Villain Takes Over The Academy

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 66

Seo Su-kyung felt dizzy, and her heart was pounding.

The symptoms persisted all day, leaving her no choice but to visit the hospital she had always despised.

"Hmm... There’s nothing unusual in your test results. It just seems like a condition-related issue."

"A condition-related issue? But my heart keeps racing like this!"

"It happens sometimes—when you're overly sensitive or subconsciously excited by a certain event."

"A certain event...?"

"Just in case, I’ll prescribe you some medication. Let’s monitor your condition for now."

The so-called "medication" turned out to be nothing more than an overpriced mix of vitamins and supplements, practically forced on her by the doctor.

Leaving the hospital with a bag full of pills she had no intention of taking, Seo Su-kyung cursed the money-hungry quack.

"This damn academy. Everyone here is either a scammer or a crook, just looking for a chance to rip people off."

Especially when the target was someone like her—a wealthy heir to a conglomerate family. Having been swindled more times than she could count in the Masterclass, Seo Su-kyung felt even more lightheaded.

"But what did he mean by ‘a certain event’...?"

No matter how much she thought about it, there was only one possible cause.

The personality analysis session of the Deconstructionist Department.

Her symptoms started right after Professor D drew her blood with a syringe. The strange thing was that none of the other students who had their blood drawn experienced anything like this.

"Then why am I the only one…?"

The others merely felt a bit drained, and even that passed quickly. But Seo Su-kyung’s condition showed no signs of improving.

"Did he mess up the injection or something?"

At first, she thought so—that her fear of needles had caused some kind of psychosomatic reaction.

But the truth was far from a simple psychological issue.

In reality, during the blood extraction, the Blood demon had an unusual craving for Seo Su-kyung’s blood. Without realizing it, he cast the Bloodsucking Spell with more intensity than intended—perhaps because she was the only student council member in the department.

According to the setting of the Military Chronicle, the Blood Demon’s ability granted its victims not pain, but intoxicating pleasure…

Because of the unexpectedly powerful incantation, the Allure effect was triggered. Already mentally vulnerable due to her fear of needles, Seo Su-kyung was completely caught in its grasp.

"Something's definitely wrong… Why do I keep thinking about that man?"

She couldn’t understand why Professor D kept invading her thoughts. She didn’t know the exact cause, but she knew for certain—something was off.

"I can’t just sit here like this."

She had to confront him in person. She had to demand answers—what the hell did he do to her?

"Professor D? Haven't seen him. Even his lecture today was canceled."

"If you're looking for him, I saw him talking to Okamoto earlier."

"Oh, I spotted him on the tram this evening. Looked like he was heading somewhere, but I’m not sure where."

After some digging, Seo Su-kyung learned that Professor D had gone to M District with Okamoto.

She had no idea why he was hanging around with someone like Okamoto, but that wasn’t important.

That night, Seo Su-kyung headed straight to M District.

She wandered through the abandoned school building for a long time before finally spotting Professor D.

She was about to grab him by the collar and demand an explanation—

But then, she had to quickly hide.

Because Shin A-sol was standing right next to him.

"Of course I’ll help. If it weren’t for Professor Do, everyone would’ve died. Hak-je, you have no right to blame him."

Her voice was firm, her gaze unwavering.

It was unmistakably the Shin A-sol she had always known.

And in that moment, Seo Su-kyung felt her heart freeze.

'Why is she defending Professor D…?'

Knowing Shin A-sol’s personality, Professor D was the kind of man she should despise more than anyone.

The Shin A-sol Seo Su-kyung knew would never take the side of someone like him.

So why was she?

What had happened between them?

What kind of relationship did they have now...?

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump...!

Her heart pounded even harder, even faster.

Seo Su-kyung felt so dizzy that she could no longer stay there.

She couldn’t bear to watch the two of them standing together any longer.

* * *

After finishing everything in M District, I returned to the academy and headed straight to my dorm to get some sleep. There were still a few things left to do, but for now, rest was the priority.

‘The cleanup is the staff’s problem, not mine.’

Before leaving M District, I had given the late-arriving academy staff a brief explanation of the situation. They would handle the smaller matters—disposing of the villain’s corpse, transporting the unconscious students to the hospital, and so on.

Chirp, chirp, chirp-

It felt like I had only closed my eyes for a moment.

But soon enough, the sound of birds chirping drifted in through the window. The sunlight filtering through the glass felt especially harsh today.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling. It was real.

Ding-!

[It is now daytime.]

[All stats decrease by 15%.]

A notification informing me that, upon reaching the fifth stage of the Night Clan, my daytime debuff had worsened.

I had known this would happen. I had gone through it dozens of times before.

But waking up in the morning to that damned sun was always a miserable experience.

"I miss the days of the High Society."

Back then, I was rarely ever awake during the day. I left the trivial matters to Nachal and Jeokho and lived like a true ruler of the night, as one of the Four Great Evils—Blood Demon.

"The longer time passes, the more I’ll miss those days…"

As I advanced, the restrictions placed on me during the day would only continue to grow.

I needed to find a solution before it got any worse—whether that meant shifting my lectures to nighttime or something else.

"Wonder if the night instructor position is still open."

Lost in thought, I realized it was nearly time to head to work.

Not that there was much to prepare—it was the same routine as always.

A shower in ice-cold water.

Chewing down a few blood capsules.

Styling my hair in that obsessive, precise manner unique to Do Jin-hak.

Dousing myself in the pheromone-heavy cologne he favored…

‘...No matter how many times I see it, this face pisses me off.’

I threw on Do Jin-hak’s signature black coat and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

Purely in terms of looks, there was nothing to complain about.

But the combination of that sharp tongue, always poised to spit venom, and those eyes, forever looking down on the world, created the cold, blade-like aura that was unmistakably Do Jin-hak.

"Not that it's a bad thing for me."

While working undercover, Do Jin-hak’s unapproachable presence was an asset. No sane student or professor would bother trying to befriend him.

"Well, nothing I can do about it."

I hated this face, but as long as it was useful, it didn’t matter.

Turning away from the mirror, I opened the door.

After recovering some of my fatigue and ENP from my time in M District, I headed straight to my office.

On the way, I passed by students who either eyed me warily or greeted me with awkward courtesy—something I had long grown used to.

As I walked, snippets of conversation from the streets reached my ears.

"Hey, did you hear? Apparently, there was a huge incident at the abandoned school in M District last night."

"There were actually people dumb enough to believe that weird email? I get wanting a higher score, but come on…"

It seemed that rumors about the "Sacrificial Offering Quest" at the abandoned school had already spread among the students.

I pretended not to listen, but my attention sharpened.

"But apparently, the rumor wasn’t total bullshit? Some guys actually managed to get the test questions in advance from that place yesterday."

"For real? Ugh, if someone would just give me the answers for today’s exam, I’d have nothing more to wish for…"

With exams still ongoing, the incident in M District had quickly become a hot topic.

Some mocked the students who had gone there for being idiots. Others were envious of their luck.

But not a single person questioned whether it was wrong to cheat.

"Sacrificing something to raise your grades—what’s so wrong about that? Isn’t that exactly what this school teaches us?"

Suddenly, I recalled what Yang Se-ah had said, almost as if making an excuse.

Perhaps she understood Masterclass better than I had thought.

* * *

Clank-

Passing through the students, I entered my office and immediately looked toward the bookshelf.

The small hidden camera was still nestled among the books.

I had deliberately left it there. I had to pretend I hadn’t noticed it yet—for Nam Kang-ik’s sake.

‘If that bastard’s been watching me through the camera, he should be reacting soon…’

Before heading to M District yesterday, I had planted bait to drive a wedge between Nam Kang-ik and Seo Su-kyung. If my guess was correct, it wouldn’t be long before the two clashed.

‘I shouldn’t touch it until then.’

Removing the camera could wait.

First, I needed them to have their falling out. Once Seo Su-kyung was completely isolated in this academy, then I would move on to the next step.

“Well then, time to get started with today’s work.”

I deliberately muttered loud enough for the camera’s microphone to pick up as I walked toward my desk.

The desk itself was positioned outside the camera’s field of view. Unless I spoke aloud, they wouldn’t be able to tell what I was doing.

“…Seo Su-kyung is late. I told her to prepare for the lecture… Looks like I’ll have to do it myself.”

I pulled open a desk drawer and flipped through some papers. Of course, I had no intention of actually preparing for a lecture. That was something Caesar could handle.

Right now, there was something far more important than teaching.

‘I can’t wait to try it out… The new spell I got.’

The foresight spell I acquired after draining Mak’s blood at the abandoned school.

In a world where anything could happen, a spell that allowed glimpses of the future was invaluable.

‘First, I should check the details of the spell.’

Since I had never learned any foresight magic before, I needed to review its full description.

As soon as I focused on the spell’s name, a system message appeared before my eyes.

[Prophetic Dream: As one who feeds on dreams, you have gained the power to read the future through the dreams of many. This spell awakens a heightened sense that allows you to foresee events a few seconds ahead—and, at times, catch glimpses of far-off future occurrences.]

The spell’s exact name was Prophetic Dream—a fitting title for a villain like Mak, who thrived on consuming dreams.

‘A few seconds ahead… and glimpses of the distant future. Exactly like the ability he showed.’

At the abandoned school, Mak had predicted the answers to an exam that was still days away. He had also foreseen Shin A-sol’s next attack in real-time.

If I could fully replicate that ability, it would be ideal—but…

‘That’s not happening yet.’

Based on experience, spells like this tended to have extremely long cooldowns unless their original owner was the one casting them.

First, I needed to see how much of Mak’s Prophetic Dream I could actually use.

I focused and slowly activated the spell—

[Activating 25% of Mak’s Essence.]

[Casting spell: Prophetic Dream.]

[Spell proficiency is low, resulting in an extended cooldown.]

[Estimated cooldown: 875 hours, 48 minutes, 32 seconds.]

‘…875 hours?’

I expected a long cooldown, but this was ridiculous.

875 hours—that was over a month.

Sure, I could reduce it by leveling up my abilities and strengthening Mak’s Essence, but even then, this was absurdly long.

‘So the system considers this spell too dangerous to use freely.’

The Military Chronicle placed great importance on power balance. Since that system was fully integrated into this world, this lengthy cooldown likely meant that the game didn’t want anyone other than Mak using this spell.

‘Basically, I have to be careful when using it.’

A spell I could only use once a month.

I crossed my arms, deep in thought—but not for long.

After all, there was only one future I needed to see.

‘The exact moment I die in this cycle.’

[You have set the time frame for Prophetic Dream.]

[Prepare paper and pen, and acquire a sacrifice.]

A sacrifice, huh?

At the abandoned school, Mak had used the students that Yang Se-ah lured in as sacrifices to activate Prophetic Dream.

That meant this spell required an external energy source in addition to my own.

‘What do I have that can serve as a power source…?’

Mak had used the life force of people with dreams, but I didn’t have to copy his method exactly.

In this world, anything imbued with power could serve as energy.

Magical artifacts, for example, could be used as substitutes.

‘…Come to think of it, I do have something.’

I reached for the lowest drawer of my desk.

The drawer was secured with multiple layers of locks—precautionary measures for the single item stored inside.

“It’s been a while since I’ve taken this out.”

I retrieved a seemingly ordinary handbag.

The Dimensional Inventory handbag I obtained after completing the Phantom Thief Celestial Blossom quest.

I had checked the bag’s contents after acquiring it, but I hadn’t found anything particularly special.

“I figured I’d examine it more thoroughly later, but…”

Until now, I hadn’t had the time to explore its hidden potential.

Regardless, this should serve as a sufficient sacrifice for Prophetic Dream.

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]