The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 197 - Missing Person Notice

—

Wearing his new hoodie, Will mimicked Shuna by pulling up the hood.

Then…

He stood in front of the mirror.

Was it because he was too lean?

With the hood up, he looked like he was swallowed by the oversized hoodie, his face obscured, giving him the appearance of a shadowy assassin walking through the darkness.

If he had to describe it, he resembled one of those characters in urban novels—a sharp-eyed youth hiding a knife under his hood, ready to cleanse a city of its sins.

No, no, no.

Was it because Shuna’s outfit was so reminiscent of a high schooler that it dragged his thoughts back to his own high school days, hiding novels under his desk during class?

Still, there was one advantage.

With the hood up, his appearance was harder to discern. Perfect for someone who wanted to stay inconspicuous—though, honestly, he didn’t have much reason to hide his face.

“Not bad. Looks like I’m pretty good at picking clothes. I thought I had no experience in this.”

“You did well. This material isn’t just good for everyday wear outside the dungeon; it’s also warm and flexible enough for dungeon expeditions.”

“See? I told you, I don’t pick clothes for style; I pick them for practicality.”

“Clothes should be practical!”

“Agreed!”

But as Shuna leaned closer, Will realized just how “well-picked” these clothes were!

The two of them, dressed in matching outfits, standing in front of the mirror, looked like they were about to sneak into a dungeon, evade all the elite monsters, and assassinate the final boss.

If they added three more people…

For instance, Leah, who might begrudgingly say, “Since you want me to wear it, I’ll wear it.”

Eir, who would nod with her beast ears and say, “I’ll do whatever Young Master orders.”

And Treya, who would coldly reply with a single “hmph” but be the first to put on the outfit.

“That’s it! We’re the Morning Star Assassination Squad—”

Facing the mirror, Will struck a pose, standing in the center with one hand covering an eye like a dramatic team leader.

But…

To his surprise…

Shuna immediately caught on to his vibe, walked over, stood back-to-back with him, and mirrored his pose.

“Indeed, all dungeon monsters shall fall before us!”

So cringy!

But the two of them in black hoodies doing this looked so cool!

Imagine how much cooler it would be with all five of them!

Alright!

“Shopkeeper, I’ll take three more of these outfits—”

“Huh?”

“Shuna! You picked well! This is the perfect team uniform.”

“Y-yeah.”

Shuna nodded, watching Will’s excited figure as he walked away, muttering under her breath:

“He… he really took it seriously. Are we really going to make all five of us wear these?”

—

The Next Stop: The Glasses Shop

“Young Master, please try on this frame size…”

“No problem. Of course, the bill will go to the Master. Don’t worry, you won’t have to pay a single coin. But since it’s late, why don’t you rest, and we’ll deliver the glasses to you tomorrow?”

“Of course, of course. If you’re in a hurry, we can have someone work overtime tonight.”

Hearing this, Will’s ears perked up at the mention of overtime—a trigger from his previous life.

“No overtime! No overtime! Tomorrow’s fine; it’s just one night.”

“Understood! Now… everyone, come here and bow! Send off the Young Master!”

From the small glasses shop, about ten burly men in suits suddenly appeared.

“Keep it low-key! Quiet! Don’t let Carver find out. If he knows my glasses are broken, he’ll scold me.”

“Understood, understood. Everyone, you heard him—keep it quiet!”

And so, Will heard a chorus of hushed whispers throughout the shop:

“Young… Master… have… a… safe… trip…”

“Young… Master… please… visit… again…”

“Young… Master… take… care…”

…

Amidst the ghostly, whisper-like farewells, Will walked out of the shop.

“Pfft… hahaha…”

Shuna couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer.

“Stop, stop laughing. This… this is just how the Hysterm family operates. Carver gets this treatment everywhere he goes! It’s so… so over the top!”

When Will entered the shop, he had pulled out his broken, half-shattered glasses.

Unbeknownst to him, the frame bore the “Hysterm” family name and even had the family crest engraved on it.

That’s when he remembered—he had never personally gone to a shop to get glasses. They were always custom-made and delivered by servants.

So he hadn’t noticed that all his glasses carried the Hysterm family’s insignia.

Naturally, the shopkeeper recognized it immediately and insisted on personally handling the order, claiming the shop was established specifically to serve the Hysterm family.

Apparently, nearsightedness ran in the family, and even the glasses shop was a family legacy.

“I thought you were the least favored in your family. Even if someone recognized you, I didn’t think anyone would care.”

“Well, I’m not exactly favored, but I’m still a Hysterm heir.”

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“…Hmm, ‘If my glasses are broken, my dad will scold me.’ Wow, Carver must be such a doting father.”

Shuna mimicked Will’s earlier “helpless little rich boy” tone, and as she finished, she noticed Will’s ears turning red.

“That was obviously a lie! I… I thought I acted pretty well.”

Will had simply imagined what a normal father from his previous life might say and made it up on the spot.

As for Carver…

He couldn’t read that man at all, nor did he sense anything remotely “fatherly” about him.

A father doesn’t need to be overly ambitious for their child, but they should at least care about their survival and well-being.

“Honestly, Carver probably doesn’t even know whether I’ve graduated or not. I don’t expect him to care. I just treat him as a tool—he says what I need him to say, and that’s it.”

After saying this, Will realized he might have let his emotions get the better of him.

Bringing up Carver sometimes made him lose his cool.

Though he didn’t consider Carver his real father, he couldn’t help but feel a bit resentful when talking about him.

Looking at the problems in “Will’s” life, if Carver had shown even a little more care, maybe given him some resources to manage, perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up as a disposable villain crushed by a slime.

“Oh, Shuna. You… you don’t need to worry. I’m really not upset. People always think I’d be sad because Carver doesn’t care about me, but actually—”

“Exactly! Little Will has the right mindset. That kind of dad is the ultimate tool!”

“Huh?”

“Provides money, influence, dungeons, and a worry-free life. Most of the time, he stays out of your business, and occasionally, he sends you a staff—sounds like my ideal father!”

Shuna’s reaction was… unique.

Would a normal person respond like this?

Oh, right.

She grew up without parents, raised in an orphanage. Of course, she wouldn’t know what a “normal” parent is like.

Will realized something.

In the Morning Star team, he and Treya had fathers, Leah had a mother, and the other two were complete orphans (no offense intended).

Together, the five of them could barely piece together 1.5 sets of parents—and one of those fathers was scheduled to die in a year.

Not bad, not bad. A team of devoted filial children.

“True, the Hysterm family is better than the royal family. No infighting. The others in the family are doing well in business, probably living more carefree lives than managing this broken Adventurer’s Guild. No one’s fighting for this position.”

“Not every family is like the royal family, where there’s an actual throne to inherit, and siblings are constantly scheming against each other.”

Hearing this, Will thought of Treya.

Though he had subtly shared the original story’s details about the key players in the Entark royal family with her over the years…

Could someone who was once a naive, sweet elf princess really handle the royal family’s infighting?

The royal family’s power struggles were constant, but in the year leading up to the king’s death, they intensified.

In the original story, at this point, Treya was still growing and learning in the adventuring team, believing her dungeon contributions could compete with her siblings.

But now…

Where was she, and what was she doing?

Leah had come from the south to find him. Could Treya have gone north? That would mean passing through the capital.

Was she panicking, running in circles?

—

The Next Morning

When Will woke up, his new glasses had already been delivered to the inn’s front desk.

The new frames, chosen by Shuna, were deep blue in color, not much different in shape from his old ones. But the arms of the glasses featured an intricate and “expensive” gradient of galaxies, as if the starry sky was spilling out from the frames.

Because of the Morning Star name and the bookmark he had given her, Shuna seemed convinced he had a particular fondness for galaxies and stars.

But…

This trait seemed to align more with the original protagonist.

After all, the dungeon she was associated with in the original story was called “Pinnacle of the Galaxy”—though at this point in time, that dungeon wouldn’t appear for another three months. It was one of the few timeline markers Will could rely on.

The Pinnacle of the Galaxy was located in Novice Town and would emerge after the Green Wild Maze was no longer suitable for beginners and was conquered.

“Alright!”

“Even if the ‘story’ changes drastically due to one person’s disappearance, it seems history won’t be so easily altered by a single absence.”

At least Will could rest assured that…

Major events unrelated to Shu should still unfold as planned.

But…

He’d have to tread carefully moving forward.

—

Will was just stepping out, energized and ready to head to the Tenth Demon Castle, when Shuna suddenly grabbed his hood and pulled it over his head, covering half his face.

“Shh.”

“Wha-what’s going on? Why are you—”

“Look over there. See what they’re posting.”

“Huh?”

Will squinted, looking through his new glasses at the world that had been blurry for a whole day.

That…

What was that?

Yawick City’s guards were holding posters, and on those posters was a brown-haired, blue-eyed, glasses-wearing boy who looked about seventeen.

…

Wasn’t that him?!

Why were the guards posting his picture?

Only the government had the authority to direct the guards, and the government was managed by the Entark royal family—most of the time, they were as invisible as ghosts in towns with Adventurer’s Guilds.

And now they were posting…

Was it a wanted poster?

He hadn’t done anything wrong—why would he be wanted?

“Stay behind me, keep your hood up, and you won’t be recognized. I’ll get closer and take a look.”

Shuna stepped in front of him but reached back to grab his wrist.

“Alright.”

Step by step…

Will’s heart pounded, terrified of what he might see.

But…

When he saw the words “Missing Person Notice,” he finally calmed down.

Oh, it was just a missing person notice.

But…

The notice had no details other than the photo—it seemed to be a cropped and copied version of his graduation photo.

The signature at the bottom, however, was…

It was…

Treya Entark.