The Novel’s Villain

57. Myth (1)

Bread Jam looked sacred.

That was what Holy Power was originally supposed to look like. It came from a world that valued ​​visuals highly, after all. Besides, looking like that was inevitable since he was wearing a heroine’s mask.

Jin-woo opened the encyclopedia and looked up his settings.

Butterfly had modified it.

‘She changed it after getting mad at him during his broadcast.’

He didn’t even have to listen to the whole story to know the gist of what happened.

Bread Jam’s broadcasts were famous for being hideous. Watching it without any prior intel about him would piss anyone off.

Jin-woo looked at him.

He was now currently surrounded by people.

‘Fortunately, Jerry’s fine.’

In fact, he looked quite healthy for someone who was supposed to be dead.

Alex and Rachel stared at him in disbelief. He was the person most indifferent to God they knew. However, he was now glowing with divinity.

It was most likely caused by Bread Jam’s Holy Power healing him, though.

“Come here.”

Smiling brightly, Judith served Bread Jam with sincerity. The others did the same. The zombie apocalypse wasn’t over yet, but it seemed as if everything had been resolved.

Even to Jin-woo, he looked special.

There were few people who could make their bodies glow. Moreover, although it was Jin-woo’s work, the others thought he showed a miracle of eliminating all the zombies at once.

It could be mistaken for the savior Judith was talking about.

“Everyone, our prayers have been answered.”

“Oh!”

“A new age has arrived to topple over the age of the apocalypse! Let us praise her!”

The men blocking the zombies also began to focus on her words. After watching the situation with interest, Jin-woo went down to the first floor.

Confusion filled Bread Jam’s mind up as Judith let go of him and knelt before him.

“Savior, please tell everyone about God.”

“Ah… Well… That’s… Uh…”

Everyone looked at him with sparkling eyes.

He was a broadcaster. It was his job to meet people’s expectations. However, he turned a blind eye from their gazes, changing their expectations to disappointments.

Everyone grew quiet.

Even Alex and Rachel looked at Bread Jam, wanting to say something.

“Uhh…”

Looking around the place, he found Jin-woo on the first floor.

His eyes widened.

Butterfly’s words came to mind. According to her, he not only subjugated several dimensions but, more recently, even the universe.

‘For me to go back to my original form…’

The Great Emperor’s power was needed.

It was a great opportunity to show off to Lee Jin-woo!

Bread Jam went into broadcast mode even though he wasn’t on stream.

“The Great Emperor! The one true God!”

“Oh… Oh…”

Moved by his words, Judith began to shed tears.

Bread Jam calling him out surprised Jin-woo a little.

He glanced at him with sparkling eyes.

Jin-woo wanted to tell him to stop, but it was already too late. He forgot how big of a troublemaker he was.

Team killing was also part of his identity.

“The Great Emperor once said… All dimensions and all things are rightfully under the Great Emperor’s rule…”

“Dimensions?”

Bread Jam pointed at the sky to answer Judith’s question. They didn’t even know what he was talking about.

“Uh… The universe!”

“You mean he created the universe in a single day? I see it now.”

She severely distorted the meaning behind his words.

“Oh!”

“As expected…”

Even so, everyone’s reactions were quite positive.

People of different ages showed differing responses while listening to him.

Witnessing their reactions in person instead of through the chat window, he grew excited.

All attention was on him!

He knew he had to keep it that way.

Bread Jam desperately connected the information he had heard from Butterfly.

“Um… Uh… A total of twelve Emperors follow the Great Emperor.”

“Twelve angels… I see…”

“He reigns over Greed, Vanity, and similar beings.”

“They cast out the demons that manipulate humans to commit sins, which we must now atone for. We must seek his forgiveness!”

It wouldn’t have been convincing if he uttered such words through his avatar. It was only because he was in the form of a Heroine that he could make this conspiracy sound plausible.

‘Isn’t he a healing heroine in the Settings World?’

Perhaps it was because of that.

The atmosphere was changing for some reason.

Judith’s intense reaction and interpretation also made Bread Jam excited. Out of nowhere, they created something similar to the 10 Commandments.

It was hard to stop them now.

Jin-woo left Bread Jam alone.

[The number of your believers is increasing.]

[The World of Death’s people worshipping a different god is beginning to influence it.]

[The World of Death’s ruler has noticed an anomaly!]

[The World of Death’s ruler is watching Bread Jam!]

These messages were probably referring to the Emperor.

[Lee Jae-mi (Bread Jam) has become a ‘false saint.’]

[C] False Saint

A being whose very existence is a lie.

Even his body isn’t real.

He prays to the Great Emperor to receive a miracle for himself.

Unique Traits:

*[D+]Professional Broadcaster: Anything he utters sounds more plausible than when others say it.

*[A] Attention Grabber: For reasons unknown, he constantly gathers attention.

*[S] Indiscriminate Troll: The Great Emperor’s influence has given him the ability to troll both enemies and allies alike.

The people now called Bread Jam a saint.

Rachel walked over to Jin-woo and hugged him.

“Jin-woo? I’m glad you’re alive.”

“I was lucky.”

She truly did think he was dead. He volunteered to stay behind to buy them some time, but there was no way he could’ve survived against such a huge horde of zombies.

But she wasn’t complaining. It was nice to see him alive and well.

Alex limped towards him, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder.

“Haha, you’re tough.”

“Jerry as well.”

“Speaking of, he’s become a bit strange, but… What’s important is he’s alive.”

Zombies still remained inside the shopping center.

The leader and his subordinates approached him soon after, fatigue evident on their faces.

“I heard what happened. I didn’t think Lucas would betray us…”

“You must’ve been pretty close.”

“We’ve been together since the apocalypse started. It was stupid of him, thinking they’d let him live if he gives them the children.”

There was no way White Skull would save him.

Even if Jin-woo didn’t deal with him himself, his end would have been the same. Tortured, then killed.

Jin-woo and the others cleared their base of zombies.

The leader now completely trusted him. However, he remained cautious of Bread Jam.

The shopping center was a mess, and their defenses had collapsed. Repairing them would require a lot of time.

If even more zombies invaded them before they could finish it, they’d be in deep trouble.

Rachel looked at their leader.

“We have to move, now. I found a place we can go to. Right here…”

“… I can’t do that.”

He sighed.

“We have a lot of young children and elderly. They won’t be able to stand the journey.”

His subordinates nodded in agreement.

There were far too few capable men to defend all of the teenagers, kids, and seniors.

The leader and his subordinates might survive, but the others most likely wouldn’t.

Moreover, the place Rachel found was quite far from here. They’d have to leave town.

“And we have many injured personnel right now.”

Some had even been bitten by zombies, including a few of the leader’s subordinates. They were fine for now, but they had to be isolated and monitored. After all, they would eventually turn into zombies themselves.

Their situation was pretty desperate.

That was also the reason why their leader tolerated the saint’s presence even if he appeared uninvited. Without hope, they’d be forced to make extreme choices.

Jin-woo smiled.

“Well, since we have a saint here, wouldn’t it be okay?”

“That saint… She’s cute, isn’t she? Is she to your liking?”

Jin-woo shook his head firmly at Rachel’s question.

“Absolutely not.”

“Heh, can I flirt with her then?” Alex responded, holding himself up.

Jin-woo wanted to stop him since if the saint’s true identity was revealed, he might develop a deep distrust of human beings.

Rachel smiled at Alex.

“I’ll leave her interrogation to you.”

“Oh, thank you.” He raised his thumb.

She shook her head.

The Zombie Festival ended.

Jin-woo felt it was a little lackluster.

‘Well, this is better than watching this planet explode.’ He smiled.

* * *

Alex interrogated Bread Jam.

It wasn’t that strict, though, since he looked weak and rescued people already. He improvised and went impromptu through it all, making up his own stories to adapt to the situation.

Bread Jam quietly started looking for Jin-woo. He needed his help to go back to his original form.

However, someone kept interfering with his plans.

Jerry.

He kept following him around, making his blood pressure burst.

“The saint healed all my wounds! When I ate the sacred food, my wounds healed! Look at this zombie bite!”

He showed off his scar. Though bitten, it had recovered completely, leaving only small marks to commemorate it.

Normally, such wounds would lead to zombification, not regeneration.

She quite literally created a miracle.

As his words spread, people flocked to Bread Jam. From zombie bites to minor wounds, everyone came to him for healing.

Even the leader approached him for help.

“He said you have deep knowledge when it comes to medicine.”

“That’s… That’s not it…”

“Please.”

When the leader bowed deeply at him, he finally agreed.

He turned around with a smile.

‘Jerry, you idiot!’

He couldn’t save them.

As they said, lies gave birth to more lies.

Everything kept getting twisted. Bread Jam could treat them with his Holy Power somehow, but that would only close their wounds. Surgical operations were, of course, impossible.

Jerry, oblivious to how Bread Jam felt, smiled brightly as he guided her to her room.

“This way, saint! Let me lead you!”

“Already…?”

“Did I prepare it already? Yes, of course!”

Bread Jam almost called him crazy, but he managed to hold himself back.

They eventually reached the tidy room he was assigned to.

Glancing outside the door, he saw his patients lining up.

From Alex and Rachel’s gunshot wounds to people suffering from zombie bites, everyone with an ailment visited him no matter what kind.

“Everybody get in line! Treatments will begin soon!”

Jerry kept the queue in order.

“Ugh!” Bread Jam grabbed his head and screamed. Although they provided surgical tools, they were all new to him.

“Looks like you’re in trouble.” Bread Jam looked behind him upon hearing someone’s voice. Finding Jin-woo sitting on a chair, he almost fell out of sheer surprise.

“Great Emperor!”

“You’re Bread Jam, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes… That’s right…” He cried.

Jin-woo gave him a closer look. No matter what angle he gazed at him from, there was no way anyone would know who he truly was.

“Can you bring me back to normal?”

“I can, but…”

He had no intention of returning him to his original form yet.

He found a clue about the Emperor thanks to him, so he decided to keep him under observation for now. If Bread Jam had arrived here quietly, he still wouldn’t have any knowledge about who he was up against. Luckily, he tended to dig his own grave.

“I need dimensional gold coins to return you to your former state.”

“Ah… I’ll pay you back immediately once I get home. How much do you need?”

Jin-woo roughly calculated it.

“About 30,000.”

“Huh? Did you say thirty thousand?”

“Yes. However, since this is partly my subordinate’s fault as well, I’ll give you a four-thousand discount.”

That was 3 billion won in Korean currency.

Bread Jam found it unfair, thinking this was just a huge scam.

They changed his form against his will, and they were now asking him to pay for them to switch him back.

But Bread Jam couldn’t stand up against those stronger than him, especially not against the Great Emperor, who had the entire universe under his control.

“Ugh… Alright. Can… Can you help me first? I’m in huge trouble right now.”

Jin-woo nodded, taking out a potion from his subspace and handing it to him. Receiving it finally made him feel relieved, but the price tag attached to it revived his anxiety.

“Hey, is this…”

“Nothing’s free in the universe.”

He needed a lot of it if he wanted to heal all of his patients. In the end, he bought 20 through credit with tears in his eyes.

He had no choice but to purchase a subspace to hold them all, too.

As his debt grew exponentially, despair engulfed Bread Jam.

Jin-woo merely laughed. He had no intention of charging him for it in the first place. What would he even do with such a small amount?

‘Still, he’s loyal.’

He could’ve just turned them all away, but he didn’t. Even though his viewers bashed him for being ugly, he understood why they still watched his broadcasts.

Jerry opened the door and entered.

“Oh, you were here too.”

“Yeah. She just treated me. Jerry… Are you okay?”

“Yes! I have been enlightened to a new world. Up until now, I have been nothing but a foolish seed driven by lust and greed. But now, I am different.”

Jerry looked at Bread Jam passionately, causing his complexion to turn pale blue.

In a way, Jerry was way worse than him. It was pure luck that he managed to survive this far. Without Bread Jam and Jin-woo, he would’ve already died twice.

“Saint, are you ready?” He smiled brightly.

Looking at him, he clenched his teeth and nodded. Jin-woo just continued sitting on his chair, watching over his treatments.

Alex came in first. Since he limped, he made it easy to deduce where his gunshot wound was. Gulping hard, Bread Jam picked up the tongs.

His hands were shaking.

‘I have no idea how to do this.”

They didn’t even have anesthesia.

He inserted the tongs in his wound.

“Ugh!”

Alex shivered, but he forced a smile on his face, which only scared Bread Jam.

After moving the tongs for a while, he finally felt it touch something hard.

Pshhh!

Blood continued to gush out of it.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! Hahaha! The bullet must’ve lodged in quite deep.”

“Your… Your blood is flowing hard…”

“Isn’t this quite normal?”

It didn’t look good at all, but Alex had to try to look good in front of the saint.

After digging through it for a while, Bread Jam finally managed to pull out the bullet. It wasn’t as simple as it looked in the movie.

He doused a cotton pad with the potion, taped it onto Alex’s wound, and covered it with a gauze.

“You’re going to be okay now.”

“It really doesn’t hurt at all! Thank you.”

That was just one of the potion’s effects.

Rachel came next. Even though Jin-woo was in the room as well, she boldly took off her top. Bread Jam’s eyes began to tremble sharply.

His face flushed red, but he pulled out the bullet much more carefully than he did to Alex.

As he continued treating the people, his services’ popularity grew tremendously. He cured and healed almost all wounds and illnesses.

‘Being a saint seems like a suitable job for him.’ Jin-woo thought. Bread Jam would probably be fine even if he left him alone.

He came out of the room and headed to the rooftop of the shopping center. Looking around, he noticed the streets were no longer clear even though he had just obliterated all zombies within their vicinity not too long ago.

The undead was filling up the road little by little once more.

Jin-woo closed his eyes and heightened his senses, attempting to feel the power of this world’s Emperor.

‘I can feel their aura a little bit…’

Was it because he got rid of a large number of zombies?

He vaguely determined the direction where they were. It was almost as if the thick fog grew a little thinner.

It also seemed to have been affected by Bread Jam’s influence.

‘They’ll be forced to come out if I destroy everything and everyone.’

Since he wanted to save the children the Black Hounds captured, it wouldn’t be bad for him to eradicate them along with every zombie he could find.

The time had come for him to overthrow another Emperor, which had become his hobby and specialty.