Villain wants to live as a commoner chapter 25

• Owner of fate.

A whisper was heard.

Once, I controlled many things. Many bowed their heads to me, and I accepted it as natural.

As a ruler, I had plenty of things.

But I didn’t have anything I truly wanted.

Since I didn’t have any desires, there was no way they could possess me.

I had a great void within me. A huge hole that nothing could fill.

[Villain’s Qualities].

It was my guide to filling my void. Its fate willingly led empty me to the future. I willingly followed the fate laid out for me.

I always did.

Until my previous life.

• You are wasting your precious fate……

A strange voice buzzed in my ears.

• If only it weren’t for that regressor.

Hearing the low lament……

……I snapped back to consciousness.

It felt like I had a long dream, but I couldn’t remember it properly. When I opened my eyes, a system window appeared before me.

Unbloomed (SS): What’s the use of having precious treasures if you can’t use them properly?

Due to resisting fate, you cannot use all of your abilities.

It was a description window of one of my attributes.

Was the system picking a fight with me? I wondered. I didn’t know why it suddenly popped up, but since it was utterly useless, I closed it and looked down.

A dry, black vine was tightly coiling around my body, slowly moving upward. Its strength was quite formidable, enough to prevent most humans from resisting.

If it were an ordinary person, they might have been squeezed to death.

I rolled my eyes to survey the surroundings. The sky above was a strange purple color. The area was densely packed with trees that had withered to black.

The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was definitely a crack. I must have entered the dungeon through the gate opened from that crack.

There was no sign of life around.

I used a skill to tear off the vine coiled around my body.

It had been so tightly wrapped that it took quite a while to get it off, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“What should I do now?”

The basic protocol for being caught up in a dungeon by bad luck is to stay put.

Entering the dungeon through the same gate usually drops you in a similar location.

So, to quickly meet the rescue team that comes in through the same gate, it was best not to move unnecessarily.

However, the protocol doesn’t apply to all dungeons.

Most dungeons are open and always connected to the gate, allowing free entry. Thanks to this, support personnel could enter as much as needed. The protocol was also based on these open dungeons.

But sometimes, closed dungeons appear.

Once someone enters the dungeon, the gate is completely sealed. It becomes impossible to enter or exit.

The gate only reopens after the dungeon is cleared or everyone inside dies.

I thought this might be a closed dungeon. My intuition as an S-rank was saying so… or rather, given my incredibly bad luck, it seemed likely.

“Should I look around for now?”

• Meow…

I heard a cry from below as if in response to my words. It was Dust.

“It’s dangerous, come back inside.”

Ignoring my words, Dust, who had slipped out of the shadow, ran toward the vine I had just torn off.

It leaped and started digging into the vine.

“What are you doing…?”

• Crunch.

At that moment, Dust bit into something roughly. At the same time, I heard the sound of something like a stone being crushed.

I quickly grabbed Dust and pulled out the half-chewed stone from its mouth.

But Dust had already swallowed a significant amount.

I had never seen it eat anything before, so why was it suddenly eating a stone? I looked down at the dirty stone in bewilderment. Was this a magic stone?

Memory of ■ (■): A fragment of a magic stone containing information from a previous ■■■.

What the hell.

The important parts were all hidden, making it unreadable.

The problem with the system being a monopoly is that there’s no alternative even when it shows such nonsensical results.

Instead of throwing away the mysterious magic stone fragment, I carefully placed it in my inventory. If I give it to Shinhae-hyung, he might get something useful out of it.

But Dust…

• Cough…

Having enthusiastically chewed the stone, Dust began to choke. I thought I might have to pat its back, but it suddenly started to twist its body.

“Hey, spit it out!”

Eating something that doesn’t even appear properly on the system window is bound to cause trouble.

Just as I was frantically trying to make it spit out, Dust began to vomit black smoke.

The smoke, endlessly rising, enveloped Dust and formed a concrete shape.

In an instant, Dust grew more than ten times its previous size.

I wasn’t sure if I could still call it a body made of smoke, but it had grown to the size of a leopard, exuding a different kind of intimidation than before.

• Growl.

The low growl sounded like that of a large beast.

Despite its threatening appearance, Dust approached me in a gentle manner.

We hadn’t particularly bonded, but it acted as if we were close companions.

After acting friendly, Dust lifted its head. Its amber eyes glowed brightly, and then it started running somewhere.

“Hey!”

Shouting hastily was useless. I started running after Dust. Its four-legged speed was incredibly fast. Just as I was running hard…

“Aaah!”

A scream came from the direction Dust had run.

“Damn it.”

My mind went blank. Someone might have been killed. Rushing to the spot, I found a person collapsed.

“Are you okay!?”

I pushed the quietly sitting Dust aside and checked the fallen person. Dust, pushed aside, let out a pitiful whimper.

The face was familiar.

“This person…”

It was definitely one of the people who had kidnapped me and Choi Dokyum.

After confirming that he was only unconscious, I immediately took out an item from my inventory and tied his hands and feet.

As I meticulously bound him, a question mark popped up in my mind.

Why was a wanted fugitive here?

Naturally, my thoughts turned to Woo Hyungsik and Kim Narae, who had been with me until a while ago.

They had lured me to a secluded spot. This man must have been hiding there and got caught in the crack with us.

It was a plausible guess. If he hadn’t been caught in the dungeon, he would have been involved in the kidnapping incident instead. It would have been resolved easily with Baek Gunho around, though.

“Hey, mister.”

I tapped the man’s cheek, intending to ask him something. Just then, Dust pushed its head toward the man and licked his cheek. The man shuddered and opened his eyes.

And then, a system window popped up in front of me.

‘Seo Inhu’ falls into a state of domination.
While the domination state lasts, ‘Seo Inhu’ will move according to your will.
‘Seo Inhu’s’ domination duration: 1 minute.

I instinctively looked back at Dust.

Did it do this?

There was no time to ponder. I didn’t know what was going on, but if the system window was telling the truth, it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.

“Seo Inhu.”

“Yes.”

Seo Inhu answered obediently. I asked the first question for confirmation.

“Why were you waiting there?”

“To kidnap or, if unavoidable, secure at least some blood.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“To determine if the god who descended to this world is real.”

Seo Inhu’s answer made my hand clench lightly. Is he serious? What a fanatic.

“What is this god?”

“A being who will cleanse this filthy world.”

“Uh-huh…”

Okay, I got it.

The Baekmyun Sect is a completely crazy cult.

I already knew, but now I felt it more deeply. I scratched my goosebumps-ridden arm.

“Where is Shin Chaeyoung hiding?”

“She is at Sammi Officetel.”

“Which neighborhood is that in?”

Seo Inhu started to explain the detailed address.

As I memorized the address he mentioned, I checked the timer on the system window.

Even though I asked as quickly as possible, one minute was short.

After the minute passed, Seo Inhu’s eyes rolled back. He lost consciousness again. And then another system window appeared above him.

‘Seo Inhu’s’ domination state ends.
Memories of the domination state will be erased.

I was pondering what excuse to use if this guy blabbered about this to others, but the content was appropriately timed.

• Whimper.

Dust whimpered beside me.

The smoke surrounding Dust’s body had faded during our conversation.

When I reached out, the smoke dispersed as if it had never been there.

Dust, now small again, rubbed its head against my hand.

Seeing it like this, it was just an ordinary F-rank monster, but the skill it used earlier… was it the power of the magic stone it had eaten? I couldn’t be sure.

I pushed Dust firmly into the shadows. Dust resisted slightly before settling down obediently.

“Seo Heewon!”

I heard Choi Dokyum’s voice calling me from afar. I turned and waved as if nothing had happened.