I Became a Villain Perfect for Leveling Up - Chapter 005

WeTried Translations

Translator: Goku

◈ I Became a Villain Perfect for Leveling Up

Chapter 005

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Altar of Lamentation (2)

As the door slammed shut, no light entered the Altar of Lamentation.

Only the characteristic musty, damp scent of dust could be smelled, and the interior, now devoid of even noise, pushed all five senses save sight to their extreme.

“….”

There was clearly someone here, but I couldn't figure out where they were hiding.

Moving carelessly wasn't an option, as the Altar of Lamentation's characteristic circular staircase structure, lacking handrails, meant a misstep could easily send me tumbling below, with a high chance of severe injury.

In the end, what I chose to do was focus all my senses on hearing, to detect any approaching presence.

If they tried to stab me with a blade, as Eirene did, I intended to resist as best I could.

My tension, truly unable to see anything, was so high it felt as if I could hear the sound of my own cold sweat trickling.

“Dean… was it?”

At that moment, a voice echoing from below reached my ears, making my shoulders flinch.

Nevertheless, I felt relieved that I wouldn't be attacked immediately, given the sense of distance, at least a few meters, and focused on the echoing voice.

“I thought you'd return here right away. It seems you had a lot of trouble finding your way back.”

“…What?”

Due to the distance, I couldn't accurately discern their gender, but given the high frequency, it seemed to be a woman.

But... they knew I would come here?

Aside from the player, no one can enter the Altar of Lamentation without permission.

Furthermore, since I hadn't taken any companions in the 1st Playthrough, I should be the only one who knows this place.

Since I couldn't just keep wondering, I immediately thought of the five NPCs who had inherited memories.

《 Inheriting memories and stats from 1st Playthrough.

Target - Eirene, Carmen, Maeve, Altair, Sigrun 》

First, it definitely wasn't Eirene.

Because there was no way I wouldn't recognize her relaxed, seductive voice.

So I pondered the others.

I had never even heard the names Maeve, Altair, or Sigrun.

This was because I hadn't memorized the names of most NPCs I encountered; I simply killed them all on sight.

If so... the person who entered the Altar was likely Carmen, the only NPC I remembered.

Carmen of Far Sight.

An NPC whose quest was essential for progressing the game's story.

I remember her even more clearly because she was trapped in a prison, unable to be killed until her quest was cleared.

With her ability, Far Sight, she was one who monitored all of the player's actions from inside a prison where not a single ray of light entered.

“…Carmen.”

“You know my name.”

When I softly called out the name, a reply echoed as if it were the correct answer.

What was truly fortunate was that she was an NPC with absolutely no combat ability.

When I met her as a player in the prison, her hand and foot tendons were already completely severed.

…Wait a minute.

If all her tendons were severed, how is Carmen here?

Logically, how could she have crawled all the way here from an incredibly distant place?

Thump-thump-

Eerie footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs.

Each time the sound of bare feet meeting the dusty floor grew closer, the strength in my fist intensified.

Focus.

I might only be Level 10, but she probably wouldn't be much different from me.

Furthermore, unlike the past where the checkpoint was inside a cramped dorm room, this time a truly vast altar was designated as the checkpoint.

My life was infinite, while Carmen, who sought to kill me, had only one.

In the end, if it came down to a war of attrition, I would clearly be the one to win.

Thump-thump- stop.

When the footsteps, which had approached within a three-meter radius, completely halted.

I swallowed, and looked directly in the direction of the sound.

No light entered, so I didn't know exactly where Carmen was standing.

If I didn't seize the initiative, I would clearly be defeated by a sudden attack, as in Eirene's case.

“Hoo!”

The moment I finished that thought, I swung my fist with a shout and charged towards where Carmen must be.

Whoosh-

“Oh, Aaargh!!!”

My body lurched forward, and the floor that had been perfectly solid moments ago gave way.

My fist cut through the air, and a terrifying sensation of weightlessness enveloped my entire body.

True to her name, Far Sight, Carmen seemed to have skillfully seen my fist in the dark and dodged it.

In contrast, I had no visual information whatsoever, so I punched at empty air and misstepped into a chasm.

The result of my reckless judgment was.

Thud-!

A death where I crashed headfirst into the floor and was crushed into fragments.

《 Perk ‘Addicted to Defeat’ activation failed!

- Target not found. 》

《 Resurrecting at checkpoint. LOADING… 》

“Haa...!”

The pain was much less than when Eirene severed my head, but the 0.1-second sensation of my skin fragments, eyeballs, and entire brain scattering in all directions was truly dreadful.

“You've opened your eyes.”

Thanks to my past experience of a dagger flying to my neck if I hastily got up after dying and resurrecting, I lay still without getting up, and Carmen's voice came from nearby.

“W-what do you want from me, why are you doing this!!”

“I haven't done anything to you.”

“Don't lie! You're the one who closed the Altar's door!”

As I quickly yelled, putting distance between myself and where the sound came from, Carmen merely replied calmly, without a hint of emotion.

No light entered the Altar, so I had no idea where I was or what situation I was in.

Unlike me, Carmen dominated this space through her Far Sight.

The thought of her ability scanning my entire body sent shivers down my spine.

“I didn't close the Altar's door. You did.”

“…I closed it?”

“Because no one can enter here without your permission, Dean.”

Faced with Carmen's voice, filled with conviction, I couldn't find anything more to refute.

Because it was true that I was the only one who could open and close the Altar of Lamentation's door.

The setting was that only those permitted by the Altar's owner could set foot inside.

That's why, in the main story, no matter which NPC it was, this Altar's door would never open without the player's permission.

If that's the case... why on earth did I let Carmen in here?

Unable to understand the reason at all, I bit my lower lip.

“I watched your deaths from here.”

“….”

“You met countless deaths in the dorm.”

Carmen brought up the story of how she watched the massacre in the Abandoned Academy through her Far Sight.

“What's... what's so important about that?”

Feeling no aggression in her voice, I cautiously uttered a word.

“What's important, you ask...? Don't you think you're not in a position to say that?”

Perhaps because I spoke a little aggressively, Carmen's voice became even lower than before.

“I watched you kill countless people from prison. And... you even killed helpless me.”

“…That was.”

I remember it precisely.

The moment in the 1st Playthrough when I opened the closed prison door, obtained the quest reward, and then struck Carmen down with a jumping attack using a greatsword.

Carmen's equipment was an 'Oppressed Prisoner's Outfit', I recall.

The feeling of futility from receiving cheap equipment, without even a weapon, still seemed palpable.

“…Dean. You can't leave this place.”

A soft hand settled on my shoulder as I nervously scanned the invisible surroundings.

The hand gradually moved past my shoulder and up to my neck, but I chose not to run, opting instead to question Carmen.

“Can't... leave...?”

“Because I can never let you, who killed countless living beings, out into the world.”

“I...!”

“If the world is to face ruin, then the darkness that can be hidden, should be hidden.”

Clench-!

“Guh...!”

At that moment, the hand that had been stroking my neck turned forceful, completely sealing off my breathing.

“Stay trapped here with me, Dean. Don't think of escaping. Death will always be by your side. And that death... will be me.”

Oxygen flow to my brain was completely cut off, and though I tried to tear away Carmen's hand that was strangling my neck, it was futile.

Unlike in the main story where her arm and leg tendons were severed, Carmen's grip, perfectly intact, was nothing short of monstrous.

Faced with such monstrous strength, which made it clear why her arm and leg tendons were severed and she was imprisoned, I clawed at her hand with my fingernails.

“….”

Soon, oxygen was completely cut off, and darkness once again fell upon my already obscured vision.

《 Perk ‘Addicted to Defeat’ activated!

- Target ‘Carmen’s’ level increases by 10. 》

《 Resurrecting at checkpoint. LOADING… 》

“Guh...! Cough!!”

Dying by strangulation for the first time, I immediately coughed upon resurrection, frantically gasping for the air I lacked.

“If you don't resist, I won't kill you again. Just stay trapped quietly here.”

As if her act of killing me was a demonstration, Carmen declared this to my resurrected self.

The voice conveying her intent was not forceful at all, but the meaning contained within it was.

Any hope that Carmen might not kill me had flown far away.

All the NPCs who inherited memories must hate me.