How to Survive as a Villain in a Novel

3 – The Top Villain Keeps his Power Hidden

The top villain hides his power in the academy.

Why does he hide his power?

It’s simple.

“Because it’s cool that way.”

That’s actually a lie.

What’s so cool about hiding power?

It’s just easier to collect ‘evil deeds’ that way.

———’Fate of the Villain’———

◆ Summary

: Commit as many evil deeds as possible, collect ‘malice’.

: When maximum malice is reached, you will be promoted.

◆ Detailed Information

: Current ‘malice’ collection progress

＞ [ 95.1% ]

: Currently forcibly activated effects.

＞ Increase of growth rate for villains within a certain range.

◇ Penalty

: If recognized as a good deed rather than an evil deed, corresponding mental and physical penalties.

———

Somehow, before the main scenario starts, I have to change this damned ‘Fate of the Villain’. For that, ‘malice’ is essential.

The simplest way to accumulate ‘malice’ is to be insulted.

And typically, the weaker you are, the more insults you get, right?

‘Malice gets duplicated.’

The academy is a ‘field of malice’ for me.

I’m already being insulted by most of the Orvus students.

Because of a few bastards who framed me as the culprit for the Orvus Rift Break which happened a year ago.

It was an incident that resulted in many casualties.

“A top-tier villain also takes revenge on false accusations in a top-tier manner.”

– “Ah, there goes that garbage bastard.”

– “Get lost and go home, you asshole!”

[ ‘Malice’ has been collected. ]

So far, it’s rather good.

* * *

I opened the door to the academy classroom.

[2 – A]

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With the sound of the door opening.

The room, filled with various noises, falls into silence.

Did a ghost appear or something?

Ah, they hate me.

Whether or not.

I moved to my usual seat smoothly.

The sharp glances pouring over me.

Sometimes, things can be better seen when they’re not visible to the eye.

However.

“Garbage bastard.”

“Why the hell is someone like him in class A?”

Voices openly criticizing me.

Thump –

“Ah! Open your eyes properly… Damn, he’s an eye-deficient bastard.”

Such deliberate quarrels as well.

To me, a top-tier villain, they’re nothing but great experiences.

[ ‘Malice’ from surroundings has been collected. ]

[ Current Malice: 95.3% ]

Outside the academy, to earn malice, you have to catch a proper villain and create all sorts of horror, but here, you can earn it just by sitting.

A feature of a top-tier villain. Get stronger just by being cursed at.

‘Anyway.’

My seat.

Sniff sniff –

There’s quite an unpleasant smell.

Hmm.

It’s an odor of something rotting.

Recently, garbage-like things have been frequently placed on my desk. Today it’s quite severe.

The reaction around is also quite intense.

“So dirty.”

“Seriously gross.”

“What was put inside the desk.”

The last child’s point is good.

Just at this moment, I’m also curious.

What could they have possibly put in to produce such a smell?

And another thing.

‘Who’ planned this ordeal?

I can roughly guess the reason.

I am Orbis Academy’s semi-acknowledged villain.

They must’ve wanted to see me, a villain, flustered.

They probably wanted to laugh and mock me.

However.

‘What can one do if apologetic.’

I am a thoroughly prepared and meticulous villain.

Rustle.

I pulled out a large plastic bag from my bag.

By the way, I also brought a pair of vinyl gloves.

I don’t like dirty things.

‘Where is it.’

When I spread my senses, I roughly catch the origin of the smell.

Right in the middle of the desk.

Slimy-

This kind of texture and smell…

‘Perhaps it’s food waste.’

In this case, it’s lucky to be blind.

If I could see it, I would’ve retched.

Judging by the size, maybe it’s like rotten tofu?

Remembering that tofu was served for lunch about three days ago.

Hmm.

Suddenly, I am angered.

‘Do you play tricks with food?’

My eyes were trembling at the edges.

Just let me catch whoever it is.

One month of school without left-over food will be their punishment.

‘Sense enhancement.’

An ability that sharpens the senses exactly as its name implies.

It’s not a great skill.

It merely increases the resolution of smells by a level.

Behind the smell of rotten protein, I sense a scent of citrus perfume…

Yeah.

Tangerines. Oranges. Limes. Some sort of these fragrances.

It’s probably perfume.

‘This won’t be easy.’

I should at least remember this for now.

Anyway, cleaning the insides of the desk is not easy.

Let’s sit down and try…

– Screech

An ominous sound coming from the chair as I sit on it. I start to feel a moist sensation. Did someone apply something on the chair?

‘No, it’s just water.’

But why was water poured on it?

Don’t tell me, did they do this expecting me to notice it by the smell?

The problem is…

“Wow. Someone must have pissed.”

“Disgusting. Really.”

What an elaborate setup.

I can feel the serious malicious intent of ‘I will somehow make him angry’.

I don’t know who it is,

but this one is extraordinary.

I slightly get goosebumps.

This is something I can’t bear, even for me.

“I can’t let this go.”

Good thing I brought something significant today.

In one hand, a black suitcase carried separately.

Something that villains often carry around in movies.

The size is just perfect for carrying a weapon.

I placed it on the desktop.

“What…what are you doing!”

“I’m pissed off!”

“Everyone, run!”

Bam, bam, bam!

A sudden chaos in the classroom.

Amidst the chaos, I shook my head left and right.

“What’s wrong with them?”

I just took out some pants to change into.

* * *

When I came back to my seat after changing my trousers, I was momentarily confused.

Because the chair and the desk were neatly cleaned up without any smell.

“Are you okay?”

A soft cotton-like voice asked about my condition.

A girl I know.

With red eyes like a blood diamond, contrasting with her fair skin, and silver hair reaching to her waist.

A woman whose trademark is a modernized, pure white nun’s dress that fits well with the modern academy.

‘Saint of Mercy’.

Anna Karina.

Putting aside the question of why such a noble being, rumored to appear only once in a thousand years, would bother learning anything at an academy.

To answer the question of how I knew of this little brat’s hair color and appearance in advance:

Until about a year ago, my eyesight was just fine.

I was in the same class as this saint even back then.

The beautiful Saint would say this to me:

“I’ll help you throw out the trash.”

“Thank you.”

“Let’s go this way.”

With that, the saint hooks her arm through mine without hesitation.

The fluttering, tickling sleeve of her garment lightly brushing my elbow.

And we walked in silence for a while, carrying the bag full of rotten tofu.

I was pondering over the criminal of a particularly insidious bullying incident.

As for Saint Anna, well, maybe she was praying or something.

She opened her mouth with some difficulty:

“How about apologizing, Mr. Lee?”

“What do you mean?”

“About the Orbis rift break that happened a year ago.”

Hmm.

That hit hard.

I must’ve looked pretty startled, looking back at her.

“……”

“You know that everyone blames you because of what happened back then.”

I know that perfectly well.

‘The Orbis rift break’.

A case where a rift forming in the academy’s airspace was forcibly closed, causing an explosion.

Tens of students and teachers have lost their lives.

Hundreds are seriously injured.

Some have even lost their eyesight.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation,

A puzzle left unsolved.

I am also personally interested in pursuing the suspect of this incident.

Why?

Because I am considered a prime suspect in the incident.

A trap set by someone else.

Anna subtly maneuvered her words while close to me.

“If you apologize, you’ll definitely feel more relaxed.”

As if she is sure about all that follows due to that.

“Ee-han. I feel sorry for you.”

She said sweetly.

“Have you not suffered enough?”

Her warmth approaches me in a split second.

Her sudden movement creates a flow in the air.

The scent of the saint at the tip of my nose.

A refreshing lime fragrance.

It was aromatic enough to mask the evil.

* * *

I occasionally look at myself objectively.

For starters, I think I am indeed a cruel villain.

I may be attractive, but my personality is not so good.

Handsome but a bad villain.

That’s me.

Then someone might say this.

– What a bullsh*t. He can’t see the obvious.

Yes.

I am blind. I lost my sight as a penalty, so I see nothing.

For the past year, thanks to this, I tried to improve my sense of smell. I used store points and even trained. It was tough.

Therefore, I now have a pretty good nose.

-Sniff sniff

‘The culprit is this woman.’

Smelling the scent of the saint, I confirmed.

The faint citrus aroma from the rotten tofu that defiled my desk.

It matched the scent of the perfume currently worn by the saint.

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I had anticipated to some extent.

Saint, Anna Kirina, is not a virtuous character.

Rather, the title ‘saint’ better suits the apprentice she has, not Anna Kirina herself.

Perhaps I’m talking about that child being drained of her holy power as Kirina’s ‘holy power battery.’

Unfortunately, everything has its time.

One cannot pull down a saint of a religion with something as trivial as rotten tofu.

Because if you wash off the rotten tofu stained on clothes immediately, that’s it.

This is when patience is needed.

Instead.

I plan to thrust her deeper into the pit of evil.

‘Let’s make her more impatient.’

To cover up a lie, another lie is necessary.

I will use myself as bait to force her to commit all sorts of evil deeds.

And in the end.

Everyone in this world will realize that she is not a saint.

Everything will be lost, leading to ruin.

“Grade A Villain.”

A thoroughly unforgiving plan for revenge is set.

* * *

“Ah, really.”

Anna Kirina stomped her foot.

It was the moment when Lee Han, who she had tried to seduce just a moment ago, ignored her and left.

She should’ve done something, anything.

In fact, recently, her mind was filled with thoughts of him.

Even though many students had been bullying him for the past several months, she admired his resilience in attending the academy.

Such a sight was too, too…

“Annoying.”

She wished he would just succumb to the harassment.

She wished he would just drop out of the academy.

That was her honest wish for Lee Han.

The reason?

– Trembling.

Anna unintentionally gritted her teeth, hastily relaxing her jaw. Image management is a key task for a saint.

‘I’m sure he noticed something.’

If by any chance it came to light that she was involved in the “Orbis Large Crack Explosion” incident…

And if it was revealed that she had framed Lee Han to protect the perpetrators.

‘It’s over.’

The saintly image she had built over time would burst like a bubble. The same went for her goal of becoming the head of Aris Church.

‘Everything has gone smoothly up to now.’

She didn’t know the exact reason, but her powers had rapidly developed since entering Orbis. She had secured strong backing.

‘I just need to not get caught now.’

Lee Han.

An enigma.

She would have been fine if it had only been rejection and bullying,

But she wished he would just disappear from her sight.

‘Still…’

It’s more comfortable to remove a thorn from one’s eye.

Anna Kirina,

Moved her steps in the opposite direction of the classroom.

In the basement of a building in Orbis,

There is a dark place only she knows.

* * *

In front of a classroom where the blue sky is seen beyond the window.

Among the students gathered in threes and fours, chatting joyfully, a girl walked alone down the hall.

She was Yoon Hyunjin, identified by the “duty” name tag on her arm.

A couple playfully engaged in PDA entered her line of sight.

“You two! Don’t hold hands in the hallway!”

“Ah, that’s so annoying.”

Regardless of her grumbling, Yoon Hyunjin’s stance was firm.

The nag. Supreme Court. Latte.

The students of Orbis Academy called their student council president by those names.

Most of the students cursed at Yoon Hyunjin. Yet, none of this changed her mind.

Someone has to do what is right.

That was what she learned from her parents, who were the best people in the world.

‘No matter how hard it is… I had to endure.’

In her eyes, filled with strong determination,

the figures of the Saint from Class 2-A and Lee Han entered.

‘Where are they going?’

Having seen Lee Han outside of the academy, she developed an interest.

Of course. It was just curiosity.

She could not view Lee Han positively. After the time she’d had, it was impossible.

‘So…I need to find out more.’

Yoon Hyunjin inconspicuously followed them.

Being smaller than her peers was her complex.

But in times like this, it was an advantage.

In her eye, which moved stealthily like a flying squirrel,

Uh?

Suddenly, the Saint clinging onto Lee Han entered her view.

‘Uh…?’

What are they doing!

Suddenly, anger rose within her.

‘Rubbing their chest in a sacred school!’

Thump, thump!

Yoon Hyunjin was startled.

Something was strange.

Why was it more irritating to see Lee Han and the Saint like this than other kids breaking school rules?

‘…Why?’

Surely I

don’t have empathy for Lee Han?

Because he is also getting cursed at by everybody, like me?

And Lee Han, who was once thought to be nothing but a bad guy, might actually be a good person?

Whish, whish!

Yoon Hyunjin quickly swept those absurd thoughts away.

It cannot be.

Even if they are adults, they can’t engage in actions that break school rules!

“Men and women should be separated! Men and women should be separated!”

Just when I’m steeling myself to declare this statement, with a prickling sense of anticipation, an instant before I step forward, Lee Han pushes off the saintess and leaves.

“…Phew.”

Overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of relief, Yoon Hyun-jin sighed without realizing it.

But why am I… Why am I relieved?