How to Survive as a Villain in a Novel

53 – Strategy (1)

We set out to catch the ‘monster’.

The location of the guy I heard from Cheonma was surprisingly close.

A little over two hours on foot.

I calculated that I could defeat that monster and return within today.

But that calculation was thwarted by a group of people blocking the road out of nowhere.

“Hold on there.”

The hostility in that voice activated my mind’s eye.

They were wearing neat uniforms and swords attached to their waists.

These are people who have faces.

They opened their mouths first.

“… Huh? I saw you at the guesthouse a while ago?”

Was it Cheong Machinery?

On the first day of coming to this continent, the guy who belittled Cheonma and started a fight in the guest room.

I don’t remember the name exactly.

“As expected, he was a magician.”

The guy muttered.

He had a wry smile on his face as if he had been hit.

The guy approached me, swinging the sword at his waist with its sheath intact.

“Where are we going in such a hurry?”

It’s a waste just to keep my mind’s eye open like this.

There is nothing good about him losing his strength before a big event.

“I have work to do.”

Ignore it and move on to pass by.

“Wait a minute.”

He blocked my path.

I stopped three steps in front of him.

“What are we going to do?”

“Reveal the exact destination and business.”

“… Why me?”

“Because it came from the direction where the demon cultists were.”

The guy and those standing behind him took their stance.

There is a man looking down at me with his sword pointed crookedly.

And there is a woman holding a whip-like weapon.

Suppressing my sigh, I spoke to Cheong.

“At the guesthouse, you called me an outsider. But now you say I’m a devil. I think that’s contradictory.”

“Well, that’s it. After all, isn’t it possible for outsiders to become demons too?”

Mr. Cheong made a sad expression.

Perhaps it was frustrating to see that, the man behind him opened his mouth.

“Cheonggwang’s execution, let’s just suppress him, right? Even the Murim Lord will agree.”

That bastard?

These words awakened the villain in my heart, but I managed to hold back.

By the way, was that Mr. Cheong’s name Cheong Gwang? Now I remembered.

Cheonggwang shook his head at the man’s answer, but with a wry smile on his face.

“Isn’t that our sect’s way of handling things? Priest. But that blind man over there. Whatever your circumstances, we can’t just let you go. Demon cultists are ordered to stay only in designated areas.”

My brows naturally furrowed at his words.

It is the Murim Alliance that brought people without abilities, called demonic believers, to this dangerous place.

If they kicked you out because you refused to follow their rules, that would be enough. Why are they monitoring you so much?

At that time, one possibility crossed my mind.

“Are you sure you are using them as bait?”

“What?”

“We will weed out the unnecessary people, call them demons, and drive them out to the outskirts, and block the attacks of the first monsters that come out of the cracks. In the meantime, you can either reorganize your battle lines or run away to another safe place.”

I was speechless even as I spat out the words.

I was convinced when I saw their grim expressions.

They pretended to be just, but they were such mean bastards.

Cheonggwang spit out words worthy of such trash.

“So what’s wrong? You guys are just a bunch of demons.”

“……”

“If humans use animals as bait to survive, what’s the problem with that?”

When I saw his disgusting expression, something boiled inside me without me knowing.

‘Let’s calm down.’

There was no reason for me to punish them.

The role of a villain is to commit a crime, not to punish it.

I have no intention of wasting my strength on those guys.

Even the fact that I was using the Mind’s Eye was a waste.

“… Okay, so get out of the way.”

“I’ll say it again, we cannot allow demonic cultists to enter the city.”

“Because we’re not going to the city, we’re going to catch a monster.”

“What? A monster?”

Cheonggwang opened his eyes wide as if he was embarrassed.

Are you sure you don’t even know what a crack monster is?

Well, these guys are practically hiding behind the back of the Heavenly Demon and have no idea what they are doing.

On the contrary, it went well.

“I guess that brilliant Murim League doesn’t even teach those things to the young masters in the greenhouse? Follow me.

“Why are we…!”

“I’m going to keep watch to see if the demon cultists go down to the city. And isn’t this a good opportunity to see them attack the enemy? I heard that’s your goal.”

It wasn’t that difficult to trick them.

* * *

Usually, the sight of cracks in itself is repulsive.

Can we say that it looks like a structure that symbolizes something that should never exist in the world?

A space the size of a small door torn into a circle.

The mere sight of the crack, as if purple and black air were mixing together, was enough to make me feel sick.

The problem wasn’t a crack or anything like that.

“Well, what is that…”

Someone who saw something rising above the crack muttered.

An eerie, elongated human-shaped monster that looks like a mixture of white and gray.

It is a ‘boss mob’.

Various monsters pop out from the cracks.

Among them, only one emerges, the so-called leader of the rift.

They are called ‘boss mobs’.

Boss mobs are divided into several types.

Combat type specialized in massacre, ruling type specialized in territory expansion…

And the guy in front of you.

‘Is it a summoning type?’

A flat area the size of a soccer field, polluted with purple, centered around Nome. The shape proved its identity.

From noble mtl dot com

It is fortunate that the object’s unique combat power is low.

“Lee Han, I think you’d better be careful.”

Han Chae-yoon said with a serious face.

She seemed to know a lot about cracks and boss mobs.

After all, he is the head of the Black Cat Order.

Considering the status that the Black Cat Order holds in the guild world, it would be more embarrassing not to know.

However, the henchmen of the political faction were shaking as if they knew nothing about the crack and the monster.

“Death penalty… I don’t think that will work.”

“Didn’t Jang Mun-in also tell you to be careful of this discolored area? Just leave like this.”

Cheonggwang’s eyes were also trembling.

Hmm. If it stays that way, I think I’ll go back.

That doesn’t work.

I provoked him with some part.

“What?”

Cheonggwang’s expression hardened in an instant.

“Did you think I would be afraid of something so close?”

“I think so?”

“Oh, no!”

“Then did you show it?”

“What!”

“I’m planning to attack that thing within 30 minutes, but if I attack it, you’ll lose the ball. I’ll give you the go-ahead shot.”

The guy’s face is turning red and he can’t come to his senses.

Well, you probably have the pride you’ve always had.

In my view, those are the characteristics of those who are either the Murim League or the political faction.

Sure enough.

“Get ready.”

“…Death penalty?”

“I can’t give credit to a bunch of demons like this.”

They looked down at me like they were looking at bugs.

He smiled at me.

“aaah!”

They run toward the monster with screaming sounds.

One way or another, I could feel the spirit of the leaders of the political faction.

But.

– Kkuddeudeudeudeuk!

Their new statues are torn apart like mere pieces of meat.

I remember what they said.

“Humans use animals as bait to survive.”

If it had been the way it was, I would have had a hard time figuring out the distance of that force field.

Thanks to their sacrifice, it will be easy.

Han Chae-yoon, who didn’t say anything, squeezed my arm.

Oh no.

No matter how Han Chae-yoon was, I thought she showed a very immoral side.

But.

She held her breath and opened her mouth, almost exhaling.

“I love it.”

Her eyes burned red with excitement.

“…This way.”

Hmm. I get a little goosebumps.

From now on, if possible, let’s not do anything that will make Han Chae-yoon look bad.

With that promise in my mind, I approached the monster.

* * *

A higher-ranking entity of the Demon World that protrudes from a crack.

And a being turned black by the demon world.

The reason why humanity is afraid of them is simple.

「Stationmaster」

The protective shield they wear that breaks the laws of physics known to mankind.

It cannot be destroyed by any amount of destructive power,

Rather, it is a fraudulent shield that returns its destructive power back to the caster.

I had an encounter with the Academy Blackening incident a while ago, but the force field of the boss mob is on a different level.

It was so bad that not even the Heavenly Demon could break through it.

However, the fact that he was the only one remaining, guarding the crack like a floating spirit, paradoxically spoke of the strength of the Heavenly Demon.

‘It looks like the Heavenly Demon has already taken care of the rest of the monsters.’

She is truly an amazing woman.

‘I’ll stop with my impressions here.’

There is a strategy for boss mobs.

Based on the points mentioned in the original work and various experiences after being possessed, I developed a hypothesis about two methods.

One of the methods is overwhelming destructive power.

If you pour out destructive power beyond your imagination at a level that their force field cannot withstand, you can shatter the force field.

The problem is whether there really is a human race capable of producing such destructive power.

One other way.

‘Extremely delicate and quiet.’

Break through the force field that is the biggest problem in attacking them. And they fight inside the force field.

Obviously, in the original work, the stationmaster was described as a kind of ‘membrane’.

If that’s the case, they won’t be able to do destructive things or do strange things that defy the laws of physics.

“Whoa…”

I took out my sword.

This is an item borrowed from Cheonma.

The distance of the station manager has already been confirmed.

He raised his sword and charged with Blink.