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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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It happened before I gained the power to cause chaos on my own.
I don’t know if you could call it a dark phase, but I was out of my mind back then, threatening and subduing many people, and making them my subordinates, or to be honest, my tools. Aisha Libias was one of them.
Despite her grand background as the granddaughter of the chairman of one of the top five corporations, she didn’t even appear in the original story, and the way she became my subordinate was quite absurd.
After graduating from the academy, I started my villain activities in earnest, and she was in the first official subjugation team that was formed to take me down after a major incident.
I was going to kill her, but she begged me for her life, saying that she would give me everything, that I could put a curse on her to prevent betrayal, make a contract with her, anything. She even licked my shoes, so I let her live.
Unlike her haughty attitude and appearance, she was incredibly afraid of pain.
Ironically, because of her excellent defensive abilities, she rarely experienced pain, and perhaps because she grew up like a flower in a greenhouse, she had absolutely no tolerance for it.
Well, anyway, I remember her getting sent to study abroad right after the academy was destroyed, but this time, since the academy hasn’t been destroyed yet, she was still attending this school.
…She was a crazy bitch. Lilac, you’ve been targeted by a strange one.
I was also out of my mind at the time, so I felt a bit guilty when I looked at her, but anyway, this girl who acted so high and mighty didn’t have a very noble character.
-Is it okay to capture Cheon Yoo-hak? Huh? Dangerous? I’ll take good care of him. You trust me, don’t you? You don’t? Hehe, are you perhaps jealous?
-You told me not to touch civilians, so I’m only collecting male heroes. Why are you interfering?!
-I think I was born to be a villain.
-…If you were a little taller, even you, Captain… Ah, I’m sorry. You let me off easy, so I got too carried away, right? I’m sorry, so please, spare me. Should I lick your shoes?
…I really didn’t have a single good memory of her.
And in the end, she even betrayed me and tried to kill me.
So, seeing this bitch in front of me going “Oh ho ho ho!” was strangely annoying.
-You’re a fool, aren’t you? I’m a fool too, but you’re an even bigger fool. Then what can I do? The less foolish one has to help the bigger fool. You can’t go any further. Stop doing things you’ll regret.
-Yes? Do I think I can win? Absolutely not. But I’m confident in my ability to take a hit as a sandbag. I have to buy some time, don’t I?
…Damn it, I thought I could finally relax and take care of the kids, but why did she have to show up as a drug addict?
Just let me have it easy. Please, just this once.
“…Are you listening?”
As I was reminiscing, the host of this gathering spoke to me with a rather angry voice, perhaps thinking I was distracted.
That’s right, it was the pink chihuahua.
Ah, I wasn’t meeting her alone today. Ha-ni, Ga-eul, and Joo-ri were also here, so there were five of us. From their perspective, it was a mixed-gender gathering, but from my perspective, this felt a bit burdensome for me, like I was intruding on a girls’ outing.
“I heard you. Hey, but honestly, does that make sense? Do you think Lilac would even be interested in a bitch like that? And you can just win against her in the ranking competition, right?”
Yoo-na, you probably think that a smooth path was laid out for you, and I understand that you’re angry at the sudden appearance of a rival, but what kind of guy is Lilac? Why would he be interested in a bitch like that?
“…You misunderstood me. I know. Why would I doubt Lilac?”
“…Then what’s the problem?”
Ga-eul, who was cutting a piece of cake, also expressed her confusion, but Yoo-na smiled and answered.
“Ga-eul, imagine a fly suddenly buzzing around the cake you’re eating. It hasn’t even touched the cake, and there’s nothing wrong with the cake, but isn’t that fly annoying? It’s obviously after the cake, trying to land on the cream with its dirty legs.”
Yoo-na smiled gently as she sipped her chamomile tea.
Was it funny that I thought it was a huge improvement that she wasn’t taking her anger out on us?
“Even if I don’t kill it, I would want to chase it away, don’t I?”
…Ah, I see. So her just being near Lilac was incredibly annoying to Yoo-na.
I understand.
Aisha was really terrible when I first met her, before I put her in her place.
The other girls nodded in agreement, and only Ha-ni looked away, uninterested. But Yoo-na’s resolve was firm.
“I’m going to challenge that woman first in the ranking competition tomorrow.”
I wanted to stop her.
Yoo-na and Aisha weren’t a good matchup.
Yoo-na was an all-rounder battle priest who could use both magic and holy spells, but Aisha was a knight-type who focused on both offense and defense.
Yoo-na would inevitably lose because she couldn’t break through Aisha’s defense with her firepower.
“Well, yeah. If you’re going to do it, you should crush her completely.”
“That’s right. Whatever the reason, if you’ve decided to fight, you have to win.”
Well, the others who didn’t know Aisha’s abilities probably thought that there was no way Yoo-na would lose.
“…Aren’t you going to say anything?”
They were probably wondering why I was so quiet while everyone else was chattering away.
I almost chose to remain silent and just watch again.
Before, I would have definitely chosen silence.
And I would have tried to resolve the variables after the fight.
But I decided not to do that anymore, so I would speak clearly here.
“Because I think you’ll lose.”
The air froze, and confusion, betrayal, and anger slowly started to fill Yoo-na’s eyes.
“…Why?”
But surprisingly, instead of getting angry immediately, Yoo-na asked for a reason.
She was trying to respond to me as Yoo-na the person and not the chihuahua.
Then I should respond in kind.
“I know what her ability is. It’s a bad matchup for you.”
All eyes were on me.
Well, most of them were probably wondering how I knew, but there was no suspicion in their eyes.
Well, this much advice should be fine, right?
“If you’re going to crush her, you should do it thoroughly. You’re just rushing in because you’re emotional right now. Can’t a friend help you out?”
The corners of Yoo-na’s lips curved into a smile as I revealed the information I knew one by one.
Honestly, I think Yoo-na’s a better match for Lilac than that bitch. That guy needs to be kept in check, and that bitch is all talk and no substance.
“…Good. I don’t know how you know all this, but thanks. I think I know how to win now.”
“What are friends for? Just plan on crushing her thoroughly.”
Guilt? None. She was also on drugs, so this handicap was only fair.
“Why would she hit on someone who’s already taken? It would have been better if you had just declared yourself to be Lilac’s girlfriend.”
I just said that because it was nice to see her happy, but almost simultaneously, Yoo-na, who had been smiling, stiffened and flinched.
…What was with that reaction? It was as if she was pricked by my words.
You guys definitely danced and had a good atmosphere back at Cheon Yoo-hak’s birthday party, right? Didn’t Lilac confess, and you two started dating?
“…The atmosphere was good that day, but we were just testing the waters and couldn’t confess at the time.”
Couldn’t confess?
Hey, that can’t be right. You guys have been hanging out all the time. You’re just teasing me, right? You’re already a couple, right?
“Actually, we’re not dating yet…”
I, Kang So-hyun, am disappointed in you…!
No, seriously, why were you so aggressive with everyone else, but become a shy girl in love in front of Lilac, Yoo-na…!
The other girls seemed to be more interested in Yoo-na’s love life than me, and the topic of the ranking competition was pushed aside. The atmosphere suddenly turned into a love gossip session.
They were still kids, so their eyes sparkled at the talk of love.
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The academy was filled with a strange tension on the day of the ranking competition.
One reason was that, unlike before, they had to choose their opponents themselves this time. Another reason was that reporters and scouts from outside would be coming to classify the academy’s talent starting from this ranking competition.
Or maybe it was just some people wanting to test their skills or wanting to keep the top ranks in check.
But at least the guys who challenged me didn’t seem to have such refreshing, youthful reasons.
Since that idiot picked a fight with me over the weekend, I thought that they might target someone else to avoid suspicion.
But it seemed like they weren’t that smart.
A total of four people challenged me, and two of them were familiar faces.
Both of them were addicted to the drug, no, they were completely consumed by the contract. Their reason was gone, and they had become the demon’s puppets.
“Hey, bastard, why are you so late? Are you scared?”
As I headed to the arena, one of them who had arrived earlier greeted me with a rather vulgar tone.
Haha, bastard. Calling me a bastard when we’ve just met. You would have become a villain even without being controlled by a demon anyway.
“You should thank the seniors. I actually didn’t like you very much. The circle hyungs also hate you, you know?”
“I wonder. I don’t know why you hate me so much when we’ve just met. If you have a reason, please tell me. I can’t fix your personality, so I’ll have to try fixing mine.”
“…Yeah, from your way of talking to your unnecessary attention-grabbing, I didn’t like anything about you. Does it feel good to act weak while pretending you can’t even lift a dumbbell, you attention whore?”
…Huh, he had a point. No, wait, he was talking as if he knew me.
“I get really pissed when a no-talent bastard like you acts all high and mighty while relying on others. Do you like relying on others when it’s not even your own strength?”
“Yeah. A friend. A bastard like you, with no sense of cooperation, is always the one who nitpicks about that kind of thing. Isn’t this the first time we’ve met? Why are you picking a fight with someone you don’t even know~?”
“…You think this is the first time?”
What, why was he being so cryptic?
“But it’s not. We’re in the same martial arts class. You didn’t know, did you?”
…Damn it, I thought we had at least talked if that was the case. How was I supposed to know that?
The guy smirked unpleasantly.
“Did you enjoy it?”
Enjoy what?
“You were rubbing yourself all over the professor while pretending to be weak. I was jealous. Did you touch them?”
It took me a moment to understand what he said.
Aha, so this friend was jealous, and on top of that, he was trying to belittle someone he admired with his adolescent bravado.
You know, that “I don’t really like that person!” thing.
Yeah, I understood.
But friend, you know? This hyung wasn’t planning on hitting you that hard.
You’re under contract, so your head is probably a mess right now, and even if you curse at me, well, I’m a bad guy, so you can curse at me all you want.
But…
“I was trying to be nice, but you keep crossing the line, you little shit.”
Since you kept crossing the line, my thoughts had changed.
“Look at you, acting tough because you’re angry. What are you going to do if I cross the line? Tell your friends or the professor? You pathetic loser. You only raised your ranking with other people’s help.”
Don’t worry.
I won’t kill you. We were in the academy, and there were a lot of people watching.
You’re lucky.
Not many bastards who pissed me off this much survived.
“Hey, let me ask you something. You said you hated me for acting tough while relying on something that wasn’t my ability, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then is relying on drugs a good thing?”
“What…?”
The moment I entered the arena, a hologram of a number appeared in the air, and a countdown began.
“Why are you so surprised, you idiot? Are you wondering how I know? Or are you scared I’ll report you for taking drugs? Either way, you’ll have to beat me to solve this.”
“So that’s why the hyungs told me to take care of you.”
No, they probably didn’t know. They were probably picking a fight with me for the same reason as you have.
The guy put on some knuckles.
You said you were in the martial arts class. So was your talent related to martial arts?
“Get ready to get your ass kicked today.”
The guy charged at me while emitting fighting spirit.
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(Low-level mook’s POV)
“Aaaaaaaaagh!?”
Kang So-hyun was nothing special.
I closed the distance with my enhanced physical abilities and cornered him, not giving him time to use his artifacts. He was busy just defending and dodging.
‘Even a bastard like this can get close to her, so why is she putting up a wall against me?’
My fist grazed him.
“Hey! Act tough again! You bastard! Try it again!”
‘Damn it, who said I wanted to touch her? Who said I wanted to do anything to her?’
I just wanted to be close to her.
I even joined that strange Health Food Lovers Club to get her attention.
If you were going to put up a wall, you should be fair. What was this bastard? Were her breasts a maternal instinct pouch or something? What was so special about this weakling?
His figure was pathetic as he ran away after I landed a flashy kick on him.
My condition was good today.
My talent and magical power were easier to control after taking the drug.
Watch carefully, Professor Cathy. It’s all your fault that this bastard is getting his ass kicked today.
My fist finally landed squarely on the solar plexus of this guy who was running away.
He looked so pathetic as he rolled on the floor.
So one-sided.
So overwhelmingly.
Look at him, unable to do anything but dodge.
It’s all your fault that this bastard is being humiliated. Looking around, everyone was watching me.
I’m much better than this bastard!
-Cadet Yoon Jeong-jae is out of bounds. Disqualified for being out of bounds for 15 seconds.
…What? I was disqualified? What nonsense was this?
“Pfft…”
What, I hit him that hard in the solar plexus, and he was laughing? No? He was still on the floor?
My head was spinning. My vision suddenly distorted.
“Hey, snap out of it. What are you doing, just walking out of bounds without doing anything like that?”
What was he talking about?
My vision slowly cleared, and the scenery around me changed.
My fist hurt. A wall? Was I hitting a wall?
I was clearly outside the arena, out of bounds.
The guy, one of his red eyes now purple, was looking at me with an unpleasant smile.
“Did you have a good nightmare?”
This bastard must have done something to me.
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T/N – Oh damn! Did the MC suddenly become an Uchiha? He even has red eyes and everything. Too bad, it seems like his eyes turn purple when he uses illusions. Judging from the word ‘nightmare’, this power probably came from his contract with the Succubus Queen.
Also, about Aisha, from the sound of the last part, she seems to really care for the pre-regression MC. It’s just that this guy is being all dense about it. I mean, the girl basically put her life on the line to stop him from making a mistake that he might regret in the future. Can’t get any more obvious than that.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
Is Aisha the fourth, fifth, or sixth girl? I’m losing count. Is she the seventh?