[{"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-51":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},1506448,1956,"Chapter 51: Failed Products","i-am-a-villain-so-what-chapter-51",51,"\u003Cp>Celestia’s POV\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What in the Goddess’s name is going on down here?’ I thought as I cleaved through another grotesque, half-melted creature. Its body hit the ground with a wet slap, dissolving into foul-smelling muck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were too many of them. Dozens, perhaps hundreds—mutated things. Just beneath the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why had no one in Fern noticed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why hadn’t the Royal Knights, or the magisters, or the church?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The idea of these things crawling up through the streets, dragging children and families from their homes...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cold shiver ran down my spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If no one had found this place—if he hadn’t—this would’ve been a massacre waiting to happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My gaze shifted forward to the man leading us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucien Ashborne.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked ahead as though hebelongedhere. His steps were measured, precise—never once hesitating when the tunnel split.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t guess. Heknewwhich path to take.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every time the passage branched, he chose one without looking back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if he already knew the layout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if he’d been here before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’How... does he know all this?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought gnawed at me, tightening in my chest like a vice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t stumble, didn’t flinch at the monsters. Even when one lunged from the shadows, he sidestepped it like he’d predicted it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A soldier couldn’t move like that—not without knowingeverythingbeforehand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something long and metallic blocked my chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I froze. My sword half-raised, I turned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucien was right beside me, his rifle held horizontally to bar my path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a brief moment, our eyes met.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His were sharp—too sharp, like a hunting hound’s focused on its prey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air between us seemed to crackle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t speak. Just nodded once, as if telling me to wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he slung the rifle over his shoulder and walked forward alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tunnel opened into a larger chamber—a half-collapsed cavern crawling with monsters. But unlike before, they weren’t attacking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some stood motionless, staring blankly into the darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others trembled against the walls, quivering as though terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucien moved among them quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, he stopped beside one of the still ones. The thing didn’t even react when he reached out and touched its deformed arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"....\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No response. Just a faint wheeze escaping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he turned toward a quivering one crouched in the corner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he took a step closer, itflinched—the whole mass shaking violently, tentacle-like limbs curling defensively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was when a voice came out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Pl-please... don’t kill me....]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A woman’s voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No—too soft, too small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Achild’svoice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart dropped into my stomach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind me, Elisha gasped. \"That voice—was that—?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The realization hit us all at once like a blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mariella’s whisper trembled. \"Th-this... is it what I think it is...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lucien’s voice cut through the silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is a trash bin.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words echoed against the walls, flat and cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I blinked. \"What...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t look at me. His tone was calm—dispassionate, as if describing the weather.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A trash bin for discarding failures.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gestured around us—the monsters, the trembling masses, the ones staring blankly into nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No sorting. No care.\" He pointed to the one cowering in the corner. \"Those with reason left...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The creature whimpered again, its black surface shivering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stepped to another—one that lunged toward us mindlessly, teeth gnashing, instinct driving it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those with instincts left.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quick shot from his rifle silenced it forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he turned to the one that hadn’t moved at all since we entered—the hollow, unresponsive shell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those with nothing left but a body.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes were unreadable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"All failures,\" he said softly. \"Thrown here to rot. We came through the garbage chute.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words hung in the air like a curse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*****\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how much I expected it... seeing it firsthand wassickening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the game, this had just been another scripted event —[Missing Children]— a tragic but distant narrative where you connected clues, followed the quest markers, and finally uncovered the laboratory of a deranged scientist hiding beneath the Fern capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A side quest. A piece of lore. Nothing more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But here... it wasreal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The smell of rot. The faint whimpers echoing through the tunnels. The trembling, malformed bodies that once had names, dreams,families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t text on a screen anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a horror I could smell, hear, and feel clawing under my skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scientist — the man behind all of this — had been trying to create achimera.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An artificial apex predator. The culmination of alchemy and dark mana infusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since I arrived ahead of the game’s timeline... it seems the final phase hadn’t started yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So all that was left were thefailures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The byproducts of his obsession. The discarded pieces of his ambition, crawling mindlessly beneath the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each of these abominations was once a child stolen from the slums.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Children who were never evenmissed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I clenched my jaw until my teeth ached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how much I prepared myself, no matter how much I reminded myself that Iknewthis would happen, seeing it with my own eyes made my stomach twist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Wh–What do you mean, Cadet Lucien?\" Celestia’s voice trembled faintly, her usual calm breaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned toward her slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you not guessed it yet or pretending to play dumb?\" I said with a mocking chuckle. \"Since you were following me you must have heard on the way — children have been going missing for quite a while.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elisha’s face went white. \"You don’t mean—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s exactly what I mean,\" I replied. \"Someone is experimenting on the missing kids down here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A frozen silence fell over the tunnel. Even the rats that had scurried off into the dark seemed to hold their breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You wanted to know why I was here, didn’t you?\" I let the words hang, then finished in a flat tone, \"This is the reason. I’m going to kill that bastard.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mariella’s hand trembled as she gripped her staff. \"B-but how do you know all this?\" she demanded, voice tight with anger and fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And why didn’t you inform anyone? We could have gotten knights’ help,\" Celestia added, outrage lacing the question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you serious now? Have you guys ever believed me if I come up and say, ’Hey, there’s some mad scientist in the sewer experimenting on children — wanna go take care of him?’\" I said, sarcastic enough that the words cut through the damp air.\u003C\u002Fp>",1056,"2026-06-06T04:52:02.137Z",1,"novelbin.me","e8e904b3a64ce9bc04634c7ff7ccbc3fe03676d2b5946f3bdd2e8e1d40292ad9","i-am-a-villain-so-what-chapter-173","i-am-a-villain-so-what-chapter-172",230,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-am-a-villain-so-what-cover.jpg"]