I Woke Up as the Villain

‘The Ninth Young Master’s voice clearly contained conviction, not prediction. He said it was just a feeling, but he probably gathered the evidence in a single glance even during the moment of crisis.’ 

Only bad rumors about Yu-Seong circulated in public, but Baek Chul thought that the rumor-mongers had bad judgment when it came to people.

His train of thought continued, ‘If he continues to grow in this direction, he might one day be on the same level as Master, but…’ 

It placed Yu-Seong—the ninth young master—in a somewhat disadvantageous position because of his belated start and the accumulated defamation toward him in society.

Baek Chul had the thought of wanting to help Yu-Seong, but he had no way to.

‘My duty is to protect my Master.’ 

No matter how much he liked Yu-Seong, he couldn’t leave Choi Ji-Ho’s side.

“Unfortunately, my master is not present at the moment. If he had known that you, the ninth young master, was visiting, this would not have happened… Recently, he said he wanted to be alone and has left for somewhere.”

“I see. Then, should I wait a few days?”

“Yes. It will probably take about that long. He’s away often, but not usually for very long.”

“I understand,”

Although Yu-Seong answered calmly, he did not speak his mind. His mind held onto different thoughts.

‘It’s probably a lie that he is not here.’ 

According to the original novel and known incidents, it was said that Ji-Ho became paralyzed and that he could not move.

It was possible that he could move, considering his awakening ability—Wind Control Execution—which dealt with the wind. However, even so, it did not make sense that Baek Chul—who was no different than a guard–had completely left his side.

‘He is in the house, but he won’t see me yet.’ 

Yu-Seong did not know the reason, but he did not question the man’s decision.

‘Because there must be a reason why he doesn’t want to meet me right away.’ 

Choi Ji-Ho of the original novel was initially a rather relaxed character. He was not bad-tempered or wicked, thus Yu-Seong thought waiting wouldn’t be a bad decision. Obviously, that did not mean that he would completely let his guard down.

‘I’ll wait about three to four days, and then go back if he doesn't show up.’ 

Yu-Seong thought that discovering Choi Ji-Ho’s hiding place was enough as a gift. There were still many people in the group looking for Ji-Ho and wanting his help. The fact that Yu-Seong knew his location was no different from him having one more ace in his deck of cards.

“I can help you avoid boredom while you wait. First of all, you can choose to train by sparring with the people in this mansion. And there is also a 2nd-grade dungeon in this mountain that would be perfect for you, ninth young master. Of course, if you don’t like both options, you can just rest comfortably,” suggested Baek Chul.

“Oh, that's good to hear,” exclaimed Yu-Seong sincerely.

Yu-Ri was listening to the story with her arms folded. She said with a smile, “I will refuse both. I want to rest a little.”

“Then I would like to ask for sparring. If it is possible… I want to be taught directly by Baek Chul sunbae-nim[1],” said Do-Yoon.

Yu-Ri chose to observe without showing off her ability while Do-Yoon chose his own way to spend the time. Yu-Seong could guess their individual intentions, and asked Baek Chul, “Oh, are there any hunters at about E-rank among the people here?”

“Not many, but there are a few trainees,” confirmed Baek Chul.

Yu-Seong nodded. He had been secretly observing the movements of the people in the mansion. They had been hiding their presence while moving about busily.

‘I assume it’s some kind of a ‘step technique’?’

Moreover, seeing that everyone was using the same skill, Yu-Seong guessed that it was a rare transferable skill that could be passed on to others. Obviously, they wouldn’t give out the skill method at the request of an outsider, even though it was Yu-Seong of the Choi family.

Yet, did it matter to Yu-Seong?

‘I have the Eye of Replication.’ 

It was time to say goodbye to Dodge Roll. Yu-Seong no longer needed to roll on the floor with a rather sloppy appearance.

‘I also have the Stylish skill, so it’s better to have a skill that looks cool.’ 

A big smile tugged on Yu-Seong’s lips after he got off that train of thought.

“That’s great. Then I’d like to ask to compete with people who are at my level. As you know, I’m still an E-rank.” Yu-Seong had come into a huge, unexpected windfall. It was a natural opportunity to learn skills by stealing them.

***

Although it was short, sparring for only about three hours, Yu-Seong had gained a lot.

『General Skill, Flow of Eight Steps.

The First Three Steps (F) Fusion possible. Inheritance possible.

At the end of the eight steps that flow like a wave, there is a path of wind flowing through the clouds. This is a skill that has not been completely inherited.

If there is no next inheritance, the skill grade will not increase.

You can only use three out of eight steps. You can hide some of your presence.

For three steps after skill activation, you can instantly accelerate your movement.

Penalties are applied for Replication skill.

The number of times ability can be used is 10.

You can only use two out of three steps. 』

There were also some minor skills, but Yu-Seong abandoned them all. This was because he thought there was nothing better he could gain if he gave up his current skills. However, Flow of Eight Steps was something he had been aiming for from the beginning, and it was different.

‘Even if it’s only the first three steps, it’s a different level of evasion technique than the Dodge Roll.’ 

It was a real evasion technique he had been hoping to learn for so long.

‘Oh, but even if Flow of Eight Steps itself is awesome, what if something strange comes out after Fusion?’ 

It was the same reason why Yu-Seong had not attempted Fusion for his skill, Insight. Although the abilities produced by Fusion were partly affected by the base skills, there was no guarantee that it would only improve. Rather, it was important to keep in mind that it could be downgraded.

After a short deliberation, Yu-Seong made a decision.

‘Let’s try.’ 

Unlike Insight–the hardest skill to obtain since it could be only gained by nagging at Kim Do-Jin again–the Flow of Eight Steps could be copied whenever he visited this mansion.

Of course, there was a three-month waiting time if he duplicated a skill with the same name, but it was safe to say that he could get it again someday. Therefore, Yu-Seong decided to merge Dodge Roll (E) and Flow of Eight Steps, The First Three Steps (F).

Shortly after the Fusion skill was activated, Yu-Seong felt a certain intuition when he saw the gorgeous golden light covering his eyes. A light different from the light of normal fusion covered his field of vision. Considering that the Awakener system resembled a game to some extent, the more spectacular the effect, the higher the probability of a better reward.

‘This is definitely a jackpot!’ 

Yu-Seong’s prediction was not far off.

『Special Skills, Wind Control Execution (E) Fusion not possible.

Inheritance not possible.

At the end of 18 steps that flow like a wave, a dragon that catches the wind travels through the clouds. This is a skill that has been completely inherited.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

You can only use five out of eighteen steps due to the current low grade.

You can kill some of your presence.

For five steps after skill activation, you can instantly accelerate your movement.

Immediately after skill activation, you can instantly create a short illusion using all five steps.

If you use illusion 2 or more times in a row, re-use waiting time (30 minutes) will occur. 』

“Oh my goodness.” Yu-Seong sat in place with his mouth wide open.

‘Wind Control Execution…!’ 

There were some penalties, such as Fusion and inheritance not being possible, but that was not a problem. Yu-Seong has gained one of the signature abilities of Choi Ji-Ho–who was once the most likely successor to the Comet Group. It was truly like a mega jackpot.

***

A new dungeon appeared near Unjeong, Paju of Gyeonggi. The appearance of a new dungeon after a long time had put a short emergency alert throughout the country. This was because it was remarkably close to Seoul–the capital city–and the dungeon’s internal ecosystem was not known at all.

An investigation team was dispatched and led by Park Chul-Ho–the Iron Wall– an S-rank player from the Association. When the dungeon was found to be level six, everyone breathed sighs of relief.

It was common sense that level six dungeons could be cleared easily if ten or more people with rank B level 80 based on general hunter standards worked together to attack. It was a dungeon that didn’t pose a great danger for South Korea, which had many players of the S-rank and even SS-rank.

When these reassuring facts were revealed, the system was designed to assign the first boss to the player with a matching rank and level or to the rookies supported by the country. This was because players gained more experience points by attacking new bosses on Earth. Because of this manual, Do-Jin became part of the attack team after he recently climbed to become a C-rank player. This was understandable in some way but also a factor that inevitably caused complaints.

‘C-rank is no big deal. He is not even at level 10 since he just recently became C-rank.’

‘We’re not babysitters and no matter how promising he is, it still feels bad to carry a greenhorn.’ 

‘If someone gets hurt or dies because of a newbie while we hunt the boss monster, they will give only several bucks as compensation. Are they really going to send just anyone?’

Many people had complaints, but none of them expressed their dissatisfaction out loud. Anyway, Kim Do-Jin was currently a promising prospect that the world was paying attention to and his hunting record proved it.

Even more, a short while ago, he had solo cleared Orc War Chief, a named boss monster of a rank four dungeon.

He cleared the dungeon alone which usually required ten people at rank D level 80, so it was safe to say that he already had the combat power of a high-level C-rank at that point. However, the problem was that the dungeon that appeared now was as strong as rank six. That was how his dungeon-clearing process started.

The attackers included hunters with at least rank B level thirty up to level ninety at the highest except for Kim Do-Jin. They attacked the dungeon with an irresistible force. It was a party with enough prospects to support the first clear of the dungeons in the country, even if they were dissatisfied inwardly. Everyone would carry their own weight even if they were slightly below the normal threshold.

Kim Do-Jin did not really stand out within the group. It felt like he was only doing as much as his part.

In that sense, it was certainly somewhat extraordinary. Although he had just climbed to rank C, he showed movements and performance that were not lacking compared to the top-ranked B-rank prospective hunters.

Naturally, most of them accepted him, thinking that he would not be a burden. However, on the other hand, many of them were worried.

‘He definitely has a high-level ability, but he is still just a C-rank, right? It won’t be easy to follow our pace.’ 

‘If he already showed everything he has, it’s going to be hard when facing the elite monsters.’ 

As you broke through the dungeon and approached the boss room, powerful enemies called ‘elite’ monsters appeared in addition to normal monsters. Elite monsters were not as powerful as the boss but were considered three times more powerful than average monsters.

However, the meaning of ‘three times’ here didn’t mean simply dealing with three normal monsters. As one monster was as strong as three normal monsters, what was actually felt was much more difficult.

In fact, all of them who were gathered here were conserving their strength little by little in consideration of the fierce battle against elite monsters.

Though, what about Kim Do-Jin, who was still only at the beginning of C-rank?

The attackers somewhat changed their thoughts when they started to battle some elite monsters they encountered near the boss room.

1. A Korean word that refers to a far more experienced person within the same school, company, or group ☜