The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses - Chapter 307

Chapter 307: The Cause Behind the Outcome

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“Ah—I understand your concern. Some things I tried so hard to avoid ended up happening in the worst possible way. And if what I’m facing is ‘death’—something that seems absolutely unchangeable—then it feels even more inevitable.”

“But I don’t think that way anymore. Or rather… I’ve changed my perspective.”

“Changed your… perspective?”

Will nodded, threading his fingers through Shuna’s flowing black hair.

She didn’t pull away. She didn’t even blush.

At this point, something as simple as stroking her hair wasn’t even the most intimate thing they’d done.

Will focused, feeling the texture of her hair under his fingertips—so fine that he had to concentrate to truly sense it.

“As I mentioned earlier, you did enter my memories. And as the ‘key,’ you helped me remember something.”

“Right. According to your explanation, that was your ‘past life.’ But if… the world you came from created the one we live in now, then doesn’t that make you more like a god to us?”

“Yes. That’s how I used to think.”

Will nodded.

“I believed that because my world created yours, this world had to submit to the stories written there. Anything that didn’t fit would be forcefully adjusted.”

“Hmm…” Shuna pondered, then nodded. “And then?”

Will really liked this about her.

Most people wouldn’t even entertain such a convoluted, made-up topic.

But Shuna treated it like a research project—something with secrets to unravel.

Of course.

Because…

Shuna was the original character he’d created for the game adaptation.

She carried his influence—like she’d absorbed his scent.

“And then—you gave me a new perspective.”

“Me…?”

“For example—why do you like me?”

“Because… Wait, suddenly asking me to say it out loud is just—too embarrassing!”

If Will hadn’t still been holding her hair, Shuna might have retreated to the other end of the bed.

“Analyze it rationally. Imagine you’re just an ‘observer’ of our story.”

The way Will phrased it sounded like a command, but Shuna didn’t protest. She just switched into analysis mode.

“I always thought ‘liking someone’ was a fleeting feeling. But if I had to trace the reason, it’d be… the events that led to it.”

“Oh? That’s how you see it.”

“In that case, it’s…”

Shuna’s gaze traveled over Will, as if inspecting him.

“When I was lost, obsessed with death… your letters taught me the meaning of living. You defined that meaning for me. That’s why I like you.”

Though the words were practically a confession, Shuna delivered them with the detached tone of a book report.

—Even though I already knew, hearing it like this makes it feel… heavy!

Will stared into Shuna’s dark eyes.

Her analytical tone only made him treasure their bond more.

Right.

That was exactly why he had to do this—face his “predestined death” and whatever lay beyond it.

“In a way, this was always ‘fate’—just like my death. As the heroine, you were meant to be saved—by someone like me—then fall for him and go crazy after he dies.”

“Stop. The latter half hasn’t happened.”

Shuna hated when Will talked about his death.

And she despised any mention of “what Shuna becomes after Will dies.”

Will was increasingly curious about what she’d seen in his memories that made her so averse to it. Every time he asked, she dodged the question—not to hide it from him, but because she didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“And I don’t like hearing it. My feelings aren’t just ‘plot points’ in a ‘story.’ My real, beating heart disagrees.”

“Exactly. That’s the new perspective I’m adopting.”

Will suddenly leaned down.

And kissed Shuna’s hair.

Her strands brushed his lips—soft, delicate, carrying the faint scent of sweat and something uniquely her.

“Like this… I can smell your hair.”

He inhaled slightly.

Back in his original world, fictional works had words, images, even voices.

But he could never feel the texture of a character’s hair.

Or catch their scent.

Those stories were just simulations—attempts to imagine “what if this world were real.”

But what lay before him now?

Undeniably real.

“I haven’t showered today. Don’t sniff my… slightly sticky hair, you pervert.”

“Huh?”

Will was caught off guard by her train of thought.

“Mmm… Even though we didn’t fight or train today…” She glanced outside—where the red dungeon walls blocked any view of the sky—then frowned. “A whole day of living still makes you a little dirty.”

“Don’t say that. The scent of hardworking girls—sweat, dust, skin—is the best. Especially if you’re wearing stockings—”

“Fine, fine~ If Little Will likes it, I’ll wear them tomorrow.”

Shuna ruffled his hair.

“You agreeing so easily makes you the pervert.”

“I wear them every day. They’re just in the wash today.”

She casually pointed to the stockings hanging behind her.

“But!” She wiggled her bare toes. “I won’t put them on until you explain why you’re so set on facing death!”

“……That… might not be a bad trade.”

“…Hah?”

“R-Right! I’ll keep explaining.”

Will cleared his throat.

“If I discard all notions of ‘storytelling,’ ‘drama,’ and ‘plot twists’—if I treat this as a real world—then there’s no such thing as ‘coincidence.’ Behind every inevitable event, there’s cause and effect.”

– The dog he’d raised as a child still died—but this time, it was because of his own overcompensating actions.
– He’d still gotten injured when Leah first attacked him on the carriage—but that was due to his excessive defense.
– Shuna’s inevitable “expulsion” from the Starting Star? Because she was genuinely angry and wanted him to beg her to come back.
– Even Edward’s early death had a reason—Treya stealing his demonic power accelerated his decline.

…

In a real world, everything had a cause.

Even the cruelest twists of fate exploited existing circumstances.

So now—with stronger defenses, a more agile body, and a sharper mind…

Even the option to avoid that dungeon altogether…

He was curious.

What would cause his death?

What would he see there?

And—

Who was behind it all?

The cause mattered more than the result.

He looked at Shuna.

She was the one who’d taught him this.

If “death” was the destination, then every step—every cause—leading to it wasn’t meaningless.

It was proof he was alive.

“So I want to understand… what’s behind all this. And I’m certain—once I solve it, I’ll surpass that death flag.”

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