Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord

Yumiella Dolkness is your run-of-the-mill villainess in an otome RPG—except for the fact that she’s also secretly the overpowered hidden boss. But Yumiella wasn’t always Yumiella, you see. In her past life, she was nothing more than an introverted college student and devout gamer. So when she realizes that she’s been reincarnated as a hidden boss, she’s determined to steer clear of the protagonists and avoid her demise at their hands. All she wants is a nice, quiet life. Too bad when her gamer instincts kick in, Yumiella can’t just ignore her awesome stats... A girl’s gotta grind! So, with plenty of time on her hands before starting life at the academy, she gets a little carried away and maxes out her level at 99. And when everyone else finds out, they get the wrong idea about her power—now they think she’s the Demon Lord! Is this OP villainess strong enough to win back the peaceful life she always wanted?!

Despite the rocky start to her life at the Academy, Yumiella Dolkness has safely managed to graduate, and now she’s on to the next chapter of her life—stepping into her new role as countess! Yumiella’s determined to learn how to properly manage Dolkness County, her family’s estate, but she soon finds there’s quite a lot of work that needs to be done. Decades of neglect from her parents have left the county in shambles, and now it’s up to her to whip things back into shape! Yet, even beyond that, Yumiella’s life isn’t all fun and games. Back in the Royal Capital, a group of corrupt aristocrats have begun to push for the second prince, Prince Edwin, to succeed Valschein’s throne, and they appear to be planning something even more sinister behind the scenes... Still, whether she’s dealing with a mysterious shadow group or problems with her county, Yumiella will handle it in the same way she always does—by using her level 99 strength!

Things have calmed down since Duke Hillrose’s coup d’état, and now Yumiella can return to focusing on Dolkness County. Lady Eleanora has even moved into the Dolkness estate, making every day a little livelier as the county continues to flourish. Just when things seem to be back to normal, a mysterious boy that has been plaguing her dreams appears before Yumiella, claiming to be the god of darkness. The boy, called Lemn, says there are parallel worlds, and he knows that Yumiella isn’t really “Yumiella.” Will Yumiella have to reveal that she was from another world in a past life, and if so, what would that mean for her and Patrick? On top of that, Lemn reveals that one of his other selves was killed by...the Yumiella from that world?! Defeating a version of herself from another world would raise Yumiella’s level cap, allowing her to surpass level 99, but can she face this god-killing version of herself?

After defeating the god of evil, Yumiella has finally surpassed the level cap of 99. While this achievement ought to be a joyous occasion for a power-obsessed gamer like her, she can’t seem to focus on it with her marriage to Patrick just a few months away. When the reality of what a big, aristocratic wedding really looks like starts to set in, Yumiella realizes that while she wants to get married, she really doesn’t want to deal with the hassle of a whole ceremony. Impulsively fleeing home to clear her mind, Yumiella ends up in the neighboring kingdom, where she finds that the citizens are completely terrified of her. A mysterious man gives her shelter so that she can avoid conflict, but despite her best efforts, Yumiella finds herself entangled in the conspiracies surrounding a power struggle in the kingdom. How will she use her newly leveled-up Yumiella Strength to get out of trouble this time?

As the arrival of winter brings the date of Yumiella and Patrick’s wedding ever closer, Yumiella ends up being tricked into visiting the Royal Capital in order to prepare for the big day. While accompanying Yumiella, Eleanora visits a friend from the Royal Academy and discovers that her family is on the verge of being run out of the city due to court politics. As much as Yumiella hates getting involved in these sorts of machinations—especially when they concern politics—how could she say no to her dearest friend Eleanora when she asks for help? Though Yumiella, now well past level 99, can usually use her strength to deal with most problems, it turns out that the minister of finance is pulling all the strings behind the scenes, and he’s taken Yumiella’s interference into account as part of his plans. She might not be able to brute force her way out of this one, but Yumiella’s not one to back down from a fight, especially when it’s for Eleanora’s sake!

After dealing with troubles in the Royal Capital, Yumiella has returned to Dolkness County to relax. But with one simple line, Eleonora alters the course of her life: “I think you’re the only person who could hold their own against yourself.” An imaginary battle of Yumiella versus Yumiella begins! Stuck in her own mind, Yumiella is put to bed. She wakes up later to find that...her left side died?! Yumiella’s left half has wandered into a world between life and death, and she sets out to explore a mysterious kingdom in order to find a way to come back to life. Meanwhile, Yumiella’s right half is back in the living world, stuck with a half-paralyzed body and working to find a way to fix the situation. But her motivation is much more Yumiella-like—the battle against herself was left unsettled, and she needs to figure out which side would’ve won! Can Yumiella resurrect herself, and if she’s successful, what does that mean for the other residents of the realm beyond life?