The Villain has Perished



Bright light forced me to close my eyes as soon as I opened them. 

A few seconds and careful blinking later, I was able to gaze at my surroundings.

I was in a forest at the edge of a cliff. A bright sun watched from the sky, birds and insects chirped, while fresh air danced.

A table was set up in a circular fashion with me in the center empty area. Five seats rested behind the table, seemingly there to host the people about to judge me.

I closed my eyes immediately. I intuitively knew this place wasn't reality but closer to the white world where I met Zagerus and Ciel.

'Why can't I wake up normally for once? Is there a rule dictating I should meet strange people after losing consciousness?'

On the five seats were sitting four figures, leaving one place empty.

Far behind the first seat — the empty seat — a man was sitting on the very edge of the ridge, his feet dangling from the cliff. 

His black hair reached his feet and he wasn't wearing anything to cover his upper body. He seemed to be the owner of the first seat. 

I marked him as 'Firsth' in my mind.

On the second seat was an 18-year-old child. He was glaring at me with empty eyes, tears endlessly gushing down his cheek.

He had a scrawny physique, twig-like arms and hollow cheeks. 

I decided to call him 'Secondth'.

Skipping the one on the third seat, the seaters on the fourth and fifth seat were enshrouded in darkness. 

Despite the broad daylight, the curtain of darkness surrounding them made it impossible to unveil their identities.

Nevertheless, I named them 'Fourth' and 'Fifth' in order.

"Have you watched enough?"

My gaze fell on Thirdth at his words and I slowly nodded while posing a question.

"Who are you?"

Thirdth, his appearance was familiar. 

He was me from 3rd life.

My stare wandered toward Secondth, and I pondered. 

'Secondth, he is me from my 2nd life.'

The appearance as well as the air of despair around him was unmistakable.

'That means, that person is me from my 1st life' I thought while looking at the only person not attending the meeting.

"I'm you. We've summoned you to discuss your previous blunder." said Thirdth.

Suddenly, a jolt passed through my head.

I felt as if someone was poking my head with thousands of needles while the memories flowed into my mind.

Jae-sung fighting against Qantal inside the Dream World. Him losing. My ego warping again, transforming into Solomon. A one-sided beatdown.

Solomon leaving the dream world. A massive Spear of light attacking the Capital. Coalescence arriving. Solomon shifting the Coalescence back.

"Huff! Huff!"

I almost fell to my knees while my back was completely drenched.

Raising my eyes, I stared at Fourth and Fifth. 

"They are Jae-sung and Solomon. The alter egos you created to fight the Illusive Dragon King." explained the Thirdth.

I stared at Fifth with blank eyes and blurted unconsciously.

"Couldn't you have held back? Your flashy moves made a mess. Coalescence arrived early and I became a future target of Causality."

"That's a weird way of saying thanks." spoke Fifth who was my alter ego, Solomon, whom I created using the Dream Tree. 

Talking to him, I felt a great dissatisfaction rising from within.

The Jae-sung I created was defeated and Solomon appeared by mistake. Although he saved me, he also created massive issues.

Coalescence might've been prevented, but Tower still arrived. From now, everyone will get access to the [Channel], profession, status screen and other things.

Ugh, just thinking about it was making my head hurt. I never intended to follow the plot, however the plot would be utterly destroyed at this rate.

"There will be a time when the Dragon God can no longer support the [Hands of God]. The Coalescence will arrive again. When will it happen?"

"In a few months."

"Exact time?"

"Few months."

The corner of my lips twitched. It didn't seem Fifth was going to give a definite answer.

"You are quite carefree seeing as you are talking to Solomon casually." 

I turned back to Thirdth at his words.

"Why am I here?" I asked again.

Fifth helped me in reality that means there must be something he wanted from me. He wouldn't punish me without getting that something. 

Hence, there was no need to butter him up. Not to mention, he knew my actual personality.

Thirdth opened his mouth to answer. However, his words were cut short by Secondth.

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

His words started with whispering and by the end of the sentence he was shouting at me. 

"Why aren't you taking our revenge!? How can you become chummy with the bitch who made my life hell!? You betrayed me! You are not me! I'll kill you!"

Blood flowed down from his clenched fists. He shouted like an animal with spit flying from his mouth.

If looks could like he would've murdered me a thousand times already.

"Calm down."

"Shut up, you traitor! I'll only calm down after killing that bitch! I'll make her experience the same despair I felt! Only then can I calm down!"

Thirdth was watching the scene expressionlessly with no intention of helping. I couldn't depend on him to calm down Secondth.

Pressing my index finger with my thumb, I turned to Firsth.

"Can Gods watch our conversation here?"

The Gods I spoke about were the ones behind my reincarnation. They were the ones who created this world and reincarnated me inside the novel.

There was no reason why I asked Firsth. I just felt, no, I hoped he could tell me what I wanted to know.

Suddenly, Fifth scoffed as if he could read my mind.

"Novel? You believe that joke even now?"

My eyes slightly widened. 

"This… isn't a novel?"

"Maybe? Why would I know? After all, am I also not a character in the novel?" answered Fifth playfully.

He dodged my question. However, it gave me a crucial insight.

'He has read my memories. If he can do that, Ciel must've been also capable of doing that. But he never spoke about it.'

'Or since Fifth is my alter ego. He got access to my memories even Ciel couldn't see.'

At the moment, I was leaning toward the first possibility. Given Ciel's personality, it was highly likely he didn't care if he was a character in the novel.

'However, Solomon isn't someone who would stay quiet after knowing this. Yet Fifth is acting normally.'

Knowing I won't get any answers from questioning them, I decided to shift the questions to the back of my head. And focus on the topic taking priority.

"Can you answer my question, Firsth?"

The man was the only one who was not sitting at the table. He seemed to be gazing at the sky. But I couldn't be sure as his length hair completely covered his back.

"They can't see what is going on here." 

The one to answer me was Thirdth. 

"Firsth created this space using Dream Seed. Although we don't know if he would be able to create this space again in the future, in exchange, no one would know what transpired here other than us. Not even the True Gods."

Thirdth explained in detail. 

As Firsth didn't object, it didn't seem that Thirdth was lying. This also made it clear Firsth had no interest in this meeting.

'Firsth must've created this space on request of Thirdth or Secondth.'

It felt strange.

Firsth, the one owner of this space held no interest in our 'council'.

Secondth, wanted to kill me.

Thirdth, he was me. Yet there were two of us.

Fourth, was Jae-sung. Since the start, he hadn't uttered a single word.

Fifth, motives were unclear. 

He helped me, even knowing he wasn't the real Solomon. However, his objectives were questionable at best. I knew better than to trust my back to Solomon.

It was a mess.

I clicked my tongue internally. With the answer given to me, it was time I answered Secondth. 

Our gazes locked. Hate, resentment, solitariness, fear. In his empty eyes, negative emotions swirled.

A single sentence left my lips.

"Are you stupid?"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Thirdth grinning.

"I'll kill you. I'll k—"

"Shut up, you stupid freak."

I let out a short sigh and…

For the first time since my 2nd reincarnation, I stopped acting.

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