[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-am-a-villain-so-what":3,"chapter-i-am-a-villain-so-what-i-am-a-villain-so-what-chapter-221":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I Am a Villain, So What?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1506316,1956,"Chapter 221: Return","i-am-a-villain-so-what-chapter-221",221,"\u003Cp>\"Slow! Too slow!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Executioner’s voice rang out right as the hammer fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I dragged my rifle up and fired, desperately trying to predict the trajectory. But my aim was off by a fraction of a millimeter. I failed to intercept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The live round slammed violently into my left shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ugh—!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dizzying, white-hot pain struck my brain like a lightning bolt. The sheer kinetic force of the shot threw me off balance, my blood splattering against the ruined wallpaper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Here comes another!\" the Executioner shouted, not giving me a single second to recover.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I grit my teeth, ignoring the burning hole in my shoulder, and racked the bolt. I fired blindly, relying purely on instinct and myMarksmanshipskill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clink!Sparks flew in the middle of the hallway. I barely managed to succeed in Interception, my bullet deflecting his just enough to bury them both into the floorboards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if Ricochet was completely out of my league, I could somehow manage a basic Interception in a live-fire scenario.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sixth Sense (Lv. 3) has detected a Curved Shot!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alarm bells in my head screamed. I violently twisted my body just as I saw the bullet sweeping around the shattered doorframe, aiming dead center for my back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I fired my hunting rifle backward over my shoulder. I actually succeeded in hitting his bullet mid-air, but I didn’t hit it at the right angle. It wasn’t fully intercepted; the trajectory merely shifted downward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bullet tore straight through my right thigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hit the floor hard, sliding on the wood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t stop!\" the Executioner ordered coldly. \"Now, two shots! Left and right!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BANG! BANG!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forcing my bleeding, agonizing body to move, I rolled onto my back and fired consecutively to both sides, pushing my rifle’s bolt action to its absolute mechanical limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I successfully intercepted the bullet coming from the left. But my injured shoulder slowed my right arm down just enough to miss the second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heavy slug pierced my right side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Argh...!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I dropped my rifle, clutching my ribs as I collapsed onto the debris. The vivid, nauseating sensation of cracked bones and pierced tissue was crystal clear. My vision blurred, black spots dancing at the edges of my sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Your understanding of Firearm Proficiency has fundamentally evolved.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Marksmanship Lv. 7 proficiency greatly increased.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tch, tch,\" the Executioner clicked his tongue, slowly walking over to me and holstering his smoking dual revolvers. \"Still a long way to go, kid.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lying in a pool of my own blood, my lungs burning with every breath, I realized just how vast the gap was. I was nothing but a pebble in front of a true, century-old powerhouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I coughed, my back resting against the shattered wall. TheRune of Vitalityin my chest was already humming, slowly working to knit my pierced organs back together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Executioner, sir,\" I wheezed, staring up at the ceiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hm?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Aren’t you busy?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lacking the eloquence to formulate a proper excuse to end the beating, this was the best I could muster. It was basically a polite way of saying,’Please leave before you actually kill me.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Executioner paused, then chuckled deeply, looking down at me with a surprisingly fond expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Busy?\" he mused, leaning against the doorframe. \"Live past two hundred years, kid, and you’ll see. Time loses its meaning.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a long sigh, looking out the shattered window toward the rising sun. \"I’d love nothing more than to retire to a small, quiet farm. Till a tiny field, eat, play, and sleep... but the world won’t let me rest. There are still too many demons left to hunt.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m worried I’m holding you back too much, then,\" I rasped, clutching my bleeding side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t worry about it,\" the Executioner smiled. \"Thanks to the detailed information you provided, I’m completely adjusting my travel routes. I can afford to use the spare time to test you. Your intel is just that valuable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He crouched down next to me and, surprisingly, patted my head. His hand was warm and rough from centuries of holding a gun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’ll figure it out and do well,\" he said softly. \"So kids like you should just focus on growing up healthy without overthinking the weight of the world.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somehow, despite the fact that he had just shot me three times, his touch didn’t feel bad. It carried the heavy, melancholic warmth of a veteran who had outlived everyone he ever cared about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s a profound pity I can’t stay here longer,\" the Executioner murmured, standing back up. \"Otherwise, I would have loved to take you as a formal disciple and train you properly. You have a terrifying amount of potential, Lucien Ashborne. Don’t let it go to waste.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t plan to,\" I grunted, forcing myself into a sitting position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Executioner turned his back. With a faint shimmer of holy mana, the legendary First Gun Master vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind except the bullet holes in the walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let out a long, exhausted groan and dug a health potion out of my inventory, downing it in one gulp to assist theRune of Vitality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*****\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time I fully healed the bullet wounds and changed into a fresh set of clothes, it was already mid-afternoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I walked down the stairs to the inn’s lobby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The previously dead-silent building was suddenly filled with chaotic hustle and bustle. The innkeeper, the maids, and the carriage drivers were all rushing around, looking completely frantic and puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How could we have all slept in so late?!\" the innkeeper was yelling at a waiter. \"It’s past two in the afternoon!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My driver spotted me and rushed over, looking deeply apologetic. \"Young Master Ashborne! I am so incredibly sorry! I don’t know what came over me, I just couldn’t wake up—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s fine,\" I interrupted, chuckling inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was obvious what had happened. The Executioner had cast a wide-area sleeping spell or used a silent aura to knock out the entire inn so our explosive shootout wouldn’t draw the local guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just get the carriage ready,\" I ordered. \"We’re heading to the Capital immediately.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1022,"2026-06-06T04:52:02.137Z",1,"novelbin.me","2d200eaae0b0a5167f0e59c83ba97b6e9b851199a021fa6fd4c742ddea15ae19","i-am-a-villain-so-what-chapter-222","i-am-a-villain-so-what-chapter-220",230,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-am-a-villain-so-what-cover.jpg"]