Villain Takes Over The Academy

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 33

As April arrived, the atmosphere of the academy began to change gradually.

The spring sunlight streamed warmly through the windows, and cherry blossoms bloomed on the trees, increasing the number of students taking walks.

"Are those guys here on vacation?"

However, in Okamoto's eyes, such students were merely an annoyance.

In fact, it was obvious to anyone. Seven or eight out of ten students leisurely strolling around campus at this time of year were either couples, or on the verge of becoming one.

"Tsk! Those guys will be the first to become villain fodder when they go to the battlefield!"

Okamoto hurled curses at the boys and girls laughing and chatting outside the window.

He said that, but in reality, he was incredibly envious.

How many times had he imagined shyly walking under those cherry blossom trees, hand in hand with Shin A-sol?

For Okamoto, the scene outside the window was torture, and the current situation of him sitting alone in the Deconstructionist Department classroom was an unbelievable reality.

"No matter how long I stay here, Yang Hak-je will take the top spot anyway."

Of course, he was curious about the Deconstructionist Department class, but not enough to carve out time from his busy schedule to attend. There was no reason to take such a minor class if he couldn't be the top student in the department.

His head told him to escape this classroom immediately...

But Okamoto's body still stubbornly showed up at the Deconstructionist Department classroom every day and took a seat.

Just to be with the girl he liked a little longer.

"Ah, I'm such an idiot..."

...He said, while still waiting for Shin A-sol to arrive.

This incomprehensible behavior, unable to stop even though he knew he was pathetic, was definitely love. There was no other way to see it, Okamoto convinced himself...

Creak-

When the door opened, Okamoto poked his head out like a meerkat, then clicked his tongue with a disappointed look.

The person who entered was not Shin A-sol, but Seo Su-kyung.

"...These are the materials for today's class. Everyone, familiarize yourselves with them in advance."

Seo Su-kyung, carrying a pile of handouts, distributed them one by one to the students with a listless gait.

"...But why is she doing that?"

Okamoto, resting his chin in his hand and watching her, found Seo Su-kyung as incomprehensible as himself.

He had seen Seo Su-kyung toy with professors by taking various departments as minors.

However, this was the first time he had seen her working so powerlessly like a slave under a professor.

"Hey, are you really thinking of majoring in the Deconstructionist Department?" Okamoto casually asked as Seo Su-kyung approached and placed the handouts on his desk.

Seo Su-kyung glared at him.

"...Mind your own business. It's none of your concern."

"Of course, I don't care where you are or what you do, even if you die."

Okamoto nodded as he spoke, thinking to himself, 'Of course, of course.'

"But I'm curious. What's with the sudden change of heart? Or did Professor D get some big leverage on you?"

Seo Su-kyung's expression turned vicious.

"Leverage? Do you think I'm an idiot like you? Mind your own business and worry about yourself."

"Yeah, okay."

‘She must be under his thumb’, Okamoto thought to himself. Judging by her sensitive reaction, it was clear that Professor D had a firm grip on Seo Su-kyung's Achilles' heel.

'To have Seo Su-kyung completely under his control... he's even scarier than I thought.'

What method did he use?

Whatever it was, it must be a huge weakness. Okamoto wanted to find out that information from Professor D if he could.

If he could, he wouldn't have to worry about Seo Su-kyung anymore.

* * *

"Shin A-sol isn't here yet, I see?"

While Okamoto was lost in thought, trying to figure out Seo Su-kyung's weakness after she left, a familiar voice spoke from behind, startling him and making him turn his head. Yang Hak-je, the "Heavenly Fallen Emperor", and his followers were standing there.

"Wh-what do you want?"

"What do I want? Do you see me as idle, or do you overestimate your own presence?"

Okamoto's mind briefly buffered. He had lived in Korea for a long time, but that guy's Korean was difficult to understand and strangely irritating.

"Anyway, why are you looking for Shin A-sol?"

"I'm not looking for her, merely lamenting."

"Lamenting?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"If she is to be a 'Iron Fortress,' she should be able to command troops on the battlefield in the future. But she can't even keep to a simple class schedule... How can this not be a pathetic sight?" Yang Hak-je slowly shook his head and clicked his tongue, then let out a short sigh and said, "This is why bloodline is important. No matter how a dragon rises from a ditch, if there is no dignity in their origin, it will show."

"...Hey, what did you just say?"

Okamoto unconsciously pushed his chair back and stood up. For the first time since entering this academy, he looked directly into Yang Hak-je's eyes and said, "Take back what you just said."

"You insolent fool! How dare you act so recklessly before him...!"

The surrounding followers glared and tried to rush at him, but when Yang Hak-je raised his hand, they quickly shut their mouths.

Yang Hak-je spoke with an amused look in his eyes, "Interesting. I thought it was understandable, considering A-sol’s family background... or have you perhaps developed feelings for that wench?"

"You bastard!"

Okamoto had never experienced anything like this in his life.

He unconsciously chanted a spell.

He unconsciously took out a potion from his bag.

After imbuing the chair with a damage-enhancing enchantment effect...

He reflexively grabbed it and struck.

Despite having never impulsively hit anyone before, Okamoto's attack was near perfect. His spell, befitting a 4-star Alchemist, transformed the ordinary metal chair into a weapon capable of crushing even steel.

If his opponent wasn't Yang Hak-je, it would have been more than enough to kill him.

"Ugh...!"

Although it was Okamoto who attacked, it was also Okamoto who groaned.

The metal chair stopped in mid-air, not even touching Yang Hak-je's body. It was as if an invisible barrier was surrounding him.

"How dare you try to harm me, you must want to die!"

As Yang Hak-je's expression turned icy, Okamoto felt a sharp pull in the back of his head. A heavy sensation, as if something was crushing his entire body, suddenly washed over him.

'Mistake...! I fell for his trap!'

Okamoto belatedly regretted his impulsive action.

Yang Hak-je was none other than the overwhelming number one of the Divine Department.

Not only did he know how to use all sorts of protection and buff spells, making it nearly impossible to damage him, but he also possessed a unique ability called Overlord that could choke the life out of his opponent with just his gaze.

The Overlord trait was more powerful at close range, so attacking Yang Hak-je from this distance was definitely not a good choice.

"Even considering the Okamoto family, I cannot overlook this transgression. Blame your foolish actions."

As the Heavenly Fallen Emperor's gaze grew colder, Okamoto's breath quickened.

* * *

'That bastard is finally revealing his true colors.'

In an empty hallway where no one passed by, I was watching the situation in the classroom through the window.

For the past few days, Yang Hak-je had just been attending classes without any unusual behavior. He was so quiet compared to his imposing presence that I initially thought he had really come to listen to the lectures.

'Of course, that couldn't be true.'

Today, Yang Hak-je had deliberately provoked Okamoto. I didn't know what he was up to, but he wasn't the type of character to pick a fight for no reason.

'Whatever his purpose, he must have chosen today as the day.'

If so, he chose the wrong day. On the contrary, today would be a good opportunity for me to figure out Yang Hak-je's objective.

Because today, an event that Yang Hak-je would never anticipate would unfold.

Creak-

As I opened the door and entered, the students' eyes simultaneously focused on me. Their bewildered faces soon turned to expectation upon seeing me.

Eyes full of hope that I would somehow resolve this situation.

Since coming to this academy, I had never been in a role where someone looked up to me with such expectation, but this time, I decided to live up to it.

"You must have been quite bored with academy life. To think you'd even hold an event like this,” I said, once again fully immersing myself in Do Jin-hak's persona.

"But isn't fighting in the classroom too much of a cliché? If you're going to do it, why not just bring weapons and go to the training hall?"

The students, who had expected me to stop the fight, were confused by my words that seemed to encourage it.

They didn't know. To control these guys' actions, I needed to respond this strongly.

However, Yang Hak-je's reaction was different from what I expected.

"This is not a sparring match. It is an execution to punish an impious crime."

He began to emanate Overlord more intensely.

Even I, who was standing far away, felt suffocated.

Okamoto, who was right in front of him, was almost on his knees.

"I apologize, but even if you are a professor, you cannot stop me. The sin this one has committed is that grave."

"Cough...!"

Okamoto, now finding it difficult to even breathe, clutched his chest and collapsed on the floor.

Yet, Yang Hak-je's calm expression showed no sign of changing his mind...

If a student died during class, it would naturally be a major incident. My authority as a professor would plummet, and criticism would follow for not being able to manage a single student.

But right now, something else was bothering me more than the bleak future that was unfolding.

"Are you always so terse?"

"Is that a problem?"

"If you say it's not a problem, it sounds like you'll talk like that for the rest of your life. Showing off that you haven't received basic home education."

At those words, the expressions of the students and followers instantly contorted. The atmosphere suggested that I was the first person in this academy to speak to Yang Hak-je like that.

"...Basic home education."

However, Yang Hak-je remained unfazed. He spoke in a tone that was neither offended nor agitated.

"I ask for your understanding. This body is akin to the heavens. No matter how much one should revere their teacher, a teacher cannot be higher than the heavens, can they?"

A calm tone as if preaching a self-evident truth...

But his words didn't end there.

"Especially if that teacher is a good-for-nothing, not even worth looking up to."

...Look at this guy?

A provocative tone.

Contemptuous eyes.

An attitude that belittled even the act of speaking.

Everything was typical of Yang Hak-je. However, it didn't fit this situation.

'I don't remember him crossing the line with professors like this.'

Yang Hak-je's family, the Yang clan, was supposedly descended from Chinese royalty.

Raised in a family that valued etiquette more than anything else, he was someone who, at the very least, strictly maintained boundaries with professors.

There was probably only one reason why he was acting like this towards me now...

'It seems I was his target from the beginning.'

With that thought, many questions started to make sense.

Why he suddenly applied to take the Deconstructionist Department as a minor.

Why he suddenly provoked Okamoto before the start of class...

'He must have been counting on the fact that I wouldn't just stand by and watch him kill a student in front of me.'

If something like this happened during class, the professor had no choice but to intervene. Once I intervened, he would try to attack me, using the excuse that I had undermined his authority.

Of course, attacking a professor during class was absurd... but for Yang Hak-je, who grew up as an “ Emperor," justification was far more important than such common sense.

'He's the kind of guy who values upholding his own worth, which can be considered the culmination of five thousand years of Chinese history, above all else.'

In the Military Chronicle, each character had their own desires. In Arche's case, she lived for the purpose of reforming the military association.

Shin A-sol, to protect her friends.

Okamoto, to win Shin A-sol's heart.

Seo Su-kyung, to gain recognition from her family...

'And Yang Hak-je, to prove his own greatness.'

Yang Hak-je was a person who had immense pride in the grand history that flowed through his blood. He believed it was only natural for him to become the leader of the military, and eventually, the leader of the world.

'With that kind of personality, he probably targeted me.'

If he exposed my true nature, the most suspicious person in the academy right now?

Then he would gain the trust and support of the Masterclass students. That would become a significant stepping stone for the Heavenly Fallen Emperor, who would become the future leader of the military...

Ding-!

The moment that thought crossed my mind, a message suddenly appeared before my eyes.

[Hidden Quest: Uncover the Heavenly Fallen Emperor's plot.]

[You have succeeded in grasping the plot of the Heavenly Fallen Emperor, Yang Hak-je.]

Hidden quest?!

'Could this have been a hidden quest?'

I thought Yang Hak-je's sudden appearance was strange, but I didn't realize there was actually a quest involved.

[Trait experience increases as a reward!]

[Intelligence stat greatly increases as a reward!]

[Charm stat greatly increases as a reward!]

'A huge stat increase, what an unexpected gift.'

As expected of a hidden quest, the rewards were tremendous. This was the first time in this loop that my intelligence and charm stats had grown so much at once.

But the message didn't end there.

[1 sub-quest is unlocked as a reward.]

[Sub Quest: Earn the respect of the Heavenly Fallen Emperor.]

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]