I Woke Up as the Villain

After In-Young’s death, the previously tense atmosphere in the Comet Group quickly returned to its original state. This was partly due to the approved succession struggle that had taken place while Woo-Jae was still in good health. It was also because of the significant contributions made by Jin-Woo.

‘I don't have much to do.’

With Jin-Woo standing by his side, someone who had once been a somewhat difficult opponent, Yu-Seong felt sturdy and reliable.

"...Thank you very much."

As Yu-Seong approached him to offer his respects, Ji-Ho gave a casual wave with a pleased smile on his face. He said, “I didn’t do anything. This is just a show of Jin-Woo’s sincerity. Please forget about the past and get along with Jin-Woo.”

"Of course." Yu-Seong smiled widely.

Feeling satisfied by Yu-Seong’s response, Ji-Ho said, "Now that Father is returning, you will be officially designated as the successor. It was truly a long and difficult journey. I have done my part, so I'll..."

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"I know you want to rest, but you have to rest in a healthy manner," Yu-Seong interrupted Ji-Ho before the man could finish his sentence.

Then, before Ji-Ho could respond, Baek Chul spoke up from behind him. "I hope the same for you."

Ji-Ho smiled wryly. "If that's the will of heaven, then it will be so. But fate is always cruel..."

"I know fate well, and it's a friendlier companion than you might think," Yu-Seong confidently reassured Ji-Ho with a hand on his chest. He then said, "As you know well, I wasn’t the type of person who should be taking up such an important position.”

"...Well," said Ji-Ho, feeling a strange mix of emotions.

Come to think of it, in the future he had seen, Yu-Seong's fate was to be followed by death. But what about Yu-Seong in front of him?

'Is it possible for the future to change?' 

Seeing the surging emotions in Ji-Ho's eyes, Yu-Seong said with a smile, "Just wait for me, hyung-nim. I will definitely save you."

Hope was a dangerous emotion to hold onto. However, Ji-Ho couldn't help but smile as he gradually warmed up to that feeling in his heart.

"...Then I’ll believe my reliable little brother," Ji-Ho said with determination in his eyes.

He truly believed that, if he could survive, he would be the best helper for his younger brother out of anyone else.

***

In order to treat Ji-Ho, Yu-Seong needed to climb up to the 20th floor of the Tower of Heaven and obtain an Elixir.

‘The minimum requirement to reach the 20th floor of the Tower of Heaven is to achieve an S-rank on the surface.’

That was why Yu-Seong, who had returned to Earth, intended to achieve S-rank as quickly as possible.

‘And I'm currently at level 40 of A-rank.’

His growth rate was not bad, but he still needed quite a bit of time to reach max level. With that concern in mind, Yu-Seong had come up with a way to kill two birds with one stone.

‘That way, I can level up quickly and also find opportunities to repay my debts…’ 

He had decided to go to Pyongyang, where he could gain experience by fighting the demon tribe, level up, and save Helen. If he succeeded in doing all of that, then it would be the ultimate gain for him.

‘In fact, I am trying to kill three birds with one stone.’

Once he had come up with that plan, he had immediately contacted Do-Jin and said that they should go to Pyongyang.

However, there was always a risk that came with a good opportunity. Above all, Clarius, the Count of Demon, was located in Pyongyang.

‘With my current abilities, I can handle the situation to some extent, but I can't guarantee a definite victory.’

Moreover, he had to consider the variables that would come with spending a long time in Pyongyang. That was why he had called on Do-Jin for support.

‘In the first place, it's Kim Do-Jin's job to handle the demons in Pyongyang.’

In order to gain approval to take on the demons in Pyongyang with only a small group of people, Yu-Seong needed to get special authority and this required the power of the Korean Player Association. If Do-Jin had won the title of Sword Master by now, obtaining special authority from the Association would be made a lot easier.

'Because he has proven his own strength and worth from that one battle.' 

Yu-Seong also had special authority which he had obtained with Woo-Jae’s help, so the two of them could go to Pyongyang alone. The problem left was transportation, but that could be easily resolved.

'Since we're on our way to take care of things anyway, the Korean Player Association will support us greatly.' 

Do-Jin, who had been granted permission to use one of the three stealth-coated transport planes that was difficult to locate by both monsters and demons in Korea, stood at the runway of Gimpo Airport.

While waiting in front of the sleekly designed stealth plane, he noticed Yu-Seong approaching. Then, he made a strange expression. He could see that Bernard was walking with Yu-Seong right next to him.

"...I thought that only the two of us were going?" asked Do-Jin.

"I did think about it, but I thought it would be nice to have one more colleague who fits well with us," Yu-Seong explained.

To be entirely honest, Do-Jin and Bernard Yoo were the ones who originally took care of the demons in Pyongyang.

‘If you think about the flow of the original novel…’

In any case, wouldn't it be much more secure to have the two people who were originally supposed to handle the situation in Pyongyang together? Despite the butterfly effect, Yu-Seong believed that having a certain level of stability could be achieved by doing this.

‘Plus, Bernard Yoo is the type who grows quickly with some support…’

As Bernard was one of the talents who would eventually defeat the Demon King in the future, having him gain experience fighting demons together with them seemed like a good thing in many ways for him.

Naturally, Do-Jin, who couldn't possibly know about Yu-Seong's thoughts, narrowed his eyes and looked at Bernard. He asked Yu-Seong, "Is it…really necessary?"

"I don't have any intention of being helpful to you either. I’m here because Yu-Seong begged me so earnestly to come here," said Bernard with a snort.

Do-Jin's gaze shifted to Yu-Seong. He asked, "Is that true?"

"What?" Yu-Seong said.

"That you earnestly begged him."

Seeing Do-Jin's rather displeased expression, Yu-Seong looked at him like he was being ridiculous. He said, "Whether I begged him earnestly or not, the important thing is that I called him here.”

"Do you think I'm not enough on my own?" said Do-Jin.

Ignoring Do-Jin's low growl, Yu-Seong walked by him and lightly tapped his shoulder. "It's not that you're not enough, but I thought it would be better if we had more support. I hope we can stop fighting each other sooner or later.”

This would be good in many ways for fighting the Demon King in the future.

Still unaware of Yu-Seong’s thoughts, Do-Jin’s eyes widened in surprise as he said, “Injuries during the battle are just…"

"I'm always taking that into consideration. Please just understand that I did this for us," said Yu-Seong.

"For us…” Do-Jin made a strange expression and quickly walked into the stealth plane, passing by Yu-Seong. With furrowed brows, he said, "Do as you please. I already know he won't listen to me.”

"What a bad temper," said Yu-Seong. With a shrug of his shoulders, he turned to look at Bernard and said, "Even so, he doesn't dislike you. You know that, right?"

"Nope, I don’t know," replied Bernard, showing his usual big smile with a casual shrug. "Well, it doesn't really matter. He's reliable in his own way."

In fact, Bernard also didn't come to this place without any thought. This was a mission to exterminate the demons in Pyongyang. Even with external justification, he knew that it was a dangerous task equivalent to raiding a dungeon of rank 8 or maybe even 9 according to the country's evaluation difficulty.

Yu-Seong also knew just how difficult this task could be, so having a trustworthy colleague was definitely a good thing. It was regrettable that the maximum limit for this mission was three people, but he had also found this limit to be beneficial.

‘Yoo Jin-Hyuk and Chae Ye-Ryeong are in the next rank promotion evaluation, and Do-Yoon and Yu-Ri are more efficient in training than actual combat for now.’

As for Meghan, who usually supported Bernard, it was sad to say but she had already reached her limit of growth. Although it might be a somewhat dangerous journey, the fight would not end in Pyongyang. As there were still countless enemies, including the battle with the Demon King left, they couldn't simply focus on safety without taking their growth into account.

Of course, there was also something they believed in.

‘If Helen is still in Pyongyang…’

The three of them would eventually become four.

‘And really, if Rachel is also alive…’

At least until they escaped Pyongyang, she could also play an active role as an ally.

Despite the external justification, Yu-Seong's main mission for this trip to Pyongyang was personnel rescue. In fact, the demon extermination was a mission that could fail. However, it wouldn’t be a problem as long as they gained experience and could leave.

And what if they did end up killing off all the demons in Pyongyang?

‘To put it into perspective, we would be equivalent to a three-member elite raid.’

Upon accomplishing the mission, there was nothing but expectations for how far the three of them could grow. They had already set their sights on at least an S-rank, but they would certainly continue to move forward with confidence to pass the promotion evaluation easily.

"Let's go."

With Yu-Seong's determined words, Bernard gave a nod and moved forward, releasing his tense shoulders.

Exactly 30 minutes later, the stealth plane took off into the sky from Gimpo Airport in South Korea.

***

The underground tunnel was humid and dark, with an unpleasant odor permeating the air. The demon, boasting a height of around two meters and sharp thorns all over his body, halted his footsteps. He slowly turned his one and only eye to the left, toward a round tunnel that didn't fit in with the rest of the underground space.

The giant round tunnel was large enough for a human to pass through, let alone a demon of his size. With his head tilted at the tunnel, a wide smile spread across the demon's lips as he sniffed the air.

‘Human scent.’

He licked his lips and stepped forward into the tunnel before the wide opening suddenly began to close shut as if it were a trap.

After turning around in surprise, the demon snickered. Although he didn’t know who had set the trap, he thought it was foolish of them to underestimate a demon noble's power.

‘I'll let you experience just how terrifying the power of the Baron of Demon is.’

The demon chuckled to himself and stepped further into the tunnel, but something suddenly flew at a rapid speed from deep within the tunnel. It shattered his head with a loud crack.

Bang-!

The demon’s body twisted and fell to the side, with his broken parts regenerating very quickly.

A red-haired woman swiftly emerged from the other side of the tunnel and kicked the demon with her foot, snapping his spine completely.

Whack-!

Then, she jumped onto the demon’s back and began to swing her ax at him as if she were mincing beef.

The demon's body wriggled to fight back against the attack, but the woman's movements with the ax were too fast for it to retaliate effectively. As a result, the demon's body was about to become a well-tenderized lump of meat without having a chance to mount a decent counterattack.

Meanwhile, a woman wearing a flipped robe slowly walked out of the tunnel on the other side. With a frown, she said, "Stop it, you crazy bitch. We won't even have anything left to eat.”

In her robe, Helen uttered unimaginable words to indicate that they were demon-eating people.

At that moment, Rachel lightly licked the demon's blood and flesh from her ax and tilted her head.