Literature / I Will Become the Villain's Poison Taster

It's a tale as old as time: A young woman dies in a car accident, only to wake up in a different person's body. She has reincarnated as Giselle Rozevin, the villainess in a fantasy romance novel called The Poison Apple. The original Giselle has been locked up for attempting to kill the female lead, and various assassins have been trying to poison her before her execution. However, the new Giselle has an unexpected buff; poisons don't work on her, and moreover, they taste delicious!

But that doesn't change the fact that Giselle is going to be executed soon by the male lead...until a mysterious black mage named Reniel rescues her and takes her under his wing. Now Giselle vows to use her new power to help the main antagonist, Wayne Alore, in order to survive. First, however, she must take a job in his shop, while avoiding being recaptured and killed by the story's male and female leads. Though things in this story aren't what they seem, especially not Reniel and his surprising connection to the main characters, or just how important he will become to Giselle...

I Will Become the Villain's Poison Taster is a web novel originally written by Nemoraming. A manhwa adaptation began on November 2nd, 2023 with art by PilYoo, story by jagalchikon, and coloring by Candlebambi. An English translation is available from Tapas, which you can find here.

I Will Become the Villain's Poison Taster contains the following tropes:

• Acquired Poison Immunity: The new Giselle is immune to poisons, which all taste like fruit-flavored food to her. She has it because she had previously died of poisoning as a baby from her own mother, so she couldn’t die from it again.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Black magic has the ability to curse people, yet all of the black mages Giselle meets, while very much criminals and villains, are also kind and helpful.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Viviana Charlotte, the female lead, acts virtuous and kind-hearted towards most people. But when Giselle meets her, she can immediately tell something is off about her. She has a creepy obsession with Reniel, who she tried to "purify" using her white magic to push his mana out, which resulted in breaking his magic vessel, nearly killing him. When she reunites with Reniel again, she acts passive-aggressively towards him while trying to act like what she did to him was out of concern. She's actually Viviana's mother, having stolen her baby daughter's body in order to increase her power, and is willing to do so to Reniel as well.
• Black Magic: In the novel's world, black magic is condemned as wicked, driving black mages like Reniel and the Black Clouds into the shadows. However, white magic, while perceived as benevolent, harbors its own dangers, especially for those with black mana. White mages are willing to exploit this vulnerability to inflict pain and even kill black mages.
• Creepy Doll: The shop has a doll called Isabella that gets sold eventually. It’s not said what Isabella specifically does, but she is certainly cursed.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Zigzagged. The members of the Black Clouds, and the citizens of Vanhell by extension, are definitely criminals, with no qualms about harming others for the sake of their goals. However, they are also a tight-knit family who look out for each other, and are generally friendly towards others they see as on their side.
• Evil Matriarch: Viviana's mother is known to the people as a compassionate saint. Reniel knows her as the reason Viviana became as psychotic as she is. The truth is even worse than that: Viviana is Viviana's mother, having stolen her own baby daughter's body to continue her quest for more power in a more powerful body. Viviana herself became the reincarnated Giselle.
• Face Death with Dignity: When the reincarnated Giselle asked Original! Giselle if she's find with switching souls anyway since doing so means Original! Giselle dies, Original! Giselle tells her that she accepts her fate as long as she could get back at Viviana.
• Fate Worse than Death: Viviana, aka Viviana's mother in her daughter's body's final fate is this. Her body is sealed underground in Reniel's new kingdom, with her body being used as a battery for the barrier protecting the kingdom. Every time she tries to escape, she uses up more of her mana, until it finally runs out and she dies.
• The Gadfly: Reniel enjoys teasing Giselle just to get a reaction out of her, which he finds adorable.
• Genki Girl: The current Giselle is an upbeat, enthusiastic girl who is gullible and fun to tease (at least to Reniel). The original Giselle acted more like a Proper Lady, so everyone assumes the personality change was because she went crazy, much to the current Giselle's chagrin. She was supposed to be the original Viviana, which explains why she's so compassionate and kind towards others.
• Grand Theft Me: The current Viviana is actually Viviana’s mother, who killed her baby daughter with poison and then stole her body. The real Viviana is actually the reincarnated Giselle, whose soul went to Korea after her mother hijacked her body and was later summoned by the real Giselle after the latter found out the truth from our Giselle from the future.
• Hidden Elf Village: The town of Vanhell functions as this mixed with the Black Market. It's a town of criminals, made by criminals, for criminals. So long as you don't make a scene, you can live peacefully without worrying about being caught by the authorities. It later becomes an Unsafe Haven after Dylon invades the town looking for Giselle, though she and her party manage to get away before he can get his hands on her.
• Knew It All Along: Reniel knew almost right away that the reincarnated Giselle wasn't the original, and is part of the reason why he decides to help her escape prison.
• More than Mind Control: Viviana's brainwashing took such a toll on her teacher’s mind that he could never recover from it. Dylon, too, keeps some of the residual effects after he is freed.
• Oblivious Transformation: Giselle's appearance begins to change in subtle ways: the roots of her hair turn from blonde to black (and eventually becomes completely black), and her double-eyelids disappear. According to Reniel, this is because her soul is synchronizing to her current body, shaping it to become a fusion of both the original and current Giselle.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Reniel's team of villains count as this. There's Sullivan, a mad scientist specialized in potions and human experimentation, who got stuck in a child's body thanks to a bad potion; Gilbert, The Stoic who acts as Reniel's bodyguard; and Wyndria, a Tsundere necromancer and shaman. Along with the more normal second-in-command Pedro and "leader" Wayne, they are a fearsome bunch despite their eccentric yet affable personalities.
• "Reborn as Villainess" Story: Giselle is reincarnated as the villainess in a romance fantasy novel she read before she died. The villainess is already in prison, but the main character has gained an immunity to poisons, which she wishes to use to help the story's villain while trying not to get recaptured by the male lead.
• Stable Timeloop: The soul-switcheroo between current Giselle and the original Giselle is done to keep the timeline intact. The current Giselle traveled back to when OG Giselle was trying to summon a demon. After informing the latter that the demon summoning won't work, she suggests summoning the OG Viviana and explains the situation. Indignant, OG Giselle agrees to switching souls, creating a perfect time loop.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Reniel fits the description, until later on when he keeps his hair silver permanently.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Reniel's hair turns silver every time he overuses his magic. This is because his magic vessel, the source of the magic in his body, is broken after Vivana tried to suck all his mana away. He originally despised his hair, until Giselle complimented Wayne’s hair, after which he decides to keep it.