Ascension Of The Villain-Chapter 321: Hunger Had Its Way

The evening air was finally cool. After the punishing heat of the afternoon, the dark sky brought a little relief, though the city still shimmered faintly with the leftover warmth clinging to the pavement.

Just a little while ago, Vyan had stepped out of the towering building—twenty stories of solid regret—and immediately muttered a string of curses under his breath.

"Who in their right mind makes a building with that many damn stairs…?" he had hissed, wiping the sweat from his brow. His legs were aching. His lungs weren't pleased. And his pride? That was currently gnawing a hole in his ego.

That was when he had noticed the others—people stepping out of a metal box attached to the building's side. A small black screen blinked numbers above it. Up… down… again up.

Realization dawned slowly and then hit him all at once.

"…You mean… that thing moves?"

He stared at the elevator for a long moment until a groan escaped his lips. His head dropped back in sheer frustration. "I'm a bloody fucking idiot."

Either way, he didn't beat himself up too much over it and left the building quietly. He needed a library. He needed to read. To learn. To figure out how this strange, magic-less world worked before he ended up walking into traffic or paying a thousand gold for a cup of soup.

He'd set off an hour ago, thinking he'd be at the library in twenty minutes tops. But now? Nothing looked according to what Emma had described. The streets twisted in maddening curves, intersections splitting like tangled veins. Too many alleys, too many signs in a language that he knew but couldn't decode. Everything felt foreign.

He finally stopped walking.

A hollow sort of dread crept into his chest. Maybe he really had rushed out too soon. Maybe he should've stayed at Emma and Adrian's house just a bit longer, learned from them how this world functioned, watched how they lived, how they moved, how they survived.

But no. His pride wouldn't allow that.

Fuck that shit. Now, he knew that pride did a poor job of feeding the stomach or soothing sore feet.

"It's okay, I'll manage," he'd said.

Manage, his ass! It was definitely not okay.

He was completely lost.

Fucking lost. Tired. Hungry. Disoriented. And he missed Adam. His beautiful horse who was only friendly to him. The one who always walked so that Vyan didn't have to.

His mind felt foggy, his thoughts slow and scattered. It was like trying to think through water. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he wasn't used to this kind of fatigue—the kind that crept under the skin and settled in the bones.

Just then, his eyes caught a small food van parked at the edge of the street, warm lights spilling from it like a beacon. A few tables and chairs were spread around it, and the smell—warm and homely—curled into the night air like a temptation.

Vyan walked over and dropped into one of the chairs, huffing softly as he leaned back and let the tension bleed out of his shoulders. He watched the people ahead of him—how they handed over flat notes to the vendor.

Money. Right. Paper money.

He patted the inside of his coat, feeling the familiar weight of a leather pouch. Gold coins. Actual gold coins. Probably enough to buy the entire food van… and the street it was on.

He winced.

Yeah, handing over gold for a plate of fried noodles would be overkill. Growing up poor taught him how to handle his personal finances. He wasn't about to throw away a fortune on one meal. He had no idea how long he would be stuck here, so he'd prefer not to run out of his only support right from the get-go.

"... I should've at least brought a few silvers or bronze coins," he muttered. "Damn my richness." frёeωebɳovel.com

Maybe a pawn shop could exchange his gold for their local currency. Did they have those here? Where would he even find one?

He looked around.

The streets were still busy. People passed by in a blur of unfamiliar fashion and expressions, all moving with a purpose he sorely lacked right now. Honestly, he kind of missed seeing those huge piles of paperwork waiting for him.

Maybe… he could ask someone?

Just as Vyan was about to muster the courage to ask someone for directions, he heard a soft, lilting voice break through the quiet hum of the evening.

"Is this seat taken?"

He looked up.

A girl, probably around his age, stood there with an easy smile. Her wavy brunette hair framed a warm face, and she wore a cherry red dress that swayed just above her knees. There was something undeniably pretty about her, from her dimples to the playful glint in her eyes.

But Vyan felt… nothing. No flutter. No spark. Just the mild surprise of being approached.

He offered a short, neutral response. "No."

He expected her to take the chair and walk away.

Instead, she sat down right across from him.

"You seem like you're having a rough time," she said, tilting her head curiously. "A recent breakup? Or academic burnout?"

His eyes narrowed slightly.

He might have been from another world, but he wasn't dense enough to miss the signs of someone flirting. And unfortunately for her, he wasn't above exploiting that fact—not today. His pride might have taken a hit landing in this unfamiliar realm, out of wits, stripped of his power, wealth, and identity, but his selfish, evil streaks? That was very much intact.

He noticed her giving him a once-over, the kind people think is subtle but never is. Then his eyes drifted toward the food truck where the scent of fresh pizza wafted through the air.

His stomach clenched. No money. No idea yet where to get some. But opportunity? Oh, he saw it sitting right across him.

Internally, he grinned.

He let out a long, dramatic sigh. It was the right amount of exhausted and broken.

"What to say…? The breakup was unexpected," he murmured, dropping his gaze as if the pain was still fresh. "It came out of nowhere. That too… right before my tests."