Transmigrating as an Extra Third-Rate Villain

[[S] Soul Split] : Requiring a large amount of the mana, the skill allows the user to transfer part of their soul to ANY living thing in the world. With your soul in another living thing, you can take control of that thing and use it like a puppet, having full control over its memories and actions...

However, in order to imprint your soul on another being, your part of the soul must be stronger than theirs. If the part of your soul you send fails these conditions... that part of your soul will disappear forever.

This action can be performed an infinite amount of times.]

Looking down at the dog, which was lifelessly gazing at her, Ruby telepathically commanded.

"Keep an eye on Ren."

As the dog ran off and disappeared from the window, Ruby turned around and leaned against the one-sided window.

Finally, the confusion that Ruby had after receiving the skill turned into fear.

An unpayable debt.

Upon seeing the skill's rank, Ruby immediately activated it, causing the book to disintegrate and turn into her ability.

That action could not be reversed.

Ruby now owed an S-rank book... or infinite debt to someone she didn't even know.

At first, Ruby had only joined the ranks of the Gemstone Order in order to take revenge... and after that, she would live in peace, having the closure that the right people had died.

However... that future now seemed impossible to Ruby.

She felt trapped...

What would happen if she left the Gemstone Order?

Would she be pursued by the person who had given her the book, come after her, and keep her until the end of time?

If someone could give her an S-rank skill book so easily... their power had to be unimaginable.

She was simply a pawn, waiting to be moved and taken by the Gemstone Order.

That's why Ruby felt every second she spent was borrowed.

Was her life even hers anymore?

It was ironic...

The skill she had been given gave her the ability to turn other people and living things into puppets... yet she felt more like a puppet herself after receiving it.

Just because she had consumed the skill, she now owed a higher-up of the gemstone order a debt that she would not be able to pay off in her lifetime.

If she could... Ruby would go back and throw away that skill book in an instant.

It wasn't even her life anymore.

The looming fear that one day she would be suddenly called to the Gemstone Order headquarters and forced to follow the commands of whatever Elder was always there for the rest of her life was always there.

Every day she spent felt amazing and fulfilling... just because she knew that this life could be taken away at any moment.

Yet, that looming fear always stood tall, casting a dark cloud over her life.

It felt like she was living on borrowed time.

That was why Ruby's desire to live was such a big flame... or at least, that was what Ruby thought as she couldn't actually see her own desire.

That was why Ruby was interested in Ren when she first saw the flame of his desire.

Ruby felt like she saw herself in Ren... except unlike Ruby, Ren wasn't locked down.

He was free... without a single burden or fear on his back

However, instead of envying and hating Ren for having what she didn't, Ruby observed him from the background.

Recalling his state after his fight with the teacher during the Attack on the Academy incident, Ruby could only smile.

Without any care for credit or glory, Ren simply did what he wanted to do.

Sometimes, he was evil, caring about money and magical artifacts, and sometimes he was good, saving countless lives.

He did whatever was on his mind, no matter the dangers or consequences that came with it.

Nothing seemed to matter to him... there were no shackles holding him back.

Was that what it meant to be truly free?

Ruby could not answer that question as she was not truly free... so she looked at Ren for the answer.

Ren was a torch... an inspiration for Ruby in the world of darkness.

She longed to live like him... but she didn't know how to.

Icarus from Greek mythology had flown close to the sun with the pair of wings that his father, Daedalus, had created, and as a result, he had died.

Ruby, who had been consumed by her desire for revenge and to get stronger, had foolishly consumed a skill book without considering the consequences or implications.

While Ruby had only lost her freedom instead of her life, she still considered it the same thing.

How could one live without freedom?

Was it truly living if you were simply a puppet forced to follow someone else's orders?

"...one day where Ren has to listen to all my orders."

Could Ren teach her the true meaning of freedom during that day?

Every time Ruby was with Ren, it felt like the shackles binding her to the Gemstone Order simply disintegrated and disappeared.

It felt like... she was living her life, and that looming fear of being a puppet like her ability disappeared.

One day of that was something that Ruby couldn't imagine.

A day of freedom, where she didn't have to worry about being imprisoned by that Elder from the Gemstone Order and becoming a puppet.

"I'm going to win that bet."

At that moment, the dog with white fur suddenly sped up, running faster than even the students rushing to class behind it.

As Ruby's eyes sparkled a fiercer red than usual, Irene spoke up, interrupting Ruby's thoughts.

"Up for a board game? We have nothing better to do."

Sitting down on the couch, Ruby was about to start playing when a sudden sound interrupted them.

*RING~RING*

As Irene knocked the board game off the coffee table in anger, Ruby picked up her backpack and headed to class.

Ruby knew that her observing Ren wouldn't do anything as it was clear he would put an artificial act.

That's why she sent her first puppet... the white dog!

Pushing back her long-silky black hair, Ruby smiled before sliding and opening the classroom door.