Scheme

In a room where a swaying bulb was the only source of light, three men were currently watching a man damped with water, in a chair while being wrapped around with a rope.

"Wakey-wakey."

The perpetrator of all this ploy was the man in his front that has bushy eyebrows and a bald head that almost helped shined the room with a fat appearance to add his villainy persona.

Clink—!

The fat man brought his gun onto the man's forehead, smiling wickedly as he spoke, "The Infamous Dealer of the Underworld has been reduced into this sorry state by me. Up close, you really looked like a pathetic person. Why are you even alive? Hahahaha!"

The fat man started to throw insults as he keep the barrel of the gun pointed at the man's head. As if to amuse himself, he punched the person in the gut before putting the man back up while looking on him in the eyes.

Indifferent.

Looking at the lifeless ocean-like eyes of his victim, the fat man can't help but shiver as he slightly stepped back.

Strongly built person, with a face that can trample most handsome people out there, and a disposition that was excluding tranquility and a sense of danger.

That person looked at the fat man and uttered.

"Is this all you got?"

The fat man felt it was a mix of threatening and mockery, making him feel enraged, and pointed the barrel of his gun at the person's forehead again and answered back.

"You might appear smug and all but this will be your death. I can't believe you've fallen into a trap solely made for you. We're just here to finish the job. Your corpse will sell us a hefty amount of cash, Duke Mauberon. Though I should convince them first that you are a real deal since the Infamous Dealer alias is you after all!"

'Sigh, hearing the name of this guy still pains my ears. I wished I'd never written it this way.'

Duke Maueberon

It wasn't a title but a real name.

It was a mid-boss villain that I'd written in my first novel. And he's a very mediocre one I would say.

He appeared in the novel as a villain but since I've not entirely finished it, what happened to him in the future was also unknown. Maybe he's dead? Already killed by the main character?

But… does that really matter now?

'It's very funny.'

He said I've fallen for a trap when I decided to fall for it.

Pak—!

Though, my calm demeanor throughout the whole abduction scares me the most. How am I still able to think with clear thoughts even though I was surrounded by three men?

Well, because this was all planned from the start.

"Why aren't you talking? You piece of shit…! Fucking talk! Don't tell me you've become speechless because of my meticulous plan?" The bald man flaunted with a smug face as he clapped his hands.

"You're so loud."

You know what? I was planning on doing absolutely nothing since that would achieve my desired goal.

What was my goal exactly? Well, since I'm the leader of an infamous and secretive gang in the underworld and my title is a very famous one at that, I wanted to just quit.

Yep, being a villain in the novel I've created just doesn't suit me.

I've been working my ass off in my previous life, acquiring full mental strain and almost dying due to my job and overwork.

But that doesn't mean I don't want there. Oh how I wished I'd never transmigrated in the first place, knowing for a fact that a lot will happen from this point onwards.

My goal is to return back.

And for my goal to be achieved, I wanted to act weak to my 'trusted' subordinates, giving them an image that I wasn't the boss they've always known. Well, I wasn't really the boss they've known for years so that must be given.

Yes, I wanted them to grow tired and say they'll want to quit being with me. I will leave the underworld and set a new life where I can focus entirely on researching on finding a way back.

This villain is also rich. It will definitely work.

I will make it work.

But I'll have to revise my plan a bit.

'I should've just told them straight to the point rather than creating a scenario where they'll have to lose interest in me. I'm their boss. Why should I be afraid of them?'

My eyes met with the bald man as I continued, "Baldy Fuego, you are done."

Veins popped from his head bald head, enraged as he pointed the barrel of the gun once on my head again, "I'm done? Now, I'm not playing anymore. Your dead, Duke!"

Clank—!

He pulled the trigger of the gun but… nothing happened.

Clank—!

He kept repeating the same action but the same futile result happened. No bullet came out from his gun nor my head exploded from it.

"Get him."

The two men from his back swiftly lunged forward. One disappeared in his initial position, appearing right behind Fuego as he pinned him down.

The other helped me untie the rope around my body.

"Boss, I just don't understand why you would do this." A man who helped me untie the rope spoke his concern with a worried expression.

His cold expression is what stood him out the most, excluding an aura of unwillingness. The scar between his green left eye added only to his charms with a strong stature to back the strength he currently holds.

"I've got the same opinion as Krave, Sir Duke." The man who was pinning down Fuego also expresses his opinion of my unusual way of doing things.

The properly trimmed white mustache was what made him now, making him earn the title 'White Ache' which is kind of funny.

Even with that being the case, he was no different from Krave in strength. He might appear old but the experiences behind that benign face had become the very foundation of what he is currently.

"Right, sir Heralton? Hahh…" Krave let out a sigh and picked a bullet from his pockets before taking the gun Fuego was using.

He loaded the gun with the bullet before handing it to me.

"Y-you…! You are his subordinates?!"

Fuego shouted in complete bafflement, but Heralton swiftly smacked his head on the ground thrice, blood dripping from his forehead.

"How dare you speak?"

"Ah—"

Pak—!

Just before he was about to retort once again, Krave kicked Fuego's face, feeling the rage inside him coming out.

If they saw their boss being punched like that earlier, who wouldn't keep their calm? The only reason they didn't move was because I never gave a signal until I did.

'Sigh, this is going to be hard.'

The subordinates leaving me that is.

As for dealing with Fuego, since I've been dealing with criminals in my past life, it wasn't hard to do it again.

Clicking the hammer spur of the gun, I uttered, "What a turn of events, doesn't it?"

What a turn of events it is.

But what exactly happened?

…

"Hmm, I don't want to go to work. Why did my parents even let me do criminology? Hahh…"

In a dim room with only the bulb being the only source of life, a man was sitting on his table with his laptop wide open.

Yep, it was me.

'Let me check how my novels are going through…'

Upon checking the situation, I could say it was average. No matter how I look at it, there are no significant improvements yet there also weren't considerable losses from it.

'If only I can make a novel that is interesting enough so I can blow some money… Life sure is tough…'

Looking at my side where a picture was hanging from the wall, a face that was smiling brightly while holding a trophy after I won a writing competition made me feel nostalgic.

Yeah, it was the time when I made my second novel and finally did something about my hobby.

Though it was third place, it still gave me a sense of gratification, and kept writing web novels.

But at this point, with no luck, new aspiring authors that are much better than me, and with the ever-changing time on what to write, I was lagging behind everyone.

"Hmm?"

While scrolling through my files, I happened to see the title of my first novel. Upon remembering how it turned out, my tummy churned.

It was trash.

Readers often discriminate against the book and some die-hard wannabe critics all shared their opinion about how trashy the novel is.

Well, it was my first novel so it was understandable. It never rise to what I had imagined will go in just like any other author hoping for their novels to be recognized.

They worked very hard for it and made plans for it but no matter what, some readers will definitely hate something for absolutely no reason.

But some are reasonable ones that I could understand.

One reason is that the lead of the novel is a female. Since I don't really understand much about what's the criteria or famous at that time, I thought having a female lead sounded interesting but… it only backfired.

Plop—!

Suddenly, the screen of my laptop started to be buggy.

"Huh?"

Sizzle—!

Then, with the series of events happening so fast, the screen turned black. My skin crawled in horror, knowing all my files are inside this laptop.

"What the fuck—?!"

The last thing I knew was the black screen swallowed me whole as the sound of grinding perked my ears with an image that will be forever stuck on my mind as they looked horrendous.

'Those were teeth, weren't they!? Those were it, aren't they!? If so, am I being eaten by a monster?!'

When I blinked, thinking that I was transported back to heaven since I died due to some unknown encounter, I woke up.

"Sir Duke, we finished off our preparations. It's finally time to wage war on the world."