I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

The “Athletic Meet,” which could be called the major event of May, had ended.

-Wow, this is what an academy is!

-Let’s just keep going like this!

-What? Eliminated? That’s what they call lack of skills, LOL.

Although there was an incident where Ray Huang became a Zenros in the final match, everyone was able to achieve satisfying results in their own way.

-So, what do we do now?

-???

-The postponed Athletic Meet has ended, and now there’s nothing left but to continue going to school, right?

May’s event was over.

-Is there an event in June?

As academy undergraduates, they could only hope for some special event to happen.

Although every event so far had led to major incidents involving demons or accidents, they still waited, hoping such things wouldn’t happen again.

-There’s no event in June!

For students below college level, June was all about going to school, hanging out with friends, and talking.

-Why is there nothing?!

-It’s because the college section is ending their semester.

-How can that be! We have summer vacation in July!

-Are college students and middle school students the same?!

The curriculum between elementary to high school and college was completely different.

Even though the start times in March and September were similar, there were inevitable differences in between.

So, what month was June for academy “college section” students?

-Hey!! Big content for the college section has dropped!!

-What is it?!

-Final exams!!

-Oh, crazy!

It was time to prepare for “final exams” after finishing about 15 weeks of undergraduate lectures that started in March.

-I don’t want to study…!

-If you become a demon because you don’t want to study, the world will see you as a fool.

-Sigh. True.

It was uncertain whether the fervor for education deeply rooted in the Korean Peninsula could overcome the so-called demonic energy, or if the societal atmosphere and culture simply deemed the notion of “becoming a demon because you don’t want to study” as unacceptable.

Academy undergraduates, without exception, began their preparations for final exams one by one.

May hadn’t completely passed yet, but without any special events, it was likely to just pass like any ordinary day.

However, when things got dull, there was always some gossip to stir things up.

-Hey. Isn’t there any Dark Charisma appearing around Ray Huang?

-He’s Chinese. Why would Dark Charisma appear around him? Mind your own business. The people abducted by Dark Charisma were all Koreans.

-Chinese or not, he’s a mana powder user. Rehabilitating him, if the drug effects are to be reversed, is going to be tough.

Interest in the A-class Zenros was lukewarm.

Perhaps because many Zenros had already appeared before, and since it was confirmed that Ray Huang had consumed mana powder, public opinion about him was not favorable.

Talking about it would only cause a headache.

Then, it would be better to stir up some more positive gossip to pass the time more enjoyably.

-Yoon Iseon is lucky. Now she’s A+ class.

Gossip about Yoon Iseon, who became the strongest A+ class, started to spread mainly on the internet.

-Eh? Isn’t that a half-victory?

Perhaps because Yoon Iseon did not achieve an overwhelming victory against Ray Huang, some people seemed reluctant to acknowledge her as the winner.

Was it to put an end to such public opinion?

Or did the student council itself want to organize some event?

Or perhaps, they wanted to prove that they had indeed reached a higher realm.

-Hey! Yoon Iseon has thrown down a challenge to Armored Taejo!

South Korea started burning with new gossip.

‘The familiar smell of the underground storage.’

Although it might not seem like a long time, given that I come to the library five times a week, today the library’s basement felt unusually empty.

‘This is the perfect time to goof off.’

I set my bag down on the desk and turned on the computer for checking out books before sitting down in the chair.

‘Maybe I’ll read a book until someone comes.’

One of the great things about Sejong Island was that you could read ebooks without having to go upstairs to borrow physical books, thanks to the internal intranet of Sejong Island.

The selection wasn’t vast, but the older books were scanned and uploaded as PDFs.

‘To others, these may be classics, but to me, they’re all new.’

Sitting at the desk and looking at an E-book made it appear as though I was working, so no one could bother me.

Moreover…

“Excuse me, are you the librarian?”

“Ah, yes. And you are…?”

A female student wearing glasses greeted me with a bow.

Her uniform was from the college section, and she had a rather plain appearance.

“I’ve been selected as a work-study scholarship student for the library.”

“Ah, you must be the student who was supposed to come today. What’s your name?”

“My name is Min Jeong-hui.”

“Come this way. There’s not much to do in the basement, so I’ll just show you the essentials.”

Just then, another work-study scholarship student (with abilities) sent by the library director arrived, and I taught her the basic skills needed to work in the library.

“Being assigned to the basement isn’t upsetting to you, is it?”

“No? Oh, no. It’s just that…”

She seemed a bit displeased about working alone at first, but fortunately, she didn’t seem too bothered now.

“What’s your ability?”

“Ah. I have telekinesis. I can move objects.”

“Then you can start with sorting books quickly. You can place them one by one, but once you’re skilled, you can directly stack them on the cart.”

“But, is this really all I have to do?”

“Yes. Another student will come to tidy up the books nicely.”

“There’s another student…?”

“They come to work during their free periods. I’m in charge of managing that.”

The number of books in the stacks was enormous.

Even if there were no people on this floor, it’s still a university library, and students interested in science or health often come to borrow many books.

“If you think you’re done with your work, you can read some books until it’s time to leave. Then, check once more about 10 minutes before your time is up. This is what you, Jeong-hui, will be doing.”

“Is, is this really all I have to do?”

“Of course. Normally, it would take someone like me 2 hours to do this job, but with an ability user, it can be done in 10 minutes.”

It’s bitter to see the difference between ability users and non-ability users even here.

“How much do you get paid for work-study?”

“Uh, well, 90,000 won.”

“If we were to hire a normal person to organize the shelves with the wage you earn for an hour of work, the progress would be much less, even though they would be paid the same, considering the minimum wage.”

“……Is that so?”

Min Jeong-hui chuckled, scratching her head.

Judging by her name tag and the magical energy leaking out, she seemed to be about a D-class.

“Oh. Did you get promoted recently? Your uniform epaulet looks new.”

“Ah, yes! I did get promoted. Luckily, I went from E-class to D-class.”

“Wow, congratulations. I hope you can advance to an even higher rank next time. Let me know if you need anything. You don’t have to tell me if you’re going somewhere, and if you want to read a book, there are sofas between the shelves on the inside where you can read.”

The best thing was not to disturb me.

After guiding Min Jeong-hui to the shelves and returning to the desk, I immediately picked up the internal phone.

“Ah, yes. Director? This is Do Ji-hwan.”

[Oh, Ji-hwan. What’s the matter that you called…?]

“This time, you sent me another scholarship student. Thank you very much. It made my work easier.”

[Oh, what are you talking about! The library has been thriving since you joined! Just ignore what the other librarians say…]

“Of course. Oh, Director, remember the stock consultation you had with me? Yes, about Southeast Asia. They say the outlook isn’t good. It seems you should withdraw any stocks or funds you have and hold onto dollars for a while.”

[Ah, is that so? My, I’m sorry I can’t take better care of you, even though I get such good information from you every time. Uh, right! Come in later! …Uh-hum. Then, Librarian Do, contact me anytime you need anything.]

“Of course.”

[…….]

“…….”

I waited for the call to disconnect, but since they didn’t hang up on their side, I ended the call first.

From the library’s perspective, I was a junior librarian, and Baek Ok-gi was the director. However, from the perspective of the secret society, I was at the executive level. Although Baek Ok-gi had not joined the society, she received sponsorship from it.

Someday, when the society conquered the world, she would become a member.

Until then, I could only help her increase her assets legally without any problems.

‘It’s really amazing what the society can do.’

The method of drawing people from all walks of life into the society was, to put it bluntly, ‘money’.

Even in the age of abilities, since capitalism was the foundation, money was something that tempted both non-ability users and ability users alike.

And now, a grand gamble was unfolding.

“Yoon Iseon vs. Armored Taejo. Who will be the winner?”

I checked the headline prominently placed on the front page of the morning newspaper.

The article was written respectfully, as it was a newspaper, but the gist and direction of the article mostly judged Yoon Iseon’s actions as ‘recklessness’.

In one sentence.

• Does Armored Taejo seem like a joke to you?

No matter how much Armored Taejo was considered as an S-class scanner, it’s not for no reason he was at the bottom of the S-class.

Over the years, many A-class individuals had claimed they were S-class, but none had surpassed even Armored Taejo.

The difference between the majors and minors was stark; if S-class was the professional league, then A-class was akin to the minor leagues.

If there was someone who surpassed Armored Taejo, that person would be classified as S-class.

There were cases like Cheok Jun-kyeong and Noh Jae, who became S-class, but those were extremely rare.

-So, is Yoon Iseon as outstanding as Cheok Jun-kyeong and Noh Jae?

-The one who couldn’t even beat Ray Huang?

Right now, the world was disparaging Yoon Iseon’s recklessness.

And it should.

-Student council president? Yoon Iseon? Let’s see. Heheh.

-Armored Taejo, challenge accepted! Invites Yoon Iseon to Busan Comprehensive Stadium!!

‘I can’t resist the reverse bet.’

My billion won was currently on HeroToto.

“Bet against the favorite.”

Yes.

I had bet a billion won on Yoon Iseon’s victory.