There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 3

“Damn it. Why is he so handsome?”

My heart was pounding like crazy.

The radar that only sparks when I encounter a good-looking person was blaring so loudly it felt like my head was splitting, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

The protagonist’s jet-black hair was casually swept back, with about half of it falling over his smooth forehead. His eyebrows, the same color as his hair, were thick and bold, leading to a strikingly straight nose bridge. The deep-set eye sockets cast a dark shadow beneath his piercing blue eyes.

Below his broad, solid shoulders, his muscular arms bulged, and thanks to his naturally superior frame, his waist appeared relatively slim. His entire body was impressive. It was like looking at a marble statue, sharply intricately carved to perfection.

It was, without a doubt, a perfectly handsome face and body.

But was it my imagination, or was there a strange, shadowy, almost sullen aura emanating from this testosterone-embodied man? His eyebrows were raised, his lips pressed into a straight line, and his eyes gleamed with a ghostly blue light, just as described in the novel.

It felt like standing face-to-face with a tiger, the tension was so palpable. Something about him seemed to be consumed by a tempestuous passion.

But the moment I closed and opened my eyes—

“…?”

There was no one there in the late winter breeze.

If it weren’t for the vivid thumping of my heart, I would’ve thought I’d hallucinated.

“What the hell, why’d he disappear so fast?”

Show me your face a little longer.

I wanted to stare at every feature, etching them into my mind, but I was too flustered to do so. A bitter sense of defeat hit my chest.

What a waste. I was going crazy over the waste. Even though I knew we’d be attending the same academy, I couldn’t help but lament not focusing more on him. He was that kind of handsome.

“If we were roommates, I’d be insanely happy, damn it…”

Of course, the protagonist belongs to a sect, and I’m from a noble family. Our factions are famously at odds, so unless specifically requested, we’d naturally be separated.

That’s the unspoken rule of this world.

And causing Cassis de Millang to break character would be suicidal. Damn it, no character collapse. But if I could be roommates with him…

“It’d be so damn hot…”

Unlike the vulgar thoughts in my head, my bright purple eyes shimmered with a melancholic beauty.

Thank goodness I at least looked composed on the outside.

Anyway, thanks to leaving early, I could, half-dazed, mentally replay every detail of the protagonist’s body from head to toe while still making it in time to watch the entrance exam.

According to the original story, the entrance exam for Haia Academy consists of a duel.

Even so, no professors participate in the entrance exam, but the outcome of a one-on-one duel with a teaching assistant or associate professor determines whether you pass or fail.

And I, Cassis de Millang, had already secured my admission through connections and ability.

That meant one thing.

Unlike the other cadets struggling below, I was up here with the professors, observing hundreds of dueling grounds.

“What a sweet life!”

I was a bit worried that the social etiquette of this world might differ from what I knew, but thankfully, it wasn’t the case. As the youngest son of a conglomerate, and having thoroughly studied the original story, I could handle it well enough.

While I was having a pleasant time chatting with the professors—

“Look, that guy…”

Suddenly, the arena began to buzz.

Feeling a strange premonition, I looked down. And I gasped.

As expected, the protagonist was standing there.

“….”

But there was something unexpected.

With wet hair adding a decadent charm, the protagonist’s ghostly blue eyes were burning.

It felt like he was staring right at me.

“What’s that? Is he picking a fight?”

…Wait, am I getting ahead of myself?

But his gaze was so intense it felt like that. I forgot that I couldn’t afford to break character and kept locking eyes with him.

A voice from beside me snapped me back to reality.

“Is that the one called the ‘Guardian’…?”

“I heard he inherited all of Hanla Sect’s secret techniques.”

“Rumor has it he defeated an Arabian prince…”

They spoke with anticipation, then seemed to remember Cassis sitting nearby and looked at me.

I just smiled silently.

“…Well, of course, he can’t compare to the prestige of a noble family.”

“Yes, obviously.”

“….”

No, you idiots. He can compare. The protagonist is a once-in-a-century munchkin who crushes noble families.

Of course, Cassis de Millang does give him a hell of a beating later. I didn’t see the rest of the story, but the protagonist probably won in the end.

Right?

“There’s no way it’s a protagonist-loses-and-world-ends ending. No way a trash novel like that exists.”

At that moment, the arena stirred again. The buzz grew like a wave, shaking the world, and at the center was Ryuseong. The tip of his sword was extended.

And the person he was pointing at was Cassis de Millang…

…Huh?

“What did you say, Applicant Number 019284?”

“I want Cassis de Millang as my dueling opponent.”

What the hell…?

I’m a damn low-level, though…?

“Isn’t this breaking the protagonist’s character?”

Why is he suddenly shattering the plot like this…?!

＊＊＊

Let’s take a moment to look back.

In the end, Cassis de Millang won.

The world fell to ruin.

Ryuseong regressed.

—From Cassis de Millang and the world’s destruction.

There was much to say. But setting it all aside, one crucial thing stood out.

Ryuseong came here to kill Cassis de Millang.

Cassis de Millang didn’t like Ryuseong. Ryuseong, in turn, despised and loathed Cassis’s personality.

Yet, they were the kind of people who could grudgingly become allies. At least, the past Ryuseong thought so. That’s why it was so gut-wrenching to learn that Cassis was behind the world’s destruction.

It was horrific.

…The only silver lining was that he had regressed five years before Cassis began plotting the world’s end.

In the future, in a timeline not yet here, Ryuseong frantically spread his energy to track down the one who would destroy the world.

Cassis de Millang. Damn Cassis.

He might only be twenty now, not yet a monster, but to protect the world, he had to be crushed from the start.

With that resolve to kill, Ryuseong faced Cassis.

“Before I go.”

“Yes, yes?”

“This is for you.”

A germaphobe, crouching on the filthy street, crushing a sweet he didn’t even like.

Just to give dalgona to a child.

And so, Ryuseong looked at the one whose hands were not yet stained with sin. The embryo of a monster, whose future was uncertain.

Perhaps a human.

“….”

He had to suppress an emotion he couldn’t name.

…Though he’d never said it aloud, Ryuseong had long understood what kind of person Cassis was.

He loathed him, yet saw him as a potential version of himself.

If he hadn’t been accepted by the Hanla Sect, he might have become like Cassis.

In short, he saw Cassis as a kindred spirit, which made him even more repulsive on a personal level. It might have been close to self-loathing. So when Cassis destroyed the world, Ryuseong was merely confronted with the depths of his own darkness.

And now, that man was giving dalgona to a child.

“Thank you…! Thank you, oppa! Let’s meet again! I’ll repay you…!”

“No need for repayment. I’ve got plenty of money.”

He was smiling brightly.

“….”

Again, Ryuseong knew what kind of person Cassis was. He was someone who couldn’t tolerate a single shred of suspicion.

That’s why he would brutally crush and display anyone who dared cast a doubtful glance, parading their remains to instill cunning fear.

That’s why their first encounter at the academy led to conflict. To Ryuseong, Cassis looked like he was about to crush someone to assert his dominance.

It felt like that’s what he would’ve done if he hadn’t met the sect.

Even though he thought it cliché, Ryuseong spoke righteous truths, scratching at Cassis’s pride, chipping away at the superiority he sought to establish.

“So, did I miss that side of him?”

Because they were at odds from the start, did Ryuseong overlook it?

Perhaps he’d been ignoring the fact that Cassis could be human.

The shadow of his own remnants stretched long…

“Damn it.”

And so, at their first true encounter.

Ryuseong turned away with somber eyes.

It was an escape.

Fleeing from him, running to the academy, burying his head under a faucet, and pouring cold water over himself, his mind finally cleared. The late realization hit that killing Cassis now would lead to a catastrophic clash between the Hanla Sect and the de Millang family.

Ryuseong had to protect the world.

But he also didn’t want to destroy the family that kept him human, unlike Cassis. He wasn’t sure he could stay unbroken if they fell apart.

Though he impulsively confronted Cassis, both emotionally and rationally, he concluded he couldn’t kill him now.

But he couldn’t let the one who would destroy the world go unchecked.

—Guardian.

That was the title given to Ryuseong at birth, a title destined to become the “Guardian of the World” in the future.

Dripping water from his jet-black hair, Ryuseong made his decision.

The result was this.

Just one more time.

If you show you can be a different person.

If you show hope.

I might want to let you live.

“So, let’s settle it here.”

And Cassis de Millang, standing at the tip of his sword, showed him.

How he could live.

“You’re boldly reciting your desire to break the academy’s rules when you’re not even a cadet yet?”

If this were the Cassis that Ryuseong knew, he would’ve eagerly descended to crush someone who dared point a sword and provoke him, intent on shattering their limbs beyond recovery.

But perhaps because their first encounter was different.

Cassis, untainted by bad blood, smiled softly with an unshaken demeanor.

“Pity you haven’t escaped the frog-in-the-well mindset. Is this what fame feels like?”

“Are you scared?”

“Enough with the childish talk, Mr. Ryuseong. No matter how you argue, you don’t have the authority to change the rules. If you wish to enter Haia, you must follow its regulations. What arrogance prompts a Hanla Sect disciple to open his mouth like this?”

“….”

“Oh, please don’t take offense, Assistant Instructor. This is entirely the applicant’s reckless delusion. No one would dare challenge your authority to distinguish cadets from those who aren’t.”

Do you know that your dignified denial seems several times nobler than before?

That it would’ve helped your standing more than rolling in the dirt with me.

If only I could’ve told you back then, would things have been different?

Ryuseong fell into thought.

Could the world have avoided destruction?

Could you have been a different person?

＊＊＊

And at that very moment.

Cassis de Millang’s mind was racing.

“What the hell? I just opened my mouth to dodge this, but is this a crisis I can escape? Why is the plot going so damn crazy? Is that guy mad because he wanted to eat dalgona but couldn’t, and now he’s taking it out on me?!”