Ch.58Stop Ruining the Original Work!

# Time: Exactly 10 Minutes Ago

“The Villain’s Troupe… and the lower half of the Angel moved…”

Lying alone in the VIP hospital room, I’d been feeling anxious since yesterday about story developments that weren’t in the original work at all.

For good reason—the Villain’s Troupe was an evil organization that only appeared midway through the story, and there was never an episode where the Angel’s corpse came back to life.

And when I heard that the Angel’s corpse was actually being controlled by a puppet master, there was only one person who came to mind.

“I can’t believe Riverine would come to Korea…”

Riverine of the Villain’s Troupe.

Also known by another name—she who would later be called the Avenger.

I still vividly remember her always tending to her puppets in the corner when first entering the hideout through the Villain’s Troupe route.

She was always busy preparing modified dolls made from a mix of human and monster corpses.

‘In the end, she succeeds in her revenge goal in the original ending, but feels a sense of loss and slits her own throat—a tragic female protagonist… right? Probably.’

Her identity was from one of the World’s 10 Great Families.

She was a direct descendant of the German Belpes family, famous for their Marionette Hunters.

Well, unlike Princess Kurumi who was born illegitimate, being a direct descendant was actually what started her misfortune.

…Anyway, putting aside the original content, why did she appear here in Korea when she never set foot here in the original story, and even stole the Angel’s corpse?

The reason was something I could easily guess—I was her target.

‘Obviously she stole it to lure me in, following Ms. Katarina’s orders…’

I expected it, but Ms. Katarina really didn’t come to Korea alone.

But of all people, why did it have to be Riverine who came with her?

“I’ll be in your care.”

“I have a mission I must fulfill.”

“Just, just because of this… I…! Ah, aaaaaaah!!”

“…I don’t want to live, I just want to die.”

Despite her pretty appearance, she becomes a heroine exclusively in the Villain’s Troupe route, and due to her devastatingly tragic story arc, she became an icon of trauma that gave PTSD to all players who once played the game.

Her character development in the latter half was too extreme, and the Riverine route contained so many grotesque scenes that it was classified as R18.

Especially when she faced the protagonist and slit her own throat without even mosaic censoring, dying like she was being slaughtered…

‘…I need to meet her first.’

One of the few normal heroines in the original “Hunter’s Blood.”

Though she breaks down at the end, I wanted to meet Riverine in this world that had become reality.

And the original story being disrupted so heavily at this timing when nothing should be happening was problematic in many ways.

‘Since I’m meeting her anyway, I should drive the Villain’s Troupe out of Korea completely!’

Dispose of the Angel’s corpse that never even appeared in the original! And scare off the Villain’s Troupe that should only appear in the middle of the story!

With that thought, although I still needed crutches to walk.

“Monster form might work.”

I walked alone to the quiet hospital rooftop where the bright sky was visible.

Then, taking a deep breath.

“Wooooaaarrrgh!!”

With a roar, I released black lightning from my body and successfully transformed into a monster.

Click-clack.

Wiggle-wiggle.

First, I tried moving my body around as a test.

Fortunately, thanks to my physical abilities being pumped up all at once, I seemed perfectly fine while in monster form.

‘Phew. Let’s go then?’

So even though I had no idea where the Villain’s Troupe and the Angel’s corpse were, who was I?

I was a veteran who had cleared all the Villain’s Troupe routes in the original.

‘If the Villain’s Troupe first entered Korea and established a hideout, it would obviously be that abandoned factory.’

A place I could go to with my eyes closed.

I immediately jumped toward the abandoned factory built in the middle of a remote mountain.

***

But what on earth was happening?

While bouncing in a parabolic arc toward the abandoned factory, reaching the clouds.

“Mom… Mommy…!”

A child’s cry that shouldn’t be heard in the mountains.

At the same time, I saw Lia’s figure below.

‘Lia?! Why is she here…?’

It was a moment when my relaxed thoughts froze.

Seeing a human with a sword trying to kill the trembling Lia, I descended rapidly, falling like a meteor.

CRASH!

“Mom…?”

And when I quickly turned around to look at Lia…?

‘Who?’

It was clearly a baby monster with white skin and ruby-red eyes like Lia.

However, this child was strangely similar to Lia yet wasn’t Lia.

The clothes were different, the hair was longer, and above all, the whole atmosphere was completely different from Lia.

If Lia was a proud child who didn’t show much emotion, this child was, how should I put it.

“Waaaaaah! I’m, I’m scared! Save meee!”

Innocent and honest with their emotions—just like a child.

And that’s exactly what they were.

“Grrrr.”

‘Don’t worry. I don’t intend to hurt you.’

“R-really…?”

“Grrrr.”

‘Yes, so stay behind me for now.’

The child seemed to understand my “growl language” well, as monsters do.

Anyway, what kind of mess is this…

With the Lia-like child hidden behind my back, I looked forward to see Mr. Lee Seokgyu who appeared to be fighting Ms. Katarina.

Paul facing me while sweating profusely.

Dorothy trembling and on the verge of foaming at the mouth.

I could vaguely see Riverine swallowing hard.

“Aaaack! Stop stepping on me!”

…And what’s with that dragon?

Could it be Mr. Seokgyu’s summoned monster?

‘He once told me he was raising an amazing monster—so it was a dragon.’

Anyway, putting the dragon aside for now, I was seeing some truly nostalgic faces.

Old man Paul was still active since it was the early part of the story, and Dorothy was, as usual, rolling her eyes in her desperate desire to live.

“So that’s the famous Monster of Jamsil…!”

Riverine.

Since it was early, she still looked healthy.

While I was relieved to see the current state of the Villain’s Troupe that was still okay(?) so far.

“Leader, what should we do?!”

Riverine hurriedly turned away from me and asked Ms. Katarina, who was in a standoff with Mr. Seokgyu.

One of the few moments of weakness from Ms. Katarina that could be seen while she was still alive.

Knowing the future can be so sad at times like this.

I know their ultimate fate all too well, which makes my heart ache.

Regardless.

“Don’t provoke it! That thing is more of a monster than we expected!!”

I wonder who’s calling whom a monster.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Ms. Katarina was clearly wary of me with slightly trembling eyes.

Accordingly, Old Man Paul slowly backed away in front of me.

“Don’t provoke it at all!”

“Y-yes! Running away is the best option right now!”

“For once, I agree with Dorothy’s opinion.”

Do the strong recognize those who are even stronger?

Personally, I hope the Villain’s Troupe survives until the game ending.

This might actually be a good opportunity.

So to appear as scary as possible, I raised both arms high to strike a truly frightening pose(?).

“Is, is it threatening us?!”

Yes, it’s a threat.

So please just leave now.

“Grrrr! Grrrr!”

“Eeeeeek?!”

In that regard, Dorothy always showed the best performance.

“It, it looks kind of sloppy though…?”

“P-Paul! That itself is a, a trap!”

“A trap?”

With her around, even harmless things seemed frightening, and she had the effect of making everything appear as if it should be feared.

“Yes! It’s pretending to be ‘slow-witted’ to catch us off guard and eat us all up…!”

…Let me correct myself.

Dorothy, you’re going to get just one light knock on the head from me later—not enough to kill you.

Anyway, with my threats and Dorothy’s survival-driven gaslighting, the Villain’s Troupe gradually backed away.

“The Monster of Jamsil…!”

“…Hey, old man.”

“What?”

“Is this the time for humans to be fighting each other? I think we should ‘unite’ in the face of a common enemy right now.”

“……”

I could see Mr. Seokgyu, who was in a standoff with Ms. Katarina, also gradually increasing the distance thanks to me.

‘Once the two forces are sufficiently separated, I need to grab Mr. Seokgyu and disappear from here.’

The plan after that was simple.

The moment the Villain’s Troupe pretends to fight and turns their backs on me.

I would quickly snatch Mr. Seokgyu and escape from this place with the dragon that appeared to be his summoned monster.

Then after dropping the old man away from the Villain’s Troupe, I planned to leave that place as well.

‘I’ll have to keep the Lia-like baby monster behind me until the end.’

The Villain’s Troupe’s specialty:

They pretend to fight together, but if their ally attacks first, they run away without looking back.

Having experienced this countless times while playing the game.

“Even terrorists are still human beings, I suppose. Let’s join hands just for now.”

“Yeah, sure! Just don’t die, old man!”

Seeing Ms. Katarina smiling as if saying “trust me” while obviously planning to run away, I momentarily felt the urge to catch her.

But I couldn’t do that.

Any further disruption to the original story would be truly dangerous.

I need to stick to my plan here.

“Grrrrrr…!”

“Eeeek!?”

When I spoke in growl language once more, Dorothy started trembling all over and began lowering her allies’ morale again.

“We’re going to die… We’re all going to dieee…!”

When she was in an ally position, she was nothing more than a debuffer who deserved a few knocks on the head, but right now there was no better “comrade” than her.

‘Well done, Dorothy! Keep it up!’

With Dorothy’s sobbing voice, the allied Villain’s Troupe and Mr. Seokgyu’s side seemed to tremble even more.

“We’re going to be eaten aliveee….!”

Sob sob sob.

“We’re all doneee…!!”

Sob sob sob sob sob.

She’s doing well.

Very well indeed.

Once the morale of both the Villain’s Troupe and Mr. Seokgyu’s side dropped completely, I planned to use that opportunity to kidnap the old man.

But then.

“I knew it… living ‘like a dead mouse’ was the right answer…”

“Growl?!”

“……What?”

Dorothy, who had been spouting all kinds of negative things.

However, she unknowingly triggered something.

Living like a dead mouse?

She shouldn’t have said that.

Because that phrase was.

“Someone like you should have been living like a dead mouse…”

Like a trigger button for Riverine’s outburst.

“Riverine!”

“I… don’t live like a dead mouse.”

“W-what?”

“I’d rather die fighting than live like that.”

“Riverine, calm down! We need to wait for the right timing to escape!!”

“W-what, escape?!”

Ms. Katarina, as the leader of the organization, knew Riverine’s trigger button very well.

So out of concern, she urgently called out to her, but.

“Th-that human is coming straight at us…?”

“Grrrr…”

I could see Riverine approaching me with a deeply furrowed brow, controlling the lower half of the Angel.

“Great! Monster mister! That one! Let’s kill that one first!”

The Lia-like baby monster was encouraging me to fight.