I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

After setting up our base camp at a hotel on Pattaya Island, Yun Hye-ra and I made our way to Coral Island.

A sharp sound pierced the silence.

The coast was deserted, with only the echo of our presence.

Despite our nighttime arrival, meant to shield us with darkness, the cold air and the whispering wind lent the island an eerie, abandoned feel.

“Really now. Just a moment. Turn off the engine, and I’ll steer manually.”

“How about we approach along the waves?”

“Let’s assess the situation first.”

Concerned that the boat’s motor might betray our presence, I switched to using a baseball bat as a paddle, steering us manually toward the coast as soon as the succubus island came into view.

“Do you sense any presence around the island?”

“No, nothing at all. That’s what makes it even more unsettling.”

Clutching Yun Hye-ra, we dashed toward the sandy beach.

A bit of sand clinging to our shoes was the least of our worries.

The real concern was the absence of any traces that should have been on the succubus’s island.

“…There are no signs of anyone trying to escape the island.”

“It seems it’s not just here. We’ve scoured the entire island. Nothing anywhere.”

There was nothing.

Absolutely no trace of anything.

Before setting foot on the sandy beach, we had circled Coral Island by boat, inspecting the coast, but found no signs.

“The traces weren’t erased, were they?”

“Yes. It hasn’t been that long since the incident. Of course, two days might be enough time…”

“If it were human intervention, it would have involved large-scale movements that the Secret Society’s surveillance would have caught. And if it were erased with the power of abilities, we would have detected residual magical energy.”

But neither scenario applied.

Thus, we had to investigate for ourselves.

“Let’s head inside.”

Yun Hye-ra and I ventured deeper into the island.

“Do you see anything?”

“No, nothing at all. There’s no sign of anyone, nor any magical reactions, at least not on the surface.”

We needed to scan deeper inside, but at least near the coast where we approached by boat, there was no sign of anyone.

“There could be a being capable of evading our detection, or perhaps something else. But there is something I can feel.”

Yun Hye-ra swept the dirt ground with her hand.

“Brother. Look at this.”

“……It seems we were closer to the answer.”

Beneath a mound of dirt, I sighed at something that seemed wet.

That mark was a red bloodstain.

It was a trace of blood that seemed to have flowed just two days ago, seeping into the soil.

“It doesn’t seem like the blood of an ability user; rather, it looks like regular human blood.”

“That’s even more problematic. We can’t pinpoint whose it is.”

Whose blood could it be?

From the amount of blood, it seemed like a severe injury, but I couldn’t tell.

“Considering their tendencies, they probably already escaped.”

“Yes. Maybe Hyangdan took measures. If not… it seems like the situation was settled simultaneously when we attacked God’s resting place.”

We intended to raid one place and sequentially check others.

Laplace was dead, Hyangdan had fled, and General Jeokrang had committed suicide, so there should have been some leeway.

What could possibly go wrong in just two days?

While we were recovering magic power to deal with the possible appearance of Hyangdan, could anything significant happen?

I naively hoped so.

Because without such expectations and hope, what happened on this island would be no different from what happened elsewhere.

“Maybe we should have split up for the attack.”

“If we had, it would have dragged on aimlessly, and we all might have died.”

“…Right. Since we attacked the resting place of the gods together, only one of us got their head blown off then, otherwise, it would have been one after another.”

“It’s not something to say about human heads, but like Puyo Puyo, right?”

“Probably. Even if we arrived as fast as possible in a united state, if we were any slower…”

We wouldn’t have been able to block the signal Laplace was sending to the resting place of the gods with a magic barrier.

We wouldn’t have been able to destroy the missiles fired by General Jeokrang.

Nor would we have been able to quickly remove the bomb beetles in the heads of those in the prison inside the facility, and then fly at top speed towards Laplace to deal with him.

“I know in my head that it’s impossible, but my heart feels otherwise.”

“Oppa, that’s too much of a hero’s thought.”

“Sometimes I want to be a hero, especially when I see things like this.”

The bloodstain stretched long on the floor.

“When I think these people might live happily in the world we will rule one day, it’s really sad and bitter.”

“…But let’s not give up hope. You never know.”

This wasn’t just any bloodstain; the elongated trail suggested someone had escaped from inside, and I followed the trail deeper into the island with Yun Hye-ra.

“The thing about villains, they seem much more meticulous and vicious than we think. If we are said to be designated as villains by the government, then these people are truly ‘evil’ incarnate.”

The deeper into the island we went, the more bloodstains there were.

And next to the bloodstains, something powdery was fluttering about.

Should I call it a human trace?

If there were bodies, even headless corpses, it would be the same case as the slaves at the resting place of the gods.

But there were no bodies, only bloodstains.

One might expect to find at least a piece of human flesh or a body part, but there was nothing.

Really, nothing at all.

“Oppa, there’s a hotel there.”

“…True to a place directly managed by Laplace and General Jeokrang, it’s a massive facility, almost like a casino.”

Coral Island wasn’t very large, but it’s sizable enough to house a building.

Though smaller than the resting place of the Gods, considering only VIPs selected by Laplace’s gang can enter here, this place was no less significant than that island.

“The decision on which island to hit first was made by Nguyen, but we decided to respect and follow that choice. The somewhat good news is… I think the worst outcome you were thinking of didn’t happen.”

“What’s the worst outcome you’re thinking of?”

“Annihilation.”

Yun Hye-ra said it nonchalantly.

“Fearing that the real nature of those on the succubus’s island might be revealed, they might kill everyone on this island, then either burn or sink the island.”

“…I thought they would do that.”

Like most other villains, I thought Laplace and his gang would act the same.

“Kill everyone on the island, destroy all the data, blow it up, and then safely escape from the island themselves… But it seems cutting off heads was more effective than I thought.”

A decapitated ant, left only with its body, writhes to death following its instinct and pheromones engraved in its body.

Since those corresponding to thinking heads were all gone, the person in charge on this succubus’s island had to make a decision.

“Considering our actions so far, summary execution seems appropriate, but I need to see the inside situation first to decide how to execute.”

“…Do you start to feel it?”

“Yes.”

The moment we approached the main entrance of the hotel resembling a large casino, the lens inside the CCTV camera turned towards us.

[Caught.]

[Still, there must be someone, right?]

Transformation didn’t take time.

We were already transformed, except for the masks, and no one had seen our faces.

But what if we were wearing masks?

“There are others inside.”

Boom!

I immediately ran towards the main entrance and kicked the door with my foot.

The thick iron door fell inside along with its hinges in an instant.

The hotel lobby was completely dark and eerie.

It felt like looking at a long-abandoned haunted house, and upon entering, Yun Hye-ra pointed to the central staircase right in front of the main entrance.

“It feels like there’s a barrier magician here, right? Seems like the building is made of a material that blocks magic?”

“Bold ones. Even two S-class had to enter the building to feel how thoroughly they’ve hidden the magic.”

I extended the Goblin Bat forward.

With the tip of the bat down, I grasped the handle upside down and infused the bat with magic power.

“Heavy Gravity Drop.”

Boom!

The bat dropped to the floor as if it weighed tons.

It didn’t just fall and roll sideways; it shattered the marble floor instantly and fell through.

And the bat kept falling.

Down to the basement levels of the hotel lobby.

Rumble.

After a brief vibration.

Crash!

The hotel lobby where Yun Hye-ra and I stood collapsed downwards.

Before it completely fell apart, we both jumped upwards, pushed the dust away with magic, and landed inside lightly.

“Chain Heavy Gravity Drop.”

I stood over the fallen bat, pressing down hard with the magic of my entire body, pushing the embedded bat deeper, shattering the ceiling of the basement level.

“Add one feather.”

“Oh, what are you saying?”

Boom!

As I reached out to Yun Hye-ra and she grabbed my hand, the space below us plunged down almost to the fourth basement level.

And then it appeared.

It was like riding an elevator down, at the end of a corridor ahead, a group of people.

“I’m not sure if it’s fortunate they’re alive.”

They appeared.

The frightened ones.

Women who were more terrified of encountering the Goblin than of being discovered by people.

They all seemed to be in their early twenties.

No one else was visible.

That’s because all here were ‘ability users’.

“…Yes, this is reality.”

A dirty, sordid reality.

Using the desires of those who wanted to patriotically employ ability users, a top-secret patriotism program concocted by the strongest of the Hero Association and the military’s top brass.

The succubus’s island.

Here, ‘succubus’ was a slang for ability users with E-grade or lower magic power.

Female.

…When everyone was told to walk the path of a HERO, those who chose the path of H and ERO were here.