The Novel’s Villain

[The test run didn’t work out that great, will give it one more chance, hopefully, it does better this time around.]

54. Vacation (1)

The universe naturally achieved peace without needing further intervention from Jin-woo.

Demons had already infiltrated the depths of the Lainez Kingdom and the Space Federation. By replacing the corrupt bureaucrats with the Dopplo clan, those two factions became easier to control from behind the scenes.

Moreover, the players were having a lot of fun in the Sci-Fi World. Moreover, while it was sad for the parties involved, Latica and Serra’s tragic story was quite well-received.

However, although players were trying to help advance their relationship, it was counterproductive.

Latica was still battling Lear, and Serra was still reflecting on her past. Still, the situation was much better than before.

The rest was up to the eldest of the two.

‘That aside, everything’s running smoothly.’

There was no longer any other emperor in the universe, eliminating the need for Jin-woo to step up any further. He knew his subordinates could handle whatever problem was left or would arise from here on out.

Following that belief, he went for a fairly long vacation in Another Earth, thinking he could rest more comfortably there than on Earth.

Another difference that factored in his decision was that Richard was Another Earth’s president.

Since he owed him a lot, he gave him a particularly capable fairy. Unlike the others, she was in her human form, making her a great bodyguard and efficient secretary.

Richard’s expression was strange, almost as if he couldn’t decide whether to like his gift or be scared of her, but it didn’t matter. She was sure to help him anyway.

‘It’s been a long time since I last visited the Sanctuary.’

Jin-woo made his way to it, immediately finding Hee-yeon sitting at her desk and organizing the contents of the meeting. Zhuge Mi-xian was with her too, conversing with her while writing documents. She had joined the Golden Women’s Association as well.

“How should I proceed with this, senior?”

“Ah, sort it out and upload it.”

“Alright.”

Zhuge Mi-xian treated her like her higher-up.

Jin-woo looked at Hee-yeon for a moment, feeling like he hadn’t seen her in so long. She should’ve been in the Sci-Fi World, but he couldn’t remember.

‘Didn’t Faro say she couldn’t detect her either?’

Faro, a recent addition to the Golden Women’s Association, hardly sensed her presence, saying she was almost like air. It was because of that that she felt the need to treat her like she was her superior.

The Cockroach Queen soon showed up with her car.

“Senior Hee-yeon, I found a planet worth traveling to.”

“A planet? No need to go that far…”

At that moment, he remembered hearing Yoo-na say their organization’s members planned on going on a trip. Since Zhuge Mi-xian and Faro were newcomers, they set it in motion to strengthen their friendship.

However, she apparently had to collect fees separately among them since it cost more than they expected.

“I’ll provide the funds,” Jin-woo said, announcing his presence. As everyone’s attention turned to him, Hee-yeon smiled.

“How was your vacation?”

“Uhh… Just…”

He hesitated.

It was so bad it was hard to say it was fun.

He didn’t tell anyone where he was going since he wanted to rest without anyone interrupting him, leaving everyone clueless about his location. Even Yoo-na was only given instructions about how to contact him in case of emergencies.

Jin-woo thought doing that would ensure he’d be able to have a peaceful vacation.

But that plan backfired.

‘Do I magnetize danger and incidents?’

It was bizarre.

He didn’t have bad luck, but he became involved in several incidents as soon as he left.

Destroying gangs and annihilating terrorist organizations were some of the most common occurrences.

When he arrived, the whole of America was already on the verge of disappearing. It was as if he saved Earth twice, like in the movies.

‘Leaving home is hard…’

In the end, he decided it was best to stay locked up in the Sanctuary or his house.

“Have fun, everyone.”

Jin-woo moved to the study in the Sanctuary, which Hee-yeon, Zhuge Mi-xian, and Se-yeon also used as a studio.

Taking a seat in one of the chairs, he read through the setting book he had printed.

No matter how much he looked at it, it didn’t seem right. Yeong-hoon said he was planning to refine it before releasing it, but based on its current state, he would most likely feel ashamed of himself if he saw it.

‘It’s still unique compared to the existing fantasy novels, at least.’

He had improved a lot since he had written quite a lot of novels already.

The book in his hand was about a Korean protagonist, though the author added unique settings to the heroes and other characters that he had seen when he was young. It was also mixed with an academic setting, which made Jin-woo feel a little strange.

He seemed to be trying different things.

The setting book was, of course, full of gaps. The background settings were okay, but there were quite a bit of empty spaces in the character settings.

Not even its main character had been properly detailed.

‘How is this possible?’

Jin-woo shook his head and put it down on the desk. The reason why his anxiety wouldn’t go away even now was the weak power emanating from it. However, when he analyzed its contents, it seemed nothing out of the ordinary.

Yoo-na walked up to him while he was deep in thought.

“So this is where you are.”

“Long time no see.”

“I heard from Richard. Your vacation didn’t feel like a vacation at all, did it? I never thought that would happen.”

“Well, it’s always been like that.”

Instead of lazing around, he ended up having to save the Earth a second time, which was unusual.

“How about having a good rest at home instead?”

Jin-woo nodded.

“Are you all going on a trip together?”

“Yes, would you like to go with us? Everyone would love it if you joined.”

“That’s alright. I already know what’ll happen if I come.”

“You’re right.”

Yoo-na strongly agreed.

The two went home.

He felt like he had forgotten something, but Jin-woo decided to ignore it.

For once, he’d like to rest without worrying about anything.

* * *

Hee-yeon organized her materials in the Sanctuary’s study. The Golden Women’s Association members all had strong personalities, making it difficult to pick a destination.

‘I’m glad we finally reached a decision.’

She placed a sheet of paper with travel plans on the desk. In charge of their entertainment department, Luna carefully crafted it based on everyone’s opinions.

Glancing at it, she already thought it would be fun.

Hee-yeon used to have no friends and knew nothing about what ordinary life was like.

She never went on field trips when she was in school since she could never let go of her sword. Now, however, she could call all of the Golden Women’s Association members her friends. She even gained quite interesting memories when they went to Gangwon-do.

‘If Jin-woo comes with us…’

Flustered, she covered her burning cheeks with her hand. Her cognitive delusion seemed to have grown stronger since she had been spending more time with Se-yeon lately.

Hee-yeon quickly organized the itinerary and the rest of her paperwork, accidentally including Jin-woo’s setting book into the plan she was going to give to everyone without her noticing.

On the day of the trip, the Golden Women’s Association members gathered at the Sanctuary.

Everyone was dressed differently than usual. They all wore the Golden Women’s Association uniform, which looked like a fashionable training suit.

“Take this.”

“Let me give you a hand.”

“Ah! Thank you.”

When Hee-yeon handed out their itinerary, Vanity helped her while pretending to be calm. The truth was she couldn’t sleep properly last night because of her excitement.

Maze tilted her head as she looked at the piece of paper she received.

“What’s this?”

She didn’t receive the plan but the setting book. Just as she held it up to show the others, a light flashed from it.

“Oh, look! Shiny.”

“… I don’t think that’s normal,” Arcana warned her as she waved it around. Curiously, she tried to touch the source of the light.

Swoooosh!

“I’m stuck! It’s sucking me in!”

Its brilliance grew until it turned into a large opening, vacuuming in Maze’s body like a black hole.

“I’m in trouble! Help!”

“M-Maze?!”

Though startled, Luna grabbed and pulled her away immediately, but its suction power was far too strong. She was completely devoured by it, while Luna’s upper body was already inside it as well.

“Hold onto her!” Arcana shouted as she wrapped her arms around Luna’s leg.

All of the Golden Women’s Association members held and pulled on Arcana and Luna, exerting enough force to hold the two in place.

“There’s something inside it!”

“Argh! Everyone, pull harder!”

Maze had no sense of danger at all, but Luna was different. She felt ominous, her instincts telling her entering it would be catastrophic.

The light continued growing brighter, eventually becoming strong enough to wrap around all of them. What made matters worse was that its suction power also became a lot more powerful.

“Ugh!”

Heo-young unleashed her power, causing her muscles to swell. With her strength, she gave them a chance to endure longer.

“We’ll be fine! It’s bearable!” She shouted, her dark mana soaring. It took a little while, but it seemed to be able to take it out little by little.

At that moment, The Heavenly Demon Supreme came out of the kitchen carrying packed lunches in both hands. He had become a culinary master after being taught by Vanity.

“Let’s all eat on the way… Huh?”

The lunchboxes in his hands burst open and began to fly along. He was being sucked in as well, but he hurriedly cast magic that allowed him to stick to the ground.

However, he had already caused too much damage. The lunchboxes he brought accelerated, reaching a high speed before crashing against Vanity’s head.

Her body leaned forward due to the impact.

At that moment, she made eye contact with him.

“Ugh! Heavenly Demon Supreme-”

Those were her last words before being sucked into the light. Right after that, the hole disappeared.

Silence fell on the room.

The Heavenly Demon Supreme stared blankly at the scene.

“Ah…”

Cold sweat ran down his body.

He had made a grave mistake.

“I’m doomed,” The Heavenly Demon Supreme said unknowingly, his eyes darkening.

* * *

Jin-woo rested leisurely. Since Yoo-na went on their sorority’s trip as well, nobody was around to disturb him.

And he specifically ordered everyone not to contact him unless the situation’s dire enough to risk planetary devastation.

“This is nice.”

There was certainly no place like home.

He decided to stop wandering around and stay in his own house instead, drinking beer while watching entertainment shows and dramas he missed out on.

In doing so, he lessened the chances of accidents happening.

He didn’t want to block nuclear bombs with his bare body anymore. It was very annoying.

“Ahh…”

As Jin-woo immersed himself in the drama, he heard knocks coming from the door.

With Yoo-na on a trip, there were few people left that would visit his home in person.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

The General Manager freely entered his house. He could visit whenever he wanted to, but even so, he rarely came.

“What’s the matter? If this isn’t urgent…”

“The Golden Women’s Association disappeared.”

“Huh?”

Jin-woo tilted his head in confusion.

‘Did they get abducted?’

Together, they were all far too strong for that to happen. After all, there were three Emperor-level beings among them.

The General Manager continued.

“The Heavenly Demon Supreme, who witnessed the scene, said a strange light enveloped them, sucking them into a hole. But it didn’t seem to be a portal, apparently. We’ve locked down the site for now.”

He didn’t quite understand it, but it wasn’t normal.

Did an Emperor-level entity break into the Sanctuary?

No, that was unlikely.

‘I’ll have to see it for myself.’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

Jin-woo immediately moved to the Sanctuary.

Everyone’s luggage had been left behind, and their plans were scattered on the floor. Among them was a piece of paper glowing dimly.

It was the setting book.

‘I left it on my desk.’

He completely forgot about it.

Several of its pages were lying on the floor, all of which emitted a dim light.

‘Your authority has grown.’

Picking them all up, he felt great power emanating from it. It was as if it had become an Emperor itself.

However, when it reached his hands, its brilliance slowly disappeared.

“This…”

Its contents had changed, with its many gaps now gradually being engraved with letters.

Both the background and characters were affected, but the latter was completed first.

“Choi Hee-yeon…?”

[Name: Choi Hee-yeon

Gender: Female

Age: 17

The Ace of Temple High School’s Kendo Club.

A lover of cute things despite her cool personality, Hee-yeon is a sword genius who has won all national competitions. She is quite popular with both genders.

However, she’s no ordinary high school student.

She has a stellar ability known as Holy Power.]

Hee-yeon became the character with an extremely cheesy background.

Jin-woo looked at the setting book with the Magic Eye of Information.

[-SSS] Emperor of Settings

‘It hopes to create an entire world.’

It used to be just an ordinary piece of literature, but its strong will to complete the unfinished world written on it gave birth to the Emperor of Settings. Using the members of the Golden Women’s Association, it had finally achieved its goal.

External interference was impossible, but if he used the power of domination, he might be able to interfere with it.

“I think so, at least…”

His vacation ended here.

* * *

The Sanctuary was always noisy, which was why Jin-woo never thought he would see it empty. The sight made him feel much worse than expected.

Jin-woo unleashed the power of domination while looking at the setting book, resisting the light it produced.

Due to its high rank, he couldn’t fully control it, but he could at least insert himself into its setting.

The unfinished main character page was filled with black burning letters.

[Protagonist: Lee Jin-woo]

Jin-woo took the lead role.

‘I want to change more, but…’

He couldn’t alter it all since it might prove dangerous for those who were already inside. Its world was already complete, after all. It would be better to enter it and take a quick look around first.

Jin-woo brought the setting book to the center of the Sanctuary.

Using the power of domination to break through its seal, a crack in space appeared.

[The door to the Settings World has been registered in the Sanctuary.]

The rift soon became a portal he could freely open or close whenever he needed.

‘I didn’t think it’d be like this…’

On the contrary, after thinking about it for a while, he realized it had always been like this.

Jin-woo let out a small sigh and entered the portal.

Normally, portals would send their users through a passage, making them fall to their destination point, but this one was different. Light wrapped around his body, causing it to disappear and transmit to another place.

“Where am I?”

Jin-woo woke up in an ordinary room. He was lying on the bed, the sun shining through the curtains. He immediately got up.

He was wearing plain pajamas.

‘Hmm…’

When was the last time he wore such cheap clothes?

The room he was in was normal and compact. It had a computer, a wardrobe, a tissue on the desk, and several textbooks laid out randomly.

Jin-woo approached the mirror.

“I look younger.”

This was the second time this had happened, so he wasn’t that surprised anymore. Jin-woo was the main character, which meant the power of setting could work on him to an extent.

Returning to the Sanctuary would revert his body to its original form.

Nevertheless, though his height was the same, he felt a lot more youthful.

Other than that, nothing had changed. He was able to freely use not only his powers but also his existing subspaces.

It was because of the power of domination.

He took out the setting book, finding letters slowly being engraved on a newly added page, creating the beginnings of a novel.

[Lee Jin-woo opened his eyes.]

“Weird…”

It looked like Yeong-hoon’s past penmanship.

The novel was being written around Jin-woo, though it didn’t feel anything special since it was just like a recording.

Looking around, he found uniforms in the closet.

‘Is this the main character’s house?’

He turned on the computer and searched through it for a few minutes to gather information.

From what he had seen, it looked like he was still in a world similar to Earth.

‘Nothing new, then.’

Compared to the Sci-Fi World, this place was ordinary.

Jin-woo was the Emperor who ruled the universe. Mundane dimensions could no longer faze him.

Thud thud thud!

While he was wallowing in his thoughts, he heard footsteps approaching from outside.

Bump!

The door opened, and a girl with silver hair entered. She was wearing a middle school uniform.

“Oh! Brother! You’re awake!”

Jin-woo was bewildered.

Luna smiled softly at him after calling him her brother. The name ‘Luna’ was written on her uniform.

“Luna?”

“Are you still sleepy? Do you want me to give you a massage, hmm?”

“Hmm…”

“Hurry up and come down! Breakfast is ready!”

He followed her down to the dining room on the first floor, finding food laid out on the table.

“No way… Did you cook all of this?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

That surprised him so much he almost fell down. He couldn’t bring himself to believe she knew how to cook. That just didn’t make any sense.

“Are you okay, brother? Do you want me to feed you?”

“…”

“Hehehe! As expected, I’ll have to take care of you.”

Luna kept spouting cheesy lines, creating dark memories in his mind. He clenched his fists.

“… No.”

The Emperor of Settings was the worst of all the Emperors he had ever faced.

Jin-woo felt afraid.

This world was definitely crazy.