How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 70. The Price

Three days later, back in the dorm room.

“Bark!”

Winter, overjoyed, dashed about, tail wagging furiously.

“Ah…”

Kim Do-jin, now feeling at home in this place, let his body relax as he walked to the kitchen.

“Here you go.”

After tossing a treat to Winter, he grabbed a sparkling water and plopped down onto the sofa.

‘Well, I did manage to achieve my original goals after all.’

Despite the enormous variable of Karasuma Tenshin’s appearance, he had fortunately navigated through it well.

And on top of recovering the hidden herbs from eight years ago, he had also devoured the powers of ‘Illusion’ and ‘Mind Control,’ resulting in a situation that exceeded his initial expectations.

‘Now I have the task of bringing more information about Ronan Industries to Tenshin, but that was something I needed to do anyway, so perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.’

Kim Do-jin took a refreshing sip of the sparkling water, then fell back into thought.

‘Maybe I can afford to be a bit greedier now. After all, the situation has changed due to the deal with Tenshin.’

Having consumed the herbs, he had finally crossed the threshold into S-rank, and he had devoured more useful powers than he had anticipated.

His original plan was to bide his time, gathering information for revenge until his true self could cross over, but now that he had grown this strong, it was worth attempting even greater feats.

‘Let’s sort this out a bit.’

The targets of Kim Do-jin’s revenge were not limited to Cheon Sang-seok.

While Cheon Sang-seok was the mastermind behind the current chaos, there were traitors who had conspired with him.

Among his trusted subordinates—Yoon Si-heon, Astrid Lindell, Cecilia Inas, Yeom Seok-jun, Han Myung-hoo, and Jang Min-ho—at least three were traitors, though Yoon Si-heon and Astrid Lindell had been cleared of suspicion.

That left Cecilia Inas, Yeom Seok-jun, Han Myung-hoo, and Jang Min-ho; at least three, if not all four, were likely traitors. Thus, it was wise to assume everyone was a traitor for the time being.

Additionally, there was one more traitor: Edward Ronan, the owner of Ronan Industries.

Originally Kim Do-jin’s partner in magical engineering research, Edward Ronan had betrayed him by teaming up with Cheon Sang-seok, coveting the results of the ‘Portal’ research. He was one of the top names on the list for revenge.

In any case, Kim Do-jin intended to make each of these traitors pay their due, but every task had its order.

‘For now, it’s best not to draw too much attention from Cheon Sang-seok…’

Cheon Sang-seok was known as the world’s strongest awakened being, believed to be dead by Kim Do-jin.

Thus, he was the ultimate target, and touching him before reclaiming his original body would be akin to a death wish.

‘Tenshin had finally turned Ronan Industries into an enemy, so it would be best to deal with that scoundrel Edward Ronan first.’

In truth, when it came to the difficulty of revenge, Edward Ronan was not the top priority.

Though Edward himself was not a particularly strong Awakened, the security system he operated was crafted with the world’s finest capital, making it formidable.

What was it that he feared so much? Since seven years ago, Edward Ronan had employed several S-class Awakened to protect himself, making any approach to him without justification nearly impossible.

Thus, the method Kim Do-jin chose was to use his cherished only daughter, Agnes Ronan.

‘Is it about two weeks left now?’

Suddenly lifting his smartphone to check the calendar, Kim Do-jin nodded and set it back down.

[Student Council MT]

The Friday of the week after next was the day of the student council’s MT, and it was precisely that day Kim Do-jin had been waiting for.

‘That reckless brat’s negative reputation must have faded quite a bit by now.’

Agnes Ronan was currently the president of the ‘Arc’ student council.

So, Kim Do-jin had applied to the student council, not any other club, and had diligently carried out his assigned duties in the disciplinary committee.

It was all to create an opportunity to get closer to Agnes Ronan.

However, becoming friends with Agnes Ronan was no easy feat.

She was incredibly busy and naturally kept people at a distance.

Thus, he had only managed to make eye contact with her on the very first day of joining, making the student council MT an invaluable opportunity.

On that day, his goal was to somehow win Agnes Ronan’s favor and build a rapport.

‘It’s going to be an important day. I need to finish my midterms well before that, though…’

With that, Kim Do-jin wrapped up his long day, organizing the plans he had set and the schedule ahead.

* * *

A refreshing morning breeze swept through the path to ‘Arc.’

Amidst the chatter of dozens of students walking in one direction, one student stood quietly by a streetlamp, gnawing at her lips.

‘When will he come out…’

With a somehow tense gaze, the identity of the student watching the front gate of the boys’ dormitory was none other than Im So-hee.

‘Ah!’

Having already waited for ten minutes, her eyes lit up with joy as Kim Do-jin finally appeared.

But that joy was fleeting.

‘Ugh…’

Once again, Im So-hee began to gnaw at her lips, nervously fiddling with the strap of her bag as she awaited Kim Do-jin’s approach.

And so, some time passed.

“Do, Dojin!”

At last, as Kim Dojin was about to pass by, she called out his name with a forceful urgency.

“Yeah?”

Kim Dojin, fiddling with his smartphone, finally turned his head and spotted Lim Sohee.

“Oh, hi.”

He greeted her immediately, his eyes questioning what had prompted her call, while Lim Sohee offered a somewhat awkward smile and opened her mouth to speak.

“Did you happen to see the text I sent yesterday?”

“Yeah. I saw it. You said the training for the spirit fox, Nabi, is going well?”

The spirit fox, Nabi, which Lim Sohee had stumbled upon during their school trip, still needed training due to its youth, and Kim Dojin had entrusted that task to her.

So, from the trip until now, she had been diligently training it, and thankfully, it seemed there had been considerable progress.

“Yes! The intelligence of spirits is truly something else. On the first day, it was a handful, trying to wander off on its own, but now it just sits quietly in my room watching TV!”

That was a relief.

Kim Dojin nodded approvingly, offering encouragement.

“You’ve done well. If Nabi had followed me, I would have trained it myself… But if there’s anything I can help with, just let me know. I’ll make time to come assist you.”

Lim Sohee beamed at his words, her smile brightening.

“Really? Then… would you like to come see it? To check how much it’s changed…?”

“Uh? Well… why not.”

There was a hint of distance in the air, but nonetheless, the two continued their conversation as they walked to school.

“…….”

Since when had a girl been following them?

Maintaining a deliberate distance, she kept stealing glances at the pair. Her name was Lee Jian.

“Hmph.”

Not long ago, she had been Kim Dojin’s fiancée, and now she wore a displeased expression, as if clinging to some lingering sentiment.

‘Of course.’

Lee Jian had once genuinely liked Kim Dojin, but that was a tale of the past.

It wasn’t that she was unaware of his flirtatious nature, and wasn’t it true that she had moved on to someone else herself?

Even if he was the son of Kim Muho, he had no real power within the Myungseong Group.

‘Let’s see how well he does. He really suits that dirt-poor girl, doesn’t he?’

With a cold expression now firmly in place, Lee Jian walked ahead, finally passing Kim Dojin and Misaki Ai.

Time trickled by.

At last, crossing the main gate of the main building, Lee Ji-an suddenly found herself drawn to a throng of people gathered nearby.

‘Has the midterm result come out?’

A large monitor on the wall captured the gaze of the crowd.

On that screen, just as she had anticipated, were the current exam results.

Yet, the content was truly unexpected.

‘K, Kim Do-jin is ranked 13th overall?’

She had already heard rumors of Kim Do-jin’s recent prominence in the last few exams.

However, given the dismal performances in the tests prior, she had never imagined the midterm scores could be this high.

‘H, how could this be…?’

If only the last few exams were considered, wouldn’t it be strange if he didn’t claim nearly the top spot?

‘Could it be… he was hiding his true abilities all along!?’

There were already whispers among some that suggested as much.

But every time she heard such talk, Lee Ji-an had scoffed, yet now, a nagging thought crept in—perhaps they were right.

‘Did he really take the exams just to see how people would treat him differently?’

If that were the case, it was not a favorable situation for Lee Ji-an.

She was disappointed by his playboy demeanor, but fundamentally, it was her judgment of Kim Do-jin’s incompetence that had led her to call off the arranged marriage.

‘Damn it. I don’t know what the truth is, but whatever it is, it’s too late. I just need to ensure the arranged marriage with Choi Kyung-jun goes smoothly!’

Unconsciously biting her lip, Lee Ji-an gathered her thoughts and hurried her steps toward the classroom.

But then, in the midst of her thoughts—

– Zing!

Suddenly, her smartphone vibrated in her pocket, and Lee Ji-an quickly pulled it out to check the caller.

“…Father?”

Her father, Lee Joo-seong, was not the type to call at this hour.

Thus, an inexplicable sense of foreboding washed over her as she cautiously answered the call.

“Hello?”

As expected.

Before she could even finish her greeting, the voice on the other end erupted.

[What on earth have you done!?]

Lee Joo-seong shouted, his voice brimming with fury, and upon hearing him, Lee Ji-an felt a surge of fear and stammered back.

“What!? F-Father, what’s going on…?”

[Do you even realize how much money you’ve just thrown away!? The exclusive distribution contract with the Myeongseong Group has been suddenly canceled!]

“Th-that’s…”

[No! This isn’t just about the money at stake! If you cross Chairman Kim Mu-ho, you’ll be finished in this industry! Why on earth did you unilaterally call off the engagement and try to ruin my company, huh!?]

Lee Joo-sung was seething with rage, truly on the brink of losing everything due to Chairman Kim Mu-ho’s abrupt contract termination.

So, how could Lee Ji-an, who already feared her father, possibly cope with the sheer panic of the situation?

“F-father! Just give me a moment!”

In truth, Lee Ji-an, as terrified of her father as she was, hadn’t been completely unprepared for a situation like this.

She hadn’t anticipated it would escalate to this level, but she hadn’t recklessly broken off her arranged marriage with Kim Do-jin either.

Surely, the head of a snake is better than the tail of a dragon, isn’t it?

Before notifying Kim Do-jin of the cancellation, Ji-an had already shared her heart with Choi Kyung-jun, the heir of another conglomerate, and it was only after receiving his promise of an arranged marriage that she made her decision.

A perfect switch, indeed.

Ji-an believed that Choi Kyung-jun would be a sufficient substitute for Kim Do-jin, and so she hurriedly reported this fact to her father, Lee Joo-sung.

However, her father’s reaction was far from what she had expected.