24. Villain (1)

Middle World was very wide. But though it was vast, the quality remained the same. The protagonist, who reached the peak of solo-developing by absorbing the power of the Maze, leveled up again from the start. The hardships and training he had on Earth became meaningless.

Perhaps the author was trying to change the technique that had been mastered after being criticized for the childish technique name. He suddenly tried to write it well, but it only grew weirder. He must have eaten something weird when he was writing the Middle World arc.

‘Anyway, it’s nice here.’

Unlike the Demon Realm or Elonti, it felt like a real trip. Jin-woo was leisurely camping around. It was a honey-like break away from the city center. He forgot everything and stayed like that for about a day. It was nice to eat grilled meat while drinking Elf Liquor.

Flap-flap! Fluttering!

He looked at the lake in the distance for a while. It had only been a day, but the lake surface was overfilled. There were more fish than water now, as all the animals in the lake seemed to have multiplied and grown in size.

The smell of fish filled the air, and the water was covered with slime.

“Umm..”

Jin-woo got out of there with a quick step. There was a road that a wagon could pass over, but it was empty. Still, since it was a carriageway, Jin-woo thought he would be able to meet people soon. Middle World was a setting where humans established empires and kingdoms. Since they looked almost identical to Earthlings, there was no need to worry about their external appearance. Although Jin-woo was a bit exotic, it wasn’t an appearance that didn’t exist in the Middle-World setting.

‘Where is this place?’

He remembered the names of the important places, but the insignificant ones didn’t even appear in the original story. It was probably before the original story started. The main character crossed over to Middle-World after the battle with the demons and Japan. The feud with the high-ranking demons continued beyond Earth to the Middle World.

As he followed the road, he saw the end of the lake. He thought it was a lake, but it turned out to be a very large reservoir.

“Oh..”

He saw people there.

They were ordinary people. Looking at their weapons and outfits, they looked like guards protecting the village visible behind them. Jin-woo approached them and flinched.

“Where are you from?”

“I got lost. Do you know where I am?”

“It’s Guern Village in Alos Forest.”

It was a name he had heard before, but he couldn’t remember any specifics.

“I see. May I enter the village?”

“Are you an adventurer? Some guests are supposed to visit today..you need something to prove your identity.”

In Middle World, an adventurer was a generic term for mercenaries who traveled the world to clear dungeons or solve problems by receiving quests. At times like this, of course, bribery must be what they were looking for. When Jin-woo took out something that could be a bribe from the subspace..

“So, you are a wizard, huh? You can just go in.”

Being a wizard meant that your identity was guaranteed due to their rarity. Jin-woo, remembering the original content, just nodded and passed them.

Jin-woo entered the village. It was small, and the buildings seemed to be in some disarray. There weren’t many people, and the village itself seemed to have lost its vitality. The villagers were out farming in small fields, and a large windmill was being constructed. Despite its size, the village still had its facilities.

He thought it would be better to just look around today and return to the Sanctuary.

The villagers were having a serious meeting.

“It’s a big deal.”

“The water in the reservoir is contaminated..”

“Even the Lady has spent a lot of money to install the pump, but..”

“Ugh, it’s so fishy!”

An artifact next to the village seemed to be drawing water from the reservoir, and they were using it for their daily water. It was said that the artifact had purification magic on it, but the artifact was broken. Jin-woo was surprised to hear that.

The Emperor was an independent being outside of the dimension, and there was a setting that a dimension would be affected greatly if an Emperor invaded it. There had never been such a nuisance. Could it be that he had even the power of nuisance attached to him?

‘Well..still, this is better than the Demon Realm.’

Jin-woo just found out after conquering the Demon Realm, but it was said that the huge city of Hallas was destroyed when he first appeared. On the other hand, the Middle-World only had a reservoir contaminated. No, contamination was just a human point of view. Wouldn’t the animals have a happier time?

Jin-woo wanted to make an excuse like this as a woman with red hair rushed from afar. She was dressed better than the villagers, but not quite luxuriously. She was a rose-like beauty, with sharp eyes and a beauty mark.

“Milady.”

A man who appeared to be the captain of the guard greeted the woman. Why was a great lady in such a small town? Jin-woo looked at her information.

Lv. 30

[-D] Selena Vladi Altamia

Age: 24 years old

Favorability: 0%

Skills: [D] Politics, [E] Black Magic, [C] Land Management

Special Technique

[C] Misfortune

A natural misfortune engraved on the root of the soul. Luck doesn’t exist for her.

[D] Stubborn

She has a weed-like toughness.

Selena Vladi Altamia, a character that Jin-woo also knew well. She was a villain. After a political marriage, she gained trust from the people and poisoned her husband so that she could rule the land, then committed many of her evil deeds. In the end, she was stopped by the protagonist and his party, and she was beheaded and eaten by a monster.

She was a childhood friend of the hero Ed, the protagonist’s colleague protected by the Goddess, so there were so many frustrating scenes with her. She was the dark side of the first part of the Middle-World arc.

‘Why is that villain here?’

She was an ambitious character. By now, she should have married Count Ehorce, who had a large estate and lived in luxury. However, she was serving as a landlady in such a small town. It couldn’t have changed so much without someone intervening.

‘Who..?’

She became a villain after she made a contract with a high-ranking demon, gaining an incredible level of black magic. Her appearance was described as bizarre and creepy in the original novel, probably due to demon energy’s influence. It was a level of demon energy that stunned even the Knights of Earth, so it was bound to cause her body to deteriorate.

Jin-woo went around the village to find out more.

Altamia was originally a fairly large place, frequently visited by novice adventurers because of the dungeon in its territory. Thanks to this, it made a lot of profit, but as the aspiring warrior Ed and the Holy Sword disappeared in the dungeon, the situation changed dramatically. In addition, a dungeon suddenly appeared inside its territory, so it was now being called a cursed land.

The motive of her political marriage to Count Ehorce naturally disappeared, and she was pushed out of this place due to several overlapping problems.

“Umm...”

No matter how much he thought about it, he was the one who changed the history of the original novel. It was mostly because of the Maze, but looking back at it, it was his fault in the end. He didn’t know whether to feel sorry or glad about it.

Jin-woo looked at Selena, who was having a meeting outdoors with several villagers. Despite her notoriety in the original novel, she looked pretty good now. A villain’s face came out when she showed no expression, but that impression disappeared when she smiled. As he listened to the conversation, he realized that she was working very hard for the residents.

‘Is it because of innate misfortune?’

Did her Misfortune rank make her that way? Jin-woo thought for a moment and then thought of the golden power. It had something called a blessing, which seemed capable of erasing her misfortune.

‘It would be nice if the villain disappeared with this.’

Peace came first. It was daunting enough with just the Emperors to fight. As soon as the bandages were removed slightly, a golden air flowed out. He reached out his hand gently to her and gave her a blessing.

[The Emperor of Gold has blessed Selena Vladi Altamia.]

[The misfortune embedded deep in the soul is thrown away by the blessing.]

[The Incarnation of Evil is interested in good things.]

When he checked with the Magic Eye of Information, her Misfortune rank had disappeared. At the same time, a black airstream gushed out of her body and flew away. Jin-woo was delighted to see the misfortune escaping far away. It was surrounded by many procedures, but it was disposed of in a safe place according to the Magic Eye of Information.

‘It feels good.’

He felt like he had done something nice for the first time in a long while.

‘Now, let’s make a plan and work it out step by step.’

Jin-woo thought so. He meant it.

Really.

* * *

The Goddess Order was the most powerful religion in the Middle-World, worshipping the Goddess Luna. There were other religions, but now she was the sole god boasting enormous power and symbolizing love and mercy. The Goddess Order had a huge influence and became the state religion of the Holy Empire. The Holy Empire and the Goddess Order had a faith bordering on fanaticism. The Goddess was troubled by it, but now she couldn’t sleep anymore because of the Emperor.

This was because the Emperor, who swallowed numerous dimensions, finally reached out to the Middle-World. The Goddess was astonished. There was great confusion as evil dungeons and towers the Middle-World. She handed down the Holy Sword filled with hope, but the Holy Sword went missing with the aspiring hero. What she saw before she lost connection with the Holy Sword was a mass of darkness.

She’d been having nightmares ever since. She had insomnia, constantly having nightmares of dark, gloomy tentacles entangling her. Besides that, for some reason, she remembered a scene where she was imprisoned in a labyrinth-like place and humiliated. The Goddess was forced to make a decision.

She decided to spend an enormous amount of power to descend directly into Middle-World. Since she could not descend with her body, she created an avatar to reside in Middle-World. Thanks to that, her avatar’s physical abilities were slightly better than those of humans.

A while had passed since then.

“Can’t you move quickly?”

“Ah, yes!”

“How can a low-ranking priest slow down like this! Can’t you see your seniors moving? They are so into it!”

“I’m sorry!”

The first time she went down to Middle-World was more unreasonable than she thought. The Popes and the Saints always told her sweet words, but the reality was cold. She was almost thrown into a cell for an illegal sermon while she was preaching on the street. Such a plan to unite the powers of the Holy Empire and other nations against the Emperor hadn’t even begun.

It was only possible once she became a Saint who was officially recognized by the Holy Empire. She was forced to become a low-ranking priest and barely managed to escape the prison cell. Although she was an avatar, she still had a divine power as strong as the Goddess.

Luna sweated hard and brought the Goddess statue to the carriage. The statue didn’t look like herself, no matter how many times she looked at it. Despite the overly gorgeous face, she didn’t have such an explosive body. Glancing at the statue, she eventually heard another shout from a senior priest.

She squatted next to the carriage and ate rice balls for lunch. A senior priest approached her.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I didn’t do anything wrong, though..”

“That’s what the world is all about.”

The senior priest patted her. Luna felt tears in her eyes. She wanted to give up everything and return to Heaven, but she decided to endure it until she found out about the Emperor. Fortunately, she was able to join the procession to where she felt the energy of the Emperor. It was originally a beginner dungeon, but now it was called a cursed place. It was there that the Holy Sword disappeared.

Luna thought of immediately going to Heaven after confirming that the Emperor had crossed over.

‘If the Emperor has come, I have no choice but to issue an oracle..’

The oracle was a great message beyond revelation. They couldn’t be handed down recklessly because it could cause great confusion in the Middle-World. But if the Emperor had come to the Middle World, it would be a different matter. It was when she let out a sigh as she ate her tasteless rice balls. Something flying across the sky fell to her, drawing a parabola in the air.

Swoosh!

It landed lightly on the nape of her neck and seeped in.

[S] Misfortunehistorical

It has been over-strengthened by the Incarnation of Evil. The intensified misfortune could seriously impact the Middle-World, so a suitable place was needed to dispose of it. It just so happened that a very appropriate place was found to bury it well.

The misfortune was gone; the Incarnation of Evil sometimes did good things like this. Luna couldn’t see such information. For some reason, her body shivered. Did she catch a cold? The avatar was more tolerant than the human body, so she wasn’t supposed to get sick easily.

“Achoo!”

Luna sneezed. She thought that she must have caught a cold.

“Here we go! Let’s go! We have to be there by the end of the day.”

Only the high-ranking priests were allowed to ride the carriage. She and the senior followed the carriage on foot.

“Ah, ah, ah...”

Her nose was itchy, making her feel as if she would sneeze. After doing so for a long time, a high-ranking priest in the carriage stared at her, clicking his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, how can she be called a priest who serves Goddess Luna if she can’t take care of herself like that?”

“I know, right. Kids these days fall behind...”

“Oh, my...”

The words of the high-ranking priests became daggers that pierced her chest. It was the moment when she tried to hold back her sneeze.

“Achoo!”

A loud sneeze burst out. It was so loud that it shook the forest. The high-ranking priest clicked his tongue and closed the carriage window. Luna was so sad that she was nagged for sneezing. She wanted to excommunicate them all when she returned to Heaven.

She shook her head vigorously to stop the bad thoughts. The senior laughed at the sight.

“Your sneezing was enough to destroy the reservoir.”

It was then. Her sneezing caused leaves to fall off a branch. The branch shook, then fell off and struck the dry soil. The dry soil cracked, and the stones in the soil fell. The place where the stones fell was a huge rock. A huge rock hit by the stone shook and rolled down the slope.

Drrrrrrrrrrrr

The huge rock barely stopped in front of Luna. The senior looked at her in fright.

“A-are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I-I’m always a bit lucky.”

Luck was always with her. She was the Goddess, after all. When the procession suddenly stopped, high-ranking priests in the carriage opened the window and frowned. Then they startled and ran out of the carriage.

“Ugh, uwaaaargh!”

“Uarghh!”

They ran away, abandoning the carriage with the Goddess statue. Those in front also screamed in the same way. Luna tilted her head and looked sideways.

Pwoooosh!

Water spurted out and wet both her and her senior’s bodies. Muddy water rushed in front of them.

“It’s okay! Senior! I will stop it!”

She had enormous divine power. She created a shield with her divine power, one that wouldn’t be pierced by any means. Such muddy water was no joke. It was the moment the water touched the shield made of divine power.

Clang!

The shield flickered and broke little by little. It was only muddy water at best, so how could it damage a shield made of divine power? There was a golden glow in the water.

Her thoughts didn’t last long.

“Ea, earrrrrgh!”

“Kyaaaa!”

“C-crazy!”

A huge shoal of fish was rushing through the muddy water like waves. Luna and the senior stared blankly at sight, unable to even think of running away. A huge fish approached in front of Luna.

The shield was broken in vain.

“Ah..”

The tail of her fish smacked her.

“Laura!”

In her faded mind, the senior was growing farther away. It took a while until she came to her senses. There were scales all over her body, and it was slippery.

“Are you awake?”

“Senior..”

The senior looked at her with a sigh of relief.

“The reservoir has collapsed. There is a fuss about the fish now.”

“Fish? Oh..”

Her cheeks were red. After all, she was slapped by a fish. Tears flowed out of sorrow. She was lying in a fishy-smelling tent. She couldn’t stand it.

Luna jumped up.

“You can’t move yet. You broke your neck.”

Although the senior had fixed it with her divine magic, her neck hadn’t fully recovered yet.

“Senior, no, Elise.”

“Huh?”

“I am not Laura, but the Goddess Luna.”

The senior blinked and looked at Luna. Luna came out of the tent at her incredulous eyes. The senior followed her out of concern.

“Look carefully!”

Luna stretched her hands in a holy gesture. Soon the pillar of light would descend, and she would return to Heaven. She stayed still like that.

Pillar of light..soon..

Luna looked up at the sky. A bird dropping fell and hit her square on the forehead. She had no luck at all.

The senior sighed.

“You’re out of your mind, so you need to rest more.”

The senior forcibly laid Luna, who held a blank expression, on the bed.

“Why, why won’t it work?”

The senior shook her head as she watched Luna stretch out her hands on the bed.

‘What a pitiful kid. At least, I have to take good care of her.’

She was a nice kid, but she had gone crazy. The senior thought so.