NOVEL WEB chapter 577 - Villain (3)
Realizing that this world was the 41st regression of Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World, Gyeong Sein slowly dropped to the ground and started doing planks.
Uncle Dansoo, still not understanding the gravity of the situation, stayed silent for a long while.
I didn’t bother stopping them and simply waited.
I could hear Gyeong Sein counting.
“Nine, ten, eleven…”
In the distance, Bang Cheolsoo was chatting happily with Dayoung’s mother.
“Cheolsoo-ssi, you’re so fearless and brave!”
“Haha, I’ve lived a life a little different from ordinary people.”
For a moment, I seriously considered walking over and smacking the back of his head.
“Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty… Inho-ssi.”
“Yes.”
“What do we do now?”
Apparently, no matter how many planks he did, no answer came to him. Collapsing onto the ground, Gyeong Sein spoke weakly.
I pulled him back up.
“It’s fine. We have Uncle Dansoo, and you, Sein-ssi. And besides, didn’t you say you read the ORV encyclopedia ten times over?”
“What good is that? That was ORV. This is TWSA. And the 41st regression was barely even mentioned in ORV! And the only mentions were…”
I knew. All they ever explained was how terrible Yoo Joonghyuk had been.
The mere fact this was the 41st regression meant that many of the tricks Kim Dokja had used were no longer viable.
“Still, it’s not hopeless. We’re still in the early scenarios.”
“But you said it’s the 41st regression! That scumbag Yoo Joonghyuk!”
Finally realizing the seriousness, Uncle Dansoo muttered his daughter’s name under his breath.
A memory surfaced from when I was still writing the drafts.
Back when I was writing the ‘Flood Calamity’ episode, where Shin Yooseung appeared as a calamity of the 41st regression, the management had sent me a reader’s letter.
‘There’s no way Yoo Joonghyuk could be this awful. Honestly, the 41st regression Yoo Joonghyuk feels like broken characterization. Fix it immediately.’
That was basically the gist.
Back then, I thought: Who the hell do you think you are, punk? But now, thinking about it, the reader had been right. I should have just changed it back then.
“He might turn into trash eventually, but maybe he’s not irredeemable yet. Even in ORV, Yoo Joonghyuk started off like a psychopath but changed later. Maybe this Yoo Joonghyuk still has potential.”
People can’t be rewritten, but characters can.
It was absurd that I was defending the man who had tried to kill me—but at least it wasn’t time to abandon hope completely.
[One of the constellations, who has yet to reveal its modifier, looks at you.]
[Constellation, the ‘Sneaking Schemer,’ doesn’t really get what you’re saying but says that the guy in the black coat definitely looks like a villain.]
As long as we kept running scenarios, we’d inevitably run into Yoo Joonghyuk again. We couldn’t keep avoiding him forever.
Eventually, to clear the final chapter, we’d need his help.
Even more so since this wasn’t ORV but TWSA.
“From now on, if possible, I’ll be the one to deal directly with Yoo Joonghyuk. Sein-ssi, Dansoo-ajusshi—you must avoid him at all costs.”
“Will you be all right?”
“He did give me the Spirit of the Elraine Forest, after all.”
“Wasn’t that just to use you?”
“I think so too. Which is good. If he sees value in me, he won’t kill me right away.”
He must have left that because he still had expectations of me.
Besides, there was something I hadn’t told them—this 41st regression still held secrets I didn’t yet know.
Like some sort of deal made between the previous regression’s Cheon Inho and Yoo Joonghyuk.
No need to rush. I’d figure it out step by step.
[Constellation, the ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband,’ picks his nose and asks how long the filters are going to stay on.]
Just hold on a little longer, constellations.
We’re in the middle of something important here.
“Don’t get discouraged. Let’s focus on what we can do. Our pace isn’t bad at all. Heewon-ssi awakened, Uncle Dansoo can control insects, Sein-ssi has [Average Adjustment]. Sein-ssi, you went full strength build, right?”
“Yes. That’s true, but…”
Just as I thought.
A man muscular all the way down to his soul.
If Gyeong Sein could serve as our tank, then with a dealer, supporter, and tank, we had the basic formation of a party.
And my role?
“Well, with Cheon Inho as the talker, this party isn’t far off from the .”
My joke made Gyeong Sein let out a weak laugh.
Uncle Dansoo, now recovering his spirits, nodded earnestly.
“Inho-ssi is right.”
“You recovered fast, ajusshi.”
“This much is nothing.”
“You’re not secretly from another world too, are you?”
“If I got depressed over something this small, Jiyoon would be disappointed.”
Maybe the most unfairly treated person here was Uncle ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Dansoo.
He wasn’t even an avid reader of ORV—he was just a dad who read the novel because of his daughter, and now he ended up transmigrated here.
I found myself curious about what kind of life he had lived before ending up in this place.
“For now, let’s go get the hidden piece. Starting in Geumho Station gave us an advantage over others.”
“Oh! You mean we’re going after that?”
“Yes. It’s about time we grabbed it.”
There was a representative hidden piece Kim Dokja always obtained in Geumho Station.
The holy relic, Unbroken Faith.
To get that weapon, you had to first find Geumho Station’s ‘Veil of Darkness’ and enter the ‘Mole Cricket’s Treasure Vault.’
But Uncle Dansoo’s expression darkened.
“In that case, we should hurry.”
“Oh, right. Actually…”
Before he could finish, Gyeong Sein sprang to his feet.
“Some people already headed that way!”
Seriously? That’s what you should’ve led with!
***
We quickly gathered our gear and stood at the tunnel leading to Yaksu Station.
I considered waiting for Jung Heewon to wake up, but knowing that others had already left ahead made me restless.
“Don’t worry about Heewon-ssi. Go on without her,” Dayoung’s mother said, as though promising to take care of her.
Bang Cheolsoo thumped his chest and added loudly:
“I’ll protect Geumho Station!”
Dayoung’s mother nodded approvingly at him, as if he were dependable.
I glanced at the strange air between the two of them. Something was definitely changing, though I wasn’t sure if it was for better or worse.
“Let’s move.”
As we stepped into the tunnel, the voices behind us quickly faded, swallowed by darkness once more.
This time, too, Gyeong Sein was the first to voice his doubts.
“Maybe we should’ve woken Heewon-nim and come together?”
“She already had the Spirit of the Elraine Forest. She won’t wake up even if you shake her.”
“But going without a dealer… isn’t it too risky?”
“There’s no time. If they passed here twenty minutes ago, they might already be inside the Veil of Darkness.”
Honestly, I hadn’t expected anyone else to head there this early. In the main story, Kim Dokja would’ve still been busy with the Sea Serpent hidden scenario around now.
“How many went ahead?”
“Two. A man and a woman. They suddenly came down from the upper level…”
“Were they readers?”
That question was a test.
Gyeong Sein answered immediately.
“I’m not sure, but my guess is yes. Timing-wise, there aren’t any characters who should’ve been here. They were on a motorbike, too fast to see clearly…”
A motorbike? At this stage?
“Inho-ssi, you do know a boss appears inside the Veil of Darkness, right?”
“Yes. I know.”
For reference, the Veil of Darkness contained an early-game boss monster—the ‘Watcher of Darkness.’ Fortunately, ORV described a way to defeat it.
Gyeong Sein’s eyes glowed with anticipation.
“Did you happen to buy [Baek Cheong-Gang Gi] or the ‘Broken Faith’?”
I shook my head.
[Baek Cheong-Gang Gi] was sold out, and from what I just confirmed through Bihyung, no one was selling ‘Broken Faith’ either—it only had a long waiting list.
—Why the hell is everyone after that crappy item? Did some patch happen I don’t know about?
Gyeong Sein’s expression darkened.
“Then we can’t kill the Watcher of Darkness, can we? In the original, even Kim Dokja only barely beat it using [Baek Cheong-Gang Gi] and ‘Broken Faith’ together.”
“I’ll figure out a method on the way.”
“But without the Broken Faith, you can’t craft the Unbroken Faith…”
“At least we’ll secure the Random Item Box.”
The Mole Cricket’s Treasure Vault guarded by the Watcher of Darkness held, on first clear only, a Random Item Box that upgraded items.
Kim Dokja had used that box to upgrade the Broken Faith into the Unbroken Faith.
Gyeong Sein nodded slowly.
“True, you can always get the Broken Faith later. Do you remember the boss’s patterns?”
“Yes.”
The real problem would be executing them physically.
I opened the reward messages I had left untouched.
[You have 3 unclaimed rewards.]
I pressed the claim button one by one.
[You have claimed the reward for Hidden Scenario ‘Serpent Slayer.’]
[Due to intervention from another marine species, this scenario ended prematurely.]
[You have received part of the scenario reward.]
[You have obtained 2,000 coins.]
Because the final blow had gone to the Sea Commander, my reward had been halved.
But the next reward made me forget all about that disappointment.
[Your Incarnation, Jung Heewon, has slain the ‘Sea Commander.’]
[Incarnation Jung Heewon has successfully plundered the reward from someone else who was attempting Hidden Scenario ― ‘Commander Slayer.’]
[A portion of the plundered reward has been attributed to you.]
[You have obtained 4,000 coins.]
[You have obtained an additional 2,000 coins as the first plunder reward.]
Plundered rewards?
Wait.
Did that mean someone else had actually been hunting the Sea Commander?
My mind churned.
According to the main story, it should’ve been Kim Dokja who killed the Sea Commander and earned the reward.
If Kim Dokja didn’t exist in this round, then it had to be another reader.
What happened to that reader?
[Constellation, the ‘Sneaking Schemer,’ chuckles to himself.]
Sorry, fellow reader. But a 6,000-coin plunder haul was too good to pass up.
And that wasn’t even all.
[You have claimed the Constellations’ Sponsorship Reward.]
[You have received a total of 6,800 coins.]
Apparently, Jung Heewon’s awakening scene had been quite the hit in . For this early in the game, it was a hefty sum.
The great constellations—Prisoner of the Golden Headband, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, and various animal friends—had all pitched in their coins.
[You have obtained a total of 14,800 coins.]
[Current balance: 17,100C]
I was rich.
If it were Kim Dokja, he’d hoard it all miserly.
But me? I was different.
***
rlaehrwk37: Anyone here the idiot who lost their reward?
……
……
rlaehrwk37: No one?
rlaehrwk49: Then what the hell just happened?