buy for the sixth school year. Snape tried looking at his watch before remembering he didn't have his watch anymore. He ran down the stairs, ignoring the familiar background of Snape's drunk father sleeping on the couch.
He looked at the clock. It said six in the morning. Out the window, the sun was already up, high into the sky. This clock clearly wasn't on time. He sighed annoyed. Only one way to know, he guessed. He checked, and the letter with the unmistakable Hogwarts seal was there, waiting for him.
[ You have achieved Hogwarts I : Letter ]
[ + 1 MP ]
[ Hogwarts II : Shopping
Buy all the materials required to enter Hogwarts ]
Reality finally set in. A creepy smile took over Snape's face. The only thing Severus lived for aside for his fictional counterpart was the grind. He was now stuck in his favorite video game with no more pesky Level restriction.
***
This game's level up system was simple. Kill and you get exp. Win a fight and you get exp. Get exp and you level up. Level up and your stats level up. It was simple. And it was very easy to take advantage of the system to quickly max out both his stats and level, he thought, mercilessly killing another animal.
[ + 1 Exp ]
Weak animals like these didn't give much Exp. Which is why Severus was planning on fighting people very soon.
He went back into the house. His eyes lit up when he found the kitchen. More specifically, the kitchen utensils : the knife. Severus looked around, checking if there was anyone nearby. Nobody. He smirked and pocketed the knife.
[ + Kitchen Knife ]
He slammed the door to his house open. He was going to become a serial killer ~
He ran down the street, stopping at a familiar house : Bully 1's house. Snape was sure Bully 1 wasn't his actual name, but it was what he was called in the game. He was the most annoying out of all the bullies. And now Severus was going to be able to have his revenge in real time !
He tried to open the door but it was locked. Shit. He forgot this wasn't a game anymore. Ugh.
He looked at his stats. His DEX and STR were already at six. He started climbing. He jumped through the window. Bully 1, a boy his age, was peacefully sleeping. He searched round the house of tape. He shut the boys mouth with it. The bully shifted, frowning. But his eyes stayed firmly closed. Severus didn't care if he woke either way.
Snape's face twisted into a bloodthirsty smile. His knife was raised into the air, it fell in an ark, lodging itself deep in his guts. The bully's eyes suddenly opened. Beneath the tape, his mouth tried to open. Severus stabbed him over and over again. The sheets beneath the body, once a perfect white, became an even more perfect red. Nonsensically, he thought about his art teacher, a lousy woman, who had made him wrote an essay about contrast between color. She would have liked that, thinking about the sheets. Or maybe not, he thought, his eyes going over the bloody corpse on those sheets. He giggled.
[ + 5 Exp ]
He stood up. Looking down at his clothes, they too were all red. But Snape knew the dazzling red would soon turn brown, and Snape could tell his mother some lie about playing in the mud or whatever. Right, the bully had a mother too. And a father. He clenched his knife, more Exp for him, he thought.
Snape hoped they slept together, otherwise he would have so much more work.
He searched through the house and found them quickly enough. There were only three door after all. Bully 1 mocked Snape for his ripped clothes but he wasn't much better economically speaking.
Snape didn't bother sneaking in and straight up rammed the door open. The two parents in the bed shifted, awakened by the noise but still not fully aware. Snape jumped on the them. They died painlessly. Or maybe they did feel the pain through their torpor. It didn't matter much.
[ + 10 Exp ]
[ + 10 Exp ]
Snape left, the blood on his clothes dripped everywhere on their floor.
Honestly, with how dirty these house had become, they were lucky they didn't have to clean it all up. Snape paused when he was in the doorway. He was already a murderer, why not become a thief. Besides, he needed money to buy his furnitures. And why wash the rags he was wearing when there were perfectly good clothes in this house.
Snape opened the Inventory function and just shoved everything in there. He took out a nice white shirt from the dude's closet. He had to search a bit to find pants that he would like. Most of them were flared jeans. Ugh.
Might as well change his shoes too. He took a pair of good boots. He also found a nice leather jacket among the dad's clothes. He posed in the mirror. He liked this. It wasn't often he got nice clothes. Or just got clothes.
Mm. Maybe he should leave it was kind of late. Ah, who cared. His mother would probably be unresponsive and crying somewhere in the house while his father yelled at her. They were very similar to his previous parents in this way.
Who cared about them ? He was in the fictional world of his dreams ! Now was the time to go out and enjoy life. How many other bullies were left ? Four ? No, he corrected himself, six. But he only knew the houses of four of them. Well, three without counting the one he had just killed.
He passed through the kitchen to leave and paused again. Right. He had almost forgotten about that. He opened his knife's status.
[ Kitchen Knife
Lvl 1
Attack 17
Durability 10 ]
He knew the video game allowed for players to upgrade their weapons, including their wands and their knives !
He thought about upgrading it and the corresponding screen appeared.
[ Upgrade
Kitchen Knife + … ]
He put the knives in kitchen in the empty slots next to the plus sign.
[ Loading… ]
[ Kitchen Knife
Lvl 4
Attack 21
Durability 14 ]
Nice. He swung the knife. It moved faster than before.
Snape better hurry up, he had three other houses to raid before the sunrise. He finally left the house humming a familiar song he had forgotten the lyrics of.