I Became a Dark Fantasy Villain

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The snow piled up in the valley was surprisingly not very thick. Whether the chains wrapped around the wheels were effective, the carriage moved forward without slipping or getting stuck.

The gentle descents and ascents continued. On top of that, since it curved along the nearby mountain range, it was impossible to know what was at the end of this valley.

‘It seems intentionally hidden so that it can never be seen from the outside.’

Such an artificial feeling was not surprising.

After all, this world was a game, filled with all sorts of contrived devices. If you start questioning that, you’d have to go back to wondering how a game could become reality.

‘Since there are many cases where the front and back sink during the uplifting of the land. It’s not too forced that winding valleys and lowlands are created between mountains…’

…Where did I see and remember such things?

Ian shook off his wandering thoughts with a snort.

In any case, now they could no longer see the outside from inside the valley either.

The mountain slopes rising on both sides seemed to be telling them in advance that beyond this was a space completely cut off from the outside world.

How far had they gone like that?

“…A forest.”

At the end of the ascent after passing the descent, Charlotte uttered.

“How strange. Like magic.” Tessia’s exclamation followed.

It seemed like there was no warning at all, and suddenly a forest appeared as the valley ended.

Of course, Ian had no interest in the geographical peculiarities that made it possible.

His gaze was simply fixed on the ashen forest that began from the end of the valley.

‘We’ve found the right place.’

The snow-covered trees standing bleakly, and the unpleasant silence like ringing ears.

It was exactly the same scene of the forest he had seen in the vision.

“…It really does feel like a forest with magic dwelling in it, Ian. The vibe is strange.”

Tessia, who had been staring at the forest, added. Although he didn’t respond, Ian inwardly agreed with her words.

“We’ll have to leave the carriage behind, Ian.” Charlotte, who had gauged the distance between the trees, said.

Ian readily nodded his head.

“Can’t be helped. We needed to maintain it before entering anyway. Take the chance to start a campfire too.”

There was a frozen stream between the forest and the valley, like a boundary line.

Charlotte parked the carriage in front of it.

Tessia, who had run off to the valley to gather branches, soon shouted. “Ian! There’s something here!”

“…?”

Ian, who had been unpacking the luggage, furrowed his brows at her gesture and walked over.

“Look here. There’s some kind of inscribed rock.”

Tessia boasted and dug through the snow under a tree.

A half-exposed tombstone revealed its full form.

It looked very old and worn, but the letters engraved on the surface were still recognizable.

Charlotte, who had followed, narrowed her brows.

“What does it say? I’ve never seen these characters before.”

“Yeah. Maybe you can make it out, Ian?”

Tessia turned her head. Ian, who had been staring at the tombstone, muttered.

“Sort of.”

“As expected. I thought you’d be able to recognize it, after I saw you understand what that ghost giant was saying. So, what is written there?”

Charlotte also looked at him inquisitively. After a moment, Ian spoke.

“This is a warning. It says from here on is the domain of a dragon. There’s a name written too… But I can’t make that part out.”

“A dragon…? A dragon, you say?”

Charlotte’s eyes widened.

Tessia was the same.

“You mean there’s a dragon in this forest? Somehow, I’m getting a bad feeling about this. Let’s get out of here right away, Ian.”

Charlotte looked at her.

“I guess you’ve forgotten what a dragon is, after losing your memories.”

“Yeah…? As soon as I heard it, I just felt a sense of dread.”

As Tessia muttered bewilderedly, Charlotte turned to Ian.

“Could the enemy we have to fight be a dragon? If so, it would be the most glorious battle of my life.”

“Regrettably, that’s unlikely to be the case.”

Probably.

Ian swallowed the last word and scratched his chin. As far as he knew, there were only two dragons left on the continent. The rest had migrated across the Black Sea long ago.

That was what he had heard directly from one of the two dragons, and reality didn’t seem to have changed even now.

‘Besides, I fought the other one. In its lair, no less. Although long-lived dragons are said to have multiple lairs…’

Ian’s gaze turned to the desolate forest.

It didn’t seem like either of the two dragons would bother making a lair in a place like this.

“Is that all? The writing here looks longer than that.”

“It’s basically saying that those who trespass without permission won’t be able to leave alive.”

“Why ‘basically’?”

“Because I couldn’t read the whole thing.”

“…Ah.”

“How courteous of the dragon. Even leaving a message for intruders.”

Charlotte snorted. She seemed quite disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to fight a dragon.

Her thoughts might change if she actually faced a real dragon though.

“Maybe it was hoping we’d get scared and turn back.” Ian said grimly, then added to Tessia to bring some firewood before turning away.

As he took out luggage from the carriage, the returned Tessia dropped an armful of kindling and said, “Are you really going to go in after seeing that? Whatever’s in there, it’s clearly related to a dragon.”

“Would be nice if there were any treasures too.”

Tessia’s expression was distorted.

“What good are treasures if it says we won’t be able to leave alive?”

“That has nothing to do with me. I was invited here. And we’ve already set foot in that forest before too.”

“Huh…? When?”

“In the Forsaken Lands.”

Tessia tilted her head. Ian looked at Charlotte, who was detaching the horses.

“The forest where this one and I fought.”

“Ah, there. I remember. But…”

Tessia’s brow furrowed.

“Isn’t that place incredibly far from here? Is this forest really that huge?”

“Probably.”

Ian grimly looked back at the ashen forest.

Whatever was lurking inside could clearly only exert its power near its domain.

That’s why it must have gradually expanded the forest over time.

To call in the beings it needed.

‘Whether it was that guy or the ghost giant, they just spouted nonsense I couldn’t understand…’

Their exact circumstances didn’t matter.

What was important was that whatever was lurking in this forest would likely give a considerable amount of experience, and the quest reward was skill points.

That reward alone was enough reason.

“Yeah… I guess nothing will change no matter what I say.”

Tessia muttered in resignation.

As she gathered the kindling and Ian cast a fireball to light it, he looked back and forth between her and the approaching Charlotte.

“I’m going to fight whoever called me here. In the process, I may not be able to pay attention to you two. So you two prioritize protecting each other. Like you’ve been doing.”

“There may be times when we need the help of this rascal.”

“Most likely. Like it has been so far.”

At Tessia’s remark, Charlotte snorted as she took off the hat on her head.

Ian happened to glance at her head, and Tessia gave a strange smile.

“Oh my. Your fur has gotten long, kitty cat.”

Indeed, the fur right in the middle between Charlotte’s ears, from the crown of her head down to the nape of her neck, had grown noticeably longer.

Charlotte stroked her hair back.

“It’s my mane. A sign of the superior Suin physique adapting to the cold.”

It wasn’t just there, the fur around her neck and wrists had also become lushly longer.

“Once it fully grows in, it might feel nice to stroke. Is this normal for all Suin?”

Tessia added. Charlotte shrugged.

“Probably. But there’s no way to confirm. I’ve only heard stories, this is the first time my mane has actually grown like this.”

“You have to let me stroke it when it’s fully grown.”

“And if I get to cut off your wrist in return.”

“Oh come on, I can just reattach it, you know? I can endure the pain. You promised, kitty cat.”

Tessia smiled teasingly and stood up.

Meeting Ian’s gaze, she added, “I’ll go look for some rabbits too. I’m uneasy about just going in.”

“With that body of yours?”

“It’ll be fine. Maybe it’s because the sun is hidden, but my physical condition isn’t bad right now.”

“Be back within an hour.”

With a nod, Tessia left the eerie scene.

For all her bravado, she wouldn’t actually run away, would she?

Ian briefly wondered, but soon shrugged.

Even if she fled, she didn’t have many places to go. Besides, she’d eventually be caught by another judge anyway.

In which case, they’d meet again someday in Russard.

‘And by then, I’ll be able to kill her without hesitation.’

It wasn’t necessarily a bad ending. Especially now that he was starting to become fond of the rascal.

A clanging sound came from the side.

Charlotte had a rifle barrel clenched in her teeth as she sharpened her twin blades on a grindstone.

Ian took in her appearance anew. The elegant, well-groomed state guard he had first met was long gone, replaced by a seasoned Suin mercenary toughened by campaigns in the field. Even her equipped gear was now tattered rags overall, contributing to that rugged vibe.

“Charlotte.”

“Yes?”

“Are the engraved spells on your magic gear still usable?”

“The ones on my armor and combat boots are intact. But I’m out of magic gems.”

Ian nodded and took out a sealing casket from his interdimensional pocket.

He picked up a magic gem rolling inside and tossed it to Charlotte.

“Use this. It’s not fully charged, so you’ll have to use it sparingly.”

“…I won’t decline.”

Charlotte started embedding the gem.

As Ian had observed, she had a weakness on the defensive side.

She had no way to subdue opponents impervious to physical attacks. Her magic gear was meant to compensate for those weaknesses.

So even if not as potent as before, having it was better than nothing.

“Ah, right. This was here too.”

Next, Ian took out what looked like a serrated, deformed sword.

Charlotte’s expression turned strange.

“That’s… The scale blade Kyle used to wield.”

“Yeah. His remains.”

Ian gripped part of the hilt.

Shick, flames that ran along the blade dispersed soon after.

“This is the only spell I can use right away.”

“…An arrogant fool. He thought himself a master swordsman so he slacked on training.”

Her tone showed no signs of mourning.

She shook her head.

“You’d make better use of it than him, Ian.”

“You don’t want to wield it?”

“Not at all.”

Well, then.

Ian put the scale blade back into his dimensional pocket and neatly placed preserved rations, bandages, portable sleeping bags, and more from his luggage into the sealing casket.

There was no telling how things would unfold, so he needed to prepare the bare minimum for survival.

“…Why were you still carrying that thing around?”

Tessia’s voice followed. Clutching a dead rabbit, she approached with a disgusted look.

“It’s convenient for storing items.”

Ian replied matter-of-factly.

Meeting Charlotte’s gaze, he added with a shrug,

“It’s the box this rascal was imprisoned in. I’m the one who saved her from the mercenaries holding her captive.”

“Like I said back then, I could’ve easily broken out. Those idiots would’ve just found some other stupid thing to do even if they hadn’t met you.”

It didn’t really matter now.

After returning the sealing casket to his dimensional pocket, Ian turned his attention to the horses Charlotte had unhitched.

They were the longest surviving of all the horses they had together so far.

“I wonder if releasing them would let them survive?”

“Unlikely. Even if they made it out of the valley, they’d end up as monster feed before long.”

“Then we might as well ride them in. Even if they die inside, at least they can get their revenge.”

“……”

Charlotte gave Ian a look like she had just heard something absurd.

Ian, who would slit the throat of any monster or human acting up without a second thought, was now talking about a horse’s vengeance, it must have seemed strange to her.

Having nimbly mounted a saddle, Ian looked back at her.

“Get on when you’re ready. We’re heading in right away.”

***

Ippotranslation

***

The forest was quiet.

Not only animal sounds, but even the sound of the wind could not be heard.

It felt like a space where nothing alive was moving, where everything was frozen.

Crunch, crunch –

The only thing breaking the silence was the sound of the hooves of two warhorses. And the frightened breaths of their riders.

“…Strange.”

Tessia, riding behind Charlotte, suddenly blurted out.

“We haven’t been in here long, but I can’t see the outside anymore.”

Ian finally turned to look back as well.

She was right.

The valley they had entered was no longer visible. Only the long trees stretched out endlessly. Markings in the shape of eyes carved intermittently on the tree trunks stared piercingly at them.

“Why aren’t you two saying anything?”

Tessia eventually asked, looking back and forth between the expressionless faces of Charlotte and Ian.

Charlotte snorted.

“Would it change anything if we spoke?”

“…Aren’t you curious how this is possible? Ancient magic?”

“It may have started that way.”

It was Ian who responded.

Gazing ahead again, he added, “But this forest is now the demonic realm (Magyeong).”

“The magyeong…?”

“Yes. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have taken that form so soon.”

“…!!”

Only then did Tessia bring her hands to her face. After mumbling a bit, fangs protruded from between her lips.

“But it’s not night yet…?”

Her pupils, gazing up at the overcast sky, were already swirling red.

Ian spoke calmly,

“This is a land so corrupted that it distorts the rules of the world. For your kind of demon, it must seem like heaven.”

“Somehow… I suddenly feel energized.”

The murmuring Tessia grabbed the rabbit hanging at her waist and took a bite in one gulp. It was unclear whether she was preparing for battle or trying to suppress her dark cravings.

‘Whatever it is, it’s clear the one here has become corrupted.’

Thinking this, Ian looked ahead again.

Though the forest had no signposts, he was certain he was heading in the right direction.

The markings on his palms continued to resonate.

If he moved in another direction, the resonance would weaken.

This too must be the game system having taken on a form of realism.

‘…Seeing this, it may have been a place you couldn’t even enter in the game without a quest.’

Ian proceeded steadily but without letting his guard down.

The resonance in his palms grew clearer and clearer.

A change beyond just the resonance was felt after a few more hours had passed.

“Hmm…?”

The moment Ian glanced down at his hand, the horse that had been breathing frightened breaths stopped of its own accord.

The horses carrying Tessia and Charlotte did the same. But Ian did not yank on the reins.

It was because the markings on his palms were resonating powerfully.

Kugugugugu –

It was right after that when the ground began to rumble.

“…!!”

Ian’s eyes widened.

A massive underground cavern was quite literally rising up from beneath the earth.

Translator; ippo

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