Becoming the Terminally-Ill Villain Who Torments His Disciples - Chapter 52.1
The moment Cielo finished speaking, the surroundings suddenly went pitch black.
“Lee Eunwoo!”
At the same time, a voice rang out, and tension surged through Cielo’s—no, Lee Eunwoo’s—body.
Just moments ago, his hair had been long, but now it was short. His hands were rough, his limbs scrawny, and his arms were bruised.
“Huh…?”
“What are you doing, zoning out like that?!”
The voice shouted again, and the entire scene around him completely shifted.
Until just a second ago, he had been watching the real Cielo’s memories. But now, for some reason, the world around him was a place he knew all too well.
Swallowing dryly, Eunwoo slowly moved his body.
As he peeled his foot off the floor, the damp summer air and the sticky yellow vinyl flooring clung to his sole with a squelch.
A life with no hope, sensations of decay and emptiness—the memories of the world Lee Eunwoo had lived in, which he had tried for six years to forget.
“…Ha.”
Could it be that because he wasn’t shaken by Cielo’s real memories, he had fallen deeper into his own subconscious?
As Eunwoo grimaced, a sharp, barking voice rang out.
“Why are you just standing there?! Hurry up and make some money!”
An empty soju bottle flew toward his face. It struck right at his temple and shattered against the wall behind him.
The painfully familiar and sharp sensation made Eunwoo’s hands tremble.
And yet, strangely, he wasn’t as scared as before. He didn’t feel the instinctive fear that once made him crouch down, shield his head with his arms, and cry out apologies.
Though the words spilling from his mother’s mouth still cut at Eunwoo’s heart—
Oddly enough, he felt okay.
“How strange…”
He thought reliving this day would be unbearable.
But strangely, he wasn’t afraid.
Instead, the images of Ryan and Oscar came to mind so easily, and for a moment, he even felt as though their hands were holding his.
“It used to be painful enough to want to die…”
They say people live on happy memories.
He had once scoffed at that idea, but now, he could no longer deny it.
“Stop mumbling to yourself and go out and make money. I said go buy me some booze!”
As the scolding continued, Eunwoo slowly approached her.
Even though her face was flushed red with drunkenness, she still hurled whatever she could get her hands on at Eunwoo—tissue boxes, the remote control. Grabbing anything she could, she tried to hurt him however she could.
“No.”
“…What? You little—!”
“I’m already dead, Mother.”
The moment Eunwoo spoke, smack!—a loud slap landed across his cheek.
The sting and rising fear that followed were intense—
“Cielo!”
“Master!”
But somewhere, he could hear their warm voices and see their smiling faces.
Eunwoo turned back to face his mother, who had just struck him. Sitting before her, he reached out and took the fist she had clenched.
“I really hate you.”
“Y-You brat!”
“But even that hatred… probably means I still wanted something from you.”
He had wanted to be acknowledged. Not to be told he was useless, but to hear, “I survived because of you.”
That’s why—even though he knew it wasn’t right—he had worked himself to the bone to earn money. He had listened to every cruel word she said, trying endlessly to avoid being hated.
“Even now, after dying and being given a new life, sometimes I still suffer because of what you did to me.”
“What the hell are you babbling about?! I told you to get me booze!”
“But… I won’t dwell on these memories anymore.”
Just as Oscar had stood up from the sadness of his past. Just as he had looked not to the past but toward the present and future and moved forward—
He wanted to do the same.
“I’m going to throw away every painful memory and live by dreaming of happy days.”
“…”
“So please… disappear from my memories now.”
I will not crumble.
For the people who believe in me and love me.
For the people who want me to live.
I will move forward.
And I will live—
to find happiness.
The moment he committed to that resolution, the world before his eyes warped.
As he came to, following a distant voice calling him back, he saw Sol gripping Cielo’s shoulders and shouting furiously.
“…Why isn’t my ability working?! Damn it, Cielo! Lose your mind right now!”
Cielo locked eyes with Sol, whose body was glowing with intense light.
Each time Sol gave a command, some intangible force grazed Cielo’s body. But his voice no longer reached deep into Cielo’s heart.
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