Villain Takes Over The Academy

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[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]

Chapter 27

"Hey, Kim. Have you seen the number 4 key that was hanging on the key ring here?"

In the Masterclass security room.

Security guard Kim, who was engrossed in a mobile game with his legs up on the desk, pretended to look around and then replied nonchalantly, "Well, I haven't seen it. Did you misplace it somewhere?"

"No way. I just caught Professor D and put it back on the key ring after locking him up."

"What? You're saying you lost the key to Professor D's cell?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Kim was so startled that he almost dropped his phone.

“Who was Professor D?”

He was the suspect in the unprecedented student council member murder case in Masterclass history.

If they mismanaged the keys and he escaped, the security guards wouldn't just get fired from the academy but much worse.

Seeing Kim's panicked reaction, his fellow guard, Park, chuckled.

"Why are you so surprised? You don't think he's going to steal the key and escape from inside the cell, do you?"

"Damn it! This is no time to be complacent! If something happens, we're both screwed!"

Guard Kim quickly grabbed his weapon and headed to the prison.

The academy prison was connected to the security room, just down a flight of stairs.

Kim hurriedly went down to the prison and rushed to the cell at the end of the hallway where Professor D was held.

"Huff, huff..."

Panting, Kim arrived at the cell and looked through the cold, thick iron bars, then let out a sigh of relief.

Professor D was still bound by the chains.

Park came rushing down the stairs after Kim, who was clutching his chest in relief.

"Whew...! That was close! See? I told you nothing would happen!"

"Thank goodness...! But where did the key disappear to?"

Kim wondered and decided to go back to the security room to look for the key.

But Park suddenly stopped him.

"Wait, but doesn't he look... a bit strange?"

"Hmm? Strange how?"

"He's not moving at all, with his head down... Isn't something wrong?"

Now that he mentioned it, it did seem that way. His posture seemed too unstable for him to be sleeping.

Kim, who was about to head back to the security room, stopped at the sight.

What kind of academy was this?

It was Masterclass, where all sorts of strange spells and magic appeared!

'This academy is full of pranks, both from professors and students!'

Kim had realized that fact through his ten years of work here. The nickname Gangnam Twin Peaks wasn't made overnight.

Turning back, Kim struck the iron bars with his baton and shouted, "Hey! Wake up!"

"Ugh..."

Professor D stirred, still bound by the chains.

Fortunately, it didn't seem like he had been replaced with a doll.

Still, to be sure, Kim struck the bars harder.

"Stop pretending to be asleep and wake up! Before I open the door and come in!"

"C-coming in here?"

"?!"

Kim and his fellow guard looked at each other. There was something strange about Professor D's tone.

No, it wasn't just his tone of voice, but his voice itself was noticeably higher than before. Like a woman's voice.

"Hey! Lift your head! Let me see your face!"

"M-my face? Uh, n-no... my face?"

"Yes! Now!"

As if reluctantly, Professor D slowly raised his head. Kim and his fellow guard shone their flashlights, examining his face thoroughly.

After staring at his face for a while, Kim tilted his head.

"Hmm... it's Professor D, isn't it?"

"It is..."

The person bound by the chains was definitely Professor D. His sharp eyes and distinct features were hard to mistake for anyone else.

"But... Why are his eyes shaking so much? Is there an earthquake in his pupils or something?"

The strange thing was that Professor D's eyes were trembling violently.

As if he was extremely anxious.

"Hold on. Smelling him will tell for sure."

Kim activated his [Dog Nose] trait. Having worked at this academy for over ten years, Kim had memorized the scent of everyone who entered and exited the school.

'I've smelled Professor D before. When I caught him.'

Professor D's pheromones were so unique that they were easy to remember. There were many people in this academy who played tricks by changing their appearance or hiding with spells, but even they couldn't fool Kim.

"Sniff, sniff..."

Kim buried his nose in the iron bars and sniffed intently.

Professor D's eyes trembled even more violently.

After sniffing for a while, Kim finally growled like a dog and said, "Sniff, hmm... Strange. The smell is the same."

"Then it really is Professor D?"

"Yes. It's definitely Professor D's scent. It seems we were wrong to jump to conclusions..."

As the embarrassed Kim scratched his nose, his fellow guard clicked his tongue and chided him.

"See? What did I tell you? How could someone locked up in prison steal the key?!"

"You came running down here in a hurry too, and now you're saying this?"

"W-well, that's because you were overreacting..."

The guards grumbled as they walked down the hallway.

As the voices of the bickering guards faded away, a sigh of relief escaped from inside the cell.

"Whew! That was close!"

Clementine, disguised as Do Jin-hak, clutched her chest.

Although her [Transformation] potion allowed her to perfectly mimic the target's appearance, it couldn't replicate their voice or other characteristics.

That's why she had been pretending to be asleep... but the guards' sharp eyes almost put her in a dangerous situation.

"It's a good thing I sprayed Professor D's perfume as he said."

Clementine muttered, sniffing the scent of Professor D's clothes.

Before Clementine stole the prison key from the security room, Professor D had advised her to bring his clothes and perfume from his room, saying it might be necessary because one of the guards had the Dog Nose trait.

"But Professor D, how did you know that when you haven't been at the academy for long?"

Actually, the perfume was made by extracting Do Jin-hak's pheromones after the day he was almost discovered by the guard with the Dog Nose trait, but Clementine couldn't know that.

"Anyway, Professor D... you must have reached the morgue by now, right?"

Clementine anxiously looked at her watch. She didn't know what he was going to do by checking Arche's body, but there wasn't much time left.

She had about 30 minutes before the [Transformation] potion wore off.

Once the effect wore off, the spell would be lifted, and she would return to her original form.

If that happened, Clementine's fate would be...

"...What happens if Professor D doesn't come back?"

Clementine suddenly had that question. It was a question that most people would have had much earlier, but unfortunately, Clementine's thought process was different from most people.

"Professor D... uh... he's not... not coming back, is he...?"

Clementine's vision blurred as she finally started to worry.

For some reason, she kept remembering her grandfather's nagging words from when she was young, telling her not to trust just anyone.

***

The medical center of Masterclass.

In a corner of this area, where various medical departments were gathered, was a morgue. It was a necessary part of any hospital, but this school's morgue was a little different.

It wasn't just a morgue for storing human bodies, but a morgue for storing the bodies of all animals and plants.

Therefore, not only animals and divine beasts but also villain corpses were occasionally brought here.

The purpose, of course, was for experiments, lectures, or material extraction.

In this worldview, the representative authority on villain experiments was Professor D, but that didn't mean other scholars were neglecting villain experiments.

'They just weren't as obsessed with experiments as Do Jin-hak.'

Do Jin-hak, through his psychopathic villain experiments at this school, discovered the secret to strengthening traits, which became the foundation for the birth of the 7 Heroes.

'But that won't happen as long as I'm here...'

While imprisoned, I suddenly had this doubt.

Could this also be part of that damn balance adjustment?

The original Do Jin-hak in the story would have been engrossed in experiments as soon as he arrived at the school, but I hadn't even been near the laboratory yet.

If Do Jin-hak, who should be focusing on experiments as soon as possible, didn't fulfill his role, it was only natural that there would be major disruptions in the future story progression.

So, could this be a conspiracy by this world to get rid of me and create a new Deconstructionist Department professor...?

'I have that suspicion.'

After dying 137 times, I became convinced that this world was moving according to some invisible 'will.'

Like a train trying to deviate from a set track being forcibly moved back by the system...

Then, to derail the train, the only way might be to deceive the system into thinking that the train was on the right track.

'In this guy's case, that would probably be villain experiments.'

If I at least pretended to fulfill the important role Do Jin-hak played in the story, if I could deceive the system that way...

Perhaps I could prevent this series of obstacles from occurring.

'...That's only if I can stay in this academy.'

Anyway, the most important thing right now was to find the real culprit.

Thanks to Clementine's help, I escaped from prison and easily reached the morgue.

The morgue was quite large, with various scenes unfolding.

A professor giving a lecture using a villain's corpse.

Students creating items with chemicals extracted from the organs of divine beasts.

A family sobbing, holding the body of their child who died in an accident during villain practice...

And there was a morgue where the sound of an electric saw was noisily ringing, a sound out of place in this atmosphere.

Whirrr-!

"Damn it! I can't do this!"

The man, who had been struggling to cut the Dragon Armor, threw the electric saw on the floor, catching his breath.

"What kind of armor is this sturdy?"

"Didn't the professors say? It's useless with metal tools. It's armor that can't be taken off unless a summoner specialized in summoning cancels the spell."

"Oh dear, poor thing. To have to wear such uncomfortable clothes even in death..."

The morgue staff clicked their tongues in pity, looking at Arche, who was dead and still wearing her armor.

"Well, the Summoning Department professor will be here soon, so let's go out and get something to eat until then."

"Tsk, we should. It seems like we have a lot to do today..."

Click-!

The staff members opened the door feebly and came out.

They were startled to see me and faltered.

"Oh my...! It's a bat?"

The staff members looked at me, hanging from the ceiling, as if it were a strange sight, and chattered.

"A bat came all the way here? That's odd. Did it come in through the window?"

"Maybe someone brought it in for an experiment. Let's leave it alone."

Since the academy was located in the mountains, the staff didn't seem to think much of it.

After confirming that the staff had disappeared down the hallway, I immediately took my feet off the ceiling and landed on the floor.

[Casting Polymorph spell.]

[Select Polymorph transformation.]

[Selected "Do Jin-hak" for Polymorph transformation.]

[ENP increases from 45/180 to 50/180.]

Returning to Do Jin-hak's form, I looked around the hallway. Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone else appearing.

"It's inconvenient that the only human form option for Polymorph transformation is Do Jin-hak."

If I had one more human form option, I could walk around without worrying about being noticed.

Perhaps after this situation is resolved, it would be good to suck the blood of some human and add another essence.

Of course, that wouldn't be easy inside the school...

Click-!

Creak-!

I stealthily opened the door and quickly locked it. Turning my head, I immediately saw the body placed in the center of the morgue.

"..."

Arche, stiff as a rock.

It was a strange feeling, seeing her like this after talking to her just yesterday...

"...It's a shame, even seeing her again."

Perhaps because I've become a complete villain, even seeing this tragic sight again, I feel more regret than sadness.

"But I also feel strangely angry."

It was strange. Seeing Arche's body, anger was rising from a corner of my heart.

I had seen countless corpses during my 138 playthroughs. Whether they were allies or enemies, I thought I would no longer be emotionally affected by seeing someone's death.

"I thought so..."

Strangely, this time was different. Perhaps it was because, despite our false relationship, she was the first student to approach me after I came to this academy.

"Then I should at least find out who did this. Who, and why."

[18% of Do Jin-hak's essence is activated.]

[Casting Do Jin-hak's spell "Identify Reality".]

[ENP increases from 65/180 to 85/180.]

[Your brain begins to perceive multidimensional space.]

As I looked at the world with multidimensional eyes, Arche's body began to be recreated in a three-dimensional structure I had never seen before.

First, I examined the traces of the spell remaining on the body.

The X mark magic circle is clearly drawn on the Dragon Armor.

'At first, I thought someone might have artificially drawn it to frame me...'

But after checking with the eyes of Identify Reality, I knew for sure. The X mark magic circle was definitely not a drawing.

It was an unaltered trace, clearly left by casting a spell.

'This means the culprit is really from the Deconstructionist Department.'

If so, it was rather fortunate. The Deconstructionist Department was so unpopular that there weren't many people from it. Whether it was a student, a professor, or a staff member... it wouldn't be difficult to track down the culprit.

I then examined Arche's body from various angles, turning it over and over.

To find even a single fingerprint or a speck of dust left by the culprit.

'Judging by the dilation of her pupils, she died in a state of great shock... There are no fingerprints on her armor, clothes, or body... There are many other molecules mixed in with the perfume molecules remaining in her hair. Hydrocarbon residue... Was something burning? The cause of death is instant death from cardiac rupture... Her chest was pierced by something sharp. It seems like she was stabbed with a stake-like weapon... There's paraffin on the soles of her shoes. It seems like what was burning was a candle...'

Countless pieces of information that were not visible before were revealed through the Identify Reality spell.

The knowledge derived from Do Jin-hak's essence read the information, and the interpretations based on my experience followed immediately.

'Arche died in a place with a lot of candles lit, her heart pierced by a stake.'

Candles and a stake.

They were unusual items to appear at a murder scene. As far as I knew, the situations where such items were used in Military Chronicle were very limited.

For example, when voodoo shamans created curse spells in secret places.

'What if the culprit was trying to curse someone, and Arche died trying to stop them?'

It was just a possibility, but it was currently the most likely assumption.

And besides that, the other notable body part was...

"...Her left hand."

It was her left hand.

Unlike her right hand, which was holding her staff, her left hand was empty, but judging from the shape of her hand, it seemed like she had been holding something.

'The degree of muscle stiffness is very high. This means she was holding something in her left hand until right before she died...'

The dark bruise on her wrist was evidence that the culprit had stepped on Arche's wrist and forcefully taken something from her left hand.

What was she holding in her hand?

And why did the culprit take it?

"Judging from the way her fingers are evenly bent, it wasn't a weapon, but something angular..."

Staring intently at Arche's left hand, I suddenly looked around the morgue.

What time was it? I had to get back to the prison before Clementine's spell wore off.

Unable to find a clock in the morgue, I quickly took out my phone from my pocket and checked the time.

The current time was 8:34 AM.

"...Not much time left."

Less than 20 minutes remained before Clementine's [Transformation] spell wore off.

I had to find the culprit by then.

If I couldn't...

"...Wait."

As I unconsciously tried to put my phone back in my pocket, I suddenly stopped. Feeling strange, I stared intently at the hand holding the phone.

It was the same.

The shape of my hand holding the phone,

And the shape of Arche's stiff left hand.

With a sliver of hope, I tried fitting the phone into Arche's left hand.

"...It fits perfectly."

Arche's left hand, stiff with rigor mortis, matched the size of the phone surprisingly well.

It was certain. Considering there was no phone in Arche's pockets or locker... the culprit definitely took her phone.

The phone that Arche desperately tried to protect until her death, and the phone that the culprit had to take away from her.

This could only mean one thing.

The culprit's identity was on the phone.

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[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]