A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs – Chapter 42

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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The result… I had passed Trial 2.

Lilith had persevered admirably.

She wasn’t the student council president for nothing.

And a little over 20 minutes later, the Mind Control was lifted.

Thanks to the bug, the Curse of Agony debuff also disappeared.

She had endured the Curse of Agony while maintaining the Mind Control spell, pushing her to her absolute limit.

I had been prepared to use Demonization or even a high-risk purification potion if things went south, but there was no need.

-Cha-ching!

‘Bonus resistance, nice…’

-Clank!

When I emerged from Trial 2, I was greeted by an unexpected crowd.

-…

Cynatis, the chamber guardian.

“…Impossible…”

Professor Diena, with whom I had made the wager.

“Lev Denec…?”

Melissa. What was she doing here?

“……”

And with that fiery red hair… could that be… Kaelan?

“What a coincidence.”

To think I’d run into him already.

I turned my attention away from him and approached Diena.

“It’s convenient that you’re here, Professor. As you can see, I won the bet, right?”

“This is… unbelievable…”

Professor Diena’s eyes were unfocused,

as were Cynatis’s.

-How?

“Your student records didn’t indicate such high aptitude for magic or mana.”

“That needs to be updated, then.”

“How did you manage this?”

“I believe I’m not obligated to reveal my strategy, according to the Chamber rules.”

Revealing your methods for clearing the Chamber was generally discouraged.

Of course, upperclassmen could secretly share tips with their juniors,

but you had the right to remain silent if someone asked.

And the results must be accepted without question.

This was the Evolution Chamber of Clarice Academy, established by the hero, Krun.

“Anyway, Professor, I’ll see you later.”

As I bowed politely and turned to leave, Diena grabbed my arm.

“W-wait a moment.”

She seemed to have regained her senses, her crimson eyes now focused.

“Cadet Lev, I apologize. I momentarily forgot the Chamber rules, and… it would be disrespectful to question the outcome of our wager. It would be belittling your efforts…”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

“N-no, wait! Please reconsider becoming my personal assistant. It wouldn’t be a bad offer for you, Cadet Lev. I’ll have the chief assistant position ready for you!”

Chief assistant…

I wasn’t sure if there was such a thing as a ‘chief’ assistant, but it seemed she was offering me a prominent position.

Having a professor’s guidance wouldn’t hurt.

“Alright.”

Diena’s face lit up at my response.

A professor overjoyed by a freshman’s answer… how precious.

“But allow me to quit whenever I want.”

“Well… that’s…”

“If that’s not possible, then it can’t be helped.”

“Okay! We can do that.”

At my subtle power play,

“This is insane…”

Melissa’s jaw dropped.

“We can discuss the details tomorrow… or the day after, whenever you have time. Come to my office.”

-Chamber, reward, will, be, given, later.

“Yes.”

I replied curtly and ignored Melissa’s gaze, which seemed to waver between wanting to talk to me and not.

.

.

.

Outside the chamber, in the lounge, the students’ eyes were glued to the central magic display board.

-Ding!

The 1st year rankings had been updated.

-Already? Trial 2?

-Who is this ‘Anonymous’?

-Probably one of the S-rank students… Don’t worry about it.

-But 7 hours is too far ahead, isn’t it?

-Maybe they’re just an attention seeker.

The whispers started again.

The rankings, a visual representation of their standing in this meritocratic academy, held a powerful appeal.

I ignored them and casually took a seat in the lounge.

It was time to check out the highly anticipated level 2 Wind Archery.

‘Wind Archery.’

As I focused, the status window greeted me.

“Hmm…”

Unlike the Wind Archery in the original game, this wasn’t an offensive skill.

It was a defensive skill that provided a barrier,

and a skill that removed debuffs.

However, two skills were combined into one, making it very efficient.

‘I was running out of skill slots anyway…’

The difficulty of the academy’s main missions, sanctuary purifications, would increase drastically.

I couldn’t rely solely on stealth tactics forever.

This would come in handy in emergencies.

And it confirmed one thing:

‘So, it’s determined by Cynatis’s Awakening Essence?’

Trial 1 was before I learned Wind Archery, so that made sense,

but the theme of Trial 2 was endurance, perseverance, so it had rewarded me with a corresponding skill.

Then what about Trial 3? It would be an offensive skill.

Of course, it would be incredibly difficult to clear.

I should probably start working on increasing my favorability with Cynatis to prepare for it.

‘Next… stats.’

Thanks to my ‘Luck’ stat, all my stats had increased, not just the ones required for Chamber B.

Since the maximum for Luck was 5,

I should focus on maxing it out for now.

‘Invest all points into Luck.’

“Now I’m starting to look like a first-year student.”

But I couldn’t be satisfied with this.

The first main event of Chapter 2, the Dungeon Exploration Practice, was approaching.

Edwin would encounter a raid-level monster there.

After preventing that, the next event would be the ranking matches.

Right after raising expectations for Edwin in the previous event,

Kaelan, the author’s self-insert, would make his grand entrance.

He would establish a circle called ‘Royal Class’ and attempt to gaslight the heroines, exploiting their weaknesses and building his harem.

I had been dumbfounded by the contrived, forced, and utterly non-canonical ways in which Kaelan, essentially a villain in the story, accumulated flags.

Thinking about it made me angry…

I had planned to ignore him, but I couldn’t let this slide.

‘Time to cause some trouble.’

I stood up abruptly and headed back to the chamber.

Someone had cleared Trial 2 among the first-years.

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“Thank you for your time, Professor.”

-Yes. Good work.

Professor Diena seemed to have accepted the situation and left first.

‘What the hell?’

It wasn’t just Melissa who was dumbfounded; Kaelan Heath, the boy who prided himself as the strongest among the freshmen, was equally shocked.

The only one he considered a rival was Melissa.

And even she was only on par with him in terms of mana manipulation.

To Kaelan, who excelled in both swordsmanship and magic, she was simply not a worthy opponent.

He had been stalling, toying with her a bit because he found her princess-like aloofness cute, even though he could have cleared it anytime.

But in that brief period, someone had snatched the top spot in the Trial 2 rankings.

“Ha…”

And what annoyed him even more was Melissa’s reaction.

Her eyes weren’t just filled with surprise.

“Do you know him?”

“Yes, he’s a B-rank… Lev Denec…”

He could sense a hint of admiration, a spark of romantic interest in her gaze.

‘Seriously… for a mere B-rank…?’

As a male who prided himself on his superiority, it was a feeling he had never experienced before.

Cynatis asked Melissa and Kaelan,

-You, want, to, try, the, trial?

“No, thanks.”

He was in a foul mood.

Kaelan waved dismissively at Cynatis.

Usually, he would have maintained a facade of courtesy,

but today, he couldn’t be bothered.

“Hey, you…!”

Melissa, looking apologetic, bowed slightly to Cynatis.

‘Who should I punish?’

As Kaelan pondered who to take his frustration out on, Lev Denec blocked his path as he was about to leave the lounge.

“Hey, is that how you talk to a professor?”

“What?”

“Apologize.”

“Hmm, and who are you?”

“Or we can settle this with a fight.”

‘Ha, unbelievable.’

He was being challenged.

By a B-rank, no less.

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