I Woke Up as the Villain

‘What happened at that time was something that one of my siblings did.’ 

There was no doubt whatsoever about it, especially since Choi Woo-Jae confirmed it. In such a situation, Yu-Seong did not have to worry about it happening again at least for a year since Choi Mi-Na had promised to draw and keep their attention to herself so that none of them would pay attention to Yu-Seong.

Of course, Yu-Seong was aware that some unexpected threats could suddenly emerge out of nowhere like the Itaewon incident a while ago. But should he keep all those dangers in mind wherever he went? Of course, he should. However, being cautious and hiding like a coward were two completely different things.

‘Just because I am exposed to danger doesn’t mean I should just hide and crouch down inside the room.’ 

Anyway, Choi Yu-Seong had to grow. The farther he went and the stronger he became, he naturally would be freer from these threats.

‘I can’t help it until then.’ 

Therefore, Choi Yu-Seong's choice was to gain more and more attention.

‘Celebrity disease? Attention seeker? I don’t care what they call me. I need such a title anyway, because of the Star Factor skill.’ 

The more people paid attention to him, the more careful those who wanted to pose a threat to him had to be, since there would be more eyes on him. Conversely, the easier it would be to threaten him if he hid.

‘Now I’ll completely show myself.’ 

Of course, Yu-Seong was already famous. However, it was the “chaebol Choi Yu-Seong” who was famous. From now on, he was going to reveal and show more of the “hunter Choi Yu-Seong” in particular. As a result, more people would pay attention and look at him wherever he was and whatever he did. Moreover, their gazes would follow him even to the inside of a dungeon.

Undeniably, this would cause certain inconveniences. That was why he had been grappling with this issue for a while—revealing himself more—but he concluded that this was still the best choice he could make.

Jin Yu-Ri also supported Choi Yu-Seong’s decision. That was why they called the two reporters who were able to shoot pictures with the magic tech drones today, which was the day when the Goblin’s boss monster respawned.

Although money was quite tight from personally hiring such expensive manpower, this choice would have a great effect on promoting the hunter Yu-Seong. As mentioned, that was because the Goblin Fortress had a particularly high level of difficulty among the second-rank dungeons. Indeed, it was even called a gateway—a credential for rookies who wanted to raise their ransom or enter a well-known guild. One could not even be called a rookie if he could not attack the Goblin Fortress alone before he reached rank-D level 50.

Because of the name value of Goblin Fortress, Yu-Seong planned to target this place alone today. For reference, the time when Kim Do-Jin attacked the Goblin Fortress was when he was rank-E level 85.

‘His time attack record was 2 hours 28 minutes…and how many seconds was it?’ 

Yu-Seong recalled the world’s record at the time, and smiled strangely. He did not need to be greedy.

`In the first place, Kim Do-Jin is the protagonist of the novel. Even if I’m confident in this attack, I shouldn’t compare it to his record.’ 

Of course, even so, Yu-Seong still had an interest in the record.

‘Anyway, the faster the running record, the better it would be to attract people’s attention.’ 

Hunting the monthly respawned boss monster was an important task to prevent the dungeon break, which was treated as a natural disaster on Earth. Accordingly, the hunt would inevitably draw a lot of attention.

Of course, firstly, the attention would focus on the security factor. No matter how low rank a dungeon was, the casualties and property damage would inevitably be serious once the monsters poured out after the dungeon break. Therefore, hunting must be successful within a week before the dungeon break occurred after the boss monster respawned.

Therefore, countries generally gave the priority of hunting the dungeon to hunters who needed it for their growth, but if the attack period exceeded four days, they would actively intervene and target the boss themselves before the fifth day passed.

This was a fairly general idea until the early days of dungeon creation. In modern times, there was one more additional perspective along with this. Commonly referred to as ‘dungeon racing,’ it was so-called ‘record-setting’ on the Internet. It was a somewhat bizarre view that arose toward some dungeons which were considered easier to attack and less threatening because the break had not occurred for nearly ten years. The public began to pay attention to how quickly and cleverly the hunters cleared the boss monster and compared them with famous hunters who had already cleared it in the past. It was like enjoying a sports game.

Obviously, the elderly who went through the early days of dungeon creation, scholars and politicians, or associations who still considered the dungeon as a threat, terribly hated this dungeon racing.

However, as the number of hunters who used those gazes to make their names known increased exponentially and even more fans supporting them emerged, there was no other way to rectify the situation. They also had no other way to deal with the situation at the time, since the number of hunters using the attention to promote their names to the public was increasing exponentially. Moreover, the hunters had their fans cheering for them.

‘Because they can’t forcibly prevent dungeon racing in a democratic country…’ 

In fact, the culture of dungeon racing itself felt somewhat absurd for Yu-Seong, who knew the future of this world.

‘Even in the novel, there were several accidents caused by dungeon breaks…’ 

Because of that, the other countries that had first-hand experiences suffered from tremendous damage. They strenuously overcame the crisis by requesting help from the Republic of Korea, to be exact, the protagonist Kim Do-Jin. As a result, it would have been a somewhat inevitable choice for the writer to include such settings to make the readers–mostly Korean–proud in terms of nationalism.

However, despite such a crisis, it was also strange that the culture of dungeon racing itself did not disappear until the completion of the original novel’s Chapter 1.

‘Are the uncomfortable feelings and entertainment different matters?’ 

Anyway, Yu-Seong decided to fully utilize the dungeon racing culture in such a situation.

‘This world is different from the original novel.’ 

As Yu-Seong has already experienced, any insufficient gap must be filled in some form. When he tried to challenge solo play to set a record, he had to go through more procedures than expected.

‘Although Yu-Ri took care of most of it for me…’ 

In addition to Yu-Ri’s competence, the recommendation of Park Cheol-Ho, the ‘Iron Wall’—who was one of the decision-makers of dungeon racing or formally called DBB (Dungeon Brake Block)—had a significant influence on Yu-Seong getting permission for the exclusive use of the dungeon from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. on the respawn day of the Goblin Fortress’ boss monster.

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In other words, the country was already aware of the damage that might occur due to overheated interest in dungeon racing and was fully prepared for it. Yu-Seong could promote his name without harming others, while safety was ensured, and he could raise his skill level. If this performance was good enough to even surprise the people overseas, the national prestige or the so-called ‘jingoism’ would be filled too.

‘There’s no reason not to do it.’

It was not for nothing that skilled hunters chose dungeon racing as a means of making their names known.

Yu-Seong lightly shook away his useless thoughts. At that moment, from under his feet, a sharp dagger flew under his chin where the suit’s thickness was relatively thin.

Already feeling the movement, Yu-Seong took a light step back and swung his spear wide. As the silver flash left behind a thin crescent-like shape and cut the sharp bushes, purple blood rose high into the air through the gap.

‘Two.’ 

After confirming the number of corpses, Yu-Seong smiled bitterly.

‘As expected, they are quite quick on their feet.’ 

There was only one visible dagger that came up to stab under Yu-Seong’s chin, but there were also others who were aiming for his waist and ankles. Three Goblins had attacked Yu-Seong, but only two corpses could be seen. In other words, there was still one left.

‘No.’ 

Shaaa-!

Beyond the wind that shook the tall bushes roughly, Goblin’s laughter could be heard. Goblin was laughing at him.

-Kikig.

-Kikikig!

-Kigigigigi.

‘There’s at least ten of them hiding.’ 

Maybe more than that. Anyway, they were still just Goblins even though they were quick and clever. They were not even elite monsters.

‘It feels quite bad when these trivial guys see me as a prey to be hunted.’ 

Yu-Seong had no intention of waiting for the Goblins to seek an opportunity. He decided to use the skill he recently inherited from the three gods, the first of which he liked the most.

『Inheritance Skill, Magic Spearmanship E++ → D-

Fusion is not possible.

Cu Chulainn, the ‘Culann’s Hound,’ was a hero who excelled in both spearmanship and magic. The basic Irish Royal Court style is melted into the user’s spearmanship.

Due to the low rank, many additional effects are sealed.

〈〈The skill exceeds the limit grade due to Special Skill, Spearmanship Prodigy E.〉〉

One of the sealed abilities is unlocked in an unstable form.

When using Magic Spearmanship inherited from Cu Chulainn, you can choose one of the four major elemental attributes (fire, water, wind, earth) to make it stay in the spear.

The usage time is limited—3 seconds. The number of uses is limited—5 times a day.

Other abilities are sealed. Please raise the rank to unlock the sealed ability.』

The Goblin Fortress was filled with green bushes. As soon as he remembered the dungeon’s peculiarity, Magic Spearmanship was the first skill that Yu-Seong thought of.

‘Change attribute to fire.’ 

Kicking off the ground at once and rushing forward, Yu-Seong swung the spear widely and swept away the entire surrounding area. The transparent light that emerged from his fingertips flowed through the spear and soon became a flashy red light that sparked once it reached the blade tip.

‘Good luck trying to escape to the end, you Goblins.’ 

The fire spark lasted for three seconds. It was a very short duration, but the spear’s range was hardly narrow. Centered on Yu-Seong, the fire sparks began to dance splendidly on the bushes that were cut down by the half-moon shape. The green world quickly became dyed in red, resembling the sunset. The flaming fire spread widely and acted as a disaster for the Goblins who used these bushes as their best shield.

-Kieeee-!

Without even glancing at the Goblins who were screaming and running away, Yu-Seong watched the gap in the rising flames and ran forward using Wind Control.

‘No need to pay attention to each normal monster. There’s only one goal I have to focus on.’ 

It was the boss monster, Hobgoblin.

***

“Reporter Kim! Get your mind straight and raise Unit 3’s altitude!”

At Park Jin-Hwan’s urgent cry, Kim Jin-Young, who was sitting right next to him and looking at the monitor together, hurriedly launched a drone that was lowering its altitude into the air.

The drone, which was almost swallowed and exploded by the flaming fire that covered the surrounding area, rounded halfway through the air as if relieved. It quickly chased after Choi Yu-Seong who ran like the wind.