I Regress if the Villainess Dies! Chapter 21: Chapter 20 Rozenfall(3)

Read chapter 21 of I Regress if the Villainess Dies! by Yuzai_Rearu on NovelPedia.

Xian felt a sense of déjà vu. When he first arrived in this world, Carmillia had been in the very same foul mood. But this time, the one she was facing was a special heroine rather than a villainess. Then again, from his current position, would that make Carmillia the heroine and Casteryja the villainess? Although he had said that they shared similar circumstances, hers was a little different. Unlike him, who could regress as many times as necessary, this particular heroine had regressed years past the beginning of the story. She carried a special fate and a goal waiting at the end of her journey. Like most regression protagonists, she had already reached a formidable level of skill before being sent back, almost to the point of realizing her full potential. ‘But it doesn’t make any sense.’ Xian felt unsettled. The anger and bloodlust she was directing at Carmillia was far too intense. He was also irritated, because there was no way for him to know what kind of previous life she had lived. In the game, she was an inaccessible heroine unless the player fulfilled a special condition: finishing a playthrough while being present for all of her observations and events. It didn’t matter if the protagonist reached a bad ending or chose another heroine. What mattered was participating until the very end. With the game merging into reality, Xian had believed that his newfound freedom would allow him to influence the heroines in advance—especially those he favored. But things had turned out differently. Now there was another regressor thrown into the fray, and he had no idea what her involvement would bring to the main storylines and routes, how she would act around the other heroines and Adrian, which events she might interfere with, or what exactly her grudge against Carmillia was. In the game, only from the second run onward would there be a route and story specifically for her. It was a special condition much like Carmillia’s, although it was easier to achieve and encounter. From the second playthrough onward, players had a chance of encountering Casteryja, who had already regressed. That was the extent of what Xian knew. He had never attempted her route, because he heard that by far her story had the longest playtime compared to all the other heroines. So he never touched it. There was also the simple fact that she wasn’t to his tastes. Xian’s basis when choosing a heroine’s route was appearance. And while this heroine was certainly pretty, she was far from what he actually wanted. He only played the routes of heroines he liked, and only caught brief glimpses of the other routes by watching playthrough videos on the internet. Now his bias was coming back to bite him. He had general knowledge about most heroines, but this particular one was tricky even with the information he knew, because her actions were based solely on her past life and the things she wanted to change. ‘No, I can still make this work.’ Xian thought that if she was present in this timeline, then surely she would act based on the decisions of her past life. Of course, there would be a certain margin of error in his guesses, since the events weren’t exactly uninfluenced by external factors caused by other characters. She might seek out former allies, uncover hidden treasures meant to be found later, or eliminate future threats in advance. ‘Shit.’ But the more he listed the things she might do, the more he realized just how much of a threat she was to the known storyline diverging. ‘But if she followed the “True Route”, then she’s no different from the others.’ If her previous life had simply followed a the usual plot without the player’s external influence, then the situation was still manageable. That would mean she was just another heroine drawn to Adrian, the protagonist. Of course, further observation in the meantime would still be required. However, there was another problem. What role did Carmillia play in her past life? In which events did she come into play?