The Villain's Sister - Chapter 76

On his somber face lay a darkness that Giselle could not fathom.

Yet it was also a face she knew.

The look seen in the eyes of Raphael and Oscar, the look only those who had experienced war and the sins of the city could have.

“Before and after pulling the trigger are two completely different lives. Just as you can’t gather a bullet once it has left the barrel, you can’t return to life before pulling the trigger.”

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

“Even if I don’t die, countless changes will happen inside you.”

“I don’t care.”

“I care. At least you, I wish you wouldn’t step onto this path. Your brother would wish the same.”

Meeting Giselle’s trembling eyes, Johan asked, “Do you have the confidence to bear bloodstained hands?”

“Shut up…”

“You are not cruel enough for hatred to swallow guilt. You must know that yourself.”

“I told you to shut up!”

Her ragged breathing came rough.

Giselle jabbed the muzzle against Johan’s forehead.

Instead of showing agitation before Johan, Giselle chose to unleash her deep fury.

“You dare say that after killing Raphael?”

“I never killed Raphael.”

“You and Black Cloak killed Raphael before my eyes! Oscar couldn’t even find the body! How do you think it felt holding a funeral like that?”

“Giselle. All your memories are—”

Seeing the bloodshot rims of Giselle’s eyes, Johan closed his mouth. A sigh clung to the tip of his tongue.

In her thin voice, straining to hold back the flood of tears, the misery she had felt then was vividly alive.

“One thing, though, I do thank you for. Thanks to you, my family crossed over into this peaceful world.”

If this deeply rooted dream originated from Giselle’s experience, then how had she come here?

Her father’s violence was only the catalyst.

Something magical had to have worked to make it possible.

‘Do you know?’

That everything surrounding you is strange.

“Have you ever thought this place strange?”

Giselle answered with a scornful laugh, “Stop talking shit and shut up if you don’t want to die.”

Hesitation fell away, and her finger rested again on the trigger.

“Then you will realize soon enough that it is strange.”

Johan flicked his finger and the sound of waves disappeared.

As though the world had been drained of sound, silence fell.

Turning his head, he saw the sea where the waves had stopped.

“This is…”

At that moment, thick fog surrounded them.

When he blinked, instead of the salty smell of the sea came the familiar scent of an air freshener.

“Giselle.”

Johan had transported them to Giselle’s home. At the magic he displayed, Giselle clapped her hand over her mouth in shock.

“H-how…”

“This place is not reality. That’s why magic works here.”

Click, click.

Giselle’s jaw trembled in fright, and her teeth chattered.

Johan once more realized that to Giselle, he was the invader stealing her perfect world.

The pistol in Giselle’s grip floated up and settled into Johan’s hand.

Clack, clatter.

The gun was completely dismantled by invisible force and placed on the living room table.

Giselle, stunned, could only watch.

“This isn’t… reality?”

“This is your dream.”

“Lies.”

“You are unconscious now. To wake, you must accept that this place is not reality.”

Her blue eyes shook wildly. Her fine lips twisted without mercy.

“This is reality.”

“7:59 a.m. the morning after tomorrow is the deadline. If we don’t get out by then, both you and I will be swallowed by this world and die.”

“…Get out.”

“Giselle.”

“Get out! Get out of my house!”

Giselle shoved at Johan’s chest.

He retreated without resistance.

Seeing her trembling shoulders, Johan walked to the front door.

At the threshold, he warned her again, “Remember that there isn’t much time.”

Bang!

The door slammed shut harshly.

Standing before the steel door, Johan closed his eyes. Overwhelming fatigue washed over him.

***

Johan, having left Giselle’s house, wandered the streets.

Though inside consciousness, it was a world modeled after reality.

Young Giselle had clearly fallen into another world.

So it must have been that she created such a dream.

‘Fourteen years old…’

Far too young an age to be wandering a strange world alone.

He imagined Giselle at fourteen.

The heart that would have dreamed while watching movies, the loneliness and solitude she must have felt, the yearning she must have had for a world she had never seen.

If they escaped here safely, Johan would need to have a proper conversation with Giselle.

“J-Jo, Johan?”

At the quivering voice filled with tears, he turned his head to see one of Giselle’s fans trembling in an alley.

Surrounded by peers, the boy looked at Johan with desperate eyes.

“Willy. Calling people won’t change the fact that you’re about to get beaten.”

The boys surrounding Willy sneered.

It was a cliché problem among youths.

Johan strode over and pulled Willy away from them.

“Don’t get involved for no reason. Just go on your way.”

“Willy. You need to finish what you started. Hurry and come here.”

“This guy has business with me, so you all just go to school.”

“Judging by how he doesn’t even know what day it is, he must be some bum who just eats his mom’s food at home.”

“Mister, today is Saturday. Losers, honestly.”

Some of them mocked, and the others burst out laughing.

When Johan tried to pull Willy by the scruff of his neck to leave the alley, one boy blocked the way.

“If you want to go home with that idiot, pay up. We were planning to borrow money from Willy to buy cigarettes today.”

Johan kept hold of Willy, dragged him along, and lightly subdued the boy blocking the way, throwing him to the ground.

The others rushed Johan all at once.

Johan pushed Willy behind him and, with only simple movements, floored the delinquent students.

“Huuuh!”

Johan turned to the wide-eyed Willy and asked, “Do you have a spare room at home?”

***

“S-sorry! I’m not usually this bad at cooking…”

“Forget it.”

When the handle of the frying pan caught fire and black smoke rose, Johan rummaged in the cupboard and found a can of ham.

Dinner became canned ham.

Willy stole glances at Johan quietly eating the ham.

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s just, you don’t look like the type of person who’d eat something like this.”

“I’ve eaten more than anyone.”

When supplies were delayed, even canned ham like this was precious.

The dry texture and salty taste were so familiar he was sick of it.

“Thank you for helping me earlier. If they’d taken my living expenses, I’d have had to starve until my parents came back from overseas.”

Too tired to even bother saying it didn’t matter, Johan waved his hand carelessly and set down the spoon.

“Oh, right. Tomorrow morning, Deva is coming to the charity event! Want to come with me?”

“Sure.”

“Great! Oh, I’ll show you my Deva collection! You’re a fan too, aren’t you, Johan?”

Willy’s room was covered with posters of movies Giselle had starred in.

“Amazing, right? Especially the poster for Forgotten Time. Distribution was nearly impossible back then because of a logistics strike, so it was really hard to get.”

The same movie could also be seen at the theater Giselle had taken him to.

Only, the actress was different.

In Willy’s poster, the lead was Giselle, but on the movie theater’s poster, it was an unknown actress.

He hadn’t wanted proof of this unstable dream in such a way.

It seemed that in the dream, the actress of his favorite movie had been replaced with Giselle.

Looking around the room, Johan checked the poster for Mist Island.

The actor playing Red Shadow looked laughable, and just seeing Black Pistols made his face harden.

“Do you think Black Pistols is cool too?”

“Of course! He shoots well, he’s insanely muscular, and he’s a hero!”

Willy began to chatter beside him.

“Did he become a hero because he was a cop? Or did he become a cop because he was a hero? Judging by how Raphael apologized for killing his brother before he died, I think it’s because he lost his family to a great evil.”

Sunshine fell victim to a great evil?

He was great evil itself.

“But the one I’m most curious about is Red Shadow.”

“Red Shadow is nothing but a murderer.”

“No! Red Shadow is a hero too.”

Excited, Willy refuted Johan’s words.