Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

What was the second step of our plan?

Well, you see, this whole ruined site — even this plaza — had been built atop a network of abandoned tunnels and crumbling sewer lines that had long since decayed into makeshift dungeons.

Which meant that many parts of the ground beneath us were conveniently hollow and inconveniently unstable.

I didn't have enough Essence left to transmute a wide section of earth and make a proper sinkhole right beneath the giant's feet.

Not anymore.

Not after all the stone hands I'd conjured earlier.

But simply creating a wide crack?

A well-timed fracture in just the right place?

That, I could easily manage.

I stepped forward and willed the matter to obey.

The earth responded with a low groan just as the cyclops lifted one of its colossal feet.

Timing had to be perfect.

And for once — it was.

The moment the giant's weight shifted forward, the stone under its planted leg shattered like thin ice under pressure.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the scorched plaza — and then the earth gave way.

The cyclops lurched, its leg sinking into a sudden pit of dust and crumbling rock.

It didn't fall flat — which would've been ideal.

But it did drop to one massive knee, sending an earth-rattling shudder through the immediate vicinity that felt like a localized earthquake.

The shockwave almost knocked me off balance.

And I was still very far away.

Dust exploded around the impact site.

The flagstones nearest the crater popped and flipped like coins.

Smoke and ash curled upward, twisting in the firelit wind.

The result wasn't perfect.

But it was still good enough.

The cyclops bellowed in confusion, letting out a deep howl that echoed across the battlefield.

Molten saliva hissed from its gaping mouth.

Its single eye flared, iris twitching madly, but its knee buckled again as it tried — and failed — to rise.

That was our opening.

And we'd planned for it.

See, we knew from the start that the beast might not fall all the way.

Because of its bulk.

Its balance.

Its towering, tank-like build — we had accounted for the possibility that it would catch itself mid-collapse and land on one knee instead of face-first into the dirt.

Which is why, while Michael was playing bait, Juliana had prepared a backup.

She'd slipped away earlier and made her way to the struggling vanguard, where Cadets were fighting and losing against the endless tide of Lesser Solbraiths.

There, in the midst of blood and fire and bodies, she found what she needed — Brawlers who specialized in burst impact, explosive power, blunt force.

The kind of kids who punched like artillery shells.

She pulled as many as she could — maybe four or five — whatever the vanguard could spare without collapsing under the swarm of attacking beasts.

Then, with them in tow, she moved to the Support ranks and tracked down a girl — a Supporter with an Origin Card that allowed her to create mental synchronization between multiple targets.

Basically a mind-link.

With her help, there'd be no miscommunication.

No delays.

No need to shout across a roaring battlefield.

Just clean and instant coordination.

And the moment the cyclops crashed to one knee — shaking the plaza like it had been struck by a meteor — Juliana raised her hand.

The signal was given.

The Brawlers moved at once without any hesitation.

In a blur of motion, they broke formation and sprinted toward the towering beast.

Their target was the cyclops' other leg.

If they could make its second knee give out, gravity would do the rest.

But that's when the plan began to fray.

The cyclops — to our surprise — was more intelligent than we gave it credit for.

It immediately noticed the Brawlers charging toward it.

And it reacted fast.

It knew what we were trying to do.

It was down on one knee and couldn't get up fast enough.

Moreover, it couldn't shoot its laser since its eye needed some time to rest.

But that didn't mean it was out of options.

A low growl tore from its throat — more animal than monster — as it raised one gigantic arm and pulled its massive club back behind its shoulder.

…That damn cyclops was going to throw its club.

Straight into the charging Cadets to crush them.

I seemed to be the first one to figure that out.

But there wasn't any time to warn the others.

And we couldn't afford to back down now anyway.

So I didn't warn.

I acted.

I crouched low, slammed my palm to the ground, and forced my will into the stone beneath me.

The ground shook, and in the very next second, a tidal wave of earth and rock erupted forward.

It surged ahead, and I rode it like a surfer caught in the rise.

I thought I'd hit the cyclops from its blind spot, but somehow, that one-eyed bastard sensed my approach.

Its head snapped toward me.

Its arm froze mid-throw.

And in that tiny sliver of hesitation, its eye widened just a fraction — as if surprised I had dared to charge it directly.

Then, instead of throwing the club, it roared and swung — bringing the massive weapon crashing down on me from over its head.

The club smashed through the earthen wave beneath me, shattering it into a cloud of dust and flying rock.

Thwaaaam—!!

But I'd already leapt by then.

At the last possible moment before impact, I jumped — letting the momentum hurl me forward like a human cannonball.

I crashed hard onto the cyclops' forearm.

Pain bloomed through my ribs, but I rolled with it, letting the motion carry me.

Then I sprang back to my feet and ran.

Across its arm.

Up its shoulder.

Leaping onto its back.

The giant growled and jerked violently, trying to shake me off like a pestering insect — but I didn't let goThough, I wanted to.

Gods, I wanted to.

It was so hot there.

The giant's entire body radiated heat like a living volcano.

Molten fire pulsed just beneath the cracks of its charred skin, glowing through the gaps like magma veins.

Every step burned.

Every breath felt like inhaling smoke.

My fingers seared as I grabbed a jagged crack along its spine for purchase.

My boots sizzled against its rock-hard, burning-hot flesh.

I realized if I wasn't a [B-ranker], with Essence coating every inch of my body like a second skin, I would've already been roasted alive like a marshmallow over an open flame.

But I held.

And thankfully — finally — the Brawlers reached the second leg and attacked.

Their combined strikes landed like thunderclaps.

One slammed his massive warhammer into the giant's ankle.

Another detonated an explosion behind its knee with a boom that rang throughout the battlefield.

One guy even crashed shoulder-first into its calf like a human wrecking ball.

The cyclops staggered.

It couldn't focus on me anymore.

Its footing faltered as its second leg took the full brunt of the assault.

It roared — loud and guttural.

It was the kind of animalistic roar that didn't just hit your ears, but echoed in your lungs.

And then…The giant's second leg gave out.