There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 77

‘I guess the villain behind the world’s destruction is a higher level of trash than the third-rate villains of the Demon Realm.’

The Demon Realm—that word doesn’t refer to Incheon itself. It’s the underworld of Incheon. It earned that name because of the smugglers and criminals who burrowed their lairs deep within the underground passages.

However, the underground passages of the Demon Realm, constructed by criminals, were a sanctuary of building code violations. If someone were to mess with it while trying to wipe out the Demon Realm, a sinkhole could swallow Incheon whole.

Besides, smugglers are a swarm of gnats that crawl back out from somewhere even when you try to root them out, so it was better to herd them into the Demon Realm and leave them be—that was the conclusion of the higher-ups.

‘In a word, it’s some awesome evasion of responsibility.’

“What do you want, coming here?”

[My destination is Russia. Get me a ticket for the Trans-Siberian Railway and a suitable identity.]

“You’re Chinese?”

[Is that important?]

When I suddenly switched languages and replied in French mixed with an Eastern European accent, the old woman’s expression changed as if she had a headache.

“Can’t even track you, can I. Is that face fake too?”

[What’s that?]

When I acted cute as if I knew nothing, the old woman glared at me as if looking at a wicked thing.

“If you had killed my family, you wouldn’t even be seeing my face. I’m treating you as a customer because you didn’t swing your hands too cruelly when dealing with my kids.”

[Hmm. I’ll return those words right back to you, frail old woman. I was able to let your family go alive because they didn’t resist so crudely.]

The old woman’s expression turned cold, but I was too classy a villain to care about such things.

[You and I, we both know. The things that lowlifes do. If you don’t want to die, you’d be better off quitting such impertinent games.]

“You… with what kind of nerve.”

“Hm? What are you talking about?”

I grinned as if I knew nothing, fluttering the tickets. As if boasting of the achievement of escaping the Demon Realm with all my limbs intact.

However, Ryuseong was letting out a sigh as if my endlessly light attitude was lamentable.

“You need to learn how scary the world is.”

“I’m Cassis de Millang, so what is there to be scared of?”

“Your confidence pierces the heavens…”

“What are you talking about when you weren’t scared either. At this level, the two of us can escape easily, can’t we?”

“Don’t look down on the Demon Realm. That place is…”

Seeing the young Ryuseong, who in the original story would have easily looked down on the Demon Realm, say something different, I felt strange, realizing anew that he had indeed regressed. I thought I was the experienced adult, but before me was someone who had lived a long history in a different sense.

“You old boomer.”

“What?”

Ignoring the long-winded nagging, I stuck out my tongue and burst out laughing, and Ryuseong’s expression turned strangely dazed. Did I provoke him so much that he lost his mind? I waved my palm in front of his eyes, and only then did he seem to snap out of it, snatching my wrist and interlocking our fingers like a madman. Right, I should tease him in moderation from now on.

With that thought, I easily shook off the tail sent from the Demon Realm and sprinted off.

In fact, for an Awakened One whose Light Body Technique has reached its peak, it’s faster to just run than to take the subway. That said, I thought it would be too much for us to cross Siberia by running, which is why we got tickets for the express train. The tickets the old woman got for us were, fortunately, for a train departing tomorrow evening. If we run at a leisurely pace from now, we won’t be late. However, the maddened Ryuseong seemed to have no intention of leaving me alone.

“Shall we see who gets there faster, starting now?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s only logical that I’m faster.”

“Is that so? You want to go for it?”

…Why, of all things, was I born with such a competitive streak? And so we raced, using our Light Body Technique all day. I was the one who won. But at the same time, I was also the one who lost.

I arrived at the train station one step ahead of Ryuseong, but because I had wrung out all the energy and strength from my entire body, I half-fainted before I could even find a nearby inn. Ryuseong looked down at me, sprawled out and just panting for breath, as if dumbfounded, but I was in no state to get up. Forget speaking, it felt like my lungs would tear just from gasping for air.

“Is this what winning is?”

“…”

“I never said we should speed up to the point of getting into this state.”

Pissed off by his tone, which could have been either perplexed or mocking, I tried to get up but ended up spraining my arm. Hoping I wouldn’t break my nose, I was about to fall flat on my face when Ryuseong pulled me into his arms. And then a deep sigh. For some reason, I felt like laughing, and as I was grinning feebly, he lifted me up in his arms, muttered that I owed him, and started walking somewhere. I liked being in his arms, so I closed my eyes just like that.

And just when it felt like sleeping a little longer would be perfect, Ryuseong shook me awake by the shoulder. Looking out the window, it still seemed to be evening… Why did he wake me up so early?

“Get up, come on. You have to wash your face.”

“Ugh… what time is it?”

“Five minutes to eight in the evening.”

“I’m not going to eat… I want to sleep a little more…”

“What do you mean, not eat. Do you want to miss the train?”

“…What did you say?”

It turned out I had slept for a whole day. I blinked in disbelief, but Ryuseong, regardless, wiped my face with a wet towel, stuck a piece of bread in my mouth, and then carried me in his arms and walked to the train station. I struggled in bewilderment, and he told me to just eat the bread, so I started chewing. Chew, chew. I was dying from how unfair all of this was, but it was bewildering to see people around us giving us looks that were either approving or disapproving. As soon as I thought I needed to hurry up and chew so I could snap back at him, I choked. As I coughed uncontrollably, Ryuseong sighed, opened the cap of a water bottle, and handed it to me. Even after taking a sip, I kept hacking, so he rubbed my back, and somehow, the whole flow of events was so fluid and natural that it was absurd.

“You, you, why are you treating me like this…”

“Know that I’m tired too for having such a high-maintenance lover.”

“What, I never wanted…!”

“The train is coming.”

Just then, the train appeared somewhere on the horizon, emitting a clattering noise. In the end, I missed my chance to ask why he was treating me like a child and could only glare at Ryuseong, and Ryuseong looked down at me with an equally displeased expression.

“Where did you put the tickets.”

“Back pocket. Get them out.”

“…”

I don’t know what I said for the concentration of displeasure on Ryuseong’s face to square itself. However, Ryuseong soon schooled his expression, fumbled with my butt, and took the tickets out of my back pocket. As I was quietly looking up at him, it seemed like he whispered something, but I couldn’t hear anything because of the train horn. What was that?

“Don’t act like this with other people.”

Was that what he said?

I felt a little dazed. Who are you to tell me what to do. But to question him, I wasn’t sure if that’s what Ryuseong had actually said. I let it go nicely, and Ryuseong soon showed the tickets to the station attendant.

“Oh, are you newlyweds?”

“…”

“Have a wonderful honeymoon!”

It’s the same story wherever we go. Ryuseong stood still for a moment, his ears turning bright red, and I kicked him lightly with the tip of my toe to get him walking again, then gave the flustered station attendant a radiant smile.

“Thank you, I hope you have a happy day too.”

They will probably have a happy day for the rest of their trip. Because I am on this train.

We received tickets for a luxury cabin among the passenger compartments. A place where not only were the seats separated from others, but we were given a space that could be called a private room. Ryuseong blinked at the remarkable sight of even a separate bathroom attached.

He had not grown up like a nobleman, so seeing such extravagant luxuries made him feel it was a waste of money. Though it seemed to be different for Cassis de Millang.

“They said it was a luxury cabin, but the quality is quite poor… What are you looking at?”

“No, I was just thinking how different our backgrounds are.”

When he said it calmly, Cassis de Millang smiled like a cat.

“Well, of course they would be different.”

A strange nuance was embedded in those words. Ryuseong wondered for a moment if he was trying to mock him by bringing up his past.

‘The past where I had to survive by eating corpses.’

Ryuseong and Cassis de Millang had been on extremely bad terms until Ryuseong regressed. Therefore, back then, it was as natural as the sun rising in the east for Cassis de Millang to bring up Ryuseong’s past. For some reason, the Cassis de Millang whose first meeting had changed was showing a completely different side…

It’s not as if Ryuseong would break down from receiving such contempt now. Ryuseong had been through numerous things before regressing, and those experiences had contributed to making Ryuseong strong. However, it was difficult to assert that he wouldn’t be hurt. After all, Ryuseong was also human.

Therefore, Ryuseong resolved to roughly let whatever Cassis said slide by and watched as his lips opened. But…

“How could a sharp-eyed person like me and a dull fellow like you have lived the same life?”

“…”