Every story needs a villain to highlight the protagonist’s brilliance, virtue and righteousness.
Without exception, the villain is doomed to lose.
Yu Lang was exactly that, a villain NPC destined to fail and not only that, he was the kind of poor NPC who dies in one book only to move on to the next one as if it were just another job assignment.
At this moment, his current “task” had already been completed. A few months ago, he had been a top tier, dazzling celebrity, the kind who could command the spotlight effortlessly but in his rivalry with the protagonist, he had managed to ruin himself into a nobody, someone utterly inconsequential.
Now, burdened with mountains of debt, living in a drafty rental, surviving on whatever scraps he could find, he had nothing left to do but enjoy the freedom of being unbound by missions. Life was a day to day affair, a sort of paid vacation.
And then, at this exact juncture, something monumental happened.
The literary world had been swept by a craze: the “redeem the villain” trend. People were shouting that villains were pitiful, tragic and in desperate need of love. They needed endless affection.
Yu Lang was one of the designated “targets” of this redemption mania.
Not only did this double his workload but he also had to endure these self righteous, tearfully self congratulatory acts of supposed altruism.
“Who exactly decided I need love? Who decided I need redemption?!”
Yu Lang had a lollipop in his mouth, a mint flavored one. The white plastic stick peeked from the corner of his lips, making it look like a cigarette.
He and his motorcycle were parked on a roadside in the suburbs. Beyond the reach of the headlights, only the grass and bushes directly illuminated glimmered in a pale gray.
In the pitch black shrubs beyond the light, danger seemed to lurk, like wolves, tigers or leopards lying in wait, silent and deadly.
Near his feet lay something humanoid or rather, a corpse, twisted unnaturally.
He bent down and grabbed the collar of the mangled body, dragging it across the ground.
Deep red blood oozed from the corpse, snaking along the soil in winding streams. Its stench was sharp and acrid, the smell of decay saturating the air.
Yu Lang stopped at a shallow pit he had dug in advance, beside it lay a spade, smeared heavily with fresh blood.
The pit was freshly dug, the victim freshly killed.
Yu Lang had lured the self congratulatory “redeemer” here under the guise of a confession. Then, with a few decisive swings of the spade to the head, the job would be done.
He nudged the pale, blue tinged corpse with his foot, silently wishing the “redeemer” would just climb into the pit themselves so he wouldn’t have to struggle.
After a couple of kicks, a strange sensation of being watched prickled at the back of his neck. He whipped around.
The darkness behind him was empty.
When he turned back, there was a man standing silently in front of him.
Yu Lang froze, heart hammering, stepping back two paces as he instinctively searched for the spade.
Even more terrifying, the spade was now in the man’s hands.
He wasn’t a normal man. He was like a ghost risen from the soil. Silent.
His eyes, dark and still like dead water, seemed to want to drown Yu Lang on the spot.
The man’s form was shrouded in shadow, edges blurred, his outline almost unreal.
Yu Lang’s gaze followed every movement, wary. He spat out the lollipop and asked, his voice steady and sharp,
“Who are you?”
The man didn’t answer. Instead, he gripped the spade firmly, eyes slowly scanning Yu Lang from head to toe in a mechanical, deliberate manner.
The man’s tall frame blocked the white beam from the motorcycle’s headlights and Yu Lang’s shadow, stretched long, stopped abruptly at the man’s feet.
Under the oppressive weight of this silent mountain, even Yu Lang’s meager thoughts of resistance evaporated.
The atmosphere was thick, suffocating and heavy, as though rain were about to fall. The tension was taut, like a line stretched to breaking.
Suddenly, the man turned and wordlessly stepped into the pit, deepening it by several feet with the spade.
Exposed skin glinted pale under the white light, every defined muscle outlined in ghastly contrast. Droplets of sweat shimmered across his body, casting a cold blue sheen over the veins beneath.
When the pit was ready, he lifted the corpse into it and shoveled the earth over like a cascading waterfall, swiftly burying it, tamping down the soil.
Then he approached Yu Lang, spade in hand.
Yu Lang watched every movement with caution.
Next, the spade sank into the ground beside him.
The man’s icy hand reached out carefully to Yu Lang’s cheek, brushing away the smeared blood.
“Is this what you call redemption?” the man asked.
The situation had grown increasingly absurd. This man appeared out of nowhere, silently helped bury a body and then, suddenly, uttered a single word: redemption.
Yu Lang paused, secretly exhaling, tension releasing in a trembling sigh.
So, this was the “redeemer.” That meant there was no need to be afraid.
He popped another mint into his mouth, letting the cooling sweetness soothe the lingering fear.
He was about to do something very bad.
The man, seeing Yu Lang silent, asked again, “What do you need?”
Yu Lang ignored the question and seized control instead. “What’s your name?”
“Chi Jianqing,” came the reply.
Yu Lang drew out his “Ohhh…. ” deliberately, a slow, drawn out sound.
While the exchange continued, his hand quietly found the handle of the spade. Warm to the touch, it carried the residual heat of the next body it would bury.
“Chi Jianqing, huh… I need a lot of love.”
Yu Lang stated plainly, deliberately, as Chi Jianqing’s impassive face regarded him. His eyes did not blink, scanning Yu Lang like a robot that had frozen under overthinking.
Yu Lang leaned in slightly, knowing he was good looking. He pressed his face into Chi Jianqing’s line of sight, occupying his attention entirely.
“I’m lacking love. Will you give it to me?”
He opened his mouth wide, almost provocatively, the blue mint rolling on his tongue, extending it toward Chi Jianqing.
Yu Lang had undergone tongue surgery, giving it a snake-like split at the tip. He curled the mint between the two prongs, reaching it out.
Chi Jianqing’s dark pupils trembled. The living mountain of a man seemed to quake internally, his faintly colored body struggling to contain the storm within.
His dry lips twitched and he drew a deep breath but just as he was about to exhale,
Yu Lang suddenly took a step back.
Immediately, a cold wind whipped past his ear like a towering wave. A spade, rigid and sharp as steel, sliced through the air, swinging horizontally as though it were a knife, aimed straight at Chi Jianqing’s head.
“Die.”
Everything froze in that instant.
Yu Lang’s expression hardened. He stared at the man in front of him, the mountain like figure crumbling, collapsing at his feet. Yu Lang crouched down, grabbed the man by the hair and flicked the mint candy, coiled on his tongue, against Chi Jianqing’s deathly still face.
“I don’t need any redemption.”
He gripped the spade, dug another pit and kicked the towering, mountain like man into it.
He buried him hastily, even bouncing on the earth a couple of times to tamp it down.
Satisfied that the grave was firm, he stuck the spade upright in the soil, creating an unmarked grave for Chi Jianqing.
There was no fear of being caught; these “redeemers” appeared suddenly, without identity and their deaths would leave no impact on the world.
Yu Lang returned to the roadside, swung a leg over his sport bike, letting his long, straight legs touch the asphalt.
He didn’t rush to ride off. Instead, he glanced at the left side mirror, adjusting it to frame his face.
Yu Lang’s face wasn’t conventionally handsome, it was neat, clean and almost impossibly pretty, like a high school student straight out of a romantic memory.
It was the kind of face you’d call “white moonlight,” “childhood friend,” or “first love”, the last thing anyone would associate with a villain.
That was why Chi Jianqing had been so shocked when he saw Yu Lang’s split tongue. No one would imagine someone with such a face could act so wildly.
To complete the villain aesthetic, Yu Lang had pierced his right eyebrow, adorned his lower lip with a ring, had two cartilage piercings in his right ear and one standard ear piercing.
With a subtle overlay of rebellion, he had finally managed to give himself a faint, almost imperceptible villainous aura.
He looked into the mirror, tousled his platinum blond hair, adjusting the fringe just so.
Then he glanced at the rolling, dark clouds advancing over the skyline.
Time to head home.
Yu Lang pulled on his helmet, adjusted the mirrors, twisted the ignition and roared away on his sport bike.
The wind tore past, rattling the air with a fierce howl and the blackened clouds pressed down like a gaping abyss, intent on swallowing the neon lit streets at the mountain’s base.
A torrential downpour was imminent.
Bang!!
From the pit, where the spade stood, a pale hand suddenly shot upward.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
No propaganda here. Only coffee.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
Next →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Dead HusbandChapter 2 · Ghost ChaseChapter 3 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 4 · I need lots and lots of loveChapter 5 · I’ll kill you!^^Chapter 6 · Haha, really!Chapter 7 · This is what it means to be love-struck.Chapter 8 · We meet again, my loveChapter 9 · The little snakeChapter 10 · I’ve been fooled againChapter 11 · The daily routine of sasaeng fans following othersChapter 12 · Inferiority complexChapter 13 · It hurtsChapter 14 · Want to go out? Sure!Chapter 15 · Damn it!Chapter 16 · My wife hitting me is a reward for meChapter 17 · Licking sweatChapter 18 · The vinegar was friedChapter 19 · What a clever tactic, Chi Jianqing!Chapter 20 · Loving me is a very painful thing.Chapter 21 · The words may be rough, but the principle is soundChapter 22 · It wasn’t just two hitsChapter 23 · Turns out I’m not 3, I’m 1!Chapter 24 · Easy To CoaxChapter 25 · Confessing loveChapter 26 · DearChapter 27 · Honey, it felt so good when you scolded me.Chapter 28 · Let’s go after tearing off the human skinChapter 29 Part 1 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 29 Part 2 · Honey, I caught you!Chapter 30 · Little Blind CrippleChapter 31 · How could I give up? I’ve given you my heart.Chapter 32 · The gloomy CEOChapter 33 · X-harassmentChapter 34 · Little third wheelChapter 35 · I am Chi JianqingChapter 36 · I am his husband, and you are?Chapter 37 · CarChapter 38 · Broken carChapter 39 · I want to kiss youChapter 40 · Silly babyChapter 41 · Chop off hands and feetChapter 42 · Ships and DeathChapter 43 · Chi Jianqing participated in the battle royale and finally obtained a ticket to meet Yu Lang.Chapter 44 · You bastard, get out of here!Chapter 45 · Bad cats can only be forced to love.Chapter 46 · Circle the fox’s tail and rub it back and forthChapter 47 · It hurts so muchChapter 48 · The Second World EndedChapter 49 · Brainless and grumpyChapter 50 · I don’t like you anymoreChapter 51 · I haven’t thought of a title yetChapter 52 · You smell so good, let me hug you and pet youChapter 53 · A big dog bit a kitten’s muzzleChapter 54 · Captive canariesChapter 55 · Male Ghost StrikesChapter 56 · I told you to be quiet!Chapter 57 · I have decided to bestow upon you the title of my wife.Chapter 58 · We’re talking about loveChapter 59 · I really, really like you!Chapter 60 · I want to eat your noodlesChapter 61 · Don’t abandon your puppy!Chapter 62 · What a blissful ending!Chapter 63 · Extra 1Chapter 64 · Extra 2Chapter 65 · Extra 3