CHAPTER 141: DOES A VILLAIN NEED TO KEEP HIS WORD?

"Tsss..."

Mia gasped, sucking in a sharp breath as she stared at the two irregular holes torn through the hem of her skirt. She swallowed hard, fear still lingering in her eyes.

Just now, those two bullets had nearly grazed her legs.

If she had moved even slightly, her legs might’ve been shattered.

"Scared?"

Veil spun the ivory-colored silver pistol in his hand and turned to Mia with a casual smile.

Mia pressed her lips together and shook her head. She glanced at Derek but said nothing. Though a trace of guilt flickered in her eyes, she knew better than to speak out of turn.

She understood—Derek was screwed.

If she dared to say anything else, she might end up paying the price herself.

"What? No plea for mercy?" Veil’s tone dripped with amusement as he glanced back and forth between Mia and Derek. "He was your childhood sweetheart, wasn’t he? Don’t you feel even a little bit sorry for him?"

Just a game, really.

And if this was a game, Veil was going to play it better than anyone else.

Childhood sweetheart? So what?

If Derek still harbored feelings for Mia, then Veil was going to crush those feelings right in front of him—utterly and completely.

He wouldn’t stop at physical damage. No—he was going to destroy him mentally, too.

"Young Master Lancaster," Mia sighed, feigning helplessness. "What do you want me to say? I told him to leave. He refused. Then he dared raise a hand against you. Isn’t this outcome his own fault?"

As she looked at Derek, any hint of youthful innocence had vanished. Her eyes were cold—like she was staring at a stranger.

"Mia!"

Derek shouted, voice strained, teeth clenched, eyes reddened with emotion as he stared at the girl clinging to Veil’s side.

"I can’t believe it... You’ve changed completely. The girl I knew back then would never act like this. I’m... I’m so disappointed in you!"

Mia’s face flushed, her pride wounded by the accusation. She snapped back in anger.

"Changed? Me? What exactly have I done that disappointed you? Derek, have you forgotten who you really are?"

"Back then, your family fell apart. You moved into my home, ate our food, lived under our roof. We took care of you. And what did you do? You took advantage of my kindness, said those sweet things when I was too young to know better—and then you disappeared."

"Now you show up with some so-called Fourth Elder Sister at your side, and you’re mad at me? Like I’ve somehow wronged you?"

"You’re the disappointment here, Derek. Not me!"

As far as Mia was concerned, whatever feelings existed between them back then weren’t love. It was childish attachment at best. They were kids—what did they know about love?

Now, with Veil stepping in, whatever thread connected her and Derek had been completely severed.

⸻

"Ding! The original plot has been altered. Congratulations, Host, villain points +5000."

"Ding! The Child of Destiny is experiencing extreme emotional instability. Villain points +5000."

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. You’ve enraged the Child of Destiny, who now sees you as an enemy and harbors sustained killing intent. Villain value now accumulating (500 per hour)."

Hearing the system prompts, Veil raised an eyebrow.

What the hell? Villain value accumulation over time? Five hundred per hour?

Holy shit.

If Derek kept living like this, Veil could earn enough for a dozen premium draws just off him in a day.

Like a hunter eyeing prime prey, Veil narrowed his eyes at Derek and sneered.

"You crippled two of my bodyguards’ arms. I just crippled your legs. We’re even now."

"Originally, I wasn’t planning to push this any further. I even thought about letting you go."

After all, Derek was the Child of Destiny—he was just getting started. Of the seven Elder Sisters around him, Veil only knew the whereabouts of Fourth Sister Mystical Star, First Sister Hannah, and the mischievous Little Seventh Sister.

The other four didn’t have concrete appearances in the original story—they were all tied to Derek’s future.

Only if Derek stayed alive could Veil continue to follow the original progression and unravel each thread of the plot.

If Derek died now, everything would change.

Veil would immediately become the enemy of all seven Elder Sisters. Without Derek to balance them out—especially someone like Mystical Star, who was close to him—Veil would have no buffer.

If anything unexpected happened, no one could predict what those seven powerful women might do in their rage.

That was why Veil originally planned to get rid of the Elder Sisters first, then deal with Derek.

But now?

He’d changed his mind.

The system was literally offering villain points on a timer. Might as well keep Derek around—like a pig to fatten and bleed dry later.

And yet, Veil’s spiteful nature refused to let things end quietly.

"Derek, whether you live or die now depends on your luck. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Let’s see if fate still wants you alive."

He reached behind and took a revolver from Cody.

With a click, he loaded a single bullet into one of the six chambers.

Everyone understood what was happening now.

This was a game of Russian roulette.

One bullet. One in six chance.

With Derek’s legs already crippled, he had no way to dodge if the bullet fired.

But just when they thought Veil would pull the trigger, he pulled more bullets from his pocket—four of them—and slid them in one by one.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Now it was five bullets out of six.

Mia’s mouth opened in horror, but no words came out.

Kai and Cody exchanged uneasy glances.

This wasn’t a test of fate anymore—this was just cheating.

Even Derek wanted to shout at this point. Was Veil insane?

Why not just load all six and get it over with?

Fuck!

He never imagined he’d fall this low.

And the most bitter part? His long-lost childhood sweetheart hadn’t come to comfort him—she had taken the enemy’s side instead.

Veil raised the revolver and aimed it straight at Derek’s head, finger resting on the trigger.

The room went silent.

Everyone held their breath, eyes locked on Veil’s hand.

Click.

Empty. No bullet.

"Holy shit!"

"No way!"

"One-in-six and he survived?!"

Kai and Cody cried out in disbelief.

Even Tiger Roar looked shaken by Derek’s insane luck.

Derek himself was stunned—he hadn’t expected to survive.

Bang!

Just as the relief began to wash over him, another gunshot rang out.

A bullet slammed into his left shoulder, tearing through flesh and bone.

"You... you liar!"

Derek shouted, eyes blazing with rage.

Veil casually shrugged and dug a finger into his ear, his voice slow and indifferent.

"I said if you survived, I wouldn’t kill you. I never said you’d get to keep all your limbs."

After all, he was the ultimate villain.

Since when did a villain need to worry about promises, honor, or keeping his word when dealing with a so-called Child of Destiny?

This whole "game of chance" had been about one thing—Derek’s luck.

It was nothing more than a test of his destiny value.

Now that Veil knew Derek’s luck was absurdly strong, he figured—why not keep milking him for villain points?

At that moment—

Whoosh!

A black shadow darted past Tiger Roar, snatched Derek up, and vanished toward the exit in a blur.

"The shame you brought me today... I’ll repay it a hundredfold!"

Derek’s voice rang out, growing distant as it echoed down the hallway.

Kai felt a chill run down his spine. Goosebumps rose across his back as he muttered cautiously,

"Young Master, now that Derek’s escaped, he’s going to be a real problem. Should we take this chance to finish him off for good?"

Veil waved him off with a smirk.

"No need. The guy’s got two busted legs and one ruined arm. Even if he has some miracle drug, there’s no way he’s recovering anytime soon."

"Until then, he’ll be forced to lay low like a beaten dog. He won’t dare show up again for a while."

Mia leaned against Veil’s chest, her voice tinged with confusion.

"That shadow earlier... it moved so fast. Who was it? Don’t tell me we’ve got a traitor on our side?"

Veil chuckled and tilted her chin with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Who else could it be? Obviously, it was that so-called Fourth Elder Sister of Derek’s."

He’d known about Mystical Star’s presence from the beginning.

She had disguised herself as one of Tiger Roar’s underlings using some basic face-changing technique. In this chaotic environment, even if her disguise wasn’t perfect, with so many eyes and distractions, no one would’ve noticed her true identity.

No one... except Veil.

He had sensed her killing intent the moment she got close. Ranked number one on the assassin leaderboard, Mystical Star wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to murderous aura.

And if he couldn’t pick that up? Then what was the point of his advanced danger-sense ability?

"That’s terrifying," Mia whispered, shivering slightly. "Thank goodness I never got close to Derek’s Elder Sister... or thought about being with him. I’d probably end up dead from all the drama."

Her words were a mix of flattery and genuine fear, and she clung even tighter to Veil.

Veil laughed, clearly entertained, and gently pinched her delicate chin.

"Well, you definitely made the right choice. If it had been any other rich kid in this room today, all your relief and gratitude would’ve turned into nothing but endless regret."

When Derek was in danger, Mia didn’t lift a finger to help him.

She had even acted in ways that could be interpreted as helping Veil instead.

But did she do anything wrong?

No.

Absolutely not.

Mia owed Derek nothing. If anything, Derek owed a debt to her family.

And yet he had the nerve to curse at her? To act like he was the one who had been wronged?

Honestly, even Veil had to hold back a gag watching Derek act like he was the hero of the story.

Too full of himself.