Villain wants to live as a commoner chapter 49

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The man’s face was much younger than it is now. It reminded me of the time when I had just been adopted, making it feel a bit unfamiliar to me.

The man’s face was full of urgency as he ran into the building.

“Hey, damn it. Slow down, you bastard.”

A man following behind the man cursed. His face looked oddly familiar.

After a moment of thinking, I realized who he was. His name was Jeong Dongshik, someone who used to work as a partner with uncle.

Instead of responding to Jeong Dongshik, the man searched his inventory for a detection item. As soon as he activated it, a bright light emanated from the lamp.

“It’s nearby.”

The man muttered fiercely as he kicked aside the scattered debris. The light from the detection item grew even brighter.

When the blue light turned completely white, the man, who had been circling the area, came to a halt. He picked up and swiftly tossed aside a crumpled piece of cloth lying on the ground.

Beneath the cloth was an old door. When he opened it, a rusty ladder was revealed, looking as if it might fall apart at any moment.

Without hesitation, the man grabbed the ladder and went inside.

“Hey!”

Ignoring Jeong Dongshik’s shout from behind, the man jumped down. No sooner had he landed than someone swung a sword at him.

The man casually caught the sword with his gloved hand. He scowled menacingly and then snapped the sword in two.

“Bastard.”

The man muttered under his breath as he punched his attacker in the face. With a grunt, the attacker was knocked out instantly.

“Brutal.”

Jeong Dongshik, who had jumped down after the man, murmured as he reached out his hand.

“Gah!”

An enemy hiding in the direction Jeong Dongshik reached out fell with a pathetic sound.

“Reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes.”

The man nodded at Jeong Dongshik’s words.

“We need to make sure no one escapes.”

“Yeah.”

The man replied curtly and exchanged glances with Jeong Dongshik before heading down separate corridors.

The basement looked like a research facility. Since it was disguised within an abandoned building, it was likely not a legitimate research facility.

Just like the lab of the Black Sea Guild where I once was.

Perhaps because of this, the man showed no mercy as he knocked out everyone he passed by.

Soon, as the man had said, reinforcements arrived.

The arriving team completely subdued the people the man had knocked out and joined him in searching the basement.

Once the reinforcements arrived, the man exited the basement. Outside, a significant number of researchers had already been bound. And on one side…

“…”

The man looked at the rescued children with a troubled expression.

The children, who appeared to be around ten to fourteen years old, huddled together with gloomy faces.

Could this place possibly have been a Black Sea Guild research facility?

There was no reason for so many children to be in a research facility unless it belonged to the Black Sea Guild, who used children as test subjects.

Moreover, the man’s age aligned with the time when the Black Sea Guild was still active.

The man’s gaze stopped on one of the children.

It was the oldest-looking child, whose eyes were sharp and clear, unlike the other frightened children.

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, that kid…”

At that moment, the child lifted the corners of his mouth into a sly grin.

Sensing something, the man dashed towards the child.

The child’s body began to glow in a mottled light.

The man grabbed the child.

“…”

The man gritted his teeth and tightly embraced the child, curling his body.

Then…

Bang!

An explosion erupted from within the child’s body. It was a deafening blast.

As if expecting this, one of the researchers burst into shrill laughter.

The area turned into a chaotic scene as the children’s screams mixed with the explosion.

And at the center of the explosion…

“Ho, Hoon… Hey, Seo Hoon!”

What remained at the spot where Jeong Dongshik screamed and ran to was the man’s body, torn to shreds from shielding the explosion, and the child’s corpse.

“…Gasp.”

I snapped out of the mysterious vision as if waking from a nightmare.

It must have been a memory shown by the item… It felt so vivid, as if it actually happened.

“Heewon, just now…”

“Did you see it too? Uncle dying.”

“Yeah, I did.”

Lee Shinhae, who had seen the same thing, seemed half out of his mind, just like me. I excused myself and called uncle.

─ Hello, Heewon?

“Ah, uncle.”

─ What’s wrong? Is something the matter?

There was nothing unusual in the man’s voice as he answered the call, sounding concerned.

But even after confirming that everything was fine, I still felt uneasy.

“It’s nothing. You’re all right, aren’t you?”

─ Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.

“Then… that’s good. I was just worried something might’ve happened.”

─ What’s with you, acting all silly.

The man chuckled over the phone.

─ Weren’t you meeting Shinhae? Did you meet him?

“Yes, I’m with him now.”

─ Good. Say hi to Shinhae for me. I’m a bit busy right now, so I’ll hang up.

“Okay. Take care of yourself, sir.”

─ Sure.

The call ended. Lee Shinhae, who had been listening to the conversation in front of me, let out a long sigh.

“I’m glad he’s okay. Though, of course, he would be….”

Lee Shinhae picked up a fragment that had fallen on the floor.

“Let’s head back to the room.”

“Okay.”

Back in the room, Lee Shinhae summoned his doll and ordered some tea.

As we drank the tea brought by the doll, Lee Shinhae spoke first.

“This fragment, it looks like it came from the gloves.”

“Oh, right….”

The man’s weapon for hand-to-hand combat was a pair of specially made gloves.

They were adorned with metal to increase the impact when punching, and it seemed to be part of that ornament.

But even so, what was that vision we just saw?

The man in the vision definitely died.

No human could survive after suffering such injuries.

That vision had never happened in reality.

But dismissing it as nonsense was difficult because there was evidence: the vision we just saw and the weapon fragment lying before us.

“…It must have been a fake vision.”

“Right. But for a fake, the situation matches too well.”

Lee Shinhae muttered as if something still felt off. I nodded in agreement silently.

Even though I wanted to believe it was just a meaningless illusion, it was too vivid to be dismissed as fiction.

“The item must’ve malfunctioned.”

After a long pause, Lee Shinhae spoke again. Though he still seemed uneasy, there was no other explanation.

“Heewon, try not to think too much about it.”

“Yes, I’ll try.”

“Yeah. He is alive and well… No matter how realistic it felt, it was just a vision.”

Lee Shinhae spoke gently, as if trying to comfort me. Though I knew he was right, it was still hard to shake off the feeling.

As if it had actually happened to me.

“Heewon.”

“…Yes?”

“You should lie down. You look pale.”

“I’m fine…”

“No, you’re not.”

Lee Shinhae spoke firmly, helping me up. Even though I insisted I was fine, Lee Shinhae wouldn’t listen.

“Before I call the teacher and tell him you’re sick, just lie down.”

“I’m not sick.”

“Just lie down.”

Unable to resist Lee Shinhae’s insistence, I lay down in the guest room in one corner of the workshop.

“Don’t get up, just close your eyes. Got it?”

Lee Shinhae spoke sternly, then drew the curtains, turned off the lights, and left.

“….”

Letting out a shaky breath, I had to admit I wasn’t okay.

It was just a realistic vision. I couldn’t understand why I was so pathetically caught up in such a vision.

Fatigue gripped my body.

As if escaping from the thoughts that kept repeating in my mind, I surrendered myself to the drowsiness that was overwhelming me.

However, the world I escaped to in my dreams was even more terrifying.

In the dream, I heard the news of the man’s death. I was frozen, unable to even cry as I listened. Not long after the funeral, I was sent to an orphanage.

And then, while I was spending some time at the orphanage, someone came to find me.

“Seo Heewon, right?”

It was someone from the Black Sea Guild.

I was dragged back to the lab.

The lab hadn’t been a particularly painful place for me before. I thought if I behaved well, the researchers would care for me.

But after being dragged back, I understood what real love and care were. The false affection they used to coax me couldn’t satisfy me anymore.

I resisted. And punishment was dealt to those who resisted. The more I resisted, the more painful it became.

That’s how I…

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