Only Villains Do That
D. D. Webb
From the author of The Gods Are Bastards comes a new isekai portal fantasy. On an average train platform, two warring sister goddesses choose avatars: Yoshi is taken to Ephemera to be a great hero of light, while the misanthropic Seiji is taken to become a dark lord meant to kill or conquer all in his path. Seiji has no interest in being Ultimate Evil, but his patron goddess demands results and will test his pain threshold if he fails. Trying to be the least terrible bad guy he can — providing for the downtrodden, offering healthcare to brothels, building a reluctant criminal empire while facing rivals like Lady Gray — Seiji must navigate Ephemera's brutal power politics, his own trauma, and the question of whether there is any way out of the role he was forced into. Serial has over five million views on Royal Road.
Progression: Explicit isekai / portal fantasy progression central and quantified: Seiji is chosen as Avatar of the Goddess of Darkness and granted a structured Dark Lord template — patron favor ranks, expanding territory/criminal empire, minion hierarchy, and escalating magical artifacts/abilities. Progression is measured in conquest milestones, patron-granted power tiers, duels against rival power-holders (Lady Gray, Yoshi the hero), and systemic advancement from reluctant human to entrenched overlord with nation-scale influence. Royal Road serial format emphasizes training arcs, power revelations, and before/after power states each volume; LitRPG-adjacent portal fantasy with core progression loop verified via series description and book 2 blurb ("wickedly funny action-adventure portal fantasy continues").
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