I Woke Up as the Villain

“Boss, you’re here!” said Chae Ye-Ryeong.

"Yu-Seong hyung, you're here!" said Yoo Jin-Hyuk.

Yu-Seong, who had just returned from dinner, could only nod in a slightly flustered manner to the eager greetings from Chae Ye-Ryeong and Yoo Jin-Hyuk.

'What's with these guys?' 

Before Yu-Seong could settle in, Ye-Ryeong and Jin-Hyuk began bickering with each other.

"Boss, do we have to hang out with that brat from now on?"

"Yu-Seong hyung, I don't think I can be friends with that shortie."

"What? Shortie!? Hey, how tall are you?"

"I think I'm taller than you. And you were the one who called me a brat first!"

Yu-Seong was confused by the intense conversation between the two. He pulled them away from each other to stop them. He said, "Just a moment. I have two things that I haven't adjusted to yet.”

Yu-Seong then asked, "First, why are you suddenly calling me hyung, Jin-Hyuk?"

"Well... You are older than me."

Jin-Hyuk’s response made sense in some way. However, the difference between the Yoo Jin-Hyuk who Yu-Seong had just met and the one he had known before was so great that it was hard for him to adjust.

Yu-Seong gave Jin-Hyuk a doubtful look.

Jin-Hyuk, with an embarrassed expression, scratched his red cheek lightly. "Can I…?"

"It's not that it won't work out, it's just that I wish it had been like this from the beginning."

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. At least you know now." Yu-Seong smiled and patted Jin-Hyuk’s head lightly.

Jin-Hyuk looked even more embarrassed now.

'Maybe because of his small build and fair skin, I've never felt that a guy could be this cute.’

It felt like looking at a wounded cat. Yu-Seong did not dislike this change in Yoo Jin-Hyuk.

‘It's better to be hopeful.’

It was a change because Jin-Hyuk had made up his mind to rely on Yu-Seong.

'As long as I don't disappoint him.' 

Yu-Seong didn't need to pour excessive affection on the teenager either. Once, he had heard the words of a famous South Korean escaped prisoner—if someone had just given him a warm word or a safe touch in his childhood, the devil wouldn't have grown in his heart. It was a way to free one person from the fate of a terrible disaster. Thus, there was no reason why Yu-Seong couldn't make this much effort.

'To be honest, compared to father's conditions, it's easy.' 

Yu-Seong looked at Jin-Hyuk with a somewhat pleased gaze.

Ye-Ryeong stared at Jin-Hyuk with a sharp gaze. "But I'm older than you too.”

"But you're shorter than me," said Jin-Hyuk.

"I'm not short! You seriously..."

"Stop. I haven't finished my question yet," said Yu-Seong

"Hyung thinks you are noisy, you stupid," said Jin-Hyuk.

"Ugh..." Chae Ye-Ryeong balled up her fists and trembled in anger when she lost to Jin-Hyuk.

Yu-Seong, who had not seen Ye-Ryeong like this before, felt a strange feeling. He made a peace sign and asked with a playful expression, "Second question. When did the two of you become so close?"

"Hyung, that's a bit ..."

“Boss, I have never expressed any disagreement with your words before, but the words spoken just now were not pleasant. I ask for you to take them back.”

"Both of you, stop. If you are not close to each other yet, start being closer now. We're all going to be together for the rest of our lives."

"For the rest of our lives...?" Ye-Ryeong asked in surprise, her eyes widening.

Yoo Jin-Hyuk looked at Yu-Seong with a slightly moved expression.

"Yes, from now on, we're friends for life. Anyway, it seems you've both calmed down, so go and have fun spending time together. I still have something to do. We'll be going back to Seoul tomorrow, so Jin-Hyuk, you should make preparations too."

"Hyung, me too?" asked Jin-Hyuk.

"You don't want to go?"

Jin-Hyuk shook his head briskly.

"Okay, let's be together." Yu-Seong gave Jin-Hyuk a slightly gentle smile. Then, he looked at Cha Ye-Ryeong, who had a look full of dissatisfaction. He said, "Ye-Ryeong, you too, be reasonable. When you're in society, everyone becomes friends despite a year or two of age difference.”

“Boomer Boss.”

"Ugh... Your words are too harsh."

"I dislike you."

Yu-Seong made a somewhat pained expression, shrugged his shoulders, and left the room.

In the end, they were the only two left. Yoo Jin-Hyuk made a smile of victory as he raised his chin and looked at Ye-Ryeong, who lowered her head, clenched her fist, and furrowed her brows in anger.

“The boss might have told us to be friends, but if you really think we are equal, you'll die.”

"...hic." Without realizing it, Jin-Hyuk hiccupped. Still, he kept shaking his head.

***

The next day, early in the morning, the three of them returned to their home in Seoul. Choi Yu-Seong spent the next few days happily humming due to his crazy growth in NewTube subscribers and Instagram followers. He wondered, "My NewTube channel has 3 million subscribers... Is that within the top 5 hunters in the country?"

Also, the average number of views per video was over 5 million. Popular videos like Goblin Fortress also surpassed 50 million views. Thanks to this, Yu-Seong had received a call from Park Jin-Hwan that his NewTube revenue was rapidly increasing.

‘It is always better to have more and more money.’

Although hunters had become a desirable profession for many people around the world, the foundation of it was still money and honor. Even someone like Choi Yu-Seong, the descendant of a chaebol family, couldn't completely say that he was entirely free from those shackles.

‘Anyway, I am gradually breaking away from being dependent on my father's allowance, right?’

If he could start accumulating some wealth at this point, Yu-Seong could make enough money in the next five years to surprise even Choi Woo-Jae.

He began making big plans for his assets, then contacted Jenny and relayed the material of the ancient artifacts that he had decided to use. He had written these down in excitement, and the artifacts were those that had appeared in the original novel.

‘She said it would take about three months to get everything.’

The wait wasn’t that bad. At this point, Yu-Seong also thought that Jin-Hyuk and Ye-Ryeong would be able to steadily rise up to C-rank.

‘I bet that Yoo Jin-Hyuk would need a lot of support.’

The fortunate thing was that, as befitting of his fate as a former disaster-class villain, Yoo Jin-Hyuk also had a skill called ‘Titanic Growth.’

‘It's a skill that Nioh of Japan was so proud of…’

Looking around him, Yu-Seong found growth to be very common. In fact, his Star Factor had also grown significantly in recent days. That was because people's interest in him had continued to increase.

‘It's quite a big deal.’

Had it been ridiculous to say that he would have kissed Bernard Yoo’s cheek for this? Yu-Seong checked his Star Factor, which had grown even more in the last day, with a satisfied gaze.

『Special Skill: Star Factor D+

The more people pay attention to the holder, the faster his growth level accelerates.

In a short amount of time, the interest towards skill holders has drastically increased to the point of absurdity, and a rank adjustment effect has occurred.

Hidden Piece is opened.

D-rank perks – Increases focus of attention when exposed to video media such as cameras.

Current acceleration rate +130% → 180%

Additional privileges are opened by achieving new interest figures. Experience points required for growth -3% → -5%

The Hidden Piece skill ‘Prestige Show Off’ can now be used in addition.

The skill ‘Prestige Show Off’ does not have a rank.

When using the skill, it allows the user to check the fame of the target. If the target's fame is lower than the user's, it can randomly trigger a curse.

The current fame of player Choi Yu-Seong: 560.

Note: If fame drops below 100, the ‘Prestige Show Off’ skill will disappear.

』

The acceleration rate and decrease in necessary experience points had both been explosively raised.

‘Jin-Hyuk and Ye-Ryeong's acceleration effect of Titanic Growth skill is 300% during E rank.’

If Nioh of Japan knew this, he would absolutely lose his mind. His Titanic Growth skill had only 150% acceleration effect during E rank. This led to the simple fact that…

‘Two people with the same skill can have different effects depending on their talents.’

Thinking about it in this way, Yu-Seong could not help but wonder how much of a cheat the Titanic Growth skill that the two had was and how they could quickly follow Yu-Seong’s footsteps.

‘Don't be too surprised. Those two were destined to fight even with Kim Do-Jin.’

Most of all, Yu-Seong's Star Factor skill was not simply a possession of acceleration, but also had an experience decrease effect. Most of all, thanks to Bernard Yoo, a hidden piece had also been unlocked. Even after looking several times, his Star Factor skill was several times better than the Titanic Growth.

‘And the Prestige Show Off skill is really good.’

Prestige Show Off skill could randomly curse people who were less famous than Yu-Seong. Mana was consumed, but there was no reuse cooldown. Most of all, there were no ranks. The only thing that would be affected was the opponent’s fame.

To understand this exactly, Yu-Seong first used his Prestige Show Off skill to find out about the fame of the people around him.

‘Jin Yu-Ri is 120, Chae Ye-Ryeong is 60, and Yoo Jin-Hyuk is 3.’

Jin Yu-Ri was known to be a fairly successful A-rank hunter and had a considerable amount of fame due to the fans who followed her because of her beauty. After all, she had been seen by Yu-Seong’s side.

‘Chae Ye-Ryeong is known as the top domestic prospect following me, so her fame is reasonable.’

Yoo Jin-Hyuk had almost no external activities, so his fame was at a very low level. Maybe his score would rise considerably after taking the hunter exam, just like Chae Ye-Ryeong.

In comparison, Yu-Seong's current fame was 560.

At first, Yu-Seong shrugged his shoulders at the score that was below expectations. However, when he saw the score of Kim Hyuk-Joon, the most popular hunter in South Korea, Yu-Seong could easily understand the situation.

‘His fame is 430.’

Kim Hyuk-Joon was well-known in South Korea and also had many fans worldwide due to his celebrity status. However, there was only one reason for his score being lower than expected.

‘It’s the same as the level. The higher the score, the harder it is to raise.’

Anyway, Yu-Seong's fame score of 560 was by no means low. Even now, any person of average ability could not avoid this Prestige Show off skill. Someday, no one would be able to avoid his skill. To put it simply, it was a curse skill with 100% accuracy.

‘Even though it's randomly applied…’

No curse-caster in the world would be able to curse someone else as easily as this. In fact, cursing someone of a higher rank was considered almost impossible. Although, Yu-Seong could now do it through the hidden ability in his Star Factor.

‘I am not a real jack-of-all-trades... I'm becoming a master-of-all, ‘the All-Rounder’!’

Being a jack-of-all-trades and a master-of-all was just like a piece of paper.

‘The difference is whether there’s something special or not.’

And currently, Yu-Seong was clearly someone special for anyone to look up to. As he became more famous, he might have to face an invasion of demons in the future, but at this point, he could not escape from such a fate.

‘And Bernand Yoo has already caused a big scene…’

In exchange, Yu-Seong had gotten an enormous reward. In fact, he thought it possible for there to be even more hidden abilities in his Star Factor skill.

‘Above all... fame is not something that continues forever.’

When popularity decreased, the Prestige Show off skill would disappear. If he had known that from the start, Yu-Seong wouldn't have gone after it. Now, he would just try his best to not lose it.

‘I'll have to give it my all, even if it means I have to bite the bullet.’

Yu-Seong decided to stop thinking about the demon invasion. With that decision, he began preparing for another challenge, the C-rank promotion evaluation.

'Skills and training are enough.' 

He was definitely strong enough to transcend rank. However, since he was thinking of taking an extremely difficult test and aimed to clear it, he was going to try his best to make all sorts of preparations. So what was left to prepare? Of course, it was the equipment.

"Summon Dimensional Merchant."

In response to Yu-Seong’s call, a cute little creature appeared in the room with a ‘pop!’ sound.