The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

Sunday morning...

"Haaaah..."

Raye woke up with a yawn, then he started fixing his bed.

As he was doing so...

-Meep...

Pyro hopped on his shoulder, still looking sleepy.

Then they went outside the cabin and started preparing breakfast.

"Morning."

The Old Man, Rey, came out of the cabin not long after them.

"Good morning."

-Meep!

Raye and Pyro greeted him.

And after brewing two coffees and slicing up some bread...

"Let's eat."

"Hmm, okay."

-Meep!

The three of them ate breakfast together.

*****

After that, Raye's day proceeded like how it was during the sembreak...

He chopped logs for an hour to store firewood, then he went to the northern forest with the old man to check on the traps.

They also hunted small animals on their way back to the cabin...

And back in the cabin, the old man processed the meat from their hunt—they got two deer and three rabbits.

Meanwhile, Raye started making lunch in the meantime...

After finishing all of that, the two of them had lunch together.

-Meep!

With Pyro, of course.

Then, Raye washed himself up in the nearby river.

And after that...

He went to the library and studied Alchemy and Magic Engineering for hours.

And around 5 P.M.

Raye came back to the cabin with the intention to continue with the repairs.

His day was moving naturally—it was obvious that he was used to this.

Raye's schedule was so systematic that he fully utilized his time properly, making him so productive.

(I wish I could be like that too...)

Moving on, after preparing the tools and materials needed for the repairs...

Tak- tak- tak...

Raye started without wasting any second.

...

*****

Around 8 P.M.

Tak- tak- tak—

As Raye was fixing his walls from the outside of the cabin...

"Hello!"

He heard a voice behind him.

He was familiar with it now that he didn't need to look back to identify who it was.

It was Jerusha.

-Meep!

Pyro greeted her.

Raye turned back to face Jerusha and greeted her too.

"Hello."

And out of the blue...

"Oh, it's been a while!"

The Old Man, Rey, suddenly appeared and said that.

"Hello, mister!"

Jerusha then greeted him.

And just as usual...

"Care to join us for dinner?"

She was invited to eat dinner with them by the old man.

"Oh, I'd love to!"

Jerusha accepted immediately.

And at the sideline...

"..."

Raye was just watching the situation unfold in silence. He was used to it by now.

He slightly shook his head with a frown on his face...

"I'm gonna make dinner now."

Then he said that as he stored back the tools and materials he was just using earlier.

"Great, I'll prepare the table."

The old man said.

"Jerusha, can you help that brat?"

Then he requested that to Jerusha.

"Sure, no problem!"

Jerusha readily answered.

"..."

Raye just remained silent. By now, he already knew that he wouldn't have any say in the matter anyway.

And just like that, the three of them had dinner...

-Meep!

With Pyro, of course.

...

*****

After having dinner...

"It's been a while, huh."

Raye and Jerusha left together, headed to the northern forest where they held their lessons before.

-Meep!

Pyro replied to Jerusha instead of Raye.

As they were walking, Raye looked at Jerusha...

"How was the thing you were doing?"

Then he asked that.

And smiling ear to ear...

"Oh, it went well. Everything was taken care of!"

Jerusha answered.

Hearing her words...

'That's good.'

Raye thought of that.

He was relieved.

This meant that everything went as it was in the game.

Leon and Aria caught the mastermind behind the stalking incidents, and [Act I] finished without a problem.

So, moving on...

The two of them continued having small talks, catching up to what happened to each other in the past few days.

And not long after...

"We're finally here."

-Meep!

"..."

They finally reached their destination.

*****

(Jerusha's POV)

Arriving at the part of the northern forest where Raye meditated before...

"Are you ready?"

I asked him that.

Then, with a confident smirk on his face...

"You, are you ready?"

Raye asked me the same question.

-Meep!

Pyro even jumped on and responded too, wearing the same smirk as Raye.

'That's cute.'

I thought, seeing how close they had gotten in the past few days.

Anyway...

"That smirk... I can assume that you two succeeded in the assignment I gave you, right?"

I said that.

And this time...

"Mhm."

-Meep!

Pyro and Raye answered in unison, both nodding their heads.

So without further ado...

"Let me see then."

I asked them that.

Raye looked at me, all smug.

And without responding to me...

"..."

He raised his right hand in front of him, pointing at a tree not far away from us. (Raye was doing a finger gun.)

'Hmm, what is he doing?'

I looked at his raised hand.

And after that...

Swoosh-

I felt a small amount of mana being condensed on the tip of his index finger.

And it's not just condensing...

'It's rotating really fast.'

"..."

I remained silent, watching the scene in curiosity.

Pyro had his eyes closed, focusing too.

'He's really cute.'

And not long after...

Shhhh—

A small ball of fire lit on the tip of Raye's index finger.

'Oh?'

And not just that—the front of that ball of fire changed and became pointy. It's also still rotating fast.

'I wonder what he will do.'

I asked in my head.

And just as I thought of that...

"[Bang]"

I heard Raye's voice.

Fwiish-

Then the ball of fire on the tip of his finger disappeared.

"..."

"Huh?"

I was confused.

'Did he fail?'

I asked, waiting for Raye to try again.

But when I looked at the tree where Raye was pointing...

"...!"

I was surprised.

"Wha..."

There was now a small burnt hole in its trunk.

The hole also went all the way through the tree—and the tree behind it!

"..."

I was baffled. I didn't know what just happened.

My head snapped in Raye's direction, and there, I saw him looking back at me, smirking.

I could tell he was pleased to see my reaction.

"Gugh..."

And although his face annoyed me...

"What was that?"

I still asked him that—I was really curious.

Hearing my question, Raye shrugged his shoulders.

And with a carefree expression on his face...

"A gun."

He answered.

-Meep!

Pyro was also looking smug—he's cute though.

Anyway...

"A gun...?"

What's that?

I've never heard of that.