I Woke Up as the Villain

Once the Tyrant of the Swamp fell, a thunderous cheer shook the entire Republic of Korea. It was the raid that had been highly anticipated with many concerns and worries, but the results were beyond everyone's expectations.

To everyone's amazement, the total clear time for the Rank 7 raid dungeon was only 6 hours and 36 minutes, overwhelmingly surpassing the previous record of 7 hours and 58 minutes to become the shortest time.

Some people criticized the dungeon for being too easy for a Rank 7 raid, but such an issue wasn’t significant enough to catch everyone else’s attention. Although the difficulty level was lower than a typical Rank 7 raid dungeon, the fact that the average rank of the attack team was B completely shattered the manual's requirement that the raid dungeon needed a minimum average rank of A+. In fact, there were even discussions about whether all members of the attack team could be Irregulars.

In fact, that speculation was not wrong. Yu-Seong had become an Irregular when he had experienced great pain during his awakening. According to the original novel's setting, Do-Jin and Bernard were also Irregulars, and it went without saying that the same was true for Jin-Hyuk and Ye-Ryeong, who were considered future disasters.

Although Meghan, Do-Yoon, and Yu-Ri were not Irregulars, they were no less talented than the others. In other words, every member of the attack team was exceptional, and they even did well to support each other.

However, even among these exceptional individuals, there was always an MVP (most valuable player), and most dungeon score companies chose Yu-Seong as the top performer of this raid. He scored 9.9 out of 10, surpassing Do-Jin's score of 9.8, and his name resounded throughout the world.

***

From North America, South America, Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, people of all countries, genders, and races cheered for Yu-Seong and his attack team's achievements.

Indeed, it was an incredible record—something that had been deemed impossible. It was something that nobody could have imagined.

Articles about the achievement began with phrases like ‘Unbelievable record’ and ‘Unimaginable event’ and were published in newspapers and news outlets all over the world.

Woo-Jae—who had already sent a message to everyone involved with the Comet Group around the world to move just before Yu-Seong struck the spear over the Tyrant's head—burst into uncontrollable laughter that lasted for days.

"Hahaha!" He laughed loudly, forgetting his previous statement that smiling was awkward for him.

Pil-Doo couldn't help but join in the laughter as well.

‘The Comet's stock has surpassed its all-time high.’

The Comet Group had held its position as the top company in the domestic market, but its corporate value had only reached the top 10 in the overseas market. However, after this unprecedented achievement, the company's overseas evaluation value had skyrocketed to within the top 5.

It was rare to see such a dramatic rise in a top 10 battle, where each rank had a significant gap. It was no wonder that Woo-Jae couldn't stop his laughter. He had also instructed Pil-Doo to prepare several gifts for Yu-Seong.

While it could be seen as pretty excessive, even Pil-Doo had to admit that the man deserved it this time.

‘Choi Yu-Seong deserves to receive gifts of this magnitude.’

Of course, Yu-Seong’s siblings, who had previously treated him as a mere pebble due to the pressure from Mi-Na, would harbor some discontent and eye him with hostility. As Yu-Seong continued to grow stronger, it became increasingly clear that Mi-Na's ability to protect him was reaching its limit.

Many of Woo-Jae's gifts also had similar meanings behind them. From now on, it would be even harder for Yu-Seong to endure on his own in this household. That was why the gifts that would soon be given to him were not so much spoils, as they were supplies.

'How will Yu-Seong endure this situation?' 

Perhaps the tipping point would come sooner than expected.

Just as Pil-Doo's mouth twitched from him having such thoughts, Woo-Jae spoke up with a hyena-like laughter. "Now, you're starting to look forward to it rather than worry about it, aren't you?"

Without realizing it, Pil-Doo jolted slightly. He smiled awkwardly and nodded. In fact, he couldn’t deny Woo-Jae’s words. Anticipation rather than worry—that was the perfect way to put his feelings into words.

"I understand how you feel. I feel the same way," said Woo-Jae.

Woo-Jae had thought of Yu-Seong as just a reckless daredevil jumping around without knowing what he had, but as time went on, this one son of his had caught up to and even surpassed his siblings who had been ahead of him. It was really amazing, to the point where he couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.

Woo-Jae's gaze fell on the newspaper article in front of him, after sharing the same sentiment as Pil-Doo. A large photo of Yu-Seong and his attack team, all looking confident, was displayed.

"Did they officially apply as a team?"

"No, it was a temporary formation."

"That's a shame,” responded Woo-Jae as he smacked his lips.

Woo-Jae had mixed feelings when he first saw the list of attack team members. Now, he was surprised but also impressed.

‘The grandson of Cheon-Ji Group and Kim Do-Jin…’

Woo-Jae knew they were talented individuals, but even he hesitated to reach out to them.

The Cheon-Ji Group was one of the top two companies in South Korea, competing with the Comet Group for market dominance, and Do-Jin had some suspicious aspects about him. However, Yu-Seong had taken these two under his wing and had led them as he pleased.

Consistently maintaining this attack team would undoubtedly benefit the Comet Group, and ultimately, the successor to the company would benefit the most. As Woo-Jae's thoughts reached this point, he suddenly remembered the face of Yu-Seong, who had expressed a desire to inherit the chairman's position. He muttered, "Perhaps it's better to give it to the ninth child who wants it than the second child who doesn't even care if I give it to him."

Trembling slightly, Pil-Doo asked, "Do you already think about it that much?"

"Who knows. If he’s blocked by the wall, the fifth, it's a meaningless story from the beginning," replied Woo-Jae.

“...Right.” Pil-Doo nodded in agreement.

As Woo-Jae slowly got up from his seat with a strange smile on his face, his phone began to ring in quick succession. Of course, there weren't many people who could directly call him on his phone.

Woo-Jae’s gaze naturally shifted to the name on the screen, and when he saw the name Choi Ji-Ho, the expressions of both men changed once again.

"The first, first young master is…” said Pil-Doo.

"He must also have made a decision. It’s pretty exciting," replied Woo-Jae as he slowly picked up his phone and pressed the call button.

"...This is Choi Ji-Ho. Father. How are you?"

It had been a long time since Woo-Jae had heard his eldest son’s voice.

***

The room resembled a vast warehouse, and Talia approached Eveheim, who was fixated on the large TV showing the scene of Yu-Seong and his team subduing the Tyrant of the Swamp. She quietly handed him a cup of tea.

Eveheim, who was sitting on a brown leather sofa, hunched over while watching a video, lifted his head and gave a decadent smile. "Thank you, Talia."

"Don't mention it. By the way… Kim Do-Jin is still the one you're interested in, right, Godfather?"

"Kim Do-Jin has always been our top priority." Eveheim chuckled and hunched back over to take a sip of warm tea. He said, "But who I'm looking at now isn't Kim Do-Jin."

Eveheim's gaze returned to the video after he made that strange remark. In fact, from his perspective, the battles had been boring even with the Tyrant of the Swamp's massive size and power.

The Tyrant was just like any other monster to Eveheim. In fact, if he had been involved, he wouldn’t have needed to intervene. Even if one of the six Hexagram Masters had to fight, they would have easily defeated the Tyrant alone. However, he still found watching the raid video enjoyable.

Talia, who followed his gaze to the video, muttered to herself, "Meghan, that friend, seems to have almost reached her limit. She's talented, but it seems like she won't be able to go any further."

"You're right. That girl's bowl is already overflowing."

"Rather, that kid named Jin Yu-Ri seems quite interesting. She's intelligent and familiar with assisting. She's a talented person I'd like to take on as a disciple, and I haven’t felt this way in a long time," Talia said as she licked her lips.

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"That guy Jin Do-Yoon seems to have potential too. If we guide him well, he could become quite useful."

The person who spoke up next was Jackson, leaning against one side of the wall of the huge warehouse. Despite his massive size, he was surprisingly quiet before he opened his mouth. Even a decent S-rank hunter wouldn’t easily catch his sound or presence.

"Chae Ye-Ryeong, was it? That little girl caught my eye."

"For me, it’s Yoo Jin-Hyuk. He’s the most talented I've seen," said Noah and James, who were also Hexagram Masters with abilities in Projection and Demonic Beast Summoning, respectively.

The two people with similar abilities naturally looked at the talented children. In this interesting situation, the Hexagram Masters looked at each other and laughed.

"Then, what about Jacob...?"

"I've had my eye on that guy Bernard for a long time," said Jacob, pointing to his chosen talented individual.

Five of the six Hexagram Masters had marked their talented individuals. Everyone then shifted their gazes toward Olivia, the last remaining Hexagram Master. She was known to be the quietest among them, often wearing deep black robes. But this time, wouldn't she speak up?

When everyone's gaze was focused on Olivia, Eveheim suddenly burst into a laugh. "See? Aren't you all the same as me? We are not looking at the individual, but everyone. It's interesting, isn't it?"

He wasn't just watching Do-Jin, the current top priority for the Demon King Worshipers recruitment. Instead, he was watching the entire attack team.

At the mention of it, the Hexagram Masters' mouths curved into similar smiles.

"It's surprising that the entire attack team is made up of such excellent individuals who we are all interested in. Then, Godfather, you must have marked one as well..." said Jackson.

"Of course, it would be Kim Do-Jin, whom he has been watching." Talia received Eveheim’s words with ease.

"Choi Yu-Seong."

When a small voice echoed through the warehouse, everyone's gaze naturally followed the voice. Olivia, with her deep robe and black hair, was looking at Eveheim. She said, "I want him, Choi Yu-Seong. Give him to me, Godfather."

"Hmph…!" Eveheim let out a short laugh, then shook his head with a cool expression. "No, I refuse."

At his resolute answer, Olivia's white cheeks puffed up slightly beneath her robe.