[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-villain-s-pov":3,"chapter-the-villain-s-pov-the-villain-s-pov-chapter-298":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","THE VILLAIN'S POV",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},336635,598,"Chapter 298: The One Battle You Can’t Win","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-298",298,"\u003Cp>After that relentless spiral of pain,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stared forward for a few seconds,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>my thoughts still scattered…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until my senses slowly returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that's when I realized ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was no longer inside the black castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where… am I?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the first question I asked myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the answers ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were starting to take shape… on their own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was sitting on a wooden chair… inside an ordinary room with a single bed, a desk, and a few simple pieces of furniture. Things that made it obvious the space belonged to a guy in his twenties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right in front of me ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>another person sat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also in his twenties, with a look so familiar I recognized him instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were face-to-face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I started laughing—quietly at first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hollow laugh, wondering if I'd finally lost my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This room was mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were my things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the person sitting across from me…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or rather—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The version of me I used to look like, long ago…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>before the reincarnation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before everything began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My past self smiled as I laughed like a madman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Welcome back,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he said, using my old voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And something about it felt deeply, fundamentally wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Welcome back where?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked, still smiling uncontrollably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Home,\" he answered calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment I heard that word, I sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Exhausted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tired of all this illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Home? Did you people go and recreate my old house? Turned it into one of your little trials?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wouldn't even be surprised if the walls suddenly exploded and monsters came crawling in to devour my brain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My past self chuckled at my reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So cynical… life really hasn't been kind to you, has it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words were simple ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but they hit harder than I expected,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>especially coming from an old version of myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A version that once lived a peaceful life,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>far removed from the endless spiral of blood and death I've endured since then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I were still the same person from back then…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I probably wouldn't be thinking this way at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That realization left a bitter taste in my mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It made me angry ..without even knowing why.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who are you? What illusion have you trapped me in this time?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, I'd already tried to strike him multiple times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But neither Balerion nor the Dark Sister answered me ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>no matter how hard I called for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Powerless, I was left with no choice but to play along with this absurd play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The smile on my former self's face slowly widened,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>as if he could hear every thought racing through my head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked around and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This isn't an illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It's what you call 'home,'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but not your real home.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Annoyed, I cut him off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What are you even talking about?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This place is the safe haven your mind created.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The place you feel most at ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'm the version of yourself you long for more than anything.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence settled for a few seconds as I tried to process his words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So in other words… all of this is happening inside my head?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once I got my answer, I leaned back into the wooden chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I really have lost my mind this time, huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a smile, my past self agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You lost it a long time ago.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sitting here,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>talking to myself inside my own head without restraint…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't help but wonder ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When did everything start to slip from my hand?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When did I change this much?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You haven't necessarily changed,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>my other self said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And yet—you have.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pointed at himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My existence is proof of that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you mean?\" I asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Like I said… I'm the ideal version of you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one you wish you could be again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this place is the sanctuary your mind has built around that wish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is where your 'family' lives.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And what's wrong with that?\" I asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"These choices of yours mean you're still trapped in the past…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You still see me as the better version of yourself ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>not the person you are now, Frey.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And this place...\" he said, casting a thoughtful glance around him before continuing,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...this is still the place you call home ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but not the Starlight estate, where your reincarnated father lives... and your sister resides now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked genuinely sorrowful as he said those words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In other words… you're still stuck in the past, Frey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You've changed ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and at the same time… you haven't.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between past and present…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lot had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That much was inevitable, given the life I had lived since my reincarnation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>deep inside, parts of me remained exactly the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep down inside…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was still yearning for the life I had lost—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a life I knew I could never return to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just thinking about it stirred feelings I didn't want to face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I shut his words down with cold detachment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the same cold gaze I'd always given my enemies, I looked straight at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isn't it time you told me why I'm here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment I asked, my other self looked surprised ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then smiled again, faintly… with sorrow in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So… time's up, huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Time for what?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're about to get answers to some of the questions that have haunted you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he said that, I felt my curiosity stir—despite myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you're not ready to hear them yet…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>which means you'll have to face what's waiting behind that door.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Door?\" I asked, confused ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>only to realize that a strange door had appeared behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression grew more sorrowful as he glanced at it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a half-smile, I looked at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So there's another test, huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing new.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I've never gained anything without a struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But my other self only looked more pained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This time… it's different.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stammered slightly, his eyes locked on mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You won't be able to overcome what's behind that door.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lowering his head, his shoulders trembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's why I brought you here… Please, Frey… don't open that door.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With every word he spoke,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the cracks in the closed door behind him began to glow brighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There has to be another way… you don't have to do this…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please… don't go.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lowering his head toward me,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stared at the man who was supposed to be me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And though he tried to stop me,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he truly was worried for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could feel it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because he was me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lifted his head when I placed my hand gently on his right shoulder,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>offering him a faint, bittersweet smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm sorry.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn't need to say more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he truly was me,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he already knew the answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With sorrow, he nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There's no other way… is there?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were no shortcuts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No easy paths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I wanted to reach the end,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to face whatever waited for me—no matter what it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, with resolve,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stepped forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And opened the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A brilliant light erupted, swallowing me whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My other self remained where he was,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>watching with a pained smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You won't win this time, Frey…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The light faded slowly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>allowing me to see what was on the other side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This time, your opponent… can't be defeated.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The place I now stood in ..\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>was hauntingly familiar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it wasn't the room itself that made me tremble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the people inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You won't win… not against them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness swallowed the previous room—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>my old self vanishing along with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the space I had just entered lit up fully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, inside that room, stood four figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Welcome back…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They spoke in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I stood frozen, completely stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…W-What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the blink of an eye,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>my mind went blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything faded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything I had been until now was erased—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>memories slipping away like water through fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the people I had chased for so long ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>like chasing a mirage…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a mind too empty to even process it properly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I smiled—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a smile I hadn't worn in a very, very long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm home.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Home… at last.\u003C\u002Fp>",1372,"2026-05-30T03:41:22.346Z","2026-06-01T04:30:12.387Z",1,"novelbin.me","c567128c671561804edf2bb67c5d483c6841fe3de26524851ce78bb194c4be13","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-299","the-villain-s-pov-chapter-297",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-villain-s-pov-cover.jpg"]