Villain Hides His True Colors

[ Level has risen. ] 

[ Level has risen. ] 

[ Level has risen. ] 

.

.

.

[ You’ve reached level 66. ]

[ Gained a Fragment of Growth. ]

[ Level 65 Skill Selection forfeited due to the previous Special Selection. ]

I looked at the messages that filled my eyes with a proud smile.

“Keuh! Good.”

I thought my growth was going to stagnate for a while…but unexpectedly I had leveled up.

This was why instead of killing a bunch of miscellaneous mobs, killing strong mobs was the right answer.

In any case, I was lucky this time.

The goat-head monster I had just fought was as strong as an S-Rank.

On top of that, I didn’t have the same advantages as when I had fought the dragon…

Frankly, as far as I was now, she was certainly a difficult opponent in many ways, both by her ability and nature.

As such…

I didn’t expect to have resolved this so easily.

But coincidentally, thanks to the guy who came to arrest me, I was able to deal with both.

This sense of turning a crisis into an opportunity, wasn’t that a virtue all great gamers should have?

In other words, no matter what you’re dealing with, there must be a proper strategy.

Anyway…

Considering that, wasn’t the experience a little lacking?

I naturally got a lot more experience than usual, but considering I had dealt with two S-Ranks, I thought I would have gone up many more levels.

Hmm…was this my fault?

Perhaps it was because Pamir had dealt the most damage.

MMORPGs usually have different experience distributions depending on contribution.

Huu…The system was mostly good, but sometimes it was very unfriendly.

There was no experience value shown and the description of newly acquired skills were vague.

In fact, even now in the second round there were many ambiguities left about the system.

That was one of its appeals, but wouldn’t it be nice to be a little more gamer-friendly?

I complained to myself for a moment, but soon shook away such thoughts.

“Well, whatever.”

After all, even if I didn’t gain much experience, there was no particular reason for complaint.

Now, rather than that…

“How am I going to deal with this?”

I looked alternately at Pamir’s body on the ground and the remains of the monster.

“Hmm…”

The monster was one thing, but it was Pamir’s body that was the problem.

His status was that of an Inspector.

Once this situation calmed down, a separate investigation into his death was certain to be carried out.

And, in order not to be summoned by the Hero Association again later, it was necessary to make sure that it was cleaned up now.

“Let’s see…I better make sure to erase the trace of my attack first.”

I headed for Pamir’s body and used .

Swiik–

Swiik–

Wind blades flew in an instant and finely minced his body to a degree that was no longer recognizable.

“Good.”

Just this much would make it difficult to determine what he was attacked by.

However, I didn’t stop there. I rummaged through the remains of the monster and changed the position of the crime scene here and there.

A little later,

“Done!”

Finally, having finished fabricating the evidence, I looked down proudly at Pamir’s body and the monster’s ashes.

It certainly looked like they had killed each other.

On top of that, I could testify that Pamir had died to protect me.

A plausible scenario of a hero who sacrificed himself to protect a young boy.

“Keuh! That’s a good scenario.”

Doubts about me would naturally be relieved and I may even get some form of compensation as a consolation from the Hero Association.

It was a perfect plan on second thought.

Just when I thought as such, suddenly someone’s voice came from behind.

“What are you doing?”

“?!”

I quickly turned my head.

Black feathers fluttered from the air and the figure of Samaria appeared.

At the end of her gaze was the dead Pamir and monster on the ground.

How long has she been watching?

Did she see me tampering with the bodies? No, maybe she had also seen the death of Pamir.

If that was the case…I best take care of this woman here too.

Damn it, this wasn’t part of the plan.

As soon as I had made up my mind, she continued.

“Can you explain to me what the hell happened?”

Not only was the situation twisted, it was firmly twisted. But for now, there was no other way.

If two people disappeared at once, the Hero Association would certainly be suspicious, but…

At least to deal with her when she was off guard, it was the best choice I could make now.

“Th-that’s…All of a sudden, a monster appeared…and mister hero stopped…”

“So you’re saying both killed each other?”

“Y-yes…He sacrificed himself to protect me…”

I played the expression of a scared child as I slowly approached her.

One step, two steps. Little by little, the distance narrowed.

The distance from her was about ten steps. I silently circulated my mana.

It was already well within my range, but I waited for the right time to be more certain.

And finally, five steps.

The moment the scent from her body seeped into my nose, I quickly put my hand on the hilt of my sword.

But just then,

“Are you going to kill me too?”

“?!”

She, who was looking at me, asked out of the blue.

Her face didn’t have the expression of the benevolent saint she had constructed so far. Rather, her eyes were glistening with madness like what I had seen briefly in the past.

Damn it, she already knew.

There could be no further delay. In a hurry I swung my sword at her.

As a result, a blade with condensed mana was released.

Swiik–

Her body was cut in exactly two. However, the feeling on my fingertips told me otherwise.

I had just failed to cut this woman down.

Sure enough, her dismembered body disappeared and in its place were black feathers fluttering down to the ground.

Soon, she appeared in the distance.

A soft smile hung on her face.

“Haha, I thought you would come at me like that.”

“…”

The problem was twisted. I didn’t know since when she had been watching my actions, but apparently she was aware in advance that I would attack her.

In other words, the crime scene was thoroughly caught. 

Damn it…I had worked really hard to maintain my image until now.

Now with just one word from her, all the efforts I had made in the second round will instantly go up in smoke.

***

[ Translator – Yasi ]

[ Proofreader – Karane ]

At all costs…she must be killed.

Rather, maybe it was a good thing.

I had never liked the way she approached me since the first time we met…

The Hero Association will likely be more suspicious if one more body was dumped here, but maybe it was best to take this opportunity to kill her and try to overcome the investigation process somehow.

Now that it was like this, let’s handle this swiftly.

I didn’t even think about hiding anymore and quickly drew my mana.

A red haze soared from my body.

And while I was at it, I even used .

I had to finish it in one breath.

My heart started beating like crazy as the landscape was dyed red.

And I…

In the slowed world kicked forward.

Bang–!

My body, which had been dramatically strengthened by the dragon gene, reached a terrifying speed with the added effect of .

A red wisp trajectory followed as I charged at her.

What was truly an instant, my sword had already touched her neck before she knew it.

And in front of me, her shocked expression was clearly visible.

Then…

Swiik–

This time, unlike before, blood shot out properly from her white neck.

However,

Damn…It was shallow.

I didn’t know what had happened at the last moment, but the trajectory of my blade was turned due to the energy surrounding her body.

And as a result, unfortunately, I couldn’t cut her neck completely.

A superhuman like her would certainly be fine with this kind of injury.

“Huu…it was really dangerous this time.”

Sure enough, she had widened the distance and her cut neck was already healing.

“…”

I couldn’t stop here.

This may be my last chance to keep her mouth shut.

“Why don’t we just talk for a second? What you need to know is…”

I ignored her words and quickly circulated  my mana.

Immediately, I ran toward her again and swung my sword at her neck.

was over, so it wasn’t as explosive as it was a moment ago, but to cut off her precarious neck, it was fast enough.

In response to my attack, she just stood still and looked at me, as if she had no intention of avoiding it.

When I saw that, I was sure I could kill her this time.

But…

Just as the blade was about to touch her neck again, at the words that came out of her mouth, I had no choice but to stop my blade.

“You’ll certainly be arrested at this rate.”

“?!”

“It doesn’t change even if you kill me. Let me assure you. No matter how well you handle the evidence, you won’t avoid the eyes of the Hero Association.”

What the hell was she talking about?

Pamir’s body was finely minced and the crime scene was thoroughly cleaned up.

I was chased by the Hero Association relentlessly in the first round, so for me, who had processed countless pieces of evidence, it was hard to understand.

However, there was a first for everything, and if she was right…

It was worth hearing her out at least once.

While I was organizing my thoughts, she gently raised the corners of her mouth and smiled.

“And…I can help you with the clean up.”

“…”

What was wrong with this woman all of a sudden? Was she just saying whatever to live?

She was a member of the Hero Association, so why the hell would she help me?

As such, I silently stared at her.

I didn’t know if there really was something, but she had a fairly relaxed expression.

“You have to take my word for it. Otherwise, no matter how hard you try, by tomorrow the Hero Association will know everything that has happened here.”

“Do you think I’ll believe that?”

“Well, that’s your choice. But isn’t it worth believing me now since there’s nothing to lose?”

“Hmm…”

Obviously, as she said, if the Hero Association really had another way of identifying the culprit, it could be said to be a real disaster for me.

It was the reputation I had built with great effort, so I didn’t want to be chased by the World Government again.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to listen and decide. In any case, I could still cut her up afterwards.

After quickly organizing my thoughts, I decided to listen to her a little more for now.

“How would the Hero Association track me?”

“Huhu, you’re interested in talking. Then now…Why don’t you put away your sword first? If you find something amiss, you can just kill me then.”

“…”

She knew me too well.

Once the situation settled, she tidied up her disheveled clothes.

“First of all, we have to clean this up before it’s too late.”

She then approached Pamir’s body.

It was simply flesh that was hard to even recognize. How the hell would the Hero Association identify the culprit from such a body?

Perhaps because she had noticed my question, she kindly explained.

“You must think you’ve done a perfect job of cleaning up. Obviously, it’s not easy to find something out of a body that’s damaged like this. Even if you use spirits to grasp the situation, it won’t be easy because of the unclean mana that fills this place.”

“…”

“But Pamir’s status is that of an Inspector. As such, the Hero Association had taken special measures in preparation for such situations.”

Soon, she began to recite some kind of incantation while looking at the fragmented Pamir.

A moment later, from his finely chopped corpse, something faint began to rise.

Similar to a game’s play log, there was a brief line of what he had done.

And in that last line, the sentence ‘Death from Choi Noah’s fatal attack’ was written.

“Well, you see?”

“Hmm…”

As she said, if I had just let it go, I would have been caught dead.

I didn’t know the Hero Association was hiding this kind of ability.

However, it definitely fits what the insidious Hero Association would do by trying to gather information even in death.

So what should I do now?

Should I just burn it?

No, I didn’t think that would solve the problem.

From what she did just now, it seemed they would be able to get the information regardless of the state of the body…

While I thought as such, Samaria showed a meaningful smile.

“But don’t worry too much. Fortunately, I can solve this problem for you.”

Again, she began to recite some kind of cryptic incantation.

A little later,

“It’s over. Take a look.”

Where she was pointing, the sentence written a moment ago had been modified.

[Death from Sophia of Eighth Layer Hell’s fatal attack.]

“What do you think of this? Is it like what you had planned?”

“…”

She looked at me with a triumphant expression for the first time in a while.

I had no choice but to say that her action was helpful this time.

But, one question here was why she was helping me.

Wasn’t she someone who was revered as a Saintess and was a member of the Hero Association?

“Why are you helping me?” 

I asked, pointing the tip of my sword at her.

And, as if she had been waiting for me to ask, she smiled brightly.

“Huhuhu…I was drawn to you like fate since the first time I saw you. And…I became very certain when I saw you today. That you’re the existence I’ve been waiting for.”

“Existence? What do you mean?”

“Huhu, that’s a secret. I’ll tell you when the time comes. But you can be certain of one thing. The fact that I will never hurt you.”

Her eyes were glowing with madness. 

At the same time, a new message popped up in front of me.

[ Favorability has increased. ]

“…”

Killing her colleague had increased my favorability? Again, this woman’s state of mind was beyond incomprehensible.

The good thing was that she had also become an accomplice.

Now cleaning up Pamir’s body was one less worry.

However, because of her sudden appearance, I was delayed longer than expected.

It was gradually getting messier.

I was currently carrying out two Challenges.

Wiping out the monsters from Eighth Layer Hell and protecting Shirahui.

I looked towards the gym where the faculties and students had just evacuated to.

There, sinister mana could be seen swaying violently.

In any case, Shirahui was in that gym.

She should be safe…

However, if she died, the reward I had worked hard on until now would disappear.

I better hurry.

As soon as I thought so, a huge bolt of lightning suddenly struck through the roof of the gym.

It was the skill I had seen from Shirahui the other day.

Nevertheless, it was definitely a skill she couldn’t control, so to use it again, the situation must be dire.

“Damn it!”

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

Samaria next to me asked with a perplexed expression. However, there was no time to care about her words now.

“Hey, hold on, where are you going all of a sudden?”

I ignored her and ran at full speed toward the gym.

My reward was in danger!

* * * * * * * * * *

“My pretties~ Is that all you can do?”

A monster with insect wings smiled sadistically.

Around him, countless flesh were scattered on the floor, indistinguishable from who it belonged to.

It was a scene like hell.

Screams were rampant as the voices of those who cried for help pierced his ears.

“Good, good~ It’s very good music~ Heuheu, then whose volume should I turn up?”

A beam made of mana from the end of his fingertip extended in a straight line.

Where the beam was aimed, there was a girl shivering in hiding.

At this rate, it was clear she would disappear without a trace.

But then,

Bang!

A bright yellow lightning intercepted and blocked it. It was Shirahui who was wrapped in lightning.

“Haak…haak…”

She barely managed to lift her sword as she precariously gasped for breath.

“Hehehe~ My pretty seems to be a bit slower than before?”

“Shut…up…!”

But as the monster said, she could feel her limits.

If this went on like this, everyone here would definitely die.

As expected…Is that the only way?

She bit her lips tightly.

If I use this, I’ll surely die.

Holding the necklace around her neck, she shouted.

“Even so, I’ll save everyone at all costs!”

Her body began to shine brighter than ever.