Academy's Gumiho is a Magic Genius

Ever since I wrote Nam Hwa-yeon's lecture script, I've been writing scripts every day after coming to work.

Perhaps because she liked the script I wrote, she always assigned tasks to me personally. Maybe because I received tasks directly from the professor, the other assistants showed no signs of stopping their disregard for me even after a week.

Even though I'm just an extra villain, being ignored like this hurts.

At this point, I even started to think that the errands I ran on the first day were better.

Currently, aside from Nam Hwa-yeon, the only person who talks to me is the head assistant.

Maybe because he's been under the professor for the longest time, he acts as he pleases without caring about the other assistants' reactions.

It seems that kind of behaviour rubbed off from Nam Hwa-yeon.

"Oh, our newbie. Are you making the professor's lecture script again today? Impressive."

"…It's not something worthy of praise from the head assistant."

"Huh? That can't be. If the professor just asked you to do it once out of curiosity, that's one thing, but giving you the task of writing scripts every day means she likes your work. Have more confidence!"

The head assistant patted my back hard and cheered me on.

He went around to other assistants too, patting their shoulders and backs, encouraging them. He's a very bright person.

Maybe that's why.

Every time he patted my back, I could feel the other assistants' gazes and the atmosphere change.

It's just a guess, but it might be an unspoken pressure, like, "Why is the head assistant cheering you on too?" I thought this without realizing their gazes were directed at my tail.

'If you have something to say, say it out loud instead of giving me looks.'

While I was dumbfounded by the other assistants' behaviour, I also understood them.

The more time I spent in this world, the more I realized what it meant to be a villain. Villains are enemies that the protagonist must defeat and beings that deserve criticism.

And I am one of those villains.

Rumors about me assaulting and verbally abusing my fiancée during school days, leading to the breakup, or beating up people I didn't like so badly that they couldn't even function in society, were quite famous. There were also rumours that I openly expressed disgust towards orphans, telling them to stay away.

The guy I possessed was particularly nasty, even among extra villains.

Moreover, the personal history of Baek Seung-woo, the person I possessed, was quite complicated. The existence of the Cheonho Baek family, a powerful family, was binding me.

I didn't know much about the Cheonho Baek family since Eve hadn't explained it in detail.

In this world, it was a family with considerable influence. Especially in South Korea, where the main family was located.

'From conglomerates to S-rank guilds, there's no place the Cheonho Baek family hasn't touched.'

Eve had mentioned that the family was in decline, but as they say, even a ruined rich family has enough to eat for three years.

The real deal doesn't show signs of collapse just from one or two failures.

The influence of the Cheonho Baek family, big or small, could affect even the Chilseong Academy. That's why the assistants avoided having any contact with me.

Because I was the parachute head of that family.

A head in name only, with no real power.

Even the few privileges I had were being taken away by other family members.

Bad rumours circulated on the internet, and the media scraped them up to publish articles. Just how incompetent was I to end up in this mess?

'I need to fix what I can, starting now.'

Grow enough strength to not be killed by the protagonist and gain the means to control the family.

These are the priorities for surviving in this world.

Amidst these complicated thoughts.

"Um, excuse me… Could you help me with this?"

Someone spoke to me.

A voice completely different from Nam Hwa-yeon and the head assistant.

I wondered who the brave soul was.

"I-I'm not used to this kind of work yet… I've done what I can, but if it's okay with you, could you spare some time?"

She didn't look brave at all.

Her trembling voice and uneasy eyes proved that.

She handed me a document.

"I have time, but are you sure you can ask me for this?"

"Huh? I-I've only been here for a few days, so I don't know much… Was it rude of me…?"

"Not really."

Talking to her, it seemed she was a new hire like me.

That's why she could talk to me without knowing anything.

I scratched my head and took the document she handed me.

"It's not hard to do, but how are you going to handle the aftermath…?"

"…Huh?"

"No, it's nothing. I'll have it on your desk within an hour, so you can do other work in the meantime."

"Ah, th-thank you!"

She bowed at a 90-degree angle and quickly walked away.

She walked so fast that she almost tripped and then slowed down. Quite an interesting character.

I watched the back of her head and skimmed through the document she gave me.

It was a simple document suitable for a newbie.

I finished processing it in less than 30 minutes and was about to place it on her desk when I heard a strange noise.

The sound of someone scolding and reprimanding.

This area should be near the water dispenser and coffee pot.

"Haven't you seen how we've been acting all this time? Where are your eyes?!"

"I-I'm sorry…"

Curious, I peeked out slightly and saw the newbie who had just asked me for help being scolded.

"It's been over a week already. If you had any sense, you'd have figured it out by now!"

"I'm sorry… He was the only one who seemed free, so I…"

"Ugh, I'm so annoyed. Hey, Reina. Social life is all about reading the room. If you act like that anywhere else, you'll be in big trouble."

The reason she was being scolded was, of course, because of me.

Probably because she associated with me.

"…."

It was an awkward situation to intervene.

If I stepped in now, I could mediate, but it would definitely mess up her future.

I didn't want that.

I just placed the document on her desk and was about to go back to my work when our eyes met.

The newbie assistant's eyes widened, and her mouth slightly opened. I pressed my index finger to my lips and shook the document.

I moved carefully so the man scolding her wouldn't notice.

Then I placed the document on her desk and returned to my seat, gulping down my coffee.

Yeah, today's another tough day at work.

***

After finishing the gruelling work, I headed to the library.

"Oh, you're here again today. Looking for more magic books?"

"Ah, yes. The books I read are all like that."

"You must really like books."

Since I've been borrowing magic books from the library every day after work, I've become familiar enough with the librarian to have light conversations.

Strangely, she seemed unaware of the rumours surrounding me and continued talking casually. However, she occasionally gave my lower back a scary look.

Sometimes it's terrifying.

"Phew, let's just find some books."

Enough with the useless thoughts, let's find some magic books.

I've long since mastered the basics of flame magic. Of course, there's a difference between knowing something intellectually and embodying it.

It's about time to move into more advanced applications.

I should take books on magic that synergize well with flame magic.

I strode through the vast library, searching for books on curse magic or telekinesis.

Now, I just need to find a book on verbal incantations.

'Where on earth is it?'

It's so hard to find that even after using the library's search computer, I still couldn't locate it.

Maybe because verbal incantations are such a niche magic.

It's not easy to spot.

As I turned my head around, I noticed a few old books tucked away in a corner.

Just in case, I checked the titles, and they were the magic books I was looking for. I grabbed two or three from the shelf and was about to head back to the librarian to check them out when…

"…Was there always a place like this here?"

A small door I had never seen before, despite coming to the library countless times.

The door, worn yet elegant in design, caught my attention, and I tried to open it.

Rattle! Rattle!

Turning the handle, it just spun without opening.

Seems like a key is needed.

'Why is there a place like this in the library?'

Maybe it's a storage room.

But the door's design is too fancy for that.

I'll have to ask the librarian later.

Carrying a variety of magic books, I headed to the checkout counter.

Thud—!

Maybe because I brought so many books, there was a loud noise when I set them down. The librarian, scanning the barcodes on the books, frowned and said,

"Eleven books in total. Are you planning to borrow all of these?"

"Yes, is there a borrowing limit?"

"No… For students, maybe, but there's no limit for assistants and professors. But usually, people borrow two or three books a day, right?"

As the librarian said, my routine had been to borrow books after work, read them overnight, return them the next day, and borrow new ones.

So I always borrowed just two or three books, enough to read in one night. But today was different.

"I've been reading in a specific field, but I've pretty much finished, so tonight I want to try a bit of everything."

"Ah, I see…"

"Haha, starting tomorrow, I'll go back to borrowing two or three books, so don't worry."

The librarian and I exchanged a few words, and as it was getting dark, I was about to head to the dorm when…

That elegant door I saw earlier came to mind.

Just in case, I asked.

"Do you know anything about that door?"

"The door? What door are you talking about…"

"I found a door near the shelf where I took these books."

I showed her the old books related to verbal incantations.

The librarian checked the titles and the identification numbers assigned to each book.

"AZ-2361… That's a number given to pretty old books. If it's near there, you must be talking about the basement."

"…Basement?"

"Yes, the library appears to be a three-story building, but it actually has four floors, including the basement."

A fact unknown to most students or assistants.

But I know it well.

Because Eve told me what's hidden down there.

"The basement is a restricted area, and inside—"

"—There are original copies of old magic books, and books banned by the academy, right?"

"Oh, you know about it. Well, if you're interested in books, it's hard not to know."

Previously, you could read and borrow books from the library without any issues, but for protection or because they contained dangerous content, all sorts of ancient books were stored in the library's basement.

The Forbidden Archive.

It's a dream space for many mages, as it contains many lost magic books. However, only a handful of people are allowed to enter.

I, like many other mages, want to enter the Forbidden Archive.

But my goal isn't the lost magic books or forgotten forbidden texts.

'The hidden piece deep within the library.'

A hidden piece that appears in the latter half of the original story. Excluding intangible things like relationships or connections, it's the best-hidden piece you can obtain in this academy.

"Vampires are one of the top races among the non-human species I've set up. To think that their legacy is hidden beneath the academy, isn't that exciting? Huh? Why is it under the academy? Because having a forbidden archive under the library is romantic! Oh, and by the way, I'm not revealing exactly what's in there yet!"

I don't know what's in the Forbidden Archive.

At least, since it's a forbidden archive, it must be something in book form.

It could be a spell or a skill book.

Maybe even a map hiding a vampire's treasure.

'Hmm, it's definitely related to vampires, so there's a high chance it's something related to blood-sucking.'

Vampires, like my race, the Cheonho, are an ancient race.

According to the setting, they went extinct thousands of years ago, and only a few descendants inherited their powers through genetic mutations, proving their existence.

In this world, there are several extinct races like vampires.

Their existence is proven through various traces, with skills, artefacts, and relics being the most prominent examples.

Among those traces, the vampire's legacy is undoubtedly the best.

'Whatever the vampire's legacy is, it will probably take a long time to adapt to it, given its reputation. Maybe I should learn healing magic just in case.'

There's a possibility it's a skill that activates through blood by inflicting wounds.

In that case, healing magic would be effective, so it wouldn't hurt to learn it in advance.

I told the librarian I'd get one more book and searched for the most borrowed healing magic book at the search desk. Fortunately, there was exactly one left in the library.

Feeling lucky, I printed out the number tag from the search desk.

TC-7847. It wasn't far from here.

After telling her I'd be back soon, I arrived at the shelf with books starting with TC.

Let's see, number 7847 should be around here.

As I scanned up and down, a fresh green cover caught my eye.

That's the book I've been looking for.

As I reached out to grab the book, suddenly two hands overlapped.

It wasn't me overlapping my hands. Who would overlap their hands while grabbing a book?

Feeling the warmth through the gloves, I turned my head and saw a girl.

A girl in a school uniform with brown hair tied back.

Her features seemed familiar.

"…Ah."

The girl who attacked me a few days ago.

It's definitely her.

Back then, she was wearing sweat-soaked gym clothes, and it was hard to make out her face in the dark place with only one fluorescent light on.

But seeing her in the bright library, it's clear.

This young girl is the one who struck my throat.

"…Huh?"

Staring at her, she also turned her head.

At first, we both sent intense messages with our eyes, as if telling each other to let go of the book. But as she slowly looked at my face, she seemed to remember.

"Long time no see, right?"

With a smiling face, I pulled the book towards me, and she pulled back, not willing to give up.

I'm definitely not letting this go.