I Woke Up as the Villain

The dark alleyway didn't fit in with the glamorous city of Seoul, and even the streetlights were all out. After running aimlessly for a while, In-Young stopped and leaned against a cold wall to look up at the sky.

‘It's pitch black.’

Even without the streetlights to illuminate it, had she ever felt the night sky to be so indifferent and cold?

In-Young shook her head with a smirk. Her sweaty skin was getting irritated from the hairs sticking to it. She slowly brushed her hair back before saying, "Come out. I know you're there.”

An answer soon came as a man emerged from the darkness.

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In-Young's lips curved up into a smile as she saw the cold, black eyes that shone through the long strands of hair covering the man’s forehead. She said, “Min Young-Hoon.”

"Choi In-Young."

As they called out each other's names, the two ran toward each other. It looked like they were about to embrace each other, but what they actually exchanged were sharp nails and daggers.

When crimson blood fell to the ground, In-Young laughed as she wiped away the blood from the wounds on her cheek. She commented, “It hurts.”

“Does that tiny wound hurt?” With a mocking smile on his face, Young-Hoon threw his dagger at In-Young.

In-Young quickly dodged the dagger. With her eyes flashing red, she asked, "Do we have to keep doing this between us?"

Young-Hoon flinched at the question before letting out a snort. Then, he avoided In-Young’s attack and lifted his foot to strike her neck with a powerful blow.

Thump-! 

Getting hit hard in the neck, In-Young fell back and writhed on the ground like a bug. Her throat was constricted by the weight of Young-Hoon’s foot. “Kk, keugh…!”

"That damn red eye!" Young-Hoon cried.

Glaring at In-Young angrily, he looked like he was about to crush her neck with his foot. If he thought about the years he had spent under her Charm Skill, completely mesmerized by it, he couldn't help but tremble with anger.

However, he still managed to release the force he had gathered at the tip of his foot. He said, "It's a waste to kill you like this.”

In-Young tried to fight back, but the outcome of this battle had been obvious from the very beginning. Young-Hoon was one of the top 10 strongest players in South Korea, while In-Young herself didn’t have the combat power to even rank within the top 100.

What made In-Young a threat was her overwhelming obsession and her Charm Skill, which helped her trap even those who were stronger than her.

Young-Hoon pushed In-Young’s face to the side with his foot, seeing her partially dilated eyes and limp expression. Hearing a strange noise, he asked with a frown, "You're laughing? You find this funny?"

"Ahaha..." In-Young briefly chuckled.

Her gaze was no longer fixed on Young-Hoon. She was looking up at the black sky, devoid of any light, and slowly reached out her hand in that direction.

‘Is it really over?’

She was unwilling to believe in this outcome. In fact, she couldn't even believe it in the present moment. It was true that so much had happened and changed in a single day, just from afternoon to night, that she could hardly believe that this was her reality.

In an instant, her maternal side of the family that she had put her faith in had perished, and all the power and authority she had had crumbled like shards of glass, scattering in all directions and becoming difficult to even trace.

Right now, she truly wished that when she opened her eyes and got up, everything would be like a dream and a new morning would shine upon her. She desperately wished for it, but the excruciating pain that shot up her arm sharply reminded her of the reality she was in.

"Ack-!"

"So, you're deluding yourself into thinking you're a pitiable woman now? You know very well what you've done up until now," Young-Hoon said.

Reality was cruel and merciless, not giving anyone the chance to possibly erase the past. Knowing this for a fact, In-Young laughed again amidst the agony. "Pffft, hahaha, ahahaha-!"

"Choi In-Young!" Young-Hoon, infuriated, created a black thorn in one hand as if he couldn't stand it anymore. He was going to end In-Young’s life.

At that moment, another presence was felt in the darkness.

Thump, thump. 

The footsteps drew the attention of both Young-Hoon and In-Young. The one walking toward them was soon revealed to be Yu-Seong.

Young-Hoon was the first to react sensitively to Yu-Seong’s unexpected appearance. He didn’t think that the man would personally come here. He asked harshly, "You're not going to speak nonsense like how she shouldn’t die, are you?”

“Would you listen even if I said that?" replied Yu-Seong.

“No, if that’s the case, either you or I would have to die,” growled Young-Hoon in a low voice.

Yu-Seong shrugged his shoulders at Young-Hoon. “I don't intend to do that. I’ve only come to watch her final moments.”

“...Do we have that kind of relationship?” In-Young asked as she laid on the ground.

Yu-Seong cocked his head. “Of course not. We don’t have any sort of a relationship between us. If anything, I’m here so I can see whether you really die or not. It’s just to confirm things with my own eyes.”

In-Young felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the smiling Yu-Seong.

'Choi Yu-Seong.' 

She just realized that Yu-Seong was far scarier and more dangerous than she had thought. Unfortunately, this realization had come too late. That was why she had lost.

“I should have dealt with you before you became like this.”

“Didn’t you try a few times already? You just failed to,” said Yu-Seong.

“I mean, I should have risked my life and come after you. Kuk,” In-Young said as she grimaced in pain. She then asked, “What about Choi Seok-Yeong?”

“I haven't confirmed it yet, but he's probably dead,” Yu-Seong said as he had previously given that command.

To be honest, Seok-Yeong's life was no different from a living hell. After all, In-Young had sworn a slave oath on his soul. He was better off dead.

“...Well, thanks for letting me know. I won't be lonely on the way.”

Yu-Seong no longer spoke.

Young-Hoon was going to be responsible for In-Young’s death. After giving Yu-Seong a chance to have a brief conversation with In-Young without any interference, he said, “I want to give this woman the most painful death possible.”

“You don't have to think too hard, then. Right now will be the most painful for her,” said Yu-Seong.

Young-Hoon's burning eyes were fixed on In-Young, whose eyes were empty and filled with despair.

"Don't even think about keeping me alive. If it's not now, then you'll come back to tear my throat out at some point in the future."

Indeed, In-Young was a dangerous and frightening woman. Since Young-Hoon had boasted of being closer to her than anyone else, he could read her heart well.

“Don't you regret it?”

"About what?"

“Your life... The choices you've made in your life...”

“Very much so. But Young-Hoon, I don't regret seducing you,” In-Young said calmly as her eyes no longer shone red.

“How come…?”

“Because there's no better opportunity than using a man who has fallen for me when I don't even love him,” said In-Young.

“...That's enough of an answer,” said Young-Hoon.

With his fist forming a black blade in the darkness, he pierced In-Young’s neck with one swift and cold motion.

"Gasp-!" In-Young felt hot blood spilling out of her mouth as her waist was bent by the strong impact. She could smell the strong odor or iron.

In the moment of her death, she thought, '...This feels really disgusting.' 

Young-Hoon sat weakly in front of In-Young's completely lifeless body. He didn't say anything for a long time. He didn't even express any satisfaction of revenge or resentment. The only thing he did was to drop several tears.

After some time, Young-Hoon looked back at Yu-Seong, who was trying to leave quietly. He said quietly, “...You can contact me whenever you need me.”

Yu-Seong stopped walking for a while, turned his head, and silently nodded.

“I'll repay the debt somehow,” said Young-Hoon.

Once Yu-Seong was no longer in sight, Young-Hoon cradled In-Young's face in his arms. He knew he needed to get up and leave, but his body wouldn't move. He simply stood there, frozen in place for quite some time.

***

Sword Master, Byuk Je-Ho, was an old man known as the best hunter in South Korea. He looked at the sword rising to the sky with a hopeless gaze.

The sword, which had accompanied him throughout his life and sacrificed its body for his journey, spun high up in the sky before stabbing into the ground. Finally, the sword was broken.

"...Impressive," said Je-Ho after a long period of silence.

His gaze was fixed on the handsome young man, Do-Jin, in front of him.

Do-Jin appeared to be quite tired. He was soaked in sweat, and his torn clothes exposed many red wounds on his skin.

However, it was Je-Ho himself who had dropped the sword. Do-Jin’s sword was at his throat. If this had been a real fight, there was no doubt that he would be the one to die.

'Is it because of the difference in momentum?' 

Momentum in a fight could bring about unexpected results. This was also true for sports, where weaker teams could win against the stronger ones.

Was the fight between him and Do-Jin similar to that? Je-Ho snorted and shook his head. No, it was a matter of skill. In fact, Do-Jin had calmly led the battle to have it come to such an end from the very beginning.

Je-Ho had come to this battle to witness that last moment. With pain in his heart and injuries on his body, he was certain of how he had lost the battle. He said to himself, “The last movement of the sword...was the best.”

Of course, Do-Jin's swordsmanship up until the end of the battle had been impressive and deserving of his reputation. However, his extraordinary swordsmanship still hadn’t been enough to defeat Je-Ho, who had the somewhat overrated title of ‘Sword Master’. The important thing had been that one final move, the one where the sword had seemed to pierce through the world.

If faced with the same attack again, Je-Ho had no confidence in stopping it. After all, Je-Ho himself had built a wall of effort and passion. On the other hand, he could see that Do-Jin had effort, passion, and brilliant talent.

"...It was bound to happen someday," admitted Je-Ho calmly.

Just then, Do-Jin took a step back and bowed his head slightly with a hint of respect in his eyes and expression. He declared, "Now, I'll take the title of Sword Master."

"Of course, you should," Je-Ho said with a chuckle before turning around.

In fact, he felt no regret.

‘The world is changing.’

Many things that had remained ahead were being pushed out of the way by the rushing current.

Watching Je-Ho's back as the old man left, Do-Jin lowered his sword and thought, ‘Finally…’

After the fight with Je-Ho, Do-Jin knew that he had reached the level of swordsmanship that he had displayed before returning to Earth. If he could continue to show this level of swordsmanship, he wouldn't be afraid even if his opponent was a Demon King.

'It's really just around the corner.'

At this point, he had just defeated his best training opponent in Korea. If so, should he go abroad then?

As he wiped his sweat away and sat down on the ground, he received a phone call. He looked at the name floating on the screen before answering the call, "What's up?"

His voice was cold, but still expressed his inexplicable excitement. The passion to jump in and fight immediately rose within him.

However, the purpose of Yu-Seong's call was not for them to battle each other.

- Let's go to Pyongyang.

"What...?"

- The person we owe our lives to is there, remember? You aren't just pretending to not know, are you?

Do-Jin's face lit up with a slight smile as he listened to Yu-Seong's words, and he shook his head in response. He said, "No, I didn't mean it like that.”

In fact, he would love to go to Pyongyang, which had probably become the stronghold of demons by now.

"I’ll go with you," said Do-Jin.

And that was how their next journey was decided.