The Novel’s Villain
Chapter 22

4 Talent (1)

It was peaceful. It wasn’t his fault, but Jin-woo had degraded the Choi family in front of Chairman Lee Hee-jin. He was glad that the mental burden had disappeared when everything was resolved, and most of the links with him seemed to have been destroyed. There were some hardships as a result, but what he received was much greater.

Blood shaving training? There was no need for such a thing. The fact that information was engraved in his mind and body as soon as it was obtained has made his life rich and leisurely. Training became so easy. The only thing Jin-woo focused on was the selection of elixirs and artifacts containing abilities.

The voice over the phone sounded reliable.

—Did you receive the goods well?

“Yes, as expected from the Laiden Guild. I’m satisfied with this.”

—I’m glad you’re satisfied.

The Laiden Guild was a guild in charge of collecting, transporting, and negotiating. Still, it had played a role in interfering with the main character for money in the original story. They had good business credibility, but even if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to turn their backs on the Frontline Group.

—If you give me an order, I will risk my life to complete any mission. The loyalty of the Laiden Guild Leader Kim Woo-seop will continue until the universe is destroyed—no, even after that.

“Thank you for your hard work. It was delivered two days earlier than the promised date, so I’m going to pay you four times the price.”

—Huh! Tha-thank you!

“If you have any other difficulties, let me know.”

—Ah…what am I going to tell you…

Kim Woo-seop’s cautious voice continued.

—Actually, there was a dispute with the Golden Creed Guild about the right to access the gate. One of our guild members ran away with the certificate…

When it came to the Golden Creed Guild, he knew that the Japanese loan companies were behind it. The Laiden Guild had lacked money in the original story due to a legal dispute with the Golden Creed Guild. They lost to them and incurred huge losses, but he couldn’t let these useful talents suffer from such a crisis.

“I got it. I will send you a team of lawyers. Don’t worry about that issue and proceed with your work.”

—Thank you! I will serve you as my master for the rest of my life!

“Do you have any plans to go on vacation?”

—Yes, I’m going to take a week off now that this is over.

“I will pay for your vacation. Please enjoy yourself as much as you like.

—Sob…

Kim Woo-seop was so touched he was about to cry. Jin-woo gave him one last compliment before hanging up the phone. More rewards than expected and appropriate compliments certainly had a great effect.

[Waste Stack: 7 (Increase efficiency by 3.5%)]

Jin-woo even paid for Kim Woo-seop’s vacation because of the Waste Stack. He had been struggling to affect it, but it finally increased by spending a huge amount of money like he just did. It increased by one point, and the efficiency also went up. Efficiency referred to the organization of all the power Jin-woo had. It affected not only the power of his swordsmanship and accumulation of Mana but also the Evil Eye.

“Then…”

Jin-woo looked at the box sent over by the Laiden Guild. Inside was a sphere shining with bright green light.

Poison Crystal. It had been used by a guy called Poison Bee in the United States, and it was a divine elixir that harbored an enormous amount of poison. Originally, it was owned by the guild of capable people who captured the Hydra at the U.S. gate, but Jin-woo bought it with a large sum of money.

He gathered and absorbed various rare elixirs famous enough to be recognized just by hearing their names. He ate thousand-year-old ginseng filled with the essence of the mountain and took a herbal decoction made with various elixirs that made him burp loudly.

And now he just absorbed the energy of the Poison Crystal. There was no need for any realizations. His body remembered and moved on its own. It hadn’t been long since he mastered the Deep Breathing Technique, and his body was already full of Mana. The synergy between the great elixir and the Deep Breathing Technique was truly amazing.

As a result, poison resistance was added to the effect of the Unbreakable Skill, so most poisons would no longer affect him. There was no more need to worry about parasites or germs either.

“It’s so simple. Now I can eat anything.”

There was a great loss of nutrition in the process of refining the elixirs he bought, but now it was okay to eat them raw. That was why Jin-woo worked so hard to obtain the Poison Crystal. It was also cumbersome for him to have to entrust it to the pharmaceutical company every single time. While it was founded by Jin-woo, it was now focused on researching and chemicalizing the by-products of the Gates.

Not long ago, he founded the company called G&P. It was a company for the sake of Gates and peace, and it was growing gradually based on the huge by-products from Anyang Gate by creating a pharmaceutical company around it.

Although the Frontline Group had similar subsidiaries, its direction was different. Their main purpose was to preempt the technologies in the original work, with a bright future as they had already achieved some results. In the original work, many spies were rom China, the United States, Japan, and Europe. In this era, it was natural to use talented people as spies. But of course, everything would be shattered when they caught the eyes of the Frontline Group.

Jin-woo had bought the technologies that spies would try to steal in advance, and he preemptively recruited authoritative doctors, abandoned engineers, and talented people from the production sector. With enormous amounts of money, abundant research materials, and time, there was no way that good results wouldn’t have been achieved.

‘Research isn’t waste, but it’s also perfect for building the Waste stacks.’

He was providing more support than necessary. Even if the research failed, his Waste had accumulated, so it would still be beneficial.

He finished his training after digesting all the elixirs. Usually, martial arts built and collected power in the lower abdomen, while Mana was built in the heart, but Jin-woo’s whole body was now a vessel because his physical body and Mana became one. He felt very confident with his rapidly growing Mana.

‘The more Mana, the better.’

The main character’s weakness was his lack of Mana. The author made a weakness for his fun but then proceeded to drag him, winning easily without saving the one he should be saving. Meanwhile, could one even endure the pain after watching five episodes?

Jin-woo was in the process of raking up all the things related to magic anyway. If he continued at this rate, it seemed like he could build up enough Mana to overwhelm the Twelve Emperors even before the original story began. All the time left after his training was free time, in which he enjoyed games and movies. He was so happy to lie on the bed and the sofa, rolling around while watching TV. This was what a leisurely life should be like.

Jin-woo lay down on the sofa, holding his smartphone. The wide and fluffy sofa made him smile. However, he was startled as he unconsciously saw the first item on the search engine.

“Am I the number one search?”

He had never made such violent remarks as Lee Jin-woo in the past, and of course, he hadn’t even been involved in an accident. He wondered if it was just a person with the same name as him, so he hit the number one search query to explore.

But it was indeed himself. A large photo of him came up, and an article was posted underneath it.

‘It came out well.’

The recently updated photo was also nice. It felt like he was looking at a model. This would be the work of the Future Strategy Office. Jin-woo was able to immediately find the reason why he ranked first in the query.

[Lee Jin-woo rejects the offer to be the Sword Master’s disciple?]

[The Sword Master compliments Lee Jin-woo’s talent as natural.]

[A rare genius? Indeed…]

[Announcement of the birth of the greatest talent!]

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, he did do something similar to that when he visited the Choi’s Family Sword School. He didn’t regret it but hadn’t expected that the story would come out as an article. There were so many eyewitnesses, and the Future Strategy Office knew it, so it wasn’t really strange.

However, all he could see were positive articles. His rejection of the offer to be the Sword Master’s disciple was covered with his interpersonal appearance and extraordinary ambition. Some details were omitted, but praise for Jin-woo was subtly expressed.

asdd****: Wow, if the Sword Master asked me to become his disciple, I’d fall flat on my face, but Lee Jin-woo is different.

figi****: Why would Lee Jin-woo regret grabbing a sword at that age? It seems that Choi’s Family Sword School is really tough after watching the documentary. LOL

dodo****: I watched it, too. They practiced like crazy, and I was shocked to see blood dripping from their hands. I heard they would only treat you if your bones were exposed.

qwee****: LOL. He was a guy who Mansour called a fucking poor bastard, training for what? LMAO

wide****: What’s even funnier is that Mansour apologized for it. LOL, it’s been officially announced LOLOL

Whether the Future Strategy Office’s image improvement operation was paying off or not, Jin-woo’s previous remarks were wrapped with spirit and became a meme. He was always mentioned when there was contempt for the weak or ambition, but it was all very clean as those who cursed excessively were caught.

‘It’s good to create an even better image.’

Leaving everything else aside, it was unconditionally good because the efficiency of his new skill would improve if his honor went up. He would have to build a good image first and then maintain it.

Knock, knock—!

Yoo-na suddenly came in with a loud knock.

“Hmm? Didn’t you take your annual leave today?”

“Yes, I just stopped by to give you a report.”

“Really? Where are you going today?”

“I have an observation class with my younger brother…”

It was the day of her younger brother’s observation class at his elementary school. Since both her parents were in the hospital, Yoo-na had to go instead of them. She was wearing her usual black suit. It looked good on her, but it was too dull.

“How much time do you have left?”

“I have about two hours left to go to the class before lunch.”

Jin-woo thought for a moment and then stood up.

“Get ready to go out.”

“Yes?”

“Are you going like that?”

“I’m fine with this.”

“If you look like that, who would think that you’re Lee Jin-woo’s aide?”

Jin-woo shook his head. After all, it seemed that she would refuse it if he didn’t mention himself.

“The report…”

“That’s enough.”

Jin-woo contacted the Future Strategy Office through his cell phone. All preparations were immediately made in just one call. There was no need to wait because they were always on standby. He dressed up nicely and left with Yoo-na.

He recalled that he had a conversation with Yoo-na’s younger brother when he lent them his swimming pool. The kid was doing a lot better these days, but she said that he used to be bullied because her high salary couldn’t cover their parents’ hospital bills, so they lived a pretty poor life. Their hospital bills cost hundreds of millions a month because the treatment was only effective with drugs that could be acquired from the Gates.

Besides finances, Yoo-na also didn’t have time to take care of him because she was so busy. Of course, now, the hospital bills decreased, but her monthly salary also increased tremendously. And since Jin-woo didn’t go out that often, she had enough time to spend with him. He continued to give her paid leave when she didn’t have work to do.

‘Bullied just because he’s poor…’

It reminded him of his past. When he was in elementary and middle school, his nickname had been the Fucking Beggar. He was naturally bullied and had no will to get over it.

Looking at the cars in the underground parking lot, Jin-woo chose the black sedan. It looked like a car that the president would ride in, but it had the latest technology that wouldn’t take a scratch even if an anti-tank missile hit it. He had used this car not long ago when he went to the Choi’s Family Sword School. It was originally used only for official events like that, but it was perfect for the current situation.

Jin-woo opened the car door. The interior was luxurious, like a hotel room, and several bottles of high-quality liquor and wines were on display. Yoo-na looked anxious.

“This is quite burdensome. What’s the matter with you?”

“Exactly what I mean.”

“There’s no point in stopping you, right?”

“You got that right.”

When Yoo-na got into the car, Jin-woo took the steering wheel himself. He glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Yoo-na sitting awkwardly behind him.