A Third-Rate Villain’s Sweet Life Exploiting Academy Bugs – Chapter 64

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Clarice Academy’s practice training room was bustling with even more students than usual due to the ranking matches.

Edwin Gwendeth, a C-rank student, was also engrossed in his training.

‘I hope Yeriel is doing okay…?’

He had just visited her room, but she wasn’t there.

He wanted to express his gratitude; she had arranged the mock battle with Aveline and had helped him in numerous ways during the Dungeon Exploration Practice…

Where could she have gone, despite being ill?

‘Never mind. Focus.’

Edwin tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

-Whoosh.

The sound of the blade cutting through the air sliced through his distracting thoughts.

The strike, which he had been practicing with simple determination, was finally taking shape.

The hilt of the practice sword felt like an extension of his hand, as if they were one.

After hundreds of swings,

“Haaaah…”

Edwin took a deep breath, finally pausing.

As his movements ceased, thoughts flooded his mind.

‘I did it… I actually did it…’

He had challenged Kaelan Heath, an S-rank student, the second-best in the academy, to a duel during the ranking matches.

Since the challenge came from someone of a lower rank, Kaelan couldn’t refuse.

The other students probably thought he was crazy,

but Edwin couldn’t stay silent any longer.

He couldn’t… bear it anymore.

Melissa, Aveline…

The students who had helped him train…

-Oh, Edwin? You’ve been training all this time?

-You want me to help…? I… have club activities…

-I’m sorry, but I have to go now.

-I… don’t think I can spare the time… for a while.

-…

One by one, they drifted away.

‘At this rate, I’m just… a burden…’

He hadn’t even repaid them for their help.

‘Kaelan…’

It was all because of him.

He had created a circle called the Royal Class and taken everyone with him.

He didn’t even remember Edwin’s name.

Therefore…

“I’ll make sure he knows…!”

He wanted to prove that even the weak, the overlooked, had convictions, a strength that couldn’t be ignored.

And…

thinking of that red-haired boy reminded him of someone else.

Lev Denec.

The guy who had challenged Kaelan to a duel before Edwin.

Edwin had been somewhat motivated by Lev’s actions, but the deciding factor was what happened yesterday.

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-Black Dormitory, emergency.

-What?

Professor Cynatis approached Edwin as he was training in the practice room late at night.

-Yeriel, danger.

Her tone was as blunt as ever, but her words conveyed a sense of urgency.

Yeriel, danger.

Hearing those words, Edwin immediately headed to the Black Dormitory.

-‘I knew she used to be a monster, but…!’

Cynatis, who expended a massive amount of mana maintaining the Evolution Chamber, struggled to maintain her polymorphed form.

She wasn’t much help in combat.

So why had Lev Denec called for him, a C-rank student, of all people?

When he arrived at the basement where Yeriel was,

all that remained were traces of a fierce magical battle.

-Thump!

A heavy pressure, instinctively repulsive, weighed down on him.

-Ugh… a demon attack…?

He could only sense the heavy, corrupt magic of a demon.

It was similar to the feeling he had experienced when Lev Denec ambushed him before the Positioning Ceremony.

But unlike his expectations… there was no demon in sight.

-!!

Just Yeriel and Lev, collapsed against each other.

-Yeriel!

And a single purple orb, floating in the distance.

-!!

In that moment, Edwin knew instinctively.

His very being craved it.

‘A demon’s soul…’

It had to be destroyed.

As Edwin raised his sword vertically, a pure white light enveloped the blade.

The moment he swung his arm,

-Crack!!!

His [Executor’s Sword] activated, absorbing the soul.

The rest was a blur.

The academy guardians arrived, and the situation was resolved.

Of course, he had no idea what had truly transpired.

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‘If only… I had been there for Yeriel…!’

-Grit.

Edwin clenched his jaw.

It was just like during the Dungeon Exploration Practice.

Back then, it was Aria.

This time, it was Yeriel who was in danger.

And each time, Lev Denec was there first.

‘How… did he sense the danger and get there ahead of me… again?’

If it hadn’t been for him, the outcome could have been disastrous.

He always arrived at the most crucial moment, risking his life to resolve the situation.

‘And once again… I couldn’t… do anything…’

The frustration of being unable to help those precious to him

sent a shiver down Edwin’s spine.

-Clench…

He tightened his grip on his fist.

‘I need… to become… stronger.’

Edwin, who had always lived a carefree life, was beginning to see things differently after witnessing so many powerful individuals at Clarice Academy.

He needed to whip himself into shape, to stop being the weakling who could only watch as everything was taken from him.

‘I have to do this myself…’

He hated to admit it, but he had to learn from Lev Denec’s decisiveness.

This time, he would win back Melissa and Aveline’s hearts from Kaelan.

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Day 7 Matchups

Kaelan Heath (Rank S)

Edwin Gwendeth (Rank C)

-What the… is this?

-Didn’t Kaelan completely demolish Raymond, who’s in the same rank, yesterday?

-Yeah, it was painful to watch.

-I heard Crow’s Fey is already trying to scout him. Maybe that’s his plan?

-If he manages to land a lucky blow, other guilds might show interest too.

-But S-rank against C-rank? That’s pure arrogance… Kaelan’s got this in the bag.

-The odds on this match will be insane.

-You’re going to bet on it illegally again?

-Shhh!

“That’s quite a gamble.”

The practice room buzzed with excitement after the release of the Day 7 matchups.

C-rank, the lowest rank,

versus S-rank, the highest.

It was simple math.

The difference in rank was even greater than my duel with Gailon, making it a spectacle that would inevitably draw everyone’s attention.

But it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Even in the fanfic, Edwin’s reason for challenging Kaelan was because of the heroines who were drifting away from him.

I had skimmed through those parts, finding them too cringeworthy,

but he was probably stewing in his angst right now, acting like a tragic hero.

It seemed human nature was hard to change.

The story was somewhat aligning with the original plot.

‘I should do some recon.’

I finished my rehabilitation exercises and scanned the room.

‘I wonder how that parasitic worm is doing.’

I should check on Kaelan’s condition.

In one of the open practice rooms, a group of students were huddled together, gossiping.

-Wow… his swordsmanship is so fluid, like water…

-I haven’t seen it recently, but I heard he’s also a skilled mage.

-This is the first time I’ve seen Kaelan practice in public.

-Well, even Crow’s Fey can’t resist the allure of a genius putting in effort.

Kaelan… practicing?

He was supposed to be lazy.

It was a frustrating trait, only possible for someone blessed with extreme talent.

But for him to be training… The sun must be rising from the west.

I stealthily used ‘Demon Eye’ on Kaelan, who was training alone beyond the transparent glass walls.

-Ding!

With ‘Demon Eye’ at level 2, I could now see which traits were infected.

“’Serendipity’ is gone…”

His luck-based power-up trait, ‘Serendipity’, had vanished.

It was a shame that ‘Copy’ hadn’t been infected by the parasitic worm yet, but it was only a matter of time.

“Things are progressing smoothly…”

The only variable was that his specialization and stats hadn’t dropped as much as his traits, which could be easily explained.

He was training like a madman.

He was mitigating the decline by compensating with constant growth.

Of course, even with his efforts, the overall decrease in his stats meant it was a futile effort, like trying to fill a bottomless pit.

The author, obsessed with his self-insert, was on the verge of abandoning ship.

‘Still, I think Edwin can win, right?’

If they were to fight in their current state, objectively, Kaelan had the upper hand.

But the outcome wouldn’t change.

Even if Kaelan copied Edwin’s ‘Execution’ trait and the [Execution Sword], he couldn’t escape the parasite.

A complete reset was the only ending in store for Kaelan.

“Keep grinding.”

As I turned to leave the training room,

a woman’s voice drifted into my ears.

“Hmm~ I wonder why our Kaelan has become so weak~.”

“!”

A languid voice, drooping eyes, and sky-blue hair.

It was probably… Melody Latasia.

A senior who appeared in Chapter 4 or 5, if I recalled correctly.

‘Why is she here already…?’

It was as if her words were directed at me. I maintained my composure and left the room.

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“That was close…”

Leaving immediately had been the right decision.

I would have struggled to maintain my composure.

‘Melody Latasia.’

In the fanfic, she was portrayed as a mysterious and neutral character, who would suddenly appear and offer solutions when the main characters were struggling.

She had a minor role in Chapters 1, 2, and 3, but unlike Lilith, the fake demon enthusiast, this woman was a true… ‘demon’.

She was a powerful figure who would later become a rival to Psyche, one of the war heroes and a saintess.

In short, someone I needed to avoid at all costs.

‘But why is she here now…?’

The number of third and fourth-year students at Clarice was less than half compared to the first and second years.

This was because by the end of their second year, most students had been scouted by guilds or joined knight orders.

The only students who stayed longer were either nobles who didn’t need to worry about their livelihood or those with exceptional potential.

And even those students were rarely seen within the academy due to their frequent practical training. I had been careless to assume I wouldn’t encounter them.

This wasn’t a fanfic where everything was predetermined; it was reality.

Characters didn’t have to appear in chronological order.

There could be unexpected encounters with characters from later chapters.

‘No point in dwelling on it…’

Right now, I had more pressing matters to attend to.

Like the result of my little experiment in the private training room.

I had chosen the ‘Fallen Angelization’ skill, unable to resist its allure…

only to discover that it couldn’t be stacked with other transformation skills.

-Ding.

It didn’t even register in the Ultimate Skill slot.

Moreover…

Demonization boosted my stats and generated black magic during its duration,

while Fallen Angelization reduced mana cost for all other skills and also generated black magic.

It would have been ideal to alternate between the two,

but the skill slot cooldown was one hour.

Therefore, its practicality was… nonexistent.

This was to be expected.

It was the same in the original game.

“Hmm.”

It seemed to follow a similar logic to the restriction on simultaneously equipping holy and dark magic.

There was a way to bypass this, though.

It was a strategy often used by veteran players,

utilizing an item called

This ring allowed you to store a spell in its memory and then cast it simultaneously with another skill, essentially enabling dual casting.

And in the closed beta, there were no restrictions on the type of skills that could be registered, so stacking holy and dark magic was possible.

So, obtaining this item would solve my problem.

The problem was… it was an incredibly expensive and rare, legendary-grade item.

The only mention of this item in the fanfic was in the later chapters.

Initially, it was thought to be just an ordinary accessory, but

‘Regillus,’ the master of ‘Crow’s Fey,’ recognized its true value and purchased it at an auction.

In other words, unless I outbid Regillus,

I would have to defeat him, a boss-level character even in the latter parts of the fanfic, to obtain it as a reward.

“Defeating him… is impossible without cheating.”

Regillus had countless followers.

Crow’s Fey was one of the seven major guilds, after all.

And Regillus was a seasoned veteran who had served the imperial family for most of his life, and he was also a guild master. He would be swimming in money.

So even if I wanted to intercept it, it seemed like I was out of luck.

“I need a way to make a quick buck…”

At that moment, I recalled a conversation I had overheard in the training room.

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-Kaelan’s victory is guaranteed.

-The odds on this match will be crazy.

-You’re going to bet illegally again?

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“…………… I have an idea.”

A plan for a big payday.

By going against the established plot,

“I just need to make Edwin win, right?”

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