Trapped in a Webnovel as a Good-For-Nothing

Min Young-Hoon thought that arranging an informal dinner with Yu-Seong wouldn’t be difficult. However, with everyone being quite wary these days, it might draw others’ suspicion for him to directly contact Yu-Seong.

In fact, because Choi In-Young had previously tried to kidnap Yu-Seong by using Min Young-Hoon, Choi Woo-Jae had given her an indirect warning.

'Well, I don't have to do it myself.’

Fortunately, Choi In-Young was not only smart, but also clever and manipulative. She could already think of a plausible plan. There were quite a few men like Min Young-Hoon around her, men who would work for her as if they were bewitched by her.

"Okay, let’s do it. So, let's see. After you set up the Time Bomb, Yu-Seong will go dungeon racing, and at an appropriately chaotic time, the bomb will explode…” In-Young said.

"And the extent of the damage…?"

"As I said before, don't kill him. After all, he's still my cute little brother. It would be perfect to have him crippled so that he can’t recover again… mmm, yes, let’s get him to the level of Ji-Ho oppa.”

Min Young-Hoon nodded at Choi In-Young's cold smile. "I'll make that happen.”

Thus ending this cold-blooded conversation, Choi In-Young smiled like a flower in full bloom. She let herself down until her face was level with Young Hoon’s, and she kissed Young-Hoon's mouth and cheek, holding him in her arms. She cooed, "Young-Hoon, such a competent man. You’re so lovely. When did you make all those connections? Huhu.”

Min Young-Hoon was called the “crazy dog of the dungeons.” Hearing In-Young say something like that, he sulked and said, "I refuse to be treated like a child.”

"Huhu, who said that’s all I’m going to do with you?”

Choi In-Young blushed, looking shy. Others would be surprised if they saw this particular expression of hers. Her eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled, patted Young-Hoon’s cheek softly, then held his face and kissed him.

"Mmm..." Young-Hoon wrapped his arms around Choi In-Young.

‘Choi In-Young really is a bitch.’

However, could Young-Hoon refuse her?

‘But what can I do? I like her so much that it drives me crazy.’

Young-Hoon jumped at In-Young’s bones like an eager dog. His mind was soon overtaken by a fog of desire.

***

All these conversations had started and ended without Yu-Seong, their main topic, being any the wiser.

The next day, after he had made some progress, Yu-Seong went to the Korea Player Association to receive the D-rank certificate. Once he was done with that, he sat in the backseat of the car Jin Do-Yoon was driving, looking out at the Han River with a serious expression on his face.

Do-Yoon remembered that Yu-Seong had that serious expression from the moment he had left his room in the morning. Curious, he asked cautiously, "Hope you don't mind me asking, sir, but is there anything bothering you?"

“Oh, it’s not really bothering me. I'm just thinking that things are getting more and more twisted. This situation gives me a complicated feeling,” said Yu-Seong.

"Hm…?” Jin Do-Yoon tilted his head in confusion.

"I forgot to tell you, but Father called me as soon as I woke up," said Yu-Seong.

"The Chairman?" asked Do-Yoon.

"Yeah. He asked me when I would be promoted to D-rank."

"Since you've already been promoted, he must have been happy to hear the news," said Do-Yoon.

"Yeah, he was very happy. He said it was much faster than he thought, and now, he could take Chairman Yoo down a peg or two."

"When you say Chairman Yoo, do you mean the Cheon-Ji Group's…?” asked Do-Yoon while he continued to drive.

Yu-Seong nodded. In fact, he wouldn't have thought much about it if that had been the whole extent of the problem. In a way, it was completely normal for any father to want to brag about his children. In this case, the father was Choi Woo-Jae, and that made the situation slightly strange. But still, it wasn’t too odd. The problem was the backstory.

Yu-Seong briefly explained to Jin-Yoon the situation regarding dungeon racing and Bernard Yoo. He then added, "Oh, I have to call him to tell him that I'm done reporting my promotion. Haha…”

Yu-Seong gave a humorless laugh, then called Choi Woo-Jae. There wasn't much to say between them aside from ‘I got the D-rank certificate’ and ‘good job.’ However, Choi Woo-Jae did bring up one last thing right after Yu-Seong had thought that they were done talking.

-You should already know this, but I really hate losing.

Then, he hung up immediately.

"Isn't Bernard Yoo the Korean rookie who is famous in the US?" asked Do-Yoon.

"Yeah," answered Yu-Seong.

"You don't have to worry too much. It’s true that he’s pretty talented, but I think you'll definitely win," said Do-Yoon.

"Thank you." Yu-Seong answered lightly, but complicated thoughts still filled his mind.

The reason was simple.

His opponent was currently known as Bernard Yoo, but in two years, when he would return to Korea for good, he would have become famous under a different name, according to the original novel: the ‘Fast Star.’ Then, another three years later, he would be known to the whole world as something else entirely.

‘Starlight Flash.’

However, there was another impression that stood out more intensely in Yu-Seong's mind.

‘He is Kim Do-Jin's best friend—his right arm.’

As could be seen from the nickname ‘Fast Star,’ the Psychic-type player Bernard Yoo was the type of person commonly known as a ‘cool guy’.

‘In a way, he's pure and extremely competitive.’

That was why in two years, Bernard Yoo would reach A-rank and return to Korea to compete with Kim Do-Jin in dungeon racing. This occurred in Book 3 of the original novel.

Perhaps Bernard Yoo returned to Korea to compete against Do-Jin because he did not like his nickname of ‘Kim Do-Jin of the United States,’ but in the end, befitting the setting of the main character’s closest companion, Bernard would lose the match by a slim margin.

Then, like the Cool Guy he was, Bernard would acknowledge the man who defeated him and become a member of the Eclipse Guild. He would gradually become a popular character and appear in many chapters of the novel.

‘Of course, he’s a major figure who’s indispensable for Kim Do-Jin and his crew.’

But contrary to what happened in the original novel, Bernard Yoo had come to Korea two years earlier and was going to compete against Choi Yu-Seong himself, and not Kim Do-Jin, in dungeon racing.

‘It could be a useless worry, but what if I win and Bernard Yoo wants to become my party member?’

It sounded like an exaggerated idea, but the original novel’s Bernard Yoo really was that kind of character. His character setting was the Cool Guy; as such, he felt that regardless of who won the battle, they would still become friends after competing.Also, he was the kind of person who would feel a strange admiration for the one that defeated him and would opt to follow his better from then on. Such were the traits that the writer had chosen for this character.

‘Okay, let's think about it.’

Yu-Seong tried to think of Kim Do-Jin without Bernard Yoo and the Eclipse guild without the ‘Starlight Flash’. He already had concerns about the changed attitude of Baek Chul, who was currently with Choi Ji-Ho.

'I think there will be a lot of dangerous incidents as the future comes closer.’

Yu-Seong wanted to believe it wasn’t so, but the planned events were happening much sooner than they were supposed to, and now, another variable had been added. The upcoming battles in the future were very similar to the dungeon hunting that had been happening until now and would have many aggressive species attacking.

‘Ah, that’s bad, that can’t happen. It's not even enough just to preserve Kim Do-Jin's manpower as it is in the original novel…’

If variables kept increasing like that, there was no guarantee that even the enemy invasions in the future would happen as planned. Of course, Yu-Seong couldn't force himself to lose the race.

‘Then my father wouldn't sit still. Not only is that a problem, but...the threats from my dear siblings would start right away.’

Yu-Seong heard that the guild business was at stake with this game. If he lost, falling out with Choi Woo-Jae would be a problem. Another concern would be the disruption of Choi Mi-Na’s plan of attracting the other siblings’ attention and buying Yu-Seong more time.

If defeated, Yu-Seong would face plenty of immediate risks. On the other hand, there was a possibility that he could influence Bernard Yoo's attitude toward him to some extent.

No matter how hard he thought about it, there was no way for Yu-Seong to backtrack.

"So, in the end…I have no choice but to win," said Yu-Seong.

"Of course. But don’t worry too much, young master. As I told you, you are by far the best D-rank hunter I know. I am confident that there will be no problems even if your opponent is a C-rank opponent,” said Do-Yoon.

"Even if Bernard Yoo is C-rank?" asked Yu-Seong.

"...of course," answered Do-Yoon.

"This time, your answer was a second late," said Yu-Seong.

Jin Do-Yoon was speaking without knowing exactly how Yu-Seong felt, but the conversation felt quite comforting.

'Okay, let's win.’

Truthfully, this would probably not be as easy as Yu-Seong wanted. Bernard Yoo was such a strong opponent that even Do-Yoon, who was blindly loyal toward Yu-Seong, was momentarily left at a loss for words. It made sense, since in the original novel, Bernard Yoo was strong enough to be called Kim Do-Jin's right-hand man.

In fact, in the distant future, Bernard Yoo's combat power would rise to the level of the ‘Judge’, a powerhouse that could face a serious disaster alone. His talent was enough to have him as the main character of certain scenarios. Even at this point, when his rank was still relatively low, he was obviously very strong. He would have no clear weakness.

Nevertheless, Yu-Seong was still concerned, because the increasing variables and the situations that were supposed to occur around Kim Do-Jin were now happening to him instead.

‘At this rate, one day, I might be the one messing with the devil.’

Yu-Seong really hoped that that wouldn't be the case. He sincerely hoped and hoped.

***

Yu-Seong received the official D-rank certificate and immediately challenged the rank 3 dungeon.

‘Actually, with my condition right now, I think I could also do a rank 4 dungeon....’

There were many similarities between video games and the dungeons of this world, and one of these similarities was that stronger monsters appeared farther away from the beginning, or the entrance. Elite monsters wouldn’t appear at the entrance of a dungeon.

Therefore, currently, it was probably the most efficient for Yu-Seong to hunt in rank 4 dungeons, close to the entrance. The experience points from rank 4 dungeon monsters would probably be higher than rank 3 ones.

Unfortunately, it was not possible at the moment. The barrier between the rank 3 and rank 4 dungeons was like the difference between the D rank and the C rank. There was a massive gap between the two ranks, so the Player Association’s manual had a rule in place that prevented parties with less than five players from entering a higher-rank dungeon. However, Kim Do-Jin had actually entered rank 4 dungeons alone after reaching D-rank level 50. How was that possible?

‘Well, it's because he is a main character and he became close to the Player Association’s president.’

The Korean Player Association regarded Kim Do-Jin as a national treasure. He was still treated like a rookie abroad, albeit a great super rookie, but he was already a monster close to maturity in the eyes of the Player Association’s quick-witted president.

Do-Jin was the hero who would represent the country if his rank and level rose appropriately. The Player Association’s president was not wrong to think so, actually, because that was also one of Kim Do-Jin's roles in the novel.

‘That's why he helped Kim Do-Jin a lot. He wanted him to grow up.’

The main character taking up the novel’s key positions was a cliché already. And at this point, there was no contact between the Player Association’s president and Yu-Seong himself. No…if the story went according to the original novel, there would never be a point where they would have contact.

‘In the end, I have to create a contact point on my own…’