Chapter 50
Chapter 50
Villain Hunting - 1
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“Ah, I’m nervous…Tae-jin.”
Walking to school together was a rare occasion.
Renia stuck close to his side and expressed her thoughts
After a debate that lasted through the night, it was decided that she would address him as 'Tae-jin' instead of 'Hey.' However, the mix of honorifics and informal speech remained unavoidable for the time being.
Still, it was a significant progress, so he decided to patiently wait for her to adapt.
“Nervous?”
“I’ve never done anything like this before…”
The reason Renia was so nervous during an otherwise ordinary walk to school was the call he had received earlier that morning from their advisor, Professor Ella.
[Tae-jin, the Dean will be awarding commendations during the morning assembly in the auditorium today. And he’ll be giving Renia a commendation and a prize on behalf of the Monster Management Bureau and the Capital Guard, so let her know.]
Renia wasn't affiliated with the academy, so there was no reason for her to receive a commendation from the Dean.
However, if it was on behalf of the Capital Guard, the local equivalent of a police force, and the Monster Management Bureau, the agency responsible for handling villains, then it was a valid reason.
That’s why Renia was trembling right now.
To think that a self-proclaimed Succubus ‘Queen’ was afraid of standing in front of a crowd.
Had she never sat on a throne before?
He suddenly imagined Renia sitting on a throne, shyly shouting, “You wench…! H-how dare you…!”
He couldn't help but chuckle.
“Wh-why are you laughing…!”
Renia bristled and glared at him.
“Pfft, it’s nothing.”
“Ugh…! Were you just laughing at me…!”
“Laughing at you? You’re so cute.”
Renia, who had been pouting, blushed furiously.
“Wh-what? C-cute?”
“A so-called queen trembling at the thought of standing on a podium?”
“But… it’s my first time in such an official setting…”
“You just have to go up, shake hands with the Dean, and come back down. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Hmm… Okay…”
Renia looked dejected.
Her shuffling steps made her look like a child being dragged to the hospital.
When they arrived at the academy, it happened to be the morning assembly for the graduating class, so all the graduating cadets were gathered in the auditorium..
His Hunter Department, along with the Magic Engineering Department, which specialized in manufacturing magical weapons, and the Alchemy Department.
All three departments were assembled.
Naturally, they began whispering among themselves, casting occasional glances at him and Renia.
-Did you see the video of that bodyguard?
-Yeah. She seems to have a teleportation skill. She just appeared out of nowhere.
-Wow. Isn’t that skill super rare?
-As far as I know, there are only two or three active Hunters who can use teleportation.
The video of yesterday's battle with the villain had, of course, been uploaded to YouTube.
Everything, from the CCTV footage to the personal recordings.
And the sight of Renia stomping on the B-rank villain like an ant had become a huge topic.
Also, opinions about Renia's identity were piling up.
-She’s not registered with the Hunter Association.
-Was she a villain then?
-Maybe. Or she could be from the Monster Management Bureau or the Capital Guard.
-But the way she fought was totally like a villain.
The most popular theory was that she was a villain who had once been part of Illusion but had reformed for some unknown reason.
‘Well, the way she fought back then did resemble a villain.’
Her free-spirited yet slightly crazed fighting style.
He glanced at Renia, who was at the center of these speculations, but she seemed oblivious to the whispers, preoccupied with the thought of receiving a commendation.
“Now, we’ll begin with the commendation ceremony. Cadet Han Tae-jin, Cadet Baek Mi-jin, and Bodyguard Renia, please come up to the podium.”
A moment later, their names were called, and they went up to the podium.
They stood in a line in front of Dean Kim Ki-hwan.
“You are being commended for upholding your sense of duty and bravely confronting a villain in a life-threatening situation, setting an example for others, and greatly contributing to the protection of precious lives.”
His turn came first.
He received a commendation and bonus points as a reward.
Next, Mi-jin received her commendation, and then it was Renia’s turn.
“You are being commended and presented with this award, along with the Monster Management Bureau and the Capital Guard, for protecting the safety of two cadets enrolled at Seoul National Academy and for saving countless lives.”
Renia accepted the commendation with a stiffly outstretched hand.
Then she shook hands with the Dean and bowed her head.
He felt a sense of pride for some reason.
He wanted to pat her on the back.
But he couldn't, so..
“Good job. See? It wasn’t a big deal, right?”
He asked, but the moment Renia's feet touched the auditorium floor, steam began rising from her head.
“Phew… That was hard…”
The more he saw her, the more he thought Renia resembled a baby more than a queen.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Everyone knows about the upcoming festival, right? We’ll start preparing for it next week, so start discussing your plans. Got it?”
““Yes~!””
After all the classes ended, Ella made the announcement before dismissal.
It was time to start preparing for the festival.
Everyone responded excitedly at the word ‘festival,’ but he just nodded solemnly.
That day was coming soon.
The day of the [Illusion’s Academy Terror Attack].
The main episode from the middle of the original story was approaching.
‘Time really flies.’
And because he had to access the hidden information during that episode, he immediately headed somewhere.
Today, instead of acquiring Hidden Pieces, he would try something different.
‘Villain hunting.’
Yesterday, he had received resistance effect rewards for contributing to the subjugation of a B-rank villain.
He wanted to confirm whether that reward was a mere coincidence, a system error, or just a one-time thing.
That’s why he and Renia arrived at the [Alchemy Research Lab] next to the academy's main building.
In academy novels, the academy was always a place where incidents and accidents never ceased.
It was inevitable, given that it was the story's main setting. As expected, another incident was bound to happen today.
Of course, this incident was one of the [Low-rank Villain] pages in the limited edition setting book.
It was an event that hadn't appeared in the original story. Simply put, a villain named 'Kim Dae-hoon' was set to blow up the Alchemy Department's research lab."
Kim Dae-hoon was a graduating student in the Alchemy Department and a villain in disguise.
Since he was probably a villain created just to fill a page in the setting book, there wasn't any clear motive or backstory for his crime.
Only the reward, the incident, and the date were briefly mentioned. The reward he would drop was [Electricity], a resistance effect that Tae-jin currently had at a value of 0.
Of course, he needed to confirm whether Dae-hoon was truly a villain, as his memory wasn’t perfect.
How embarrassing would it be if he apprehended the wrong person and ended up in handcuffs?
“Renia, wait here. I’ll be right back.”
He decided to leave Renia outside for a moment.
The villain was low-rank, so he wasn't a match for Tae-jin anyway.
And even with her honorary student status, she couldn't enter the research lab.
Only students and professors with official ID cards were allowed inside.
“Hmm… I have a bad feeling about this.”
“This is the academy. Don’t worry.”
“And don’t disappear without telling me again, okay? I’ll cry.”
“Of course, of course.”
He left Renia waiting outside and entered the research lab.
And then,
“Kim Dae-hoon?”
He came face-to-face with Kim Dae-hoon, who was alone in the lab.
“Han Tae-jin? What are you doing here?”
Since graduating students interacted with each other through clubs, training, or parties, even if they were from different departments, they didn't use formal speech.
At that moment, he saw Kim Dae-hoon looking wary, hiding something behind his back.
“Ah, I have something to talk to you about.”
“With me? What is it?”
He couldn’t take action based on a 99% certainty—it had to be 100%.
This was completely different from Hidden Pieces. This was a matter of life and death.
So he decided to ask a question that would turn his 99% memory into 100%.
“Are you, by any chance, a villain?”
“…?”
…Uh, well.
Now that he had said it, it sounded like a pretty stupid question.
Who would respond to a sudden accusation of being a villain with, “Yes! How did you know?!” and reveal their identity?
Especially without any evidence.
But then,
“D-damn it!”
-Scramble!
Kim Dae-hoon started running.
Uh… did that actually… work?"
Had his blunt, out-of-the-blue question actually hit the mark…?
Anyway, he had to chase after Kim Dae-hoon without even having time to call Renia.
“Stop right there! You resistance shuttle-!”