I Woke Up as the Villain

Chapter 97

The artifact was an object much easier to obtain compared to other magical items such as ancient relics or treasures from the other world, but it could produce similar utility. In addition, Choi Yu-Seong knew about the creators of these artifacts, the so-called Meister, who would be able to create magical objects comparable to other ancient relics and the treasures from the other world.

‘There are exactly five Meisters by the time Book 1 of the original novel was completed.’

Choi Yu-Seong knew one of the Meisters by name and origin. Obviously, it was one of Kim Do-Jin's colleagues who Yu-Seong tried not to get in contact with as much as possible.

‘What I need to find is the other four Meisters.’?

There were many questions about them, since in many parts of the original novel, they were mentioned only by nicknames and characteristics. Therefore, Choi Yu-Seong left his thoughts of the Meister behind for now.

However, as could be seen from this Meister’s appearance, the number of artifact producers increased exponentially over time. This meant the type ‘productive’ was added to the player types. Therefore, when the artifact creators appeared, the price of mana stone naturally rose.

Before that, Choi Yu-Seong wanted to acquire the mana stone, which was still somewhat cheap. In addition, before the artifact sales market was fully established, he planned to preoccupy the market by investing some capital.

‘Since I can't spend the pocket money from my father forever.’?

Originally, it would take a lot of human resources, money, and time to enter this market, but Choi Yu-Seong had future information he knew through the original novel. In other words, it was highly possible for him to enter the market while saving on all three aspects considerably.

In fact, the best way might be to secretly reveal this future information to Choi Woo-Jae. Just as Yu-Seong had told Jin Yu-Ri that he had a similar skill such as Future Foresight, he could tell Choi Woo-Jae and show him a few actions to prove it. That way, even Woo-Jae would become interested in what Yu-Seong had to say. Moreover, by using the Comet Group’s enormous capital, he might be able to achieve monopoly rather than the market preoccupation.

‘Since it’s father, he would most likely take a careful look at the opportunity, and as soon as the artifact creator appeared, he would invest in the market with all his might.’?

In addition, it would be slightly easier to obtain information about the remaining four Meisters, who Yu-Seong currently only knew about their nicknames and characteristics.

Whatever Woo-Jae did, regardless with a huge amount of capital or talented men, none of which Yu-Seong could even be able to imagine, could change according to the circumstances in an instant.

‘Since it would bring it a huge business profit, I would be able to bring father completely to my side and share the profit somewhat.’

Yu-Seong was confident that, in this way, he could unconditionally gain much more than trying to enter the market alone.

However, Choi Yu-Seong decided not to tell Choi Woo-Jae in the end. He already had a lot of dangerous experiences due to the butterfly effect. Such a big action would cause more than just a small change, and he couldn’t even imagine what kind of disaster it would bring.

‘Anyway, artifact makers would only appear after the appearance of a tower. I don't have to hastily change the future by trying to preoccupy talent or resources for now.’?

The plan was to refrain from mentioning information about artificial creators and new technologies that Yu-Seong already knew and snatch profits by taking the bait at exactly the right time. Choi Yu-Seong had chosen a stable path, rather than being overly greedy for a big gain, even if the profit would be less. This was because survival was his top priority, as always. Any gain would be meaningless if it brought about a fatal disaster.

“Then, is it also a secret where you’ll use the prepared mana stone?” asked Yu-Ri.

"Oh, I can tell you that,” replied Yu-Seong. For him, preparation for reawakening would be quite difficult without Jin Yu-Ri's help anyway.

"Oh... I'll listen carefully,” Yu-Ri said.

"First of all, please prepare an empty warehouse outside Seoul, or Gyeonggi-do, where people don't go as often. And we need to recruit a hypnotist who’s about D-rank. Also, I have a few more items to prepare..."

"Wait. Can I hear the conclusion first?”

"I'm going to try to Re-Awaken.”

Jin Yu-Ri's head spun quickly while driving, because she was momentarily confused. She asked, "...is that possible artificially?”

"Probably."

"For who..." Jin Yu-Ri closed her mouth tightly, no longer asking questions. In fact, even without asking, a person’s face already came to her mind. She remembered just as she asked the earlier question. Also, with the preparations requested by Choi Yu-Seong, she realized the danger of this work. She asked, “Does Ye-Ryeong know?”

“Do you remember when I was hospitalized after an accident in Mok-dong Dungeon?”

"Yes, Ye-Ryeong visited the hospital. Come to think of it, it was at that time that you asked me to prepare for mana stone."

"Yeah. I've talked about it again since then, and she is also quite determined.”

"...I'll do my best to prepare, so that no one gets hurt as much as possible," said Yu-Ri.

As expected, it was quite comfortable talking to someone as smart as Yu-Ri. Choi Yu-Seong smiled at Jin Yu-Ri. She seemed to clearly recognize what she had to do with just a few short conversations. He said gratefully, "I'm going to try my best for that, too. Thank you as always, Jin Yu-Ri.”

"Don't mention it." Jin Yu-Ri smiled.

***

Choi Min-Seok spent several days hiring people to keep an eye on Choi Yu-Seong's every move. He self-justified such actions by thinking that he didn’t need to and didn’t want to take much effort on such work. However, it was also true that he was scared to do it alone, even if it was simply watching Yu-Seong from a distance. There was just no plausible outcome from spending a few days like that.

‘Does this crazy guy have nowhere else to go besides the house and dungeon? I remember he used to drink a lot during the earlier times.’?

It was difficult to find any flaws or weaknesses of a perfect student who only traveled between school and home. While Yu-Seong continued living a perfectly flawless life where it was difficult for Min-Seok to even make up a flaw, an interesting piece of news made its way to him.

‘What? Choi Yu-Seong's car suddenly left Seoul?’

What was he up to? After agonizing for a while, Choi Min-Seok made up his mind, jumped up, and made a phone call. It was a little intuitive, but he got a hunch that the opportunity had come. He said, "Continue chasing and tracking him."

Choi Min-Seok urgently started preparing before heading outside. Then, he suddenly stopped.

‘But what can I do alone?’?

Those Min-Seok had sent to spy on Choi Yu-Seong were D-rank chase hunters at the most. Could they be helpful in case of an emergency? He shook his head inwardly. Therefore, he stomped on the ground and fell deep into thought.

'If I contact In-Young noo-nim, she'll be disappointed. Maybe even Seok-Young hyung-nim would hear about it if I called her.’

It was meaningless if Min-Seok couldn’t prove his worth and join their side. If that was the case, should he work alone? He also didn’t have much time.

‘Dang it, I have no choice but to use the secret fund.’

After some thought, Choi Min-Seok decided to hire mercenaries using the secret funds that he had hidden without anyone knowing. This took place when he had worked with Byung-Chan. Using such money seemed fine to him, since it would be difficult for one to find the source of it and track it down, so even Choi Woo-Jae wouldn’t bother as well.

Of course, Min-Seok didn't intend to use a regular mercenary. It would be okay to use them during dungeon hunting or a simple escort mission, but in this case, there might be too many difficulties and issues for them to deal with. Therefore, Choi Min-Seok decided to call some ‘dangerous’ characters.

"I need the black mercenary—Guys at A-rank level who can start right now. About..." Choi Min-Seok ordered one of his subordinates over the phone while biting his nails.

Hiring a typical A-rank mercenary for a day would cost about 1 billion won. However, in the case of black mercenaries, who were in charge of these dirty tasks, the unit price was at least two to three times higher. Moreover, if they were called in a hurry like right now, there was a high probability that the premium fee would be added.

‘I have about 20 billion won in shush funds that I’ve saved up. I might be able to call up to four people…’

However, Min-Seok’s reason for wanting to save the fund and the instinct he had to call upon extra help to do his best collided in his mind. He was conflicted.

'If I fail this time, I may not have another chance. But there’s no need to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut, right? Most of all, I might have to fight him in person.'?

Choi Min-Seok struggled to speak at the opponent's careful urging over the phone. He managed to say, "I’ll hire one, no, two of them."

Then, Choi Min-Seok hung up the phone and rushed out of the house.

'Dang, my precious shush fund. Yu-Seong, I don't know what you're up to, but you better be on your toes. I’ll drop you into hell.’

Choi Min-Seok's eyes burned with hatred.

***

On the edge of Paju, Gyeonggi-do, beyond the river, one could see the 38th parallel between South and North Korea in the distance. A luxury sedan noisily drove into an abandoned rice field.

Choi Yu-Seong nodded as he lowered the car window, checking out a fairly large wooden building that stood alone on the rice field. He said, "It's a perfect place. It's where I wanted it."

There wasn’t even a single person walking around here. There were also no buildings or farm areas that could cause harm in case of emergency.

"It wasn't easy to find. No matter how far out an area is, if there is no dungeon, most of it is used for farming," said Yu-Ri.

"Great work."

Unlike Choi Yu-Seong, who smiled slightly at Jin Yu-Ri's proud expression, Ye-Ryeong looked strangely tense while sitting right next to Yu-Ri. Noticing her expression, Yu-Seong said softly, "If you're worried, you can give up now.”

Ye-Ryeong shook her head from side to side. She clenched her fist. Then, as if shaking something off, she sighed deeply and looked right into Choi Yu-Seong's eyes over her long bangs. She said, "The only thing I'm worried about is my possibility of failure and disappointing the boss, Yu-Ri unnie, and the people around me."

"I think it's okay as long as you don't get hurt even if you fail..." said Yu-Seong.

"Me, too. Actually, it's my first time hearing about this particular method. I'm not looking forward to it anyways. Really," said Yu-Ri.

Smiling at what Choi Yu-Seong and Jin Yu-Ri just said, Ye-Ryeong nodded. She started to cheer with her arms up high. "But I want to do well if I can. As I told the boss the other day, I want to be more supportive to you.”

As always, Chae Ye-Ryeong was confident. She always gave people a reason to feel good, for some reason.