I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Raul POV]

The first day of the exam had come to an end, and the students were now on their way back to Murcia City.

I was standing at the bow of the ship, watching the beautiful sunset spread across the horizon.

Next would be the second stage of the exam, which would take place in the only desert region within the Empire—the Tiamat Desert. This territory bordered the Kuwalid Nation to the northwest of the Aragon Empire.

The students would have to survive the harsh desert climate as well as the monsters that inhabited the region. Those without prior survival experience or knowledge of the terrain would almost certainly fail to last very long.

Twenty teams had been eliminated during the first stage, meaning that only 140 students remained for the second stage.

As I was lost in thought, I heard footsteps approaching from behind me.

"Can we talk?"

The owner of the voice was Scarlett. She then stood beside me, facing the horizon while watching the setting sun.

"I've already heard from the other students about what happened during the exam after we separated," Scarlett began, bringing up the events of the exam that had ended yesterday.

"You could have defeated all of them, couldn't you? Why did you hold back?" Scarlett asked, having realized what I had actually been doing. "Judging by your abilities and the guerrilla tactics you used, you could have easily slaughtered them all."

I almost laughed at her last remark.

Me? A grown man bullying a bunch of student?

Only someone childish would take pleasure in bullying younger kids after seeing how naive and unstable those students still were.

What would I gain from bullying them?

What an adult should do was teach them about the reality of the world so they would be better prepared when they eventually became adults themselves.

It was true that they were annoying, arrogant, and incredibly cringe-worthy.

But that was no different from how adults in my original world viewed the younger generation. Anything new that young people did always seemed wrong or irritating to them.

I had been young once, too.

Back then, we had argued over pointless things and done stupid stuff that constantly annoyed the adults around us.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Scarlett," I lied. "I simply did what I could during the exam."

I turned toward her.

Her beautiful face was illuminated by the warm glow of the setting sun.

Our eyes met.

Judging by her expression, there was still something she wanted to ask me.

"Hey, earlier, you said that I didn't understand anything about my own power, right?" Scarlett asked. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. "Do you know how I can use my power more effectively?"

Hm...

Did Scarlett want me to teach her how to properly use her power?

"Why should I help you? What's in it for me?"

At my words, Scarlett took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

"I'm going to join the Disciplinary Committee after we return from this exam," she said with a serious expression.

Scarlett, huh?

Someone of her caliber joining the team I was building would certainly make us stronger if she truly became a member.

The Awakening of Scarlett's Codex would be extremely useful in a future battle.

"Why do you want to join?" I asked, genuinely curious about her motivation.

"I don't know..." Scarlett replied. "I guess being able to observe you up close might give me a clue as to why my magic didn't work when we fought."

Her attitude was correct.

She needed to figure out for herself how her power worked, what its weaknesses were, and how she could make the best use of her Blessing.

I deliberately chose not to tell her what her power actually was.

One of my methods was to avoid spoon-feeding these talented students.

They needed to grow, struggle, and discover their own shortcomings and weaknesses themselves.

Because I wouldn't always be able to stand beside them.

They had to learn to continue growing on their own before the time came.

We arrived in Murcia City later that night.

All the students were then instructed to return to their respective inns because we would be traveling to the next examination site tomorrow.

I was walking toward the hideout where Karl Johnson and the others were staying.

Before leaving for the first stage of the exam, I had ordered Karl's intelligence unit to conduct an operation in Murcia City to gather information about Count Juan.

Not long afterward, I arrived at a large warehouse on the outskirts of Murcia City.

Two men were standing outside the entrance, smoking.

"Ah, Boss. You're here."

One of the men, a dark-skinned man, noticed my arrival.

If I remembered correctly, his name was Black, while the large man standing beside him was Big.

"Yes. We just finished the exam," I said as I approached them. "Where are Karl and the other white guy?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"Ah, you mean Fork. He and KJ are torturing the envoy we captured to extract information about the faction that hired him," Black replied before quickly putting out his cigarette.

"Call them here."

Upon hearing my order, Big entered the warehouse.

A moment later, he returned with KJ, who had bloodstains on his hands, and Fork, who looked unusually nervous, as though he wasn't accustomed to witnessing torture.

"How did it go?" I asked KJ.

"S-Sorry, Boss. The man is quite tough," KJ replied, looking remorseful. "We've been torturing him for twelve hours, but he still refuses to talk. He's unconscious now from exhaustion."

"What methods did you use?"

"Well... We beat him and broke several of his bones to make him talk," KJ answered.

Hearing that, I blamed myself a little.

I probably needed to establish an SOP for forced information gathering.

"Hah..." I sighed. "The two of you, find some of the items and tools I need. I'll interrogate the envoy myself."

I walked toward the warehouse entrance.

"And pay close attention to what I do. Understood?"

KJ and the others nodded in understanding.

After telling them which tools and other items I needed for the interrogation, KJ and Fork immediately left to search for them throughout the city.

---

[??? POV]

Ugh...

How long had I been unconscious?

I had previously been given a mission by my superior to assist Count Juan, who was currently facing trouble.

He was one of the nobles belonging to the faction of the person I served.

However, when I met the person who was supposed to be Count Juan's informant, the four of them captured me and brought me here.

A muscular man with a buzz cut had tortured me, trying to force me to reveal everything I knew about the master I served.

I was nothing more than an ordinary citizen...

My master had forced me to work for him, threatening to ruin my life and the lives of my family if I refused his offer.

-Clack.

I heard the sound of the warehouse door opening.

My vision was still blurry because of the injuries inflicted by the buzz-cut man earlier.

A black-haired man dressed entirely in black walked toward me.

I was sitting in a chair with both my hands and feet shackled.

"You're awake?" the black-haired man said.

He then sat down on a chair directly in front of me.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of this. If my people had been more competent with interrogation techniques, perhaps you wouldn't have had to suffer this much."

So, this man was their master—the one who commanded the people who had kidnapped and imprisoned me.

"Whatever you do to me will be pointless," I said weakly. "I won't reveal anything to you."

Yes...

I wouldn't open my mouth.

My family's lives and future were at stake.

I was afraid my master would do terrible things to them if he discovered that I had revealed information to these people.

Not long afterward, the buzz-cut man who had tortured me earlier entered the warehouse with another man.

The latter was carrying a table, which he placed between the black-haired man and me.

The other man then brought three buckets and placed them upside down on the table.

I could faintly hear the sound of some kind of rodent coming from inside one of them.

"Believe me, I don't hate you personally," the black-haired man said as he stood from his chair. "I'm simply carrying out my duty."

He then ordered the buzz-cut man to remove my shirt and place the bucket containing the rodent on my stomach.

"This is a Deephole Rat," the black-haired man explained as he picked up a torch and walked beside me. "These rats will desperately dig their way out if they feel that they're in danger, you know."

I didn't like where this was going.

It seemed like he was about to do something horrible to me.

But I would remain firm.

I would endure this and refuse to give them any information.

"I won't stop unless you tell me something," the black-haired man said as he began pressing the torch against the metal bucket.

A moment later, I heard the rat inside shrieking violently.

An unbearable pain suddenly spread across my stomach.

"Aghhhhh! T-The rat is digging into my stomach!"

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

That bastard animal was gnawing and clawing at my stomach.

"Stop! Please, stop! Aghhh...!"

-Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!

The rat became even more frantic as it tried to tear its way through my flesh, desperately attempting to escape the heat of the bucket being heated by the torch.

The black-haired man eventually pulled the torch away from the bucket resting on my stomach.

"That's enough, Karl. Put the bucket and the rat back on the table."

After the black-haired man gave the order, his buzz-cut subordinate did as instructed.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..."

My breathing was ragged.

That had been an unimaginable amount of pain.

I glanced down at my stomach.

Three holes had been torn into my flesh, blood pouring from them and soaking the surrounding area.

They looked horrifying.

If he had left the bucket there even a little longer, my stomach would have been completely torn apart.

"Let's move on to the next stage," the man said in a flat voice. "Karl, put that in his ear."

Huh?

What did he mean?

What was he going to put inside my ear?

Just hearing those words made fear begin creeping through my mind.

A moment later, the buzz-cut man opened another bucket.

Inside his hand was a horrifying centipede.

He then placed the disgusting insect inside my ear.

An unbearable crawling sensation spread through my ear as the centipede moved inside.

"This is a Petricia Centipede. It hates loud noises," the black-haired man explained as he handed a pair of pliers to the buzz-cut man. "Try not to scream too loudly unless you want the centipede to bite the inside of your ear."

Not long afterward, the buzz-cut man began removing one of my toenails.

A sharp, searing pain shot through my toe.

"Aghhhhh!"

I couldn't hold back the scream.

A horrible noise echoed inside my ear as the centipede began biting and stinging me viciously.

"Aghhhhhhh!"

The buzz-cut man pulled out another toenail.

Hearing my screams, the centipede inside my ear became even more agitated.

My hearing began to deteriorate.

"I told you, didn't I? Try not to scream too loudly," the black-haired man said. "You only have two choices. Tell us what we want to know, and we'll give you a quick death. Or keep your mouth shut, and your death will be much more painful."

So that's how it was?

There was no difference whether I talked or stayed silent.

They would kill me either way.

I suppose that made perfect sense.

"However, I'll stop this if you can answer my questions correctly," the black-haired man continued, stopping his subordinate from pulling out another toenail.

He then leaned toward my ear and asked,

"What is ten minus seven?"

Huh?

What was he talking about?

I didn't understand the purpose of the question.

"Agghhhh!"

The buzz-cut man began pulling out another nail.

The sound of the centipede inside my ear was driving me insane.

"I told you, didn't I? Answer the question correctly if you don't want to feel pain," the black-haired man said.

"What's one thousand minus seven?"

I had no idea what this black-haired psychopath was thinking.

But I would do my best to survive.

"Ni-nine hundred and ninety-three..."

"Very good. Let's continue."

The man sat back down in the chair directly in front of me.

"Nine hundred and ninety-three minus seven?"

The session continued for what felt like an eternity.

The man kept making me perform calculations, and whenever I answered incorrectly, the buzz-cut man would pull out another one of my nails.

My voice was becoming weaker.

My hearing was deteriorating.

My vision had grown blurry from the constant pain caused by the centipede inside my ear.

I...

I had reached my limit...

I couldn't take it anymore...

"Thirteen minus seven?"

"S-Six..."

I no longer cared about the calculations.

Every fingernail and toenail had already been ripped out by the man's subordinate because I had answered the questions incorrectly.

My mind was exhausted.

My body had reached its limit.

This black-haired man was different.

He wasn't merely torturing my body.

He was breaking me mentally as well, making it easier for my resolve to crumble.

"Good work. Now, this is the last one."

The man stood from his chair again.

He then opened the final bucket and revealed a disgusting worm.

"This is a Bloodsuck Worm. It's dangerous if it gets inside the body," the black-haired man said as he brought the worm closer to the holes in my stomach that the rat had previously torn open. "This worm will suck your blood and feed on the flesh of its host from within. It will continue growing larger as it slowly devours your internal organs."

Hearing those horrifying words made my resolve crumble even further.

What had I done to deserve a fate like this...?

I only wanted to live a happy and peaceful life with my family.

Before I realized it, a tear rolled down my cheek as I remembered my wife and daughter waiting for me at home.

I wanted to go hunting with my son in the village...

My wife would surely welcome us home with a beautiful smile...

Ah...

Those wonderful days...

I wanted to return to those times...

"If you talk, all of this will end quickly."

I'm sorry, Bell...

Your father is only an ordinary man...

Winda...

I hope you can raise Bell into a successful man, unlike his father.

As I thought about them, I began to feel something writhing inside my stomach.

The thought of dying slowly while some creature devoured my insides was utterly terrifying...

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