Why the Hell Am I the Villain?!
Early in the morning. The moment I forced my heavy eyelids open, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling instead of the one I was used to.
“……?”
It wasn’t just the ceiling that was strange. The scent filling my nose wasn’t the usual night-blooming flowers I knew, but something refreshingly pleasant. Even the pillow, blanket, and bed itself felt oddly softer and fluffier than normal. Sure, bedding is supposed to be soft and cozy, but when it’s excessively so, it actually feels off.
“…What the…?”
Maybe that’s why the thought suddenly hit me—this wasn’t my room. The instant that realization struck, it was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on my face. Sleep vanished in a flash.
I kicked the blanket off and scanned my surroundings. It didn’t take long for my suspicion to turn into cold certainty.
“…Fuck. What is this? Where am I?”
What greeted my eyes was the typical layout of a guy’s room. Except everything—the items placed around, the sheer size of the space—was completely different from the room I’d seen right before falling asleep.
And among all of it, the most jarring sight was…
“…A home gym?”
A full set of workout equipment proudly occupying one corner of the room. What the actual hell? Had I been kidnapped in my sleep and thrown into some prison where you couldn’t leave unless you hit a 3 500?
Next to the machines stood a full-length mirror, probably placed there so the owner could watch himself while working out. After staring at all the bizarre objects, the moment my eyes landed on that mirror—
“…Huh?”
Goosebumps exploded across my entire body. The reflection staring back was definitely me… but it wasn’t me at all.
I thought I must have seen wrong and looked again, but the image in the mirror remained exactly the same.
…Was I still half-asleep? Why the hell was I blonde?
The sharp, fierce eyes, nose, and mouth I’d been sick of hearing about since childhood were unmistakably mine. But I had never once dyed my hair blonde—not even brown—in my entire life. And now I had golden hair?
That wasn’t all. The ridiculously muscular body that looked like it could casually bench a 3 500 and the perfectly tanned skin were also wrong. I’d kept myself in decent shape, sure, but I’d never been this ripped.
If I had to describe it… my current appearance was exactly like the stereotypical Geumtaeyang…………………………
…Wait a second.
Geumtaeyang?
No way.
With a growing sense of dread, I frantically ransacked the room.
“…Oh, fuck.”
After thoroughly trashing the place, I finally figured out whose room this was. Everywhere I looked, there were items with the name Kang Junwoo on them—school uniforms with name tags, all kinds of evidence piled up.
Kang Junwoo.
A name I knew all too well. It was the same name I’d been cursing nonstop just yesterday.
I was starting to get a vague idea of what kind of situation I was in. Transmigration was a familiar trope to someone who’d played all kinds of games across multiple genres. Of course, I’d never imagined it would actually happen to me.
…Yeah. Transmigration, whatever, fine. I can deal with that.
But what was really pissing me off right now wasn’t the sudden transmigration itself…
“Why the fuck did I transmigrate as the villain instead of the protagonist…!!!”
…It was the fact that I’d become the main villain of ~I Still Miss Him~—the Geumtaeyang himself.
***
“Ha, haha. Hahahaha.”
A dry laugh escaped me. Me, transmigrated? And into Kang Junwoo of all people? I hadn’t even left any hate comments. Why me?
Wondering if this was all just a dream, I slapped my own cheeks as hard as I could and even slammed my head against the wall.
“Ugh…”
All I got in return was excruciating pain in my face and skull. After a brief session of self-inflicted torture, I had no choice but to accept that I had really transmigrated.
Or maybe I’d wake up on my own eventually. I could curse then.
With that thought, I pulled out the smartphone I’d found earlier and checked the date.
March 3rd.
If there was any silver lining, it was the timing. Today was the exact starting point of ~I Still Miss Him~—the first day of the third year of high school. For me, it was my first day as a transfer student.
Of course, if I’d transmigrated earlier, I could’ve prepared more thoroughly, but…
‘…At least I’m not late.’
When I thought about the possibility of waking up a whole month after the start, I felt dizzy. By then, the original Kang Junwoo would’ve already been charging full speed down the “impregnate the transfer student” route, and there would’ve been nothing I could do.
Letting out a sigh that was half relief and half disappointment, I changed into the school uniform I’d found earlier. It had that ornate, old-fashioned design I’d seen throughout the game.
…To think I’d actually be wearing the uniform I’d only ever seen on a screen.
As I put the unfamiliar clothes on this unfamiliar body, I thought to myself: I had no idea why this had happened to me. But there was one thing I was genuinely looking forward to.
The reason I’d stayed up for days straight playing that trash game ~I Still Miss Him~ (affectionately shortened to “shit game”)? The illustrations were insanely beautiful. Not just pretty—stupidly, ridiculously gorgeous.
And among them, the one I loved most.
If I could see her in real life instead of just pixels…
No. Not just see her. Hear her voice. Touch her.
…And if I could make her mine.
The corner of my mouth curled up without me realizing it. Just a moment ago I’d been hoping to wake up from this dream. Now I was thinking that if it really was a dream, I wouldn’t mind never waking up.
No. Honestly, I hoped I wouldn’t wake up.
***
When I stepped out of the room in my uniform, my eyes met those of a woman who had been walking toward me.
A silver-haired beauty with her hair neatly tied back, wearing a perfectly fitted suit and striking blue eyes. The moment I saw her, the realization that I had truly transmigrated hit me like a truck, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
Because she—Baek Seolha—
“Young Master. Did you… wake up by yourself?”
—was the bodyguard who always stood expressionlessly beside Kang Junwoo whenever he appeared. In this trash game world where more heroines got fucked by him than didn’t, she was one of the rare ones who stayed untouched. Despite that insane beauty.
…By the way, just how lazy was the original Kang Junwoo that waking up early by myself warranted this kind of reaction?
It was a little bewildering, but I grinned and answered.
“My eyes just popped open today for some reason. It’s my first day transferring, you know?”
She tilted her head, looking like she’d heard something absurd.
“Didn’t you tell me yesterday to prepare an excuse for the madam because you didn’t feel like going to school today?”
“…I did?”
“Yes. And you’re even using polite speech… Are you feeling unwell, Young Master? Perhaps a fever in your head, or…”
Oh, fuck.
This bastard was planning to skip school on his very first day of transfer? And I’d assumed he only used casual speech with people his own age, but he talked that way to older people too?
‘…I didn’t see this coming.’
My head suddenly throbbed at the thought of the original Geumtaeyang’s completely different behavioral patterns. I wasn’t exactly a saint who lived and died by etiquette, but I wasn’t a rude bastard who didn’t even know the first letter of the word “manners” like the original Kang Junwoo either.
And since this kind of thing was probably going to happen a lot in the future, I couldn’t just go around saying “I’ve been possessed, by the way.”
While I was pondering how to handle this, I waved my hand lightly and spoke in a playful tone.
“I was thinking of turning over a new leaf starting today, but the moment someone asks if my head hurts, I feel like throwing in the towel again?”
There was no need for me to be trash just because the original Kang Junwoo was trash. Of course, I couldn’t imitate him perfectly anyway. That guy was the real deal.
At first, people would probably find my changed behavior strange, but eventually they’d just assume he’d finally grown up a little.
…Though if they never suspected I’d changed at all, that would be pretty shocking in its own way.
“Turning over a new leaf? I’m surprised you’re even capable of jokes that don’t count as sexual harassment, Young Master.”
“…Isn’t that a weird thing to be surprised about? I said I’m turning over a new leaf?”
“People usually sign up for gym memberships at the start of a new year, dreaming of becoming a new person.”
“Should I just go back to spouting sexual harassment like usual? It seems like that’s what you actually want.”
Was she saying my resolution wouldn’t even last three days?
No matter how much of a piece of garbage the original Kang Junwoo had been, the fact that Baek Seolha couldn’t cheer me on and instead mocked me so sharply made me a little—okay, a lot—annoyed. But if I said I wasn’t even slightly impressed by her, that would be a lie.
“I was joking.”
A faint smile had formed on her lips as she said that.
“I’ll let myself be fooled just this once, Young Master. So please, do not disappoint me.”
“…Don’t people usually say ‘I believe in you’?”
“This is me being fooled. For now, at least.”
For now, at least…
I nodded as if reluctant, but the truth was, I was shocked. So shocked that I had to focus hard to keep my eyes from widening.
Because—
‘…Did she just smile?’
I had never seen it before. Baek Seolha’s smile. In the game, her trademark had always been that mechanical, rigid way of speaking and her completely expressionless face.
I used to wonder what it would look like if she smiled. Now that I’d seen it in person—
‘…She’s insanely beautiful.’
Even a slight smile had this much destructive power. I couldn’t imagine how devastating a full smile would be.
While I was busy mentally stretching and shrinking the corners of her mouth in my imagination, her blue eyes slowly scanned me up and down. She gave a small nod.
“Still, it seems you prepared well on your own for your first day, Young Master. Shall we get in the car right away?”
“…Car?”
I’d had a feeling when she called me “Young Master,” but…
Was Kang Junwoo—wait, was I—actually from some filthy rich family?
I was a little—no, very—taken aback. In the game, his background had only been described as “comes from a fairly well-off family” and then glossed over. No wonder he could casually give the heroines luxury gifts and take them to expensive hotels without batting an eye.
…Hey, developers. Do you not know what “fairly well-off” means? This is straight-up filthy rich, you bastards.
Going to school in a car driven by a beautiful woman first thing in the morning sounded tempting, I had to admit. But—
“Never mind. I’ll just walk today, so you can rest at home.”
I needed to get a feel for the neighborhood, the distance to school, and my surroundings. So even though it pained me internally, I turned her down.
The moment I finished speaking, she pulled out her phone and began typing rapidly.
“Why are you suddenly texting?”
“I’m informing the madam that the Young Master appears to be quite ill—particularly in the brain area. It seems more serious than I initially thought.”
“……….”
It took ten full minutes to convince her and finally leave the house.