[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
Chapter 13
"...Did you see that?"
At the entrance of Hwadam Library.
Shin A-sol and Okamoto, who had just entered the library following the footprints, looked at the scene unfolding in the lobby with disbelief.
They were already surprised to witness a high-powered fla spell as soon as they entered the library, and Arche's dispel spell that followed was equally astonishing.
But the most unbelievable sight was sothing else entirely.
"That professor, isn't he Professor D of the Deconstructionist Departnt? The one with all those rumors..."
Okamoto said, still in awe.
"He's amazing, unlike the rumors. He blocked the [Argonian One-Point Radiation], didn't he? And with his bare hands."
As the ace of the Alchemy Departnt who had studied spells from various departnts, he was simply amazed. At least, among the professors he had seen, there was no professor who had taught such a miraculous skill.
"...I wonder how that's even possible."
Shin A-sol, on the other hand, couldn't understand beyond being surprised.
She had learned countless ways to counterattack spells in the Defense Departnt, but she had never seen or heard of such a defensive technique.
It was a strategy that was too far removed from the military's thods.
‘Do they teach that in the Deconstructionist Departnt...?’
Shin A-sol, who by nature dug deep into one thing, had never been interested in the minority departnt.
When she heard that it was being added to the Masterclass, as there were hardly any majors, she couldn't even understand it.
She had thought that the vice-principal was just taking bribes from sowhere and adding a baseless departnt...
‘Was I wrong this ti?’
Shin A-sol didn't want to admit it, but she couldn't ignore what she had seen with her own eyes.
Okamoto nodded beside her and added.
"Co to think of it, I heard he was the teacher of that 'crazy Bill Roper', right? It's only natural that he has solid skills."
Crazy Bill Roper.
He was a subject of research in various papers due to his unique combat style.
He was also the reason why Professor D's na beca known to the world. He was the most representative top-tier soldier born from the Deconstructionist Departnt.
"That person was the teacher of Bill Roper..."
Shin A-sol had often watched videos of Bill Roper's activities on the anti-villain front. She had learned a lot from his battles where he exploited the weaknesses of villains from a unique perspective.
'The way he finds weaknesses is definitely similar to Bill Roper's. But...'
Shin A-sol felt a strange unease about Professor D's appearance. For soone who taught military cadets, he sohow gave off an ominous aura.
As if he didn't belong in this academy.
* * *
"What a monster! I'll get you later!"
The Phantom Thief activated a spell scroll, opened a spatial portal, and jumped in.
I watched her calmly.
'Such a cliché line while running away.'
Hearing such lines sotis makes realize anew that this world is based on a ga.
"The thief escaped through the portal! Shouldn't we chase after her?"
"It's okay. We can't catch her anyway."
I cald down the excited Arche.
It's almost impossible to track the Phantom Thief's spatial movent because the magic circle is difficult to analyze. That's why, even in the actual ga, Shin A-sol and the player could only chase the thief out of the academy but couldn't catch her.
'The title of Phantom Thief is well-deserved.'
But thanks to that, solving the Phantom Thief quest will cause a big stir.
The fact that the thief who caused a commotion in the academy was the Phantom Thief will be revealed, and the player who chased away the thief will receive a lot of spotlight...
And now, that effect applies directly to .
"The thief was the famous Phantom Thief?!"
"Oh my god! How could a thief like that co to this academy...?"
After the thief escaped through the portal the library was suddenly crowded with guards and faculty who had arrived late.
Having heard from Arche about the thief's identity, they talked seriously, saying that they had almost lost all the academy's treasures.
"But who is that person?"
While talking among themselves, so people looked at and tilted their heads.
Soone whispered, "Isn't that the new professor? The one from the Deconstructionist Departnt..."
"Professor D? That guy?"
As soon as they knew his identity, the way they called instantly changed from 'that person' to 'that guy'.
'What kind of rumors have they heard?'
I wondered, feeling the sharp glances of people who had suddenly beco hostile.
I knew my image wasn't good, but was it that bad?
"Professor Do Jin-hak found the thief."
As the voices of people whispering about beca increasingly irritating, Arche spoke.
"Professor Do is the one who recovered the books from the thief and chased her out of the academy."
"Is that true? That guy... no, that professor found and defeated the thief?"
The faculty mbers asked as if they had heard sothing unbelievable.
Arche nodded vigorously.
"If it weren't for Professor Do, we would never have been able to recover the precious books from the library. I would have died at the hands of the thief too."
"That can't be..."
Now they started staring at with confused eyes. Then, after murmuring among themselves for a while, they approached with reluctant expressions.
"You said your na is Professor Do Jin-hak, right? You've done a great job right after joining."
"I heard that even the professors of the Enchantnt Departnt couldn't detect the Phantom Thief's disguise, but you were able to see through it..."
"Indeed, your reputation as the head of the Deconstructionist Departnt is well-deserved."
Although they were hesitant, their words were sincere. It was also proof that the Phantom Thief's notoriety was widely known.
Beep-
A ssage appeared in front of along with an alarm.
[You can feel a change in people's perception of you.]
[Your reputation as Do Jin-hak greatly increases by solving the academy theft case.]
[Do Jin-hak's reputation score is adjusted from -99 to -55.]
[Overall, people's favorability towards Do Jin-hak has increased.]
The ssage that appeared along with the thank-you was exactly what I had been waiting for.
"Ahem... Well, we're busy right now. Let's talk later when we have ti."
The faculty mbers started to get busy again, tidying up the aftermath of the incident.
But I couldn't take my eyes off the ssage for a long ti. To be exact, the ridiculously low reputation score was very eye-catching.
'My reputation score was -99?'
In the world of Military Chronicle, reputation serves as an important indicator of a person's value. It's difficult to raise, but it's also difficult to lower, so it's almost impossible to drop below zero unless you commit a serious cri.
'How did rumors spread about this guy, Do Jin-hak, to make his reputation like this?'
To drop to a reputation score of -99, you'd have to commit sothing like serial murder. Of course, I knew about Professor D's notoriety, but...
Sohow, this guy's image in this academy was worse than I knew.
It certainly wasn't this bad in the ga...
'Wait... Could this be Seo Su-kyung's doing?'
As I traced the cause, her face suddenly ca to mind.
Co to think of it, when she made a secret proposal in my office, she seed to know that I couldn't refuse.
As if she knew about my conversation with the vice-principal.
'Yes... Considering her cunning nature, she could very well have pulled off this kind of sche.'
Spreading rumors about to drive the Deconstructionist Departnt to the brink of extinction, and pretending to kindly join the Deconstructionist Departnt on her own initiative to take a dominant position.
It's a bullying strategy that Seo Su-kyung could easily co up with.
'Unfortunately, things won't go your way.'
I've been deceived by Seo Su-kyung's sches dozens of tis over 137 playthroughs. This ti must be different.
'It's about ti she showed up...'
Amidst the people busy cleaning up the aftermath of the incident, the voices in the library suddenly grew louder. Turning my head, I saw a striking figure walking in.
Jet-black, long hair.
Sharp, upturned eyes.
Shoulders as sharp as a soldier's...
The tal round shield on her back was her mascot and a painful mory I would never forget.
'Shin A-sol... It's the first ti we've t so early.'
Shin A-sol, now nicknad "Iron Fortress."
In the world of Military Chronicle, she was a character with the most upright personality, unlike Seo Su-kyung who would definitely beco one of the Seven Heroes. Depending on the player's actions, she could either beco one of the Seven Heroes or not.
'The route where Shin A-sol becos one of the Seven Heroes is the worst for villains.'
Shin A-sol, who graduated from the Defense Departnt with the highest score in history, specializing in defense techniques, later becos a crazy all-rounder who can't be shaken even if a hundred villains attack her.
In the previous playthroughs, Seo Su-kyung used all sorts of sches to catch , but in the playthroughs where Shin A-sol joined the Seven Heroes, she didn't use any particular sches. She knew that even if she pushed forward with just force, no one could stop her.
'That's why I tried to prevent Shin A-sol from joining the Seven Heroes in the previous playthroughs.'
It wasn't difficult to keep Shin A-sol away from the Seven Heroes. She had such an honest personality that if her colleagues committed evil acts and gained notoriety, she would naturally leave the group.
'With that personality, she won't just let this theft incident pass.'
As if she had heard my thoughts, Shin A-sol, who was talking with people, turned her head and made eye contact with .
With Shin A-sol's personality, she would definitely express her gratitude to , and she wouldn't ignore my advice to join the Deconstructionist Departnt.
That way, my reputation would rise again, and the vice-principal's quest would be naturally resolved...
Beep-
[You sense a deep sense of caution in Shin A-sol's eyes.]
[Shin A-sol's favorability towards Do Jin-hak decreases significantly.]
"...What?"
An unexpected ssage.
It was so opposite to my expectations that I thought there might have been a bug for a mont.
'Caution and decreased favorability? How could that be? I just t her...'
Then, a word suddenly crossed my mind.
That is, [compatibility]...
In the world of Military Chronicle, invisible chanical factors such as physiognomy, destiny, and feng shui in the real world are included as hidden values.
Among them, compatibility acts as a major factor in influencing the favorability of others in the Military Chronicle. No matter how heroic your deeds or how kind you are, if your compatibility with the other person is the worst, you will only be seen as unfavorable.
"...Okamoto, let's go back."
Shin A-sol looked at with wary eyes and then turned away coldly.
At the sa ti, I couldn't help but sigh.
'I didn't expect the compatibility between Do Jin-hak and Shin A-sol to be this bad.'
I looked down at my hands in despair.
Both hands were burnt black from blocking the One-Point Radiation.
Even though I chased away the thief with my hands in this state, it was all in vain...
"Professor Do, are you okay?"
I turned around at the sound of a voice, and Arche was already standing next to . Arche was startled and jumped back, seeing my burnt hands.
"Oh my god! How did your hands get like this...! Wait a minute! I'll call for the dical team right away!"
"No, there's no need for that."
I quickly grabbed Arche.
The dical team? That would be a disaster.
If I let them examine all over, my identity might be revealed in front of all these people.
"Are you okay? You look really serious..." Arche asked again with worried eyes.
I replied coldly, wrapping a bandage around my hand, "So are you saying I'm just putting on an act? That I want to look cool in front of you?"
"No, that's not what I ant..."
Arche scratched her head, looking embarrassed after I snapped at her. I feel better when I act like Professor D.
"You should worry about yourself. You seem to have a lot to talk about with the faculty."
"It's almost done. I think I should report to you, professor."
Arche started to explain the aftermath of the incident, thinking that I should know as I had chased away the thief.
“As Professor said, the thief was the Phantom Thief. The staff who went to Hyunsuk senior's house found spell-binding human masks and disguise spell scrolls.”
Those were famous as the signature items of the Phantom Thief.
The staff searched the house thoroughly and found most of the items stolen from the academy, and they found sothing unexpected in the bathroom.
It was the corpse of a woman wrapped in plastic.
"After DNA testing, it was confird to be the corpse of Senior Hyunsuk... The estimated date of death is three months ago, which coincides with the ti of the first theft. That damned bastard had been pretending to be Senior Hyunsuk for three months in front of us."
Tears welled up in Arche's blue eyes as she foolishly realized she had been played by the thief. In those tears, a firm determination to take revenge flickered.
'With that reaction, I don't have to worry about what happens next.'
The Phantom Thief is not a one-ti character who just exits. In the ga, he reappears to get revenge on the player who ruined his plans.
'This ti, he'll co for instead of the player.'
A more developed Phantom Thief will co back and try to take my life, becoming a much more difficult opponent than this ti.
But fortunately, I had a feeling that Arche's desire for revenge would be a great help by then.
"Um, and..."
Arche seed to have sothing else to say.
But I wasn't in a position to listen to her leisurely anymore.
My ENP was at its maximum, and I was about to lose my mind.
And with the plan to bring Shin A-sol to the Deconstructionist Departnt failing, I was in a desperate situation...
With my head throbbing from fatigue, I snapped out, "Is there anything else you want to report?"
"No, it's not that. I... ahem! I'm sorry about earlier."
Arche suddenly apologized to with a serious expression.
"When I first saw Professor Do, I heard so many strange rumors about you, so honestly, I thought... no, I thought very negatively of you. A lot."
Arche seed to want to be honest with , emphasizing the word "a lot".
It wasn't surprising when I recalled the gossip she had with her friends on the tram.
"But instead, you helped and recovered the books. You even protected at risk to yourself."
I wondered what she was going to say...
It seed that Arche had been holding a grudge for doubting .
But honestly, I didn't care. She had just been wary of Do Jin-hak, and that had nothing to do with .
'After all, I'm a villain...'
I've been a villain for hundreds of years in terms of ti. The contempt and hatred I receive from humans is nothing to .
"Thank you very much. I will never forget this."
Even so, Arche bowed and thanked . Her words felt sincere.
'...It's a strange feeling.'
As I watched her, I felt a strange emotion.
What is this feeling?
Co to think of it, it's been a very long ti since I've been thanked by a human like this.
Beep-
[You have completed the hidden quest "Gianluca's Panic".]
[Quest evaluation score: S rank.]
[As an S-rank achievent reward, your favorability with Gianluca greatly increases.]
[The relationship between Do Jin-hak and Gianluca changes from "acquaintance" to "intimate".]
[Due to the deepened relationship, the other person feels a special bond with you.]
[You have acquired the special skill "Dragon Affinity 1" due to the developnt of your relationship with Gianluca!]
[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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