NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1951: You Ghosted Us
Villain Ch 1951. You Ghosted Us
Allen pulled off the VR visor.
The simulation faded from his senses like mist lifting off a battlefield. Ghosts gone. Screams gone. The banquet of the damned nothing more than faint heat in his palms and a low ring in his ears.
He blinked.
The ceiling above him wasn't some haunted crypt, but sleek, cream-toned leather with dim overhead lighting. The quiet hum of engines reminded him where he actually was.
Private jet.
Cruising at 42,000 feet.
Still thirty minutes before landing.
He turned his head toward the window out of habit. Clouds rolled by beneath the wing like crushed marble. Tranquil. Untouchable.
And then he froze.
Because they were all looking at him.
Eight women in travelwear sat in a semi-scattered arrangement—some with blankets, others still half reclined in their massage seats—but all wide awake, silent… staring at him like he'd just confessed to murder.
Or worse.
He blinked again.
"…What?"
Vivian was the first to tilt her head. "You okay?"
"Yeah," he said slowly. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You're sweating," Jane said, rising from her chair with a bottle of water already in hand. She walked over and sat down across from him, legs crossed like this was an intervention. "Want a drink?"
He reached up and felt his forehead.
Damn. She was right. He was sweating. Not drenched. Just… that post-raid heat that hadn't left him yet.
Jane handed over the bottle. He took it.
Behind her, Zoe nudged Larissa, whispering something. Larissa squinted at him like she was scanning a crime scene. Alice leaned closer across the aisle, biting her lip. Bella looked half amused, half confused, tapping at her phone. Shea raised a brow and twirled a pen she wasn't using. And Azura?
Azura tried to hide behind the couch pillow, peeking out like a shy kitten.
Allen drank the water. Cold. Sharp. Pulled him back.
"You were online," Vivian said, her voice light but layered.
"We figured you snuck in some gameplay," Bella said.
Allen didn't answer right away.
Jane leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "So we logged in too."
He looked at her.
"You what?"
"We logged in. Just logged in," she repeated. "But then, your avatar disappeared before we could say hello."
"You ghosted us," Zoe muttered.
"Ironic," Larissa added. "Since apparently you were in a ghost dungeon."
"How'd you know it was a ghost dungeon?" Allen asked, deadpan.
Mastercraft had probably streamed it. He didn't say a thing. But over those three, only Mastercraft who had a streamer account.
Vivian smiled. "You smell like fear. And formaldehyde."
Shea smirked. "We heard Alex scream."
"Oh God," Allen muttered, rubbing his face.
"You really were sweating," Jane said, her voice a little softer now as she passed him a chilled towel from the nearby tray. "Was it bad? I mean… yeah, we watched the stream. It was bad, but not really frightening."
Zoe groaned from the opposite recliner. "Please. Alex kept screaming like someone put a spider in his boots."
"That's because all the ghosts were targeting him," Alice said. "It was kind of sad. And hilarious."
Allen paused, towel draped loosely in one hand. He looked at them, blinked once, then shrugged.
"Well… not really bad," he said, voice even, eyes half-lidded with that unreadable calm. "At least not for me."
The girls exchanged a glance.
"Of course not," Zoe muttered, rolling her eyes. "Because you're a demon in human skin."
"Correction," Jane said with a small smirk, "he's our demon in human skin."
Azura made a soft noise, then buried her face into her pillow again. "…He did look cool though."
"I was surprised. You did a public raid?" Zoe said like she couldn't decide if that was cute or suspicious. "You?"
"I was bored and they came to me."
Jane's gaze lingered on him. Not angry. Not amused. Just curious. "And? Was it fun?"
Allen looked down at the bottle.
Then chuckled.
"It was supposed to be."
Azura's voice floated out from behind the pillow. "But it wasn't?"
Allen tilted his head, half-smiling. "It was fine. They were fun. Kind of refreshing, honestly. Normal. Stupid. Loud."
"Let me guess…" Shea said. "It wasn't as good as you think since they panicked."
"They screamed," Allen replied. "A lot."
The girls all chuckled.
Vivian leaned back into her seat. "So you missed us."
Allen didn't answer.
"You missed us," Jane confirmed for him.
"I missed the teamwork without too many loud voices or screams," he said.
"That's a lie," Zoe shot back instantly.
Azura peeked again. "I saw you protect them."
He raised a brow. "Define protect."
"You're supposed to be a DPS, but sometimes you act like a tank."
"Yeah, kinda."
"You didn't let anything touch you, right?" Larissa asked.
He shook his head.
The girls all exchanged a look.
Jane grinned, eyes glinting just a bit more mischievously now. "That's our Devil. You good now?"
"Yeah," Allen said, resting back against the plush leather headrest.
Zoe kicked her legs up onto her seat, lounging sideways like a cat.
"Told ya. Should've hunted with our team."
Allen lifted a brow at her. "I'm agreeing with you. Don't look so smug."
Azura finally sat up, holding a small packet of cookies in her hands like they were some kind of diplomatic shield. "Why, though? I mean… from my perspective, it looked fun too."
He turned his eyes toward her—softening slightly. "Maybe because we're used to acting all mighty in the game. Like apex predators. Top of the kill boards. So when I played with people who… didn't do that? It just felt off. Especially the screaming. Yeah. Kind of irritated me."
Jane snorted under her breath. "You mean the constant high-pitched 'OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I'M GONNA DIE' every ten seconds didn't do it for you?"
Zoe put on a mocking falsetto. "'Please don't haunt me, I'm just a healer!'"
Alice chuckled, folding her arms. "It wasn't even the ghosts. It was the fact that they all wanted Alex. It was targeted spiritual bullying."
Allen cracked a rare smirk. "I prefer your screams."
That got the reaction he expected.
Vivian let out a playful gasp. "Excuse me?"
"Oh my God," Bella whispered, pretending to clutch her pearls.
"You absolute menace," Larissa said, laughing through a bite of her biscuit.
"Clarify," Shea said, raising one perfect eyebrow. "You mean in combat, right?"
Allen didn't respond.
He just reached across the cabin's table for the snack tray. Picked up a dark chocolate-covered almond. Bit into it.
"I'm not clarifying anything."
They all exploded at once.
"Oh, come on!"
"You flirtatious bastard!"
"That's illegal!"