I Woke Up as the Villain

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It was already afternoon. If still on schedule, it would have been time to head to the dungeon to hunt. However, Yu-Seong had been focusing all his energy on training until now. In particular, his afternoon training was several times more intense than his morning training, so it was inevitable for him to train in multi-family villas that resembled apartment houses. Thus, the entire hunter-only gym located nearby was rented.

The gym which Yu-Seong had visited with Jin Do-Yoon before he first qualified as a hunter was quite expensive. This was because it had a mana barrier that could withstand all the mana below the A-rank. It was also private and quiet, so it was considered the best place to focus on training alone.

Yu-Seong had been training his spearmanship and mana skills with extreme concentration for about two hours in the gym. He soon laid down on the floor with thick drops of sweat. "Haa...haa..."

He panted roughly, his lungs feeling a stabbing sensation. However, he couldn’t help smiling. It was because he believed that the current pain would eventually pay off during a dangerous moment.

'It's good, but... If possible, I’d like to build a mansion like my father and build a similar training center in my house...' 

Clearly, there was no end to human greed. Once he began to enjoy convenience, Yu-Seong naturally started thinking about the next step. The problem was that if he poured money to that extent, his bank account balance would fall really low right away.

At first, he thought he had a lot of money. When he started spending it, however, it ran out in an instant. As expected, it was exactly right to say that it was difficult to make money and easy to use.

‘It would work if I could go somewhere near Gyeonggi-do with relatively low land prices, but…’

In this case, there would be a waste of time. This was especially considering the time traveling to and from Seoul.

‘I need more plausible sources of income. It would be great if there’s mana rock coming out of the land, but then it would be a matter of luck.' 

For mana stone, even the lowest rank—the gray-colored one—cost at least 10 million won. The next rank was the red-colored stone, which was 100 million won. Fortunately, Yu-Seong had won a red-colored mana stone in the last Hobgoblin hunt, but he wasn’t very happy about that.

'The money I spend in a day is not normal at all.’ 

While thinking so, Yu-Seong smiled in vain.

‘Wow, Choi Yu-Seong, you've changed a lot.’ 

When he was an ordinary office worker, Yu-Seong would have felt good for more than a month if he won second place in the lottery and earned 50 million won—not even 100 million won.

However, as the situation changed and his spending naturally increased, 100 million won was not as satisfying for him anymore. It was somewhat inevitable, but he couldn't help feeling that he had changed.

‘It’s a natural thing since my position has changed.’

In a way, all the money he spent now was to escape the fate of "death" set in the future. No amount of money could be more valuable than life. If the chances of survival increased with the cost, it was obvious for him to not consider it as a waste.

After organizing his thoughts, he could calm down his rough breathing.

By then, he opened the system message window in front of his eyes, which he had already postponed for more than a week.

《Player Choi Yu-Seong is currently at the E-rank MAX level.

Challenge yourself on the promotion evaluation!

The promotion is divided into two categories—normal difficulty level and an extreme difficulty level.

In the normal difficulty level, the number of retries is infinite unless you die. Challenge yourself!

In the extreme difficulty level, even if you are lucky enough to survive, you cannot try again.

If you're ready, challenge yourself!》

Compared to the usual system message, this was a rather friendly one. Choi Yu-Seong had already made his choice.

‘Obviously, I’ll choose the extreme difficulty level, the hard mode.‘

The system was not stupid, so why would the difficulty levels be divided for no reason? Naturally, if the player passed a higher difficulty level promotion evaluation—harder than the normal difficulty level—the player would receive a greater reward. There was only one reason why Yu-Seong was concerned.

'Cause there’s only one trial. I'll go in when I'm ready to clear it for sure.’ 

In fact, there was nothing special about preparation. No one knew the details of the promotion evaluation’s extreme difficulty level. It was impossible to use any data or future information because the examination given was different for each individual and the method was arbitrary. In other words, Yu-Seong literally had to pass the promotion evaluation only with his own wit and skills. To do so, he had to bring out the best ability from his current standard rank and level.

‘Maybe during the day after tomorrow? I think I'm finally adjusted to the physical condition of the E-rank Max level, so I’ll try after I take a break tomorrow.’

In other words, until today, the body had to be pushed through extreme training. Yu-Seong made his decision, jumped from his place, raised himself, and grabbed the spear again. He calmly looked at his condition, feeling calm thanks to the Cool-headed E triggered by the Spearmanship Prodigy effect.

‘I can go a little further.’ 

Time passed quickly as Yu-Seong continued his training without much effort. And two days later, he finally challenged the promotion evaluation.

***

It was 7 a.m. on the day Yu-Seong decided to challenge the promotion evaluation. He woke up early in the morning and loosened up a little, using the spear near the front yard as usual.

The spear was quite expensive, since it was made by the world's best craftsman. However, despite the extreme training, the blade remained sharp with minimal sharpening. The texture and balance also aided a rather good grip too.

Usually, Yu-Seong would have focused on the training as if he were drunk on the comfortable sensation of using his spear. However, with important things scheduled for later on, today definitely felt different.

‘Slowly, lightly, as if warming up my body.’

Yu-Seong spent about an hour and a half in the morning stretching and doing light training. After that, Chae Ye-Ryeong came to work 30 minutes early as usual.

"Hello, boss!" Ye-Ryeong called out. Still covering her face with shaggy hair, she greeted Yu-Seong who was catching his breath.

It was a typical daily routine, but today felt slightly different. This was because last night’s short conversation with Jin Yu-Ri passed through Yu-Seong's mind.

‘She said that all the re-Awakening materials I asked for would be gathered soon.’

Thus, Yu-Seong grabbed Ye-Ryeong who greeted him energetically as she entered the house. He immediately asked, "Ye-Ryeong, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yes." Ye-Ryeong didn’t ask why. She simply tilted her head at him.

Actually, the conversation wasn’t going to be a long one. That was because Yu-Seong and Ye-Ryeong already talked about the re-Awakening last year.

"Do you remember the story we talked about in the hospital room before?” Yu-Seong asked.

"Yes."

"It’s almost ready. And as I said, it can be quite dangerous."

"Yes."

"...do you have any other questions or concerns? If you want to quit now, just tell me."

As it was based on the original novel, Yu-Seong definitely wanted to play it safe. However, it was inevitable that some risk remained. Therefore, he asked Ye-Ryeong with a serious look, and this time, Ye-Ryeong also remained silent as if hesitating to answer.

Uncomfortable with the rather long silence, Yu-Seong urged, "Ye-Ryeong?"

"Yes?"

"Didn't you hear me just now?”

"Yes, I heard you."

"Then..."

"I don’t actually have any questions or concerns. Well, to be honest, I'm a little embarrassed about this but... " With her hair slightly covering her face, Ye-Ryeong scratched her blushing cheek. "You told me back then that it’s dangerous, but I’ll certainly gain a lot of strength if I do it."

"Yes, that's what I said," Yu-Seong replied.

"You said there would be a better life and a lot of rewards waiting for me than now, but I'm not really interested in that. No, it's not that I'm not interested, but I'm very grateful and satisfied with my current life." Ye-Ryeong looked up at Choi Yu-Seong with sparkling eyes.

It wasn't different from when they first met. Ye-Ryeong didn’t become easily desperate in any situation.

‘How could such a person become a disaster in the original novel?’ 

Yu-Seong couldn't even imagine how terrible Ye-Ryeong’s life would have been in the original novel.

"It's all thanks to you, boss."

"Well, to say the least..."

Yu-Seong had just invested in Chae Ye-Ryeong's future value. Before Yu-Seong could say anything out of embarrassment, Ye-Ryeong said with her head down once again, "That's why I'd rather ask you to do it. Please give it a try! If I wake up again, I can be of greater help to you, right?”

"It's going to be a tremendous help.”

It was because Chae Ye-Ryeong was a talented person who could possibly become a disaster in the future, so her minimum growth potential was about SS+ rank.

"That's all I need. I want to be a person who is more helpful to you and to everyone in this house. I'll work hard and become a person who earns my keep!" With a strong shout, Ye-Ryeong raised her head. Now even her two fists were clenched.

What else could Yu-Seong say?

"Okay, then, I'll tell you again as soon as it's ready."

"Yes sir! I'll be waiting for that."

“Let’s call it a day now. Have a good day."

"You too, boss! Have a good day." After waving a lively greeting at Yu-Seong, Ye-Ryeong entered the house. Around that time, she met Jin Yu-Ri who was coming out of the front door. She enthusiastically said hello once more. Yu-Ri smiled, nodded, and she lightly patted Ye-Ryeong's head.

‘Come to think of it, the two of them would be the same age... Since Ye-Ryeong calls Yu-Ri "unnie", they kind of look like sisters.’ 

Yu-Seong looked at them with a rather pleasant and thoughtful expression as Yu-Ri approached him. Before Yu-Ri could say anything, he asked, “When are you going to tell Ye-Ryeong your age?”

"I think I already told her."

"And she still calls you 'unnie'?”

"She can do whatever she wants. Haha, she’s such a cute kid," Yu-Ri said.

In fact, looking at the vibe, Yu-Ri definitely seemed like an older sister.

"By the way, you said you were going to challenge the promotion evaluation this afternoon, right?”

"Yes."

"You know, if it's dangerous, declare your abandonment right away. Someone said that dying in the promotion evaluation is the stupidest thing of all," Yu-Ri said.

"I know."

Promotion evaluation was not easy to attempt, since it was an examination. However, if the evaluated person decided to give up, he or she may quickly escape with their life still intact.

In a way, there seemed to be no death at all, but there had been quite a few people who died in this promotion evaluation. The reason was literally because of their greed. Players felt like they could get promoted after going just a little further, and tried again and again despite consecutive failures. The moment they had a sense of hope and tried to take a step further, they lost their precious lives.

As such, if the players died during the promotion evaluation, they would seldom receive sincere condolences. That was because everyone could clearly assume their reason for death.