Chapter 119
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Midterms (1)
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The private villa where the healer resided.
"......"
Behind that private villa lay a hot spring.
And in the hot spring, Lydia—the first of the villains to surrender—sat staring blankly into empty space with a dazed expression.
"I'm screwed......"
Her original plan had been to feign surrender while gathering intel on this place's location.
She had diligently scouted around the villa's exterior, but she couldn't even guess where she was.
'It's like being trapped in another world.'
The reason Lydia thought that was because she couldn't stray more than a certain distance from the villa.
No matter how far she walked, an invisible transparent wall would eventually block her path, preventing her from going any further.
Fortunately, she learned a way out from the woman named Ha Chae-jeong who stayed at the villa.
—A way out? Just ask the healer, and she'll open the door for you.
—......
In short, without the healer's permission, escape was impossible.
But Lydia didn't give up there. She went to the healer and pleaded to be let outside because she felt stifled.
—Sure.
Surprisingly, the healer nodded and readily agreed.
Thanks to that, Lydia made her way to a warehouse housing some low-level grunts and immediately tried to contact the Villain Alliance.
Or rather, she tried to.
—......
With that, Lydia forgot how to make contact—and then even forgot her objective entirely.
It was the effect of the [Contract] she'd acquired in the 12th world, which prevented any actions related to betrayal as outlined in its terms.
Normally, it would have made her unable to even conceive of betrayal, but Lydia's mental fortitude was considerable.
—Huh......? What was I just doing?
After wandering aimlessly due to the [Contract]'s enforced protocol, Lydia realized she couldn't contact the Villain Alliance.
Even if she managed to reach them, the moment she tried to relay the intel she'd gathered, she'd undoubtedly veer off course again.
'The healer must have known that and let me out anyway.'
Lydia had expected physical pain for breaking the contract, but it was actually mental manipulation.
She considered her failure to anticipate that her biggest mistake and began seeking other methods, clinging to the healer daily in the process.
'Beast of a man.'
One more thing she learned: the healer's stamina was insane.
After embracing the restrained Della and Lorella in the basement, he'd taken on Ha Chae-jeong and Ga Se-yeon from the villa—plus Lydia herself.
No matter how superhuman a hero's physique, wouldn't daily romps with multiple women kill a man outright?
Lydia figured she'd kill him through exhaustion like that and threw herself at him aggressively.
—......
Of course, it was all for naught.
The best she got was the healer praising her diligence and embracing her a few more times.
'Meanwhile, Della and Lorella are suffering down there.'
Despite her worries, Lydia's resolve was crumbling bit by bit.
Her body was starting to accept the pleasure now; each embrace sent her mind soaring.
She even thought living like this, forgetting the Villain Alliance, wouldn't be so bad.
'No, it's too early to give up.'
Lydia steeled herself again, climbed out of the hot spring, and entered the villa's living room.
She picked up the nutrient pills and water jug from the living room table to feed Della and Lorella in the basement.
'How do they even make these pills?'
Lydia had eaten plenty of them herself while restrained in the basement.
They were called [Nutrient Pills], apparently—a meal substitute.
'They'd make great emergency rations for gate dives.'
No issues after days of eating them, so practicality was a given.
With that thought, Lydia headed to the basement and entered the room where Della and Lorella were restrained.
Clank—
"You're here?"
The healer was already there.
Before him, Della and Lorella lay half-conscious, letting out faint groans as if in agony.
"......Yeah. But can I feed them the pills?"
"Just loosen the restraints for a bit."
Their strength, magic power, and even innate abilities were all sealed anyway.
So the healer unbound them, sat them up comfortably, and instructed them to eat the nutrient pills.
"Now feed them."
"O-okay."
Lydia approached Della with a face that showed she still hadn't adjusted, feeding her the pill and water.
Della's eyes were unfocused from the abuse she'd endured; she barely breathed.
"Della, I'm feeding you, so swallow slowly."
"......"
Meanwhile, the healer watched silently before speaking up.
"By the way, a few days ago, someone came to rescue you all."
Lydia jolted inwardly at his words but played it cool outwardly.
The healer noticed her reaction but didn't dwell on it, continuing casually.
"Lucas, was it? He charged in alone, killed some instructors, and tried to negotiate."
Of course, Lydia, Della, and Lorella all knew Lucas.
As the Villain Alliance's leader, it would be weirder if they didn't—but none of them could believe he'd actually come.
"Lucas came? You're not lying?"
When Lydia asked if it was a ploy to rattle them, the healer replied coolly.
"No reason to lie. The key point is that Lucas lost to the Destroyer and fled."
"What does that mean?"
Lydia knew Lucas's innate ability well.
How could the man with time-stopping cheat powers lose?
Unable to accept it, she desperately held back a shout and pressed for details.
"Exactly what I said. Lucas tried negotiating with me using the corpses he'd killed, but he clashed with the Destroyer and lost, then ran."
"Wait, why was the Destroyer even there?"
"I recruited him to my organization."
"......How?"
From memory observation, Lydia knew the healer and Destroyer had no prior connection.
Otherwise, why would the healer have revived the people the Destroyer killed before?
"The boss stepped in personally, took him down, and recruited him."
"......"
Lydia, having glimpsed the Destroyer's power through memory observation, wore an incredulous expression.
On top of that, the Destroyer beat Lucas—and their boss beat the Destroyer?
'Then......'
In her mind, the hierarchy slotted neatly: [Organization Boss] > [Destroyer] > [Lucas].
"Anyway, my point is this: even your leader failed when he came personally, so stop expecting rescue."
"W-Wait......"
At that moment, Della—having swallowed the pill and water, regaining a sliver of awareness—spoke with effort.
"Is that true?"
"Like I said, no reason to lie."
"Let me verify."
The healer eyed Della's demand for proof, asking why.
"And if it's true?"
"If you're telling the truth, I'll give up too."
"Not a bad deal."
If true, it meant she'd surrender like Lydia.
Thus, the healer agreed, promising to heal Della and Lorella.
"Midterms are coming up soon, right?"
—Yes. Note that a new event starts after they end.
"Not long now. How do midterm rankings work?"
—Rankings?
I asked about the upcoming midterms and how rankings were determined.
"I'm taking six subjects right now. Others are doing eight or nine, so on average, I'm at an advantage, right?"
—Ah. Practical combat is 50%, and the rest are evenly weighted for the average.
Lee Seojun quickly grasped what I meant and explained.
—For example, Lee Seongmin's got practical combat at 50%, and the other five subjects at 10% each for the average.
"So even perfect scores in something like elemental magic only count for 10%?"
—Yes. Fewer classes still give an edge, though.
I nodded after getting a brief rundown on grading.
But with practical combat at 50%, it was undoubtedly more important than any written exam.
"What's the practical combat test?"
—Conquering an E-grade gate.
The content was no joke.
"Gate conquest?"
—Yes. There are tons of E-grade gates nationwide. We pick one.
"Can students handle E-grade gates right now?"
—Over half conquer them. The ones who've trained hard.
In other words, slackers would struggle.
"With me and Cheon Seo-yun here, conquest won't be an issue."
—My guess is you might get a D-grade gate.
"D-grade?"
—Just speculation. E-grade's too easy, so Kang Ju-young might pull strings for D-grade.
Come to think of it, our team had beaten a C-grade boss monster and even a hero.
Obviously, an E-grade gate would be a breeze barring major hiccups.
"D-grade's fine too. But if we're conquering E-grades nationwide, who's escorting us?"
With 300 cadets in teams of five, that's 60 teams.
If not the same gate, instructors would tag along one per team, I figured.
—Guilds will support like in the last practical class.
"Gotta fill numbers somehow. Got it."
—Focus more on other classes than practical for you, Lee Seongmin.
Excluding practical, I had five: [Elemental Magic], [Mana Operation], [Alchemy], [Herbology], [Magic Item Crafting].
"It's fine. No real need to sweat grades anymore."
—Yeah, fair point.
Lee Seojun nodded in agreement.
A few more days passed, and midterm day finally arrived.