The Novel’s Villain

14. Elves Are Pretty (1)

The Cultural Center was growing day by day. The number of restaurants, food stores, and street vendors increased rapidly, but the queues were growing even faster due to many visitors. As Gate meat was distributed, restaurants specializing in Gate food quickly sprang up. It was still distributed to restaurants near the JW Gate, but the dying neighborhood business district was revived splendidly.

On MeTube, foreigners were going crazy while eating the food from the Cultural Center. In addition, it had become a legend that Gordon Range came over with a British broadcaster, tried the street vendor’s grilled meat, and cried on the spot. It was said that they had booked a hotel and were staying there now.

In such a flow, Jin-woo’s Influence became Rank D. Oddly enough; his Honor Rank also rose to Rank E. His image seemed to have improved in its way.

“Young Master, China has requested a meeting.”

“Ignore everything from China and Japan.”

“Understood.”

They cut ties with G&P first and did such a thing, and now they came and desperately asked for a meeting. The Magic Crystal began to be exported, but of course, China and Japan were excluded. China and Japan were being ignored because G&P declared that it would cut off relations immediately if any Magic Crystals were sold to them. The vice president of G&P was harassing China and Japan even more viciously than Jin-woo thought. Seeing the Gate and industry-related companies being acquired one by one, his business skills were amazing.

Jin-woo just left everything to his subordinates and did what he had to do.

‘Emperor of Vanity…’

Now was the time to move. The Emperor of Vanity had a lot to do with Elonti.

‘I need to get a license for semi-Knight first.’

For now, he had to become a semi-Knight for his future work. Those with A-rank licenses were classified as semi-Knights, possessing the authority to challenge a knight. The A-rank license test was one of the difficulties of becoming a Knight, but the eligibility requirements had already been met.

Those who belong to a League Guild or have the appropriate experience, a knight-level guarantor, and those who have achieved the high-ranks of a competent person (requires certification test) were eligible. He could meet the qualifications fairly simply because the Sword Master had already promised to act as his guarantor.

“As the guarantor is certain, you can send a brief description of your abilities. It’s a formality, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

He was surprised the Sword Master would help, as his memories of the man marked him as nothing but a nuisance.

Jin-woo entered the study. He was thinking of writing lightly about his abilities and going to Elonti quickly through the Sanctuary.

‘A description, huh…’

Since it was a formality anyway, he thought he could make it simple.

‘Still, it has to be in the right format.’

He first asked Yoo-na for reference books. Receiving them nearly right away, Jin-woo first absorbed the information with his Magic Eye of information. Since the books had no such thing as a rank, it was strangely deformed to be stored in his head thanks to the Emperor of Gold.

Jin-woo put his hand on the keyboard.

‘Hmm?’

He started to write.

‘In the past, it was difficult for me to write even a self-introduction.’

Everything in his head was sorted out and exploded from his fingertips. It felt like he was throwing up information.

‘I’m sure it’s okay.’

Jin-woo went with the flow. It felt like the Emperor of Gold in his head was writing it himself as his consciousness began to fly away.

Jin-woo’s hand suddenly stopped as he thought that was enough. He seemed to have been concentrating for quite some time. It was also fun to write, so he typed without realizing how swiftly time was passing. It was over three hundred pages, much too large to be bothered for review. After reading it roughly, it seemed like it was written properly according to the format.

When Yoo-na entered the study with refreshments, Jin-woo stretched out and stood up. He was thinking of going to Elonti, so he felt a bit rushed.

“Have you already written it all down?”

“Well, I wrote it roughly. Well, is there a problem?”

“I will check. It’s a formality, so you don’t have to worry.”

“If there is no problem, hand it over to them.”

“Understood.”

Yoo-na had an A-rank license. She was a Knight candidate, and she had a high chance of becoming a Knight. If so, it must be certain to be approved if she checked it herself. He was very grateful to have her take care of the troublesome work.

“I have to go now.”

“Are you going to the Gate?”

“Yeah.”

“…All right.”

Yoo-na replied a little weakly. As Jin-woo left the study, she glanced at the monitor screen.

She scrolled up and saw the title.

‘The Aesthetics of the Sword’

It was such a title. Yoo-na started reading.

‘This is…’

It wasn’t a simple description; it was a complete theory. As she read, her expression was filled with surprise.

Jin-woo, leaving the study, thought of Yoo-na’s recent appearance.

‘She seems to be feeling down these days.’

Yoo-na almost lived in the training center outside of working hours. According to the head of the security team, she was training to death. Jin-Woo was afraid to stop her since she raised the training intensity even more whenever he tried.

‘It would be fine to take her to the Gate later. It can be a change of mood.’

Jin-woo thought so and nodded. Yoo-na and General Manager were people Jin-woo completely trusted. As for Yoo-na, it wasn’t just because he checked with the Magic Eye of information, but just because he could trust her. He was lucky enough to resolve the issue with the Emperor of Greed, but that wasn’t something to be continually trusted in the future. Now he needed advice from someone he could rely on as the journey ahead seemed a bit difficult.

Jin-woo went to the Sanctuary of Gold. As usual, Arina welcomed him warmly. He decided to ask her about the Emperor of Vanity.

“Are you talking about the Emperor of Vanity? It is the most vicious one next to the Emperor of Greed.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it possesses the body of vain men, mainly a king of men or demons. To satisfy its vanity, it ruins their financial affairs and leaves their land desolate. The anecdote of him sprinkling food on low-level monsters is close to a legend.”

“What?”

“Yeah, that was during the bad times too! Just because monsters are cute! Such a vicious…!”

“…I see.”

The Emperor of Vanity Among the Twelve monarchs was one of the weakest that hopped from body to body. The Demon Realm and other dimensions were devastated because of the fantastic collaboration between Greed and the Emperor of Vanity. There were parts he didn’t understand, but he thought it was fine to move on.

Elonti was protecting the Sealing Stone using the World Tree and Spirit Magic. The Sealing Stone was the stone in which the power of the Emperor of Vanity was stored. After all his hard work, the main character persuaded the elves to obtain the Sealing Stone. If the power of the Sealing stone were weakened, the ability and power of the Emperor of Vanity would be weakened, but if it were broken, it would be completely released.

Due to the trolling of the main character, the Sealing Stone was broken, and the Emperor of Vanity moved freely between Gates. At first, it appeared at the Gates on the open seas, but eventually, it crossed over to the Gate in China. In the end, it possessed the main character’s rival.

‘Is his name Wang Guo Liang?’

This was all Jin-woo knew about the Emperor of Vanity.

‘It was great to increase the volume.’

It took as many as three volumes to finish the Emperor of Vanity. Oh! He should have stopped reading it then…

‘Anyway, the place where the elves are is connected to China’s Gate…’

Originally, he had to go to where the elves were through the Gate in China as the main character did, but Jin-woo was already able to open a Gate to Elonti. He was glad he didn’t have to bother going to China.

‘Shall I bring some equipment?’

Since he was going to an unfamiliar place, he had to take care of his equipment thoroughly. Jin-woo took out the best sword from the warehouse. It was B-rank, but he paid the most money to buy it among the weapons he acquired.

‘Let’s put on all the good stuff.’

He didn’t have to save on materials. It was enhanced by hammering Enhancement Stones and Attribute Stones into it. He was able to gradually enhance it to the limit. His Luck, as expected, did not betray.

[A] Storm Sword +12

Golden Maker, the Emperor of Gold, enhanced it to the limit and gave it the wind attribute. It used to be a treasured sword called the Sword of Winter Wind, but now such a shabby name is inappropriate.

It’s a sword with the power of a storm.

* Attributes: Wind, Water

A monster was born. Arina stared blankly at the sword as Jin-woo hefted it in his hand.

“…Are you going to conquer Elonti?”

“No way. This must be enough.”

After enhancing the sword, Jin-woo gathered several other items. His clothes were also of the highest quality, and he didn’t forget to enhance them. It was best to be safe.

He felt like he was going on a trip as he packed his things. Arina seemed to want to go with him, but it would be better to leave her at the Sanctuary since she was a demon.

Jin-woo moved to the center of the Sanctuary of Gold. From there, he was able to move to another dimension. It was a convenient feature. Of course, going to another Gate or dimension wasn’t free but required dimensional gold coins.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

It was his first time traveling alone without bodyguards surrounding him. He was armed with high-ranking items, though, so safety wasn’t much of a concern.

‘If you think about fantasy, it must be about the elves.’

Thinking so, Jin-woo stuffed many-dimensional gold coins in the slot and opened the Dimension Portal. The dimensional gold coins disintegrated, and a golden light leaked out. A portal opened right in front of Jin-woo.

He entered without hesitation.

“Oh…”

As he crossed the portal, what he saw was, as expected, a forest. It was a forest in a form that couldn’t be seen on Earth.

‘It’s good.’

The smell of the forest was pleasant. It felt cozy, but he seemed to have been transferred a little away from Elonti. When he looked at the information, it was because he had put in too few-dimensional gold coins.

‘Is Elonti that way?’

There was a lack of description in the original novel. Although the forest looked dull, it was quite beautiful. The trees were so thick that the sky was invisible, but it didn’t feel dark because of the glowing plants.

This atmosphere cannot be expressed even with the latest CG.

‘Hmm?’

As he was about to head to Elonti, he heard a loud noise from outside the forest like a pig howling. Jin-woo decided to head there, for now, his body moving quickly as a huge amount of mana was sent out.

Jin-woo’s movements were concise and dignified. Of course, he didn’t mean to move so fast, but he reached the border between forest and meadow near instantaneously.

Taking a moment to look around, he nodded briefly at the sight unfolding before his eyes on the high hill.

‘It’s too typical…’

Orcs and elves were fighting.

‘I heard that Elonti is often attacked by orcs.’

It was because of the Emperor of Vanity. It was a brief setting that the Orcs were aiming for the Sealing Stone. The number of orcs was over a thousand, and the elves were quite small in comparison. They began to burn the forest, so the elves were scrambling to try and put out the fire by summoning water spirits, but the effect was insignificant.

Jin-woo looked at the spirits summoned by the elves.

[E -> F+] Low-ranked Water Spirit

A water spirit summoned by elf spirit magic. Due to lack of nutrition, it can only exert 40% of its original strength.

Elonti’s condition was worse than expected. There were two main ways elves appeared in fantasy: the first was when the main character was passing through the forest and suddenly felt an arrow passing by their ear. The second was when they needed to save the elves from monsters.

To enter Elonti, there was no need to win the elves’ favor as Jin-woo provided support and obtained the noble status of Elonti already.

‘For future work…’

It was also preferable to save them. It seemed that he could also test his swordsmanship.

Squeak!

A typical orc sound was heard. He wondered why he felt so affectionate to them, but it was the sound of an orc from a typical fantasy novel. They appeared to range from level 20 to 40.

The orcs began to rush in as arrows filled the sky and fell on their ranks. Yet, the Orcs advanced despite being hit with arrows. They were very simple creatures.

Jin-woo grabbed his sword, jumping into the fray. His sword cut through an orc as he landed.

That was the moment…

Dddddrrr! Bang!

The ground split with Jin-woo’s impact, and dozens of orcs soared into the sky. It was a completely different result from what Jin-woo intended, as he only planned on getting rid of the guy who seemed to be the commander.

‘This…’

He hit it lightly…

The problem was that the enhancement was too strong. The orcs soaring into the sky strangely continued to float in the sky. Jin-woo stretched out backwards and drew his sword from the ground.

Tugh! Doo-doo-tugh!

The orcs fell like a rain shower. Jin-woo could now see the complicated technique that kept the orcs flowing until he took a stance.

‘In any case, this move…’

Anyway, he was satisfied that the power was enormous. Jin-woo raised his head and looked at the orcs. Both the elves and orcs who were about to rush in for battle looked blankly toward Jin-woo.

Mana gathered in Jin-woo’s sword-like explosion. A brilliant golden light was emitted and evaporated the orc corpses nearby. His slightly fluttering hair and the indifferent expression he wore seemed distant from the battlefield.

Jin-woo swung his sword lightly. It was a simple swing, but it carved a smooth trajectory in the air. Golden sword energy erupted and cut everything in front of it. Blood flowed from the neck of the orc captain in front of him.

The orc captain’s eyes bugged out of his skull. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t before his head fell to the ground. The bodies of his men surrounding him followed a second later.

The Emperor of Gold showed his true power when dealing with a great majority rather than one-on-one. The power of the sword, as well as the move, was maximized in such scenarios. It felt like mana was being used up unnecessarily, but there wasn’t much impact because his mana was overflowing.

Jin-woo’s sword had no hesitation. It was enough to push with sheer destructive force without relying on special swordsmanship techniques. The sword was so good that the orcs exploded on their own without him even having to dodge. Whenever Jin-woo moved, blood fountained from the nearby orcs.

Boooooo!

When the horn was heard, the orcs began to retreat in haste. Jin-woo exhaled lightly and sheathed his sword.

Whoosh!

A gleam of light emanated as if watching a storm swirling along with the sword; a sound reminiscent of thunder filled the air.

The moment he put the sword completely into its sheath…

Clank! Paang!

A strong wind blew around Jin-woo, and all the flames in the forest were extinguished.

“…”

He just put in on its sheath, but the finishing was perfect. Silence settled over them again.

‘Um…’

Anyway, the number of orcs had decreased considerably, so it seemed fine for now. He looked towards the orcs on the run and turned back to the elves. Each of them wore a blank expression as they stood still. Then, they began to slowly lower their still-readied weapons. They had blank expressions, but it couldn’t hide their beauty.

As expected, they all boasted a high level of attractiveness since they were elves.

‘In the original novel, they were quite rude and cold-hearted, though…’

He wondered what they would be like in reality. The elves came to their senses and quickly bowed their heads. Jin-woo also bowed his head in embarrassment, lowering it deeply. They weren’t as rude as the description of the original novel. Rather, Jin-woo felt burdened.

Someone came running from the forest, causing the elves around him to kneel politely.

“Thank you so much for your help, Emperor of Gold. Elonti would have had to make a lot of sacrifices if you hadn’t come.”

Elonti De Ella, the rude heroine.

She was the woman who was criticized the most by the original readers.