Villain wants to live as a commoner EPILOGUE

* * *

I gripped the massive hand emerging through the rift tightly, preventing it from hindering the others.

“Ugh…”

Its strength was overwhelming—enough to destroy buildings.

Even as an S-rank, holding it back wasn’t easy.

“Heewon, don’t push yourself too hard!”

Baek Gunho, intentionally stationed away from me, shouted anxiously.

Unfortunately, since he couldn’t use tricks like flying, he couldn’t get close enough to pull me away.

While I held the hand, the group split their efforts.

Some continued sealing the rift, while others worked to block the top and bottom edges of the gap that the hand clawed at.

Screeeech!

A spine-chilling noise echoed as the creature seemed to realize its exit was being blocked.

Its resistance grew more intense.

“…”

I thought I could hold out, but the hand’s strength kept increasing, and I was nearing my limit.

It was hard.

But that’s all it was—just hard.

I hadn’t long ago woken from a nightmare where I’d thrashed helplessly in powerlessness.

Compared to those despairing days, the current situation, where I could actually do something, was better.

I gritted my teeth, pouring everything into my effort.

Yet, despite my struggle, one hand finally broke free from my control.

The hand flew toward Baek Gunho.

I desperately squeezed out the last of my strength to stop it, resolved to pour every bit of myself into this moment.

[Adapting traits to match you.]

Suddenly, a system window appeared.

I clenched my teeth, trying to ignore it, as nothing good ever came from such windows.

But just then, I felt a surge of power filling my body.

I blinked.

Baek Gunho had effortlessly severed the hand with his blade, then turned to look at me with a tense expression.

I quickly recovered the dismembered hand and drew it back into the rift while glancing at the system window that appeared between us.

[Protagonist’s Potential (EX):
Fated to become the protagonist who will protect this world. When acting to protect the world, all stats double.
Trait deletion in progress.]

The text was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh, even in this dire situation.

Protagonist? Me?

I had hoped not to be the villain, but being the protagonist was equally preposterous.

It seemed the system always had grand expectations for me, but I wasn’t anyone special.

I was just an ordinary citizen, living an ordinary life, doing what I could to protect that life.

Still, I couldn’t deny that this overestimation was welcome now.

A twofold increase in stats?

For someone like me, who already had considerable power, this wasn’t a minor boost.

Grinning faintly, I gripped the hand in the air, twisting it effortlessly.

I didn’t just restrain it—I slowly shoved the part outside the rift back in.

The rift was nearly sealed.

Teams approaching from the other side of Seoul were close to meeting us.

Just when I thought it was finally over, someone screamed.

“We’re out of magic stones! There’s none left!”

I’d expected this.

Pulling a spent magic stone from my inventory, I whispered softly to my shadow.

“Sorry, Dust.”

“It’s fine, Heewon.”

From within the shadow, Dust emerged, its form enlarging dramatically.

It swallowed the stone in one gulp, and a soft light emanated from its body.

Now, it really was the end.

But as if in a final act of defiance, a hand shot out once more, its massive fingers stretching toward me as if to crush me completely.

Screeeech!

I froze, unable to react in time to the all-out strike.

Yet, the attack didn’t reach me.

Baek Gunho, as though waiting for this moment, severed the hand cleanly in one strike.

The split hand and arm fell, crashing to the ground with a deafening noise.

Without waiting, he completely dismembered the remaining arm before I could even push it back in.

The threat was gone.

And at last, the rift closed.

“Woah… Woooaaah!”

Someone’s cheer marked the start of a roaring celebration.

The mission, burdened with heavy responsibility, had finally ended.

Joy at having protected everything surged.

The sun was rising, its light revealing faces filled with relief and happiness.

Among them was Baek Gunho, staring at me intently.

I walked toward him.

“Heewon,” he said.

I gazed at him silently, utterly drained.

Before I could collapse, Baek Gunho caught me, pulling me into a warm embrace.

I let myself fall into his comforting arms.

It was over.

Of course, there were still lingering issues.

There were too many things I’d put off, and the thought of them felt daunting.

But problems are part of life, and I had the strength to face them.

I’d overcome countless challenges before, and I would continue to do so.

In Baek Gunho’s arms, I felt a nostalgic sense of relief and closed my eyes.

✧✧✧

From that day onward, following the capture of Lee Jaehee, the remnants of the Black Sea Guild were systematically hunted down.

Ironically, the one who provided the key information about Lee Jaehee’s location was none other than Im Nayoung.

She contacted my uncle with the intel before disappearing.

Why she reached out to him, and why she ultimately betrayed Lee Jaehee, remained a mystery for now.

The answers would have to wait until she was found.

The so-called “Baekmyeon Sect” was completely dismantled.

It was inevitable—their leader was a madman who tried to destroy the world.

Aside from a few lunatic zealots like Kim Kyungmin, there weren’t many truly extreme followers.

And my uncle…

As soon as he saw me, he grabbed me and burst into tears.

“Heewon, I… I’m so sorry.”

Despite his large and imposing frame, he cried like a child.

I hugged him tightly, patting his back, and finally voiced the words I had hesitated to say in countless nightmares.

“It’s okay… Dad.”

“…What?”

He—no, Dad—pulled away from me, staring in disbelief.

To his incredulous face, I spoke again, albeit awkwardly.

“It wasn’t something you did of your own will… Dad.”

There was no need for him to feel guilty.

Dad was a victim too.

On top of that, he had managed to break free from the brainwashing himself.

According to a psychic Hunter who assessed him, the mental skill controlling him had shattered—likely from the shock of seeing me hurt.

“Dad?”

“….”

“Don’t cry.”

“….”

“Don’t… cry…”

I hadn’t planned on crying at all, but seeing Dad continue to sob brought tears to my eyes as well.

Those tears, at first a trickle, soon became a torrent I couldn’t stop.

We cried together for what felt like an eternity.

But when it was over, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.

And Baek Gunho?

“This was all thanks to me,” he said smugly.

“I lobbied. I threatened. I did it all. Pretty impressive, right?”

Baek Gunho had been strutting around since I returned home after receiving a fine instead of imprisonment.

There wasn’t enough evidence to prove that Dad, while brainwashed, had implicated me with the Black Sea Guild.

Falsifying my Awakening grade or keeping an unregistered monster—both were crimes that could carry hefty sentences, but in the end, I was let off with just a fine.

The judgment boiled down to this: “Although the grade was falsified, it wasn’t exploited maliciously, and the accused made significant contributions to society,” and “The tamed monster was controlled with an appropriate skill and posed no threat to humans.”

The fact that I was revealed to be an S-Class Awakener, coupled with my actions that day to close the rift with Dust, had worked in my favor.

Public opinion was sympathetic, and the government, unwilling to lose a rare S-Class Awakener, opted for leniency.

“Yeah, it’s all thanks to you.”

“Grateful, aren’t you?”

“Sure.”

Satisfied with my reluctant acknowledgment, Baek Gunho grinned.

“Remember, if you ever need anything, I’m ready to do whatever it takes.”

“…Yeah, got it.”

Baek Gunho continued to hover around me, solving problems big and small.

I hadn’t decided what to do about him yet, but the fact that I wasn’t pushing him away spoke volumes, didn’t it?

In truth, the bigger issue in all of this wasn’t me—it was Dad.

Without his help, I wouldn’t have been able to falsify my grade in the first place.

People who already disliked Dad seized the opportunity to bring him down, using this incident as their weapon.

In the end, Dad resigned.

When I asked if he was really okay with that, he replied that catching Lee Jaehee and earning a 3 billion won bounty was reason enough to take a break.

Though knowing my workaholic dad, he’d probably find something else to do soon, he seemed content to rest for now.

Everything had turned out fine.

As for me?

Not much had changed.

Though I was officially registered as an S-Class Awakener, I didn’t bother getting a Hunter license—I had no intention of becoming a Hunter.

It wasn’t a qualification I needed.

All I wanted was to return to work at my company.

That might sound like I had deep loyalty to my job, but it wasn’t that.

It just felt like the life I was meant to live.

Of course, being an S-Class Awakener brought some changes.

One day, on my way to work, I abruptly stopped my car in the middle of the road.

All the other cars came to a halt as well.