Prologue + Chapter 1

March 24th, 2023

Han Cha-soo was the villain of the piece in the 800-plus episodes of <Hunter Myeongga Shihan Genius Eldest>.

A villain who is the embodiment of inferiority complex, envious and jealous of the protagonist, S-class hunter Jung Yi-Heon.

[I could have been like you, too, if I’d been born with everything you had…! I was nothing like you!]

[A lucky man like you doesn’t know the pain of a poor man like me!]

He was as clichéd as his dialogue, but a surprising number of readers remembered him by the end.

Why?

Because he’s the reason the main character’s brother suddenly dies for nothing at the beginning of the novel.

He dies in a dungeon that Jung Yi-Heon enters instead of him because he suddenly has an urgent matter to attend to, and his body is never found.

[It was a level that thirty people could afford. Find out who did it. Right now.]

With that, the protagonist who was a celestial tiger suddenly became a bully protagonist….

[Han Cha-soo? Seo-heon died because this scumbag messed with the potion, is this what you’re saying?]

[Sorry, I should have checked it thoroughly beforehand….]

[…Cut off his limbs and throw him in the dungeon].

[What?]

[Playing with lives. Let me try it].

They torture Han Cha-soo in every horrible way a person can imagine, bring him back to life, torture him again, and kill him.

“Fuck….”

I mean, to this body I’m possessing.

It’s been an hour since I woke up in a strange room.

I still couldn’t figure out why I was here, no matter how hard I tried.

Last time I checked, I must have fallen asleep reading a novel in my room at the shelter.

“This is ridiculous.”

I sighed from the depths of my chest.

It’s bad enough that I’m in a novel, but now I’m possessing a villain.

As I sighed, I saw the room ransacked like a burglar.

I was surprised to see an unfamiliar body in the mirror and searched for something.

“Han Cha-soo, you’re possessing Han Cha-soo….”

The white, spotless ceiling was unfamiliar to me.

In my head, I reviewed the novel I had read until yesterday.

Han Cha-soo, a researcher at the Potion Manufacturing Team 1 of the Heavenly Spirit Guild.

An ordinary assistant with no reputation in the company.

He can’t get along with people, can’t get promoted, works overtime every day, and will probably retire as a salaried employee.

“But he’s actually an inferiority complex madman.”

What a tiring life.

”Why the hell are you so twisted, you could live like a southerner.”

Hunters with potion-making skills earn a salary that would be the envy of any large corporation.

The same goes for Han Cha-soo, a member of the Heavenly Spirit Guild.

‘So, was Han Cha-soo a B-class?’

I didn’t remember because it wasn’t an important part of the novel.

Just to be sure, I pulled up the status window.

I soon had to press my lips together in embarrassment.

[ Name: Han Cha-soo (Class A)
Titles: Failed Assassin, Stolen Star, Rebel
Traits : Assassin, Combat
Skill : Camouflage (A) : Activate
Regeneration (B)
Soundless Steps (B)
Shroud of Shadows (C)
Poisoning (A)
Dilute Presence (A)
Defiance (A)

*The skill ‘Camouflage’ is active.
*Certain information is displayed differently to others.
*Actions inconsistent with your cover identity are penalised.]

”…a potion maker.”

I sat for a while, looking at the status window, and it clicked.

From assassin traits to potion making.

This guy didn’t come in here to make potions and then go crazy with inferiority complexes, he just seemed to be a natural.

“So this is how you got away with so much.”

When I looked at the effect, I realised that it was perfect for erasing traces.

For some reason, the person who came in as a researcher went on a rampage without fear.

“There was a part of me that believed.”

Now that I think about it, there are more than a few inferiorities complex villains who have done just that.

He’s no stranger to tampering with potions, and it turns out, he’s tampered with the protagonists’ equipment as well.

But why was he suddenly caught if he hadn’t been caught before?

Well, maybe the plot needed it.

I turned off the status window and snapped my fingers.

After all, it was purely bad luck that he’d been caught doing a bunch of bullshit in the middle of the story.

The potions he tinkered with were usually only marginally effective.

Like reducing the potency of a healing potion by six per cent.

Or shortening the duration of an ailment resistance potion by 4.5 per cent.

It was a trick that an S-ranked Hunter like Jung Yi-Heon could have covered with his own abilities.

That’s why Han Cha-soo was getting bolder and bolder.

‘That’s how the accident happened.’

A-Class Flame Realm Hunter.

He fought against a frost giant and was killed by a freezing resistance potion Han Cha-soo had made.

It was only a potion that reduced the duration and potency by 8%. It’s a small difference that could have been overlooked if the encounter had gone smoothly.

That day, however, the Frost Giant goes on a rampage for unknown reasons.

The team panicked, but remained calm and tried to retreat.

Although the frost giant’s chill was more than three times as strong as before, it was still manageable if the potions were taken in time.

The potion was the problem.

An 8% number doesn’t seem like much when you’re just looking at it.

But in a life-threatening situation. When a split-second decision can mean the difference between life and death.

In the firing line, with hands and feet freezing and bodies gradually becoming sluggish, that number could mean the difference between life and death.

In the end, the raiding team is left stranded in the snow when the potion freezes faster than expected.

Jung Yi-heon, the protagonist who sent his brother in his place, writhes in agony.

He thought he had sent his brother out to die.

But no matter how much he thinks about it, he didn’t deserve to die.

The raiding team may not be able to defeat the rampaging frost giant, but they have enough resources to retreat safely.

So Jung Yi-heon investigated his brother’s death thoroughly… and as a result, Han Cha-Soo was revealed.

And all of his dastardly deeds.

With that in mind, I knew what I had to do.

“I can’t do this.”

Let’s leave the company.