The Villainess With A Heroine Harem



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"Great, you're finally here! We've been waiting forever!" A dark-skinned youth rushed forward to shake hands with a somewhat rugged yet handsome middle-aged man who exited the 'portal' in front of them.

Behind him, a group of twenty young men and women neatly followed one by one, clearly well-trained and disciplined.

To be able to afford the teleportation fee of such a large group when none of them were above level ten, their background was naturally not simple.

"I believe you're already clear on our agenda for today"

The dark-skinned youth grinned. "Of course, of course! My team here will make sure to guide you through the process of killing that annoying little bugger!"

While the two of them were talking, a certain 'warrior' girl by the side couldn't help but frown. 

She had only just joined this team temporarily because she heard them boast about being able to take down a [Minor Tentacled Plant Demon] with 'ease', and apparently they'd even contracted some wealthy 'novice' team that needed 'boosting'. But since they'd 'split' into two teams to make more money, there was 'luckily' a requirement for some skilled players who would be compensated handsomely.

Dolly's level and equipment were far from being the best, but her skills were quite good. She'd been a 'pro' vanguard for a decent team for years, after all, and had also practiced mixed martial arts for years. She had no trouble passing the dark-skinned youth's trivial test, which only made her look down on him more.

Including her, there were already five 'warriors' in this small team, and they definitely wouldn't be able to take the [Minor Tentacled Plant Demon] down in a short amount of time.

'My skills have clearly gotten so much smoother since yesterday.' She thought. 'I shouldn't be wasting my time with the likes of them…'

Obviously, while the pillar's descent changed the world only a 'little', it didn't have a uniform effect on everyone. Since their 'synchronization' at the moment was quite low, most players only received a small part of their 'stats', while some lucky few might be able to directly obtain a passive or skill. And Dolly was one of them.

She'd murdered one of the natives of this world out of sheer frustration, and somehow ended up triggering a quest that awarded her with a 'sneak' passive skill for disposing of the body flawlessly. At first, she didn't think it was very useful, being only able to lower the sound of her footsteps and stuff. But who knew it would so greatly improve her martial arts skills after passing on to reality?

With such luck, Dolly was no longer so envious of Sylvia, and even saw the faint hope of one day surpassing her so far that the other girl would only be able to endlessly regret slighting her before.

Just as she was about to leave, something suddenly caught her eye. "That is… no way—!"

Despite no longer streaming to the public, Emilia's appearance was absolutely unmistakable for anyone else. And as one of the girls she hated so much, Dolly obviously wouldn't fail to recognize her, even from such a distance.

Since her voice was so loud, her other teammates also ended up discovering the party of six girls heading their way.

Or, more precisely, they were heading for the city gate.

"Ahh, isn't that the Emilia girl…?"

"Then… that must be the 'Crimson Witches' team?!"

Even the previously 'disciplined' team seemed to bubble with excitement, and their 'hushed' discussions fell into Dolly's ears like annoying little croaks of an ugly frog, making her frown in disgust.

Aside from her skin and face, what was so good about a girl like Emilia?

Naïve, stupid, and far too arrogant for her own good, she was the type of girl who could only last long in this world by leeching off of someone else. In comparison, even if she sometimes shared Sylvia's limelight, Dolly had never lowered herself to fully 'rely' on the other girl for anything.

Even if she had to steal something, she had to do it with her own hands. 

Of course, she didn't mind if others took the blame for it, as Sylvia unknowingly had. To Dolly, being so incompetent that one was not even able to avoid being blamed for something they didn't even do just meant that they either deserved it, or were actively asking for it. In that case, why should she be the one to feel bad?

Dolly's disgusted expression wasn't hidden from anyone else, and as Sylvia got closer, she couldn't help but frown.

The differences brought forth by the 'bloodlines' were negligible at this stage of the game, and everyone's real face was clearly exposed in Arcadia. The only way to hide their identity was to cover their face with something, so there was no way the yellow-eyed girl wouldn't recognize her 'best friend'.

All her enthusiasm for greeting the girl was gone, however, when she looked at the way Dolly was looking at Emilia.

"Dolly!"

Even if she was a hundred times more apologetic for not being able to make Dolly join her team, Sylvia couldn't stand someone giving Emilia such a venomous look without reason. But facing her 'best friend', she still didn't know what to say.

Dolly just sneered. "What, Sylvia, do you still recognize me? I thought you already forgot we used to be best friends."

Sylvia obviously didn't expect such a harsh comeback from the other girl, and almost took a step back in shock.

Danielle and the others frowned, having never liked Dolly, but Emilia didn't want them to create a scene in front of the city gate. "Why don't we head someplace quieter to talk…?"

Luckily, Dolly wasn't interested in airing their 'dirty laundry' in front of everyone, either, so she also begrudgingly agreed. "Fine."

As they walked away, however, the 'teammates' that Dolly had left behind could only stare at each other in surprise.

"Who knew that the seemingly unassuming girl actually knew the Crimson Witches?"

"Their relationship doesn't seem to be particularly good, though."

"Hey, who knows...?"

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