I Woke Up as the Villain

Do-Yoon’s sharp fangs emerged, revealing themselves from his neat rows of teeth. His gaze also turned fierce. The transformation was not yet complete, but certain distinct changes could already be seen.

"All right."

"I'll go now," said Do-Yoon. He uttered a low, animal cry as he jumped toward Yu-Seong. Although only a part of him had been transformed into a wolf, he appeared to be at least twice as fast as before.

Choi Yu-Seong could still read the movement with Insight, avoiding Do-Yoon’s attack perfectly and only with a single step.

‘Oh, my goodness.’

Yu-Seong was astonished. His clothes were torn from Do-Yoon’s following kick, but he couldn’t believe that he had avoided the very first attack. No matter how much he thought about it, he was in complete disbelief.

‘This is certainly a skill of god, the God's Chakra!’ 

Indeed, it was no exaggeration to say that Shiva, the strongest combat god of Hinduism, had blessed the skill himself.

In fact, the later battles were somewhat one-sided. Do-yoon, who had turned into the wolf, fought fiercely. On the other hand, Yu-Seong poured out all of the skills and power he could, but he only succeeded in slightly touching Do-Yoon’s clothes.

Eventually, in less than five minutes, while exchanging quick attacks and defenses, Yu-Seong's clothes became rags and he had gained quite a few scratches and wounds on his toned body. However, Do-Yoon did not stop and Yu-Seong did not shout to quit.

It was only eight minutes later that Yu-Seong stepped back. He had missed the stick that he was struggling to hold with both hands. He yelled, "That's enough! That's it!"

Jin Do-Yoon came to an immediate stop, no longer running wild like a beast. Noticing this, he realized that his earlier worries had all been for naught.

‘When I heard the young master's voice, I could immediately control myself.’ 

Do-Yoon quickly became human again, and approached Yu-Seong. "Are you all right, young master? I'll apply medication for you right away.”

"...huff...huff…” Yu-Seong couldn't answer, because he was breathing so hard. He closed his eyes and nodded. Despite being short, the battle did push him to his limits. Thanks to this, Yu-Seong was now certain about how strong he had become.

‘Maybe he’s already the best among the D-rank players.’ 

It was ridiculous to think that Yu-Seong, who had just advanced to D-rank, was already the best in that rank from the start. However, it wasn’t impossible. After all, Kim Do-Jin was already a C-rank player at this point.

‘I was just trying to survive... but I’ve come all the way here.’ 

It did feel strange, but it wasn’t too bad. In fact, it even felt slightly pleasant.

"Huff... huff..."

"You may misunderstand because of the gap between our ranks, but the skills you performed were amazing," said Do-Yoon while Yu-Seong tried to breathe easy. He applied disinfectants and lotions to prevent scars all over Yu-Seong. He voiced his thoughts as if worried that Yu-Seong might be disappointed.

‘No, I'm not disappointed, Do-Yoon. I'm very happy.’

Yu-Seong wanted to offer an answer, but he couldn’t even speak. He was really out of breath.

"It's not a joke or a sugar coated statement. I once told you that I think you are the strongest among the E-rank players I know, remember?" said Do-Yoon. Perhaps from excitement or being uncertain of Yu-Seong’s feelings, his face began to turn red.

'Of course I remember.’ 

Yu-Seong had received that compliment not long after he was possessed, and that had been before he even took the hunter test. His improvement thus far was undeniable.

'It's been a short time, less than half a year.’ 

There was still a long way to go, but Yu-Seong was satisfied with his journey so far. The results were pleasing.

"At that time, I excluded Kim Do-Jin when I said that. In fact, I didn't even know him well when he was in E-rank," said Do-Yoon. Then, he went on to mention an unexpected person. "I've seen a few videos of Kim Do-Jin fighting when he was in D-rank. Even for me, it was amazing.”

"That... Whoo…”

As soon as Yu-Seong tried to say—‘Isn't that too much?’—he once again lost his breath.

"I think... Maybe you are stronger than Kim Do-Jin when he was in D-rank. You may not understand what this means..." continued Do-Yoon.

Actually, Yu-Seong was very well aware of this.

"Maybe, within 10 years, you’d be called the world's best hunter. You're going to go beyond the chairman, Choi Woo-Jae. Do you understand?”

Yu-Seong was very well aware of this too.

‘But he's saying something very unfavorable.’

The title of ‘the world's strongest player’ was not actually a bad thing for Yu-Seong. It meant that he had acquired the necessary ability to protect himself as he desired. However, if he had such a title, how would the people look at Yu-Seong when disasters appeared on this earth someday and the devil came down for a visit?

‘People would expect me to somehow step up and stop the disasters.’ 

If Yu-Seong turned a blind eye, people would blame him. Maybe someone would hate him enough to chase him down and assassinate him. Yu-Seong got goosebumps just from imagining the situation.

"I'm so proud of you. People in the world should know more about you and your skills, young master."

"No... They don't have to know that much,” said Yu-Seong.

Jin Do-Yoon looked suspicious for a moment, wondering about Yu-Seong’s true intention. Then, he nodded as if he understood. "Are you choosing to be a hidden dragon again this time? Well, I understand that you need to be careful until you're fully grown. I'll be absolutely careful and keep this quiet. Of course, but if something happens to harm you, young master, I am ready to risk my life and..."

"You don't have to… Just be careful," said Yu-Seong with a smile. He didn’t have the strength to speak too much and clear up Do-Yoon’s misunderstanding.

Above all, there was one thing that everyone in the world was mistaken about.

‘They think that they know everything about Kim Do-Jin.’

For reference, Kim Do-Jin usually used a sword and acted as if he were a physical type player. However, in reality, it was completely different.

‘He's…an extremely gifted all-rounder player.’

Kim Do-Jin was the ruler of the world who mastered both magic and swordsmanship. Therefore, his type shown in the system window was an all-rounder type. And yet, why was he stronger than any other physical type players?

The moment Yu-Seong got the god’s Chakra skill, he had a single thought.

‘It's called the skill of the main character.’

This particular thought came about in a simple way. Kim Do-Jin had been dealing with the power that Yu-Seong had gained by acquisition of god's Chakra, without any penalties, due to his specialized skill ‘being genius’ since the beginning of the novel. In fact, at this point, Kim Do-Jin could use magic. He was just choosing to not use it to hide that fact.

‘He is hiding his magic skill to use it as a secret weapon.' 

Yu-Seong broke Do-Jin's record at the Goblin Fortress.

‘But that’s because Kim Do-Jin hadn’t mastered magic back then.’

And even if Do-Jin could use magic, he would not have used it. Perhaps roughly a year from now he would continue to hide the fact that he could use magic.

‘People would eventually find out, but…’ 

In any case, comparing himself to Kim Do-Jin—the protagonist of such an extraordinary returnee—was nonsense.

‘It’s up to Kim Do-Jin to protect the Earth. For me, I just want to be known as a moderately strong player, root for him behind the scenes, and live a moderate and safe life.’ 

Yu-Seong hoped that he would just keep improving and growing without attracting too much attention from others.

‘How much should I adjust to avoid excessive misunderstandings like those of Jin Do-Yoon?’

Choi Yu-Seong had his own goal and boundaries.

‘Having just enough dignity that would be hard for others to look down on, but encounter dangerous situations very rarely.’

In this way, Yu-Seong was just like his father, Choi Woo-Jae. Well, but for now, he had to bust his ass and do more than just adjust. While doing so, he had to occasionally disappoint the people around him to manage their expectations.

‘That would be best for me.’ 

In fact, even though it was a difficult goal, Yu-Seong was still in a position to move forward without any hesitation. Of course, it wasn’t guaranteed that his goal and desire could be met.

Suddenly, a thought flashed within Yu-Seong’s mind like lightning.

'Oh, wait, but isn’t the god’s Chakra skill a branch of the mana breathing technique? If it goes well…I might be able to do something quite fun.’ 

Yu-Seong wanted to live in moderation. In other words, he really didn't have any expectations for this to come true.

***

Thanks to technological developments, Choi Woo-Jae had a cell phone that could usually be worn on his wrist like a watch. He switched to a wide screen and checked the messenger called Coconut Talk. He soon burst into laughter. "Hahaha…!"

"Chairman?" Kim Pil-Doo, who was next to Choi Woo-Jae, asked with a surprised look.

"Oh, well. I thought I forgot how to smile brightly, but there are plenty of fun things to smile about, no? I laugh so much these days, too,” said Woo-Jae.

"It's a good thing. But may I ask what's going on?” asked Pil-Doo.

"You know, I recently played golf with the old man, Baek."

"Yes, I heard you went to see him while you were on a business trip."

"That's right. I went and asked old man Baek, ‘The ninth child is so cute these days. What kind of gift should I give him?’ Then, he answered in anger, ‘Why are you asking me and not the person who will receive the present?’ It was a silly question but a wise answer," said Woo-Jae.

“That sounds like what Mr. Baek would say," said Pil-Doo.

"Oh, I agreed with him. I then asked the kid what he wanted in a cell phone message earlier."

Kim Pil-Doo's eyes became sharp. Choi Woo-Jae's suggestion seemed like a simple matter, but it was by no means easy to please him. If Yu-Seong wished for a disappointingly small reward, or if he wished for more than what he had done, that rigid old man would burst out in anger and give punishment instead of a gift. However, looking at Choi Woo-Jae's reaction, Pil-Doo guessed that Yu-Seong seemed to have pinpointed the appropriate middle ground.

"Do you know what the answer was?" asked Woo-Jae.

"Did he ask for a person?" said Pil-Doo.

In general, Choi Woo-Jae cared about talented people, so he usually enjoyed the above answer. That was why Pil-Doo had made that guess.

However, Woo-Jae laughed and said something unexpected, "He asked for some pocket money."

"...what?"

"So, it’s true that there's nothing like pocket money to praise a good kid. That's why I had to start laughing. Haha...!" chuckled Woo-Jae.

"As far as I know, there is quite a lot of money in Master Yu-Seong's personal bank account," said Pil-Doo.

"What a fool! Even if you have a lot of money, you would need more and more. If there’s such a thing as ‘enough money’, why would we be sitting here and doing such a thing like ‘thinking’?”

"This time, for my silly question, you, Chairman, have given me a wise answer,” said Pil-Doo.

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

"Secretary Kim, you take good care of this. Enough amount for a gift in my name.”

"Yes, sir."

Now, Pil-Doo was also put to the test. Choi Woo-Jae was a person who would easily take Kim Pil-Doo's authority away if he made a mistake with the amount. Therefore, Kim Pil-Doo's daily life was close to him walking on the blade’s edge every day, but he still wanted to remain in his position.

‘Since I wouldn’t learn anything from afar.’ 

Pil-Doo couldn’t look away, either.

"Go on. You can leave now."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Chairman."

Choi Woo-Jae smiled and waved while Kim Pil-Doo bowed his head, stepped down, and left the office full of books. As soon as he opened the office door, he encountered the person—who he recently came across often—standing right in front of his nose. He said, "The second lady, you are here. The chairman is inside."

"I know. No need to tell me."

Choi Woo-Jae smiled at Choi Mi-Na, who casually stood up and passed by Pil-Doo who was bowing his head. He said, "Oh, you're here."

Mi-Na had recently become one of the few people in the family who made Choi Woo-Jae laugh. It was surprising to think about the small rebellions that she had shown so far and the reactions she got out of her father.