I Woke Up as the Villain

Chapter 51

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As mentioned, it would be illogical for Yu-Seong to fight and win if there was another Demon King Worshiper.

‘Villains belonging to the Demon King Worshipers’ group are at least B-rank.’?

This was because most of them had gained strength through contracts with the Demon King, who was still crouching in another world.

In other words, even Ghost who could kill Yu-Seong right away was only a trivial soldier 1 from the Demon King Worshiper’s standpoint. Therefore, Ghost was merely a role that appeared and died a vain death in the original novel when Do-Jin had grown to some extent.

Yu-Seong let go of the original novel written from Kim Do-Jin’s point of view that he had lightly read in the past. For him at this point in time, all the Demon King Worshipers were the Grim Reaper. While he climbed up the stairs, he took a breath and wiped his sweat away. However, his troubled thoughts made him sweat all over his forehead again.

‘It‘s not just a feeling, but I think there’s one more person for sure.’?

As he went up the stairs one step at a time, the weight on Yu-Seong’s shoulders gradually became heavier. Would this simply be because of the dissonance between knowledge and reality?

Yu-Seong walked up the stairs, feeling suspicious. By the time he reached the third floor, it was difficult to even breathe. His vision was blurred and he was filled with an intense desire to run away immediately. He was scared, but he was used to this. He had already fought against similar fears over and over again. As he expected, he was growing through experience.

Yu-Seong arrived on the building’s 4th floor.

‘That's it?’?

It definitely felt like Yu-Seong had been going up the stairs for quite a long time, but it seemed to have been an illusion. Checking the number written in the dark and damp hallway, Yu-Seong clenched his fist, bit his lips, and stepped on the next stairs. Then, he passed the fifth floor and climbed the stairs leading to a higher place.

Beyond the wide-open rooftop door, Yu-Seong found a yellow amulet floating in the air and the strange patterns spreading around it. It was the center of formation to use the Barrier Scroll.

‘It’s the Gate of Life!’?

Yu-Seong found it. It was at that moment that the sweat on his tense face fell to the floor of the quiet hallway.

‘Drop.’

Yu-Seong stiffened at the quiet sound that clearly rang in his ears. Then, there was silence, a silence that gave Yu-Seong hope.

‘Is there…no one?’?

Maybe the unknown threat and the momentum was the only thing present. With that in mind, he took courage again and went outside the rooftop door. Then at that moment, – ‘Woosh-!’ – a hand popped out of nowhere and grabbed Yu-Seong’s neck.

“Kek-!” Yu-Seong’s face turned white as he was pushed to the wall.

‘What the heck…?’?

A red-haired woman was holding Yu-Seong’s neck with one hand. She tilted her head in front of Yu-Seong, who did not know what was going on. She commented, “Oh my, what’s this? I was looking forward to seeing the one who broke through my threatening energy, but it’s just a greenhorn.”

The woman’s gaze was mixed with disbelief and curiosity, both of which were superficial. Yu-Seong read the latent emotions deep in her red eyes somewhat instinctively.

‘Intentions of murder and anger.’

The problem was that such feelings were superabundant. ‘Horrible’ might be a more accurate word. Just facing her alone was enough to cause him to tremble without realizing it. It was completely different from the energy that Woo-Jae emitted, since hers was more essential and wilder than his – rather an unrefined kind of emotion. It was swirling around the woman as if about to explode.

“Oops, almost killed this kid.” With a bright smile, the woman released Yu-Seong’s neck. She tilted her head as she looked down at Yu-Seong, who slumped helplessly on the floor like a doll with broken threads. “Seriously, how did you come all the way here? You kid, are not even breathing properly now.”

To tell the truth, Yu-Seong was suffocating like he was submerged in the water despite the freed neck. He covered his shoulders with both arms unconsciously, with the fear of death surging in his mind. He felt like a child who met a tiger in the wild. The torrent of emotions was so violent that he struggled to even make eye contact.

Nevertheless, Yu-Seong forced himself to raise his head and look at his opponent. How did he dare to do that? Was it because of his determination or tenacity? Or did he have a lot of courage? Honestly, it wasn’t from those cool feelings at all.

‘If I don’t raise my head, I’ll die.’

This was what Yu-Seong could read from the momentum of the red-haired woman. It was only her curiosity that was keeping Yu-Seong alive right now.

“You’re quick-witted. And…you haven’t given up yet. The eyes are alive – and I like that very much.” With a smile, the woman slowly bent her knees and made eye contact with Yu-Seong. “You have pretty eyes. What’s your name?”

“Choi…Yu-Seong.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rachel, Rachel Lopez.” Rachel smiled and held out her hand.

Looking at Rachel with a rather blank gaze, Choi Yu-Seong parted his dry lips and said, “The Slaughterer Queen.”

An S-rank Villain – one of the future Disasters was standing in front of his eyes.

***

It was somewhat ironic why Rachel Lopez – also known as the Slaughterer Queen – had become part of Demong King Worshiper.

‘Will it feel different to cut the Demon King’s head from cutting the head of the humans?’?

This pure curiosity and desire were always wiggling deep in Rachel’s heart. Going back to the beginning, it started with a thought - ‘Would I feel at ease if I killed the stepfather who beat my mother every day and treated me mercilessly?’

On her 13th birthday, Rachel was able to answer the question after cutting the neck of her stepfather – who crawled into her bed like a worm – with a kitchen knife she had hidden under the bed.

‘It’s nothing.’

Seeing her mother – who was an adult much bigger than her – wringing her hands without even rebelling, Rachel had thought her father was a fairly scary and strong human being. However, when she cut his neck with a knife, he just died in vain.

There had also been some danger that followed, but it had all been a lot easier than Rachel had expected. Her curiosity about the Demon King was similar. She was curious about how he looked, how strong he was, and she wanted to kill him.

The Demon King Worshiper guys said that Demon King would ascend from another world someday to destroy this world and that the dungeon’s appearance was the start of it. However, everything was unknown until Rachel could personally experience it. Therefore, Rachel entered Demon Lord Worshiper. Certainly, the only way for her curiosity to be satisfied was for the Demon King to appear. Moreover, Demon King Worshipers could meet the Demon King before anyone else.

Except for the fact that she had killed her stepfather as a child and was an Irregular, Rachel was a rather ordinary(?) hunter. Her only reason for joining the nonsensical organization called Demon King Worshiper was truly curiosity. The feeling she had while looking at Yu-Seong now was also curiosity.

‘This kiddo is interesting.’

Rachel had come to Korea under the organization’s order to convince Do-Jin, but she didn’t want to do anything directly. Working together with her colleagues was tedious for her. Even in the entire Demon King Worshiper organization, she was a loner who played alone. She felt comfortable alone and also found it was much easier to get things done. This made her somewhat unrivaled even within Demon King Worshiper.

It was annoying to keep pace with someone. Even so, this time, she was told not to fight and kill but to convince. She did not like it at all. However, she had no justification to refuse the request of the leader Godfather – her only favorite figure in the entire group of Demon King Worshipers.

Previously, Rachel didn’t fulfill three of the missions suggested by Godfather himself. This was because none of the missions given recently were to her liking. If she refused another request by this point, she would be disgracing the Godfather’s honor.

Also, there will be a lot of talk from the Presbytery – who did not like her. Since Rachel wanted to fight the Demon King first than anyone else, she could not completely ignore such words of the Presbytery even if she was annoyed by it.

Thus, this trip to Korea was somewhat forced. The one good thing was her hearing that Ghost – one of the moderately easy-to-manage soldiers – was in Japan just in time and had summoned him.

Anyway, if she went out on a half-forced mission that was to convince Do-Jin in person, Rachel could kill him if he didn't listen to anything and bothered her. She was convinced that the right person for this job was Ghost, not herself. Of course, she would have to pretend that she did some work as well. Only then would the Presbytery – who may be monitoring somewhere – have nothing to say.

Therefore, she played the role of opening the Barrier Spell and protecting it. Of course, she would still have to pretend to work to some extent…

Rachel was just lying and rolling about on the rooftop, eating Korean snacks after sending out Ghost. Even so, it wouldn’t cause any problem for her. Even if Rachel laid down and idly relaxed, most Hunters would not even dare to approach her.

‘It should be at least an A-rank Hunter to break through my?threatening?energy, though.’?

This was largely influenced by one of her skills, Threatening Intent’s Wave (S). Not only could the ordinary people not bear it mentally and physically, but just approaching it closely would drive them crazy in fear.

As mentioned, even hunters were not much different unless they were a high rank. However, Yu-Seong, who looked just about an E-rank player in all directions, broke through her Threatening Intent’s Wave. It was impossible in the first place to avoid the effects of her skill -- Threatening Intent’s Wave with just luck. In fact, Yu-Seong – who came up to the rooftop – was already full of fear even before he met her.

‘It looks like he’s going to suffocate right away. That’s pretty cute.’?

Rachel smiled inwardly, and tilted her head.

“Won’t you shake hands with me?” Rachel asked.

“…” Yu-Seong reached out his trembling hand and held Rachel’s white but calloused hand.

“Since you seem to understand what I’m saying, I guess you can speak English. Good. I’m going to ask questions now. I hope you sincerely answer. How did you come up here?”

“…By foot.”

“It wouldn’t have been easy, though?”

It wasn’t even about how easy it was. It was generally impossible to do so. Yu-Seong looked at Rachel’s eyes instead of answering. What more could he say?

Rachel nodded. “I don’t think you’re lying. So let me ask you the second question. What do you think will happen to you in the future?”

Slaughterer Queen was a nickname Rachel got while working as a mercenary for the U.S. Department of Defense. Those who had met her on the battlefield at the time – including soldiers, Hunters, and civilians – all died in terrible looks. According to the records, those who fought Slaughterer Queen were torn to pieces, tossed to the ground, and turned into corpses in a very rough form. Could Choi Yu-Seong end up different?

“I want…to live.”

At the words of Yu-Seong biting his lower lip tightly, Rachel tucked her red hair behind her ears. She commented, “That’s what I like about you. Everyone desires to live. But Choi Yu-Seong, you seem to have a much stronger will than others. Nevertheless, you came this far ignoring my Threatening Intent’s Wave. Is your request possible?”

While Rachel was overwhelmed with curiosity and questions, Yu-Seong gradually began to calm down from the suffocating fear. To be precise, he started to rack his brain to survive her.