This Is What They Call an Academy
“...Haa.”
After enduring Ban Taewung’s entrance for a while, Cheon Jang-mi finally joined in late. When nothing particularly disastrous happened even after she cut in midway, the hyenas who’d been riding the mood piled on as well, and the whole scene turned into pure chaos.
Rest. I needed rest.
My brain, spinning tighter than ever, came up with a bright idea and casually prodded Ban Taewung about maybe dancing at a time like this. He flushed with embarrassment yet still hurried off to see someone out, and I used that exact moment to prepare my own escape.
As expected of a protagonist—the moment the living magnet who drew people in just by existing slipped away, awkwardness settled over the crowd. You know the feeling. You make plans to hang out with a friend, only to discover your friend’s friend has tagged along. While the friend is there as the connecting link, things stay fun enough. But the second that link suddenly claims something came up and bails, the atmosphere freezes solid in an instant.
Depending on the people, the moment even one side loses the will to keep an uncomfortable gathering going, the whole thing collapses faster than light. More than half of these people were hyenas who’d flocked here for scraps. There was no way they’d cheerfully offer a hand to a potential rival and shrink their own share just to share a meal with a laugh.
So of course they started sizing each other up. Not by tearing others down, but by showing off—hoping to prove to me just how useful they could be.
Irritating as hell.
Fine. If your own strength isn’t enough, you do whatever it takes. Using that as a springboard for growth? I can be generous about that. Competition inevitably means stepping on someone to climb higher. I have no right to stop anyone who wants to burn themselves out moving forward—as long as it doesn’t harm me. Crushing them would only drain my own strength.
But how many in this pack actually thought that way? And did these bastards who kept clinging even after I made it clear I hated it deserve that kind of consideration?
So I ran. You avoid shit because it’s dirty, not because you’re scared. Getting tangled with every last one of them would only lower my own grade.
Killing my presence was something I’d done to death in my previous life, so it was almost too easy. Most of the people here had already grown used to the inflated presence from my skill Charisma, which made slipping away even smoother. While the hyenas flailed and muttered, searching for the suddenly vanished me and drawing every eye, I made a clean exit from that noisy space.
“What magnificent stealth. I’d love to teach it to the children on our side.”
The problem was that no matter how hard I tried to shake her, this woman followed like a ghost. Ever seen those urban legends where the servant gets closer every time you look back? She wasn’t even hiding it—she walked right behind me—and still no one gave her a second glance.
That was the scary part. It meant that if she felt like it, she could snick my head clean off. Handling me would be light work; dealing with the people around me would be even easier. Even if she had no such intention, the mere possibility was stress enough.
“...Didn’t I tell you to shut up?”
All I could do was act as nonchalant as possible while growling in irritation.
“Ah.”
She reacted as if she’d only just remembered, using the stuffed doll of Lee Se-rin in her hands to clap a hand over her own mouth. Then she blinked and tilted her head, asking with her eyes how long she was supposed to keep this up.
That detestable act made me grind my teeth. I draped myself over the railing like a wet rag. Exhausted—not physically, but mentally.
Clack, clack.
Still holding the Lee Se-rin doll to her mouth, the servant approached, pulled a sketchbook from her coat, and began scribbling with a pen.
Sitting like that is dangerous, so the young lady says you should make a chair and sit instead.
“...Fucking hell.”
I’d told her not to talk, so she’d started this bizarre nonsense instead. And in that short time she’d already gotten so used to the act that she flipped the sketchbook without writing anything new, revealing a completely different message—some kind of parlor trick.
Doctor needs to be scolded a little more!
She even went the extra mile and drew a deformed SD character of herself, emphasizing that it was Lee Se-rin saying it, not her. Was this talent being wasted, or was she using it perfectly? Hearing it was already infuriating; seeing it drawn made it worse—like getting trolled with emoticons.
“Enough. Go get me something to drink.”
Understood.
“...And drop that goddamn act already.”
“Thank you! Honestly my mouth was itching so badly I was going crazy. As expected of Outside Master! Your magnanimity in relieving a lowly servant’s discomfort moves me deeply. To forbid and then permit, making one feel gratitude—truly masterful control of the human hea—mmph!”
The moment I freed her mouth she tossed the sketchbook aside and started chattering nonstop, so I sealed her lips with shadow. Then I glared and pointed silently toward the banquet hall. She understood, nodded, and withdrew with perfect posture. Finally, quiet.
Was wanting a little silence really that hard? I was exhausted. Truly exhausted.
I sighed, created a chair of shadow in the corner of the balcony, and collapsed into it. The base was the limousine seat I’d sat in earlier. Shadow only came in two extremes—rock-hard or completely soft—so finding the middle ground let me make something sit-able. Crude compared to the real thing, but sit-able was the point.
While I was sprawled there the balcony door opened. Assuming it was the servant, I reached for a glass—nothing came. Frowning, I opened my eyes and found Cheon Jang-mi standing there, the same girl who’d been with Ban Taewung’s group earlier.
One after another, were they taking turns? Why crawl all the way out here when we could have talked earlier? I narrowed my eyes with that question, and she flinched, hunching her shoulders and lowering her head.
“Um, uh...”
She fidgeted with both hands, unable to meet my gaze, repeatedly lifting and dropping her head in that frustrating way.
Thud!
“Hic!”
Annoyed by the stalling, I stomped hard. She clutched her head and dropped to the floor, looking up at me with teary eyes. I scowled, propped my chin on the armrest, and waited.
“...If you have business, spit it out.”
“Th-that is... well... hnnngh...”
After a deep breath she finally steeled herself, eyes sharp as she glared up at me—except the flushed face and tears welling at the corners made her look anything but scary.
“I-I am deeply sorry for the previous incident. As you instructed, all external matters have been resolved outside. Even the ones too shameful to call family have been thoroughly dealt with, and I will take measures so that nothing so unsightly happens again. Therefore, please show mercy...!”
With those sudden words Cheon Jang-mi dropped to both knees right there, heedless of her dress, and pressed her forehead to the floor.
“...Huh?”
“I know it is shameless, but I beg you. Please, give us one chance. Stop dismantling our organization—stop dismantling Sumuk.”
I’d only blurted in pure shock, but with her head down she couldn’t see my face and apparently took it as disgust at her brazen request. She bowed even deeper and waited in silence for my answer.
“...Hmm.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I drummed the armrest with my free hand, thinking. This had Lee Se-rin’s fingerprints all over it. When I lightly heightened my senses with mana I felt the servant standing squarely in front of the balcony, blocking the way—probably to keep anyone else from entering. And in a dark corner I spotted the Lee Se-rin stuffed doll as well.
Had she been watching from the start just for this? I sighed deeply at the “gift” that wasn’t a gift.
“Give me a reason I can accept. A reason I shouldn’t destroy your organization.”
“...Ugh!”
She jerked her head up, eyes wide, then immediately began thinking hard. Watching her steal glances at me while turning her gears made me feel a headache coming on; I waved a hand to say I didn’t care. She sank fully onto the floor and started muttering under her breath. Even with mana-enhanced hearing I only caught murmurs—probably just a thinking habit.
Seeing her so serious changed her impression from before. That cold beauty suddenly looked scholarly; glasses would have suited her perfectly.
“...Compared to your authority it may be insignificant, but we have ruled the underworld for a long time. If our organization collapses, the order of the dark side collapses with it. The aftershocks will spread through society whether people notice or not, and chaos will follow. Inevitably.”
“Oh?”
In that short time she’d even factored in what I disliked and crafted a proposal. So the “next leader” title wasn’t just for show. If only she hadn’t shown that flustered side earlier, I might have trusted her more.
“Is that cute little threat the best reason you can offer?”
Since I wasn’t the one actually doing the dismantling I could have accepted it, but I decided to push back once.
“Ha. That’s hilarious. An underworld crawling with crime talking about ‘order’?”
“...There is a law that belongs only to the dark! Even if you erase the darkness right now, as long as light exists darkness will inevitably reappear. I will strengthen the rules, thoroughly manage those who hide beneath it, and ensure no more noise comes out...!”
So that was it. The answer was so one-dimensional I started resenting the time spent on this Q&A.
“And?”
“...Pardon?”
“So what benefit is that to me?”
Benefit.
The most basic yet most important word. Cheon Jang-mi, about to speak, clamped her mouth shut. Yes, she’d done well to wring out every scrap of wit in this desperate situation. But that was as far as it went.
She really was raised gently, just like that woman said.
Too soft. Soft to the point of uselessness. She understood with her head, yet unnecessary principles still limited her thinking. Born and raised in the underworld, she still thought like someone from the light. That was probably why she was heroine material... but to me she just looked half-baked.
“You don’t understand your own position right now.”
The most important thing in a negotiation is whether the person across from you will accept what you offer.
“Daughter of a major underworld boss, next leader of Sumuk—before all those labels, what are you?”
Looking after your own interests is second-best. The best is dangling bait so delicious the other side can’t refuse even if they want to.
“Strip every name tag away. What can the human named ‘Cheon Jang-mi’—the you right now—actually do?”
You put forward an offer so compelling they have no choice but to bite. Only then does a deal form.
“What can you offer once those labels are gone?”
Whether it’s attractive or whether they simply submit to overwhelming power is secondary.
The more I spoke, the deeper the worry on her face grew; she couldn’t even invent another scheme.
“...You can’t even come up with something that simple?”
“Ah.”
A small gasp, and she dropped her head again. I smirked.
If I were the one who’d orchestrated this, she should have said it from the start.
“You should’ve just said, ‘Please spare me. I’ll do anything.’ Cliché, but the most reliable stake on the table.”
“...”
“Don’t like that either? How spoiled were you raised?”
I coldly declared to the girl who had gone silent as a doll, staring only at the floor.
“You’ve lived such a light life that you can’t think of anything when it actually matters, yet you act like your own life is worth something.”
BOOM!!
I stomped with mana behind it.
“Know your place.”
The shockwave vanished harmlessly into the air, yet Cheon Jang-mi hugged herself and coughed as if crushed under something heavy.
It was ridiculous that I had to say this, but the woman who’d forced me into saying it was even more of a spectacle. I already had no idea how to educate Luicia Valentia; I didn’t have time to teach some maybe-heroine on top of that. That job belonged to her father.
He’d doted on her all this time. If he still sat on his hands after she tasted bitterness, that was negligence—and disqualification as the leader of an organization. Entrusting anything to a group like that would yield nothing useful. Better to just let Lee Se-rin absorb the whole rear line.
“Next.”
I withdrew the mana and looked down at her with the same languid expression. Cheon Jang-mi gasped for breath yet slowly raised her head. Fear still trembled through her, but at least she wasn’t crying. Maybe my words hadn’t been completely useless.
Then again, if she still produced no results after all this, that would be its own problem. An organization whose next leader was like this had no future; it might as well disappear. After that, whether the protagonist picked her up and they got lovey-dovey was none of my business.
‘Current underworld boss’s daughter’ or ‘former underworld boss’s daughter pushed out in a power struggle’—same difference. Story-wise the former would revolve around underworld cleanup, the latter around revenge, right? Ah, then I’d get tangled in the latter? Annoying. If that happens I’ll dump everything on Lee Se-rin and just run the laundry in the back. We’ve been friends since childhood—surely she can handle that much.
Best case was this girl coming to her senses and Lee Se-rin stopping her nonsense. If that were easy I wouldn’t be sitting here.
“Can’t you hear me? I said next. Or do you need the bathroom because you pissed yourself?”
“...Ah, just wait a second!! Can’t you see I’m thinking as hard as I can?!”
Pushed too far, she snapped back in reverse. Of course the faintly trembling hands and voice already gave away that it was a mask to keep from being crushed. Zero points for negotiation attitude. But I didn’t care.
A trembling wreck was harder to deal with than someone who snapped. Nothing made openings easier to catch than forced bravado. Looking at her, I wondered if she was just a degraded version of Luicia, but that woman only got especially prickly with me; to everyone else she was almost transparent.
Looking down was starting to hurt my neck, so I tapped the floor with my toes and made another shadow chair—clearly smaller and harder than mine. Still, Cheon Jang-mi rose on shaking legs and sat as if it were enough.
Right on cue the servant appeared with two champagne flutes. I shot her a flat look. So she’d known everything from the beginning. No other way she’d time it this perfectly.
“You. Kneel there and raise both arms.”
“...Pardon?”
“Late punishment. Did you think I wouldn’t notice you slacking off outside, reading the room?”
“Ah.”
For the first time the servant made a crying face and shot me several “Really? Do I really have to?” looks. I ignored them completely and used shadow to force her to her knees.
“O-Outside Master, I was wrong, please retract the order! Please? Pretty please? Next time I’ll be faster...!”
I thoroughly ignored the suddenly talkative servant and jerked my chin at the flustered Cheon Jang-mi.
“If you don’t want to end up like that, answer quickly.”
“...Y-yes.”
Apparently she truly didn’t want that fate, because she started spinning her brain in earnest. I tilted my glass. A searing glare bored into the back of my head, but I savored the champagne as if I felt nothing.
Ahh, this is good. Not alcohol, but pretty drinkable.
“...Uuu, abuse of authority...”
So what? If you don’t like it, complain to your master.
I fully reclined and formed a shadow riding crop, using it without mercy whenever the servant’s arms bent or dropped even a little.
“...Two years.”
Then a voice came from in front of me.
“Within two years I will make the organization—Sumuk—completely mine. And I will offer you absolute loyalty.”
“Not enough.”
“Grit... What more do you even want...?”
I reflected Cheon Jang-mi’s image in the half-drunk champagne. Even with half the fizz gone, a slow swirl sent bubbles rising and clouding the liquid. It suited her heart, ready to burst at any moment.
“The underworld.”
The problem was that if she burst she might never stand again. Time to stop scaring her. Lee Se-rin had probably already gotten the level of information she wanted on the Black Magic Tower; this was the perfect spot.
“Within two years, pacify the entire underworld. Prove that what you offered wasn’t empty. I don’t need false words like ‘loyalty.’ Become someone my future self will look back on and think, ‘I’m glad I spared her that day.’”
With those final words I drained the champagne.
“The deal comes after that.”
I stood and set the empty glass on the trembling servant’s head. The sulky face that had been half-resting on her arms went rigid.
“That’s...”
“Don’t say it’s impossible. That is the minimum condition. If you can’t do it, quietly disappear from the academy and never appear before my eyes again. The next time our eyes meet will be the day you die.”
I even activated the skill Charisma, condensing thick killing intent to press down on her. Cheon Jang-mi went beyond stiff—she turned deathly pale, squeezed her eyes shut, then slowly opened them again.
“...I-I accept.”
This time she didn’t avoid my gaze. Pride still existed somewhere; she glared at me with a face that looked ready to burst into tears at a single poke, yet she didn’t back down.
Judging that enough, I jerked my chin in dismissal.
“...Thank you.”
Catching it instantly, Cheon Jang-mi bowed quickly and fled before I could change my mind. At that signal I sighed and spoke toward the Lee Se-rin doll in the corner.
“You can come out now, right?”
The moment I said it the servant’s presence behind me vanished, and a pair of soft hands slipped out of my back to hug me tightly.
The sensation was so identical to what I’d felt in the dream that every hair on my body stood on end. Knowing exactly who was behind me made it even more terrifying. In the dream I could thrash freely; this was reality. If my waist snapped it wouldn’t be a joke anymore.
I turned only my eyes and saw the familiar platinum-blond head nuzzling against my back.
“Ehehe.”
I had no idea why she was in such a good mood and didn’t dig. Digging would only be annoying. An undisturbed beehive holds no danger.
Still, I had to say what needed saying.
“...You heard everything, so you know what I want to say, right?”
“Yes! Just watch for two years, right? Honestly I’d love to wipe them all out right now, but they handled the initial cleanup so well I’ll let it slide this much!”
Initial cleanup. Come to think of it, Cheon Jang-mi had muttered something about family earlier.
As if just remembering, I tapped the shadow at my feet and had Hive fetch the usual pendant.
“Caw.”
Clink.
Hive poked its beak out of the shadow in my palm; I took what it offered and turned to hand it to Lee Se-rin.
“Ah, so this is it.”
At those words her pupils slit into reptilian verticals. But only for a moment—then the pendant vanished, and she planted her hands on her hips, snorting proudly.
“I extracted every last bit of the coordinates and mana wavelength! How about it? Amazing, right? Incredible, right?! You can praise me! I’m in an especially good mood today.”
“...Yeah. Well done.”
“Ehe, ehehe!!”
Why was her tension this high? A lunatic bouncing with energy was even harder to handle. My brow furrowed on its own, but she ignored my feelings completely and pressed her ample chest harder against me for emphasis.
An indescribable sensation made me gasp; I grabbed the platinum head glued to me and shoved it away with all my strength.
“Hey, cut it out.”
“Ehh, you’re just shy! It doesn’t wear out, so let me enjoy it a little more!”
“...It does wear out. My mental strength is wearing out in real time, you crazy bitch!”
Even with both hands pushing hard she barely budged. It felt like trying to move a boulder bare-handed; I finally gave up first, drained.
Goddamn world. Fucking gods. You create this shitty place, play favorites without a care, and then wonder why the balance is this fucked.
“Tch. Then dance with me at least.”
“...You want to go back inside? Are you insane?”
“Even I don’t have that kind of shamelessness. Who said go inside? Just enjoy it right here.”
Snap!
She flicked her fingers at empty air. Music that should have been blocked by the closed doors began to play. At the same time she finished setting up a barrier that completely hid us. Using high-level magic and mana control just as prep for a dance—of course I was speechless.
“Come on, hurry.”
In that brief moment she had even changed clothes. The woman who’d been in something like a suit now held the hem of a dress that reached mid-thigh and smiled at me. A pure white frilled dress that suited her perfectly—an A-line that hugged her figure, white frills, black embroidery, and gold accents placed just right to display elegant beauty without filter.
At a glance it was a matching set with what I was wearing.
“Right of refusal?”
“As if there would be any.”
“...Figures.”
I took the hand she offered. Infuriatingly annoying, but right now I was the one asking favors. Even after handing over information and the pendant, what she gave me was still a drop in the ocean. Doing this much would keep noise down later.
Anything more could wait until I got stronger. With familiar motions I pulled her close and set a hand on her waist; she returned the gesture by wrapping an arm around mine.
Ready.
Close enough to hear breath and heartbeat, her chatty mouth finally quieted. Softly smiling under the gentle moonlight, she looked exactly like the ideal image I held—breathtakingly beautiful.
Yet strangely, no desire rose. My heart stayed cold and still. By all rights the situation should have sparked excitement or joy, but my emotions remained ice-cold. Was it because the feelings coming from her were so fervent they felt sticky? Just drawing near felt like I would melt completely, so survival instinct rang alarm bells ahead of any emotion, screaming at me to run.
~♩
Regardless, I moved my body to the change in melody.
“Hehe, dancing together like this brings back old times.”
“You forced me into it. I was already busy with research and you kept harassing me until I was sleep-deprived.”
“...Haa, Doctor back then was so cute.”
This woman openly changed the subject and even dissed me. Shamelessness of this level was rare.
Annoyed, I suddenly spun her, dipping her so our faces were close. That alone made her clamp her mouth shut. She kept a calm, sly expression, but the color around her neck was steadily turning red.
Looking only at that reaction she seemed like a pure maiden, yet honestly I suspected even this was an act. After everything she’d done she was a black-hearted snake; how was I supposed to trust her?
Tap.
“Ow.”
Exasperated, I flicked her nose with a finger and straightened, putting distance between us again.
“Y-you’re not going to do it this time?”
“I don’t particularly want my waist broken and dying.”
“...Tch.”
At my dry reply Lee Se-rin puffed her cheeks and turned her head away.
I still couldn’t understand what she found so enjoyable about a broken thing like me. If I were her I’d never meet or get involved with someone like myself.
I hooked her ankle, completely destroying the balance of her unguarded body, then made a shadow chair and sat her in it. After that I loosened the necktie at my throat a little. Dancing had made the already stuffy thing feel even worse.
“You go too. Looks like it’s wrapping up soon.”
I looked up through the window. The music had stopped; someone was descending the central staircase of the hall. Hong Su-ah in her usual suit. The paper in her hand suggested she was about to make an announcement.
“Heeh, is that woman more important than me? Is that it?”
I’d just sat her down, yet she casually grabbed me from behind and hung off my neck.
“Stop the cheap imitation and get lost.”
“...Tch, boring.”
“Boring or not, go. Please.”
Hong Su-ah said something from the top of the stairs, then went back up and vanished. At the same time my device chimed. Checking it revealed the dungeon entry permit she’d mentioned before. The difference from the one she’d handed over earlier was that this one was linked to my device.
So she’d planned to give it all along yet still threatened that the deadline was almost up. That woman sure lived a troublesome life.
Receiving this meant the party was ending soon. No more reason to stay. I jumped straight off the balcony.
Naturally Lee Se-rin, still clinging to my back, fell with me. Waiting below with the limousine door open was the servant.
“Get lost.”
“If we part like this we might not see each other for a while, you know?”
I tilted my head. Was that my problem? Apparently my attitude annoyed her; Lee Se-rin pouted, clenched a fist, and lightly tapped my stomach.
“...?”
“You’re really mean. Hmph!”
Not hard—just a light tap. Had this woman finally lost it?
I expected something to happen afterward, but the impact was so weak I was puzzled. In that opening my vision suddenly started sliding; strength flooded into my body on its own.
Why was the ground rushing toward my face? I wanted to dodge, but my body wouldn’t obey my will.
When my face met the dirt I finally realized I’d collapsed. Delayed pain like my guts twisting hit me; I couldn’t breathe properly and my mouth opened and closed on its own.
A shadow fell over my suffering form. Looking up, I saw Lee Se-rin crouching with a sly grin, chin in hand, whispering into my ear.
“This is punishment for stealing a maiden’s lips without permission. Next time there really won’t be any leftovers, so prepare yourself.”
Peck.
She kissed my cheek, curved her eyes prettily, waved, and climbed into the limousine. The servant also bowed deeply to me before boarding.
Vroom.
Once the limousine had sped away and both of them were completely gone from sight, I rolled onto my back and stared at the sky.
“...Cough.”
Only then could I breathe properly. I closed my eyes.
...Maiden my ass. Hope you choke on water.
In the end, it took another full hour before I managed to return to the dorm.