The Villain’s POV in the Academy

Chapter 42

Ssshhhhk~!

Dark smoke began to seep from Ciel’s collapsed body. It seemed that the shock from being so startled had caused a short circuit in her internal wiring.

‘If she were human, this would be like foaming at the mouth and passing out.’

Since Ciel was already such an unusual case, I couldn’t tell if this was something that could happen to a normal android, or if it was because she was a Transmigrator.

‘Well, I can’t just leave her like this.’

I hadn’t even brought up the important topic yet.

Since I had decided she was worth using, I’d have to fix her.

I contacted Maria and told her there was a damaged android that needed to be collected. Not long after I reached her, a few low-ranking Foundation staff began loading Ciel’s body onto a cart to take her away.

Technically, Ciel was property of Trinity Academy, so it should have been handled by the Academy’s Facilities Management Team.

But as usual, I forced the issue through, and in the end, I was able to take ownership of Ciel.

After verbally reporting that fact to me, Maria cautiously asked,

“Young master. What is this android?”

“I happened to run into her. Seems like she’s got some kind of error, and that caught my interest.”

“An error, you say?”

I only said “error,” but Maria seemed to understand right away. It wasn’t exactly rare for androids to “awaken” to self-awareness and rebel.

Of course, for now it was still happening on a relatively small scale, so it wasn’t a huge public topic.

“Call a repair technician for now. I think I might be able to make use of her.”

“……Understood.”

Maria seemed bothered by the word “use,” but didn’t probe further. She knew I wouldn’t answer even if she asked.

She made some calls and managed to book an android repair technician. However, due to the recent spike in android breakdowns, the earliest appointment was tomorrow.

‘Probably because the android rebellion episode is drawing closer.’

Even name-dropping Stingray couldn’t move the schedule any faster, and she sounded almost tearful about it.

With no other choice, I decided to store Ciel’s body in an unused office storage room until the technician arrived.

……But that was a mistake.

The next day.

After handling preparations for the next episode and various other Foundation-related tasks, I returned to the Academy office, where Maria reported to me.

“Young master. We have a bit of a problem.”

“What happened?”

“The android you brought in woke up during repairs and went on a rampage.”

When I asked for details, it turned out that Ciel had woken up mid-repair, while I was away, and attacked the technician.

Right now, she had locked the storage room door and was holding a hostage situation.

“Let’s go immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

When we arrived, the staff were in a state of confusion.

It was strange to see them flustered, since they were usually so sharp and efficient, but I couldn’t exactly blame them.

After all, how often did white-collar workers get tangled up in a situation like this?

“Young master, you’re here.”

“What’s the situation?”

“As I said earlier, the repair technician is being held hostage. The android’s demands are…”

Maria’s words were cut off as Ciel’s voice rang out from behind the storage room door.

[Let me get out of here! Otherwise I’ll snap this guy’s neck!]

“…That’s what she says.”

“Tsk.”

Really now.

It seemed Ciel had a real talent for making things more complicated. I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

“She’s locked the door from the inside using hacking. We have a master key, but it’s not working.”

“Hacking?”

When did this brat learn hacking?

Maybe she’d wanted to have a trump card prepared ever since becoming a Transmigrator. According to Maria, it seemed she had tampered with the opening system from the inside.

A hostage crisis caused by a broken android.

Thanks to that, the Stingray office was in chaos and work couldn’t proceed properly. Not a pleasant situation at all.

—That android in there, isn’t she the one the Chairman brought in? What trouble has he caused this time?

—Sh-shouldn’t we be calling the police?

I had to move fast. If the police got involved, Ciel would be shot dead without any chance for negotiation.

‘Foolish girl.’

She didn’t even realize she was tightening the noose around her own neck in her panic.

“Everyone, get back to work. I’ll take full responsibility and handle this myself.”

“B-but, Chairman…!”

“Do I need to repeat myself? Anyone who keeps making a fuss can look forward to a reassignment notice next month.”

Shaaak.

It was almost like I could hear the sound of the staff’s faces turning pale. Everyone in the Stingray Group knew there was a department you absolutely never wanted to be assigned to.

With the commotion somewhat calmed, I once again faced the tightly locked storage room.

Maria, standing next to me, asked,

“What do you plan to do, young master?”

“No need to worry.”

Fortunately, I knew a very useful magic spell for situations like this—a magical (physical) spell that could open any lock in style.

‘Alohomora.’

KWAANG–!

I kicked the storage room door wide open.

It might have been made of sturdy materials, but against a Lv.3 military-grade Strength Enhancement Module, [Strength], it was nothing more than paper.

The ripped-off door flew straight into Ciel’s body. I had already checked the positions of both the hostage and Ciel with the [Trauma Biometric Scanner] from outside, which made it possible.

“Ghhk!?”

Ciel, struck by the sudden flying door, collapsed to the floor on the spot.

I quickly rushed in, pinning her body down with my foot to prevent any resistance, and asked the trembling technician beside her,

“Are you the type to keep your mouth shut?”

“O-of course! I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone!”

“I hope so. Maria?”

“I’ll see that he’s compensated appropriately.”

“Good.”

She really was quick on the uptake.

She was someone I wanted to eventually bring fully to my side… but for now, there was work to be done.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t waste any more of my time, CL-00245.”

“Eek!?”

She met my eyes, so terrified that tears welled up as she spoke.

“P-please spare me… I’ll do anything…”

And just like that, Ciel’s hostage situation ended almost laughably easily.

Right after the incident, I dismantled only Ciel’s head unit and took it with me. It was to make sure she couldn’t pull any more stupid stunts for the time being.

If she were human, I wouldn’t be able to just carry her head around, so this was certainly a convenient case.

I set Ciel’s round head down like some kind of ornament and opened my mouth. If anyone saw this… No, even I thought the sight looked quite strange, but what could I do?

Ciel cautiously spoke up.

“Um, I have a question…”

“Speak.”

“Could it be that every ‘Benedict Stingray’ I’ve met so far was actually…”

“Yes. It was me.”

At my answer, Ciel let out a sigh. Since she had no neck below her head, her voice carried a faint mechanical distortion.

“Then the order to bully Iri…”

“No, that was a lie. That was something the ‘real’ Benedict did. Same for the claim that I killed the protagonist—that was also a lie.”

“Why would you lie about that…?”

“……”

After a short pause, I decided to tell her the truth. If I wanted her cooperation, some level of information sharing was necessary.

I briefly explained the real reason the protagonist had died, and the scenario revisions I had been working on since then.

Only then did Ciel seem to understand, her expression relaxing.

Judging from the fact that she didn’t ask needless questions, she must have really read the original story.

“I was certain you were the one who killed the protagonist.”

“Of course not. Do you have anything else you want to ask?”

“No, nothing right now…”

“Then I’ll get straight to the point.”

“P-please do…”

I cut directly to the matter.

“I want you to distribute SS Chips.”

Ciel’s eyes widened at my words.

“SS Chips?”

“You’re not going to say you don’t know what they are, right?”

Commonly referred to as SS Chips.

Short for Synapse Surfing Chip, they were a technology that allowed one to perfectly experience another person’s memories.

You could say they were a few steps more advanced than 4DX movies. With SS Chips, the user could fully experience the original actor’s emotions and even temporary flashback phenomena.

They were also an important plot element in Act 2 of Part 1. Ciel seemed to immediately grasp my intent.

“You’re planning to rewrite Act 2 of Part 1?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

At the same time, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest. Until now, there had been no one I could openly talk to about these “Transmigrator-level” conversations.

Anyway.

In Act 2 of Part 1, the focus was on illegal SS Chips—so-called “Junk Chips.”

If a normal SS Chip was considered an art form created from the combination of a professional actor’s method acting and the skilled editing of a top-tier editor…

Then a Junk Chip was more like a cyber drug, made solely to give the user intense stimulation.

People who indulged in such illegal Junk Chips often ended up with their brains fried, became actual drug addicts, or turned into complete wrecks.

“As you know, in Act 2, these Junk Chips become a fad among Academy students, causing trouble. Chips containing the memories of someone who died under the influence of [Arcane] were being distributed.”

“Yes, I know. And the one responsible for distributing them was…”

“It was ‘Silence.’”

His real name was Park Tae-jun, a Korean.

Unlike Iri, who preferred charging in head-on, Silence had a combat style specializing in stealth and sniping.

Currently a 3rd-year in the Tactical Combat Department, he wasn’t affiliated with any company. He began distributing Junk Chips in his 1st year at the Academy, and due to dabbling in them himself a few times, part of his brain melted—leaving him unable to speak.

At the same time, his facial muscles became distorted, giving him a constant grotesque expression. To hide this, he wore a mask fitted with an LED panel that displayed emoticons.

“Act 2’s core elements are Silence and the Junk Chips. The main story was the protagonist’s party fighting to solve the problem of the Junk Chips he was distributing.”

In Act 2, Silence first appeared as a villain, clashing with the protagonist. After an intense battle between the stealth-sniping expert Silence and the Techno-Wizard protagonist, the winner was the protagonist.

Then came the reveal.

Silence hadn’t been acting out of greed, but because he was forced to distribute Junk Chips as part of a quest for revenge for someone he loved.

The protagonist realized there was a suspicious power behind Silence, manipulating him, and took one step closer to uncovering the truth of the world… That was Act 2.

While I was revisiting the events of Act 2, Ciel asked,

“So… you want to recruit Silence, right, Lord Aaron?”

Lord Aaron, huh.

It was a sign she was quite scared of me, but I didn’t bother pointing it out.

“Yes. I plan to make him a Stingray Special Scholar.”

“I understand that much, but I don’t see why I need to distribute SS Chips… Couldn’t you just go to Silence, use your knowledge of the original story, and persuade him?”

“I failed.”

“……”

A brief silence.

Then Ciel asked again,

“…What?”

“I failed.”

I repeated the same words.

In truth, earlier that morning, while Ciel was being repaired, I had gone to meet Silence.

[Achievement Unlocked]

Met the Avenger ‘Silence.’

Achievement Points: +500

[Achievement Unlocked]

Started Main Story Act 2 of Part 1.

Achievement Points: +500

I had met him face-to-face and even earned a hefty amount of points, but the result itself could not be changed.

That was reality.

I had failed to recruit Silence.