A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs – Chapter 44

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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I pondered.

Were there any truly ‘good’ people in ‘Reincarnation Academy’?

Towards the end of the story, the main heroines, including Edwin, were considered good,

while the author’s characters, including Kaelan, were villains…

At least, that was how it appeared to me, a stickler for canon.

Then where did Lev Denec fit in?

And why had Aria asked me if I was a good person?

“Well, I just do what I want.”

An ambiguous answer slipped out.

In a way, I was an outsider in this story, someone who intervened to change the course of events.

I might be a good person to Edwin and his side, but a villain to Kaelan and his.

Aria lowered her gaze slightly and responded,

“…I see…”

Then, the familiar silence returned.

In this awkward atmosphere,

-Whoosh.

Only the sound of my crossbow echoed.

For some reason, Aria lingered.

It wasn’t long before she spoke again.

“I’m looking for the Great Demon, Andras.”

“…Is that so?”

I almost blurted out, ‘I killed him’,

but I swallowed the words.

It was too early to reveal that.

I couldn’t prove it, nor could I explain the circumstances.

Still, I was surprised. Aria wasn’t supposed to talk about her past until much later in the story.

“Can you help me find him?”

“…”

I was speechless.

It was because of the status window that popped up along with her request.

-Cha-ching!

In fanfiction, each character had their own designated chapter and main event for their awakening.

Aria’s awakening was triggered by her confrontation with Andras.

So, to tell her his whereabouts… I couldn’t simply say he was gone; I had to reveal that I had inherited his power.

And in this world, inheriting demonic power had a clear implication.

It wasn’t a necessary evil, like in the original game; it was considered ‘absolute evil’.

Aria’s eyes trembled slightly.

She was testing me.

She wasn’t the type to ask for favors easily.

Her words weren’t simply a request to help her find Andras.

It was a plea, asking me to tell her if I knew anything, if I was connected to him in any way.

‘300 points right in front of me, or Aria’s favorability…’

I had to face reality once again.

This wasn’t a game.

She and I were living, breathing individuals.

And my purpose was to prevent the Kaelan ending.

That was all that mattered.

I made my decision. I looked at Aria and said,

“I’ll help you.”

Aria smiled faintly, as if expecting this answer.

“…I misspoke. Please forget what I said.”

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After my conversation with Aria at the archery range,

I examined the Scatter Shot, my reward for winning the bet, in my dormitory room.

A crossbow with a tinge of dark red.

Perhaps because its abilities were locked, it didn’t show any special characteristics.

It actually looked rather ordinary, except for its dark hue.

Diena had been worried, mentioning the missing string and the difficulty of using a demonic weapon…

As someone with the ‘Gamer’ trait, I wasn’t concerned.

‘Craft.’

To facilitate testing and progression during the closed beta of ‘Reincarnation Hero’, the crafting system didn’t require a specific crafting location.

So I could simply craft it myself, which would also level up my proficiency,

but the problem was the success rate.

For an S-rank item, with my level 1 proficiency, the success rate was a measly 1%.

‘But this too…’

I could make up for it with my diligently accumulated Luck stat, the first-craft bonus on the test server,

and the crafting potion I had splurged 3000 gems on at the black market…

-Ding!

7% short…

Failure would be devastating.

I wasn’t much of a gambler.

But I had one more trick up my sleeve.

Time to go all in.

‘Demonization.’

This would give my Luck stat another boost.

-Are you a good person, Lev?

Aria’s question flashed through my mind.

But I had no choice. Please bear with me just this once…

As I concentrated and activated ‘Demonization’,

-Whoosh!

An ominous energy enveloped my body.

-Ding!

Truly an ultimate skill.

A love-hate skill that always provided that final push when needed.

-Ding!

I had successfully created a button with a 1 in 1000 chance of self-destruction.

Without hesitation, I declared,

“Craft.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

-Cha-ching!!!

“Whew.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

To think I’d be so nervous over this…

As I was calming down, status windows began popping up like a cascading waterfall.

100 points, befitting a main quest achievement.

Crafting such a powerful item at this stage was unheard of.

An S+ rank item.

In the game, it was a legendary item that you might be lucky enough to craft one or two of in the very late game.

However, high-rank items had special abilities that were locked unless the wearer’s stats met certain requirements.

It was a necessary balancing mechanism.

If relying solely on gear was possible, I would have spent all my gems on equipment from the start.

So, with my current stats, even if I equipped it, it would only be slightly better than my current weapon.

But there was a specific reason why I had chosen the Ash Grey Scatter, a demonic weapon.

‘Chosen by a demon,’ as mentioned in the tooltip.

This meant that I could unlock its full potential by using ‘Demonization’.

Though I was itching to test it out,

using Demonization twice in a row would drain my mana too quickly and arouse suspicion from not only Aria but also Yeriel.

‘Preparations complete.’

I was ready to face the raid-level monster.

Time passed, and the day of the Dungeon Exploration Practice arrived.

Each party would be assigned a different dungeon, all with similar difficulty levels but located in different areas. The magic tower, responsible for portal transportation, was bustling with students.

“Thank you, Senior Yeriel. I couldn’t find any party members…”

“No more ‘Senior’! I prefer it if we speak casually!”

Edwin was expressing his gratitude to Yeriel for inviting him to her party.

“Oh, okay… I understand. Yeriel.”

“Looking forward to working with you, Edwin!”

“Uh… yeah…”

As Yeriel extended her hand with a smile, Edwin stared blankly, as if he had just encountered an angel.

‘He’s already smitten…’

It was fine. It was going according to the original story.

This was where their relationship began.

At that moment, Assistant Instructor Bella approached our group, leading a student.

“Team 16, you’re all here.”

To ensure each class was represented,

our final party composition was…

Party Leader: Yeriel

Frontline: Edwin, Lily

Midline: Aria, Yeriel

Backline: Me

Assistant Instructor Bella began explaining the situation.

“Ideally, an S-rank frontline would be suitable for your party, but due to an uneven distribution of students, this is your team.”

“Ahem!”

Brown twintails…

A wide-brimmed mage’s hat.

It was Lily Porget, the A-rank Dragon Tamer whom I had confessed to…

She was our frontline.

It wasn’t entirely illogical.

Lily was originally a summoner. She could summon golems, so she could act as a tank.

Since she would awaken as a Dragon Tamer later on, this made sense at this point in the story.

Moreover, she was a reserve member on track to reach S-rank, so her skills were undoubtedly exceptional.

“Ahem, ahem! Be grateful I’m here! It was Kael… I mean, Senior Yeriel’s request!”

So it was because of Kaelan…

In ‘Reincarnation Academy’, Melissa, Abelline, and Lily would all fall under Kaelan’s charm.

I had already witnessed him making his moves; they were fighting over him during the general seminar, each wanting to be on his team.

“I’ve already briefed the Elder on the dungeon information. Just follow Yeriel’s lead. The evaluation is also up to the Elder, so don’t think you can slack off just because the professors aren’t here.”

“One more thing. The dungeon you’re going to is not particularly dangerous, but it’s a real-life combat situation. Don’t get careless. That’s all.”

Bella quickly moved on to brief the next team.

This was truly a practical, no-nonsense academy.

Now that it was just our team, Lily glared at me.

“Ugh, why are you even here?”

It had been a while since Gailon, but here it was again, the classic ‘being ignored as a third-rate character’ trope!

She put her hands on her hips and began scolding me, despite her small stature.

“With Lily as the frontline, and a backline like you… you’re going to be a burden on the others. Don’t you have any self-awareness?!”

She was cute.

Even the way she referred to herself in the third person somehow suited her.

“Lily. We’re about to start the evaluation. Can you please refrain from causing internal conflicts?”

“Sure~. But it’s the duty of the midline and backline to follow the frontline, right?”

Despite Yeriel’s warning, Lily was relentless.

“I’ll give you a special order, you loser. Do your job as a backline and shoot arrows. You know what they say, ‘Silence is golden’, right? Stop talking nonsense. Got it?!”

“……”

“Answer me!!!”

The raid-level monster that would appear in this Dungeon Exploration Practice.

And the awakening of Edwin and Yeriel.

This was the beginning of a crucial event, so I had planned to keep things amicable…

But it seemed unavoidable now.

This rude, bossy little girl…

‘She needs a good cry to straighten her out.’

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