I Woke Up as the Villain

Choi Yu-Seong chose to give Choi Woo-Jae a demonstration to clear his misunderstanding. He showed the illusion made by Wind Control and walked over to sit on the sofa on the other side. The two versions of Yu-Seong sat across from each other on separate sofas and their gazes met for a fleeting moment. Then, it was all gone like a mirage.

“...” Choi Woo-Jae watched silently. After that, he let out a loud laugh. "Haha!"

Yu-Seong had never heard such loud laughter; it rang throughout the entire office and seemed to rattle the whole building like an earthquake. When he heard that laugh, Choi Yu-Seong felt a chill run down his spine. There was only one thing on his mind.

'S-rank hunter?' 

It was known that Choi Woo-Jae was an S-rank hunter. Moreover, when Choi Woo-Jae was killed by Kim Do-Jin in the original novel, he had been described as an S-rank. Even so, Choi Yu-Seong’s uneasiness could be easily explained. The feeling of energy that suddenly came out of Choi Woo-Jae was heavier and more suffocating than he had imagined.

Although Choi Yu-Seong was currently just a D-rank hunter, he had faced quite a few S-rank hunters. That was why he could be sure.

'I’ve faced Park Cheol-Ho, Baek Chul, and Rachel before...but he's stronger than anyone else.'

It was said that after achieving S-rank, Choi Woo-Jae had been focused on work and had not ventured into dungeons. But was that speculation really true?

When Choi Yu-Seong gulped, Choi Woo-Jae stopped laughing and released a blade of black light from his fingers. The black light instantly burned the strategy plan that Choi Yu-Seong had been looking at just a moment ago. Despite the fierce flames, there was no damage to either Choi Yu-Seong, the sofa he was sitting on, or the wooden table.

‘He has complete control over the flame’s power.’

It was the first time Choi Yu-Seong had seen this ability of Choi Woo-Jae This situation made it easy to realize Woo-Jae’s extraordinary abilities.

"Anyway, I've memorized all the content. In fact, I'm not going to do the job myself, so it would be foolish to leave it as a document," Woo-Jae explained why he had personally burned the strategy plan. Then, he asked, “How did you pull off the deception?"

In fact, there was nothing deceptive about it; Choi Yu-Seong had used a drug that did not exist yet. Thus, everyone had been mistaken about it, including his doctor. Since the doctor was a trustworthy doctor Choi Woo-Jae employed, it resulted in a series of misconceptions, causing Choi Yu-Seong to hoodwink the public.

At this point, Choi Yu-Seong was deep in thought.

'How can I use this to my advantage?' 

Just as he had told done with Jin Yu-Ri, he could completely reveal everything. However, since the opponent was Choi Woo-Jae, it was necessary to think a little differently.

In the end, Choi Yu-Seong said, "...If everyone knows the secret, it won't be a secret anymore, right?"

Choi Woo-Jae furrowed his gray eyebrows and said, "So you won’t even tell me, your father?"

"You never know. If the fight at home becomes too one-sided, you might become bored and start supporting the opposing side, Father.”

Choi Woo-Jae's lips tugged up into a cold smile.

‘I am still underestimating my ninth child.’

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Although Yu-Seong’s somewhat rebellious behavior was not pleasing, Woo-Jae also didn't dislike it.

From start to finish, holding suspicions and not trusting the opponent—was exactly what Woo-Jae himself would do. Perhaps that was why, instead of finding Choi Yu-Seong's rebellion annoying, it seemed somewhat endearing for Woo-Jae. Most of all, this was a time for Choi Yu-Seong to receive a gift—not punishment.

“Well, you should also keep a trick or two left up your sleeves,” said Woo-Jae, nodding in agreement. He then continued, "I originally intended to entrust you with the task of managing Cheon-Ji Ironworks. If you had lost your abilities as a hunter, I have hoped you would grow as a company manager.”

In fact, it would also be a test of sorts. If Yu-Seong had taken on the task of managing Cheon-Ji Ironworks, but failed to fulfill his responsibilities, Woo-Jae would have soon replaced him with someone else as the new CEO. That would be the reason Woo-Jae didn't mention it as a gift.

"But I see it was a needless concern. You've done well. You've accomplished more than I had asked for. Since Chairman Yoo knows about your condition, you'll be able to do something quite interesting soon."

Through these words, Choi Yu-Seong was able to understand one more thing.

'Father must have been the one to reveal to Chairman Yoo that I had become Mana-deficient!’

When Chairman Yoo had spoken of using this as a tool in this victory, Choi Woo-Jae had thought of undermining his and Cheon-Ji Group's morality and scraping it off. Then, utilizing the company's money, in other words, capital, he would drive the stock prices down during a bad business climate and smoothly carry out a merger and acquisition.

Upon realizing the plan that Choi Woo-Jae had come up with, the back of Choi Yu-Seong's neck felt icy cold.

'Frightening person.'

Choi Yu-Seong lowered his head and looked at his father, whose eyes were glacier cold.

" ...There's one thing that's going to be disappointing for you, Father."

"Hm?"

"Chairman Yoo will not be able to write a false article about the contents of the match as you desire."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because Bernard Yoo, the one who had the match with me, will probably reject that proposal," said Yu-Seong.

"What are you saying? That doesn't make sense. That man, Chairman Yoo, is a manipulator. He'll try to use anyone, even his own grandson, if he believes it will benefit him."

‘Like you, father?’

Yu-Seong held back a comment that almost escaped him, gave a wry chuckle, and shook his head. He simply replied, "It’s impossible.”

"Why do you say that?" his father asked.

"Because Bernard Yoo has left.”

“What?”

“He's at my home right now, planning to depart for the US tomorrow. He plans to personally announce the competition’s outcome from there."

Woo-Jae narrowed his eyes before a sly grin appeared on his face. Fully understanding the situation now, he said, "Looks like his dear grandson has helped ease the tension around that old man’s neck.”

Woo-Jae clicked his tongue in disappointment before making a phone call.

"Secretary Kim, have them revise the plan. Chairman Yoo will announce the result of the competition, that's right, it'll happen. At the latest, tomorrow morning, we'll make the official announcement... Within 24 hours. If anyone says they can't make it, fire them. I don't want any good-for-nothing cowards on my team. And you should move too. We need to reel in the old politicians again. I'll also be ready in 30 minutes. Alright, do it."

As the conversation proceeded in front of him, it became clear to Choi Yu-Seong how the Korean business world moved.

After a succinct phone call, Choi Woo-Jae put down the phone. His eyes burned with greed, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. It was a look that Yu-Seong certainly noticed. Then, Woo-Jae said, "As you've heard, the time is short. Tell me what you want as a gift. I'll give you anything.”

Choi Yu-Seong's eyes also revealed a similar emotion when he replied, "...That certainly sounds tempting.”

***

Choi Yu-Seong stepped out of Choi Woo-Jae’s mansion with a somewhat exhausted expression on his face. He climbed into his car.

Dealing with Choi Woo-Jae was never easy, but the hardest part about this encounter was choosing a gift. When Yu-Seong picked a gift, he had to be careful about one thing: he couldn't just express his true intentions to Choi Woo-Jae and ask for anything, even though Woo-Jae had offered to give him anything he desired.

‘After all, I can’t just directly ask for control of the Comet Group.’

If interpreted correctly, Choi Woo-Jae's words meant that he would give Yu-Seong anything he desired, as long as it was within reason and proportional to the favor he had done. Thus, he had to tread carefully. If he asked for too little, he would regret it later, and if he asked for too much, he would be in trouble.

Choi Yu-Seong had already roughly thought of an appropriate gift that fell within the acceptable range, but during his conversation with Choi Woo-Jae, he began to think that he could push for a bit more. The reason for this was simple.

‘Since I told him where Bernard Yoo will be in the future.’

Because of that, Choi Woo-Jae could quickly make adjustments to his original plan and make even more out of the information provided. Thus, Choi Yu-Seong made his request for two gifts after much deliberation.

Choi Yu-Seong first requested for a special access pass similar to that of Kim Do-Jin. This was because being in a party of ten or even twenty people for every dungeon raid was not convenient for him.

‘Soon, Chae Ye-Ryeong would be ascending to D-rank.’ 

Also, his next colleague, Yoo Jin-Hyuk, was also set to be recruited soon.

‘Three of us would be sufficient.’

Originally, each one of them was a powerful villain enough to fight against Kim Do-Jin. Recently, Choi Yu-Seong had also been showing great progress, so he believed he would be able to exert better combat power than the same rank party members with ten people.

‘And once I rise to rank A or higher, Jin Yu-Ri and Jin Do-Yoon will be able to join…’

Moreover, Jenny would be there.

On the other hand, the party members—that even their faces were unknown—could become a burden that would drag down the whole party. Due to this consideration, Choi Yu-Seong had a deep longing for a special access pass.

Regarding this, Choi Woo-Jae said that he could easily solve that problem.

The second thing was about a new house. The apartment where Choi Yu-Seong currently lived in Hannam-dong was certainly nice, but as previously mentioned, he wanted a house with a mana barrier installed in the backyard.

In truth, in this aspect, Choi Yu-Seong became more greedy.

‘Originally, I had only intended to request for a level of training ground that could be used up to A-rank, but…’

However, Yu-Seong thought he could show a bit more greed and requested for a house with training grounds that could be used even up to S-rank.

Obtaining a good-sized plot of land within the city of Seoul was not easy. Also, to make a training ground with a mana barrier that one could use even after reaching S-rank required an enormous amount of money. Considering the number of mana stones that would be used, as well as the cost of hiring experts to operate them, Yu-Seong roughly estimated it to be at least 300 billion won.

As it was a time when a lot of money needed to be moved due to the merger and acquisition of Cheon-Ji Construction, Choi Yu-Seong made the request like he was walking on eggshells.

However, Choi Woo-Jae nodded, indicating that this would also not be a problem.

The fulfillment of his requests would have been enough to make him feel good, but Choi Yu-Seong was able to get another unexpected gift in addition to what he wanted.

‘Ancient relic, the Sun God's Protection.’

This gift that Choi Woo-Jae—who thought Yu-Seong had become Mana-deficient— had obtained for Choi Yu-Seong was a tremendous object that also appeared in the original novel. The effects were simple.

‘Enhancement of natural healing ability, maintenance of the best condition, and even being able to block the abilities of S-rank hunters by summoning a shield, limited to three times.’ 

The value of this object, which didn't even have a wearing limit, was so high that it didn't even need to be said.

‘Maybe it's worth even more than 500 billion won?’

Choi Woo-Jae had certainly prepared a big present for Choi Yu-Seong. Despite being tired, Yu-Seong was able to smile at the unexpected additional rewards.

‘He said there's still a present left.’

The problem was, Yu-Seong didn't know what the present was yet. All Woo-Jae gave was a hint that Yu-Seong would soon find out. Yu-Seong felt anticipation and worry. For some reason, as he arrived home, he had the intuition that the last present would be mind-blowing.