A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs

It might be a romance in a closed beta.
Bzzz…
But balancing isn’t quite settled yet, so it’s a bit unsettling.
However, creative play utilizing system loopholes is possible,
and thus, the operator’s intentions might drift far away.
Weapons like the spear are born from nonsensical application principles.
Although it’s the point with the least content volume compared to future situations, players feel the greatest sense of adventure just from simply starting a new game.
Well, all these moments will gather, be discussed, and eventually become memories.
I think I used to really enjoy those things.
…
…
…
Until the pendant’s effects appeared, I was tidying up my dorm room.
After all, I’ll have to vacate the room soon anyway… so it’s good to check on things… just as I thought,
my consciousness abruptly cut off and my field of view went dark,
and I fell into a deep abyss.
…
…
…
All I could see was darkness.
How long are we doing this for? Isn’t something wrong? As fear crept in,
something like a flickering haze appeared,
and a shadow with only white eyes emerged.
It looked somewhat like an owl… but the lower half was completely unidentifiable.
-Creature…
The demon’s voice sounded grotesque, like a radio with poor frequency.
-I see you’ve made up your mind, creature.
Throwing out the boring greetings, I got straight to the point.
“Enough small talk, what rank are you?”
-Well, your despair and anger are certainly…?
“I said what rank are you.”
-…
The moment the demon-like being showed hesitation, as if it was not the answer it desired, it froze in place.
Is even a demon flustered?
Fantasy characters sure do take long with small talk.
The [Reincarnated Hero] was set up based on Solomon’s 72 demons. Therefore, the main task was to eliminate and purify all 72 demons.
Every encounter with demon creatures came with a lot of unnecessary scripts, so I was pretty fed up with it, given I preferred quick resolutions.
-Hehe, what a simple-minded creature.
“We don’t have time, speed it up!”
-Lowly human, completely corrupted by greed, forgetting even your place…
“Just hand it all over.”
-…
“I said everything you’ve got.”
Today, I’m feeling like a total dog.
I might as well take it out on this guy.
…
…
The first-year student dining hall at Raphae Cheong-gwan.
Freshmen who just entered Claris Academy were in a state of excitement and anticipation.
They had completed two months of training schedules,
and tomorrow they would face the first hurdle of Claris Academy: positioning.
With youths gathered from various regions, the dining hall was always crowded and noisy.
Aria and Melissa also shared that buoyant feeling.
“By the way, Ria, why did you lie to me…?”
At Melissa’s cautious question, Aria briefly set down her fork.
“Oh, that’s… well.”
In truth, she had no reason to defend Lev.
Aria had faced rough handling, and physical friction occurring outside of practice clearly violated school rules.
“Something…”
“Something?”
“It’s just that.”
But something felt different.
Indeed, Lev Denec seemed impulsive, and ever since losing the first match against Edwin, he had completely lost his mind.
Meanwhile, behind the dormitory, he took the stance of someone truly unfairly treated as if he had no recollection of events.
Of course, even so, that person’s behavior was obviously incorrect and uncomfortable…
‘He must be pushed to the limits mentally.’
If I embarrass him again, he might really make a wrong choice.
In other words, her actions were clear sympathy.
As Aria organized her thoughts, she gave Melissa a slight smile.
“No, it was just that I was worried he might make a drastic choice.”
“That guy only has himself to blame. I said Ria can be surprisingly soft-hearted.”
“Tomorrow is the positioning day, so I don’t want my heart swayed by unnecessary things.”
At Aria’s response, Melissa decided to stop probing and focused on her meal.
“You don’t think Edwin isn’t eating and is still practicing, do you?”
“If you’re worried, you might as well go check…”
“It’s not like that!”
Melissa said that but felt slightly embarrassed for even considering going.
‘Oh no, why would I do that?’
Edwin, unlike her who never loses the top spot, always stays in the lower ranks, yet puts in more effort than anyone else.
He’s probably practicing alone in the closed training hall again today.
What a dull guy he is.
He doesn’t deny the low evaluation of his entrance exam results and acts on his own beliefs.
Melissa also felt a bit sorry for dropping comments that unintentionally scratched his pride,
but even so, that guy would simply laugh it off, which was oddly irritating.
The reed may sway but doesn’t break.
Having endured a lot due to his background, he somehow managed to overcome it himself.
‘That part was somewhat admirable.’
Just as Melissa was slightly reassessing Edwin in her mind,
-Whoooom!
“?!”
In the peaceful dining hall, only Melissa sensed a disturbing wave of magic.
Her magic response was among the top tier in the academy.
Something was definitely happening in this dormitory.
…
…
Contract with a demon.
Exchanging the soul of a human in return for power…
Thus, when the target reaches the end of greed through the demon’s talents, the vessel breaks, and the soul is absorbed into Pandemonium.
Therefore, depending on the uniqueness of the target’s soul, the amount of magic power given varies.
There’s the 63rd ranked demon. Andras.
Demon of hatred and destruction.
Ranking 63 doesn’t mean it holds 63rd place in hierarchy.
But explaining that to this ignorant and weak human was beyond its comprehension.
To him, humans were nothing more than bugs.
However, humans are greedier, more cunning, and selfish than any other creature.
So, they are simple bugs to handle.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Yet, this one was clearly crossing the line.
This one was different from the humans it had contracted before.
From Andras’s magical eye, it was evident that he was more greedy than furious, and was acting absurdly.
It felt like he was pursuing only his own interests.
Moreover, to demand everything be handed over.
It had been a long time since a human like that had come around.
Of course, it wasn’t completely empty boasting.
He had a pathetic and weak creature’s vessel, but for some reason, his soul was so unusual that it was almost extraordinary.
It felt as if it hadn’t originated from this world but had come from another universe.
In conclusion, it was evident that he had the capacity to receive Andras’s power.
The problem was, he could only handle the size.
If this man, who shows little to no magical aptitude besides his soul, momentarily borrowed all of Andras’s powers, he wouldn’t be able to control himself and would be transformed into a demon within milliseconds.
And after nanoseconds, his body would collapse,
and his soul would be instantly retrieved.
But that’s not the end.
Contracts with the 72 demons have a cost that is never light.
He would absorb his soul and endure punishments in the hellfire of the underworld for at least 30, or rather 40, thousand years,
and those who have brushed against him would also be destined to be tormented by demons for life.
In other words, he wouldn’t be able to die completely, and his soul would never reach rest, spending an eternity without comfort from anyone alive.
Therefore, Andras found this mere bug demanding firmly from him utterly ridiculous.
-Hahaha!
It was simply a situation that could only bring laughter.
As Andras let out a hearty laugh for the first time in a while, that guy muttered something weird.
“Scared?”
-What did you say?
“Are you frightened?”
-…
Andras did not respond.
-Uhhhhh.
It only twisted its face into one that was grotesquely smiling, frighteningly so.
After all, he would have ample time to hear the answer.
…
…
[Contract – Andras]
[Target – Lev Denec]
-Sssshhhh…
Thus, all of Andras’s magical power began to flow into that guy.
Rapidly.
-Sssshhhh…
…
-Clunk.
With that, the contract was sealed.
It wasn’t as difficult as expected.
And milliseconds passed.
-?
No? About five seconds had passed.
The nameless human merely stood there, smiling.
…
…
…
-What…
Even Andras, who had mastered most knowledge in the world, might have underestimated human greed too lightly.
The next words he uttered would be something he would never understand even after death.
“What should I do? Demon transformation isn’t a feature supported in closed beta, you see?”