Chapter 1
I looked at myself in the mirror.
"..."
A man stood in the mirror.
A protruding belly.
A thick double chin.
Dull, sallow skin.
A crown sparsely covered with hair.
A mirror reflects one's own image from across the glass.
So this was what I looked like.
"This is unbelievable."
I couldn't help sighing as I looked at my reflection.
There was something familiar about him.
Just from his appearance, I could make a rough guess who he was.
Kang Tae-seong, the corrupt CEO.
He was the villain in the game I'd been about to play.
A villain from the NTR game 'Show Me a Smile,' famous for its NTR.
He was fairly prominent, too. If I had to categorize him, he was a chapter boss—the head of the supporting cast, so to speak.
The problem was that he was destined to be defeated by the protagonist and fall from power.
Kang Tae-seong made a hobby of stealing other people's women. After going after the heroine, the protagonist's lover, he lost everything and disappeared from the game for good.
‘Why…?’
Why had I possessed him?
It wasn't as if I'd left a bad review of the game. I'd simply enjoyed playing it.
And of all people, I had to become the villain who was doomed to fall?
‘...It can't be helped.’
My denial of reality didn't last long.
After staring at the distinctive face in the mirror, I had no choice but to accept it.
The fact that I'd become Kang Tae-seong from the game.
‘Wait, this is the face of a thirty-five-year-old?’
Kang Tae-seong was thirty-five this year.
I even checked the ID card in my wallet, but I still couldn't believe it.
Anyone would have thought he was well into his forties.
Maybe it was all that excess weight, but it made him look even older.
All of it came together to create a sinister, unpleasant impression.
That was the very face so many players had cursed in the original game.
Annoyed, I grabbed and tugged at my bloated belly.
Jiggle.
"...Fuck."
It was shocking.
It wasn't as if I'd been fond of exercise, either.
Maybe I was about average for a modern person.
My body had been about what you'd expect of an ordinary office worker who didn't get enough exercise.
But this body had gone way too far.
In the game, he was just a standard character model, but now that I was the one in it, I couldn't even laugh.
I felt like I'd be gasping for air after climbing just a few flights of stairs.
If I kept living like this, could I actually have a heart attack?
It wouldn't be strange if I died of a chronic illness before the protagonist even appeared.
Come to think of it, my previous life might have ended in a heart attack, too.
If I'd suddenly collapsed and died while playing a game, a heart problem was the only likely explanation.
And now I'd been reincarnated into another body that was a heart attack waiting to happen?
There was a limit to how much of a joke this could be.
‘...Still, I'm okay for now.’
Rummaging through Kang Tae-seong's memories, I realized we were still in the early part of the game.
More precisely, it hadn't been long since Kang Tae-seong had taken over as president of an affiliate.
The disasters from the original story hadn't begun yet.
Amazingly, he hadn't seriously made a move on any women yet.
Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't human garbage.
He'd been sexually harassing female employees to curry favor with his father, the chairman, but hadn't yet committed the crimes that caused trouble in the original story.
‘At least that's a relief.’
At least it wasn't too late to turn things around.
The more I dug through his memories, the more appalled I became.
He had a mountain of work to handle as CEO, but his mind was full of thoughts about other people's women.
‘What a piece of work.’
He was so pathetic I could only laugh in disbelief.
But things would be different from now on.
I was Kang Tae-seong, but I wasn't Kang Tae-seong.
I had absolutely no intention of following the original story.
"First, I need to lose some weight."
The company could come after that.
In the end, everything was for my own survival.
I had to survive first.
*
The next day, in the company cafeteria.
I looked at the breakfast menu and hesitated for a moment.
Kang Tae-seong's usual diet had been downright disastrous.
Bacon and sausages.
Three slices of buttered toast.
A sweet milkshake.
That was breakfast.
Then he'd snack between meals.
After all three meals, he'd have a late-night snack.
It was hard to believe, but I'd confirmed it with the cafeteria lady several times, so it was true.
"Is that even a human diet?"
It seemed like it'd be hard to eat like that on purpose.
In a way, that was a talent in itself.
A man made of oil and sugar, three meals a day.
Habits were terrifying. My body was already sending out warning signals.
My mouth was watering.
My body was screaming for sweet, salty food that would send my blood sugar through the roof.
"Tsk. No."
But today was different.
Boiled eggs and chicken breast.
Salad, with low-sugar dressing.
An Americano instead of the milkshake I usually had.
I took a little extra since I was a big guy, but that was it.
The cafeteria lady blinked at my sudden change in diet.
"...Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well... your meal..."
I fell silent for a moment.
How much had I usually eaten for her to react like this?
What I'd put on my tray wasn't even a small portion.
"I'm trying to take better care of my health."
I gave the cafeteria lady my brightest smile.
It was a smile of encouragement from the CEO to an employee, and a way of saying I appreciated her concern.
Grin.
But the response I got was nothing like what I'd expected.
"O-oh, my goodness!"
The cafeteria lady jumped in fright.
She nearly dropped the basket she was holding.
"S-sorry, sir! I'll be going now!"
"No..."
I was bored and hoped she might keep me company, but she ran off as if trying to escape.
Only then did I realize my mistake.
I hadn't considered how Kang Tae-seong's face looked to other people.
His face was intimidating even when he was standing still, and then I'd smiled on top of that.
With my appearance, it wouldn't be strange if I looked like a bandit about to assault her daughter.
From her perspective, it must have been like a horror movie.
"Sigh..."
I'd found one more reason to lose weight.
At the very least, I needed to lose the fat covering my face if I wanted to have normal conversations with people.
I silently chewed and swallowed the tasteless salad.
…
The first week was nothing short of hell.
I was hungry.
And not just a little hungry.
I was so hungry I felt like I was going crazy.
This body had already been conditioned to late-night snacks.
I was trying to change a lifestyle it had maintained for over thirty years overnight.
I'd expected it to be hard, but it was even more painful than I'd imagined.
11 p.m.
I opened the refrigerator door out of habit.
I knew in my head that I shouldn't.
But my body wouldn't listen.
Beer, jokbal, fried chicken, pizza.
It was less a human's fridge than a pigsty.
How could anyone have a refrigerator this huge at home? I marveled to myself even as I faced my appetite taking over.
"Ugh..."
Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.
After a tense standoff, I finally shut the refrigerator door.
"I'm not eating."
I decided to get rid of the refrigerator right away.
The food felt like a waste, but that was better than losing control and binge-eating.
That night, I tossed and turned from hunger.
*
The company gym in the basement.
I was standing on a treadmill.
I was drenched in sweat after exactly five minutes.
After ten minutes, I was gasping for breath.
By fifteen minutes, I felt like I was going to die.
The problem was, I hadn't run even once.
I was just walking.
"...Ha."
I was sighing in despair when—
"Sir?"
I turned at the sound of the voice.
A middle-aged man a little older than Kang Tae-seong, but with a completely different, muscular physique.
He was the head of security.
"Yes?"
"What are you doing here?"
"...Exercising."
"Pardon?"
"Can't you see? I'm exercising."
I was so exhausted that my tone came out curt.
But maybe because the original Kang Tae-seong had been that sort of person.
The head of security didn't react much.
Instead, he looked at me as if he were seeing something extraordinary.
Well, the original Kang Tae-seong wouldn't even walk up a single floor. He'd take the elevator.
And now he was on a treadmill? It was only natural to find it strange.
"Have you taken up a hobby?"
Half annoyed and half serious, I answered,
"I don't want to die."
"..."
The head of security left the gym without another word.
Wait, hadn't he come here to work out?
Somehow, it looked as if I'd chased him away. Should I tell him not to feel awkward and work out beside me?
“Huff… huff….”
But my body wasn't listening to me.
Whatever. I've got enough problems of my own without worrying about anyone else.
The head of security could work out on his own.
…
Two weeks later, I stepped onto the scale again.
112 kg.
When I first possessed this body, it had been 124 kg.
I'd lost 12 kg in two weeks.
Maybe it was because I had been severely obese, but the weight was coming off incredibly quickly.
"...Oh."
Honestly, it felt good.
There hadn't been a huge change in my appearance.
My belly still stuck out, and my bulldog-like double chin was still there.
My smooth, bald head hadn't changed, either.
But some things were different.
I could see the beginnings of a jawline.
As the swelling went down, my face looked more defined, too.
And most of all...
"My complexion's better."
My face had gone from looking like I was about to die to having some color in it.
In other words, I looked healthier.
My body felt much lighter, too.
I could climb a few flights of stairs without panting.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror and murmured,
"I can do this."
I'd tried dieting plenty of times in my previous life, too.
But I'd always given up after three days.
This time was different.
If I didn't lose weight, I'd die. Literally.
Maybe it was because I had such powerful motivation, but I couldn't stop now.
The original story suddenly came to mind.
This was the point when Kang Tae-seong started giving in to his desires and going after company employees.
‘The point where Kang Tae-seong begins his downfall...’
I looked at my reflection in the mirror again.
That future was gone now.
At the very least, my health was gradually improving.
So now it was time for the next step.
‘The company.’
After all, looking after my health wasn't enough to keep me alive.
The biggest reason a man like Kang Tae-seong fell was that the company eventually collapsed.
In the original story, KJ Group had been rotting from years of corruption and reckless management.
They threatened employees and worked them to the bone. They put loyalists in key positions.
They used company money for personal expenses, among other things.
Whenever a problem came up, they simply crushed it with power.
And in the end, the company went bankrupt.
"I should start looking into the company soon."
I picked up my water bottle.
My health was more or less on track.
It was time to start making changes at the company.
Ding.
A translucent window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
"...?"
The sudden message stopped me in my tracks.
[Condition met]
[Villain Development System activated]
"...What?"
I rubbed my eyes.
But the window didn't disappear.
Instead, a new message appeared.
[NTR Point System unlocked.]
[NTR Shop unlocked.]
[Current NTR Points: 0]
[Items available …. ]
"What?"
Why all of a sudden?
Then, a message appeared beneath it, as if speaking directly to me.
[Congratulations.]
[You have now taken the first step toward becoming a true corrupt CEO.]
"...No, why?"
I'd lost weight.
I was working so hard not to become a corrupt CEO.
Why?
I frowned.
For some reason, I had a very ominous feeling about this.