I Woke Up as the Villain

Chapter 26

Yu-Seong was first aware of the three men behind him and the two in front of him. He thought that there were only five enemies in total, but there were actually more of them.

‘It hasn’t been long since I passed two of them but now, three suddenly showed up from the side path.‘

The level two dungeon-–the cave of the nolls—was so complicated that it was inconvenient to navigate without a map. Thus it was not strange for new enemies to suddenly appear in Yu-Seong’s path. However, it made the situation even more difficult, because of the unexpectedly high number of men. There was also a possibility that Yu-Seong could be facing even more than eight enemies.

‘The highest rank capable of entering a level two dungeon is D.’

Yu-Seong’s path was blocked by the men. He looked at his opponents and gulped. Unlike the two careless two men he had easily passed, these three men had quite a serious expression on their faces.

“Don’t let your guard down!”

“If we lose him, we will all die!”

The pursuers shouted while chasing after Yu-Seong. It was highly likely that these three men were cautious because they could hear the pursuers shouting.

“It might be the cave. Don’t you think their shouts are echoing a bit too much?” Yu-Seong asked his opponent. The more time passed, the more advantage he would have in this situation. It would be easier to deal with them if he knew the opponent's intention.

“Don’t think about playing petty tricks….”

And speaking with them made it easier to get them to slip up and be careless. Yu-Seong cut off the man’s words and attacked. He aimed at the opponent’s throat using his spear.

The man standing to the left extended his arm forward. A transparent barrier appeared and deflected Yu-Seong's spear.

‘He’s a Psychic-type, a defensive barrier skill player.’

Psychic-type players were usually harder to deal with than physical types. One could battle Physical type players directly, but it was harder to determine what kind of abilities Psychic types possessed and how they utilized it unless battling them directly.

“How arrogant…!” The man who narrowly avoided getting stabbed by Yu-Seong’s spear swung his fist while speaking. His face was red. Immediately, the man’s arm hardened like a rock.

Yu-Seong kept his eyes on the man’s arm as the man bent down. He caught sight of something wriggling below the ground. ‘Something is coming.’ He quickly swung his spear sideways and jumped slightly into the air.

Paat-!?

After a short delay, tree roots shot out from the ground and covered the spot where Yu-Seong had occupied a moment ago.

“Tsk.” The man standing on the right clicked his tongue.

Yu-Seong felt a chill run down his spine. If he made a mistake, he would get caught right away.

‘Only five are left. I wanted to save the rest for as long as possible, since only a limited number remains, but…’?

He didn’t have a choice but to use the skill—Insight. There were simply too many people to deal with, and they were quite formidable as well. He knew it would be too difficult to fight them without using the skill.

In an instant, blue energy blazed in Yu-Seong’s eyes. He could feel his field of vision was relatively broadening.

‘This….’?

Was it because the rank of skill had increased from F to E? The radius he gained from Insight seemed wider than before.

Yu-Seong peeked at the opponent’s system stats right away. His lips twisted into a sneer.

‘All three of them are D-rank players?’?

If so, those chasing from behind were also likely to be D-rank players.

“This is quite funny, a bunch of D-Ranks chasing after an E-Rank player. Have you heard of the saying ‘Use a Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut’?”

“...” The three men could not hide their surprise after Yu-Seong discovered their rank, but they still moved quickly. The man with the stone fist instantly arrived in front of Yu-Seong and punched him.

Yu-Seong tilted his head to the side and avoided the attack. Then, he quickly threw himself to the floor.

‘Dodge Roll F!’

The skill was inelegant and did not quite match Yu-Seong’s Stylish skill. However, it was currently the best skill that enabled him to roll to avoid the opponent’s attack.

Because of that, Choi Yu-Seong was able to close the distance to the player with the shield skill. In a way, it was that skill that made the fight most difficult for him.

“Hmph!” The man snorted and expanded his shield.

Yu-Seong rolled on the floor after seeing the man and got up quickly. He then threw his spear without hesitation. The spear bounced off with a shockwave. Yu-Seong dashed forward and grabbed the spear.

At the same time, tree roots appeared from the ground. It rose from where Yu-Seong was positioned to land, and spread out like the arms of an evil sprite.

“Gotcha, you brat!”

“Hmph!” snorted Yu-Seong. A translucent shield instantly formed under his feet, blocking the soaring tree roots and permeating back into the ground.

“That guy, how can he use that shield skill?!”

“This wasn’t in the profile we were given!”

Yu-Seong left behind the bewildered voices and struck the opponent’s shield with his spear. He instantly struck the same spot more than five times and caused cracks to appear in the D-rank Player’s shield.

“You bastard!”

The player with the stone fist came after Yu-Seong and swung his arm aggressively.

"Hey, you crazy bastard!"

“Huh?”

Yu-Seong used the Dodge Roll skill once again without hesitation, and as a result, the stone fist slammed hard onto another opponent’s shield.

Boom!

“Kuac-!”

There was a sound of the shield breaking along with a bloody cough.

Yu-Seong quickly got up, using the spear as a cane. He dashed forward and landed a firm kick to the shield-skilled player’s jaw.

“Kuah-!” The shield player’s broken teeth clattered to the ground along with blood. His eyes rolled back as he fell. He wouldn’t die, but the attack was definitely enough to knock him out.

“Got one guy. D-rank isn’t anything much after all.” Yu-Seong purposefully showed a relaxed smile and dashed forward. The more aggravated the opponent was, the better. The more they lost their cool, the more they would struggle to show their true skills. In addition, it would make it more inconvenient for them to work together.

Five more men finally arrived at the battlefield where Yu-Seong was fighting with the three men. The five raised their voices, which had a mixture of coldness and aggression.

“What are you waiting for?! Can’t the three of you catch a single person?!”

“Did that bastard fall on his back?”

“Ignore him! Who cares if he gets eaten by monsters or not!”

“I am going to kill you, Choi Yu-Seong!”

After provoking the men and running away, Yu-Seong recalled the map that he previously memorized. He had a blurry image of the map but if he concentrated, he could remember his current location at least.

‘The situation isn’t looking too good, though.’

It was obvious that, even if it was Yu-Seong, there was no way he could win against seven D-rank players. He had to run for the exit, but his location wasn’t good. In addition, there were three crossroads coming up ahead.

‘But I can get closer to the exit if I change directions after choosing the first one.’

As long as he got out of the dungeon, the unidentified enemies could no longer attack Yu-Seong. If they attacked in front of where the players from the Player Association could stand witness, it meant they were obvious villains. But if that were the case, they wouldn’t have targeted Yu-Seong inside the dungeon.

Yu-Seong arrived at the first crossroads that he was expecting to face. He quickly frowned at the two men running out from the path.

“Found him!”

“Choi Yu-Seong!”

Choi Yu-Seong had been hoping that they would be an ordinary party, but it appeared the situation wouldn’t be resolved so easily.

‘There’s no end to them. Are they some kind of Chinese army?’?

He couldn’t even predict how many people were sent to catch him. Right now, there were seven men yelling and chasing after him with weapons like bows and swords. Including those he had defeated, there were at least 10 people after him.

Yu-Seong gritted his teeth. He became wide-eyed when he saw one of his opponents releasing a bowstring aimed towards him.

‘Damn it…!’?

He realized that he had let his guard down.

An arrow quickly flew through the air and hit his shoulder. But surprisingly, it was the arrow that bent and bounced into the air after the impact, not him. His shoulders trembled for a bit, but that was it. He could only feel a slight soreness in his neck. There was a slight groove on the shoulder steel plate of the thick combat suit. But there was no other major impact.

‘Yes! As expected of a luxury item!’?

Yu-Seong yelled with delight on the inside. There was a reason why being overgeared was always a good thing.

“I can’t believe that he is still fine even after blocking my arrow.”

Yu-Seong looked at the surprised opponent before piercing his long spear toward the bowman. A sword-wielding opponent then stepped forward and tried to block Yu-Seong’s attack. However, Yu-Seong—excluding his outstretched spear—floated into the air. He conjured a shield under his feet, then threw his body forward using the shield as a stepping stone.

‘Though it’s a downgraded version of the wind step…!’

Anyway, the plan was a success. The two men’s jaws dropped open after their attacks missed Yu-Seong.

‘Success. I can get out of here.’

Now all Yu-Seong had to do was run as fast as he could to the exit. Fortunately, his running speed was slightly faster than the D-rank pursuers due to the Stylish that was activated in the middle of the combat. That meant, he could safely escape from the dungeon if he kept running like this.

‘I am almost there, just a little more.’

Yu-Seong was moving away, little by little.

The man with the sword—who was at the forefront of the chase—raised his arm.

‘That’s enough. Damn it. How can an E-rank player be that fast?’

“Heuk, heuk.”

“Shit, my crotch is going to be torn apart from chasing him!”

The two Psychic type hunters were less physically capable than the Physical type players. They exhaled harsh breaths and shook their heads behind Yu-Seong. However, they didn’t look disappointed despite having missed their target.

“This direction is clearly the way to the exit anyway. Yu-Seong will run as fast as he can to the exit without even knowing what was waiting for him there. Can’t wait to see how he will lose all his strength after he finds out that he’s nothing but a cornered rat in a trap. Hehe.” At the words of the sword-wielding man, all other pursuers glared their eyes and smiled slyly.

***

Yu-Seong noticed that the distance between himself and his pursuers kept steadily increasing. And since beginning to run, he hadn’t encountered any more enemies.

‘I’m almost there.’?

However, Yu-Seong did not slow down his steps despite being out of breath. He could also afford to lower his guard now.

‘But why? I still feel anxious for some reason.’

The incomprehensible sensation continued to hold Yu-Seong back. His heart pumped strongly, as if telling him not to stop running.

Close to the end of the path, he found a portal. It wasn’t too far away. However, he soon hardened his expression and stopped moving forward.

“Hey, Choi Yu-Seong is here.”

“Wow, that means that all of them failed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come here.”

“I guess he’s the one who passed the hunter exam with the top score.”

Yu-Seong was in front of the narrow passage to the escape portal. There were eight men blocking the road as if they had been waiting for him.

‘So there are eighteen D-rank players sent to catch just me? What the…’

No matter who the opponent was, it seemed that they didn’t expect an easy fight either. Yu-Seong felt like cussing. When he stopped running crazily, his breathing became harsher and the world seemed to be floating in white. His head was pounding, with a slight buzz in his ears.

“Haak…haak….” Yu-Seong couldn’t help but breathe raggedly through his mouth instead of his nose.

“But that guy looks like he’ll crash to the ground soon.”

“You think he will fall down if I just poke him? Keke.”

“Don’t leave your position. If you accidentally let him go to the portal, it’ll all be over.”

Contrary to their ridicule, those who were blocking the exit stood still and stared at Yu-Seong with caution.

.

The nine pursuers chasing Yu-Seong arrived belatedly. They laughed out loud while cursing. Now that they had succeeded in cornering him, all they had to do was to catch the prey, Yu-Seong.

‘Is there anyone I could ask for help…?’

It was clear that they had already taken over the dungeon and kicked everyone else out. The last thing Yu-Seong was hoping for was a miracle, that someone would come from beyond the portal to help him.

‘That’s nonsense.’

This was a situation where anyone who came in would rather pass him and pretend not to see him.

Yu-Seong gritted his teeth and wiped the sweat off of his face. At least he had time to catch his breath while the opponent remained standing still. He then asked, “Who sent you here? Is it the ones from the guild? Or my siblings?”

Those blocking the exit shrugged their shoulders after hearing his question.

Yu-Seong had asked such a question to see their reaction. After observing their reactions, he was convinced that they knew nothing. Otherwise, there was no way that all eight of them could keep such a blank face.

‘These guys are just the tail. It doesn’t matter if they’re cut off.’?

The guy who had sent them seemed to be a more meticulous figure than Yu-Seong had expected.

The pursuers who chased Yu-Seong took out their weapons or activated their abilities. They had a sly smile on their faces.

Yu-Seong had the world against him now. There were enemies on all sides of him. However, he could not just give up even in such an extremely dangerous situation. Backing out was not an option for him. So, he ran forward and raised his mana as much as he could to wrap Spark all over his body and the spear.

The roots that secretly wrapped under his ankles were the first to burn. They wriggled like earthworms while burning. He could feel his body becoming lighter, as if the activated Stylish skill’s effect was amplified.

‘I have faith in you, Stylish.’

Yu-Seong had confidence in his endurance due to his excessive level of mana, which was overwhelmingly great compared to other E-rank players. However, his opponents were D-rank hunters, and there were so many of them too.

In other words, Yu-Seong wouldn’t have multiple opportunities to break through. He needed to break through in one try. Yu-Seong quieted his mind as soon as he kicked off the ground. He knew that this was not a situation where he could get out by doing some calculations in his head anyway. He could only face it head-on with his instincts.

“He’s coming!”

The opponents were eight D-Rank players. Yu-Seong swung his spear as if he was trying to strike upon spotting a gap. The Spark which jumped out after him immediately swallowed the man at the forefront.

1. Although the English spelling is gnolls, we went with ‘nolls’ as it was the spelling used in the raws