Became a Traitor in an Academy

Advance Preparation

I roughly knew why Lim Chang-won was constantly pestering me.

That guy, while pretending not to care about others, was someone who cared about others more than anyone else.

He showed interest in others when he judged that someone was superior to him in something.

Whenever he thought someone was better than him, he would approach them to seek guidance, learn everything he could, and then immediately discard and ignore them.

He claims it’s efficient on his part—but it was just because he grew up in a dysfunctional family and didn’t receive proper home education.

So, to some extent, there was room for sympathy.

Having not been treated as a proper human being himself, it wouldn’t be easy for him to treat others differently.

Therefore, I had to endure it with the mindset of Buddha suffering temptations from the demon king under the Bodhi tree.

This feeling of wanting to beat his mouth until my fingers break.

Because the protagonist is most satisfying when he beats up such a guy.

“…I look forward to our next meeting being more beneficial.”

Following me all the way home and saying only what he wants before running off was typical of someone who essentially grew up like an orphan.

No, worse than an orphan. At least orphans have some sense.

Since he probably couldn’t be rebuffed by those around him due to his background, he was a guy with no manners and no sense.

As I watched Chang-won leave dissatisfiedly, Lapis slowly approached and stuck to my side.

…Academy life is such a pain.

Unable to freely remove those who displease me.

“H-how strange. They’re students, yet they speak like they’re adults…”

Ironically, Lapis was the one who didn’t need to be careful.

The executive positions could be replaced at any time, with plenty of substitutes available…

But Lapis was an irreplaceable family member cherished by the returnee.

Lapis could be a bit more unruly and lively. No, that would be fine.

…I can understand that after experiencing such things as a child, she might fear people and keep her distance.

Because she had been kidnapped.

“It’s not strange, that’s just bad manners. You shouldn’t become like that.”

I ruffled Lapis’s hair as if to mess it up while pouring out criticism.

Become like Fukukin if you’re going to become someone.

No, wait. He’s also someone who got beaten up and came to his senses.

Become moderately rude, just enough that you don’t need to be beaten.

Even as Lapis hit my hand, saying her hair was being messed up, she wasn’t really putting any strength into stopping me.

Since Yeon-hwa had gone to visit Jin-hyeon with Maria, who she had become close with in a short time, the way home naturally became with Lapis.

I wanted to go alone, but she rarely asserted herself, saying she wanted to come along.

I was accompanying her somewhat.

Today, I had plans to stop somewhere, so I couldn’t hang out with her for too long.

“T-that, Bl-Blanca. Perhaps… this weekend… if you’re free… w-would you come to our house…?”

“To your house?”

“Y-yes. My mom and dad… want to treat the person who saved me to a meal…!”

Originally in the source material, the protagonist could only go there after winning Lapis’s heart.

And now, I would go there?

Just a week after enrollment, at a point where Min-ho has no connection with Lapis?

I needed to refuse.

But I couldn’t refuse.

Because she might completely shut herself off if I did.

Lapis was already mentally fragile.

If her mental state crumbled like sand, making her unwilling to get close to anyone, that would be problematic.

Even if her mental state didn’t crumble because of this, she was clearly believing me to be her close friend.

Because we overcame the dangerous hurdle of the dungeon together.

Ah, damn. I should have stopped Yeon-hwa from including Lapis back then.

“…Well, I don’t have anything to do. But I’d feel awkward going alone, so can Yeon-hwa and Jin-hyeon come along too?”

The best strategy I could manage was to pull Yeon-hwa and Jin-hyeon into this.

Dispersing her attention away from me alone, and simultaneously using it as an opportunity to get closer to Jin-hyeon and Yeon-hwa.

It can’t be helped if Lapis builds friendships with them and her loneliness gradually fades…

What can I do? I have to create some angle to connect Min-ho and Lapis.

It’s ridiculous that I, trying to obstruct him, am actually trying to protect the original story…

But what can I do? I’m his fan.

My goal was to obstruct, but only to the extent that revival remains possible.

Sorry to the boss, but this is something I won’t change no matter who comes.

“They can too? G-great! I was about to ask…”

I see she was going to invite them anyway.

After inviting Lapis to the group chat with Jin-hyeon and Yeon-hwa, I sought their understanding by saying she had also overcome the same hurdle.

Fortunately, they readily agreed.

“Go ahead and say what you want.”

“Thank you…!”

After continuing to chat with her moderately, I waved goodbye to Lapis as she headed to a different subway line.

…Sigh.

Somehow, everything I plan seems to go slightly off-track.

At this point, I’m starting to think that things are gradually coming loose in my life.

Being in the same class as Ageha. Somehow, it makes me feel a bit melancholic.

Come to think of it, Ageha is also a problem.

Originally, she was supposed to pick a fight with Min-ho and then fall for him. But she showed interest in me instead.

Oh, my head.

Riding the subway made me feel dizzy.

I couldn’t tell if it was because of the people recognizing me as the girl from the news, or because of the tangled human relationships from the start.

Near midnight, a deserted alley.

From far away came the cheap music from a red-light district and the sounds of troublemaking groups fighting.

A bit closer, unidentified street rats were bargaining, either trading knives or goods.

This dirty air felt a bit more comfortable to me.

Wearing gloves that slightly dulled my movements, I pressed the button on the door lock with difficulty and entered the desolate warehouse.

After removing the double-layered hood, my pressed cat ears perked up.

I was dying to take it off.

I wanted to throw away the mask too, but I couldn’t because no trace of me could remain.

It wasn’t about avoiding heroes or police.

I was skilled at deceiving them.

But… villains are truly unpredictable.

Just in case. I didn’t really want to do this, but it seemed now was the only time to do it.

“So… where was it. It was definitely around here.”

As I felt around the brick wall, one brick was lightly pressed like a button.

With a click, the floor split open, revealing a secret door.

This never gets old.

This was my hideout.

More precisely, not a place where I hide, but a place where I store various things.

I couldn’t keep sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid, or other toxic substances, inside my home.

I spent quite a bit of money to secure this personal warehouse.

I didn’t necessarily need to be in a place like this, but it’s cool.

Any man would want to have a secret base of some sort.

Turning on the lights to drive away the darkness, a fairly spacious underground space and several liquid-filled containers became visible.

All were extracted whenever I had time and spare chemicals.

I’d have uses for these.

Either selling them through Hancho’s subordinates, or using them to interrogate someone…

The biggest reason was to hide my abilities.

In the past, when I moved through society’s shadows, I could occasionally use my abilities without problem.

But now, I couldn’t do that even when going to places with light.

If someone were to die from poison gas right now, I’d be the first suspect.

But by extracting these in advance, the possibility of being caught drastically reduces.

Even if suspected, at most, those who recently bought or sold such substances would be suspected.

Today… a concentrated sulfuric acid would be enough.

Holding a container with a slightly sticky liquid and a wall-hanging hatchet, I covered myself with the hood again and left my hideout.

Since the place I wanted to visit wasn’t far, I didn’t need to go out to the main road in this suspicious getup.

I arrived at my destination without encountering a single person.

As expected, since it’s the early part of the story, there was only one guard.

And that one was sleeping carelessly.

Silencing my footsteps, I crept forward and with my enhanced body, swung the magic-infused hatchet to cleanly slice the guard’s neck.

I caught the body to minimize noise and poured a bit of sulfuric acid on the cross-section to stop the blood flow.

After disposing of the body, I took the severed head and brought it to the biometric scanner attached to the firmly closed warehouse entrance.

The heavy iron door opened with a massive sound.

Carrying the body and head, I entered the interior to find a scene unbelievable for an urban warehouse.

Massive breeding tanks filled the inside of the building.

These were all the modified humans that A Class would soon encounter.

It was also the trigger for Min-ho’s initial awakening of his abilities.

There are so many. Really.

How could they kidnap so many people without getting caught?

They claim to have sourced them from back alleys, but they’ve also kidnapped social members.

Setting aside my doubts, I needed to do what I came to do.

I roughly threw the guard’s body and head into a nearby tank and slowly poured concentrated sulfuric acid into it.

It was time to reduce the numbers a bit.