The Protagonist and the Supporting Protagonist - 1
Felix Academy.
The foundation and core setting of Monopolizing the Strongest in the Academy—the very place I had cheerfully dropped out of after possessing Bern’s body.
There were two main reasons.
One: the academy setting would never help Bern grow.
And the other: early on, there were far too many foxes looking to exploit Bern’s strength.
An educational institution meant to raise new heroes that couldn’t even offer help, and instead worked its students like dogs?
Bern had stoically endured countless injustices, but I had no confidence I could do the same.
So I quit the academy and chose free wandering instead.
As a result, I surpassed the original Bern.
Patience isn’t always the best choice, after all.
And after many twists and turns, I returned to the academy.
I had no intention of enrolling as a student.
Nor of becoming a professor who taught the students.
I simply planned to snatch up the leftover scraps still lying around the academy and leave.
The opportunities that had lost their shine after Kang Junhyuk disappeared—I would put them to proper use.
[So in the end, you mean to steal them. Like a thief.]
Hey, it’s my grand resolve to become the hero who saves the world in Kang Junhyuk’s place!
[Does it not occur to you that you yourself are the very culprit ruining the world?]
I wouldn’t know about that.
Laughing heartily, I passed through the academy’s main gate.
The barrier magic that blocked unauthorized visitors was cleanly erased with Dispel.
The golems meant to eliminate intruders were frozen solid before they could even activate, and Concealment magic slipped me clean out of the watchtowers’ sight.
[To think a world-renowned academy would be this lax.]
It’s always been like this.
I was aware I had become an outlier, but the security system had far more holes than that alone.
No wonder monsters invaded right from the entrance ceremony.
Anyway, Belmond—the culprit behind the early incidents—had already been eliminated by Lin’s hand.
With the culprit gone, the students should be spending relatively peaceful days.
I could tell easily from the smiles that filled the faces of the students visible in the distance.
[They are all children of the same age as you.]
Even if I only stayed a few days, I was once a student here too.
That was why I had come dressed in the academy uniform.
When I dropped out I had considered throwing it away, but thought it might come in handy someday and kept it.
I never imagined the opportunity would arrive so soon.
Unless someone checked my identity thoroughly, no one would think I was an outsider.
[So what do you plan to do here?]
There’s a lot to do. Clearing unidentified dungeons, finding hidden treasures, and if my memory serves, there’s a magic sword in the academy’s underground vault.
[Indeed, as you say, I can faintly sense a kindred aura from below.]
I’ll sweep up every necessary item.
[How can someone who takes theft for granted possibly call himself a hero…?]
Ignoring Frach’s deep lament, I entered the academy’s main building.
The earlier treasures were important, but my top priority was making contact with a certain person.
A character who had shown greater impact than all of Kang Junhyuk’s heroines scattered throughout the academy.
Professor Beronica, who had overturned the story’s bad ending.
Normally she was just a professor whose name got mentioned in passing, yet at a certain point she appeared and reversed the author’s burnout spiral.
Time regression that even the Demon King—let alone the gods—could not easily achieve.
She had manifested that power and helped change the world ruined by Kang Junhyuk’s mistakes.
There was nothing to lose by getting friendly with Professor Beronica in advance.
I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t make the wrong choices either.
“Here it is.”
A corridor lined with mechanical devices of unknown purpose.
At its end stood Professor Beronica’s private research lab.
Standing before it, I carefully knocked on the door.
“Who is it~?”
A voice steeped in fatigue.
Just hearing that single line made me feel languid myself.
“Excuse me. I’ve come from afar to meet Professor Beronica…”
“No peddlers.”
“I’m not here to sell anything.”
“Then what?”
“To invest in the research Professor Beronica is currently conducting…”
Bang—!
The door that had seemed firmly shut and unopenable was flung wide in an instant.
Through the gap, a woman with messy yellow hair poked her head out, eyes gleaming.
“Come, come, please step inside…!”
“Ah, yes…”
Money is always right.
Money that breathes life into someone who looked half-dead—perhaps the ultimate artifact.
“I only have black tea to offer. Is that alright?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Yep! I’ll brew it right away, so please wait a moment!”
Tossing aside the documents in her hands, Beronica dashed for the tea cabinet.
I understood her actions well enough.
Beronica Chronias.
Chronias had been a renowned prestigious house in the kingdom.
But when Bruno Chronias became obsessed with space-time magic, the family entered a path of ruin.
Bruno, who prioritized space-time research over managing the territory, ordered his successor on his deathbed to continue his research no matter what.
Because that command had been sealed with a blood oath, the successors could not refuse.
Thus the heirs of House Chronias walked, one after another, the destined path of total devotion to research.
By Beronica’s generation, the family had gone bankrupt.
Even as a penniless pauper she still had to continue the research.
Working as an academy professor, somehow maintaining her livelihood while pouring most of her salary into research funds.
Born into a ruined family, her life is thoroughly twisted.
[Would it not be better simply to take one’s own life at that point?]
She can’t even suicide. If she tries, the blood oath activates and inflicts pain so severe she can’t move.
[Practically a slave.]
Just looking at her made my eyes grow hot.
With circumstances like those, no wonder she was crazy about money.
“Hehe! Here’s the black tea!”
“I’ll gratefully accept it.”
“So I heard you have the intention to invest in my research…”
“Before that, let me ask one thing. Why don’t you suspect me even though I’m dressed as a student?”
“An interesting question. That’s because Investor-nim must have disguised yourself as a student in order to enter the academy, right?”
“Oh?”
“Even if you really are a student, this academy is full of children from prestigious houses, isn’t it? Anyone among them could have the means to support me, so I can’t ignore you just because you’re wearing a uniform.”
Beronica was as thoughtful as the stories claimed.
Someone who accurately knew her own position and acted accordingly.
If our goals aligned, she was the type of person I could trust.
“According to the professor, even if I turn out to be an intruder, you’re quite calm about it.”
“It might disqualify me as a professor to say this, but I like Investor-nim more than the students! Even if you’re an intruder, if you lend funds to my research I can turn a blind eye as much as you want!”
“A splendid slave to capital.”
“Hehe, this isn’t the time to be picky about shit and piss.”
I had planned only to build some rapport, but extracting academy information through Beronica didn’t seem bad either.
She looked like someone who would move like my own limbs if I simply gave her money.
That was why money was the best.
“So how much can you invest in me?”
“One hundred gold per month.”
“One… one hundred gold?!”
“Ah, is it insufficient? Then three hundred gold…”
“It’s enough! More than enough!”
Beronica urgently waved her hands, rejecting the three hundred gold.
I had thought she would snatch any money without looking left or right, but apparently not.
“Then I’ll support you with one hundred gold every month.”
“Yes! I’m satisfied with that much!”
“Then please sign this contract.”
I handed the pre-written paper to Beronica.
She quickly scanned the contract contents and, without hesitation, wrote her name in the signature field.
The contract amounted only to reporting research progress and sharing information, so there were no issues at all.
Who wouldn’t accept being able to receive a large sum every month just for that?
“I signed!”
“Good. Then receive this.”
Snap—!
When I flicked my finger, a subspace opened and gold began pouring out of it.
At the same time Beronica performed the eccentric act of hurling her entire body into the cascading coins.
“Uhehe! Uhe! Money♪! Money!!”
How destitute a life had she lived?
Throwing away every scrap of pride as a woman, she rejoiced like a madwoman.
It really made me feel sorrier the longer I watched.
“Ah…! Come to think of it, the black tea has run out.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t just serve ordinary black tea when a precious investor has come! I’ll go buy the finest black tea right away, so please wait a moment!”
“Ah, no!”
I had no intention of drinking more.
But before those words could leave my mouth, Beronica grabbed three gold coins and dashed out like a shot.
Watching her—whose action speed outstripped anyone’s—I couldn’t help but smirk.
With this level of loyalty already, when Beronica’s research succeeded later I might have some real fun.
“I’ve taken out an insurance policy with zero chance of failure.”
[That such a dense woman would come to handle time—this body can hardly believe it.]
“Don’t worry. Her ability is solid.”
I was sipping black tea, enjoying the feeling of being a big-company president, when—
Bang—!
The door opened and someone entered the room.
“Professor Beronica! Please help me a bit!”
“…Interesting.”
He looked so haggard that I failed to recognize him for a moment, but the instant I saw his face a certain person rose in my mind.
The protagonist of Adokchoe, the one who had NTR’d my childhood friend and, in the end, executed me—the trash known as Kang Junhyuk.