I Woke Up as the Villain

Chapter 197

Chapter 197

Do-Jin hurriedly cast a Shield spell. However, as Yu-Seong expected, Do-Jin’s hastily cast spell was not able to stop his Gale Force.

Yu-Seong could see the panic in Do-Jin’s eyes as the winds produced by Gale Force flung the latter backward.

Bang-!

Do-Jin’s back slammed against the wall of the training center, and it seemed as if he would fall to his knees. However, it was Yu-Seong who cried out in astonishment instead.

‘Oh my god…’

Do-Jin was rushing toward Yu-Seong through the gaps between the raging Gale Force winds. Though wounds appeared all over Do-Jin’s body, to the point that the raging wind seemed to turn red from his free-flowing blood, Do-Jin charged forward without hesitation and thrust his sword at Yu-Seong’s throat, which was open to attack due to Yu-Seong’s focus on casting Gale Force.

“Ugh…!”

Barely avoiding Do-Jin’s sword, which passed by right in front of his eyes, Yu-Seong inhaled sharply and shifted his focus back to Do-Jin.

‘Already…?’

In spite of bearing the brunt of a passing Gale Force wind striking him head-on, Do-Jin pushed through the winds and caught up to Yu-Seong, eventually reaching Yu-Seong’s left side.

Do-Jin had moved much faster than what Yu-Seong had expected; however, it was not due to using Haste. To be precise, Do-Jin’s movements had not accelerated; rather, they had become more compact and concise. Each step Do-Jin took, and even the smallest movements of his shoulder muscles, were surprisingly refined and neatly compressed.

‘I can't avoid this…!’?

Yu-Seong tried to muster a defense by raising his spear, but Do-Jin’s sword passed his gap-riddled defenses and pierced his abdomen.

“… Young master!”

“Yu-Seong oppa!”

Right when Jin Do-Yoon and Jin Yu-Ri’s startled shouts reached his ears, Yu-Seong felt a burning pain rise from his belly button to the top of his head.

‘You bastard…’?

If Yu-Seong had not slightly deflected the tip of Do-Jin’s sword with his spear at the last moment, Do-Jin would have stabbed a critical area.

Do-Jin’s gaze was cold. He quickly pulled his sword out of Yu-Seong’s abdomen, then spun around and struck at Yu-Seong’s neck. This move was also thoroughly concise and nearly flawless.

Based on his extreme focus, which he had trained to the limit during his training session with Bak Ok-Rye, Yu-Seong knew that he would not be able to avoid Do-Jin’s sword. He was well aware of the sword skill that Do-Jin was currently using, a skill that was difficult to block or avoid.

‘Flawless Sword… has he already perfected it?’

It was the very foundation of Do-Jin’s swordsmanship, the sword art that he had used when he had defeated a Demon King in his previous world. It was a sword art that had no form or technique, unlike normal martial arts.

At the beginning of the spar, Do-Jin had not reached this high of a mastery in his Flawless Sword. While his techniques had appeared perfect at a first glance, they had in fact been lacking in a few key points, so Yu-Seong had been able to handle him relatively easily; however, it appeared that Do-Jin’s skill level had further developed during their battle.

‘Well, he is the main character after all… and crises make one grow quicker, right?’

Though this reality was unfortunate for Yu-Seong, it was unavoidable.

‘Right, Do-Jin is just regaining his previous strength and abilities.’

Gale Force was a powerful skill, but that was also why it could be helpful to Do-Jin instead. Yu-Seong could not afford a half-assed approach—just like Do-Jin, he had to act with the intention of killing his opponent.

‘Too bad I can’t use Flawless Sword like Do-Jin does.’

In terms of both magic and the ability to handle weapons, he was not Do-Jin’s match. Thus, it was close to impossible for Yu-Seong to beat the regressor. Luckily, Yu-Seong could at least move faster and in a more sophisticated manner than Do-Jin could.

This long, drawn-out thought passed through Yu-Seong’s mind in a split second. Feeling the cold edge of Do-Jin’s sword approaching the nape of his neck, Yu-Seong poured out all he had.

‘Activate Wind Thunder Dragon God Art.’?

Rumble-!

The sound of thunder and lightning filled the training center, and right as the tip of Do-Jin’s sword touched his neck, Yu-Seong disappeared.

With not an ounce of surprise in his eyes, Do-Jin shifted his stance to the left, threw out his sword, and widened the distance between them.

Bang-!

Swinging his spear in a wide arc, Yu-Seong cut Do-Jin’s sword in half! With lightning crackling and swirling around his body as if flowing together with his Gale Force winds, he shot upward. Without any hesitation, he moved together with the air currents and reengaged Do-Jin.

From his subspace, Do-Jin took out a new sword and smiled as he unleashed Flawless Sword once more.

Bang-!

With another explosion, Do-Jin was pushed back, and a huge flame rose in front of Yu-Seong’s eyes.

Without any hesitation, Yu-Seong rushed into the flame and broke through. Despite having gone through the flame, he did not have a single burn mark.

As his eyes lit with blue flames, the distinctive feature of Insight, Do-Jin could not help but exclaim with admiration when he understood the movements of the wind flowing around Yu-Seong.

‘In that short moment, he scattered and neutralized my flames with his wind.’

Do-Jin was surprised and could not help but think…had he ever met a person like Yu-Seong in his previous world or in this world?

Although he had experienced despair when he first faced the overwhelmingly powerful Demon King and shuddered at the deep darkness that the Demon King exuded, Do-Jin had never experienced anyone ever chasing him at such terrifying speed.

‘His attacks are relentless!’

Do-Jin had attained full mastery Flawless Sword, which he had planned to do for a while, but despite awakening the beast within him and striving with all his might, Do-Jin realized that he could no longer keep up with Yu-Seong’s crazy movement speed. He realized that it would be difficult to block all of Yu-Seong’s spear attacks.

At that moment, Do-Jin acknowledged that if the Heavens had sent someone down to Earth to be his opponent, that someone was definitely Yu-Seong.

‘Yes, you’re my rival…!’

While these thoughts were quickly passing through Do-Jin’s mind, right in front of his eyes, he saw Yu-Seong charging at him with the spear pulled back, ready to launch an attack.

‘It’s coming.’

Based on Yu-Seong’s breakneck speed and familiar-looking stance, Do-Jin knew that Yu-Seong’s ultimate move, Lance Charge, was coming.

Did Do-Jin have a sword skill to withstand and confront such an ultimate move head-on? No, he did not; however, he did not show any sign of distress. There was no need to panic. No matter how fast and strong Yu-Seong’s attack was, it could be evaded with a single step, and it could be deflected with a single, short blow.

Do-Jin closed his eyes and focused all his senses on the tip of his sword and the sound of the tearing atmosphere as his sword moved through space. Yu-Seong’s movement was seemingly as fast as lightning, but the direction from which it was approaching Do-Jin could be discerned just by the sound Yu-Seong gave off.

‘It’s here.’

Do-Jin felt Yu-Seong’s spear touch the tip of his sword, and at that moment, he saw the image of a lightning bolt striking down.

The image of the sword moving in his mind was not strong, nor was it quick. However, Do-Jin’s sword accurately met the path of Yu-Seong’s lightning, then continued up that path, slashing through the lightning.

Do-Jin envisioned the move in his mind, then proceeded to make it a reality. He moved and twisted naturally with the flow of the raging wind as he slashed downward with his sword.

‘Flawless Sword, Absolute Lightning.’

Right before their weapons collided, Yu-Seong gasped as he saw Do-Jin’s mysterious and astonishing movement unfold in slow-motion.

‘Lightning…’

His attack was being cut apart. The problem was that, having launched an all-out attack with his spear, Yu-Seong could no longer pull back, no matter what. This meant that there was only one way out for him.

Like Do-Jin, Yu-Seong had to overcome his limits at this critical moment.

‘The Wind Thunder Dragon God Art is not just about pouring in power and letting the technique guide your swing…’

He had to be the one controlling the technique.

Yu-Seong’s mental strength, which he had reinforced during his training sessions with Bak Ok-Rye; his physical strength, which was based on his solid chakra; and his constant technical training shone through at that moment.

‘Wind Thunder Dragon God Art — Lance Charge, Coiling and Rising Snake!’

To cut off Do-Jin’s technique, Yu-Seong’s spear wrapped around the approaching sword and swung upward!

The winding, snake-like Lance Charge was an esoteric technique, one of the forms of the Magic Spear. As it unfolded, the two weapons rapidly intertwined, with sparks flying out in all directions.

Clang-!

Everything happened in a flash, but for the two of them, the exchange was long and drawn out.

In the end, Yu-Seong’s spear rose like lightning as it grazed Do-Jin’s neck. Do-Jin stiffened, with Yu-Seong’s spear now resting on his shoulder.

At the same time, Do-Jin’s sword, which Yu-Seong had expected to be near the ground based on its trajectory, instead pointed upward, having stopped on the left side of Yu-Seong’s neck.

Both of them stopped moving. Between them, hot, pure-white steam rose in the air, slowly scattering away.

A long silence ensued.

They stood still, both with their weapons still poised to cut off the opponent’s head, until Do-Jin finally broke the silence.

“Choi Yu-Seong.”

“…”

A silent moment later, cracks began to form on Do-Jin’s sword.

Crack-!

Then, half of Do-Jin’s sword shattered into pieces, falling to the ground.

Do-Jin watched this happen with a calm expression on his face. Then, he spoke up again.

“… You’re the attack leader.”

Yu-Seong smiled at Do-Jin and nodded.

“The position was mine from the start.”

At the same time, Yu-Seong staggered and collapsed on his side.

“Young master…!”

Jin Do-Yoon rushed in and quickly supported Yu-Seong.

“Hmpf…”

Do-Jin snorted coldly. He turned his back at Yu-Seong and looked at his broken sword.

‘In the end, I couldn’t stop his lightning.’

He had expected Yu-Seong’s lightning to follow a straight, downward path. Instead, it had risen up like a snake about to bite its prey, thoroughly smashing and ruining his sword.

After staring at his broken sword for a long time, Do-Jin trudged past Ah-Rin.

“Do-Jin, are you okay!?” With a concerned expression, Ah-Rin caught up with Do-Jin.

Do-Jin nodded his head heavily. “Just this once.”

“What?”

“I’m not the kind of weakling who’ll crumble just from one loss.”

“Ah…” Ah-Rin exclaimed.

Do-Jin smiled.

As a regressor, he had traversed a long and difficult path, so one defeat was not something that would throw him into despair.

Even in this world, he did not expect to always be victorious. Hadn’t he felt despair when he had first seen the mighty Demon King? However, in the end, Do-Jin was confident he would come out on top.

“Honestly, my pride took a hit… but that’s about it.”

He felt bad, but he had to admit the truth: Yu-Seong was indeed his rival. Hence, Do-Jin could accept the result.

“Next time, I will win.”

“You… you’re a much more thoughtful guy than I thought, aren’t you?” Ah-Rin said as she clenched her fists tightly in admiration over Do-Jin’s unexpected reaction. “Okay, then I shall also work hard and not lose out until the day our Eclipse surpasses the Comet Guild!”

“Naturally, vice president. That is your role.”

Do-Jin’s role was to always lead the way, stand at the forefront, and overwhelm the opponent. Each had their own path.

As Do-Jin organized his thoughts in this way, a cold, sharp gaze settled in his eyes as a voice filled with deep resentment rang in his mind.

‘Choi Yu-Seong… will he become another barrier in my pursuit to kill Choi Woo-Jae?’

Hoping that this scenario would not come to pass, Do-Jin headed outside the training center.

***

The hospital required Yu-Seong to recuperate for at least two weeks. No matter how good his physical ability was as a player, Yu-Seong had a hole in his abdomen and accumulated fatigue and injuries throughout his body. Even with the help of players with considerable healing abilities, Yu-Seong needed time to heal naturally.

If it had been the Yu-Seong of the past, he would have sighed and looked down helplessly at his hospital bed as he waited for time to pass by.

‘But it’s different now.’

Yu-Seong summoned the Green Wind Spirit Cat and received additional healing assistance whenever there was no one watching him. As a result, he recovered from all his wounds and fatigue and left his hospital bed in a mere two days!

‘As expected, the effect of staying up all night!’

Even the doctor who had forced him to rest was surprised by this miraculous recovery, which made Yu-Seong all the prouder for having obtained the Green Wind Spirit Cat from the Tower of Heaven.

1. The raws say “half circle,” but that would put Do-Jin’s back toward Yu-Seong.