The Novel’s Villain

66. The God of Evil Hides His Power (1)

Jin-woo wasn’t in a rush.

The Northern World and the Norse gods couldn’t damage the dimensions Jin-woo ruled since they already had a defense system installed. The only place they could invade was Olympus, his territory in the World of Gods, and Asgard was located not too far to the north.

The region the Olympian gods reigned over was allegedly the richest in this dimension since the energy permeating through its atmosphere was harmonious and had no bias. Its previous owners exuded the strongest influence. As a result, allowing them to enjoy immense power.

The North, on the other hand, was quite barren.

It had a diverse range of weather, but its energy wasn’t as harmonious due to the yin enveloping it. Midgard alone had animals and plants abound that had been turned into monstrosities. On the contrary, the West was rumored to be full of yang.

‘Anyway…’

This was a pretty interesting stage.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to enjoy himself here.

Ah-young skillfully picked the items dropped by the wolves. She seemed to have helped the wounded solely for the purpose of acquiring new skills, but her personality still seemed okay.

Jin-woo approached the trembling girl with the injured leg, who was the only one that survived among the critically damaged people. As he did, Ah-young pointed her rusty iron sword at him.

She was quite wary of him. As a regressor, she already knew the events that were about to happen and already happened.

Jin-woo was the only unaccounted variable.

He locked gazes with her cold eyes. Since she seemed to have had quite a bit of experience before regressing, he decided to act like a god with a hidden identity.

‘I always did want to try it, given the opportunity.’

The main character that hides his power.

It didn’t sound as nerdy as God of Evil.

Jin-woo raised his hands in submission.

“I’m a doctor. Do you know this person?”

“… A doctor?”

“Her wounds are deep. We need to act now.”

“Show me your information window.”

“Information window?”

“Yes. All you have to do is reach out with your hand and think of those words.” She replied, her sword still aimed at him. To be fair, he did look a bit suspicious. His clothes were cleaner and more appropriate than the others.

Using the power of domination, he gained authority over the information window. He conquered it so perfectly the gods of this region wouldn’t notice even if they checked him themselves.

‘Time to alter it.’

He rewrote its content while ensuring it was believable.

Level: 1

Name: Lee Jin-woo

Title: Good Surgeon

*Abilities

Force: F-

Agility: F-

Spirit: F-

Equipment: Neat Outfit

Special Abilities:

[E+] Medical Knowledge

Due to the user’s surgeon profession, he’s equipped with specialized medical knowledge.

NEW: [E] Wound Recovery

The user can use his spiritual energy to heal wounds.

*Ability Acquisition Conditions: Medical knowledge, concern for the wounded, and a good heart.

He came up with reasonable stats for his character swiftly on the spot.

Ah-young took a look at his information window without lowering her guard.

“A doctor… I see.” She uttered, withdrawing her sword.

Finally freed from her blade, Jin-woo approached the wounded female. The Valkyrie’s feathers were so sharp they cleanly cut through her skin. Ah-young looked at Jin-woo, fell in thought for a moment, then came to his side.

“You’ve acquired a new skill… Try it. You just have to focus.”

He nodded in reply, immediately doing as instructed. Blue light emanated from his hand and soon settled into her wound, slowly healing it.

“T-thank you.”

The female student, Kwak Mi-sun, bowed to him. She was an ordinary college student with no unique traits.

“What should we do now?” She said, trembling with anxiety.

Ah-young looked at Mi-sun and Jin-woo, then turned around. Mi-sun hastily grabbed onto her.

“E-excuse me! Um, where are you going?”

“… I’m better off alone.”

“But if you encounter those monsters again…”

“You’d only be a burden.”

Ah-young’s reply caused her to bite her lips.

‘Now that I thought about it…’

These days, cold-hearted regressors that showed no emotions were the trend, but Ah-young didn’t seem to be one of them. Jin-woo could feel how torn she was about this decision.

Her internal conflict was enough proof of her good heart. Unfortunately, to fully utilize her traits as a regressor, it would be best for her to move alone since doing so would allow her to monopolize useful skills and items.

If she were the main character of a novel, she would recklessly recruit others. However, from Jin-woo’s perspective, it would be surprising if she were to do that despite all the experiences she had gone through.

He looked at her intently.

“But wouldn’t three be better than one? I don’t know what I’m going to do with her.”

His words startled Mi-sun.

Ah-young, who had walked a few steps away from them, sighed and went back to them.

“If you get in the way, I’ll leave you behind. Don’t trust anyone. Not even yourself.” She said, modifying her plan.

Jin-woo, Ah-young, and Mi-sun left together.

There were quite a few monsters in the forest, but they attacked people only at night, giving them time for maintenance and recovery during the day.

Ah-young moved separately during those hours, seemingly undergoing a secret training method until she became incomparably powerful. She never did show her information window, but he could see through everything.

After all, he had awesome cheats!

She returned by sunset, holding a rabbit. The sight made Mi-sun quite happy.

“That’s one delicious catch.”

Ah-young looked over at Jin-woo, who had made a functioning tent using tree branches and leaves. It had been about three days since they had been together, and he had been in charge of all the food since then.

Mi-sun proved completely useless. More accurately, she didn’t even try even though Ah-young tried to teach her survival skills in her own way.

“I-I don’t know if I can do that…” She often said, pretending to be weak.

It had been a long time since such a toxic character appeared. Normally, Jin-woo would have dealt with it right away, but he just observed leisurely this time. He was currently playing the role of an adept surgeon, after all.

After skinning and cleaning the hunt for the day, he started a fire. Ah-young watched him closely, her curiosity evident in her eyes.

“You move as if you know what you’re doing. Do doctors learn those things?”

“I’m a Bear Grylls fan. I’ve watched the entire series of ‘Confrontation with Nature,’ but I never thought it would be so helpful.”

He grilled rabbit meat and shared it evenly, then prepared the leftover parts for preservation.

Ah-young chewed on her portion slowly and firmly while Mi-sun ate hers up swiftly. She looked at the two afterward.

He handed her the food he was holding.

“Would you like some more?”

“Would that be okay?”

“Yes.”

After gratefully accepting his offer, she ate it in an instant. Ah-young just looked at him, frustrated.

“… You should take care of yourself first before taking care of others.”

“Haha, I’ve never had a hearty appetite anyway.”

“You’re not going to live that long.”

“I hear that a lot.”

Ah-young sighed at his reply, then giggled for the first time. Mi-sun looked at the two with a grim expression.

Crunch!

Their meal was interrupted by the presence of individuals around them.

The female regressor’s eyes lit up sharply. She quietly lifted her sword.

“Is it a monster? I don’t like this!”

“Shh…”

“Mmmfh!”

She hastily covered Mi-sun’s mouth the moment she shouted. The sun was still up. Monsters wouldn’t appear this early in the day, which could only mean the ones around them were humans. There seemed to be more than ten of them, all of them armed with equipment obtained by hunting monsters.

“Oh, this place looks nice.” One of them grinned, holding the best sword in their arsenal. It had only been three days, but the people were already acting quite differently. Their levels had risen quite a bit, and they were getting used to their new reality.

They were even forming groups now.

Ah-young glared at the man, displaying her hostility blatantly.

Something seemed to have happened between them before her regression.

“Why don’t you join us? We have to help each other.”

“I don’t think so.” She replied, to which the man simply smiled.

He turned his attention to Mi-sun.

“What about you? You’ll be safer with us.”

“T-that’s…”

The female student looked at her companions. Ah-young shook her head at her, but she just looked away. It did seem safer to be with them.

She nodded at his offer.

“Good choice.”

He didn’t even ask Jin-woo.

‘This is fun.’

Mi-sun betrayed them so easily, making their situation that much more exciting.

“I will ask you one last time. Come with us. I’ll protect you.”

The people accompanying him came forward and raised their weapons at them.

Ah-young’s combat ability was unparalleled, but she was still growing, and there were too many of them. She seemed quite wary of their leader, too.

Jin-woo checked his information window.

Lv.11

Name: David Lee

Title: Gluttony Killer, Skill Absorber

*Abilities

Power: F+

Agility: F

Spirit: F

Equipment: [F] Iron Sword, [F] Crude Armor

Special Abilities:

[E+] Meat Predation

The user can eat human flesh to plunder their victim’s skills and experience.

*Ability Acquisition Condition: First murderer, criminal

Although his level was lower than Ah-young, he had still grown quite a lot in three days and had also seemingly adapted quite well to this gloomy realm. This showed how gifted Earthlings were.

No wonder the gods coveted them.

Jin-woo spoke calmly.

“Ah-young, we should retreat.”

“… I don’t think he’ll let us go quietly.”

When they began rushing towards them, the two ran away.

To make herself look good in David’s eyes, Mi-sun quickly pointed towards Jin-woo, who carried a bag made of rabbit skin.

“That… That person has all the supplies and food.”

“Huh?”

David’s gaze turned to his bag.

“That belongs to you, does it not?”

“Y-you’re right. It’s mine.” Mi-sun agreed.

‘Traitor!’

Ah-young clenched her teeth and glared at her, causing her to flinch and turn away. Her gestures seemed to say, “I’m innocent!”

“I’ll give it to you if you let us go.” Jin-woo slowly put his bag down on the floor. It wasn’t a request. It was the last mercy he could give them.

‘They’re accumulating quite a lot of bad karma.’

Wronging the God of Evil was one of the darkest sins a person could commit.

[Park Mi-sun has gained 100,000 sin points.]

A place capable of exacting even graver punishment than the Demon Realm had appeared in the underworld.

Tartarus.

The point system Faro suggested made it easier to categorize them. The convicts could only remove their sin points by spending a year in Tartarus per point.

On that note, the points Mi-sun accumulated showed just how serious betraying the God of Evil was.

However, since it was Mi-sun’s choice, he respected it.

David looked at Ah-young, his eyes filled with greed. It was as if he found her attractive, even in this situation.

Humans were indeed beings of infinite possibilities!

“I can’t just release you now that you’ve committed theft. Since I have people to protect, we’ll have to keep an eye on you.” David spoke politely, but his accent was strong and was mixed with excitement.

He never had any intention of letting them go in the first place.

“Run!” Ah-young shouted as she dashed towards the forest. Jin-woo trailed right behind her, and David and his subordinates chased after them.

Based on how they had been acting, they most likely leveled up by killing their fellow humans, not monsters. Even so, they still had become strong enough to render the wolves in this area unable to compete with them, which should be enough to satisfy the Valkyries.

‘Well, I guess I’ll have to kill him anyway.’

Considering he didn’t want to let him become a warrior for these gods, it would be best to end him and retrieve his soul.

“This way!”

Ah-young knew the forest well and could’ve run away quicker if she was alone. Unfortunately, she had to hold back since she was with Jin-woo, who only showed as much physical ability as his information window displayed.

‘This is more fun than I thought.’

The concept of hiding power brought forth a lot of excitement. It made him feel as if he was the main character hiding his true potential.

The two hid on the hillside, stopping only for a moment to breathe. With the night now looming over them, only David and his men’s torches illuminated the forest.

Ah-young looked through the forest then tucked behind the hillside again.

“How’s the situation?”

“… We’re surrounded.”

“They’re more monstrous than those wolves.”

“… It’s always been like that.”

She took a deep breath.

Jin-woo decided to build her trust in him a bit now that it had come to this. He needed intel about Cronus from her, after all.

Since the information she carried was about a future that no longer existed, even the Magic Eye of Information couldn’t completely extract it from her.

Cronus’ rank seemed to be higher than expected, considering he’d have to forcefully read through her memories to get what he needed, a method that posed serious side effects.

He liked her enough not to do that, though.

“You seem used to this kind of situation.”

“… That’s…”

“Haha, you don’t have to tell me. Everyone has a secret or two.”

Looking at him softly, she shook her head.

“Once we leave this place, I’ll tell you.”

“People die when they speak of lines like that, you know.”

“Don’t say something so ominous.” She frowned.

The torches started coming closer to them.

They were surrounded. Ah-young held onto her sword tightly, knowing full well their chances of surviving weren’t that high due to their enemies’ numbers.

David alone was already a formidable opponent.

“There is a cave in front of us. If we go there… We may be able to survive a few days. For as long as we can hold out until the Valkyrie returns…” Her voice trailed off. Getting out of the hillside would already be quite difficult itself.

Their eyes met.

“Go, Ah-young. I’ll follow.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll lure them away.”

“What are you talking about?” She asked, her eyes widening in disbelief.

“At least one of us will be able to live this way. I don’t think you should meet your end in a place like this. You have an objective you have to accomplish, don’t you?”

They could feel the enemies coming closer and closer.

Noticing her internal conflict raging made him feel satisfied. She most likely had never come across such a kind being before.

He didn’t feel guilty or bad, though.

Jin-woo was the God of Evil, after all. He wasn’t even certain if he had any conscience in the first place.

Grabbing a rusty dagger, he stood up. She hastily glared at him.

“… I won’t thank you. You won’t last that long here anyway. Even if you survive somehow now, you’ll still eventually die later.” She uttered, averting her gaze away from him.

“It’s okay, Ah-young. Go.” He climbed up the hillside.

‘This was nice of me, wasn’t it?’

He had already planned to get caught. That was way more fun, after all. Rushing through the forest with his short weapon in hand, he ensured they would all notice his presence to create a gap in the enemy’s formation, which she swiftly took to escape.

‘Let’s see…’

He was looking forward to seeing what she would choose. Her choice would determine whether he would help her or leave her alone.

“I found them!”

“Catch them!”

Their enemies followed Jin-woo.

Their moves and decisions were far from being tactical and wise, however, since they were all ordinary people until recently. Everyone just came rushing in.

David blocked Jin-woo upfront.

“Hmm, the woman’s not with you.”

He clumsily raised his dagger, the sight of which made his opponent laugh.

One of David’s minions approached him from the back at that moment, hitting him with a club. Although he didn’t really feel any pain, he pretended to faint.

“The woman?”

“We didn’t see her.”

“Maybe this guy knows. Men’s meat is a bit weird, but… It can’t be helped.”

The group carried Jin-woo to the tent, then David patted him on the cheek to wake him up.

[David Lee has gained 10,000,000 sin points.]

[Zhang Liang has gained 100,000 sin points.]

…

They were steadily accumulating karma.

While David smiled mischievously at Jin-woo, Mi-sun trembled by his side, clearly terrified.

“Where’s the female you were with? Tell me, and I’ll give you a swift death.”

“You’re quite obsessed with her, aren’t you?” Jin-woo smirked, causing his foe to frown.

David handed a rusty iron sword to Mi-sun.

“Cut off his arm.”

“What?”

“Prove your loyalty to me.”

Cowering in fear, she lifted her weapon.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any choice.”

“I understand.”

His words made the people around him laugh.

“Stop acting so tough, you bastard.”

“Let’s see you say that again once she’s sliced away your arm.”

“He’s probably as squeamish as the previous guy.”

David’s followers grabbed Jin-woo’s arm and held it down.

Closing her eyes tightly, she hacked her sword down.

[Park Mi-sun has gained 10,000,000 sin points.]

Ting!

Naturally, she couldn’t amputate his limb. Rather, her blade shattered into fragments, some of which lodged into her.

“Damn!”

Jin-woo slowly raised his head.

“I understand, but you should still be punished.”

As his smile grew darker, the people around him retreated. Now enveloped by an ominous feeling, David raised his sword.

“Kill him!”

They all thrust their weapons at him, but before they could even reach him, their equipment all turned into powder and disappeared.

“Ugh! M-my arms!”

David’s arms fell to the floor. His underlings screamed and tried to run away, but black tentacles that soared through the ground pierced through them, preventing them from leaving. The appendages then wrapped around their corpses and dragged them into the earth, instantly cleaning up their vicinity.

Only David and Mi-sun were left behind with Jin-woo.

Their sins were extremely heavy.

Jin-woo exuded a powerful aura.

As he reassumed his role as the God of Evil, he regained the right to freely use the power of all Emperors. Terraforming the space around him and creating hallucinations became child’s play for him in no time at all.

With his abilities now unlocked once more, he made them experience the punishment they’d have to endure soon. They wouldn’t be going to the Demon Realm. Rather, they’d be sent straight to Tartarus, where they’d be left with no auditory, visual, and tactile senses.

David and Mi-sun’s eyes became hazy as hallucinations devoured their minds.

After a while, they regained consciousness, coughing violently as they did.

“Aaagghhh! I-I’m sorry! Please don’t send me back in there!”

“Please have mercy! Oh god!”

He imprisoned them for what would’ve felt like a year for them in a place similar to Tartarus.

This horrible region was paradise compared to that dimension, even though they were surrounded by monsters here. When their senses returned, they wept tears of joy.

Crying, the two begged relentlessly.

“Were you comfortable for that entire year?”

The two shook their heads violently. They felt like they had been in there for a century, not a year.

“I have unfortunate news for you, then.”

It was heartbreaking, but he had to tell them eventually anyway.

They trembled anxiously.

“If you die now, you’ll be there for at least twenty million years.”

“T-t-twenty million years?!”

“N-no! That can’t be!”

“Awooooooooooooo!”

A wolf’s cry came from the forest, a sound that indicated pain worse than death was approaching them.

David had no arms, and Park Mi-sun had metal shards lodged all over her body. Jin-woo put his rusty dagger into his mouth and threw a day’s worth of food to her.

“Run.” He beckoned gently, and the two immediately did as instructed in sheer desperation.

“Grrr…”

The wolf chased after them closely.

The surroundings became quiet.

“So you’ve come.” He uttered lowly, feeling a presence approaching from a distance.

Ah-young chose to save Jin-woo instead of heading to the cave’s safety.