I Woke Up as the Villain

On the way home, Yu-Seong thought in the silent car.

‘I’ve gained a lot from this journey.’ 

Ji-Ho’s gifts and the stories about him, which continued on after handing over Pharaoh’s Caprice, were surprising enough to make Yu-Seong feel that the ancient relic was somewhat incidental.

Ji-Ho said that he would make sure that no one in the family could hinder Yu-Seong’s growth or threaten him for a while. To be precise, it would be Choi Mi-Na’s help rather than Choi Ji-Ho himself taking action.

Ji-Ho was the only one in the family, other than Choi Woo-Jae, who was not estranged from Choi Mi-Na. In addition, Mi-Na had promised to unconditionally comply with three requests from Ji-Ho. From this, Yu-Seong could assume their rather civil and polite relationship.

Anyway, if Mi-Na, the second oldest, stepped up in some way and blocked the dangers toward Yu-Seong, the other siblings wouldn’t dare to step out. As mentioned, she had a fairly powerful force since no one knew how she would behave and when she would act out. In a sense, she was more difficult than Choi Woo-Jae, so none of his siblings wanted to confront her directly.

This allowed Yu-Seong to overcome the penalty of lagging behind his other siblings as a result.

‘Although he said it would last only for about a year.’ 

However, considering Mi-Na’s unpredictable character, even a year was considered a long time for her to be tied to such a request. And with that, Yu-Seong was already confident of building skills and infrastructure, as well as dealing with his other siblings.

‘And also, Yu-Ri seems to have already prepared to some extent.’ 

From Yu-Seong’s ability as a game director originally, he could picture his direction to move on other than leveling mapping in more detail.

Secondly, Yu-Seong received one more ring as a gift. Surprisingly, the second ring he received was also an ancient relic. It was a hidden trump that Ji-Ho personally had, not belonging to the family nor the Comet Group. It was a type that had no rank limitation when wearing it, like the Pharaoh’s Caprice.

‘It’s actually more valuable than Pharaoh’s Caprice.’ 

The ring was called ‘Jump Ring’. Its rank as an ancient relic was S+, which allowed the wearer and person within a 10cm radius to jump through space up to 1km, but the number of uses was limited to two times.

‘And hyung-nim said one of the trials was already used when he had to escape from that dungeon accident.’ 

Thus, there was only one time left. It could be seen as one insignificant use, but it could also be used as a means to save Yu-Seong’s life at an extremely dangerous moment. This was Ji-Ho’s gift of apology in his own way.

And in fact, the last gift that shocked Yu-Seong the most was information regarding the future that Ji-Ho had seen.

– Kim Do-Jin. That person will kill Father. And I also saw the future of your terrible death. It’s a very sad thing, but I don’t dare to stop him. Yu-Seong, a great threat is approaching this world. And the person who can stop it is…

“Kim Do-Jin.”

“Yeah? What about him all of a sudden?'' asked Yu-Ri. She was surprised by Yu-Seong’s sudden self-talk.

“It’s nothing.”

It was a story that Yu-Seong already knew since that had always been destined. It was a scenario written in the original novel. Would it still be the same now?

‘Possibly, it’s different now.’ 

However, there was no certainty that the large parts had changed. What if Kim Do-Jin kills Choi Woo-Jae without Choi Yu-Seong’s help? Just thinking like this meant that Yu-Seong’s death could also come from somewhere unexpected.

Of course, he also wanted to ask Ji-Ho. The future may have changed now, so he wanted to ask him to check it. However, Yu-Seong couldn’t ask.

Ji-Ho said that he had lost most of his remaining life in exchange for seeing the distant future that he did not even want to know. If he tried to see another distant future like that, Ji-Ho may die at that moment.

Yu-Seong did not want that to happen.

‘Let’s not dwell on it. Knowing the future that was supposed to happen was only a part of my capabilities anyway.’ 

It would be nice to use that capability as much as possible to create the future he wanted, but he did not have to rely entirely on it as if that was his only capability. To do that, he had to make sure he had a relationship with someone really important.

‘It would be nice if I could assuage his resentment.’ 

It had been a long time since he gave up on the comfy thought that he had at the beginning that he should simply stay away from Do-Jin. He needed something more definite than that.

‘Kim Do-Jin.’ 

Yu-Seong recited that name once again inwardly and opened his cell phone. He could see Do-Jin’s message from a week ago but it had not yet been read. Yu-Seong checked and sent a message.

‘Do you have time tomorrow? Let’s have a light drink.’ 

Yu-Seong wouldn’t be able to find an answer unless he took the time to talk with the man.

***

B-rank hunter Baek Ah-Rin was the talent that everyone wanted, not only by parties but also by guilds and the Player Association. Some guilds even wanted her more than Kim Do-Jin, the current hottest rookie.

In a way, it was a matter of course. Baek Ah-Rin was a person with both heal-type and support-type abilities which were rare even among Psychic type players. Even hunters who risked their lives to go to the dungeon did not mean that they were not afraid of death or pain. Naturally, the existence of heal-type healers and support-type buffers became inevitably precious.

Healers could not only heal minor injuries but also could reattach even a hand if cut off, and Buffers could provide a protective shield or lead strong ability improvement that increased the stability of the attack.

Those two were recognized as indispensable for both parties and the team of attackers, but Baek Ah-Rin could do both of those roles alone.

Moreover, some even described her as a Saintess because her beauty was beyond those of decent celebrities. Whether her beauty or her ability, Baek Ah-Rin was one who was fascinating enough to be coveted by everyone.

“But how could you not like me?”

Baek Ah-Rin cried out with a face full of dissatisfaction while she looked at the back of Kim Do-Jin, who just slaughtered five sixth-rank Great Ants alone. Even though it was quite a fierce battle, there was no single tarnish in his outfit. Such appearance of Do-Jin became more attractive to Baek Ah-Rin.

"Why are you following someone who doesn't like you?"

Kim Do-Jin sighed deeply and said with a frown as if he was annoyed.

“That’s because I like you.”

“You’re casually saying something that will make your fans cry when they hear it.”

Baek Ah-Rin frowned at Kim Do-Jin’s cold words and pouted her lips. “Did I ask you for a date? I’m just asking you to set up a guild together.”

“You are being too loud. That’s all for today.”

Kim Do-Jin shook the blood off the sword and put it in the sheath. He then walked toward the dungeon exit.

“Hey, can’t you hear me? Let’s make a guild together. I’ll let you be the vice president,” chattered Baek Ah-Rin who quickly chased after him.

It was this part.

“No need,” Kim Do-Jin frowned once more and said.

“Seriously, why not?”

Kim Do-Jin stopped walking for a moment. His eyebrows wriggled then he showed a grin. “How many times have I told you? It’s because I’m not the president.”

“Ah, what’s important about that? Hey hey, Kim Do-Jin. How about a co-representative?”

"I refuse. It's not my thing to collaborate with anyone."

“Wow, are you really going to be like this? It’s already confirmed that we can be good partners.”

“Not sure about that, yet.”

Unlike unemotional Do-Jin, Baek Ah-Rin got a hunch the moment she came across him in the dungeon a few days ago.

‘This guy is the one.’ 

He was the suitable person for the guild she was planning to create after ignoring the pouring love calls from all over the place.

He was the charismatic figure who could bridge her gap–her lacking experience and ability to discern–and keep the balance of the guild. She liked him a lot more than what she heard on the grapevine. However, Kim Do-Jin fiercely rejected her proposal. She followed him and tried to show him her abilities that forcibly possessed numerous guilds and the association chairman to chase her, but it did not work.

On the contrary, Baek Ah-Rin seemed to be the one falling for Kim Do-Jin as time went by. Eventually, she wanted to be the position of guild president but had no choice but to declare giving up.

“Ah, fine. President! You become the guild president. Instead, do me a favor.”

“…”

Kim Do-Jin stopped walking.

‘It’s needless to say that she is at the top among the same rank as a support-type user. Besides, her reaction speed and self-defense ability are pretty good. Much better than a decent D-rank physical-type player. She’s indeed useful.’ 

He reacted to her, just because deep down, he thought that her ability was quite excellent, although he did not easily recognize others.

“Continue on.”

“We can talk about it after the guild is built…” Ah-Rin spoke quickly. Her face completely lit up at Do-Jin’s response.

“What a useless conversation.”

Kim Do-Jin blew the cold wind and soon found the escape portal.

“Ah, it’s not a big request, seriously. I mean, it’s just there are things I really want to do after creating a guild.”

“Don’t you ever think it could be a useless nuisance?”

“It’s not a nuisance! Just buy the guild’s office building that I desire! I’ll pay for it.”

Again, Do-Jin stopped his steps. “A building?”

“There’s a place I really want to buy, you know. But it’s in an unauthorized area unless it’s a guild…” Ah-Rin sighed deeply and continued to talk. “I’d like to do it under my company’s name if possible. That’s why I suggested a co-representative. If not, I’ll be satisfied as vice president. But I just want you to use the office building that I have chosen, not anywhere else.”

Do-Jin finally understood why she did not move even though there were love calls from numerous guilds and the Association.

“Office building, huh… How about any other cost of creating the guild?”

“Once I buy the company building, I won’t have that much money. Above all, you’re the President. That's just daylight robbery!”

“I’ll think about it. Text me the location of the office building.”

“Ah, hey?”

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Kim Do-Jin went out of the portal after his last words. Ah-Rin chased him out of the dungeon, but he was already entering the storage room quite far away.

“You’re so fast!”

Do-Jin moved his feet quickly while ignoring Ah-Rin’s shout from behind. Do-Jin’s expression changed strangely as he opened his locker and took out his cell phone. There was a message.

‘Choi Yu-Seong’s asking to meet tomorrow?’ 

Do-Jin finally got the time for a rendezvous with him, after Yu-Seong pulled out awfully many times. This was a rare opportunity. At that moment, an idea flashed through Do-Jin’s mind.

‘Guild, huh… It might not be bad if it went well.’ 

Kim Do-Jin was already looking forward to tomorrow.