Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Chapter 285: How To Befriend A Juliana (Step One: Make A Game Out Of It!)

That night, we sat deep inside the sealed cave, gathered around a campfire so small it might as well have been nonexistent.

No one spoke for a while, but the silence was still comfortable.

I had never experienced a silence like that before — where the quiet didn’t feel like an absence, but a presence.

The faint crackle of the fire, the occasional drip of water from the moss-covered ceiling, and the slow rhythm of our breaths — all of it was calming.

Juliana, like a moody cat, sat a bit farther away from all of us.

”Why does she always sit alone?” Vince whispered with a frown.

I glanced at her and then shifted my gaze to the other side of the cave, where Kang was lying with his hands under his head.

I pointed at him. ”My question is... why is he always away from us?”

Michael chuckled. ”He likes to brood, pretending to be dark and mysterious. But he’s a big softie at heart.”

Right.

Alexia, Kang, Michael, and Lily — the four of them had undergone so many missions together that by now they knew each other much more intimately than any other team in the Academy.

They were close friends by definition.

”But he’s not a pretty girl, so who cares?” Ray laughed before quickly covering his mouth, as if he’d said something wrong. Then, he literally batted his lashes at the blind girl who couldn’t see him. ”But you, Lady Alexia, are the prettiest, if I’m not being too forward.”

...What the heck?

What happened to this guy?

Why was he flirting like a middle-aged shut-in virgin?

Where did all his charm and charisma go?

Alexia, with Lily combing her hair, blinked a couple of times like she was unsure of what to even say. ”Uh... thanks?”

I nearly died from secondhand embarrassment. And so did Vince, Michael, and Lily.

Kang merely opened one eye and started glaring at Ray.

Nevertheless, I was thankful to Ray. After all, Kang now had to split his hate between him and me.

I decided to change the subject before clearing my throat. ”Ahem. Anyway, moving on from... whatever that was... how about we play another game?”

Everyone collectively groaned.

”It’s not a death game, don’t worry!” I immediately reassured them. ”Okay, you might

die. But it’s not a death game.”
”Just... what is it?” Michael sighed, acting reluctant, but I could see the curiosity in his eyes.

”It’s simple. You’ll have to see how far you can push your luck with Juliana. The more difficult the challenge, the more points you’ll gain,” I explained with a devious little smirk. ”For example, convince her to sit with us — that’s six points. Braid her hair — twelve points. Make her laugh — fifty points! But I’ll be the judge of how to allocate points.”

”No way,” Michael quickly waved his hand and lounged back, giving up immediately.

”Yeah, bro. Too risky,” Ray shook his head as well. ”I’d rather take my chances with those monstrous bees again.”

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle.

Yeah, well, I expected as much. No sane person would ever willingly approach Juliana after seeing even a shade of her true colors.

Still, these people were quite literally the main characters of this world! I expected at least some valor from them!

So I was a little disappointed.

...Until I heard Vince’s voice.

”What’s the reward?”

I looked at him the way you would look at a madman to admire his insanity — equal parts shocked and surprised.

He held my gaze. ”What? Surely you, a Theosbane, have something to offer after practically suggesting suicide for a game?”

I burst out laughing. ”Of course! How about this — I’ll award one Essence Stone for scoring two points.”

Vince kept looking at me for a second longer, and I felt like he was going to try to negotiate the price to be a bit higher.

But instead, he just nodded and said, ”Deal!”

I couldn’t believe my ears, much like everyone else around us.

”Bro, seriously?!” Ray exclaimed, his jaw hanging open in surprise.

Alexia shook her head with a titter. ”You are a moron. The good thing is, you’ll die a moron.”

”Hey, hey, don’t write him off yet. I believe in you, Vince!” Michael said... before he summoned a sword and started digging a grave beside him with its pommel.

”You’re all assholes,” Vince scoffed before getting up.

Then he walked over to Juliana, and they actually started talking. Well, he was the one talking. She was just listening with narrowed eyes.

Just as we were about to start Vince’s funeral preparations, he took off his gloves... and offered them to Juliana.

We all gasped!

This was a very risky move.

Yes, it was getting really chilly these days in the Noctveil Wilds, but directly offering Juliana your gloves like that — it could either blow up in your face or pay off greatly.

...And it did pay off!

After a long, almost too long, pause... Juliana accepted the gloves with a carefree roll of her shoulders.

We all lost our minds, but had to pretend like we weren’t witnessing history being made to avoid ruining Vince’s game plan.

And thank heavens we didn’t, because soon after that, I witnessed something that made me want to believe in miracles.

You see, over the years, I had seen Vince accomplish the impossible many times.

I had once seen him decapitate himself, then stitch his own head back together before he killed a girl with a kiss.

I had also seen him defeat a Scrient, the Hoarder of Lost Knowledge, with nothing but words.

And believe it or not, I have even seen him outwit a real angel in a game of cards by doing nothing! Nothing!

Yet, out of all his miraculous and spectacular and downright absurd feats... nothing he ever did was as impressive as what he accomplished that night.

Because somehow, by some dark sorcery, he convinced Juliana to sit with us!

...Juliana!

To sit with us!

I don’t even know what he said since neither of them ever told us.

One moment he was talking, and the next, she stood up, walked over, and sat with us beside me as I scooted over in a daze.

Every single one of us froze.

Michael stopped pretending to dig the grave.

Ray’s mouth hung open like a man witnessing a divine revelation.

Alexia and Lily both blinked so slowly you could have mistaken them for robots.

Even Kang was quietly watching from his corner, one eyebrow raised.

It took us some time to recover.

But slowly, incredulously, we began to talk again about all kinds of different and useless topics as I discreetly handed Vince three Essence Stones.

Our conversation continued for a while until Lily, who had finished braiding Alexia’s hair by the firelight, turned to Juliana.

”You have beautiful strands,” she said softly. ”Want me to do yours too?”

Damn!

I never knew Lily — that pure, demure, saintly Lily — was the daredevil type!

Juliana’s gaze slid toward her, cold and warning. ”Touch my hair, and I’ll take a finger off your hand.”

Lily smiled sweetly. ”So... just one braid, then?”

A long pause ensued.

Juliana looked away. She didn’t agree... but she didn’t disagree either.

So Lily shifted a little closer, as if casually testing the waters of death itself.

We all collectively held our breath.

Then, to everyone’s shock, Juliana didn’t move.

She just sat there, her chin slightly raised, her usual stoic expression unchanged as Lily carefully began separating her white strands with a comb.

Ray leaned in toward me and whispered, ”She’s... letting her do it?”

I nodded slowly, not taking my eyes off the two girls. ”I think so. Or she’s waiting for Lily to finish before killing her. Fifty-fifty chance, really.”

Michael scratched his cheek and spoke in a hushed tone. ”Nah, nah. If she wanted to kill her, she would have done it already.”

”Yeah, that’s what she wants you to think,” I whispered back, as if we were commenting on some nature documentary.

Meanwhile, Lily was humming a soft tune that would normally lull you into peace, but every note just made the tension worse right now.

She worked delicately and with fine precision.

After a few minutes, she wove a thin braid off Juliana’s snowy white hair and leaned back with a satisfied smile. ”There. Done.”

Still, no one dared to breathe.

Juliana took out one of her kunai and looked at her reflection on the polished blade.

Finally, she glanced at Lily with something dangerously close to mild approval.

”Not bad,” Juliana murmured.

The entire cave erupted in disbelief.

”Holy— she complimented someone!” Vince yelped.

Alexia gasped. ”She did! She did! She didn’t even compliment me when I saved her, but now she did!”

Michael joined his hands together and gazed up, as if acknowledging the existence of the heavens.

Even Kang sat up, muttering under his breath, ”...Huh. Guess the world is about to end after all.”

Meanwhile, Juliana looked around at all of us with a bored expression that practically said, ’Idiots.’

Lily simply smiled, calmly basking in the chaos she had created as I sneaked her six well-deserved Essence Stones.