WeTried Translations

Translator: Goku

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Villain Perfect for Leveling Up

Chapter 030

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30. Stained in the Shadows (4)

True to the nature of those who sucked the blood of civilians even before the ruin. An arrow flew from somewhere in the darkness.

It seemed they intended to engage in a war of attrition to wear me down, but entering such a battle would be overwhelmingly advantageous for me.

They might not know it, but I was all too accustomed to maintaining tension in an eternal darkness like this.

Judging the direction the arrows flew from, the sound of rustling bushes, and the movement of shadows, I deduced the individual positions where the bandits were hidden.

“Kughaaak!!!”

Since both my opponents and I were in the darkness, it was the same situation. I found a guy concealed behind a tree and plunged Freud’s Fang into his neck.

I met eyes with his bleeding face but paid no attention, simply using his body as a shield to block the incoming arrows.

Seeing them attack without caring if their comrades might get hit, it didn't seem like a group with deep camaraderie.

An arrow I couldn't block grazed my cheek, leaving a shallow wound.

A dangerous situation where, if its path had been twisted even slightly, my head would have been pierced.

After slowly exhaling to lower my tension, I seeped back into the forest's darkness.

As I hid among the bushes where even light couldn't properly penetrate, the frequency of incoming attacks gradually decreased.

Whether they had run out of arrows, or if they had lost track of me.

Either way was good for me, so I didn't care much.

Just then, I found a guy who had taken position in a tree and was looking around, so I shot Freud’s Fang into the branch he was using as a foothold, shattering it.

“Kkeuk!!”

His body, having lost its support, soon fell powerlessly to the ground, and he fractured his face by hitting it on the crossbow he was holding.

“My eye! My eye!!”

“I’ll do the same to the other side.”

“Kkeuaaak!!!”

Mimicking what Eirene had done to me, I pressed my thumb into his eyeball.

The soft lens couldn't withstand the pushing finger and began to be crushed.

The bandit, who had only ever inflicted pain on others and never suffered it himself, screamed at the top of his lungs. Not long after, he convulsed, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed.

Although he was already certainly dead, I plunged Freud’s Fang into his neck to vent my anger.

After wiping the blood from my cheek with my thumb, I moved to deal with the remaining four bandits.

....

“Please… save me….”

Easily killing the two who had ambushed me, and chasing down and killing the one who had hidden and fled, there was now only this one bandit left.

I dragged him to the front of the Altar of Lamentation and knocked him down, and he began to rub his hands together, begging me not to kill him.

“I’m sorry for trespassing…! I’ll live a good life from now on…! Please….”

As I quietly looked down and listened to his words, something suddenly came to mind, and I calmly opened my mouth.

“Do you think a villain can become good?”

“Yes…! Yes!! I think so!! If I go to prison and get reformed…!”

“Even though the victims won’t return?”

“……That is.”

The students of St. Liberta Academy, and the prisoners in the underground prison.

Even the citizens of Holy City Aquilian and the knights of the Aquila Knights.

The people of this world, whom I had thought were part of a game, were all living beings.

The bandit trembled, unable to grasp the true intent of my question.

Or perhaps he mistakenly thought that the victims he had killed until now had come seeking revenge.

“This fucking...! They died because they were weak! Why are you doing this to me?! I also struggled to live.”

Thinking any answer was meaningless, the guy hurled insults and charged with a dagger. Just before his attack reached me, I kicked him in the abdomen, subduing him by a hair's breadth.

I pushed the guy who was struggling to get up on the floor back down. Then, I repeatedly stabbed Freud’s Fang into his forearm.

Screams were heard, and desperate pleas for life and the pain of realizing death were conveyed.

His words, saying they died because they were weak, echoed in my ears.

Indeed, were the victims who had tragically lost their lives until now truly weak because they died?

…That couldn’t be.

“………!!”

The guy, riddled with holes, met eyes with my abyss-filled gaze and sank into fear.

The emotions that innocent people had felt when they were killed.

Only then could he understand.

“Please save me! I’ll live well! Hyaaak-!!!”

I dragged the bandit's body and pushed it towards a steep hill in the forest.

His body, losing its balance, soon rolled down the steep hill, colliding with branches and rocks, and the sound of it brutally tearing apart echoed.

I quietly gazed in the direction the sound came from. Then, I simply straightened my dirtied clothes and turned my body.

…Eirene must be safe.

I felt sorry for having confined her in the Altar of Lamentation, where not a single ray of light entered.

As I took faltering steps and opened the altar's door, the pure white woman, who had been anxiously waiting, rushed and hugged me.

“Dean…!”

As a warm embrace, signaling the end of the brutal atmosphere, followed. My entire body's strength drained away, as if my tension had completely released.

“Your body…! Why on earth did you fight alone…!”

As Eirene said, my body's condition was extremely serious.

Countless arrows embedded in my back and legs.

Even fresh crimson blood spreading on my tattered clothes.

Now that the excitement swirling through my entire body had subsided.

I could feel the throbbing pain intensifying each time my bloodstream flowed in rhythm.

“It would have been better if I had fought instead!”

“…I didn’t want that.”

I carefully reached out and stroked the head of the self-reproaching woman.

The blood staining me was enough; I didn’t want her hands to be defiled any further.

Eirene said nothing more.

She merely gently stroked my slowly dying back.

“I’m sleepy.”

“……Fool.”

My vision, as death approached, was soon stained with black blotches.

Even within it, Eirene shone beautifully.

…Was feeling her lips just my imagination?

The taste of the second kiss seemed to be the scent of sweet berries.

《 Perk ‘Addicted to Defeat’ activated!

- Target ‘Wandering Bandit’s’ level increases by 16. 》

《 Perk ‘■■ Addicted’ activated!

- Having defeated Target ‘Wandering Bandit,’ the 16 levels increased due to the effect are returned. 》

《 Resurrecting at checkpoint. LOADING… 》

“…Did you sleep well?”

Opening my eyes in the center of the altar, I met eyes with Eirene, who was sitting primly beside me.

My relief at our reunion was brief. I looked at the window containing even more important information.

《 Perk ‘■■ Addicted’ activated!

- Having defeated Target ‘Wandering Bandit,’ the 16 levels increased due to the effect are returned. 》

The bandit's level, which had increased due to the effect of Addicted to Defeat, was returned to me the moment I defeated him.

《 STATUS WINDOW 》

Name: Dean

Level: 32

Perk: Addicted to Defeat ( - Upon defeat, opponent’s level increases by +32)

Status│Unallocated Points ( 16 )

Stats:

• HP: 4 (+2)

• Stamina: 7

• Mana: 6

• Intelligence: 3

• Strength: 1 (+4)

Checking the status window, it was truly no lie that my level had risen.

Due to the unexpectedly hopeful news, I slowly caught my breath.

Then, worried I might forget, I quickly allocated my stats.

《 Stats:

• HP: 4 (+2)

• Stamina: 7

• Mana: 6

• Intelligence: 3

• Strength: 1 (+20) 》

As I allocated my stats, a tingling sensation circulated through all the muscles in my body.

“Dean?”

…At that moment, Eirene came into view.

The level she had raised through Addicted to Defeat, having killed me dozens of times until now, was not low.

Now that I knew I could seize the levels increased by the perk if I killed a target affected by Addicted to Defeat.

The moment I killed her, wouldn't the levels I gained easily exceed at least Level 400?

“…No. Nothing.”

I forced myself to erase the strange thought and closed my eyes.

Those I have decided to kill are only villains.

If I were to kill others solely for levels, I would be no different from my 1st Playthrough self.

As if adding guilt to my ensuing thoughts, Eirene stroked my head and smiled shyly.

The temptation of a moment was too sweet, and the guilt that followed was too immense.

Their relationship, where they had mutually wounded each other, could no longer be called that of enemies due to a certain turning point.

I still resented and hated Eirene, but.

I no longer wanted to choose the option of killing her.

“I’m sorry, Eirene.”

Unconscious atonement subtly flowed and reached Eirene.

…It was the first time.

Since being possessed in this world that I had sincerely apologized to someone.

“Dean… are you afraid of dying?”

But Eirene seemed to ignore my apology and began a different conversation.

Afraid of death.

Much time had passed since I stopped having such thoughts.

“Death doesn’t scare me anymore.”

“…I see.”

After I conveyed my honest feelings, no further exchange followed.

I subtly extended my hand to her, who was fidgeting her fingers, searching for something to grasp.

As if signifying the perpetually incomprehensible relationship between two people, Eirene’s hand delicately held only my sleeve.

The distance between them, where neither had dared to approach.

“……!!”

Was soon easily broken by the approach of one person.

For the sake of a changed life ahead.

And… for the atonement I must make forever.

Because I was the first to interlace my fingers with hers.

I, who had launched a small sailboat into the surging colossal waves.

Felt that a bit of inner growth had been achieved.

“Dean, your hand is colder than mine….”

It felt like I also had a somewhat comfortable thought, wondering if the future ahead might be a little brighter.

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