Transmigrating as an Extra Third-Rate Villain

Nodding my head, I quickly accepted Lily's condition before turning around to face the wall once again.

Waving one last goodbye to the two girls, I headed back to the pile of magical artifacts on the floor and below the gap that led outside.

After ordering the corrupted figure to begin throwing the magical artifacts into the gap with care and precision, I finally returned to my own body.

As my surroundings suddenly shifted from inside the vault to outside, I inadvertently closed my eyes due to the sudden change in elevation from low to high.

Reopening my eyes, I immediately let out a sigh as I realized that my head wasn't lying on the hard and cold floor of the obsidian door.

Instead, my head seemed to be resting on some smooth textured surface.

Of course, she had caught me...

But then, why was I happy?

Why was there a smile on my face when I realized that Ruby had caught me and prevented me from hitting the surface of the obsidian door

If anyone saw one of their friends suddenly begin to fall over like a Jenga tower, they would catch them, right?

Opening my right eye, I attempted to discern my surroundings, immediately spotting the ceiling of the underground space above me.

"...?"

If I was looking up at the ceiling, then shouldn't my head on the door?

Where else could it be?

Snapping out of confusion, a sudden voice sounded from right above me.

"I know you're awake...get up!"

Shifting my gaze further upward, I saw a familiar face right above mine.

"...ah."

Shocked by Ruby's sudden appearance right above me, I immediately pushed my head forward, narrowly avoiding Ruby's face, and sat up straight.

And right behind was Ruby, sitting criss-cross while staring at my back with a confused expression.

Seeing me turn around and back to normal, Ruby paused for a moment before saying.

"Do you usually just pass out like that?"

Shaking my head, I was about to say some lie I had concocted...when suddenly my mouth suddenly closed when I hadn't given my brain any instructions.

It was like an instinctual action...like my body was preventing me from talking.

Ah, I can't do that anymore, can I?

Not after everything, and especially now, when information like this could be useful during a battle?

Reopening my mouth, I made eye-contact with Ruby before immediately saying.

"You remember that figure I made earlier, right? I switched bodies with it and called in a favor so that we wouldn't be caught while exploring this space."

"..."

Hearing Ruby's silence, I continued staring, eagerly awaiting her reaction...however, she just started laughing.

" *PFFT* I-i... my bad."

Covering his mouth, Ruby tried to force herself to stop laughing, failing at erasing the grin on her face, before staring at my dumbfounded expression and saying.

"Sorry, y-you were just talking so fast, like you had to get it off your chest. It was weird...and funny seeing you like that."

"...?"

Looking downwards at my body, I pointed at myself before confusedly replying.

"I did that?"

How had I talked that fast without realizing

Nodding her head, Ruby pointed at me as well before continuing.

"Yes, it was like you were in two times speed....well, more like four times. I did understand what you said about your swapping bodies and explaining though."

Without waiting for my response, Ruby stood up, wiping the dust off her academy uniform, and pointed at the vast underground space below us.

"Well, let's go then, shall we?"

Regaining my composure, I also stood up, staring at the bloodied battlefield below, and replied.

"Let's go!"

Cocking her head, Ruby walked up to the right side of me before looking at my face from an angle.

"..?"

"Nothing, you just seem more excited now than before when you said it."

"I do?"

Maybe telling the truth made me feel more excited.

Should I tell the truth more often, then?

In the previous days, I had always lied, even about small things.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

For example, when Jin and Han ask me in class, "Where are you going?" I would just say the bathroom when I fully intended to go on a walk alone through the hallways of the first-year building.

I honestly lied more than I told the truth at this point.

But...until now, I hadn't really seen a problem with that.

What could one simply lie about my whereabouts cause?

Shaking my head, I simply smiled and looked at Ruby before jumping off the obsidian door.

Landing on the ground of the underground space, I stared at the ice pillar next to me before turning to Ruby, who landed a second after me.

"We have ten minutes and a lot of area to cover."

My enhanced eyesight couldn't see through walls, bodies, or ice pillars, so I couldn't just stand in the middle of the room and do a full 360 degrees, scanning everything.

I had to go around every part of the room and actually look around as rocks, bodies, and other various aftereffects of the earlier battle blocked my enhanced eyesight.

Tracing her hand along the cold surface of the ice pillar, Ruby seemed to think for a moment before responding.

"Splitting up wouldn't make sense. It's better to make sure that an area is completely clear by confirming with two people."

"If we do it alone and split up, we could miss something like a pair of footsteps or weirdly shaped rock."

In this case, I had to agree with Ruby.

The owner of the voice was clearly good with hiding and sneaking, as he had mentioned getting into the underground space in the first place.

Clues were going to be hard to find, if not nonexistent.

Ruby could potentially miss a weird clue, then, and mark off a space as clear when it actually wasn't.

Nodding my head, I took a glance around...before immediately looking back up at the ceiling.

Pointing up at the huge hole in the ceiling that had been created by my dark purple orb, I said.

"Let's start there."