I Woke Up as the Villain

Karma referred to the consequences of one's past actions, and it accumulated more strongly when those actions or accomplishments were difficult for ordinary people to achieve.

‘And most importantly, the skill with the highest number of points is Green Wind Spirit Cat… So I can say that I've achieved even more stability now.’ 

The Green Wind Spirit Cat skill, which Yu-Seong had obtained from the Tower, was considered as an F-rank special skill when he returned to Earth. However, he was able to bring it up to B-rank in one fell swoop. It was a natural choice.

‘It’s difficult to persist after sustaining an injury, no matter how strong you are.’

With the healing ability of the Green Wind Spirit Cat skill, Yu-Seong could keep fighting as he constantly recovered from injuries. If he managed to get the Green Wind Spirit Cat to S-rank, it would grant him regeneration similar to that of trolls even mid-combat. Moreover, he could share the benefits of the skill with his party members.

Therefore, in terms of versatility, the Green Wind Spirit Cat skill could be considered as strong as Yu-Seong's current strongest skill, the God's Chakra.

‘Also, this will be a great help in clearing the dungeon this time.’ 

Yu-Seong happily hummed inwardly and told Ping Pong his second request: upgrading the dimension bundle.

‘It’s already level 3 now.’ 

From level 3, dimension bundles started to include quite rare treasures from other worlds. Yu-Seong wanted to purchase the tool he needed the most, so he asked, “Can you show me the engraving item ‘Rune of the Subspace’?”

"Hmm... That's one of the most expensive treasures in the level 3 dimension bundles. It is worth about three hundred thousand karma points."

Yu-Seong froze at the high price. He said, “It’s more expensive than I thought.”

"Magical items capable of handling subspace are typically priced quite high. And considering this item's value as an engraving, isn't the price even more reasonable?” explained Ping Pong.

"But it's still a subspace pouch in the level 3 dimension bundle. It must have a very small size, right?" Yu-Seong asked.

"Of course, if we're using Earth standards, it would be limited to about one pyeong[1], but…it's still subspace," said Ping Pong.

In short, subspace was always expensive, no matter what.

‘To upgrade all my skills, I need one hundred thousand points. Then, upgrading the dimension shop requires fifty thousand points. And if I buy the Rune of the Subspace for three hundred thousand points…’

More than half of the eight hundred thousand karma points that Yu-Seong had would be gone.

Yu-Seong started to waver since he wanted to leave at least five hundred thousand points untouched.

‘Do I have to give up the subspace pouch?’

He was disappointed that he couldn't obtain the item, which he considered a must-have. He wanted to use it to carry the Dragon Egg with him all the time. However, there was nothing he could do about it. No matter how much he tried to think of the investment, three hundred thousand points right now was still a considerable amount.

While thinking about it, Yu-Seong's eyes suddenly twinkled. He asked, "By any chance... Can I receive a discount coupon instead of a lottery ticket as a reward for leveling up the dimension bundle?"

The level-up reward for the dimension bundle was usually a random item lottery ticket. While it was possible to draw the Rune of the Subspace through this lottery, it was purely a matter of luck.

‘Hmm… I’d call it absolute luck if I could hit that.’

With this in mind, Yu-Seong found it easy to make a definite choice this time.

"Changing to the discount coupon... Actually, I was going to recommend that method too."

Ping Pong, who had a smile in his black eyes, took out what looked like a calculator from his pocket and started tapping on it rapidly. "Let's see... With the discount coupon from the level-up reward of the dimension bundle, the special discount for the first subspace purchase, and Ping Pong's special discount, it amounts to..."

Ping Pong's eyes sparkled as he handed over the pink calculator that looked like a child's toy to Yu-Seong. He exclaimed, "It's about a 30% discount! You can buy it for one hundred thousand points!"

“Oh wow! It’s a must-buy!" Yu-Seong shouted as he covered his mouth.

As soon as Yu-Seong paid the karma points, Ping Pong smiled and handed him a small glass bottle filled with blue liquid from the dimension bundle. He said, "If you drink this, the Rune of the Subspace will be engraved into your body. Congratulations, Choi Yu-Seong. You now have your first subspace.”

In fact, the fact that subspace was being sold in the dimensional store was a secret. Most people didn't know about it, and Dimensional Merchants didn't bother to tell them. Also, the price of three hundred thousand points was actually too low compared to the value of subspace, so it was more profitable for Dimensional Merchants to keep it hidden and wait for the right buyer who was willing to pay the right price.

‘However, when selling to humans from Earth, they must follow a fixed pricing system. This may make them hesitant to deal with Earth people.’

Anyway, that was why Yu-Seong had chosen the Lion Bear clan as his Dimensional Merchant, as they were kind-hearted and generous.

Originally, the discount coupon received as a bonus for upgrading the dimension bundle was known to be around 5%. However, there seemed to be a pretty significant amount of price reduction on top of that. After all, the reason for the discounted price would be the combination of the first-purchase discount for subspace and Ping Pong's special discount, which he had mentioned jokingly.

Yu-Seong quickly drank the blue liquid. After confirming the Rune of the Subspace had been engraved on his hand like a tattoo, he looked at Ping Pong and said sincerely, "Thank you so much. I was about to give up buying it, but I was able to get it thanks to you.”

"If you know that, then you should prepare lollipops every day for this great Ping Pong!" Ping Pong exclaimed.

“I shall follow your command, my lord,” Yu-Seong replied.

"Oh no! Those words are prohibited! If my father finds out that my identity has been revealed, I'll be in trouble!" Ping Pong warned.

"I shall be careful, my lord," Yu-Seong teased.

“Yo…You! Choi Yu-Seong!” Ping Pong, who was originally reddish in color anyway, turned even redder from anger as he stomped his feet.

After a moment of enjoying the cute sight, Yu-Seong handed Ping Pong five lollipops and brought about a dramatic reconciliation.

"Don’t think I forgave you just because you gave me these lollipops, Choi Yu-Seong. The next time you summon me, prepare 10 more,” Ping Pong said.

Watching Ping Pong talk while licking the lollipops in his hands, Yu-Seong couldn't help but feel like most problems could be solved with lollipops.

‘With this, I've completed leveling up all of my skills and acquired the subspace as well.’

He took the first step in preparing for the Rank 7 dungeon attack.

‘All that’s left now is to gather people for the raid.’

It seemed like he would be busy for a while.

***

While Yu-Seong had been in the Tower of the Heaven, reporters Park Jin-Hwan and Kim Jin-Young had enjoyed leisurely days until they were finally summoned.

"Wow, congratulations. It seems that the Comet Guild has recently achieved the top spot in the Korean guild ranking," congratulated Jin-Hwan.

"And the overall evaluation of the Comet Group has also skyrocketed to the top spot. Congratulations, Mr. Choi Yu-Seong," said Jin-Young.

Yu-Seong scratched his cheek awkwardly at their praise. He replied, "It's not really mine, it's a company my father and his employees created.”

"Wow, you are even humble. It's already widely known that your help has played a significant role in the company's rapid growth. Awesome! We respect you," Jin-Young said as he applauded.

Yu-Seong smiled and looked at Jin-Hwan. The man had somewhat cold and rigid looks when they had first met, but he now looked quite chubby.

"I gained a lot, right? I think I've gained some weight since I've been doing a lot of desk work lately," said Jin-Hwan in embarrassment.

Yu-Seong shook his head. "No, you look rather good now. Before, you were too thin.”

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

"It may be because there were many times when I had to be disciplined and sharp before… In any case, things have changed in many ways thanks to you, Yu-Seong—well, I should probably call you ‘boss.’ My daughter likes you a lot because I've been able to stay at home more often than before," Jin-Hwan said.

"Huh? Reporter Park, are you married?" Yu-Seong asked in surprise.

It was Jin-Young who replied to the question.

“He didn’t have an actual wedding, but it's been a while since he got married. His daughter is already six years old, haha."

"...it is like that sometimes with unplanned pregnancies," Jin-Hwan said.

"What about you, Mr. Kim?" asked Yu-Seong.

"I'm totally single. Please introduce me to a good woman if you know one," he replied.

After breaking the ice with some small talk and learning new facts about their personal lives, Yu-Seong got to the point. He said, "The reason I called you both here today is that our next big project is about to be announced.”

"How big is it this time?" asked Jin-Hwan as his eyes sparkled sharply at Yu-Seong’s words.

He had a feeling that the project was significant in scale. Perhaps it was the sense of a seasoned reporter.

"My Hunting Team 8 and I will raid the Rank 7 dungeon," Yu-Seong announced.

"I see," Jin-Hwan replied pretty calmly, nodding a few times before his eyes widened. He asked, "Pardon? What did you just say?"

“You heard it right. I’m planning to announce that I’m going to clear the Rank 7 dungeon,” said Yu-Seong.

“Sorry. If you don't mind my asking, what rank are you, boss?” Jin-Hwan asked calmly while Jin-Young looked flustered.

“B-rank,” replied Yu-Seong.

“Oh my goodness... Boss, you are aware that the Rank 7 dungeon is classified as a raid dungeon, right?” asked Jin-Young.

There was quite the leap in difficulty between Rank 6 and Rank 7 dungeons. Moreover, Rank 7 dungeons were classified as raid dungeons that required a minimum number of people, basically a decent attack team.

“Of course, we won't be raiding the Rank 7 dungeon with just Hunting Team 8. I'll be the raid leader, and the team members will play the pivotal role,” explained Yu-Seong.

“As far as I know, except for Jin Yu-Ri and Jin Do-Yoon, there are no members in Hunting Team 8 with ranks high enough to do well in the Rank 7 dungeon...” said Jin-Hwan.

“You’re right, Chae Ye-Ryeong and Yoo Jin-Hyuk are both C-rank. I am B-rank,” replied Yu-Seong calmly.

“Boss, let me be frank. The Rank 7 dungeon is on a different level. I don't know who you're going to gather, but...”

"We will not be relying heavily on S-rank members. Maybe one person if necessary?"

“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Jin-Young, pressing his hand to his forehead with a shocked gaze.

“I know. We know you've accomplished great things so far, boss, but this is a different scale altogether. You have to assume that the raid boss monster is at least a lower-level demon,” said Jin-Hwan.

“That's why we're doing it. We need to accomplish something on a different level to make a stronger impression,” replied Yu-Seong.

After a brief silence, Jin-Hwan said with shining eyes, “Boss. You're going to do it anyway, aren't you?”

Yu-Seong chuckled in response to Jin-Hwan's question. He simply replied, "If I didn’t do stuff like this, wouldn't you two also be bored by now?"

"The priority should be your life, not preventing our boredom. Especially if it's you that we're talking about!" shouted Jin-Young.

Jin-Hwan raised his hand to interrupt Jin-Young's exclamation and leaned forward. "You're confident, right?"

"I said this to my father, but... To be honest, I don't have much confidence," replied Yu-Seong.

"Huh…?"

"To be more precise, I don't have much confidence in failing," said Yu-Seong.

Yu-Seong's confidence left both Jin-Hwan, who was trying to act calm, and Jin-Young, who was getting excited, somewhat bewildered.

"I’m thinking of a team of eight to ten members at most," said Yu-Seong.

"So there will be three to five additional members aside from Hunting Team 8, right?" asked Jin-Hwan.

"Yes. I think that’s how we’re going to do it," said Yu-Seong.

He handed a document to the two reporters, and Jin-Young's eyes widened as he looked at it.

"Huh…? Boss, this name here…"

"I haven’t decided on every single member yet, but if I convince them, they’ll probably be in," explained Yu-Seong.

"Wouldn't the Chairman be a little uncomfortable with this?" asked Jin-Hwan.

If it were in the past or if it were any of his other siblings in the Choi family, they might have backed up or answered the question cautiously. However, Yu-Seong shrugged and gave a casual reply.

"If he entrusted the work to me, that means he also gave me the authority to decide. The important thing is to succeed, isn't it?" he said.

In fact, Yu-Seong knew exactly what Woo-Jae wanted. In turn, Jin-Hwan realized that Yu-Seong was very confident, unlike the other members of the Choi family. He took a deep breath.

‘I thought there wouldn't be any more surprises, but…’

The two reporters' eyes lit up with expectation as they looked at the confident Yu-Seong.

1. 1 pyeong is roughly equivalent to 3.3 square meters or 35.6 square feet ☜