Villain Retirement

Chapter 1155: Fate On Steroids

Chapter 1155: Fate On Steroids

[Riley Ross. Hero.]

"Hm…"

Riley had been staring at the book in his hands for quite a while now. He had been feeling the hard-bound cover, trying to figure out what sort of material it was made from—and he actually already had an idea as it was a material he was used to handling.

It was leather. A leather made from human skin, to be exact. And judging from how white it was, it was his skin.

"Interesting, very interesting." He tilted his head, opening the book to find page after page of blank paper. Not a single word was written, no directions, nothing. Just empty pages.

Without a second thought, Riley closed the book, watching as it vanished right before his eyes. He blinked, then reached for it in his mind, calling for it silently again. Instantly, the book reappeared in his hands. He considered this new world and Monkeh's words: they needed to follow the book.

A thought crossed his mind. If he was supposed to "follow the book" here, did that mean he needed to act like a hero? He stared at the empty pages a moment longer before closing the book once more. It disappeared, and he just moved on.

Riley started walking through the dense forest. Birds chirped overhead, and insects flitted around the branches, their sounds fading into a distant hum. But Riley wasn't paying attention to any of it. His steps were calm and steady, his eyes fixed ahead.

But soon, the underbrush rustled nearby, and Riley stopped, his gaze drifting toward the sound. And with that as their only warning, a group of small green creatures emerged from the shadows. They looked like small, twisted versions of humans—goblins. Barely reaching his waist, they muttered to each other in rough, low voices, their eyes sharp and beady.

"Oh?" Riley watched them, slightly amused as he tilted his head to the side while listening to their garbled words.

"Khukukuk…" One of the goblins stepped forward, seemingly not caring at all that Riley was looking at them in amusement rather than fear or any other expressions. It was gripping a jagged, rusted knife.

"Kuehk." The goblin sneered at Riley, baring its tartar-filled teeth at him before just suddenly lunging forward and swinging its knife at him.

One of the goblins, a bit braver than the others, stepped forward, gripping a jagged, rusted knife. The goblin sneered, baring its teeth as it lunged forward, swinging the blade at Riley.

Riley did not move at all, he just let the knife strike him to his side… only for the knife to bounce off of him, snapping back to cut the goblin's own arm.

"Kuehk!?" The creature stumbled back, clutching its wound as dark blood seeped through its fingers.

"Hm," Riley muttered, his gaze following the goblin's trembling hands.

"Kueh…?" The other goblins gasped and scrambled back, their wide eyes filled with fear. Some of them even wet themselves, the smell of urine filling the air as they backed away from him, weapons clattering to the ground. Riley watched them for a moment, unsure of what to do with them. But after a few seconds, he just turned around and continued walking.

However, he didn't make it three steps before a faint, warm trickle ran from his nose.

"Hm?" Riley stopped and reached up, brushing his fingertips across the blood that had started to run down his lip.

"...Oh."

He then turned to look back at the goblins, and it did not even take a single second for him to realize what was happening—Camrose probably treated the goblins as 'evil' creatures, and since he was marked as a "Hero" by the weird large book, his nose bleeding was most probably a sign.

A sign that he was supposed to kill them.

"Well…" And so, with a slight shrug, Riley turned around, facing the goblins again. They were already sighing with relief, but when they noticed Riley stepping closer with his lips curled up, their faces filled with new terror.

The goblins tried to run, but Riley did not really give them the chance. He quickly wrapped his hand around the first goblin's head, casually crushing its skull with a single hand.

And one by one, he caught them all. But he didn't let them die quickly, no. He twisted their limbs, pulled out their eyes, sawed off their ears, and even ground their flesh using their own fractured bones.

When the last goblin fell silent, Riley looked around. No warning, no punishment. The world remained quiet, indifferent to his methods. A hero would end his enemies swiftly, but Riley could sense no consequence here. The laws of this world were rigid and clear: as long as he killed "evil," his methods didn't matter.

"Interesting…" Riley whispered, a faint smile curling on his lips as he examined his blood-stained hands. The goblins' dark blood splattered across his clothes, but he made no move to clean himself. His smile lingered as he continued through the forest, paying little attention to the rest of the scenery.

After nearly an hour of walking, Riley reached a clearing. Multiple trails dug the ground ahead of him, cutting through the undergrowth. He paused, looking between the paths. He spent a couple of seconds trying to decide where to go before ultimately choosing the trail that led toward a mountain.

***

After an hour of just walking, he heard the faint sound of hooves. It was a carriage, being drawn by several horses and moving slowly along the trail behind him. The horses' hooves pounded the ground in a steady rhythm as the carriage pulled closer, getting slower and slower until it stopped just ahead of Riley, the horses snorting as they shifted their weight.

The window of the carriage creaked open, and a young boy, barely old enough to be traveling alone, poked his head out. He looked at Riley, his eyes bright with curiosity.

"Hey, Mister. Are you a ghost?" the boy asked, slightly giggling as he looked at Riley from head to toe.

"Oh…?" Riley stared at the young boy for a few seconds—a smile, slowly crawling on his face. The boy was a little taken aback by how wide his smile was. But still, the boy returned with a smile of his own as he asked another question.

"Where are you going!? Are you going to the Afterlife!?"

"I am going nowhere." Riley shrugged before he continued walking.

The carriage moved forward, following along at his side. The boy's butler, seated beside him, leaned over and whispered something, probably warning the boy not to speak to strangers. The boy ignored him, his eyes still fixed on Riley.

"We can take you to the nearest city if you want," the boy offered, leaning further out of the window, his voice eager.

"W—" But before Riley could answer, a rustling noise filled the air. Rough-looking men appeared from the trees, their clothes worn and their faces scruffy and wild. They spread out, surrounding the carriage and blocking Riley's path. One of the men stepped forward, gripping a crude war axe as he sneered at them.

"Hand over your money!" the man barked, his voice rough and demanding.

From their appearance and the way they eyed the carriage, it was clear they were bandits. Their greedy stares lingered on the horses, the carriage, and the young boy peeking through the window. They shifted their weapons, positioning themselves in a way that blocked every possible escape.

Riley didn't react, standing still as he looked at them. This cliche scene… the bandits, the carriage, even the young, curious boy. It reminded him of those fantasy novels Gary liked. And perhaps it was just timely, considering who he had just met.

The young boy pulled his head back inside the carriage, and his butler quickly moved to close the window. Riley, meanwhile, stood unfazed, his gaze cold as the bandits edged closer.

"Did you hear me?" the bandit leader snapped, stepping toward Riley, his axe glinting under the afternoon sun.

Riley didn't respond at all and instead just stared at the bandit. Riley had always been at the center of it all, but this world, Camrose…

…it felt like fate on steroids.