NOVEL WEB Episode 164
Episode 164
After that, the scenes from the original work I had seen in print endlessly flashed by. The sentences from the novel where I sought comfort were composing the world before my eyes. As I gazed at the landscape that was even mystical, I realized that the excuses I had devised as a last resort had disappeared. ‘If the real Cassice had been here instead of me, wouldn’t he have been able to create a better future than now?’
However, after re-reading the original content, the previous inference seemed flawed from the premise. No, what nonsense is this about the real Cassice Demillang being able to create a better future than now?
‘If the real Cassice Demillang had met Ryuseong from his second life, one of them would have been more than dead!’
Ah. It seems I had excessively beautified the original work. The last scene I saw without being able to read the final volume was ‘Cassice Demillang’s Back-Stabbing Operation: Final Boss Identity Revelation Variety Massacre’, and before that, the narrative of successfully washing his status from a villainous supporting character to a rival was so intense… I had forgotten.
I had forgotten how much the real Cassice Demillang in the original work had scratched Ryuseong’s temper in the role of the academy’s ‘personality trash noble young master’…
‘From the beginning, their very existences were antitheses to each other. In this state, it’s a relationship where they step on each other’s traumas and stimulate them to the point of doing a tap dance.’
[“Have you not fixed your habit of eating corpses? How about realizing your own situation that’s worse than a beggar…?”
“Is that what you’re saying now that your lackeys’ assault has been exposed? I’ll have to convene the school violence committee first.”
“Oh my. I happen to have the board of directors in my pocket.”
“I recorded everything. Should I upload it on X-Tube?”
“The tiny island attached to the peninsula, shall I crush it for you?”]
‘Is this… based on a true story?’
The insanity of the two proud geniuses was too much. Unable to endure the shock, I rubbed my forehead with my palm. Slap! Thanks to the crisp impact sound and the stinging pain, I finally came to my senses.
How could I have forgotten? The villain who deliberately opposed the protagonist Ryuseong, that was Cassice Demillang.
Cassice Demillang was not someone who directly committed assault. Now that I think about it, it might be because he knows there are things more cruel than assault in this world. Anyway, he had a personality that was too snobby to personally commit evil deeds against mere academy students, and instead, he made incredible remarks with a personality that treated all humans like insects, and whether his lackeys committed various crimes or not, he did not control them or punish them, but simply turned a blind eye. Even though Cassice Demillang could have established rules and expelled the sinners with a single glance, he did nothing. He was a bystander. And quite an active one at that.
[“Think of it as news that an insect trampled on another insect. Why should I care?”
“You…”
“I’m warning you in advance, I don’t really like losing useful pawns… Be careful. Since a dull person like you might not understand, let me explain. If you act out of line, you might end up like the corpses you used to eat. Got it? Easy to understand, right?”]
…No, at this point, he should be called a perpetrator.
Because he sufficiently contributed to my hwabyung (anger syndrome)!
‘He graduated from the academy and reunited with Ryuseong, and that’s when the rival build-up started, so I forgot about this aspect that ended in the early parts.’
Looking back, he’s really a precious bastard. Cassice Demillang…
‘Yeah. I think it’s a good thing I came.’
Honestly, it’s still hard to be sure. But… looking at Cassice Demillang’s personality…
‘No matter how much I messed up the development, it’s better than the original.’
I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of self-esteem…
Come to think of it, this was all thanks to Ryuseong.
‘I’m not saying this because I’m crazy in love, but really.’
If it weren’t for Ryuseong, I wouldn’t have gained the peace of mind to fall asleep and would have been restless with my eyes open.
From a very young age, I thought kids my age who attached meaning to hugs were stupid. Just like I stood alone at the graduation ceremony where my family didn’t come and thought about it for a long time, asking what’s the point of receiving a bouquet, I thought hugs were meaningless. Why hug if we’re not going to mix bodies? It’s just hot. It’s just dirty. It’s stupid to seek warmth from the flesh of others. But Ryuseong made me discover myself becoming stable just by being held by him.
“So is Ryuseong a tranquilizer? Something like that?”
“They say you need good luck to even spout nonsense, but that saying isn’t entirely wrong.”
At that moment, a voice was heard from behind. I was so used to that voice that I thought it was part of a scene from the original work, so I turned my head and stared at the back. And my eyes met with the character I had been watching until just now. The purple handsome face. The bent eyes that seemed to droop. Two dots under one eye, one dot next to the lips.
“…?”
It’s a face that should be there when I look in the mirror. That’s how it became after the possession. But unlike me who was stupidly gaping, the person whose eyes met mine smiled sensitively and sneered with a somewhat condescending attitude, as if…
“Don’t make that dumbfounded face. With my face.”
He was showing an incredible synchronization rate as if he were the real Cassice Demillang!
With a face that annoyingly sneered at me!
“W-wow. Even a dog dream has its own charm, but what kind of dream is this? You should have shown Ryuseong’s face more.”
“…Ha, what a piece of trash.”
The Cassice Demillang in the dream sharply bit off the end of his words as if chewing and swept his bangs with his hand.
Woah. The looks of a peerless beauty have arrived. Thank you for the fan service of an absolute stunner. No, that’s not it.
“Why has the degree of contempt felt in your gaze increased? I haven’t done anything yet?”
“I’d like to firmly convey that the expression ‘yet’ is highly regrettable…”
“Th-that sounds like something the real Cassice Demillang would say…”
I stood there dumbfounded for a moment, then came to my senses with a scream.
“Wait! You, if you’re the real Cassice Demillang, it means you have a self? Hey! Quickly take back this body! The world is a mess right now! Your intelligence is needed! Use your talent and aptitude to save the world! The mastermind’s job is to destroy the world. It’s originally harder to protect than to destroy! And you’re a genius! Do the hard part!”
“Then are you telling me to date the ‘Ryuseong’ you’ve melted so well?”
“…”
I was stunned that I couldn’t answer those words hastily. If the being in front of me is really Cassice Demillang’s self or a fragment of him, I should get on my knees and beg for him to come back.
To begin with, I, who doesn’t even know how I ended up possessed, was close to a robber who stole his body, even if it was unfair. But I was hesitating simply because I didn’t want to give Ryuseong to him. To the extent that I didn’t want to give up the body that should have been his share, I was greedily coveting it.
‘But it’s understandable.’
Yeah. It’s understandable. Because Ryuseong is the first miracle the world gave me.
It may be selfish, but the hesitation at this moment was also proof that you made me want to live a little longer.
‘…That’s enough. Yeah.’
I was ready to give up everything for you. I could even die for you. For me, who was like that, to let go of the path where you could be happier just because I’m afraid of losing you, losing you… It’s just narrow-minded self-satisfaction. So I…
“Ah, stop the bullshit.”
“…?”
I lifted my head in a daze at the shocking phoneme delivered by the noble voice.
Cassice Demillang was smiling elegantly as if to prove that the profanity I heard was a misunderstanding.
“Just get lost.”
“Huh? I didn’t mishear…”
“Stop the bullshit and get lost, I said.”
When Cassice Demillang gestured, a black hole appeared in the air. Cassice Demillang grabbed me, pulled me, and tried to throw me into that hole.
Even in the midst of being completely out of my mind, I tried to fight back using the techniques I had learned at the academy to some extent, but did it seem like a rookie’s struggle to the Cassice Demillang in front of me? He blocked all my attacks without making a single breath.
I despaired and at the same time fervently hoped. If such power could be on Ryuseong’s side, how much strength would it be?
‘It would be much more useful than someone like me.’
As if reading my mind,
“I told you how many times not to have useless thoughts, but you forgot it all again.”
“Huh? What did you just say…?”
“Forget it. You’ll forget it all this time anyway… I’m tired of talking to a wall too.”
“No, no. Explain. What are you talking about by yourself?”
Did I unconsciously try to grab Cassice Demillang? When he took a step back, I lost my balance. And annoyingly, Cassice Demillang kicked me, who was half-kneeling, with the tip of his shoe.
That’s how he threw me into the hole.
“Hey, even if you send me away, at least explain…!”
“See you when the time comes.”
The last Cassice Demillang I saw seemed to have an expression I had never seen during the original screening… Was it an awkward smile? A mischievous look? Or was it a distorted cry?
I don’t remember.
“…”
So, what I should have remembered… I feel like there was definitely something.
What was it?