I Woke Up as the Villain

As Choi Mi-Na had said, the night lasted longer than expected for Yu-Seong. He looked somewhat fine despite being mentally exhausted, so he had to explain or tell quite a lot of stories to others.

Of course, Yu-Seong did not reveal the entire truth in a face-to-face meeting with the detective team or the Special Police Force. For example, he omitted the family circumstances such as the story of Choi Byung-Chan trying to kill him.

Naturally, all the nasty deeds were blamed upon the dead villain Bomber and Rachel who ran away.

And again, this time, Rachel had gently shaken off the special police officers’ pursuit and had left the city center. And fortunately, Jenny, who used a sniper rifle to support Choi Yu-Seong, did not seem to have been caught by the police either.

‘She would have a way to sneak out.’

Jenny would not have fired in the middle of downtown Seoul without any further preparations. Although it was from a long distance, considering that she had avoided Rachel's hand ax, Jenny also had to be a hunter of considerable talent.

After the investigation—which required Yu-Seong to talk about one thing or another—was over, a person who identified himself as Soal, a member of the special police force, left. And around that time, the person who was waiting for Choi Yu-Seong to really explain the situation entered the hospital room. It was a very angry Choi Woo-Jae.

Choi Woo-Jae walked into the hospital room alone after asking Kim Pil-Doo to stand at the entrance. He glanced at Choi Yu-Seong's bandaged shoulder and began to speak. "Explain what happened, from beginning to end. Without missing a single thing."

Upon hearing that short and concise command, Choi Yu-Seong honestly explained what he had experienced in as much detail as possible and left no details out. He didn’t have to hide something or fake anything. He just calmly tried to convey the situation as objectively as possible. Choi Woo-Jae listened to the story without saying a word.

“...I told the truth about everything except the story about Byung-Chan hyung-nim to the police.”

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

After the story ended, Choi Woo-Jae smiled coldly. He uttered words that were far beyond Yu-Seong's expectations, "The sixth crossed the line. He deserved to die."

“...”

"I understand if one is killed or injured while fighting between brothers. But those stories about betrayal… I shouldn’t hear of them.”

This time, Choi Yu-Seong couldn't find anything else to say.

"That doesn't mean that a vile foreign girl can kill my child." Choi Woo-Jae got up from his seat with a cold gaze. He said, "I will kill the Slaughter Queen. You do your job."

That was the end of the conversation. Choi Woo-Jae left the hospital room, and Yu-Seong was left alone. He felt goosebumps behind his back.

'My father has decided to kill Rachel.’ 

In fact, the moment Choi Byung-Chan died, this was already an expected outcome. However, Yu-Seong only had that sink in when he heard it in person.

‘No matter how strong Rachel is... could she get away with it?’ 

The opponent was Choi Woo-Jae. Rachel was a monster, but Choi Woo-Jae was no less a monstrosity than her. The difference was that Rachel was an individual and Choi Woo-Jae was an organization.

At first glance, it was true that Choi Woo-Jae was overwhelmingly advantageous in this situation.

‘It would be impossible unless she had the Demon King Worshiper’s support.’

Anyway, in the current situation, Rachel belonged to the Demon King Worshipers. She was selfish and uncontrollable, but the founder of the devil worshiper, the so-called godfather, cherished her for her strong abilities.

In the end, Choi Woo-Jae's declaration just now meant that it would be a battle between the Comet Group and the Demon King Worshipers.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Considering the influence of the Comet Group on the Republic of Korea, it could become a battle between the entire country and the Demon King Worshipers… This battle was a tremendous variable that could not be compared to the previous ones.

‘In fact, the original novel had such a situation too.’ 

The variable was as big as the battle between the Demon King Worshipers and the Republic of Korea. However, there was clearly a difference from the original novel.

‘In the original novel, it was actually a fight between Kim Do-Jin and the Demon King Worshipers.’ 

The confusion about the variable only lingered for a short moment. As he had already experienced before, Yu-Seong couldn’t cry over spilled milk. His priority right now was to be prepared against variables, as always. Also, these big events were not the most important thing to him for now.

‘Jin Do-Yoon… I hope he's safe.’ 

Upon arriving at the scene, the rescue team first checked on Jin Do-Yoon's condition and said that it was a miracle for him to still be alive. The concussed Do-Yoon had an internal rupture, a few ribs broken, and his right ankle was completely broken and had disappeared without a trace.

Do-Yoon’s injuries were much more serious than Yu-Seong had seen on the outside and were slowly shortening his life. If it wasn't for the peculiar constitution of a physical hunter, moreover a werewolf with considerable natural resilience, his injuries would have been serious enough for him to die without hanging on for a long time.

Fortunately, Jin Do-Yoon continued to breathe until he arrived at the hospital, and went straight to the operating table. That did not mean that Choi Yu-Seong could relax.

Even when explaining the situation to the special police force officer, Soal, and meeting Choi Woo-Jae to tell the story, Yu-Seong couldn’t let go of Jin Do-Yoon’s name in his mind. What if Do-Yoon died like this?

‘What could I tell Jin Yu-Ri?’

In confusion and anxiety, sleepless nights dragged on, dawn went by, and it was soon morning. A rather haggard-looking female nurse rushed in after opening the hospital room door. Choi Yu-Seong looked at her dark circles under his eyes. He had requested this nurse to let him know once Jin Do-Yoon's surgery was over.

The nurse tried catching her breath a couple of times, then opened her mouth to tell the news that Yu-Seong had been waiting for. She said, "The operation...is over."

"What does that mean?" asked Yu-Seong.

"Jin Do-Yoon, he’s fine. Now, we just have to wait for the recovery."

"Ah..." Yu-Seong unconsciously signed with deep relief in his red eyes. He murmured, "What a relief."

What else could Yu-Seong say? It was the end of the long and difficult night that haunted him with worries, pains, and earnest prayers.

"It’s really…a relief." Choi Yu-Seong shed tears and he slowly closed his eyes.

***

Choi Yu-Seong slept all day long.

In that short period of time, the country was in turmoil. In the middle of downtown Gangnam, Seoul, a terrorist had appeared, died, and the Slaughter Queen, a villain designated as a refugee, had killed the sixth child of the Comet Group. The government was reprimanded for its slow response, and anxiety swept the country. This was unsurprising because the Special Police Force announced that they had not yet caught the Slaughter Queen.

In the meantime, Choi Woo-Jae held a press conference and announced his official position on capturing Rachel in the name of the Comet Group. He said ‘to capture’, but it actually meant he was going to kill her. Everyone knew the implied meaning, and media outlets in each country described the current situation as a fairly unusual case.

In fact, currently, in the Republic of Korea, there was a law that allowed the general public to play hardball only in the case of the known villain. Villains could murder so easily, but they could only be stopped by the Special Police Force. This unprecedented special law was passed because the manpower was too insufficient to prevent a large number of individual villains from causing a big accident at any time.

However, it was really rare and unusual for a person to make such an announcement as a company representative.

Some people said that they should be more careful because they had a large social influence, but the country chose to remain silent, which was the easiest choice, and had called it an act of contemplation. Above all, from the country’s perspective, it was satisfied that the public's anxiety was somewhat reduced after Choi Woo-Jae's announcement of his official position on the matter.

There were quite a few people who said that the leading Conglomerate group in Korea was more reliable than the national agency which already missed the Slaughter Queen several times.

Choi Yu-Seong's injury was also known in public. The article that he survived after meeting the Slaughter Queen two times became a huge hit, even giving him a new nickname, ‘the Miracle Man.’ 

Of course, some doubted Choi Yu-Seong. It was a natural suspicion that Rachel and Choi Yu-Seong were on the same side. As such, rumors spread that Yu-Seong had become a villain to score a high point in a family fight.

All this happened in just one day and night.

***

Jin Yu-Ri returned to her main job after hearing the news the next afternoon. She was sitting alone in front of Yu-Seong's hospital room. Then, a Western woman with bright blonde hair, wearing a deep hood, approached her. Jin Yu-Ri gave her a sideways glance and asked, "...what about the Slaughter Queen?"

"I can't find a trace at all. She moves very cleverly for a simple murderer. If we chase her openly, we would be able to approach her to some extent, but we'd get caught."

Jin Yu-Ri nodded as if she was convinced of the situation. Unlike others, Jenny's organization put secrecy first. As such, it was difficult for her to come forward and investigate directly. Moreover, quite a lot of people were involved in this case.

"You don't have to dig too deep, but be careful not to miss the opportunity when you see the movement."

"For sure," said Jenny. She nodded her head in a short reply and silently stayed by Jin Yu-Ri's side. About three minutes passed without any conversation. Suddenly, Jenny opened her mouth again while both of them were looking at the wall. "...are you all right?”

"What?"

"I heard about your brother's case.”

"You don't die from having a missing foot,” said Yu-Ri.

Jin Do-Yoon was miraculously alive, but his missing ankle by Bomber's powerful bomb had failed to regenerate. It could be considered that his life as a physical-type hunter was virtually over.

"He was a great hunter and a bodyguard,” said Jenny.

"I know. I appreciate your consolation."

"I'm looking for a way. Once some money is spent, it could be replaced with a machine so he could live his daily life."

“...” Jin Yu-Ri didn’t answer. Her current worry wasn’t regarding Do-Yoon’s physical condition.

‘He must be very distressed by the fact that he can't be of much help to Yu-Seong oppa.’ 

A retired hunter living an ordinary routine wouldn’t be a problem for Do-Yoon. The amount of money he had saved so far was pretty significant, and if he just transplanted a machine on one leg to walk, he would have a much stronger physical condition than the ordinary person. In a way, a kind of retirement that any hunter dreamed of.

‘But not for him.’

Of course, Jin Do-Yoon, who Yu-Ri knew, would not collapse in agony right away. Rather, he would try to find an opportunity to make a comeback. However, what could he do when he realized that there was no way to overcome this problem even if he put all his energy into it?

In the same situation, Yu-Ri could not even guess how she would possibly feel too.