I Am The Game's Villain Chapter 875: Talking To Eric

"Edward..."

Eric could only stare at him in disbelief.

It was really him.

The face was different from the Edward he had known but it was still the same man he had seen displayed across the enormous screens in Veyra. The same silver hair. The same silver eyes.

"Eric, huh," Edward muttered.

He should have expected it.

If Rubina was here, then Eric would not be far away.

"What are you doing here?" Eric asked, still looking stunned.

"Shopping."

Edward answered without emotion, then turned as though the conversation had already ended.

"Wait!"

"Wait!"

Eric and Rubina spoke at the same time.

Edward paused, though he did not turn immediately.

Eric looked toward his sister with a faint frown, wondering what she was doing with Edward to begin with. Then he shifted his attention back to Edward.

"Wait, Edward. You cannot just leave like that," he said. "We need to talk. What the hell happened?"

Edward exhaled quietly through his nose.

He was right.

Eric was a reincarnator. Whether Edward wanted to deal with him or not, they had matters to discuss. The Third Game was approaching, and Eric might know something useful, perhaps more than he expected.

Edward briefly glanced somewhere else.

Barbara was still there.

Even from a distance, he could hear her raised voice as she continued complaining to the staff.

Edward’s expression hardened.

"Let’s find another place," he said.

Eric followed his gaze, then immediately understood why Edward wanted to leave.

"Right," he replied with a quick nod.

He turned toward Rubina.

"Just wait here, Ruby."

Rubina’s red eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean, wait here?" She asked. "I was speaking with him first, and now you are just putting me aside? And you as well?"

She added glaring at Edward.

"Ruby, this is important."

"I also need to talk to him—"

"We will talk later."

Edward interrupted her before the argument could continue.

He pulled out his phone and held it toward Rubina.

Rubina blinked in confusion.

For a moment, she simply stared at it as she started processing what he was asking for.

Edward frowned seeing her silent.

"Hurry up."

"Y-Yes..."

Rubina’s face turned faintly red.

She quickly pulled out her own phone, though her movements had become strangely clumsy. After a brief moment, she brought it close to Edward’s phone, and their contact information transferred between the devices.

The exchange was simple.

Yet the silence that followed it was not.

"...."

Eric stared.

He looked from Edward’s phone to his sister’s face, then back at Edward, seeming completely speechless.

"Let’s go," Edward said to Eric.

Then he walked away.

Eric remained still for a second longer.

He looked at Rubina, whose expression had shifted between embarrassment and annoyance, then glared at Edward’s back before quickly following him.

"What the fuck was that?"

Edward glanced at him.

"What was what?"

"You exchanged numbers with my sister like that?"

"She said she wanted to speak with me," Edward replied. "And I need to ask her a few questions."

If Rubina truly remembered Baphomet, she might prove more useful than she realized.

She had witnessed things that could lead Edward back to the demon’s domain. And if he could find Baphomet again, there was a possibility that he could find a way to bring Annabelle back.

Eric looked unconvinced.

"You cannot just ask my little sister for her number like that," he said. "What is wrong with you?"

Edward stopped walking.

His expression twisted with annoyance.

"Four fucking years, and you are still clinging to your sister like this?"He asked. "Are you still a virgin?"

Eric’s face turned red instantly.

"What do you care about?!"

He snapped.

"I have no interest in your sister," Edward replied. "I need information from her. That is all."

Without waiting for another response, Edward walked behind one of the wide marble pillars near the side corridor. The shopping area was busy enough that people passed by without paying them much attention, yet the pillar offered enough privacy to speak without Barbara’s voice reaching them clearly.

Eric followed with an irritated sigh.

"Ugh... whatever," he muttered.

For a moment, he looked at Edward carefully.

Then the frustration on his face faded, replaced by confusion.

"Anyway," Eric said, "John told me you might have survived. But I never expected you to appear again like this."

His eyes moved slowly over Edward’s appearance.

"What the hell happened to you? Is that really you? You look completely different."

"This is my real body from Earth," Edward said. "I managed to get it back."

Eric stared at him.

"Your body from Earth?"

His confusion only deepened.

"Didn’t you die before you reincarnated here? And who is that other person who came to us as Edward?"

Edward’s expression remained unreadable.

"It is complicated," he answered. "But he is the real Edward Falkrona. The one you knew as your childhood friend."

He paused briefly.

"I am the one who had been inhabiting his body. We were separated."

"Separated?" Eric repeated.

He looked genuinely shocked now.

"What the hell does that even mean? Is that even possible?"

"It does not matter."

Edward said curtly.

The truth was much more complicated than that. Explaining souls, bodies, memories, possession, and everything that had happened between him and Amael would only create more questions Eric was not equipped to answer.

And Edward had no desire to answer them.

"R-Right..." Eric said, though he clearly still had countless questions. "I am just confused."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Whatever. I am glad you are alive. The more reincarnators there are, the better, right? Especially with the Third Game coming."

Edward did not respond.

Eric noticed the silence.

For a second, he seemed ready to question it, but then he stopped himself. Perhaps he understood that Edward was not in the mood to discuss it.

"Anyway," Eric continued, "you will be at the academy, right?"

"I will."

"That is good." Eric nodded. "We can communicate through there. I will send you everything I know about the Third Game, including what I remember about the first event. I have spent a long time trying to remember the details. If we compare what we know, we can figure out where we stand."

He pulled out his phone.

"Let’s exchange numbers."

Edward held out his own phone without much hesitation.

Their contact information transferred quickly.

"Do not pester me with useless information," Edward said as he put his phone away.

Eric frowned.

"It will not be useless. I am talking about the Third Game."

His expression became more serious.

"I have spent months forcing myself to remember everything I can. I may not know every detail, but I managed to recover a great deal about the first event."

"Good," Edward said. "That seems to be the only thing you are useful for."

Eric stared at him.

"What?"

"You heard me."

Edward’s expression did not change.

Then his voice became more serious.

"If you decide to enter the academy, you understand that you will not be able to run from whatever happens there, right?"

Eric’s frown faded.

For a moment, he looked down at the floor.

"I know," he said quietly.

The irritation disappeared from his face, replaced by something more serious.

"Look... I am sorry about Sancta Vedelia. I could not abandon everything and go there at the time. I had people to protect, things I had to deal with. I didn’t think I was ready to really face the thing but I am serious now."

He raised his eyes toward Edward.

"Let’s do this together."

Edward watched him for several seconds.

"As long as you understand what is coming."

His gaze shifted briefly toward the direction Rubina had gone.

"At least, for your sister’s sake, you should move your ass."

With that, Edward began to turn away.

"About that..."

Eric stopped him again.

Edward paused, visibly annoyed.

Eric scratched his cheek awkwardly. His eyes shifted aside as he searched for the right words, clearly uncertain how Edward would react.

"There is something I need to tell you," he said. "It is about Jeanne."

Edward looked back at him.

"The Summoned Hero, Jeanne," he demanded confirmation first.

"Yeah."

Eric took a small breath.

"She is actually my stepsister from Earth."

Silence followed.

Edward did not speak immediately.

His silver eyes remained fixed on Eric, unreadable enough to make him uncomfortable beneath his stare.

"You understand?" Eric asked.

"Your stepsister," Edward repeated.

"Yeah."

"You are not joking."

"I am not!" Eric answered quickly. "Jeanne is my stepsister. My mother married her father a few years before I transmigrated here."

Edward fell silent again.

Jeanne had a stepbrother?

It was likely after he left highschool then.

Still, the coincidence was absurd.

Edward had once wondered whether Eric had been drawn into this world because of some connection to him.

Now he had found one.

Eric was connected to Jeanne, who had been Edward’s classmate on Earth.

"And she knows about me," Eric continued. "I told her."

Edward’s gaze sharpened.

"She believes you?"

"She does," Eric said. "Honestly, she was relieved."

His expression softened slightly as he spoke of Jeanne.

"It must have been difficult for her. She was summoned into this world alone, without warning, and suddenly everyone expected her to become a Hero. So I told her the truth about reincarnators."

He hesitated.

"John also told her about himself. He told her that he is one too. And I explained the Games, the events, everything I knew."

Eric looked at Edward expectantly.

"She wants to help."

"I see."

Edward gave no other response.

He turned to leave again.

"Wait, that is all?" Eric asked, following him with a frown.

"What else should there be?"

"I mean..." Eric hesitated. "She wants to know about the other reincarnator. I told her there was someone else, but I did not tell her anything about you. I thought we should tell her too, so she can—"

"No."

Edward interrupted him sharply.

Eric blinked.

"What?"

"You will not tell her anything about me," Edward said. "And she should not involve herself with us."

His tone turned colder.

"She is a Summoned Hero. Every eye will be on her wherever she goes. She will only become a burden. Tell her to stay away and live her life."

Eric grimaced.

The words sounded far too similar to what John had told when Jeanne had first expressed a desire to help with the Game Events.

"I understand what you mean," he said, trying to keep his frustration under control. "But she can still be useful. She is a Hero. She has status, influence, strength—"

"You will not tell her anything about me."

Edward repeated the words with no change in his expression.

"And tell her to stay out of our affairs. She will be useless."

Eric’s hands curled into fists.

"What is wrong with her wanting to help?" He asked.

Edward looked at him with faint contempt.

"I thought you cared about your sister."

Eric stiffened.

"And now you want to throw her into danger the moment she arrives in this world?" Edward continued. "Maybe you do not care as much because she is only your stepsister."

"What?!"

"She is not even you real sister, nothing surprising," Edward added.

Eric stepped forward and grabbed Edward by the front of his shirt.

His face had turned red with anger.

"I care about her!"

Edward did not react.

He met Eric’s glare, without the slightest bother, just a cold and almost bored look.

"But she is already in the academy," Eric said, his voice tense. "What am I supposed to do? I cannot stop her from being involved. It is the same with Ruby."

"Then you know what to do about Jeanne."

Edward’s voice was quiet.

"She will be a nuisance."

The less Jeanne knew about the Game Events, the better.

That was Edward’s true concern.

A Summoned Hero was not merely a powerful fighter. Heroes were symbols. Eden used them to shape public belief, inspire nations, and direct the course of the world through people who thought they were acting freely.

Edward had never believed Heroes were Eden’s greatest weapons.

Eden had people far stronger than them.

Heroes were pawns dressed as saviors.

And Jeanne could turn unpredictable.

If she involved herself in the Game Events, she could change the course of events Edward needed to happen. He could not allow that.

Edward pried Eric’s hand free from his shirt without effort and stepped past him.

"Keep her away from this," he said without looking back.

And with that demand that sounded like a warning, he walked away.