I Woke Up as the Villain

Booom-!

There was a loud thunderclap along with the sound of pouring rain.

Yoo Choong-Ryeol was so busy paying attention to Yoo Jin-Hyuk who was staring at him indifferently that he didn’t notice a presence behind him at all.

"Please, go ahead. Here," said Jin-Hyuk.

"As I said, I am quite full..." replied Choong-Ryeol. When something suddenly covered his back, he cried out in surprise, "Whoa…?!"

Yoo Choong-Ryeol quickly turned around, noticing the monster that covered his body. Looking at the monster that was like a sticky liquid, he muttered, "What, what is this...? A monster?"

A monster had suddenly appeared in the house. Even in this incomprehensible situation, Yoo Choong-Ryeol began gathering mana without any hesitation, as he had plenty of experience as a villain.

Just then, Yoo Jin-Hyuk flipped the table and threw the haejangguk bowl toward Yoo Choong-Ryeol's face.

Choong-Ryeol gasped and covered his face with his arms as he knew very well that the soup had a deadly poison that would kill him in seconds once it entered his body.

At that moment, the pile of swamp slime that had appeared around him began to engulf his entire body.

"...?! Are you the one who is…?"

Yoo Choong-Ryeol finally understood the situation and looked at Yoo Jin-Hyuk in shock.

Jin-Hyuk moved somewhat leisurely without any emotion in his eyes. He asked, "Are you afraid to eat first? Why?"

"Yoo Jin-Hwan…! Even if you are my older brother's son, I am not going to put up with such behavior,” warned Yoo Choong-Ryeol furiously.

At Jin-Hyuk’s question, Choong-Ryeol started to use mana. His muscles bulged all over his body. He planned on defeating Jin-Hyuk with physical force.

‘I have no idea how this brat became a player, but…’

Yoo Choong-Ryeol was a Physical-type B-rank hunter. He didn’t know what kind of experience Jin-Hyuk had, but he didn't remember hearing anything about Jin-Hyuk having any hunting experience. Thus, he thought that it shouldn't be difficult for him to block whatever skill Yoo Jin-Hyuk was using.

"...?!"

But even though Choong-Ryeol thought that the slime sticking to his body could not be easily shaken off. Instead, the more he used his strength, the more the slime pressed down on him.

"Give up. Those guys are leech slimes."

"...What?"

With a surprised expression, Yoo Choong-Ryeol suddenly looked up at Yoo Jin-Hyuk who had approached him and was slowly crouching down.

Normally, leech slimes appeared in rank 1 or 2 dungeons, and were not considered to be threatening monsters. They had slow, easily startled by small movements, and were not strong enough to kill a human. That was why there were many hunters who didn't know the characteristics of leech slimes.

"How could a dungeon monster be here…? You, you're not a summoner, are you? Even if you are, it's impossible for a rank 1 monster to block my power…?”

"Hm, you don't seem to know much, uncle. You should probably study more." Yoo Jin-Hyuk’s pale face showed a cool smile. He continued, “Leech slimes cannot kill a person, but once they latch on, it is hard to shake them off. They especially love those who use their mana recklessly, like you did just now. Do you know why?”

"How the hell should I know? Jin-Hyuk, stop messing around and stop this now."

"Really. Listen to the end of the story, uncle. These little guys live by eating mana. The more they get, the more they like. Don't you understand?"

"Ugh..."

In reality, Yoo Choong-Ryeol’s bulging muscles were quickly shrinking.

As he watched Yoo Choong-Ryeol slowly weaken, Jin-Hyuk picked up a rag lying on the floor with a look of disgust on his face. He picked up a cabbage leaf from the spilled haejangguk with his bare hands.

Then, with a sly smile, Jin-Hyuk brought the food to Yoo Choong-Ryeol’s face and shook it left and right. "Don't be so scared. As I said earlier, let’s eat together. Once you finish, I'll let you go."

"You… You...!"

"Open your mouth."

"You are crazy, do you even know what you're doing now?!"

"You're making it so difficult till the end."

With a smirk, Jin-Hyuk forcibly twisted the jaw of Yoo Choong-Ryeol whose hands and feet were now tied. The middle-aged man’s face crumpled. Seeing the fearful expression that somewhat resembled his father’s, Jin-Hyuk showed a bright smile and said, "Haha, it seems like you also like to eat with me."

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"No...stop...!" With the majority of his mana taken away by the leech slimes and his limbs bound, Choong-Ryeol could only resist by shaking his head left and right with great effort.

Yoo Jin-Hyuk took his uncle’s face in both hands and slowly pushed food that was stuck on the man’s cheek to his dry lips. He said, "Please enjoy, uncle."

A bright lightning bolt flashed in the back as Yoo Jin-Hyuk laughed brightly, shedding tears.

Boom-! 

Along with another roar, the firmly closed front door shattered onto the floor. Choi Yu-Seong appeared and quickly overpowered Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who hadn’t even flinched at the noise.

"Let go! Let me go!" shouted Yoo Jin-Hyuk. He struggled and attacked Choi Yu-Seong who had overpowered him. His actions were quite fierce, but he still failed to shake Yu-Seong off.

‘He's quite clever and might be a future Demonic Beast King, but for now, he's just an E-rank.’

Choi Yu-Seong, a D-rank max level, and Yoo Jin-Hyuk had a significant gap in their physical abilities and strength.

At that moment, Jin Yu-Ri, who had slowly entered the house to check on the situation, saw Yoo Choong-Ryeol lying on the floor. Her eyes brightened. She said, "Yoo Choong-Ryeol."

"Please, please help me. These leeches..."

"Villain name, Jang-Gi."

"You... How do you know…?" questioned Choong-Ryeol in surprise.

Yu-Ri was now wringing out her wet hair. She smiled faintly as she spoke. "You have an impressive criminal record, murder, arson, rape, and so on..."

"Oh... Damn it..."

Yoo Choong-Ryeol’s eyes widened. In fact, he wasn't a complete idiot. It didn't take long for him to realize that this sudden rescue-like situation was not a good situation for him.

"What should I do with him?" Jin Yu-Ri asked Choi Yu-Seong.

By that time, Yu-Seong had completely overpowered Yoo Jin-Hyuk who was panting on the ground. Without even a glance, he instructed, "Hand that man over to the Special Police Force."

After surviving a dangerous situation where he was about to be killed, Yoo Choong-Ryeol had a somewhat relieved but complicated expression. However, he soon realized something and his face turned pale.

‘No, if I get handed over to the police now, the guild will abandon me.’

Then, eventually, the debt collectors would come chasing after Choong-Ryeol to collect their money. He would end up dead, or even worse, be forced to endure endless suffering.

Yoo Choong-Ryeol's face turned pale as he shook his head.

Just like Yoo Jin-Hyuk earlier, Jin Yu-Ri approached the middle-aged man with a sly smile. She cooed, "Hm, you're a sharp one. Of course, I’m not just going to hand you over easily."

"No, that's not it... Please, don’t."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. Hehe... Remember what I said earlier?" Jin Yu-Ri once again made a scissors shape with her fingers, and whispered, "Snip.”

In a swift move, Yu-Ri struck Choong-Ryeol's neck, rendering him unconscious. Then, she looked at Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who was breathing heavily and crying, with a sidelong glance and took a short breath.

‘As expected, Yu-Seong oppa hasn't changed.’

Yu-Ri smiled gently as she dragged away the unconscious man.

***

Only the sound of pouring rain could be heard in the dark room. Choi Yu-Seong slowly let go of the exhausted-looking Yoo Jin-Hyuk. Then, Yu-Seong sat down next to him and leaned back. A deep silence descended upon them.

After Yoo Choong-Ryeol disappeared, Jin-Hyuk quickly regained his composure and showed no further signs of agitation. In this situation, there was nothing that Choi Yu-Seong could say.

'But at least I managed to prevent him from committing his first murder.' 

Yu-Seong already knew, from experience, that this life as a hunter was not easy. One day, whether intentional or not, he himself would inevitably commit murder.

‘If I come across a predicament where failing to take action could ultimately lead to my own demise, I will do whatever it takes to ensure my survival.’

In fact, the earlier situation might have ended up not much different. However, Yu-Seong didn't want to let Jin-Hyuk be swept away by dark emotions. He didn’t want the teenager to commit murder without even knowing what he was doing and leaving his prey to die carelessly. That was why Choi Yu-Seong had rushed here, wildly running through the rain to successfully prevent Jin-Hyuk's first murder at the last moment.

Yu-Seong had been tense because it had been a rather urgent situation but the tension that had deeply seized hold of his body began to slowly dissipate as he began to relax.

At that moment, Yoo Jin-Hyuk—who Yu-Seong thought would yell upon opening his mouth to speak—spoke with a surprisingly calm voice.

"...Why did you come?"

"Can't you tell by looking?" Since Yoo Jin-Hyuk dropped the formalities first, Yu-Seong replied equally casually.

"You mean it’s because you knew that I was going to kill that man?"

Instead of going around in circles, Choi Yu-Seong activated his Third Eye skill. With some degree of audacity, he then said, "I can see a little bit of the future.”

Yoo Jin-Hyuk easily nodded in understanding. "So that was why...those videos were…"

"Oh, you watched my videos?" asked Yu-Seong.

"A few of them. I was surprised at how you were moving as if you already predicted the situation," said Jin-Hyuk.

"Well, yes, it's roughly like that."

"But... Even so, the fact that you came here to stop me is still hard to believe."

"Hmm?"

Yoo Jin-Hyuk slowly lifted his head that was hanging low. His eyes were emotionless. It seemed as if there were no expectations or desires, but a deep sadness within them.

Meeting the teenager’s gaze, Choi Yu-Seong briefly trembled.

"This is Goseong in Gangwon-do. And you live in Seoul."

"Oh, that..."

"And to you, I am a stranger who has never even met you before. But you came all the way here to stop my murder? Because of some convenient justice or compassion?"

"Yoo Jin-Hyuk."

"As I thought, you know my name exactly."

It seemed like a mistake, but actually, it was a deliberate statement. Choi Yu-Seong looked at Yoo Jin-Hyuk and slowly said, "Right. I feel sorry for you. One could call that convenient compassion."

Of course, to some, it may appear as if Yu-Seong was indulging in a luxurious sense of compassion or looking down on Jin-Hyuk. However, as Choi Yu-Seong said, Yu-Seong was a reader who, more than anyone, had felt heartache over Yoo Jin-Hyuk's story when reading the original novel.

It was true that he didn't know Jin-Hyuk’s face.

‘Because I just read the novel.’

Still, he didn't think of Jin-Hyuk as a complete stranger.

‘In fact, I really liked the novel, [Modern Master Returns].’

Choi Yu-Seong sometimes cursed inwardly or had written comments of anger and frustration while reading the novel alone. But fundamentally, he enjoyed reading the [Modern Master Returns] quite a bit.

The platform on which [Modern Master Returns] was serialized was quite difficult to read on a computer, and almost always had to be read and commented on through a mobile phone. Needless to say, it was quite difficult to write such a long criticism. For Yu-Seong, the effort itself was a demonstration of his love for the series.

And during the time he was reading that novel, Yu-Seong had been most immersed and invested in Yoo Jin-Hyuk’s origin story among all the villains. Now, Yoo Jin-Hyuk was standing in front of him in reality.

‘Convenient compassion?’

Yu-Seong didn’t care about the labels or how his actions could be deemed at all.

"I am sincere."

Yu-Seong truly did not want the boy in front of him to get caught in the same deep darkness as the original novel.