Chen Wu approached the cell cautiously, sword raised as to defend any surprise attack.

  "Found you,"

  but the merchant raised his head slightly and beneath the hood his gaunt face was barely visible.

  Chen Wu pointed his sword. "It's over."

  That was the exact moment I had to act.

  I burst out from the cell with a scream, my hands wrapped around a sharp piece of broken stone and before Chen Wu could react I drove the stone into the merchant's throat.

  There was a wet crack..

  Blood burst out and the merchant made a horrible gurgling sound as his hands grabbed his own neck trying to stop the bleeding but the next second he collapsed on the ground as death welcomed him. I stumbled back breathing hard and stared at the body on the ground — my hands trembled slightly and when I looked down there was blood on them.

  Chen Wu froze, staring at me.

  "You... what did you just..."

  I looked up at him with shock and horror on my face. "He... he kept me here," my voice came out broken. "For months. In this cell. I just... I couldn't…"

  I again looked down at the blood on my hands, shaking harder now."What did I do? What did I just do?"

  Chen Wu sighed and lowered his sword slowly as his eyes moved from me to the dead body.

  He paused for a second and asked quietly.

  "Who are you?"

  "Fu Yang, I was... I'm a merchant's assistant. We were traveling through these mountains two months ago — he captured us, killed my master and kept me locked in here."

  I gestured at the cell around us. "I've been trying to escape for weeks and then when I heard the fighting I came to see what was going on... I don't know.."

  I looked at the body again as the merchant's dead eyes stared at nothing. "I saw him wounded, leaning against the cell and I just... something broke — all the anger, I just..." my voice cracked.

  Chen Wu stood there looking confused and disappointed. (But I was supposed to... my quest was to defeat the Crimson Blade Bandit Lord. He is dead…)

  He stopped and opened his system screen while my expression tightened as my eyes were also fixed on his screen.

  I held my breath.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Why didn't I get the quest completion?" he muttered to himself. "I should have received..." Then Chen Wu looked at me. "You killed him. Before — ugh he is dead now."

  "I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't know — I didn't know what to do. I just saw him there and I... I'm sorry."

  Chen Wu stared at me for a long moment then sighed. "It's... it's not your fault, you went through something terrible. I understand." and he stepped closer to the cell and looked at the body.

  "The Crimson Blade Bandit Lord is dead. That's what matters. Even if..."

  He then reached through the bars offering me his hand. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

  "Yess"

  ******

  We left the Crimson Blade Mountain in the afternoon as Chen Wu walked ahead of me while I followed a few steps behind keeping my head down.

  We walked in silence for the first hour as Chen Wu didn't push me to talk, probably thinking I needed time to recover from my "ordeal" — and that gave me time to think. My plan was simple: stay close to him, build trust, follow him back to his sect and slowly increase my strength.

  But first I needed to actually leave this place — something I'd never been able to do before since every time I'd tried over the past years something stopped me, the path would loop back on itself or I'd just end up back at the cave somehow. Tutorial villains were locked to their location and that was part of the system — but maybe with Chen Wu here it would be different.

  We rounded a bend in the path and ahead I could see where the mountain terrain started to flatten — the boundary of Crimson Blade Mountain's territory. I had reached this point many times before but never passed it.

  My steps slowed down as my heart beat so fast I could hear it!

  Chen Wu noticed and turned back. "You alright?" "Yes,"

  "Just... tired."

  He nodded sympathetically. "We can rest if you need to."

  "No, I'm fine."

  We walked forward together and I felt it as we approached — that familiar pressure like an invisible hand pushing against my chest. My breath caught but Chen Wu kept walking completely unaware and so I closed the distance between us again and as I did the pressure eased lighter than I had expected.

  We crossed the boundary...….

  I was off Crimson Blade Mountain...

  For the first time...….

  And at last….. I was free...

  I stopped just standing there for a moment staring at the forest ahead as time felt real — as if it had slowed down back to normal.

  "Fu yang?" Chen Wu was looking at me with concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

  "Yes," My voice came out rougher than I intended. "I just... I didn't think I'd ever leave that place."

  He gave a warm smile. "You're safe now."

  ...

  That's when the system notification appeared.

  [CONGRATULATIONS TO BECOME THE FIRST VILLAIN OF THE REAL WORLD.]

  [ STATUS CHANGED]

  [ TRUE VILLAIN → FU YANG]

  Completed hidden achievement. Calculating rewards...

  300 Sprite stones

  TRUE VILLAIN SYSTEM UNLOCKED

  Completed Celestial achievement. Calculating rewards...…..

  Error…Error…

  ( The villain has not met the cultivation threshold. Reward distribution suspended until the requirement is completed.)

  ___________

  My eyes were just fixed on these messages when suddenly the bluish screen trembled and cracks spread across it like fragile glass.

  Then it shattered.

  For a brief moment nothing remained and then the fragments pulled back together into the same screen — but it was no longer blue as it had turned dark red with black flames moving across its surface.

  I covered my open mouth with my hand. This was truly beyond my expectations.

  The screen opened on its own displaying the same status as before and nothing had changed — except beneath my status new text had appeared.

  [TERRITORY BOUNDARY CROSSED]

  [TUTORIAL ZONE DEPARTED]

  [STATUS UPDATE: TUTORIAL VILLAIN → WORLD VILLAIN (RANK 1)]

  [NEW PARAMETERS ACTIVE]

  I kept my expression neutral while reading the text only I could see.

  [WORLD VILLAIN MECHANICS:]

  - No longer confined to single location

  - Chosen Ones will actively seek you as quest targets

  - Villain Aura (Passive): Supporting characters of the chosen one will instinctively distrust/dislike you

  -Cultivation restriction lifted.

  - Corruption remains primary survival method

  [WARNING: You are significantly weaker than most threats in this world. Proceed with caution.]

  I stared at these mechanics — great. So I'd traded my prison for a hunting ground where I was the prey and apparently everyone would hate me on sight because of some "villain aura" that I couldn't even control.

  Still… It was better than dying every six months.

  The notification faded and Chen Wu was still watching me. "Come on," he said gently. "There's a village about three hours from here — we can rest there, get you some proper food and clean clothes."

  "A village?"

  "Greenbrook Village — I passed through on my way to... to complete my quest." He looked slightly uncomfortable mentioning the quest he'd failed to finish. "I promised some of the young people there that I'd take them back to my sect — they want to learn cultivation."

  "Your sect accepts new students?"

  "The Clouded Peak Sect accepts anyone with potential," Chen Wu said proudly. "My masters believe everyone deserves a chance to walk the cultivation path."

  Of course they did. Righteous sect with righteous ideas.

  He glanced at me. "You're welcome to come with us, the sect can give you shelter while you recover and figure out what to do next."

  "I... I'd like that, thank you."

  We continued walking and hours later, we reached Greenbrook Village.

  _______

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