Transmigrating as an Extra Third-Rate Villain

As the sound of Liam, Kevin, and Zach's footsteps grew closer, the girls finally heard them, prompting them to stop and look back at where we came from.

As they stared behind us, I took a moment to glance forward at the path of green particles ahead.

Peering through the darkness of the cave, I attempted to find the end of the path, but the cave twisted and turned so much that it was impossible.

Looking upwards, I began analyzing the roof and walls of the cave.

Not that I wanted to, but escaping in this situation, regardless of whether the loop was over or not, was impossible.

The walls were shaky, and there were weak spots all over the roof, so any attempt to forcefully break your way upwards would result in the entire tunnel collapsing.

Looking back behind us, I saw Liam's figure fast approaching us as, for some unknown reason, he was sprinting.

Trailing behind him were Zach and Kevin, each sweating and panting from trying to leave the forest all day while Lily tested.

All three of them had their weapons in their hands and were constantly surveying their surroundings as they ran toward us.

Well... I guess it would be kind of weird to come to your meeting location just to see the massive destruction caused by our purple beam earlier.

Honestly, I had seen warzones with less destruction.

As Liam's figure became visible to the four girls, prompting them to rush towards him, the thought suddenly came to my head.

What happens when the loop resets at the end of the day?

Will the trees and end condition that we destroyed regenerate?

That would mean that the holes and entrance to this underground space would regenerate, sealing us off from the outside world.

If so, how would we escape then?

We're basically trapped here if we stay longer than the end of the day, aren't we?

"...wait, my crow!"

Although I couldn't send any more crows to the outside as they would have no way to escape this underground space, I still had one of my crows flying above the carriage.

The area right under the destroyed tree wasn't as unstable as this tunnel, so it could probably withstand a crow's beak.

If worst comes to worst, I could have him use his beak to make a small opening in the ground and then use my dragon's wing to fly through it.

I'd just have to hope that my crow can make a hole in the ground before the day ends and the loop resets.

Wait, why am I even thinking about escaping?

Shaking my head, I leaned against the cave wall, carefully not to apply too much pressure, and watched the main cast reunion from a distance.

For a solid minute, Lily explained everything that had happened to the three boys, prompting them to slowly shift their gazes to me.

Making sure not to meet their gazes, I turned away and continued trying to peer forward, angling myself so I could see farther into the cave and through the twists and turns.

Seeing Lily finish her explanation of the recent events, including the destruction of the tree, I picked up my corrupted daggers and headed deeper into the cave alone.

The only reason I had stayed to watch Lily was to explain to ensure that she knew nothing about us escaping the loop through this tunnel.

I had also already gathered all the information I needed from the group, as Alya had already created a path straight to the tree and essentially told us that the tree wanted to be destroyed.

Of course, I wasn't cocky enough to believe that I could single-handedly defeat the tree after seeing the strength of its decoy body, which we had barely managed to destroy with my power combined with the girls.

It wasn't the fact that the boss was strong that stopped me from attempting to kill it alone.

I had faced much tougher opponents; in fact, the corrupted boss I had fought within the World Tree was probably stronger than this one.

But... I had information on that corrupted boss.

Sure, I didn't know its weakness or anything, as Liam had killed it with divine power, but I knew all of its possible moves, so when the beams started appearing from his hand, I knew how to destroy them.

On the other hand, this tree... and this loop as a whole was completely unknown and a mystery to me.

Time and time again, my book knowledge proved useless in this loop.

The book said that destroying the end condition would end the loop, but that didn't work here.

The book also never mentioned anything about our surroundings resetting every twenty-four hours.

It was almost like this world. It wasn't even part of the book; it was a different timeline or even world.

None of the book's knowledge could be applied here besides some concrete rules that were very vague, like how I knew how to identify the end condition but not just immediately find it.

Hearing the last bits of their conversation as I left, I hurried my pace.

While Ruby and Irene split off from the main cast and headed to the side, Alya walked up in front of the exhausted and sweating boys before asking.

"Come on, let's go, what are we waiting for?"

Raising her hands in confusion, Lily stood next to Alya and replied.

"Alya, the boys are completely exhausted, we can sp-"

"They can rest once we're out of this loop. Let's hurry it up." NovelFire-article

Temporarily surprised at Alya's outburst, Lily stood still before regaining her composure and calmly replying.

"Give me at least a minute or two, Alya; speeding through this tunnel isn't going to solve anything anyway."

Snorting at Lily's response, Alya tilted her head with a condescending expression and arrogantly replied.

"And, standing here doing nothing will solve our problem?"

Stepping in front of the unusually irritated Alya, Liam asked.

"I know we're all stressed, but just like you said earlier to Kevin and I, let's not f-"

From behind Liam, Kevin matched Alya's arrogant tone and added in.

"You're a princess, not a hypocrite, so act like it."

Looking right at the panting Liam and Kevin, Alya cocked her head and said.

" *tsk* Years could have passed in the real world while we've been stuck in this loop, and here we are, resting when we're at the very end of it all."