Villain Takes Over The Academy

Chapter 27

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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?"

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.

"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]