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

Chapter 239: Main Characters...

Assemble [II]After preparing ourselves, we began to move.

Well, to be honest, there wasn’t much to prepare.

Since we were randomly dropped into this region thanks to Selene’s mis-teleportation we didn’t exactly have our full Hunter gear or equipment or backpacks.

We only had whatever we happened to be wearing at the time of being whisked away from the Night Sanctuary.

Lily had her ragged uniform — a vest, a jacket, combat trousers, and a pair of military boots.

And I had all that...

plus my robe.

Luckily, my ordinary-looking gray robe had a dimensional storage pocket.

It was currently stuffed with energy drinks, water bottles, snacks, and some spare clothes.

So I’d changed into a black satin shirt with the sleeves all rolled up, and a matching pair of jeans.

Now was my outfit suitable for fighting?

Probably not.

But did I look good while surrounded by nightmarish creatures that seemed as if they’d crawled straight out of hell?

Hell yes!

It was just like my father had always taught me — one should look presentable even when running for their life.

So even if you die, you’re already dressed well enough for an open-casket.

...

Okay, fine!

My father didn’t teach me that.

...

Or anything.

But let’s not unpack my daddy issues right now.

"So we’re moving west?

" Lily asked, walking beside me.

She was slashing at the oversized grass, bushes, and vines with her new spear to clear the way.

We tried not to make too much noise, but moving quietly through a forest this dense was like trying to sneak through a fireworks factory with a marching band.

It wasn’t an easy task.

That said, credit where credit’s due — as much as I like to rag on Lily for being one of the more useless main characters (okay, maybe I’m a bit biased), her Soul Arsenal was actually really useful.

She’d built her Deck in a way that made it highly unlikely for any threat to creep up on her unnoticed.

Catching her off-guard was nearly impossible.

She always had a Card activated that would quickly alarm her of any life-threatening danger coming at us way ahead of time.

And once she was alarmed, she’d deploy her Origin Card and use her foresight to see exactly what threat was approaching.

Then she’d either change route and move around that threat or prepare a proper counter to deal with it.

But if all that somehow still wasn’t enough, she also had a bunch of trap Cards she could plant around wherever we stopped to rest.

These Cards could trigger instantly if someone tried to sneak up on us, not only alerting us but also ensnaring or even outright neutralizing the intruder.

Basically, her danger detection and threat perception were off the charts.

Thanks to her, we’d already avoided several deadly ambushes.

Traveling with her had really made navigating this hell-forest a bit easy.

Only a bit, though.

"Yes, we’re moving west," I answered.

"And you’re completely sure there are others stranded here like us?

" she asked — something she had already asked quite a few times.

I rolled my eyes.

"Lily, asking the same question over and over again won’t change the answer.

Yes, there are others here.

I know it.

" "I’m only asking because you’re not telling me how you know.

Why are you so sure?

" she pressed.

"Is it just a hunch?

" I threw my hands up in exasperation.

"Oh, my god!

No, it is not a hunch!

I know it for a fact!

" She looked like she wanted to keep grilling me, but wisely decided not to.

Instead, she let out a soulful sigh.

"If it’s true, I wonder if Michael’s here.

" Oh, he was.

"And if he’s doing alright.

" Oh, he wasn’t.

••• Somewhere not too far away...

Michael Godswill stood completely still.

Because he was neck-deep in a swamp pool full of...

eyeballs.

Eyeballs!

Literal eyeballs!

They blinked in sync.

They squelched when they shifted.

Michael whispered to himself, "Okay.

Stay calm.

Don’t panic, Michael.

And don’t you dare scream.

" One of the eyeballs brushed against his chin.

He screamed.

"ARGHAAAAA!

" Immediately, a gigantic six-legged bird shrieked from the towering trees above — its body rotten and decayed, its wings nothing but bone.

It was a corpse-bird.

A Minor Spirit Beast.

And definitely not something Michael wanted to draw the attention of.

Why?

Because it had killed two Cadets just a couple of minutes ago.

Michael had arrived too late to save them...

but right on time to witness the slaughter.

And yeah.

He did not want to fight it.

Unfortunately, it had now seen him.

The rotting bird let out a bone-rattling screech and dive-bombed toward him from above.

Michael whimpered and cursed his fate.

"...

Okay.

Now it’s time to panic!

" ••• Yup.

I was absolutely sure he was not doing well.

Because aside from the fact that he couldn’t even use his Origin Card when alone — since he needed someone else to copy powers from — he was also the protagonist.

And all protagonists must always suffer.

Suffering builds character, after all.

Heh.

Thank the gods I wasn’t the protagonist.

••• We kept walking for a good part of an hour.

We did run into a few harrowingly large arthropods along the way, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

My innate power was enough to take down most beasts that crossed our path.

...

For now.

But I knew the deeper we went into the Noctveil Wilds — and the lower we descended from one plateau to the next — the more the threats would begin to spike.

The more dangerous and powerful the beasts would become.

And the more hostile the environment would turn.

We were still a long, long way from the Golden Sanctuary.

And the worst was yet to come.

I knew all that.

I knew and I couldn’t help but feel I was underprepared for this journey.

I didn’t have any Rare-grade offensive Cards in my Arsenal.

Hell, I didn’t even have my sword.

Aurieth was still somewhere on the other side of the Crown of Thorns.

I had called it, and I could sense it coming, flying to me as fast as it could.

But it would take days — maybe even weeks — for Aurieth to scale the Crown of Thorns, then travel across this endless jungle before finally reaching me.

Weeks!

Weeks before I’d finally be at my best!

’But what if something unexpected happens in this time?

’’What if one of the main characters dies and I lose a valuable pawn crucial to my future plans?

’’What if I myself ends up in a life-or-death situation and don’t have the strength to get out of it?

’All these worst-case scenarios started piling up in my head.

I clenched my fists.

Then let out a long sigh and forced myself to clear my thoughts.

’Right,’ I told myself.

’Thinking about it won’t change anything.

It is what it is.

If something happens, I’ll deal with it then.

’