Prologue: The Villain's End

The man with narrow eyes opened his mouth.

A feeble voice that sounded like it could crumble at any moment leaked out powerlessly.

【……It was a grand dream.】

【I wanted to break it.】

【I wanted to devour it.】

【I wanted to burn it.】

The man merely muttered self-mockingly, words that no one could understand.

Hamel frowned at the incomprehensible words.

Amidst the suffocating silence, the man let out a small laugh.

【What a pity.】

The man stared at Hamel with a regretful gaze.

There were already several large wounds on the man's body.

He could barely catch his breath.

However, the man continued to speak even though he knew that speaking any further would consume his life.

【If only……it hadn't been like that in the first place.】

The man spoke vaguely as if reminiscing about something.

Along with his trembling voice, the flame of his life was gradually weakening.

The man's crescent moon-shaped eyes and his lips, which held a faint smile, trembled slightly before suddenly stopping.

At this, Hamel quietly closed his eyes and muttered.

【He's dead.】

The flame was already extinguished.

Only the ashes remained.

……And with this, the villain who had threatened the Empire met his end.

Hamel turned his back after confirming that the man's breath had stopped.

Thinking it was a pathetic death befitting the worst villain.

* * *

《Epilogue, The Villain's End.》

Rustle-.

I rubbed my eyelids, which were about to close from drowsiness, and began to organize the content of this episode.

The densely packed letters on the monitor screen.

The novel I was currently writing was finally coming to an end.

A work that I had serialized at first with my own unique settings.

However, the readers wanted a protagonist who was armed with charisma and talent, who would flaunt his strength and rise through the ranks.

They didn't want a novel that was full of setting gimmicks.

That's why.

‘……I twisted it.’

In the end, I scrapped all the settings I had originally planned to write.

I twisted the plot only in a way that the readers would like.

There was no time to express dissatisfaction.

I was busy revising the latter half of the plot.

The character I created with various settings and backgrounds to make an attractive villain was soon being used as a simple, disposable character.

All the settings had been changed.

The protagonist and the characters around him were good, and those who opposed the protagonist were all evil.

As a result.

The readers followed the novel to the latter half, and thanks to that, I achieved decent results, but…….

It certainly wasn’t a good feeling.

‘This is disgusting.’

It was a sticky and unpleasant feeling.

Writing something I didn’t want to write.

For a writer, it was an act comparable to swimming through hell.

Even so.

‘This nonsense will be over tomorrow.’

I stretched and yawned.

A sense of emptiness and relief made my heart flutter.

Everything will be finished in the next episode that will be uploaded.

The only villain who had been choking the protagonist died in vain.

So it’s impossible to continue the novel any further.

Well, what can I do?

“I guess I should give up my foolish thoughts…….”

That was when I was feebly uttering self-mocking words.

Thud, thud.

I frowned at the dull noise echoing from the entrance.

Did I order a delivery?

No.

And there’s no way I have an acquaintance who would visit me at this hour.

……Then who is knocking on the front door?

Thud, thud.

Thud, thud.

The knocking still didn’t stop.

I frowned in sudden irritation.

Who the hell is being so impolite at this hour.

I headed towards the entrance, intending to show them who’s boss.

That’s when I stood in front of the entrance.

― …….

Suddenly, the continuous knocking stopped.

Did a drunkard knock on the wrong house?

Maybe I’m hearing things because of the accumulated stress.

That was when I was having such unhelpful thoughts.

Thud.

A white piece of paper with something written on it fell from above my head.

Why is there a piece of paper flying around?

Soon, I picked up the unidentified piece of paper that had fallen to the floor and looked at it, narrowing my eyes.

『This is a gift. Ask for it when you need it.』

A gift?

I frowned at the incomprehensible words.

More than that, what is this paper?

Did it come in through the crack in the door?

Just in case, I put the paper in my arms and turned my back.

“…….”

I gasped at the unexpected sight.

“What the.”

A figure appeared in my sight.

Goosebumps rose on my spine, driving away my drowsiness.

A man with narrow eyes and a black aura was staring at me, blood seeping from his chest.

Swoosh-.

I scanned the man’s appearance, still gripped by fear.

His eyes were slit-like and narrow, and his lips were twisted in a sinister way, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Add to that his crimson hair, which symbolized misfortune, and I couldn’t help but feel intense fear.

Among them, the most striking feature was the tattoo on the back of his neck, shaped like a cross.

Suddenly.

An inexplicable heaviness painfully crushed my chest.

I was bewildered.

My emotions, this situation, everything.

As I stood there frozen.

“So, this is how I die.”

The narrow-eyed man groaned.

I looked at him, my shoulders trembling with terror.

“I spent a lot of time and effort.”

The narrow-eyed man said so and stepped towards me.

Thud, thud.

Thud, thud.

The closer I got to the man, the more intense the aura that approached me, and I had to step back.

"I secretly sharpened my sword to get revenge on those who ruined my family. For ten long years. Well, you know better than anyone, so to speak, it would be a waste of my breath."

A series of incomprehensible words.

The current situation was enough to plunge me into terror.

“I lost so much and gave up so much for revenge.”

The narrow-eyed man continued to walk, uttering incomprehensible words.

I moved my steps back in confusion, but......

Thud-.

There was nowhere else to step back.

He, who had suddenly come close, raised his face and spread his fingers.

“Family, close friends, lovers… Oh, if I were to count them all, I’d run out of fingers.”

The man burst into self-deprecating laughter, revealing his red eyes.

Somehow, an eerie feeling washed over me.

“But I failed. Evil cannot overcome good. That’s exactly what happened.”

Evil and good.

The moment the man uttered those words.

Suddenly.

His narrow eyes, which had been squinting since the novel began, sank coldly.

“That’s why please…….”

Crack-.

Before the man could finish his sentence, a black haze spewed out and swirled violently.

The pitch-black darkness that rapidly increased in size swallowed me and him whole.

The world spun.

My body began to collapse.

In the midst of that.

【……Please do it.】

Only the man’s last words pierced my eardrums and sank in.

Clearly-.

* * *

An old-fashioned room.

In contrast to its appearance, there was a lot of pungent dust piled up around the furniture.

Creak-.

I blinked and got up from my seat.

“…….”

As I looked down, I saw faded clothes that had lost their original color.

It seemed to be made of luxurious fabric, but it was rough as if it hadn’t been taken care of for a long time.

Swish-.

I turned my head and looked around.

It was clear that this was a noble’s mansion, but there were cobwebs everywhere.

It was like a ruined noble’s mansion.

‘What the hell is this situation…….’

I calmed my pounding heart at the absurdity and got up.

Then I looked down at my two hands and narrowed my eyes.

“……What the hell.”

My hands were bizarre.

Hard calluses that didn’t match my young skin were densely packed.

Was it to hide it?

Dark makeup was applied over the calluses.

One thing was for sure.

‘It’s not my hand…….’

Slide-.

I got out of bed and started to walk.

My steps were cautious but steady.

Even in a room I was seeing for the first time in my life, I moved as if I knew the way.

As if my body remembered-.

That’s how my steps led me to the mirror.

“…….”

I couldn’t help but be silent at the sight reflected in the mirror.

Ominously crimson hair and sharp lips.

A peculiar tattoo drawn on the nape of the neck.

And the moment I saw the narrow eyes that made it impossible to know my thoughts-.

I had no choice but to roughly wipe my face.

“What the hell is going on…….”

I took a deep breath, holding the mirror with both hands.

This appearance was not mine.

But, my age was.

After all, I was,

The mastermind who possessed me in my novel, the world’s strongest villain.

‘Arsene Adel.’

It seemed I had become that guy.

……And at a time when I was scheduled to be assassinated in a few days.