[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess":3,"chapter-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-201":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I'm in Love with the Villainess!",{"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},895338,1171,"Chapter 201: Horror...?","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-201",201,"\u003Cp>THUD!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hit the bottom of the pit at last.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or at least, what felt like the bottom. Instead of answers, though, I got even more questions. The platforms I’d been jumping down from had vanished ages ago. Down here, the rock was untouched—natural, not carved or reinforced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No supports and machinery. Nothing that could’ve dug this deep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless the mining company had used mages to drill further than where the platforms ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That should have been impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For now, though, nothing seemed immediately wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing except the blaring system notification that wouldn’t leave my vision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Nyx’s Presence Warns You]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I forced myself to ignore it for a moment and studied the walls around me. The shaft was perfectly circular, the stone cut clean—too clean. If this really was a mage’s work, then their control over magic made mine look like a child’s scribble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was almost... atomically precise, if I had to put it into words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surface gleamed like polished marble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That should not exist in an abandoned mine shaft.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Warning!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BADUMP!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That feeling again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I moved to the right without thinking, just in time to dodge something I couldn’t see. My eyes caught nothing, but every instinct I had screamed that I’d just avoided something lethal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BADUMP!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again. This time I stepped left, slipping past what felt like a ghost brushing by.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Black Sun]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Echo (On)]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I couldn’t see it, I’d burn everything until I hit it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flames roared out of me, flooding the shaft from bottom to top. The platforms I’d passed on the way down melted and collapsed in the blast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the fire died...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My instincts shrieked again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BADUMP!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shit...!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I dropped, barely dodging another invisible strike. It felt like I was losing my mind. Was I actually fighting something, or were my nerves just misfiring, sending danger signals at random?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t want to find out the hard way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to get out. Now—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something brushed my hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as light as a feather. No—a blade? A tentacle? I couldn’t tell. The texture slipped away before I could make sense of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>FWOOSH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black fire erupted from my hands the instant that touch registered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Black Flames Counteracting Unknown Presence]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Advice: Leave]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>FWOOSH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time my cheek ignited, a burst of black flame tearing across my face. It was getting faster—so fast my instincts couldn’t even keep up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>FWOOSH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then my legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Step]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I teleported back to the point where I’d first jumped, dodging another unseen touch by a hair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a split second, the world snapped into pure black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cold. Suffocating. Like something vast and ancient had just turned its head toward me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I slammed back into reality, stumbling onto the familiar ledge as I tripped on a stray rock, lungs burning as if I’d run a marathon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>THUD!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Was it a ghost...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I still had no idea what I was dealing with. I didn’t even know if it could actually kill me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew it was dangerous—but how? My body reacted with flames every time it touched me, yet I felt no real pain. No lasting wounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Part of me wanted to disable my spells, just to see what would happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I liked being alive more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So, looks like I’ve got my answer to everything weird that’s going on in this town.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question now was: what in the world was it, and what did it even do? I definitely didn’t want to turn myself into a test dummy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luckily, I had the perfect alternative. I should at least get one more answer before I return to Evelina.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Step]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I teleported outside and grabbed the closest living animal I could find.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A squirrel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should be good enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dark Step]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I returned to the ledge. My plan was simple: see if it attacked the squirrel, and find out what in the world it would do to something that didn’t have black flames like mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought of going back down there myself, though...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I really didn’t want that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll play it safe.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Holy Flame Manipulation]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I coated the squirrel in holy flames—just enough to protect it from the worst of the damage when it landed below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing personal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hurled the squirrel over the edge and squatted down, waiting for the impact, enhancing my hearing with magic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a minute or so...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>THUD!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It landed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the next step...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The Serpent’s Amulet Resisted Memory Erasure]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"H-Huh...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a second, I just blinked, crouched at the edge of the shaft, staring into the darkness and waiting for something to happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Waiting for... something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...What was I doing again?\" I frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That wasn’t right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew I had just done something—something important, something that mattered enough to leave my nerves humming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My hand tightened slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a faint warmth lingering on my fingers, a thin residue of holy flame clinging to my skin like dust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Did I drop something?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, that wasn’t it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The Serpent’s Amulet Counteracted Memory Erasure]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The notification pulsed again, sharper this time, cutting through the fog in my head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hit me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Squirrel.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My head snapped up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I dropped a squirrel.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why would I—?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A test. My test. The invisible thing waiting below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My thoughts slammed back into place all at once, like puzzle pieces violently snapping together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My breathing slowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Something’s down there. Something that messes with memory.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I exhaled through my nose, forcing myself to stay calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Great. Just great.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of all the things it could’ve been...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A monster, a cursed artifact, or some underground faction just as big as the Shadow Society.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, of course not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it had to be something weird.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something I couldn’t punch, touch, or even see—something I still didn’t know enough about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, I probably had enough to form a hypothesis. Maybe... just one more squirrel would be enough for me to finally come up with a full answer before I report to Evelina about what’s going on.\u003C\u002Fp>",1005,"2026-06-03T05:52:53.768Z",1,"novelbin.me","960a26fe9d74d099f09b675693db32ac24b46e8928727b74f1a103b266abe9f7","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-278","i-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-chapter-277",324,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-in-love-with-the-villainess-cover.jpg"]