I Woke Up as the Villain

After confirming the effects of his set items, Yu-Seong started working on raising all of his skills to A-Rank.

Similar to when he had reached B-rank, Yu-Seong summoned Mr. Ping Pong to convert his Karma Points. As expected, he was in possession of quite a lot of Karma Points. If he continued progressing as he did up to now, completing difficult and sometimes unimaginable tasks, he would never be lacking Karma Points.

‘It won’t be easy to maintain such a pace, but…’

When was this new life ever easy? Still, Yu-Seong believed he could accomplish whatever he set forth for himself; as he had done up until now, he would continue to progress in the future. In this new world, which had become his reality, he no longer had doubts about his life’s path.

‘After upgrading all my skills to A-Rank, my power has more than doubled.’

With the set items’ additional effects, Yu-Seong’s actual power had increased by nearly fourfold. Nevertheless, he felt a slight sense of regret. He soon found the reason why.

‘For the present me, the wall between B- and A-Rank is paper thin.’

Yu-Seong was not referring to his growth in power, as he had become at least four times more powerful than before. The problem was in the areas where he had been struggling to develop through training.

‘I feel like there’s a wall in front of me but…’

It was hard for Yu-Seong to see or understand what lay beyond that wall. He had assumed that he would find some sort of resolution upon entering A-Rank, but that, unfortunately, did not seem to be the case.

‘Maybe it isn’t a matter of rank.’

Since he did not find a resolution or gain any realizations, Yu-Seong felt that there was no reason for him to remain in A-Rank for any extended period of time.

‘I can quickly hit level 100 and move on to the S-Rank.’

In any case, the higher rank he became, the more his physical and mana abilities would automatically improve. Moreover, to get used to his newly upgraded A-Rank skills, Yu-Seong felt the need to spend some time hunting.

‘I’ll have to move as quietly as possible…’

If In-Young on Earth noticed his return, there was a high chance that she would make things rather cumbersome for him.

‘It’s nice that I can enter dungeons without any party members thanks to the Special Admission ticket.’

Yu-Seong could see why Do-Jin desired a Solo Play Ticket so much. Although Do-Jin would probably obtain one sooner or later, by that time, Yu-Seong would have already completed most of the necessary preparations he had in mind.

After organizing his thoughts, Yu-Seong's mind was momentarily cleared. Just as concentration of one’s consciousness was necessary for development, so was recovery.

‘Let’s get a good night’s sleep for now.’ 

Starting tomorrow, Yu-Seong would become busy.

‘I’ll have to get up in the morning, summon Loki, and replicate and fuse the necessary skills right away. Also…’

Although Yu-Seong had momentarily cleared his mind and was set on taking some rest, he could not stop the various thoughts and ideas from popping into his mind. He spent a little more time organizing his priorities.

Then, as his mind was finally starting to clear, Yu-Seong felt exhausted, and his consciousness started drifting.

‘Ah, whatever. Let’s think about it later.’

Yu-Seong quickly fell into a deep sleep.

***

Early the next morning, Yu-Seong summoned Loki and replicated dozens of skills, and continuously fused them together. Although he had planned to only spend a morning, he ended up spending the entire day replicating and fusing skills.

‘There are so many powerful skills.’

Now that he had reached A-Rank, a bounty of powerful skills that he could not have even imagined using in the past were now readily available to him. Moreover, all the skills had been carefully selected by Loki, a god, so Yu-Seong was naturally impressed by them.

The only problem was that Yu-Seong had to choose the more efficient skills among all the available ones.

‘Thanks to being an All-Rounder, I can use most of the skills, but…’

He had to carefully choose the best amongst them, as the best skills would produce the most optimum fused skills. Then, with the most optimum fused skills, Yu-Seong would be able to attain greater achievements and accumulate more Karma Points in the future.

Only when the sun was going down did Yu-Seong finish his work. He had finally obtained a set of skills that he was satisfied with.

‘Shadow Bind, Young Phoenix’s Heart, Dual Operation.’

Yu-Seong had three new fused skills. He made a satisfied smile after completing the seemingly endless process of Replication and Fusion.

Shadow Bind was a skill that used physical force to directly manipulate shadows; Shadow Bind was more of a skill to keep an opponent in check rather than a direct attack.

Young Phoenix’s Heart was a skill that further complemented Yu-Seong’s regenerative power, which had become one of his strong points. Since Yu-Seong highly valued his own survivability and considered his life to be the most important thing over all else, he was not going to pass up the opportunity of possessing skills that reinforced those principles.

‘Above all, most of my other regenerative skills are recovery-based for external injuries…’ 

On the other hand, Young Phoenix’s Heart allowed the user to quickly recover from dangerous internal organ injuries. 

Now that he possessed skills that were a reliable insurance against external and internal injuries, Yu-Seong felt a sense of comfort in his heart.

‘My body takes such a beating all the time.’

No matter how well one dodged or fought, one would still often sustain injury. However, now that he had the Nine-headed Snake’s Colorful Accessory Set and the Young Phoenix’s Heart, Yu-Seong’s fear of injury was significantly less than before.

‘It’ll also make it easier for me to counter opponents who think they’ve seriously injured me.’

Additionally, the last skill, Dual Operation, was an optimized skill that fit well with Yu-Seong’s All-Rounder quality.

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

‘It’s like a fraudulent skill that makes it possible for me to operate two abilities at the same time!’

In other words, Dual Operation made it possible for Yu-Seong to fight while summoning Green Wind Spirit Cat, a combination that he had thought up last night, or use his Spearmanship and magic at the same time. Furthermore, being able to activate two skills at the same time meant that Yu-Seong could use special moves such as ‘Lance Charge’ much faster.

‘The situation is completely different if I can use two different skills at the same time versus using them successively.’

As it was now possible to combine more skills in the same amount of time, it was now possible for Yu-Seong to develop a more powerful finishing move than Lance Charge.

‘Moreover, it’ll help me better disguise my super special moves, like Storm of Destruction.’

The more Yu-Seong’s skills became known to the public, the greater public recognition and admiration he would receive. However, he was also aware that that enabled many others to thoroughly analyze his skills.

This was why it was important for him to possess a hidden card; it may become an indispensable factor in his survival.

While feeling quite satisfied with his newly acquired skills, Yu-Seong suddenly slapped his forehead when a realization popped into his mind.

‘Wait, I can use Dual Operation to train in both martial arts and magic at the same time, right?’

Even though it was already late into the night, Yu-Seong could not stop the flood of new development avenues that were rushing into his mind. In the end, with an excited heart, he immediately stepped outside to start training.

The next day, he woke up early in the morning to train some more. This was how he ended up spending the next few days.

While raising his experience level, Yu-Seong became convinced of one thing.

‘I’m not four times more powerful than when I was a B-Rank player.’ 

When including the power of his new skills, Yu-Seong was now at least eight times more powerful. He began to understand why most players focused so much on the strength of their skills rather than training in their skills.

‘However, training has always been the firm foundation for my growth.’

He did not forget about this fact.

At this point, Yu-Seong became curious about something.

‘I’m actually looking forward to the day when Do-Jin finally comes out of the Tower of Heaven, aren’t I?’

There was a high probability that Do-Jin would also be in A-Rank and be significantly stronger upon emerging from the Tower. Moreover, there was another fact that Yu-Seong could not ignore.

‘At this moment in time during the novel, Do-Jin was stronger than I am now.’

Then, how much stronger would the Demon King be? Yu-Seong had recently gained a lot of power, but there were still many strong existences in this world. This was why Yu-Seong constantly pressed forward aggressively instead of taking a breather.

***

Late at night, Min Young-Hoon, the Vice President of the Heaven Guild and an S-Rank level 60 player, frowned upon receiving a phone call. He said, “Choi In-Young, are you telling me to take care of that kid myself?”

- Please. Right now, I don’t have the energy to take care of things outside of my own work.

In-Young had found out an hour ago that Yu-Seong had returned from the Tower of Heaven. Right after she had heard the news, she immediately called Young-Hoon and asked him to deal with Yu-Seong himself.

After Mi-Na’s appearance, Ji-Ho had suddenly reappeared, so it was difficult for In-Young herself to directly deal with Yu-Seong. Although neither Mi-Na nor Ji-Ho had made a move, the situation was volatile and could change at any moment. In preparation for any unexpected incidents, In-Young had to remain vigilant as she awaited her siblings to make their moves.

- Well, can you do something about it or not?

Hearing an earnestness in In-Young’s voice, Young-Hoon bit his lip. He knew all too well that this particular task was very dangerous. He didn’t think that he would fail, but… Even if he succeeded, Woo-Jae would undoubtedly hound him down and stamp him out.

Currently, the Comet Group had solidified its position as the No. 1 company in Korea; the Comet Group was a monstrous dinosaur, a colossal force to be reckoned with. The situation was markedly different from the past. Furthermore, Young-Hoon had also begun to realize just why many people were afraid of Woo-Jae.

‘There are more things hidden beneath the surface.’

To get involved in Choi family matters was to become enemies with such an imposing person. No matter how he thought it over, Young-Hoon knew that dealing with Yu-Seong would be a stupid choice. Regardless of whether he succeeded or failed, Young-Hoon was highly likely to be dead once the dust settled.

“Choi In-Young. This…”

- I know; I realize it’s a great burden for you, but that kid has grown too much. I can’t trust anyone else but you to get things done properly.

Nevertheless, Young-Hoon had trouble saying no to In-Young because of the earnestness he could hear in her voice. He could also picture her imploring eyes, which did not help him think rationally. Hence, it was difficult for him to reject her request.

- You said you would lay down your life for me. Were you lying?

“…No.”

- I love you, Min Young-Hoon. I’ll somehow stop my father. So, please take care of Yu-Seong in whatever way you can. It’s not like I’m asking you to kill him. Kidnap him and bring him to me.

Inwardly, Young-Hoon laughed.

‘She’s saying she loves me?’

He knew that In-Young was lying. He also knew that he could not trust her to take care of Woo-Jae. If such a thing was possible, In-Young would have taken care of Yu-Seong herself.

Young-Hoon knew all of this, but he could only let out a deep sigh in the end. He said, “I wasn’t lying when I said I’d give up my life for you. In the past and even now, my heart hasn’t changed, Choi In-Young.”

- Really?! 

Hearing In-Young’s happy voice, Young-Hoon could not help but feel a sense of loathing. At the same time, he was filled with a sense of pleasure.

Young-Hoon nodded while not understanding the reason behind it. He declared, “I’ll break that cheeky kid’s neck and bring him to you.”

- Thank you, Min Young-Hoon! I won’t forget your contribution to my cause.

In-Young would have to remember because, after this, Young-hoon would most likely disappear from the Republic of Korea. In fact, he would probably disappear from the face of this Earth.

- Then, when can you start?

“There’s no reason to drag things out.”

Young-Hoon looked at his watch; it was 3 PM. It would not be difficult to track down where Yu-Seong was once he obtained Yu-Seong’s general location.

“I’ll start immediately.”

- I love you. I really love you, Min Young-Hoon.

“…and I as well.”

With a bitter smile, Young-Hoon hung up the phone and looked out the window, where he could see the skyline of downtown Seoul at a glance. As the image of In-Young smiling brightly back at him through the window appeared in his mind, he felt an ache deep within him.

“That bitch.”

Young-Hoon smiled as he juxtaposed his own face with the woman he imagined on the other side of the window.

‘You fool.’

However, there were things in the world that one had to do even if one had all the facts and knew it was a huge mistake. Young-Hoon decided that this was one of those times.

With slow steps, Young-Hoon left the office that he had occupied for a long time.