บท 23: Was That Dream?

After stashing the sword away in his space ring, Rain turned to Lohar with a grateful smile. "Thanks for the sword, old man."

Lohar waved off the thanks with a casual air. "No need to thank me. I also got a precious opportunity to work on a meteor ore."

"By the way, old man," Rain began, "Can I come back to you when I want to upgrade my sword? I can't think of anyone better than you to work on Nandaka." He hoped Lohar would agree to work on Nandaka again in the future.

Lohar shook his head. "Nah, you can't."

"Why not?" Rain asked, surprised.

"Because I won't be here," Lohar replied, taking a sip from a jug of beer.

"Where will you be?" Rain pressed, his curiosity piqued.

"I don't know where I will be. I'm a wandering dwarf. Here today, somewhere else tomorrow. No permanent address. Hahahaha," Lohar laughed heartily.

"Do you know how vast this world is, brat? How many kinds of wine there are? There are countless places to visit, striking beauties that could bring a country to its knees. You have no idea," Lohar said excitedly, his eyes glinting with wanderlust.

Rain nodded, feeling a newfound desire to explore the world after hearing Lohar's tales.

"When can I meet you next time, old man?" Rain asked, hoping for a chance to see Lohar again.

"Brat, I don't have a fixed schedule. I live on whims and do as I please. If fate allows, we will meet again," Lohar replied, tapping Rain's back.

"Okay, old man. It's time for me to take my leave. We will meet again if fate allows," Rain said, turning to leave. However, Lohar stopped him with a tap on the shoulder.

"Wait. It's not time for you to leave yet," Lohar said, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"How so?" Rain asked, puzzled.

"You haven't paid your bill yet, you useless brat!" Lohar exclaimed, throwing a bill at Rain's face.

Rain caught the bill and his face turned pale as he saw the amount.

***

After paying the 2000 gold for the sword, Rain left the shop and began to walk slowly, reflecting on his purchase. 'That's a good sword. However, just too expensive,' he thought, considering the hefty price tag.

His mind then wandered to the benefits he had gained from drinking the wine. His Mana was now at E rank, and his mastery over Mana Control had reached the Elementary level. Additionally, after hunting with the Thunder Eagle, his Marksmanship was on the verge of breaking through to Elementary.

But what concerned Rain the most was the strange dream he had just experienced. He couldn't shake the feeling of unease it had left him with. As he didn't want to cause a scene at Lohar's shop, he behaved like nothing happened. But he couldn't ignore the eerie similarity between the dream and a scene from the game. It felt more like a nightmare than a dream.

Rain couldn't shake the feeling that this was more than just a coincidence. The chain of events was making him suspicious, as if something odd was happening. The scene from the dream was the same scene where Rain would have his first Villain awakening. Controlling his emotions became difficult for a moment, as he pondered the implications of this unsettling connection.

In that scenario, Emma challenged Rain to a duel. As parents or any outsiders weren't allowed in the academy, no one could do anything about that.

Emma gets resources from her family like crazy. Moreover, after some fruitful encounters, she became stronger than Rain. You can also call it "Heroine's luck".

On the other hand, Rain shouldered everything on himself.

Still, he gave her a tough fight.

However, in the end, he lost.

After the duel, Emma canceled the engagement because she won the duel, and Kaya also smeared many dark stains on Rain's reputation with some rumors.

So, taking advantage of his vulnerability, Kaya also gave him a blow and he got disowned by his family.

Although he kept getting support from his parents. So don't think it's their decision. Other family members, like elders, decided on this, and Charles reluctantly had to agree.

***

'So what was the reason behind this? Why did I see that dream now?'

'Are storylines of game and novel different? Was that novel incomplete? or there is something hidden in the novel?'

Rain continued thinking about other possibilities.

'There's also the chance that the author wrote the story but didn't publish it. This could be the effect of the Reincarnator title. And if this is not the 2nd, but my 3rd life, and my first life was in a novel? Looks like things are not simple now.'

Then, Rain contemplated the last possibility.

'Maybe Lohar mixed something weird in the wine?'

To find out about that, Rain asked the system.

'Hey, system, check my body status and tell me if there are any abnormalities.'

►[Yes. Host.]

After some time...

►[Abnormalities are found in the Host's condition.

Drunken, Confusion, Hallucinations.]

'Wait, so all of that was because of that wine?' Rain was astonished. He hadn't expected such side effects from drinking wine.

'That old man didn't tell me about the side effects. However, why was I the only one affected? On the other hand, the protagonist of the game drank it easily. Is this the fate of a villain?'

For a moment, Rain felt deep malice from the world. Being villain is quite pitiful.

'Looks like the players were right about him. That stingy dwarf never gives anything for free.' Rain was slightly irritated because he had been unaware of the side effects. This hadn't happened to the protagonist in the game when he drank the wine.

'I will remember this. Wait for me, old man. I will take my revenge for making me see that nightmare.' Despite his anger, Rain tried to look at the situation from another perspective.

'But this is good. Now I am motivated. I will change my bad ending.' Rain clenched his fist and hid his face with a hood.

And to turn that bad ending Rain even played gamble just now. This whole scenario was test for system and Lohar. Rain was pretty sure that system wanted something from him. Otherwise, why choose a pitiful villain as host? As long as Rain is useful to system's goal, system will protect him.

If Lohar had tried to harm Rain this time, Rain will let him sing ' RedTears behind the bars.' Unfortunately, Lohar didn't do anything. Stingy dwarf was focused on forging. Still Lohar ddn't gain much of Rain's trust. He wasn't sure about why Lohar didn't take action.

Was it because he is kind? or he knows my identity as 'Rain Holmes'?

'It's really tiring to even have Villain identity.'

Now Rain was relieved to not choosing Villain system. It's hard to trust anyone as a villain.

He didn't fully trust the system either. There was no guarantee that the system was telling the truth.

'Let's go find the next hidden piece. These mysteries will be solved with time.' With that, he disappeared into the darkness of the night.