I Woke Up as the Villain

It was most certainly his own property, but Yu-Seong had no intention of using all the equipment alone.

‘I’m only going to use about three of the eight.’

He had always intended the remaining five to be used by his supporters, since those were not equipment that he himself could use. He felt no regret about it at all.

For example, the ancient relic—Soul of the Sea King—was a highly rated ring that had a simple effect of amplifying all water-related abilities. It was useless to Yu-Seong, who had to focus on developing his Thunder and Wind attributes. On the other hand, it would have the best use for Chae Ye-Ryeong, who could handle almost all water-related abilities.

The second ancient relic Yu-Seong had prepared was a book.

‘Faust, the Magic Book.’

In this world, Faust, the protagonist of Goethe’s famous novel, was known as a real person. This magic book contained some of Faust’s original concepts and had been elevated to the status of an ancient relic. It had the power to possess a strong force that could only be used by demons and demonic beasts. Of course, it was the ultimate treasure for Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who was both a Barrier Master and Demonic Beast Tamer.

As for an earring called Moonlight, Yu-Seong had given it to Jin Do-Yoon. It was a well-known fact in this world that werewolves had even greater power under the moonlight, their power naturally increasing as the full moon approached. When wearing Moonlight, werewolves could always use the same level of power as when they transformed under the full moon. In other words, Do-Yoon, wearing Moonlight, could always maintain his best condition.

Had it been a full moon day, Do-Yoon might have avoided sustaining serious injuries during the incident with Choi Min-Seok.

The earring was also a meaningless item for Yu-Seong.

The fourth ancient relic, the Sphinx's Wisdom, was for Jin Yu-Ri. This item, in the form of a ring, had the ability to accelerate mana circuits. Yu-Seong could actually use this item, but he was convinced that Yu-Ri was the only suitable candidate for this ancient relic.

‘The Phenomenal skill has a downside in that it necessitates a rather intricate mana system prior to activation, resulting in a delay in spellcasting.’

Despite consistent mana acceleration training, Jin Yu-Ri had to work hard to overcome the shortcomings of her somewhat flawed ability. Even with her efforts, however, she still faced some limitations. Fortunately, Sphinx's Wisdom proved to be a great help to her, allowing her to quickly deploy various skills through overlapping use.

‘Maybe she can obtain a finishing move through the skill.’

Since Yu-Seong had already experienced a finishing move’s power through Lance Charging, he could believe that Yu-Ri’s finishing move would be very powerful too.

The last ancient relic was for Jenny, and it was a Pharaoh’s Impulse. From its name alone, one could assume that it was similar to Pharaoh’s Caprice, and its actual ability was truly similar to that.

‘Hmm… Let’s just say that it's a scaled-down version of Pharaoh's Caprice.’

If Pharaoh's Caprice could transform anything into the desired form, Pharaoh's Impulse would only allow the user to set and move between five predetermined forms. Jenny seemed quite happy with the ability to handle a variety of firearms, expressing that she felt lighter than before.

In any case, for various reasons and with the hope that his supporters would become stronger, Yu-Seong didn't have big ambitions for these five items. However, he did acquire three necessary ancient relics for himself.

‘The fury of the Lightning Punisher, the breath of the Wind Watcher, and the vitality of the Giant Hunter.’

Among them, the fury of the Lightning Punisher and the breath of the Wind Watcher were ancient relics that amplified the power of skills related to their respective attributes with earrings and had set effects.

‘Reduction of penalties for lightning-related and wind-related skills.’

This set effect, which seemed somewhat meaningless, could serve as a foundation for enabling Yu-Seong to digest the Wind Thunder Dragon God Art skill, which he had not yet been able to properly handle.

‘If I also use the vitality of the Giant Hunter here…’

The vitality of the Giant Hunter had a somewhat negative effect of sealing 50% of the player's mana. However, Yu-Seong had acquired it for a simple reason.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

‘It strengthens my health as much as the absorbed mana.’

Health, which referred to the strengthening effect of one’s state, could typically be found in ancient relics or treasures of other worlds. It only had two effects.

‘It means the increase of defensive and mana defenses.’

Thanks to the power of these three treasures, even a scaled-down version of the Wind Thunder Dragon God Arts skill could be unleashed with relative ease.

In the past, Yu-Seong could sustain his mana strength by drinking mana stone extract daily. Also, the God's Chakra was another source of his confidence. That was why he didn't consider the penalty from the vitality of the Giant Hunter to be too severe.

'Even if I can't maintain it constantly due to a lack of mana, as long as I can use it in important moments, I’ll be okay. And if things really go wrong, I can always remove the vitality of the Giant Hunter.' 

Most of the ancient relics were designed as accessories, so removing them wasn't a problem. In addition, by using his guild network, Yu-Seong had managed to acquire the Eye of Replication and Fusion. That was why he had been so busy for the past six months.

Now, a few days after arriving in Korea with the vitality of the Giant Hunter, Yu-Seong was ready for another growth spurt. The unfortunate thing was that it was still impossible for him to take down the Count of Demon who had appeared in Pyongyang.

'Helen, I'm sorry that I can't go save you right away.' 

Yu-Seong couldn't forget the sight of Helen, who had stayed alone in Pyongyang to send them off.

***

Recently, Choi Woo-Jae had been most concerned about the guild business. Although the Comet Guild had achieved the accomplishment of being the top guild in South Korea in just six months, it was still far from being within the top 15 in the world rankings. The current achievement was impressive, but it was still a far cry from Woo-Jae’s ultimate goal.

‘We need to at least carve our name within the top 5 so we can proceed with the next plan.’

Of course, if roughly five more years went by with the guild performing so well, the Comet Guild would naturally be ready to enter the guilds within the global top 5. In fact, Choi Woo-Jae had paved the way for it. But lately, he had been feeling like he didn’t have much time left…

It was a nagging feeling, but it felt uncomfortable enough for him to not ignore it completely. As a result, he frequently had ambitious desires that were somewhat unrealistic, but he still wasn’t weak enough to simply be swayed by such emotions.

‘There are plenty of my children who can replace me even after I die.’

Woo-Jae did not have the desire to have his name be prominently displayed, but he certainly wanted the name Comet to stand at the forefront of the world.

‘Second, fifth, and the ninth.’

Although she currently held the position of guild president, Choi Mi-Na was not involved in the business. The big picture had been drawn by Choi Woo-Jae himself, while Kim Pil-Doo and Kim Yong-Ho, the current vice president of Comet Guild and the former president of the Republic of Korea's top guild Yong Sang respectively, worked together to handle the small tasks.

Mi-Na had only been entrusted with the improvement of her own skills. In truth, Choi Woo-Jae had instructed her to do so.

‘Because the talent of the second child is clearly surpassing me…’

As there was a desire for growth, Mi-Na had to do many things for the Comet Group to prevent them from getting caught up in various storms.

Then, there was also Choi In-Young.

‘The fifth one is pretty good too. It's not without its dark side, but...it wouldn't be bad if it could be developed.’

Unlike the maverick Choi Mi-Na, Choi In-Young was trying to assert her authority over other executives in the group by persuasion or coercion. Recently, it was reported that even Woo-Jae’s egocentric third son had surrendered to Choi In-Young, whose influence within the household had grown accordingly.

Lastly, there was Choi Yu-Seong. To be honest, from Woo-Jae's perspective, watching Yu-Seong was the most fun.

‘It's a late start, and there's still a lot of danger.’

The two reasons for Choi In-Young's rapid growth were Choi Mi-Na's appointment to lead the guild's business and Choi Yu-Seong's surprisingly rapid rise to the top. Even if it wasn't visible to the eye, there was a sense of momentum that could be felt. From Choi In-Young's perspective, who was caught in the middle, that aspect would have resonated more deeply with her.

"Yu-Seong's not bad. He's even better than I thought he'd be. The children around him are amazing too. Don't you regret betting against me?" asked Choi Woo-Jae.

In response to his question, Kim Pil-Doo shook his head with a bitter smile. In the past, he had made a bet with Choi Woo-Jae about whether or not Choi Yu-Seong would surpass Choi In-Young. At the time, he had felt quite confident about the outcome. However, as he looked at the people surrounding Choi Yu-Seong, who were becoming like solid fortress walls, a part of his heart was filled with anxiety.

" ...We'll have to wait and see. The fifth lady is also exerting a lot of effort."

"Hoho... That's not wrong," said Woo-Jae.

However, for some inexplicable reason, even after Choi In-Young had been expanding her power, Choi Woo-Jae couldn’t shake off one conviction. After all, he had been stealing records of Choi Yu-Seong's growth for nearly six months.

‘No matter how I look at it, it seems that the ninth will devour the fifth before long.’

From this perspective, Choi Yu-Seong's growth was even more interesting than the others.

‘If he surpasses the fifth, there is no way he won't be able to do as well as the second.’

No, with the current rate of growth, if only one more year was given, even Choi Mi-Na's position would be in danger. She herself might not care, but from Choi Woo-Jae's perspective, he was bound to have a change of heart.

Choi Woo-Jae's original plan was to have Choi Yu-Seong grow and support Choi Mi-Na.

‘If the ninth guy does well... Changing the front row seat isn't a bad idea either.’

Just over a year ago, Choi Yu-Seong had suddenly come to say that he wanted to take over Choi Woo-Jae's seat. At the time, it was surprising that someone like Choi Yu-Seong, a mere hoodlum, would say such a thing. Until then, Choi Woo-Jae's stance had been to wait and see how far Choi Yu-Seong could go.

However as time passed, his expectations for Choi Yu-Seong increased, and now Choi Woo-Jae deeply felt the words that had been told to him back then.

‘The ninth guy didn't just say those words to show off.’ 

Of course, it wouldn't be easy for Yu-Seong to do so. Before reaching Mi-Na, Choi In-Young would step in and try to suppress him. Also, Mi-Na too was undoubtedly a monster of the family.

That was why Choi Woo-Jae was trying to watch over the monsters within the Comet Group in a somewhat relaxed manner.

‘Even if I die, the future of Comet Group is bright…’

He had no fear.