Magicless Extra: The Villain’s Survival Method

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐎𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐝 (𝟏)

「The Regressor’s Way to Prevent the Destruction」.

This game, released as an open-world VR ARPG, had been in the limelight among many players since its release.

It was highly liberal, allowing players to play as regressors, or to play as other supporting characters and assist the regressors, or even to surpass the main character and become the protagonist of the world.

In addition to that, it boasted an incredible level of freedom, even allowing players to play as villains, plunging the world into ruin and destroying the protagonist and supporting characters.

And among such a game, there was the most notorious character, none other than Oswald Winchester, the trash villain among villains.

No, initially, this villain was not created to be a villain. As soon as he started, he was placed in a situation where he encountered and fought the regressor, was beaten up like a dog, and was eventually expelled from the academy with an indefinite suspension.

Already half-abandoned by his family, Oswald was eventually ostracized and kicked out of his family as well. After that, with no abilities and 100% unlikable, he was unable to even beg properly and eventually starved to death.

He couldn’t even learn magic-related skills due to his body’s resistance to magic power.

“Wow! Are you going to eat this again? Really. . . It’s hopeless.”

And today, a certain rotten person who had been playing this 「Final Chapter」 game for over a year was playing as Oswald, the trash villain among villains, and had achieved 99 out of 99 losses.

“Wow. . .”

He had somehow managed to raise his pathetic zero magic power body through various routes and had managed to rise to a mid-level position in the villain world. . . but in the end, he was caught by the regressor and taken out.

“The difficulty level was too hard from the very beginning! Damn. . . is that the only way left?”

The moment he pressed the play button to challenge once more!

A special message window appeared.

[Special Event!]

[You have challenged Oswald Winchester’s 100th play.]

[You will be given the opportunity to change his fate with the special ‘Fate Points’.]

[Do you accept?]

[Accept] / [Decline]

“Fate Points? What is this? . . . Okay, let’s give it a try.”

He had already thought of a route anyway.

It was the most wicked route. . . but if he succeeded, he would be able to change his fate. Moreover, since he was even given a special ability, there was no reason not to challenge it, so he pressed the accept button.

However, he would later come to deeply regret his choice today, realizing with his whole body that it was something he should never have pressed.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Hah. . . how did I. . . end up here. . .”

He had pressed it thinking it was just an event, and now it had created this situation.

This was the game world. It was also incredibly incomprehensible. . .

[You have fallen into a world with the exact same setting as 「How the Regressor Stops the Apocalypse」.]

[To return to your original world, you must either stop the apocalypse or bring it about.]

[Since you will also die in your original world if you die, please play carefully.]

“Still. . . I guess it’s a good thing that the special ability isn’t bad?”

Fate Points.

It was a point that could change the fate of that person.

[Fate Points]

[This is a point that is given to you every time you change your fate. You can use it to improve your poor abilities in a slightly better direction.]

“Status window.”

[Oswald Winchester]

[Age: 18]

[Strength Lv.1]

[Agility Lv.1]

[Endurance Lv.1]

[Shooting Lv.5]

[Magic Power Lv.0]

[Swordsmanship Basics Lv.1]

[Archery Basics Lv.1]

[Gunnery Basics Lv.4]

“Are these a person’s stats?”

It was too much no matter how you looked at it. He had seen it many times as he played 99 times. . . but looking at it again in the current situation, it was a hopeless level of stats.

To survive in this world with such poor abilities and bring about or stop the apocalypse. . .

‘Bringing about the apocalypse is even more wicked.’

The regressor was not called a regressor for nothing. His growth rate, as the main character of this world, was immense. He even received the protagonist buff in the game, so his stats were unimaginable from the beginning.

He would rather have ridden alongside such a regressor and stopped the apocalypse. . . but the starting point of the game was the problem.

“Haah. . . does this mean I have to start over from the point where I was kicked out of the academy?”

Of course, he would be given a chance to return to school later. . . but even if he took that return route, he would eventually not be able to grow as much as he should and would end up dying in a terrorist attack or various incidents and accidents by the followers of the Five Great Evil Gods of Chaos.

“First of all. . . Let’s check the special ability.”

The Fate Shop that exists at the bottom of the field of vision.

When he opened it with a gesture, the Fate Points he possessed and the items in the Fate Shop were listed down.

First of all, the Fate Points he possessed were a whopping 5,000P. To know if this was a lot or a little, he would have to check the price of the items.

He checked the items listed, and most of them were locked. Oswald first checked the ones that were not locked and could be purchased.

[Strength Lv. UP]

[Fate: 10P]

[Agility Lv. UP]

[Fate: 10P]

[Endurance Lv. UP]

[Fate: 10P]

[Shooting Lv. UP]

[Fate: 10P]

There were items that could raise the levels of stats such as these, and there were also items that could raise the levels of basic stats such as swordsmanship and various skills.

“No, but why isn’t there a Magic Power level up!”

This poor body was a character with zero affinity for magic power, so much so that it could be called cursed rather than blessed by magic power. Because of that, even in the villain story, he awakens demonic power through a contract with the devil, but in the end, he is only at the level of being trampled by the regressor.

“Sigh. . . The demonic power route is meaningless even if I try it. . . The elixir route is also extremely inefficient. . . The rest is the demon hunter route?”

Demon hunter.

They were beings created through artificial body modification by the Chronos Order to hunt down the Five Great Evil Gods of Chaos and their followers and banish them from this world.

If he became a demon hunter, he would be able to open up a new stat called divine power, even if his magic power affinity was 0. The problem was. . .

“The success rate of a demon hunter’s body modification is 10%. . .”

If it were a normal game, he could save and reload until he succeeded. . . but he was not a game character in this world. It meant that if he died, it would be the end.

‘For now, I have no choice but to do my best with my current status. . .’

It seemed like he would have to give up on the demon hunter route he had originally thought of.

“Now the only problem is. . . returning home. . .”

Fortunately, the virtual reality game map was the same as the path in this world. Oswald had played as him 99 times, so he naturally knew the route back to his home.

However, when he returned home, he had a route where he was expelled from the academy for being dishonorable. Of course, his mother was kind-hearted, so he was not simply kicked out. This was because she provided him with basic survival gear.

“Okay, let’s level up our physical stats first.”

In an instant, he raised his strength, endurance, and agility to 10. Then, the 10P per 1 level up increased tenfold to 100P per 1 level up.

“Ha. . .”

Still, with a strength level of 10, he was at a level that was considered lower-middle within the academy.

Of course, the protagonist started with a strength level of 30 from the beginning, so there was a huge difference. . . but his Fate Points amounted to a whopping 5,000P. Since he had only spent 270P to raise his strength, endurance, and agility to 10. . . it seemed like he could raise them a bit more.

Since he couldn’t raise his magic power even if he wanted to, it seemed like it would be better to have superior physical abilities.

‘If your level exceeds 30, you can actually be called a superhuman. In that sense, isn’t the protagonist too unbalanced?’

He additionally raised his strength, endurance, and agility to level 20, spending 3,000P. Now, he had stats that were about mid-level within the academy.

The remaining Fate Points were 1,730P. Fortunately, Oswald was a descendant of Earl Winchester, who was famous for making luxury firearms, so his shooting level and basic gunnery level were somewhat high.

“First, let’s raise our shooting level to 10.”

He spent 50P to raise his shooting level to 10. Next, he spent 60P to raise his basic gunnery level to 10. Then, ‘Basic Gunnery’ changed to ‘Basic Gunnery’, and the points per level up also increased to 100P.

“Now, next. . . I need to buy senses and eyesight.”

[Sense Unlocked]

[Fate: 100P]

[Vision Unlocked]

[Fate: 100P]

Next, he raised his sense level to 10 and his vision level to 10. A total of 180P was spent. The remaining points were now 1,240P.

‘Is there anything useful. . .?’

Then, a stat caught his eye.

It was ‘Luck’. ‘Luck’, which was also called a hidden stat in 「Final Chapter」. Such ‘Luck’ was in the Fate Shop. It was definitely a hidden stat, so its price was not cheap.

[Luck Unlocked]

[Fate: 1,000P]

“Yeah, buy some luck.”

After purchasing luck, he checked the price to level it up and saw that it cost 10P per 1 level up.

The remaining points were now 240. . . Oswald did not hesitate to invest 90P to raise his luck level to 10. He didn’t know how much this would help him. . . but it would be better than nothing for this poor Oswald.

“Now. . . Shall we go home?”

This world view was a world where fantasy and steampunk were mixed. Because of that, there were things called magical steam locomotives, and there were also airships that flew in the sky.

“For now, I should save as much money as possible. . . Let’s refrain from using airships.”

The academy was located in Central, the capital of the Imperial Empire, and the Winchester Earldom was located in the frontier, the farthest away from such an empire. Although it was called a frontier, it was also called the Winchester Nation because it had the status of a border count.

Anyway, it would take two days by airship and about five days by magical steam locomotive.

In terms of speed alone, the magical steam locomotive was faster than the airship. . . but on the ground, there were things called Chaos Rifts, a kind of invasion outpost for the Five Great Evil Gods of Chaos to dominate the human world.

In addition, the magic of Chaos would gush out from the rift and erode the surrounding terrain. . . This could be called terraforming. Anyway, it took more time because he had to go around such rifts.

Apart from that, there was also a way to go by carriage. . .

‘But that would take too much time.’

The distance that took five days by magical steam locomotive could take almost a month to travel by carriage.

With the money he had on hand, he had to worry about whether he could spend a week, let alone a month. . .

‘Okay, let’s go to Central Station for now.’

Oswald walked towards Central Station as if he was familiar with it. He walked for almost two hours and finally arrived at Central Station.

The original Oswald would have taken at least four hours, including the time for fatigue recovery, but. . . as his physical ability increased, he was able to walk for two hours without getting tired.

“Winchester Nation, one third-class ticket.”

“10 silver.”

‘That’s outrageously expensive. . .’

10 silver. . . Based on the original world, it was equivalent to 100,000($74) won. Considering that a second-class ticket was 1 gold and a first-class ticket was 10 gold, it could be considered cheap. . . but it was something that ordinary people would not be able to afford.

The monthly salary of an ordinary civilian was 3 gold, and in silver, it was 300 silver. Based on the original world, it meant 3 million won($2,228).

Time passed and Oswald, who had boarded the train, soon arrived at the third-class seat. The view of the third-class seat, where several beds were intertwined, was almost full despite the expensive price.

“This one.”

Oswald’s seat on the first floor by the window. Soon, the train began to depart, and he looked out the window at his reflection and steeled his resolve.

‘Well, is this where it begins?’