I Am The Game's Villain

Chapter 612 612: Amaelʼs Scan [1]

”Iʼll pretend to be a Hybrid.”

I blinked. ”Okay… and me?”

”Youʼll pose as a newcomer,” she said. ”Someone who wants to become a Hybrid.”

”I guess thatʼs a plan,” I said, crossing my arms. ”But do you really think theyʼll buy it?”

Roda shrugged with confidence. ”I just need one of their uniforms. Thatʼll be enough.”

Before I could reply, the door in front of us hissed open with a mechanical sound. A man walked in—no, a Hybrid. He was dragging something behind him… a body. A failed transformation, no doubt. Lifeless. Bloody.

The Hybrid froze the moment he saw us.

”You—ugh!”

He didnʼt get another word out.

I moved.

In the blink of an eye, I was in front of him. My hand wrapped around his throat, and I slammed him against the cold metal wall. His breath froze as I tightened my grip, fingers digging into flesh and bone. He flailed, hands clawing at mine, eyes bulging with desperation.

But I didnʼt let go.

His movements slowed. Then stopped entirely.

I held him a second longer, then released my grip and let his body slump to the floor with a dull thud.

”Now you have your lab coat,” I said, yanking the blood-splattered garment from his corpse and tossing it to Roda.

She caught it, stunned.

Without ceremony, I grabbed the Hybrid by the ankle and dragged him back toward the well. With one last heave, I hurled the body into the darkness, where it joined the others with a faint splash.

Then I stepped onto the metal tray the Hybrid had been pushing and looked at Roda.

”Letʼs do it.”

”Right…” She nodded, still shaking off her shock. She slipped into the lab coat and adjusted it quickly, patting down her hair and brushing imaginary dust from her armor beneath to look more ʼpresentableʼ. Then she gripped the handles of the cart and began to push.

We moved down the corridor.

The facility was alive with motion. Other Hybrids in identical coats walked in and out of adjacent chambers, some carrying tools, others leading dazed test subjects. The hall reeked of sterilized metal, antiseptic, and something coppery that clung to the air.

Roda leaned in and whispered, ”Edward, I think we should find the control room first. We have to destroy it before they alert Behemoth outside.”

She was right. If word got out, the element of surprise would be gone—and with it, our best chance.

”Do you know where it is?” I asked quietly.

”Not exactly. But I know there is one.”

”Then look for a map or something.”

”As if theyʼd post a map labeled ʼControl Roomʼ in a place like this,” she muttered under her breath.

Before I could respond, a voice cut in.

”Well, well… I donʼt think Iʼve seen you around before.”

A tall man stepped out from a side corridor, blocking our path. His smile was unsettling—wide, too wide—and his eyes slid from Rodaʼs face to the rest of her with poorly disguised interest.

Hard not to notice her distinct white hair and white eyes, even under the coat.

He wore a lab coat too, but he bore an embroidered patch on the chest. A name: Crenan. Clearly someone higher up.

Roda lowered her gaze slightly, adopting a submissive tone. ”I was newly affected, sir. Itʼs an honor.”

She said it with the perfect humility.

Crenan chuckled darkly, stepping a little closer.

”Newly affected, huh? That explains the eyes. And the… elegance,” he said.

Elegance?

I turned my face away holding back quickly a scoff.

Roda since had her head lowereed saw it and clenched her fists but kept her smile.

”Youʼve got blood on you. A lot of it,” Crenan said, his nostrils flaring slightly as he sniffed the air. ”You infected with… dumpings?”

”Y-Yes…” Roda nodded, though the way her eyes flicked to the side told me she probably had no clue what he was talking about.

Crenanʼs slit eyes narrowed, glinting with suspicion. ”Then whoʼs this one?” He asked, tilting his chin toward me. ”You came from the discarding room, and this oneʼs clearly not dead.”

”Ah—yes, Sir,” Roda answered quickly, straightening up. ”He appears to be a successful Hybrid. I was bringing him back for further analysis.”

”A successful Hybrid, hmm…” Crenan muttered, almost to himself.

I felt his eyes crawl across me like something alive.

”Interesting…” He said slowly. ”In that case, Iʼll take him from here. Heʼs under my jurisdiction now.” Without waiting for a reply, he stepped toward me and casually took the lead, as if I were some package being passed around.

Roda hesitated, frozen mid-step.

Damn it, donʼt freeze now.

I gave her a tiny nod when his attention shifted. A subtle one, but enough. I could handle myself for now—but she had to do it on her own. That control room had to be destroyed.

Her eyes locked onto mine, torn with uncertainty but after a breathless pause, she gave me a reluctant nod back and slowly backed away.

”Whatʼs your name?” Crenan asked, turning his attention fully to me.

His presence up close was… jarring. A jagged black horn jutted from his forehead like a malformed crown, and one side of his face was overrun with dark, rough scales. The other half, human. Barely.

”John,” I answered.

”John, tell me why did you choose to become a Hybrid?”

I let out a breath, pretending hesitation. ”Because… I love my sister.”

Crenanʼs face twisted into a grimace. ”Your sister?”

”She rejected me,” I continued. ”For another man. So I decided to change… to become stronger. Maybe then sheʼd see me.”

There was a long pause. Crenan stared at me like I was a particularly strange insect.

”You became a Hybrid to get your sisterʼs attention,” he said slowly, still grimacing. ”Thatʼs… something.”

”Yeah.” I said it like I meant every word.

Crenan gave a short, amused sigh—something between a laugh and a cough. ”I see,” he said, not offering judgment but clearly storing it away. ”Well then, letʼs see what kind of Hybrid youʼve become. With my help… who knows? Maybe youʼll even get to kill the man who stole her.”

He chuckled darkly, turning away.

He knew exactly how to worm his way into peopleʼs minds.

Still… I couldnʼt help but wonder. If the real John had been given this choice, revenge wrapped in a promise—would he have taken it?

Knowing John—that obsessive, delusional stalker with a raging sister complex—he definitely wouldʼve hesitated. Especially considering how many times heʼd lectured me that I didnʼt deserve Layla. The irony of pretending to be him now wasnʼt lost on me.

As that thought lingered in my mind, the atmosphere around us shifted.

Crenan led me down a dim, metallic corridor that gradually gave way to a quieter, colder section of the facility. The air here was crisper, sterile in a way that made the back of my neck itch. A silence lingered there, far removed from the mechanical buzzing and constant movement of the outer labs.

The room we entered was clean and silent, the kind of place where pain probably didnʼt echo far enough for anyone to care. Men and women in white uniforms sat hunched in front of high-tech workstations, typing away or analyzing data displayed on glowing screens. Anatomical diagrams rotated in three dimensions—scans of twisted hybrid bodies, organs pulsing artificially, spines reconstructed with metal and something black and veiny I couldnʼt identify. I didnʼt understand any of it, but I didnʼt need to. I could tell whatever they were doing wasnʼt… ethical.

Crenan came to a stop beside me. ”You know, John, Lady Medusa trusts me more than anyone else. Any idea why that is?”

I blinked at him with feigned innocence. ”Because… youʼve got a horn growing out of your forehead?”

He barked out a short laugh. ”I am proud of it,” he said, fingers brushing the twisted black spike jutting from his skull. ”She gave me this—Lady Medusa. It marks me as the one who created the Hybrids. But trust? That goes deeper. She trusts me because she knows exactly what Iʼm capable of. Many have died thanks to my methods, yet my results speak for themselves.”

He stepped closer. ”Every successful Hybrid Iʼve made has gone on to become something… more. I make Elites, and no one—not even the so-called geniuses outside—can do what I do. Only Lady Medusa herself outmatches me in creating perfection.”

I widened my eyes a little, adding just enough awe to make it believable. ”So… does that mean I can become an Elite Hybrid too?”

Crenanʼs lips curled into something resembling a smile as he reached out and gently patted my cheek—like a father comforting a child right before pushing him into a furnace. ”If you survive my test… maybe. But itʼs going to hurt.”

”Iʼm ready for the pain,” I said.

He gave an approving nod. ”Brave boy, John. I like that.”

Without warning, he pushed my back and dragged me toward a large cylindrical scanner embedded into the wall. It hummed faintly, opening with a soft mechanical sigh like it was hungry.

I kept the act up, calm on the outside, all while my mind scanned for weak spots in the room.

So far, no visible cameras. That was interesting—and concerning. If Crenan deliberately kept this room isolated, it was because he didnʼt want anyone watching what happened in here. It gave me room to act, but also meant thereʼd be no witnesses if things went sideways.

My eyes flicked toward the far end of the room, and a quiet grimace appeared on my face.

Beds—lined in two rows. Bodies—some twitching, some limp. People suspended in half-transformed states, restrained by leather straps and thick cords, floated just inches above the beds like test subjects in a horror vid. Some looked like theyʼd given up completely—dead eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. Others were still clinging to something—hope, rage, maybe revenge.

Behemoth wasnʼt just transforming people. They were targeting the broken ones. The ones whoʼd lost everything and wanted vengeance more than they wanted a future. The perfect prey.

”Start the scan,” Crenan said, waving his hand toward one of the white-coated technicians like a noble giving orders to a servant.

The tech nodded silently, pressing a series of holographic keys. With a low mechanical hiss, the scanner unit closed around me, sealing me inside like a coffin made of chrome. The walls were tight but smooth, lit only by a single pulsing red line that swept slowly from head to toe. I felt the warmth of the beam travel over my skin as it analyzed every inch of my body—every muscle, bone, and cell.

My heartbeat spiked.

If this machine picked up on the fact that I had absolutely zero Hybrid genetics in me… then that was it.

My fingers twitched slightly, already preparing to spring into action if I had to.

But then…

”What in the world is that…?”

Crenanʼs voice filtered through the scannerʼs shell. His words were filled with disbelief.

I frowned, unable to see him from inside the box. But I could tell from the shift in the air—he wasnʼt the only one reacting. Murmurs rose around the room. Footsteps moved quickly. Chairs scraped back.

”Run every scan. I want full biological, mana, psychological—I donʼt care how long it takes,” Crenan said.

Okay… what the hell were they seeing?

I couldʼve broken out then. I couldʼve launched myself through the scanner door and taken down the stunned technicians before they knew what hit them. But…

Now, I couldnʼt help but be curious. What did they find?

I shifted my gaze slightly, peeking through the narrow corner where the scanner hadnʼt fully sealed. Crenan stood stiff, holding a tablet in one hand and a series of freshly printed papers in the other—no doubt the results from my scan. His face now looked completely rattled. Eyes wide. Lips slightly parted. The hand holding the printouts trembled just a little.

”Iʼve… never seen something like this,” he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for me to catch it.