Villain Takes Over The Academy-Chapter 54

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 54

"Did someone cast a voodoo curse on me or something? Why is my luck so terrible today?"

That was the first thing that came out of Sarah’s mouth.

She didn’t even bother to hide her displeasure, completely ignoring the person standing right in front of her.

"I heard rumors that you were coming to this academy, but I prayed they weren’t true. And yet, here you are. Haah… So, what are you stealing this time? Is your target a book now? Still got that habit of only going after expensive things, huh?"

Sarah glanced at the two volumes of "The Essence of Traits" that I had been reaching for, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

'I went through this in the last cycle…'

Just thinking about dealing with her hysterics again made my head ache.

But more importantly—why was she even in this library?

At this point in time, she should be locked away in her lab all day conducting experiments.

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me a thief."

Keeping my voice level, I spoke as Do Jin-hak once more, suppressing my amusement.

"That book you’re holding? That’s actually something I saved from a real thief."

Sarah’s eyes narrowed at my words.

"Oh? So what, are you claiming ownership over it now?"

"No. I’m just reminding you to know your limits. 'The Essence of Traits' is an extremely difficult book—especially for someone who has been struggling for years just to get a single summoning experiment to succeed."

I deliberately provoked her, my tone sharper than usual.

Having dealt with her once before in the previous cycle, I had a good grasp of her personality.

As expected, Sarah’s eyes thinned into a venomous glare.

"...Struggling for years? Are you talking about me? You—You have any idea who is responsible for my experiments being delayed!?"

"Oh, so it's my fault your research is behind schedule? My fault that your spells got stolen? Why not just blame me for the sky being blue and flowers being yellow while you're at it?"

"W-What…?!"

Sarah was so dumbfounded that she couldn't even form a proper response.

She definitely hadn’t expected me to be this shameless.

Too bad for her—I wasn’t the type to keep my mouth shut in front of the same person twice.

"Yes, I took your summoning spell before. There were… misunderstandings in the process, but I get why you’d still be pissed."

"Misunderstandings...? You absolute trash! Do you even have a shred of shame?!"

Sarah grabbed her summoning staff as if she were about to cast something right then and there.

Before she could act, I quickly spoke again.

"Of course, I’d be trash—if I had taken your summoning spell without offering any compensation for it."

"...Compensation?"

That word seemed to catch her attention.

Sarah gave me a suspicious glare before quickly baring her teeth again.

"You think I’m gonna fall for your bullshit?! You really think I don’t know what kind of snake you are?"

"Whether I’m a snake or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you need to know more about the summoning spell you’re experimenting with—if you ever want to retrieve Hwadam from the Abyss."

The moment I mentioned Hwadam, Sarah’s pupils dilated in shock.

Her lips parted slightly, struggling to form words.

"H-How… How do you know about that…?"

"Did you really think I wouldn’t figure it out? The origins of your summoning spell are clearly tied to Hwadam’s sorcery."

Sarah’s face paled instantly.

So—my guesswork had been correct.

"...You really knew all along. Then why did you pretend not to know?"

"Because there was no benefit in saying anything. If the military association found out about your dangerous summoning experiment, do you think they’d just let it slide?"

"Then… You’re saying you kept quiet all this time for my sake…?"

Sarah’s eyes wavered with confusion—

Her perception of Do Jin-hak, whom she had always thought of as trash, was starting to crack.

Which meant—it was time to hammer the final nail in the coffin.

"I’ll tell you this now—your experiment is flawed. That summoning circle of yours? It won’t bring back Hwadam’s soul."

"…What do you mean?"

"The reason your summoning circle is so large is because it was designed to handle an equally massive amount of energy. Am I wrong?"

Sarah’s lips pressed into a thin line, as if I had just exposed another secret she didn’t want revealed.

But that won’t work on me.

I may have never formally studied summoning, but I understand the basic mechanics well enough.

"That also means that if the coordinates are even slightly off, you could end up summoning something else with the same level of energy. Like… say, a Lord of the Abyss."

The moment I said “Lord,” Sarah’s eyes widened in alarm.

"Stop spouting nonsense. There’s no way my summoning spell would bring something like that into this world."

"Are you really that confident? This is a spell that crams hundreds of formulas into a single summoning circle. Can you truly guarantee there isn’t a single miscalculation?"

"I…"

Sarah’s pupils trembled.

Judging by her reaction, it wasn’t as if she had never considered that possibility.

But her obsession with bringing back Hwadam Seo Gyeong-deok must have clouded her judgment, pushing her to continue this reckless experiment.

"……"

After a moment of silence, Sarah returned The Essence of Traits to the shelf and turned away.

"Guess you don’t need the book anymore?"

"…Forget it. I’m not in the mood to read. Thanks to someone, my mood is completely ruined."

She tried to sound cold, but she couldn’t completely mask the unease in her voice.

And with that, Sarah retraced her steps and left the library.

She’d probably rush back to her lab to double-check her summoning circle.

"And when she does, she’ll realize something’s wrong."

…Would she thank me then?

The thought crossed my mind for a second before I shook my head.

"Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen."

That was about as realistic as the Vice Principal donating his entire fortune to charity.

And even if I restarted this world a thousand times over, that would never happen.

"Well, at least the nuisance is gone."

I wasn’t sure why Sarah had suddenly decided to read The Essence of Traits, but in the end, it was beyond her comprehension anyway.

Even I couldn’t guarantee that I’d fully understand it.

Without wasting another moment, I opened the book and began reading.

Ding—

[You have begun to focus.]

[The book's overwhelmingly complex content clouds your mind.]

…Right from the first page, I could tell—this was a nightmare of a grimoire.

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It felt like my brain was shutting down, like I had caught a severe fever.

Still, I endured and forced myself to absorb the words.

And then—was it just my imagination?

I felt like I was starting to grasp the text, little by little.

Just a bit more… Just a little more focus…!

[You fail to retain any of the book’s contents.]

[You have failed to comprehend the first volume of The Essence of Traits.]

"…Yeah, figures."

With no hesitation, I closed the book.

That fleeting sense of understanding I had felt was nothing more than an illusion.

I was still nowhere near capable of handling a grimoire of this caliber.

"Come to think of it, even the real Do Jin-hak probably wouldn’t understand this."

Sure, there was a significant IQ gap between Intelligence Stat B and A, but even at my current near-A level, the text still looked like complete gibberish.

In the end, I returned the book to the shelf and headed toward the exit.

I probably wouldn’t be touching that book again for a long, long time—

If ever.

* * *

Same time.

In the dead of night, the doorknob of the Deconstructionist Department professor's office—locked tight—suddenly rattled.

Whirrrr—

The sound of screws being loosened.

The clatter of pliers, the clang of a hammer—

Clunk… Clunk… Click.

After a few more movements, the door creaked open.

Two unidentified figures stepped into the empty office.

"This is Professor D’s office, right?"

Though he wore a mask, his deep, weighty voice immediately gave him away.

It was unmistakably "Iron Fist" Nam Kang-ik.

"Huh. Not as interesting as I expected. I heard the guy was a complete psycho, so I thought there’d be something fun here."

He scanned the room, unimpressed.

Still, unwilling to leave empty-handed, Nam Kang-ik began rifling through drawers and bookshelves.

His hands moved without hesitation, as if he owned the place.

"U-Um… Are we really okay doing this?"

Unlike the bold Nam Kang-ik, the female student accompanying him spoke in a nervous whisper.

She was from the Illusion Department, forcibly dragged into this mess by him.

"Breaking into a professor’s office… If we get caught, we’re definitely getting expelled."

"Who the hell is gonna come here at this hour? Stop worrying and start searching."

"B-But… I know Seo Su-kyung is scary, but isn’t this too much—"

"Scary? Who’s scared of who here?!"

Nam Kang-ik snapped.

The timid student flinched, clamping her mouth shut. She glanced toward the door, worried someone might have heard.

Nam Kang-ik, on the other hand, didn’t care.

"Listen up. This is all part of a strategy. Pretend to obey for now, then—bam! Stab her in the back when she least expects it. A brilliant strategy, don’t you think?"

That was his plan.

Nam Kang-ik had no intention of being Seo Su-kyung’s lapdog forever.

One day, he would make her pay for the humiliation she had put him through.

"Just wait and see. Sooner or later, she’ll be on her knees in front of me. Barking. Like. A. Dog."

"I-I get it! Just… please lower your voice…!"

The female student didn’t care about Nam Kang-ik’s grand ambitions.

All she could think about was the trouble they’d be in if they got caught.

Frankly, she doubted he would ever surpass Seo Su-kyung.

Unless the heavens themselves turned upside down…

Of course, she couldn’t say that out loud.

Instead, she pretended to search, nervously glancing at Nam Kang-ik.

That was when something caught her eye.

"What’s this…? Some kind of medicine?"

A bottle with no label.

Inside were dozens of blood-red capsules.

Nam Kang-ik’s eyes gleamed behind his mask.

"What kind of pills are they? Professor D’s supplements?"

"I… don’t know. There’s no writing on it, and it smells a little… metallic?"

"Then taste it."

"W-What?!"

She recoiled in horror.

But Nam Kang-ik was already forcing a capsule toward her mouth.

"Shut up and swallow it. It’s not like it’ll kill you."

"Mmph—!"

Overpowered, the girl had no choice but to gulp it down.

Nam Kang-ik watched her for a moment.

"Well? Feel anything?"

"I… I don’t know. It’s not like vitamins or supplements, but…"

"Tch. Whatever. I’ll hold onto a few, just in case."

He scooped up a handful of capsules, stuffing them into a small bag in his pocket.

"We can analyze them later. The laptop’s locked, so we can’t check that… Looks like we’re done here."

"S-So that means I can go now, right?"

She desperately wanted to get out of there.

But Nam Kang-ik snorted.

"Go? We still have the most important job left."

From his bag, he pulled out a small metal case.

Inside was an ultra-miniature high-end camera.

"This baby picks up everything—from breathing sounds to the number of pores on your skin. Military-grade. Special forces use it."

"Where the hell did you even get that?"

"Not your concern. Your job is to plant it."

"M-Me?!"

"Who else? Why do you think I brought you here?"

Her voice wavered as she spoke.

"But… This is spycam-level illegal. What if it’s discovered—?"

"Then make sure it’s not. If Professor D finds it, you’re the only one who’ll be screwed."

Nam Kang-ik smirked wickedly as he spoke, and the girl’s face turned pale. In other words, if they got caught, he would make sure she took all the blame while he walked away unscathed.

It was a blatant threat, but the timid girl couldn't bring herself to say she wouldn’t go through with it.

“Damn, you’re scared of everything. You think you’ll ever make it to the battlefield like this? What do you think the soldiers would say about you?”

At his words, her wavering eyes sharpened with newfound determination. After a long moment of hesitation, she finally pulled something out from inside her uniform.

A talisman, scrawled with indecipherable characters written in what looked like blood.

The girl pressed the talisman onto the camera and began to chant.

“……”

Then, something astonishing happened. A crimson light flashed from the talisman, and the camera’s shape slowly morphed until it resembled a book.

“Oooh…”

Seeing the hidden camera now disguised as a book, Nam Kang-ik let out a low whistle.

Even when he picked it up, it felt like a book. Even when he flipped through it, it was still a book.

But hidden within, it retained all the functionality of a camera—an illusionist’s trick at its finest.

Even if forensic investigators stormed in, they would never find it.

“Hah, so illusionist techniques, useless on the battlefield, actually come in handy for this kind of thing.”

“S-So… you’ll keep your promise now, right?”

“Of course. What do you take me for? I’ll personally vouch for how useful you are, so don’t worry.”

Hearing that, the girl’s face finally brightened—just a little.

But Nam Kang-ik wasn’t finished.

“In exchange, I’ll be calling in another favor next time. You’re not gonna refuse, are you?”

“W-What? Next time?”

“Yeah. Did you really think one job was enough to prove your worth? You think life’s that easy?”

“N-No… I didn’t mean that, but…”

The timid student hesitated awkwardly. Truthfully, this kind of situation wasn’t uncommon in the Master Class.

Even though they were all students, their status varied depending on their department of study and ranking.

Students of the Department of Illusions, like her, were just as minor and overlooked as those in the Department of Deconstruction. If they wanted to secure a spot in an elite unit, they had to stand out far more than students from other departments. Connections were part of that equation.

“Once I graduate, I can pick whichever elite unit I want. When that happens, taking a few reliable peers with me is nothing.”

Nam Kang-ik spoke with exaggerated confidence, but it wasn’t just bravado—it was the truth.

The 8th-ranked student in the entire Masterclass.

The top student in the Emision Department, known as [Iron Fist].

With titles like that, military units were already lining up, waiting for his graduation. It was natural for units to compete over recruits like him, and when that happened, they often let top candidates bring along a few hand-picked comrades.

“All you have to do is follow my lead. That way, you’ll get a straight ticket into an elite unit.”

“…Alright. I’ll do it.”

The girl nodded hesitantly. But the mention of an elite unit made her eyes gleam with ambition.

Nam Kang-ik, unconcerned with her internal struggles, carefully placed the disguised camera onto the bookshelf and smirked with satisfaction. It was flawless—no one would ever suspect a thing.

“Heh… I can’t wait to see what kind of footage we’ll get from this room.”

With their mission complete, the two quickly cleaned up the room, restoring everything to its original state and even wiping off their fingerprints.

By the time they silently slipped away, the professor’s office was once again shrouded in dark, undisturbed silence, as if nothing had ever happened.

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]