How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 9. Specters

At last, all classes came to an end.

The students buzzed with chatter, naturally clustering with their friends, while Kim Do-jin rose from his seat and exited the classroom alone.

It wasn’t that he had no friends.

Rather, he wished he had none.

‘I need to leave quickly before those trashy b*stards come looking for me.’

As he stepped out of the main building and headed toward the dormitory, Kim Do-jin trudged along, lost in thought.

‘Fortunately, no one seems to think it’s too strange.’

In truth, he was living as a completely different person, with no memories of his own.

Yet the fact that he hadn’t drawn significant suspicion was certainly a stroke of luck.

This was because this vessel, Kim Do-jin, was peculiar enough and had never formed deep relationships with anyone.

In any case, pretending to be this vessel, Kim Do-jin, was going smoothly.

Now, what remained was to determine what he could accomplish in this body of Kim Do-jin.

‘There’s more potential here than I expected.’

The talents of this vessel, Kim Do-jin, were more remarkable than he had initially anticipated.

It seemed that the precise mana control stemming from a keen sense was not only unique to him but also a common trait among those with the ‘Devour’ superpower.

—

‘If I could devour some good powers here, perhaps I could accomplish half of my revenge before my true self arrives…’

Kim Do-jin walked on, a satisfied expression gracing his face as he reveled in the unexpectedly favorable situation.

But then, in the midst of it all.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, he felt a peculiar distortion in the mana waves hanging in the air.

“What is this?”

Kim Do-jin halted his steps, standing still to concentrate his mind.

“……”

Indeed, the sensation he first received was no mere illusion.

“Purple Rift?”

He muttered to himself, slowly turning his head toward the direction that felt off.

“…So it is.”

Before his gaze lay a building, long abandoned after construction had ceased.

It was precisely the kind of environment where a ‘Purple Rift’ could exist, untouched for ages.

He had chosen this longer route to the dormitory, intending to familiarize himself with the campus layout and quietly organize his thoughts, never imagining it would lead to such fortune.

“Awesome!”

Kim Do-jin glanced around, confirming the absence of any other souls, and immediately quickened his pace toward the derelict structure.

* * *

A ‘Rift’ that remains unchallenged for too long will eventually explode, unleashing monstrous beasts.

Yet, there were various types of rifts, and not all shared this trait.

Blue, green, gold, white, and so forth.

Among the many colored rifts, the ‘Purple’ rift was unique in that it would not explode, no matter how much time passed.

Instead, it evaded detection by ‘Rift Detectors,’ often arising in places unseen by human eyes, leading to prolonged neglect.

The purple rift before Kim Do-jin was no exception.

‘It seems to have formed over a year ago?’

Before the rift, radiating an extraordinary wave of mana, Kim Do-jin could not help but let his eyes gleam with excitement.

The purple rift had another characteristic: it accumulated ‘Essence of Mana’ within its space, and this essence grew increasingly rare with the passage of time.

Like a mountain ginseng, the one who discovered and harvested it would claim its bounty, and consuming it could enhance one’s mana.

‘A year-old purple rift… This should yield a significant boost in magical power.’

Where else could such luck be found?

Typically, when a ‘guild’ discovers a violet rift, they would officially purchase the rights to it, letting it mature for years before harvesting its fruits.

But now, Kim Do-jin had no such luxury of choice.

In this moment, when no one else had yet laid eyes upon it, the best course was to quickly snatch what he could and wipe his hands clean.

‘The rank is barely F… Fine. I’ll dive in and conquer it right now.’

With that resolution, Kim Do-jin wasted no time, checking his gear before stretching one hand into the very heart of the rift.

– Paaat!

As soon as his body touched the violet mass, which looked like a crack in space itself, he was transported to another realm.

– Paaat!

In the next instant, a strange forest unfurled before Kim Do-jin’s eyes.

This was the interior of the rift, or rather, the space known as a ‘dungeon’ that lay beyond it.

Here, he would need to slay the strongest of the lurking beasts, the one they called the ‘boss monster,’ to find his way back outside the rift.

“Hmm…”

Now, at the tender age of 17, the reincarnated Kim Do-jin had never once experienced a rift conquest in reality.

Yet, the essence of Kim Do-jin, who had taken over this body, was that of an expert who had tackled countless rifts, including those deemed the most perilous across the globe.

“That way.”

With just a glance around, he pinpointed the likely location of the boss monster and immediately began to sprint toward it.

– Tada-dadad!

Of course, reaching the ‘boss room’ without shedding blood was nearly impossible.

“Kieeek!”

As expected, a horde of beasts appeared along the way, blocking his path.

“Is that a spotted mat-rabbit?”

As the name suggested, it bore a resemblance to a rabbit, both in form and traits.

Yet, true to its monstrous nature, its face was grotesque.

With a size comparable to a human, it was far from cute.

Nevertheless, as a creature of an F-rank rift, it wasn’t particularly strong, but when gathered in numbers exceeding ten, it posed a significant threat to a mere 17-year-old novice awakener.

– Chuk!

Yet, Kim Do-jin was no ordinary 17-year-old novice awakener.

– Sreung!

In an instant, he lowered his stance and drew his sword, his body spinning gracefully.

– Chwaak!

Kim Do-jin deftly weaved between the three mottled matokki that charged at him, and in the same breath, he unleashed his sword with the swiftness of lightning, cleanly severing the necks of two of them.

“Kigek!”

– Thud!

With a single stroke, the heads of two beasts fell, and as this acrobatic feat was repeated five more times—

– Clank!

The battle came to an end.

“Ha…”

Kim Do-jin sheathed his sword, taking a deep breath.

He then turned his hands this way and that, murmuring to himself.

“Not bad at all.”

Though Kim Do-jin praised himself, anyone else witnessing the scene would have found it impossible to echo such sentiments.

It was not merely a matter of being ‘not bad’; with just six strikes, he had slain all twelve of the charging mottled matokki—a feat no student of ‘Arc’ could hope to replicate.

His combat prowess was nothing short of genius, a claim not exaggerated even if he were to face an opponent with a similar level of magical power.

The fundamental issue lay in the fact that the magical energy of this vessel barely reached the toes of its original body, yet still, a positive aspect remained a positive aspect.

Regardless, Kim Do-jin continued forward, dispatching the beasts in his path.

But then, amidst his advance—

“Huh?”

He halted, sensing yet another unusual wave of mana.

“What is this!?”

His eyes widened in surprise as he turned to the side.

The mana he detected was something typically felt only from awakened individuals.

‘Could it be that someone entered before me?’

Fortunately, that was not the case.

What Kim Do-jin discovered in the thicket was not a person, but a small puppy.

Not just any small puppy, but one no larger than a human fist.

“…This can’t be.”

In an instant, Kim Do-jin recognized the true nature of the puppy.

“There was a spirit here?”

Since the first explosion of magical energy, ‘Outrage,’ mana had begun to permeate the Earth’s atmosphere, awakening certain humans to supernatural abilities—a fact already known.

Yet, it was not only humans who had awakened to such powers.

In the rarest of instances, there existed creatures and plants that awakened powers akin to those of humans, and the people referred to them as ‘spiritual beings.’

* * *

Time had lost its meaning.

The little dog, today as ever, hid in the small crevice at the base of a tree, evading the grasping claws of the beasts.

With its ‘miniaturization’ ability, it had shrunk to the size of a human fist.

“…….”

The dog had no friends.

No, it had once, but they had all been torn apart and devoured by the beasts.

So today, it sat alone, staring blankly at the fields.

“…….”

How many hours had passed like this?

– Grumble.

Its belly signaled that it was time to hunt the beasts once more.

“Yip…”

Reluctantly, the dog unfurled its curled body.

With a practiced ease, it slipped out from the tree’s base, preparing for the hunt.

Still hidden in the underbrush, it would wait for the moment a beast approached, then spring forth, enlarging itself to ambush.

But then.

“…Woof?”

To its astonishment, today it was not a beast that approached, but a human, trudging toward it with a steady gait.

“Woof….”

How long had it been since it had seen a human?

The dog’s eyes, wide with disbelief, grew round as it lay flat, peering ahead.

But that moment was fleeting.

“Grrow….”

Instinctively, it bared its teeth, wary of the advancing human.

– Thud.

The human seemed to understand the warning, halting its steps immediately.

Then, with a gentle gesture, it raised both palms forward and spoke.

“There’s no need to worry. I’m here to take you away from this place.”

The creatures, infused with mana absorbed into their bodies, experienced a remarkable surge not only in physical prowess but also in intellect, allowing them to grasp a significant portion of the emotions conveyed through human speech and actions.

“…….”

The puppy, gradually lowering its guard in response to the human’s cautious demeanor, tentatively stretched its small paw forward.

One step, two steps…….

It was then, as the puppy approached the human, that chaos erupted.

“Kiieeek!”

Suddenly, from behind the human, a pack of ten monstrous beasts charged forth, howling in a frenzy.

“……!”

Startled, the puppy instinctively recoiled, stepping back in alarm.

Yet, it could not abandon the human to face the threat alone, caught in a moment of indecision.

– Srrng!

Such worries were unfounded.

– Tadat!

Without hesitation, the human drew their sword and leaped into the fray, weaving through the beasts with a fluidity that was both precise and dazzling, dispatching them swiftly.

“Woof…….”

The puppy watched in a daze, and after some time had passed.

– Clack!

The human sheathed their sword and turned to the puppy, speaking with a calm demeanor.

“Shall we go together?”