Villain Takes Over The Academy

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 58

Ding-!

[5 minutes have passed.]

[The potion’s effect is beginning to wear off.]

[Your defense is returning to normal, and movement restrictions are lifted.]

As the potion’s duration ended, the clothes that had hardened like cold metal slowly regained their original texture.

Now that I could move again, the first thing I did was grab the potion case from the floor.

Things hadn’t gone exactly as planned, but as long as the potions inside were intact, it was too early to give up.

"...But how do I open this?"

Even though the potion case remained, there was one problem—

It was locked.

Okamoto wasn’t the type to leave something this important unprotected.

If I tried to force it open, there was a good chance he had rigged it to shatter all the potions inside.

"Which means… entering the passcode is the safest option."

A four-digit passcode.

A seemingly simple challenge, but one that loomed over me like a massive hurdle.

What could it be?

What kind of password would he have used…?

"He wouldn’t have used something basic like his birthday."

For someone who played the intelligence role in military chronicle, it was highly unlikely he’d use such an obvious code.

But… this world is still based on a game.

The passcode wouldn’t be some completely random set of numbers. It had to be something that players could reasonably deduce.

The four numbers most important to Okamoto would be—

"...I have no idea. I never cared enough about this character."

Since he was so insufferable, I never bothered to pay attention to him.

With people like Seo Su-kyung and Yang Hak-je constantly looking for an opportunity to stab me in the back, how could I have had the luxury of keeping track of Okamoto’s personal details too?

Ding-!

[ENP has increased to 51/180.]

[ENP has increased to 52/180…]

"...I'll figure out the passcode later."

Sitting around and overthinking wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Now that I was in Zone M, wasting time was not an option.

I secured the potion case and turned to the window, which had shut itself earlier.

I pried it open again.

Outside, the darkness loomed—thick, suffocating, absolute.

No telling what was lurking out there.

But right now, my priority was tracking Mak, the Divine Beast.

"Phone flashlight… yeah, that’s useless."

I tested it anyway, but as expected, the light didn’t penetrate the darkness.

This wasn’t natural darkness.

Still, there’s always a way around obstacles.

[Casting spell: “Ultrasound.”]

[ENP has increased to 67/180.]

I opened my mouth wide and unleashed a wave of high-frequency sound.

Like when I polymorphed into a bat, the returning echoes instantly mapped out the space around me.

I could feel the surroundings through the reverberations, the details gradually forming in my mind.

"Left and front are open. There’s a building to the right… This must be the schoolyard."

Since the game lore stated that Mak lived in an abandoned school, it must have moved to one of the other buildings.

With the mental map now clear in my head, I stepped forward without hesitation, diving into the pitch-black void.

The real quest starts now.

* * *

Walking through pitch-black darkness was far more difficult than I had imagined.

After wandering aimlessly for several minutes, the thought only grew stronger.

"What the hell were the first people who tried this even thinking?"

Even with an ultrasound spell, navigating this place was no easy feat.

So what kind of reckless lunatics had been running around chasing the Divine Beast with no plan at all?

‘Though, thanks to those idiots, the quest's secret was eventually discovered.’

In Military Chronicle, some quests naturally chain into others, revealing deeper layers of the story.

Like peeling away layers of an onion, uncovering the truth one step at a time.

The current quest, Sacrificial Offerings of the Abandoned School, was exactly that kind of quest.

Creeeak...

After pushing through the darkness for what felt like ages, I finally reached another building.

I placed my hands on the worn-out central entrance of the main hall and pushed it open.

The central lobby was dim, but unlike the unnatural darkness of the schoolyard, this was just darkness.

Click.

I turned on my phone’s flashlight, and as expected, my surroundings became clear.

And with that clarity came horror.

"...What the hell?"

Blood.

Everywhere.

Streaks and splatters of crimson painted the walls, ceiling, and floor, the grotesque aftermath of something horrifying.

It didn’t take much imagination to figure out what had happened here.

"...Footprints."

Among the scattered bloodstains, one set of footprints stood out—massive, smeared with blood.

Far too large to belong to a human.

With footprints this big...

"...Mak's."

It had to be.

From the brief glimpse I got earlier through the window, Mak was huge.

And from the way the blood was splattered in all directions, it had likely dragged the students through here before taking them somewhere deeper inside.

Ding-!

[You have not offered blood. You cannot receive Mak's reward.]

[You have failed the sub-quest "Sacrificial Offerings of the Abandoned School."]

[However, through tracking Mak and exploring the hidden corners of the school, you have discovered that this place holds a deeper secret.]

Ding-!

[A new sub-quest has appeared: "Sacrificial Offerings of the Abandoned School 2."]

[Quest Objective: The Divine Beast Mak, lurking in the abandoned school, harbors an unknown secret. If the truth remains hidden, the student deaths will continue...]

[Reward: ????]

Just as expected—a second quest.

To be honest, the first quest was mostly a trap.

It was practically designed to mock casual players, those who skimmed through the story without thinking and rushed through content.

Only those who stubbornly pursued Mak through the darkness and pushed forward could uncover the second quest.

Sacrificial Offerings of the Abandoned School was made for a very specific kind of player—the obsessive ones.

"The problem is… I'm not really that kind of player."

I played Military Chronicle like any normal person.

I followed the meta, built my stats according to community guides, and cleared quests using walkthroughs.

‘And like everyone else, I graduated from the in-game academy... only to die in the war immediately after.’

No matter how efficiently you played, graduating from the academy took at least 50 hours of real-world time.

And after all that grinding, to watch my carefully raised character die instantly on the battlefield…

Even a saint would have lost it.

"...Yeah, not a great memory."

The rage-fueled forum rants, the frustration that led me here—all of it came flooding back.

I shook my head, pushing those thoughts aside.

Regardless, I had never reached this part of the game before.

I only knew about the quest twist from rumors circulating among players.

"If those rumors are actually true…"

I glanced down at Okamoto’s potion case.

If the rumors were correct, then the potions inside this case were the key to solving this quest.

Of course, that’s only if I can unlock it.

Bang-!

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed from deep within the corridor.

I instantly killed my flashlight and strained my ears.

Bang... Bang...

The unmistakable sound of metal slamming against metal.

And it wasn’t just a normal impact.

Whatever was making that noise had tremendous strength.

"...Guess there's only one way to find out."

I secured the potion case and began moving toward the source of the sound.

Whatever was waiting for me ahead…

It might be impossible for me to defeat at my current level.

But now that I’d come this far—

I had to see this quest through to the end.

* * *

Bang-! Bang-!

The closer I got to the source of the noise, the sharper and more deafening it became. It was so loud that my ears started ringing.

Boom-! Crash-!

‘...At this point, are they trying to demolish the building?’

The metallic clangs were so intense that the ground trembled beneath my feet, and dust rained down from the ceiling.

Just what the hell was going on here?

That question was answered the moment I turned the dimly lit hallway corner.

‘...Is that...?’

A human figure stood at the end of the corridor.

The flickering light from a nearby lantern illuminated them just enough for me to see clearly.

But even without it, I would’ve recognized them instantly.

There was only one person in this entire academy who would be bashing an iron door with a shield like that.

“Ugh! Why the hell is this thing so damn sturdy?!”

Bang-! Bang-!

Swinging a massive metal shield with all their strength, relentlessly hammering away at the iron door at the end of the hallway—

Shin A-sol.

Yep. Definitely someone I couldn’t defeat at my current level.

But seeing her here was so unexpected that my brain struggled to process it.

‘...What is she doing here?’

Did she hear rumors about the Divine Beast and come here to boost her exam scores?

No. That didn’t make sense.

Shin A-sol was someone who hated cheating in any form. If anything, she was far more likely to be here because she’d heard rumors about the missing students and decided to investigate on her own.

But in the original story, did Shin A-sol ever get involved in this incident...?

‘...No way to know for sure.’

I knew a lot about her personal storyline, but I hadn’t followed her every move.

Still, how did she even get past the darkness outside and make it all the way here...?

“Hey! Who’s there?!”

Crap. She noticed me.

I’d been too caught up in my own thoughts.

Sensing something off, Shin A-sol suddenly spun around and shouted in my direction.

There was no real reason to hide, anyway.

So I stepped out into the light.

"...Ah. You’re...!"

Her eyes locked onto mine, filled with caution and tension.

Of course.

This was our first time meeting in this cycle.

‘So losing a special trait really does erase any relationships from past cycles...’

There were four people I had built a connection with in my 138th cycle.

But of those four, Shin A-sol was the only one whose settings hadn't changed.

The special trait I had obtained from her—Unyielding Will—had disappeared after activating once.

Which meant that whatever incidents tied us together in that cycle no longer existed in this one.

‘That means if I lose a special trait gained from a character, their settings won’t change in the next cycle…’

That was important information.

Losing a special trait was rare, but not impossible.

‘So if I somehow erased my Dragonkin Affinity trait, Gianluca and Seo Su-kyung wouldn’t be enemies in the next cycle.’

...Not that I had any real reason to do that.

Regardless, this was useful to know.

Taking a step closer, I addressed Shin A-sol, who was still on edge.

“Judging from your reaction, you’ve heard rumors about me. Do you know who I am?”

“...Yes. You’re the new professor from the Deconstructionist Department this semester.”

“Then I suppose we can skip introductions. After all, I already know you as well.”

“You know me?”

“A student council member from the Defense Department—the kind of person who acts first and thinks later when things go wrong. At least, that’s the rumor. And judging by what I’m seeing, that rumor isn’t exactly wrong.”

As I trailed off, staring at the dented iron door, Shin A-sol's ears turned red.

She must have realized that trying to break open a solid iron door with a shield wasn't exactly the most rational approach.

“Well, uh... Professor, what are you doing here?”

“Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?”

“I... came to look for the missing students.”

“Then I suppose that means we're here for the same reason.”

“Wait, so you’re also searching for them, Professor?”

“Now that you know, how about dropping your guard already? It’s kind of uncomfortable when you’re literally pointing that shield at me.”

Only then did Shin A-sol realize she had been holding her shield way too high, as if ready for battle.

She quickly lowered it, looking slightly embarrassed.

Gesturing toward the iron door, I asked, “You were trying to get this door open, right? Why?”

“Well... because it’s weird. An old building like this shouldn't have such a heavy-duty iron door. That’s suspicious, isn’t it?”

She had a point.

Shin A-sol wasn’t exactly the smartest character, but her intuition was sharper than most. Every now and then, she picked up on things others missed.

“But no matter what I do, this thing won’t budge. Usually, after a few hits like that, a door would break open—even if it meant shattering into pieces...”

Shin A-sol clicked her tongue, looking genuinely baffled.

I supposed it was a rare experience for her.

After all, she was widely recognized as a powerhouse in military chronicle. She had probably never encountered a door that didn’t break under her strength before.

I carefully examined the locked iron door from top to bottom.

There didn’t seem to be any special mechanisms attached to it.

Clank-

I grabbed the handle and gave it a twist, but—of course—it was locked.

“It’s no use. I already tried everything I could. No matter how much force I use, it just won’t open.”

“Figures. If even someone like you, the military chronicles strongest fighter, can’t open it, then brute force isn’t the answer.”

“...Military chronicle? Strongest fighter? What are you talking about?”

“It’s not important. Just forget about it.”

Taking a step back, I narrowed my eyes at the door.

There was no visible lock mechanism.

It couldn’t be forced open with sheer strength.

That only meant one thing.

[Do Jin-hak’s Essence: 32% Activated.]

[Casting Spell: "Identify Reality."]

[ENP Increased to 88/180.]

[Your mind begins to perceive the world in multiple dimensions.]

“Caesar, analyze the spell placed on this door.”

At my command, my Ceaser scanned the iron door, processing its information.

A moment later, Caesar’s voice echoed from the rim of my glasses.

- Scan Complete.

- Spell detected on target.

- Spell Type: "Locking"

- School of Magic: "Transmutation"

- Caster: ????

“Wha—what the hell was that?! Where did that voice come from?!”

Startled by the sudden voice, Shin A-sol instinctively raised her shield again, scanning her surroundings.

It was almost amusing how quickly she reacted.

Compared to Seo Su-kyung or Okamoto, her intelligence wasn’t particularly high, but...

‘Still, it’s kind of funny.’

Since I found her reaction entertaining, I decided not to explain.

Regardless, just as I suspected, the iron door had been sealed with a spell.

A 2-star Transmutation spell—"Locking."

It magically alters the nature of a lock, making it impossible to break through physically.

It was a basic Transmutation spell, but its effectiveness and utility were so well-known that even non-Transmutation specialists often took the time to learn it.

‘Normally, the standard approach would be to counter this with "Unlocking."’

But I didn’t need that spell.

Because I had something better.

[Casting Spell: "Formula Deconstruction."]

[ENP Increased to 110/180.]

[Attempting to Deconstruct the "Locking" Spell...]

Click... Clack... Click...

As the spell activated, the lock mechanism inside the iron door began shifting on its own.

["Formula Deconstruction"] was a 2-star Deconstructionist spell.

It was incredibly useful, but not invincible.

There were some spells it could break—and some it couldn’t.

‘In military chronicle, spell success rates are determined by various factors—the opponent’s level, school of magic, stats, and so on.’

Because of that, success or failure wasn’t instant.

The system needed time to process the calculations.

[Possessing Transmutation points increases the success rate of breaking Transmutation spells.]

[Current Transmutation Points: None.]

[If Deconstructing Points exceed the opponent’s Transmutation Points, success rate is boosted.]

[Your Deconstructing Points surpass the opponent’s Transmutation Points.]

[Successfully disrupted the "Locking" spell!]

Click.

The iron door unlocked.

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]