Correcting the Villainess of the Academy - Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Exposure (12)

The student lounge at the Cradle.

A bleached-haired girl appeared, struggling under the weight of a bundle of newspapers. She made her way directly to her friend, who was sitting at a table, smoking a cigarette.

-Thud!

T h i s wa s c o p ie d f rom ki n gm tl .o r g
“Heh… Heh…”

Sera dropped the bundle of newspapers with a thud, panting heavily. Her shirt buttons strained as if they might pop at any moment.

“…?”

Yeoreum, a girl with medium-length hair sitting nearby, gave an inquisitive look, as if asking what this was all about. She took a final drag from her cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray before sifting through the pile of newspapers Sera had brought.

-The Return of the Hidden Dragon… Sa Daeryong of Heukryeon Returns to the Supreme Council After 15 Years… Pressure to Repeal Article 25…

-Cutting the Bloodline with the Heart of a Mourning Parent… Yeon Minha of Jeokhwa Declared Innocent… Expresses Intent to Return to the Cradle…

-Impending Purge in the Southwestern Uninhabited Zone… Will Hae Wolhwa Demonstrate Her Strength…?

T h i s w a s c o p i ed f ro m k i ng mt l. or g
-First Emergency Measure in 63 Years… Exclusive Interview with Baek Seoyeon of Paechun, Who Averted the Great Catastrophe…

“What are you doing?”

“So… all of this happened in just the last few days?”

“…”

Yeoreum gave Sera a bewildered look.

“Are you serious right now…? Sera, are you a demon’s spy? These are all the things that have been making noise for days…”

Yeoreum scolded Sera but continued to rummage through the stack.

Then she found something and pulled it out.

-Who is Paechun’s Hidden Groom? Special Feature on Baek Seoyeon’s Male Candidate…

T h i s w a s c o p i e d f ro m k i ngm t l.o rg
“Oh? This one’s new to me too. I’m curious about Baek Seoyeon-sunbae’s fiancé… What’s this? ‘Canceled due to circumstances of our publication…?’ Lame.”

But after flipping through a few pages, she lost interest and tossed the newspaper aside.

Sera, unfazed by Yeoreum’s scolding, sat beside her and started flipping through the papers.

Soon, she found something that widened her eyes, and she buried her head in the newspaper.

T h i s was c o pie d f ro m k in g m t l.o r g
“‘B-143 Zone, Hogyung Industries Research Lab Completely Disinfected… Level 2 Demon Disguised as Director Eliminated on Site… 57 Security Bureau Personnel Killed in Action…’ Wait…! That’s the guy from back then…!”

Sera exclaimed, visibly shocked.

The newspaper featured a large photograph of a bespectacled, gaunt man.

Sera had once shaken hands with him during an outside assignment.

T h is was c o p i e d f r o m k in g m t l .org
She wondered for a moment if she should feel relieved that she had returned unscathed after shaking the hand of a demon.

“Phew… I had a feeling. Mutations happening in affluent areas seemed odd! No wonder… with those illegal human experiments…”

“You didn’t think any of that… you just liked the proximity…”

“Oh my! Look at this! This is the article I saw earlier!”

Sera ignored Yeoreum’s words, waving her arms excitedly as she pulled out another rolled-up newspaper.

“‘Heukryeon’s New Crown Prince Unveiled… Entered the Cradle with His Identity Concealed by a Mask…’ This, this…!”

“Everyone knew except you… even the people next to us are talking about it…”

Yeoreum shook her head, seemingly exhausted by Sera’s excitement.

Sera continued reading aloud, her voice still brimming with excitement.

“Interview with Sa Daeryong… ‘Hiding the identity was an unavoidable decision to avoid chaos’, ‘Nothing will change even if the identity is acknowledged’… Wow… wow…”

Sera expressed her amazement as she read the article.

“And is the new Category 1 male mage in 18 years a credible candidate…?”

While the world’s law states that no matter how exceptional a mage is, they cannot change the course of a battlefield alone, there are rare individuals who defy such common sense.

Category 1 is a special classification for such extraordinary mages. The list included names familiar to the girls.

Hae Wolhwa, the current headmaster of the Cradle.

Baek Seoyeon of Paechun, the first in magical history to measure over 10,000 rubins of internal particles.

Yeon Minha of Jeokhwa, who skillfully handled magic of nearly all attributes by commanding dozens of spirits alone.

Due to differences in innate particle sensitivity, over 80% of Category 1 mages were women, but occasionally, very rarely, a male mage would appear on the list.

The most recent male to be classified was Sa Jaehyuk, the former successor of Heukryeon.

And now, 18 years later, Heukryeon had once again produced a Category 1 mage.

“No wonder he seemed extraordinary during practice… When is Hyun coming back? I’m itching to talk to him…”

Whispers of speculation about forming connections with him could be heard around, but Sera wasn’t too concerned.

They had maintained a decent relationship with the masked boy from before, even when he was considered an oddity due to his unique appearance.

Feeling she had a discerning eye, Sera hummed happily.

“Great. Next time our group gets an outside assignment, I’ll ask if he’ll take it on. Security is half the battle in distribution…”

-Bang!

Sera’s words abruptly stopped at the sound of an irritated noise.

The figure that appeared through the opened door was a girl with blonde hair and green eyes.

She wore nothing but a tight gray training outfit, showing off her toned body and flat stomach, devoid of any excess fat.

“Haa…”

Breathing lightly, the girl was drenched in sweat and moisture.

“…”

The boisterous lounge fell silent at Jin Yeseo’s entrance.

This wa s c op i e d f r om k i n g m t l . o r g
But the blonde-haired, green-eyed girl picked up a bottle of ice water from the cooler and immediately left the lounge.

Once she had disappeared, Yeoreum spoke again in a cautious voice.

“I guess it’s true.”

“What’s true?”

“She lost to Hyun in the ranking match and was hospitalized. After her discharge, she’s practically living in the training hall. They say her aura is so fierce, no one dares to approach.”

Sera pretended to shiver dramatically, holding her shoulders.

“Isn’t she going to challenge him to a duel as soon as she gets here?”

Jin Yeseo was also considered to have potential to approach Category 1 status, but at the moment, there was a significant gap between her and the masked boy.

“Well… wouldn’t she lose again… huh?”

Yeoreum suddenly pulled a magazine from the pile and read the headline.

“Man Dies After Having Relations with a Pig in a Hog Farm… Cause: Ruptured Intestine…? Ugh. Don’t tell me you have this kind of fetish…”

“What, what, what are you saying…! Of course, it got mixed in by mistake…! I’m a very proper person…”

Sera’s bleached yellow hair and skirt, which revealed her thighs, shook unconvincingly.

After a while, the two girls looked around as they continued to bicker.

“But where is Yena? She said she’d be here soon, didn’t she?”

***

An empty girls’ restroom in the Cradle.

A girl with brown hair and brown eyes was staring intently at herself in the mirror.

With tears welling in her eyes, she glared at her reflection with all her strength.

But the girl in the mirror only wore an expression filled with a cold sneer.

The reflection spoke to her real self.

“Spica. It’s time to give up.”

“No.”

She shook her head vehemently.

The girl in the mirror sighed deeply.

“You know you can’t refuse my commands no matter what. The command authority of the Alpha entity is absolute.”

“Eek…!”

The real girl suddenly swung her arm towards her temple.
T h is wa s c o pi e d f ro m k ing m t l . o r g

In her hand was a small, finely sharpened knife.

However, it stopped just before piercing her skin.

Even though the girl trembled with all her might, her arm refused to obey her orders.

When she finally gave up, her arm dropped limply to her side.

The real girl faced the mirror, her voice full of resentment.

“Aldebaran…!”

“Spica. Our poor, pitiful sister.”

The reflection twisted its lips into an amused grin.

“You can’t tell anyone, and you can’t even end your own life.”

“Stop it…!”

“You brought the monsters, endangering your friends. You stole information from the professors and students you enchanted. How treacherous…”

“No…!”

She covered her ears, shaking her head to drown out the words.

Th i s was co pi e d f r o m k i n gm t l. o rg
“No…! I didn’t do it…! You manipulated my body…!”

Tears finally dropped to the floor.

The reflection sighed deeply as it watched the sobbing girl.

“Spica. Antares is subduing the over-evolved species in the north. Sadalmelik has infiltrated the inferior species in the south.”

“…”

“In the east, Deneb is constructing a trap for the adversary. Soon he will be in our grasp.”

Despite hearing no response, the reflection continued speaking.

“Three of the Five Beasts of Calamity are already under our control. Our sisters infiltrating the inferior domains are making steady progress.”

“That means…”

“Yes. The second great mission will soon begin. I’ve learned from the mistakes of our sisters and prepared thoroughly. I won’t fail.”

The reflection nodded with a face full of conviction.

“And when that happens, the inferior beings you love will be reduced to ashes.”

“You…!”

“Spica. Stop rejecting the sacred mission. I don’t want to force commands on a sister. But if you persist… I will have no choice.”

“Don’t call me sister…!”

The real girl gritted her teeth, glaring at the mirror.

“I’m not one of you… I’m human…!”

“No. You are us.”

But her last resistance was swallowed by an unyielding force that resonated through her soul.

“We are you.”

It constricted her body so tightly that breathing became difficult.

T hi s w a s c o pi ed f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g
The force wrapped around her several times before finally releasing her.

“…Time’s up. I’ll be back, Spica. Never forget our mission.”

Sticky, heavy mist brushed past the girl’s body, and she lifted her head again.

Her reflection in the mirror was shedding large teardrops, just like her real self.

“Sob…”

With a clatter, the knife she held slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor.

End of Chapter
T h is wa s co p ie d fr o m ki n gm t l . o r g