The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 163 - Just Another Peaceful Day?

—

“Hah… hah… hah… hah…”

Will gasped for air, jolting upright in bed, clutching his chest as if to calm his pounding heart.

He knew very well that he had been “scared” awake.

“Little… Little Will?”

Shuna, who had woken up slightly earlier than him—though she had been waking up early every day recently despite going to bed late—looked over in concern.

Sharing the same room, Will had never once seen Shuna asleep in bed. She always seemed to be up and about.

She leaned in worriedly, her hair still unbound, holding a hair tie in her hand. During physical activities, she liked tying her long hair into a high ponytail.

The modest hotel they were staying in was a bit cramped, as they hadn’t been able to book the most luxurious one.

Will’s sudden gasp and movement immediately caught Shuna’s attention, given their close proximity.

“What… what’s wrong? You look… you look worse than after the high-intensity training I made you do yesterday. Like you’re on the verge of death.”

It was the first time Will had seen Shuna look genuinely flustered.

“Do you need help? Maybe some calming medicine? What kind of nightmare leaves you like this?”

Will wanted to answer her properly…

But…

He couldn’t remember what he had dreamed about!

It wasn’t his fault—he rubbed his temples vigorously.

But…

Nothing came to mind!

The dream had vanished from his memory, as if it had been wiped clean, leaving no trace.

It felt like his brain had chosen to forget it, as though the mental shock had been too great.

He tried desperately…

To recall the fantastical dream with his still-groggy, half-asleep mind…

But nothing surfaced.

Not even a fragment.

“I… I think…”

He tapped his forehead lightly.

“I think I had a…”

“A nightmare?” Shuna interjected.

“A good dream.”

“???”

Shuna’s worried expression instantly turned into one of utter confusion.

“I mean, Will, are you… uh… do you have some strange preferences? I’ve heard that the men of the Hysterm family are famously eccentric.”

“Are you implying I’m the kind of masochist who enjoys being tortured in dreams and wakes up thinking it was a good dream?!”

Shuna didn’t respond.

She neither nodded in agreement nor shook her head in denial.

But her silence seemed to confirm her thoughts.

“Don’t… don’t look at me like that. You’ve got it all wrong. Uh… although I don’t know what my older brothers might’ve done…”

Will decided to shove the dream out of his mind entirely and scratched his head furiously.

“But the Hysterm family… at least starting with my generation, will break this reputation for eccentricity!”

He stood up on the bed, pointing dramatically toward the ceiling.

Full! Of! Determination!

Shuna, standing beside the bed, looked up at him. With Will standing on the bed, he was taller than her, giving her a clear view of his “determination.”

“Hmm, I can feel your resolve, but as for your actions…”

Will suddenly realized.

Because of the intense training yesterday, he had sweated buckets. After showering, he had felt so refreshed that he decided…

To sleep naked.

“Wait—this, this, this is because I wasn’t fully awake! Y-you, you, you, you, go out first while I put on some clothes!”

—

The next day’s training took them directly into the dungeon.

Will followed Shuna into the “Moonlit Ice Extreme” dungeon. Having already reached the 21st floor, they would now explore the 21st to 30th-floor region.

The 21st floor was a completely different world.

The first ten floors had clearly been transformed into a tourist area.

The 11th to 20th floors were just scattered with random monsters, with no “level design”—ah, Will’s occupational habits were kicking in.

The 21st floor, upon entering, was a pitch-black cavern, devoid of light or any furnishings.

Seeing the dark cavern, Will realized just how “friendly” the first ten floors had been. Even the 11th to 20th floors hadn’t prepared him for this kind of environment.

Those floors had even installed lighting in the caverns!

Lighting!

Probably some hidden glowing fluorite.

Only now did Will understand that real caverns weren’t just devoid of ice sculptures—they were pitch-black, with no visibility at all.

Here, monsters could appear at any moment.

Every step had to be taken with caution.

Will lit a torch, carefully probing ahead.

Today’s training was…

Shuna would act as his “bodyguard,” ensuring his safety from behind, while Will handled all the combat.

Shuna wouldn’t give him any “trial cards” this time—it was all on him.

Even the torch was lit by Will himself, and he had to lead the way.

“Hmm, though it’s not the best reputation, Little Will, I’ve learned today that the Hysterm family has the potential to be truly eccentric.”

But…

Shuna didn’t seem to care that they were now in a zone where monsters could pop out at any moment. She didn’t even lower her voice as she chatted with Will.

“Stop… stop bringing up what you saw this morning.”

“What’s the big deal? I don’t mind changing in front of you. Good buddies should see each other’s.”

“You might not mind, but I… I didn’t look!”

“What, feeling like you missed out?”

“I…”

At that moment, a particularly large…

Blue bat!

It flew out from Will’s side, spewing icy mist from its mouth—

No problem!

Will prepared a fire shield, conjuring magic in his hands, and blasted the blue bat.

One hit, instant kill.

The bat’s icy mist didn’t even touch Will—it would’ve slowed him by about 20% if it had landed.

Oh, that number was one Will had personally filled in.

“Not bad, I’d give you a 90. Considering your practical experience is almost zero, let’s make it a perfect score.”

Shuna clapped.

“You chose the right spell, minimized energy use, and avoided the enemy’s debuffs.”

“Stop, stop, Shuna~Teacher, I… I may lack practical experience, but you know my theoretical knowledge is solid. There’s no need to…”

Another monster emerged—a half-human-sized ice rat!

Will used a burst of scattered flames to drive it back to a safe distance, then finished it off with a quick slash to its oversized front teeth.

This time, Shuna just clapped without saying anything.

She knew that for Will, while his strength wasn’t sufficient for this level of dungeon, his extensive theoretical knowledge and experience made soloing entirely feasible.

When it came to his “awareness,” Shuna didn’t have much to teach him.

However, Shuna’s goal wasn’t to hone Will’s combat instincts.

After Will dispatched yet another water-blue ice boar—its color making it utterly unappetizing as food—

Her true aim was…

To make him experience the fear of being ambushed by a monster, even if it was just a minor one—the kind of fear that made you feel like you might lose your life in the next second.

Sometimes, people only truly value “living” when they fear “dying.”

Will seemed like someone who was too far removed from death, and thus, too far removed from life.

If he could feel that…

That gut-wrenching fear of losing his life…

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh—”

The usually composed and methodical Will suddenly jumped two meters into the air, torch in hand, and clung to Shuna’s shoulders, hiding behind her.

“What… what happened?”

“S-so… so scary…”

Shuna could hear his teeth chattering.

Huh?!

Did he really encounter a monster that even he feared?

Let’s see what kind of…

Ice slime.

It had large, deep blue beady eyes, and it bounced innocently and elastically in place.

“……”

Shuna was speechless.

“……”

Will was also speechless.

“Little Master, care to explain?”

“Uh… it, it suddenly fell from above, with a splat and a thud. It was terrifying.”

“Can you give me a more serious explanation?”

“This is the deepest fear from the depths of my fate, gripping the lifeline of my soul.”

“…Do you have a simpler, more believable reason? Even if it’s made up.”

“When I was a kid, a slime fell on me, and I was bedridden for three days. It left a psychological scar.”

Will thought about it…

He wasn’t that scared.

But as he had mentioned before, when someone reads a book, they often forget most of the content, remembering only a few iconic scenes that stick in their mind.

The scene where the cannon-fodder young master gets crushed by a slime at the dungeon entrance was one of those moments.

It replayed in Will’s mind over and over.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

“Alright, that explanation works for me. I’ll take care of it for you.”

Shuna cautiously stepped forward.

“Where is it?”

“Right there, in front of you. You see it?”

“Oh, I see it. Not very big.”

“Of course not—it’s the smallest type of slime!”

“Alright, watch me.”

Shuna nodded, her expression serious, moving carefully as if afraid of waking it.

She seemed to enchant her foot with some kind of flame buff.

Squish.

One stomp…

And it melted.

“All done. No need to be scared anymore, Little Will.”

“Why do I feel like… your actions just now were like a husband killing a cockroach for his wife?”

“Huh? Was it? You… you’re imagining things, haha.”

Will couldn’t shake the feeling that Shuna was mocking him!

—

Meanwhile, in the largest hotel in Yavik City, the most luxurious suite had been rented by a strange young lady.

She appeared to be an adventurer, as she didn’t resemble the nobles who came to casually explore the first ten floors of the dungeon with temporary team passes.

She wore a formal B5-ranked dungeon adventurer badge. Each time she returned, she brought back stacks of books related to the Ice Queen, the ruler of “Moonlit Ice Extreme.”

She constantly inquired about who was currently exploring the dungeon and what conditions were required to enter.

But the strangest thing was…

Knock knock knock.

“Hello, I’m with housekeeping. Do you need your room cleaned?”

She opened the door.

“Come in, but don’t touch anything.”

The strangest thing was—

She had entered the suite empty-handed, yet now the room was filled with…

Countless…

Items bearing the emblem of a witch’s hat.