I've Become the King of Villains in the Game

The soldiers were retreating step by step.

Behind them, a large group of "refugee" players surged forward. Their numbers were even greater than before, some had just resurrected, and some had just arrived in Emerald Town and had been dragged along to "farm monsters."

"Onion! There are monsters ahead!"

"Save those Guardians, otherwise, if we lose the position, we'll lose Contribution Degree!"

"Don't steal my kills! I've got this!"

The players shouted noisily and swarmed forward in a rush.

The weapons they carried were no better than iron sticks, wooden clubs, and sickle blades, scarcely distinguishable from the plague-stricken locals, resembling two groups of villagers fighting with farm tools.

However, the players soon suffered another heavy blow.

They found that their damage output was embarrassingly insufficient to kill even a single "minor monster." Once infected with the plague, not only did the bodies of these monsters not collapse, but it seemed as if they'd grown stronger, shrugging off seven or eight blows as if nothing had happened.

Nonetheless, they brandished their Large Cleavers, chopping down at the players' "melons."

As the players fell one after the other, those who remained beat a retreat alongside the soldiers.
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Some players couldn't help but wail—

"Is this what they call a 'minor monster'? A bunch of us pounded on it for ages, and it's still not dead!"

"This game's difficulty level is just too high, isn't it?! It's not meant for humans!"

"Screw this, I'm off. Back to the countryside to grind some wild dogs!"

Many players in the group thought that the plague-ridden district of this town wasn't somewhere they should be at their current Level. So, they considered retreating to the countryside to grind on wild beasts and scrounge up some experience points.

"Ha, it's my time to shine!"

At this moment, a player dressed in a leather coat and wearing a broad-brimmed hat stepped forward.

Everyone looked at him and saw that he wore a short sword at his waist and held a long spear in both hands, with the ID "Rotten Persimmon (God's Love)" displayed above his head.

He seemed to relish the attention, spun his spear with flair, and charged straight into the fray with the plague-crazed lunatics.

With a few clinks, he leveraged his superior equipment and used his spear to knock aside a cleaver from the hand of a lunatic, stabbing it into the madman's throat.

The plague-stricken lunatic's face was covered in blood, but he still grinned viciously, sending shivers down Rotten Persimmon's spine. Clenching his teeth and gripping the spear tighter, he yanked it out with a sweeping motion, slashing open the lunatic's throat.

Following that, he kicked out hard, and with a thud, he hit the enemy's abdomen, and the latter fell to the ground.

The kill notification popped up, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, propping himself on the long spear and wiping away his sweat.

"Wow, this guy's killer!"

"Why does his gear look so familiar?"

"Isn't that the Red Apple Church Guardian uniform? How did he get his hands on it?!"

Rotten Persimmon, relishing the envious stares of other players, felt quite pleased with himself. He had come to respect the correctness of his own strategy.

As a member of the God's Love Guild, and one of the first batch of players in the public beta, he had leveled up by grinding on wild monsters at an abandoned farm in the outskirts right after logging in.

According to the official storyline, that area was swept by a plague, leaving most people dead or fled, with only a few farm owners lucky enough to survive, yet still guarding their farms.

Back then, Rotten Persimmon took on a mission from a farm owner to help clear out nearby wild beasts and diseased madmen.

He leveled up to five and after acquiring some coins, he headed straight to Emerald Town and managed to join the Red Apple Church, just as he had planned.

While this process sounded simple, it was actually quite challenging.

As one of the Seven Righteous God Churches, the Red Apple Church was highly attractive to players. However, joining it seemed to require meeting some stringent conditions and completing a series of difficult missions.

Consequently, the path to "joining the church" was tried by many but resulted in failure for the vast majority.

Rotten Persimmon took an alternate route, using Jack's wanted poster and heading straight to the church, where he happened to meet a new Monk. He used his persuasive skills, coupled with some inside information from the guild...

This was a plan he had long since concocted, bothering two "big shots" who participated in the beta—Doghead Gold and Forget No Taboo—to get some information on Jack.

After sharing all this with the Monk from the Red Apple Church, he successfully caught their interest and was able to join the Church.

Although he was only a lowly Guardian, he was quite content. His panel gained a Sub Occupation entry "Church Guardian," and he also obtained a set of proper gear.

With the Attribute bonuses from his Sub Occupation and a set of brand-new equipment, Rotten Persimmon widened the gap between himself and other players. This sense of superiority was thoroughly enjoyable for him.

Rotten Persimmon even shared his "strategy" on the guild channel, convincing other guild brothers to emulate him, thus gaining a "huge advantage" right from the start.

His inspiration, of course, came from Mr. Jack.

If Jack held a grudge against the Red Apple Church, then he could use that to his advantage to gain the Church's favor.

Rotten Persimmon firmly believed that no matter how powerful Jack was, he was ultimately a villainous character. As part of the Righteous God Church, the Red Apple Church would surely strike back!

He just needed to ride the wave and he could scoop up enough benefits.

His plan indeed piqued the interest of many guild members, including some of the officers, after all, it was a "strategy" proven effective in practice.

Only Doghead Gold and Forget No Taboo were not optimistic, even hinting subtly that he should quit while ahead and not waste time on Jack by pursuing the Church's "bounty tasks."