NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1824: Twisted Fanservice
Villain Ch 1824. Twisted Fanservice
Noah was the first to speak.
"Her again?" he groaned. "What now? Did she do a backflip while dancing naked on top of a burning cathedral?"
James didn't miss a beat. "Or maybe she's crying dramatically on top of a skyscraper with a bottle of wine and a playlist called 'Main Character Meltdown Vol. 3.'"
Noah tilted his head. "That actually sounds kind of likely."
"Would explain the TwitterX threads," James added.
Gil looked at them like a man who just stepped in emotional sewage.
"No," he said grimly. "It's not a meltdown."
He paused.
Then dropped the bomb.
"It's the sex tape."
"Between her, Liam, and Darren. It leaked."
The air didn't just go quiet—it collapsed.
Elio's stomach did a slow, measured twist. He blinked once.
"…What?"
Gil nodded solemnly. "Leaked. Full video. Online. Viral. It's everywhere."
James opened his mouth. Closed it. Then opened it again like his brain needed a restart.
"I thought—what? No. I thought the lawyers already handled that!"
"They did," Noah muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Guess it… failed."
"It definitely failed," Gil confirmed.
That's when Jacob—still seated on the blood-slicked stone boulder, robes slightly smoking from his last spell—spoke up.
"Wait. Hold up. What sex tape?"
He blinked. "Are you saying… She slept with Darren and Liam?"
His brows lifted so high they almost exited his face.
"Like, at the same time?"
All of them turned to look at him.
The same way you look at a puppy about to chew an electric cord.
It was… pitying. Soft. A little too slow.
Jacob stared back, mouth half open.
"…Why are you all looking at me like that?"
James exhaled. "Buddy…"
Noah slapped his shoulder. "Oh, Jacob…"
"I need an explanation," Jacob said, voice rising. "Now."
Elio sighed and motioned to Gil. "Go ahead. Explain it."
Gil nodded and crossed his arms, expression tight. "Alright. So. Sophia, when she was still in the guild and was friends with us—"
"—Manipulating us," Noah corrected.
"Right. Manipulating. She was also sleeping with Darren and Liam on the side."
Jacob blinked. "At the same time?"
"Like, literal same time," James said. "She even recorded it. For fun."
Gil continued. "The kicker? It was a rape roleplay."
"Oh my God—" Jacob raised his hand. "I get it. I get it. I see it. I hate it. Please stop."
He rubbed his temples like the sheer weight of this knowledge was melting brain cells on impact.
"This is so fucked up," he said weakly.
"Yup," James said, popping the 'p' as he leaned against a tree.
Gil stepped forward, tapping his HUD to pull up his party interface. "And the recording? It's out now. It dropped early this morning on three different underground forums. Someone uploaded it with a throwaway account. Pixeltrail confirms it came from someone with a verified user who scrubbed their identity."
Noah snorted. "Sophia."
Gil lifted a hand. "Hey. I'm not pointing fingers—"
"Please," Noah said. "It's 99% her. Who else has motive, opportunity, and a raging vendetta?"
"She lost her job," James added. "Her backups. Her sugar daddies. Her guildmates. Her teams. Allen didn't want her back. She has nothing left."
Gil shrugged. "And now she's doing what people with nothing left do."
"Dragging everyone else down with her," Elio muttered.
"Crab mentality," James said with a shrug. "If I'm going to hell, everyone's coming with me."
Jacob was still quietly reeling. "So let me get this straight. Sophia… had a threesome with Darren and Liam—and they recorded it like it was some kind of twisted fanservice?"
"Correct."
"Then she tried to blackmail Darren and Liam."
"Also correct."
"And now that everything's fallen apart, she leaked the tape to ruin everyone involved?"
"Bingo," Gil said, voice flat. "Full scorched earth maneuver."
Jacob just stood there, frozen, staring into space.
"I almost dated that woman," he whispered.
"You are saved by that 'almost'," Elio said gently.
Jacob covered his face. "This is a social death. I'm infected by association. I need to delete my past."
"I'm pretty sure you need therapy," Noah muttered.
James looked around, expression sobering. "So what now?"
Elio stared at the tree line. His thoughts were no longer in the forest. They were racing through networks. Through chatrooms. Through all the people now staring at that video. He could almost feel Allen's reaction from here—somewhere out there, sitting calmly… watching it unfold.
Elio clenched his fist.
"This isn't just a scandal," he said. "This is a war tactic. A distraction. A misdirection. Or…"
"Or what?" Gil asked.
"Or just the opening move." Elio's eyes narrowed. "Sophia might be trying to ruin lives. But I think someone else might be watching too. This chaos? It creates an opening."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "You think it's bigger than her?"
Elio's jaw tightened. "Sophia's crazy. But she's not smart enough to do this perfectly. Someone helped her. Or waited for her to lose control so they could use it."
James sighed. "Why does drama always escalate like a raid boss evolution chart?"
Jacob finally sat down on the mossy rock again, rubbing his face. "I just wanted to hunt Giants today. That's all. Just a simple day in the woods. Some XP. Maybe a new staff. And now I have emotional PTSD."
Gil's eyes flicked toward the party log, then to Elio again. "You want me to start tracing sources?"
Elio nodded. "Start with the forums. Check if anyone's cross-posted. And keep an eye on private guild discourds. If something's brewing, we need to know before it hits public channels."
Gil tapped his HUD again. "On it."
As the team slowly began gathering their gear and checking inventory, Elio took one last look at the forest horizon.
The breeze had picked up again.
But the peace?
Gone.
Replaced by something colder.
He was back in that world.
The world of betrayal. Leaks. Shadows.
And the worst part?
He could still feel Allen somewhere, watching quietly from afar.
Not panicking.
Not scared.
Just waiting.
And that scared Elio more than anything else.