I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

The building shook.

The entire hotel, no, the entire area trembled with a fierce vibration.

“Kyahhh…?!”

Baek Seol-hee screamed in surprise.

It didn’t seem like she was frightened by the earthquake; it felt as though something else had startled her.

“W-wait a minute. I know I asked you to go hard, but….”

“What nonsense is that?”

“Ouch.”

I flicked Baek Seol-hee’s forehead once more.

She, lying down, placed her hand on her forehead, and I calmly took the Taeguk Watch from the table and put it on my wrist.

“It’s nothing serious. Just a B-class demon showed up.”

“Not serious? That’s kind of an annoying level to ignore.”

“Well, anything B-class does have that effect.”

Not exceptional, but in a strange middle ground.

A B-class demon was a fairly powerful entity, but here on Jeju Island, there were far more A-class and S-class demons than B-class ones.

“What will you do? Want to go back up there?”

“That’s fine. I created a doppelganger just for times like this.”

Baek Seol-hee smiled mischievously and pulled me closer, meeting my eyes.

“In the past, Yumir had to handle the alerts, but now my doppelganger can do it. There’s one in the room. It’ll respond to the Taeguk Watch and to people too.”

“Doesn’t it shatter if you lose focus even a little?”

I playfully tickled Baek Seol-hee with my finger raised.

“What if it suddenly breaks into pieces?”

“It’s fine. You saw the doppelganger that came to Jeju. Even if it collides with a plane, it won’t break, and it won’t be affected by my concentration lapses either.”

“Be careful with that.”

I grabbed Baek Seol-hee’s cheeks, pinching them from both sides.

“If you put too much ego into a doppelganger, it might gain independence and go rogue.”

“My doppelganger wouldn’t do that. Oh, are you worried because of Harang’s existence? That’s actually all part of my plan.”

“What?”

“I made it seem like my doppelganger has its own mind, so it would look like you’re secretly meeting another woman behind my back. Hehehe.”

No way.

“Did I fall into your trap?”

“Of course, of course. How was it? How did it feel dating Baek Harang while leaving Baek Seol-hee alone?”

“So that’s why you were questioning me about Harang?”

“Yep. If you had, I would have had the evidence. It’s a shame.”

Baek Seol-hee pouted, poking my chest with her finger.

“I realized you’re not someone who just flirts with any girl, but you didn’t act as I expected at all.”

“What were you expecting? Like this?”

I leaned in closer to Baek Seol-hee.

Though the Taeguk Watch was still blaring with alerts, I lowered myself as if wary of someone seeing us through the balcony.

“Seol-hee, aren’t you a hero? Is it okay to spend personal time when a demon has appeared?”

“Who made me spend personal time like this?”

“Hmm? I don’t know.”

“Want me to make you understand?”

Baek Seol-hee rolled me over to the side.

“Hey, Ji-hwan. I was thinking. Gwang Ik Gong doesn’t show up unless it’s a national crisis, right?”

“Are you really bringing up Gwang Ik Gong to justify yourself?”

“Of course, while I’m not quite at his level, I’m the next in line, so I figure I’m entitled to this much privilege.”

Baek Seol-hee smiled brightly, pressing her hand against my chest to keep me down.

“I’m thinking of marking the Goblin as my special target.”

“What?”

“I’ve been running around too much for minor issues until now. When you think about it, I only need to step in when an S-class villain appears, right?”

“Well, um….”

It’s true.

Up until last year, Baek Seol-hee was the model hero, always on standby, ready to jump in like a five-minute response unit. Now, her actions were leaning more toward a veteran taking things easy.

‘Honestly, it’s like having a senior soldier step in for all tasks.’

Korean S-class barracks.

Baek Seol-hee, next in line after Gwang Ik Gong, the soon-to-be-retired veteran, was going beyond the call of duty, personally jumping into action like it was a training exercise.

“Being a role model for others is always good, but sometimes it can be a disadvantage for those who don’t seek that kind of exemplary behavior. You’ve realized that now?”

“Thanks to someone enlightening me. Just because the Goblin is an S-class villain doesn’t mean he chases after every D or C-class threat, right? I thought I could do the same.”

Baek Seol-hee grasped my wrist tightly.

With both hands gently caressing my wrists, she held me down on the bed.

“I’ll only appear when the Goblin does. Would you call it my archenemy? What do you think? Good idea, right?”

“And if the Goblin absolutely has to show up?”

“Hmm, let’s see. If it’s a situation where he has no choice but to appear, if it’s an urgent moment that requires the Goblin…”

Baek Seol-hee tilted her head, snuggling closer beside me.

“If it’s truly an emergency, wouldn’t he leave the innocent girl he’s with sound asleep and slip away quietly?”

“Do you think the Goblin would act like that?”

“Hmm… No. Come to think of it, that wouldn’t happen.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to put the man I love in trouble.”

Baek Seol-hee brushed her hand over my loudly ringing Taeguk Watch.

“I might want to get into trouble from flirting with him, though. For example, um, imagine the reason Baek Seol-hee didn’t show up was that she was in a hotel room with a certain man. How does that sound?”

“Are you starting the build-up in earnest from today?”

“Pretty much. At first, it might seem strange, but if it keeps happening over the next month and then statistics show…”

“If every time Baek Seol-hee doesn’t appear, Do Ji-hwan is also missing, that would make for some interesting headlines.”

“Exactly.”

Baek Seol-hee kept smiling with no sign of hesitation in her eyes.

“There are plenty of others below us, right? They can handle a B-class threat. I don’t always have to be the one to step in. Right?”

That was what’s scary.

“You’re the one who taught me that, didn’t you?”

“…”

While I admitted I was the one who turned this woman’s perspective around, facing this kind of situation in reality still sent a chill down my spine.

“Shocking. The kind Snow White ignoring a rampaging demon just to have fun with a man? What if people get hurt?”

“It’s not like no other heroes are responding; they’re already on it. I decided to ignore such forced criticism.”

“What if this were last year?”

“I would have lowered my head out of guilt, but not anymore. The one here now isn’t the overly kind Snow White.”

Crack.

“It’s just Baek Seol-hee, a woman completely captivated by her man. Got it?”

“You really know how to scare a guy.”

Baek Seol-hee loosened her grip on my wrist, and I reached for her, pulling her close.

“You may call yourself a woman in heat, but you’re still distracted by the slightest concern, aren’t you?”

“…”

“It’s okay. That’s why we have juniors, successors, right?”

I opened the Taeguk Watch’s video screen, streaming live footage of the current scene.

“Let’s watch together. See that B-class demon being subdued.”

In the video.

Below the “LIVE” label, a pink flame blazed fiercely, engulfing a grotesque demon.

---

“Kyaaah!!”

The winged demon shrieked in agony.

It tried to pull the pink foxfire off its body, but the flame clung on, relentlessly burning it.

“It’s useless. My flame won’t go out until it completely consumes you.”

“Kraaah, aaah!!”

“Seriously, why suddenly decide to become a demon?”

Yoon Iseon surveyed her surroundings.

Since it had been less than five minutes since the demon appeared, there must still be a culprit nearby who transformed the person into a demon.

“…Huh?”

“Pr-president!”

“Right now, it’s ‘Firefox’…. Haah, what in the world happened?”

Yoon Iseon, with one of her glasses’ lenses cracked, turned to the frightened Vice President Ahn Gyeong-hwan.

“T-the thing is…”

“I’m asking as an S-class hero. Answer me.”

“…The demon was a C-class ability user, a resident of Jeju Island.”

“And?”

“They… they approached me as a student at the academy, knowing I was an A-class, and threatened to turn me into a ‘demonized criminal’ if I didn’t serve the nation….”

“Oh, my goodness.”

Yoon Iseon let out a hollow laugh at the shocking confession.

“Really?”

“Y-yes. That demon…”

“You know that even after purification, we can verify the truth, right?”

“…!!”

For a moment, embarrassment flashed across Ahn Gyeong-hwan’s face.

“Tsk. Get back inside.”

“P-president…!”

“I’ll find out more details after sending it to Daejeon… Ah, looks like they’re here.”

Flash.

A golden dimensional portal opened in the sky, and a woman in fluttering garments appeared.

“…Huh?”

[Purification of the demon shall begin.]

The blonde woman descended from the sky.

“E-excuse me?”

[Yes?]

“Um, about your outfit…?”

[Oh, this?]

The woman, donning a mask and hood, replied.

[I thought I’d take a rare trip to Jeju, and since it’s summer….]

She wore a maid outfit, the kind you’d find in a cosplay shop.

[Purification! Alright, goodbye!]

“…What does Jeju, summer, and a maid outfit have to do with anything? Anyway, so, the purified Zenros…huh?”

Thud.

The purified Zenros fell to the ground.

“…What’s going on here?”

It was a man.