I Woke Up as the Villain

The Third Eye had three main abilities: analysis, prediction, and mental defense. In fact, the first two were almost inseparable.

‘Third Eye can read an opponent's habits, movements, and preferred skills during battle to predict their next move.‘

However, there were instances when Third Eye couldn't predict an opponent's actions, such as when Young-Hoon had used his Thorns of Death Skill, which he had bet his life on. This was unsurprising, since it was not Future Foresight in the first place.

‘Still, having Third Eye makes a huge difference.’

It read and analyzed the opponent's movements during battle, transferring the data to the brain as it was. Additionally, it provided mental defense against mental attacks and, when combined with other mind shield skills, could easily deflect fear and hypnosis.

Mental fortitude was just as important as physical strength in battle, and since meeting Rachel two years ago, Yu-Seong had been training his mind relentlessly. It was thanks to this training that he had successfully increased his mental strength and acquired an additional ability when the Third Eye had finally reached Rank A

‘Hypnotism.’

It was a surprising skill, but Yu-Seong wasn't yet skilled enough to use it effectively in battle.

‘Also, it doesn't work well against opponents with strong mental fortitude.’

In that sense, using Hypnotism during battle on an S-rank player like Young-Hoon was impossible.

‘And he was even prepared to die…’

However, now things were different. Young-Hoon had lost the battle, and had a somewhat broken heart. He was feeling anxiety, hatred, and anger. Yu-Seong could use these emotions to increase the success rate of Hypnotism through the Third Eye.

"You know it too, don't you? Choi In-Young only needs people for her purposes, to use them," Yu-Seong said calmly as he infused mana into his Third Eye.

"Stop!" Young-Hoon shouted with a wavering gaze.

If he had been in his normal state, he might have laughed and ignored Yu-Seong. However, he was certainly affected now.

Yu-Seong calmly continued to talk, pushing mana into his Third Eye. He said, "Choi In-Young won't need a man like you. Do you know how many men have already met their ends because of her? Well, I bet you already know…"

"I don't know," Young-Hoon replied.

"You're pretending not to know, aren't you? Shall I list them out for you? Kim Do-Hoon, Lee Jin-Yong, Kwak Han-Cheol..."

"Stop it!" Young-Hoon's voice rose again. Gasping for breath, he said firmly, "Kill me.”

"Why do you have to die?" Yu-Seong asked.

"I failed the mission..."

"You mean the mission that Choi In-Young gave you? Do you have to die because of failure?" Yu-Seong said with a smirk. "In truth, you'll only die if you succeed."

"Choi Yu-Seong..."

"Do you know? Choi In-Young is a witch, using her Charm Skill on you. Why do you think so many men have died because of her? Even those who were skillful and famous in some way."

“...” The wavering of Young-Hoon's gaze began to intensify.

"One more thing, even her maternal family are vampires," Yu-Seong said.

In fact, this part wasn't entirely confirmed yet. It was rather safe to say that they could be vampires. However, Yu-Seong had stated it with conviction.

‘I need to speak firmly.’

There was a saying—fight poison with poison. Charm was a form of Hypnotism, so Yu-Seong also had to use Hypnotism to break through. The problem was that if the Charm Skill that In-Young had used on Young-Hoon was a skill that combined the characteristics of a witch and a vampire, then even a flawless Hypnotism would be hard to cause any damage.

Indeed, Yu-Seong had to press on. Instead of giving Young-Hoon time to think, Yu-Seong had to make him reach a conclusion.

"Vampires and witches are both a perfect match for Charm Skills. You would have believed that all this time Choi In-Young, who is only at A-rank, could never succeed in any skill against someone like you, who is at S-Rank, right? But that's not the case. Due to the combination of race and lineage traits, she can even ensnare an SS-rank hunter with her Charm Skill.”

Of course, this was a story that could only be possible when there were many gaps in the mind.

‘Or maybe he was infatuated by her appearance from the start.’

Details like that could be revealed later. Regardless, it was true that Young-Hoon had been captivated by In-Young's appearance from the very beginning.

As Young-Hoon's gaze began to shake heavily, Yu-Seong said, "Young-Hoon, the first place you met Choi In-Young was in the underground bar of the Cheo Hotel in Myeong-dong, right?"

"How do you know that...?"

"In the bar, there were only you, the bartender, and Choi In-Young."

The meeting seemed like destiny as they had met in a tranquil and serene space. At that moment, Young-Hoon hadn’t been able to help but fall for In-Young's charming smile.

"Noo-nim had ordered me to do it, to Charm you. Oh, and by the way, she also charmed Kim Do-Hoon and Lee Jin-Yong in the same way," Yu-Seong calmly said.

"You're lying!" shouted Young-Hoon.

It was partially true that Yu-Seong was telling a lie. After all, why would In-Young have needed to order Yu-Seong to rent the entire bar in the first place? She could have easily employed one of her staff to do the job. However, at least Yu-Seong was certain that the place where Young-Hoon thought of as their first meeting spot had been a prepared stage.

‘That's how it was described in the original novel.’

Yu-Seong shrugged his shoulders. "Can't you remember? You used to go there sometimes and had met Kim Do-Hoon. You both would awkwardly smile and keep your guard up.”

Young-Hoon couldn't deny it; he remembered those days when it had been hard to get in touch with In-Young.

"Who do you think she was with during those times?" asked Yu-Seong.

"Arghhhhhh!" Young-Hoon screamed, grabbed his head, and began to roll on the ground from side to side.

Noticing this show of weakness, Yu-Seong activated his Third Eye urgently and decided to drive a decisive wedge. He said, "She's insane. She even has an incestuous relationship with my older brother, Choi Seok-Young."

"No way..."

"You wouldn't want to believe it, right? You saw with your own eyes that Choi Seok-Young and Choi In-Young went into the hotel together, but you thought that siblings wouldn't do that kind of thing."

At the same time, a powerful light burst out of Yu-Seong's Third Eye.

Young-Hoon began trembling uncontrollably as he stared at Yu-Seong with a dazed expression. Tears streamed down his cheeks. In front of him, right in his mind’s eye, was the image of In-Young with her arms around Seok-Young's waist and then entering the hotel.

It was a virtual reality made with Hypnotism, but it was not difficult for Young-Hoon to recall that exact moment. After all, this was something that he had actually experienced.

Young-Hoon was angry. Even though In-Young and Seok-Young were siblings, he had felt jealous of their relationship. It wasn't normal—his emotions, his doubts, and their relationship were all strange.

"That's right. Wake up. Min Young-Hoon, you are not in a romantic relationship with Choi In-Young. To her, you are just another one of her many tools," said Yu-Seong.

The illusion that had been unfolding before Young-Hoon shattered like glass. He began laughing, even though it sounded more like a whimper. "Heh, Heehee..."

Naturally, Yu-Seong's gaze changed. He muttered, "No way, he didn't completely lose his mind from the clash between Hypnosis and Charm Skills, right?"

Originally, mental type skills were bound to have some risk when demonstrating on the opponent. Moreover, since Young-Hoon was already under In-Young’s Charm Skill, there was no way to ignore the worst-case scenario.

"Hehehe... Hehehehe..."

Young-Hoon, who had been laughing hysterically for quite some time, clenched his fist tightly and looked at Yu-Seong. At that moment, Yu-Seong could tell one fact.

'He's definitely gone a little crazy.' 

The man’s gaze was somewhat cloudy, as if something was off. However, it didn't seem like he had completely lost his sanity.

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"Your words are right. I remember. Her red eyes, the ones that make people's hearts race!" Young-Hoon recalled the mysterious glint in In-Young’s eyes that he had seen many times before. He then screamed madly, "I was fooled! I was fooled! That damn woman ruined me. Damn it all! Aaaah!"

Then, he slowly began to stand up with all his strength.

“You need to rest more…!” Yu-Seong hurriedly tried to stop Young-Hoon, whose body was still in a terrible state.

It wasn't good for Young-Hoon to move that violently. Nevertheless, surprisingly, he stood up straight, panting, and with a force that was hard to hold back. Looking Yu-Seong straight in the eye, he declared, "I'm going to kill Choi In-Young.”

"..." Yu-Seong chose silence instead of giving the man an answer.

"I won't force you to help me. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even thought of this and would have died cluelessly. If I had learned this in hell, I would have strongly regretted it." Then, with a burning gaze, Young-Hoon turned his back to Yu-Seong. He said, "I'm grateful to you. I won’t forget it.”

"Are you going to do it alone?" Yu-Seong asked Young-Hoon from behind him.

"Why? Would you do it alongside me if I asked you to join me?"

Yu-Seong smiled bitterly. In fact, killing a person was not something that could be done easily. This was especially since In-Young was, in some way, his family.

However, there was obviously no room for half measures now.

‘It's either kill or be killed.’

That was the kind of world he lived in. Slowly, Yu-Seong turned his head toward Young-Hoon, who was looking at him. Then, he offered a smile as he reached out his hand to Young-Hoon. He said, "Let's get the order straight. You're the one helping me to kill Choi In-Young."

Looking at Yu-Seong’s cold smile, Young-Hoon laughed awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders. "It seems like there isn't a single sane person in the Choi family. Hahaha.”

He then stumbled toward Yu-Seong and tightly grabbed his hand. He shouted, "Okay, give it a shot. Use me as a sword to strike her to your heart's content, just like In-Young did. If you can kill her, I'll do anything!"

"Looking forward to it," Yu-Seong replied.

And with that, he joined hands with Young-Hoon, who had been reborn as a vengeful spirit.

***

Before leaving the dungeon, Yu-Seong had instructed Young-Hoon to hide and wait. He had even brought in the full force of the Hidden team to assist Young-Hoon.

‘Young-Hoon is the final piece to pierce into In-Young's heart.’

The more cards hidden, the better. Yu-Seong then checked the missed calls on his phone, which he had stored in a locker in Dungeon Square. Then, he saw a familiar name.

‘Ji-Ho hyung-nim?’

The freezing cold sensation that had taken over his heart with the intention of killing In-Young slowly melted away. Yu-Seong dialed the number and heard Ji-Ho's voice before the second ring ended.

- How have you been?

“I'm doing well, of course. And you, hyung-nim?" asked Yu-Seong.

- I'm in Seoul right now.

“What?” asked Yu-Seong.

He was surprised that Ji-Ho, who was in retirement, had returned to Seoul.

"Where are you now? I’ll be there right away,” questioned Yu-Seong.

- Come to the family home.

Just then, a much colder and lower voice than Ji-Ho was heard—it was the voice of Woo-Jae.

"Father?"

- I have something important to say. The whole family needs to gather before 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Yu-Seong's eyes widened at the declaration.

‘The whole family?’

Had there ever been a time when Woo-Jae had summoned not just one individual but everyone in the family? Yu-Seong was certain that this was an event that didn't even exist in the original novel. And with Ji-Ho's unexpected return, it only added to his suspicions.

He could tell that something major was about to take place.

"Yes, Father," replied Yu-Seong, swallowing hard.

A significant change was on the horizon.