The Novel’s Villain

55. Mayhem (2)

Jin-woo thought things would calm down over time, but everything just became more complicated. Hence, he retreated for now, but that just made the situation worse.

‘Hmm…’

They all came to him, bringing trouble.

Jin-woo admitted slightly underestimating their actions. They weren’t the Golden Women’s Association for nothing.

Luna and Yoo-na watched the scene in excitement.

Se-yeon, Zhuge Mi-xian, Hee-yeon, and Maze were sitting right in front of him.

Maze was still an Emperor.

As soon as she saw him, she immediately came to her senses, but her behavior remained slightly different due to the influence of the Settings World. Going to the empty classroom next door, he talked to Maze alone.

This was the first time he saw her looking this melancholic.

“I keep being a burden to everyone… Even though I just want to help…”

Jin-woo didn’t think she was a liability, but she did, which was surprising. Considering Maze was normally happy and bright and her actions were simple, he didn’t expect she’d see herself that way.

In reality, her social skills were subpar, and she couldn’t think too critically since she needed to focus on maintaining her body. However, that was no longer the case in this world. Even now, various emotions filled her eyes.

“I’m really sorry about the New World incident.”

One of the main reasons New World was made was to cure her condition.

She hung her head.

Jin-woo was the first friend Maze made after many years of solitude. Thanks to him, she was able to leave her loneliness in the past and meet Luna and the others.

He was her friend and benefactor, their relationship going beyond the concept of lovers. Maze’s only wish was to help him in return. However, every time she did, it often backfired.

Jin-woo shook his head and smiled.

“You don’t have to think like that.”

He was lucky.

In the end, she did help him.

New World became one of Jin-woo’s most important weapons. He captured many of the Emperors with its help, including the strongest ones.

Without Maze, he would’ve been in constant danger.

Luna, who had been watching them secretly, wiped her tears with her handkerchief.

‘I’m proud of you.’

As Maze’s best friend, she was very moved. Luna was the only one who knew how she truly felt deep down.

“I found something for you.”

“Hmm?”

Maze pulled out a calendar from her bag and showed it to him. It looked ordinary at a glance, but when he looked through its pages, he noticed the numbers on them looked like they melted. They had also been scattered and randomly mixed up.

The same happened to his phone.

“It was fine until yesterday. Something must’ve happened.”

“Yesterday?”

Jin-woo pondered for a moment.

All he did then was spend time with Yoo-na and meet the Emperor of Settings.

‘And…’

He came to a realization.

‘Encyclopedia…’

Though filled with the power of setting, that book currently remained dormant in his subspace. He was a little embarrassed, but he didn’t show it.

He decided not to disclose it.

“Did I help?”

When Jin-woo nodded, the Settings Fragment in her body emerged from her arm.

He returned to the classroom.

Maze clung to Jin-woo, causing Mi-xian’s eyes to turn towards them. The atmosphere around them grew awkward even though their characters got along well.

“No way…”

Everyone’s delusions exploded.

Even Hee-yeon was affected by it, leaving her unable to decide about what to do. Se-yeon just sat proudly.

All of them applied to join the Strategy Committee, apparently leaving their previous clubs. As for the Disciplinary Committee and the Student Council members, they were allowed to have overlapping extracurricular activities.

Yoo-na was in her teacher mode.

She looked at Se-yeon.

“Isn’t it a bit too much for a student like you to be this active?”

“Heh, I wanted to experience the common people’s lives, and it turned out well.”

“Hmm. I see.”

The corners of Yoo-na’s lips twitched slightly as she did her best to hold back her laugh.

It was quite fun to watch them create their own cringe-worthy pasts. Zhuge Mi-hyeon was a pervert before they entered this world, so it didn’t seem like she’d sustain much damage, unlike Se-yeon, who probably wouldn’t recover for a while.

Luna fueled them to keep acting according to their characters, while Arcana hid, recording everything.

Jin-woo could only shake his head.

‘Their friendship is really strong.’

The Women’s Association members’ bonds were worth commending, at least.

Luna handed out her plan. It was sudden, but she scheduled a mandatory training camp.

Yoo-na lightly coerced everyone to join.

There was no time to prepare.

They were leaving tomorrow.

* * *

Arina was wearing a white lab gown.

She was set to be the school nurse of the Temple Academy. Sitting in the first-floor infirmary, she relaxed while drinking her coffee. This institution’s students had amazing physical strength and resilience, providing them no reason to visit her.

Opening the window, she let a cool breeze into the room, washing away the faint smell of disinfectant.

The school had been rowdy lately, but that had nothing to do with her.

Her wish was just to rest and do nothing. On the second day she came here, it was considered fulfilled, allowing her to regain her memories.

She was at peace.

Vanity was lying on one of the infirmary’s beds, immune to this type of power.

Arina shifted her gaze from the tumultuous hallway to Heo-young.

“Is it okay if I don’t go?”

“Well, you’ve already regained your control over your body anyway.”

“Right.”

“Nothing will change whether we go or not.”

Arina agreed with her.

Heo-young decided to sleep instead. Few things could be as good as sleeping while others were studying. What made it even sweeter was that they rested without their master’s knowledge.

This was a real vacation.

* * *

Training camps were an essential part of this genre. Especially on such a hot summer day, going to the beach was the default procedure. Jin-woo had never been to a picnic or a school trip, so he was quite excited.

The realm of the Settings World was narrow. Mountains surrounded their home location, but they arrived at a resort with a villa right after going through a tunnel. Other places hadn’t been implemented yet.

When he tried to go over the borders, he was just sent back.

Did the Emperor of Settings exhaust all her powers in establishing and changing the personalities of the Golden Women’s Association members?

‘She desperately wanted to set up R-rated scenes.’

Jin-woo understood how she felt.

They soon reached the Temple-Academy-owned villa.

“The sea’s so beautiful!” Luna shouted. She didn’t know why, but those words blurted out of her as soon as she saw the view.

He expected that much.

They called this a training camp, but they had no training plan since its true purpose was to recover the Settings Fragments. However, if they took too long to retrieve them, the students might no longer see it as a vacation. Moreover, strange things had been occurring in the world, creating the need for them to hurry up a bit.

After he shared her opinion with Yoo-na, she immediately changed her schedule.

“I have roughly investigated their wishes.”

“That’s good.”

“We’ll have to move quickly. I’ll keep them separated to give you the freedom and space you need.”

Having her by his side was certainly reassuring.

Everyone came in wearing Temple Academy’s standard swimsuits, which were as revealing as normal bikinis.

‘Zhuge Mi-xian…’

He didn’t have to worry about her since she made her dream come true alone. It was a difficult atmosphere to approach.

The Settings Fragment left Mi-xian’s arm on its own.

‘First up is…’

Jin-woo approached Se-yeon.

She was lying under a parasol with her sunglasses on, her confidence brimming brighter than the sun. She had always been in good shape, but not as great as she was in this world.

Right now, Se-yeon was better than anyone.

‘Maybe…’

Maybe it was one of her wishes.

According to the intel he was provided with, her dream was to spend time normally with a lover, but…

‘The Se-yeon I know won’t wish for that.’

Still, it was understandable.

He didn’t even realize she had been influenced. She looked at him with a provocative smile. Her new behavior overlapping with her appearance caused him to get goosebumps.

“Can you put lotion on me?” Se-yeon turned around, marking the start of one of the staple beach scenes. However, rather than finding it lewd, he felt pity.

Jin-woo knew her twisted past better than anyone else.

‘She’s gone through a lot.’

If they had to name the person that worked the hardest in the Sanctuary, everyone would say Se-yeon.

She worked so much yet still regretted not being able to do more. From G&P to the New World, they wouldn’t have survived without her.

He had been taking her for granted lately, making him feel the need to make it up to her.

Jin-woo started applying lotion to her body with all his might.

His touch was even more potent than that of Lee Min-woo’s, and her body slumping was proof of that. The longer they spent time together, the more the Settings Fragment in her body revealed itself.

Hee-yeon came next.

‘She wants to increase her weight?’

He had known her since he became Lee Jin-woo, and she had practically been living in the Sanctuary now, but he hardly felt her presence.

Her talent was so great not even the Great Emperor’s senses could detect her.

‘If she learns the art of assassination…’

She might just become strong enough to deal with Emperor-level beings.

Either way, she’d certainly be amazing at it.

Smiling, Jin-woo walked with her by the seaside. They felt so comfortable in each other’s presence that time flew by quick enough for them to witness the beautiful sun setting beyond the sea’s horizon. As it did, she gazed at him, seemingly having something to say.

“Oh, I’ll go buy some ice cream.”

She ran to the store.

This world was filled with so much sweetness he couldn’t even think of eating desserts at this point.

“I’m sorry for being late, Master. We’ve captured the Emperor, but it took a lot of time to do so.”

Faro appeared behind Jin-woo, carrying a black cat. She said she lured and caught her using insects, but the Emperor of Settings looked quite frightened.

“She was resisting too much, so I decided to teach her a lesson.”

He refused to imagine how she schooled her.

Faro also captured Arina and Heo-young.

“I also brought those who’s been lazing around.”

“We were just taking a break… My love for you will always be superior to anyone else, master. I love you as much as dimensional gold coins.”

“I feel the same way… We serve you with nothing but loyalty and love.”

The two smiled awkwardly.

“It’s okay as long as you two rested well.”

That was enough for him.

So much work had to be done in the Sanctuary that they couldn’t do that without thinking about their duties. Losing their memories for a while at least allowed them to take a proper break.

“Teacher? Ahn Heo-young…?”

Their presence surprised Hee-yeon.

Something seemed to have happened that caused her to run back to him before she could buy ice cream.

“M-more importantly, a large number of monsters are coming! We need to request reinforcements immediately!”

Hee-yeon looked desperate, troubled.

Arina and Heo-young surveyed their surroundings.

‘A monster?’

Jin-woo stared at the horizon, finding the space beyond it had shattered, allowing monsters to pour in along with strange lights.

The Emperor of Settings seemed knowledgeable about this phenomenon.

“I can’t stop them… I’m so stupid for losing my book. With the settings all mixed up, this world is going to break apart…” The Emperor of Settings uttered weakly and despairingly.

Jin-woo turned to her.

This was also his fault.

He took out an encyclopedia and looked at the Settings World’s settings. It was clinging to the page behind it, their letters melting and mixing as if they were paint being washed away by water.

He blocked it with the power of Domination. At that moment, everyone, including Yoo-na, gathered around him.

It wasn’t the time to return it yet.

Hee-yeon, Se-yeon, and Zhuge Mi-xian were the only ones who hadn’t retrieved their memories yet. Everyone else followed him.

He pointed behind Hee-yeon, causing her to look back.

“We need to prevent access to this place.”

Villagers would be in danger if they passed through this location, but they didn’t establish a communication channel with the Temple Academy to request reinforcements. They were the only ones who could block the road right now.

“That’s annoying.”

“We’ll have to set an example.”

Jin-woo first watched the situation from behind.

The Temple Academy existed to train students with the power to fight those monsters.

Hee-yeon raised her hand, revealing a watch-like device on her wrist. Se-yeon and Zhuge Mi-xian had similar tech as well.

She looked at Yoo-na and Arina.

“We’ll also need the teachers’ strength.”

“Oh, uh…”

“Combat…?”

Slightly confused, they looked at Jin-woo.

Heeyeon was already trying to summon her Holy Armor.

‘You can’t use your powers properly in this world, can you?’

They nodded.

Those who were below the rank of Emperor were forced to continue following the Settings World’s rules. The same applied to their abilities.

That made it safer for them to wear Holy Armor. After all, it boosted their physical abilities and defense several times.

However, the biggest reason behind it was that he didn’t want to miss this scene. Now that they were in this situation, he might as well witness their transformations at least once.

That was the most original feature of this world.

With Hee-yeon as the center, all the female members lined up.

The red sunset shone on them.

Perfectly immune to the invading settings, only Faro stood next to him.

Just as the monsters reached the seashore, everyone raised their hands like Hee-yeon.

“That’s pretty cool.”

“It is. I feel sorry for being unable to participate. I think I’m more suited to be one of the monsters.”

That was an undeniable fact.

A hot wind blew past them.

Hee-yeon lowered her hand and crossed it with her other arm, keeping her movements sharp. It was a little cheesy, but the monsters in front of them made it tolerable.

The atmosphere surrounding them seemed quite great, at least.

‘This reminds me of the past.’

He had seen this moment on a public channel before.

It was a repetition of the same repertoire, but even that was fun.

Jin-woo watched them with high expectations.

The bracelets everyone wore began to shine.

“Transform! Red Star!”

The others followed her example, shouting the colors assigned to them quite weakly. They seemed embarrassed by even just uttering the word “transform” out loud.

Lights fell from the sky and enveloped their bodies, marking the beginning of their transitions.

“Woah…” Jin-woo exclaimed in admiration.

He had seen Holy Armors in their school textbooks. The standard ones were almost no different from tights paired with helmets that kept their faces uncovered.

However, the Holy Armors of those before him were completely different.

Their bodies rose to the air, their clothes disappearing completely.

“That’s quite provocative.” Faro pointed out.

Each light soon turned into a ribbon and around their bodies.

It certainly was far from what Jin-woo expected. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the way it was directed itself seemed different.

They all slowly descended, now dressed in gorgeous lace dresses and shiny boots.

They also had light makeup on.

“Ah…”

Hee-yeon blinked, shocked by her outfit.

“…”

“…”

The others’ reactions were similar.

Yoo-na was stunned, and Heo-young almost passed out.

The Emperor of Settings in Faro’s hand explained what happened.

“As I thought, this world’s settings page has combined with the page behind it.”

What came after it was the settings for the Magical Girl genre.

Silence fell upon everyone.

“It… suits you.” Jin-woo smiled, uttering such a blatant lie. Everyone turned their attention to him.

Whiiiiiiiiiirrrr!

The heart-shaped tip of Yoo-na’s magic wand spun.

Click, click, click!

The shutter of Arcana’s camera rang nonstop. At that moment, a new level of cringe memories was created.