I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

“…Already this late.”

After quickly finishing a short novel, I checked the time and realized it was well past lunchtime.

‘Without realizing it, I got too absorbed.’

I devoured the books in the preservation archives at an incredible pace.

Since I had to read many books in a short time, I resorted to speed-reading, flipping through pages at a rate of nearly one book every 20 minutes.

Thanks to that, I managed to absorb various stories and content written in this world.

However, immediately converting that into a superpower was impossible for now.

‘It’s surprisingly hard.’

Turning the stories of this world into my superpower felt like something was missing—something intangible.

I had plenty of imagination, but transforming the textual materials into something tangible for myself seemed lacking in some way.

For example, let’s say the protagonist in a novel had an incredible weapon.

A priest hunting vampires, carrying a kukri made of silver to slay vampires by slicing them in half—that’s what the story described.

While I could create the visual form of a kukri by referencing a sword entry on a wiki, the underlying philosophy of its vampire-specific abilities—this special property—was a gray area for me to reproduce.

‘Do I really need a video for this? Is it that hard for me to create these things without video references?’

A hint of self-doubt crept in.

‘If only there were illustrations I could reference. That would make things easier.’

Illustrations would help, but none were to be found. Conjuring concrete images from text alone required a lot of effort.

This was no mere imitation—it was the realm of creation.

If the Goblin Bat were like a 3D printer that materialized data in my head, I could input pre-existing knowledge directly as-is, but this required me to generate everything anew.

In reality…

‘I completely forgot about developing my superpower while reading these books.’

Lost in the novels, I let go of the tasks I needed to focus on.

‘A novel where a Black priest shouts “Amen” as he massacres vampires with a kukri… why am I checking my superpower while thinking of that?’

Reason for censorship:

-Excessive violence and brutality.

Moreover, while the Black priest defeated Dracula in the vampire’s castle, the story ended tragically with him being killed by villagers in an act of racial hatred rather than being hailed as a hero.

A hero who sacrificed for humanity, only to be betrayed by humanity, decapitated, and displayed in the town square as an execution—

“…Ugh, my head.”

I pressed my throbbing head and stood up to stretch.

‘It’s an interesting story, but definitely not something suitable for educational material. Same goes for superpower development.’

Initially, I thought I’d learn something from these superpowers depicted in fiction, but the deeper I got into the novels, the more absorbed I became in their content.

“Sigh.”

What else could I do?

I was a reader, and shedding my nature as a devoted reader to the core wasn’t an easy task.

‘Extracting superpowers from text is akin to looking at things from a writer’s perspective.’

Readers simply enjoyed works as they were written.

Writers, however, approach others’ works in a completely different way.

How was the structure of a narrative built within a chapter?

How were sentences constructed? What words were skillfully used?

How did character conflicts and narrative arcs flowed, and ultimately, what triumphs did the protagonist achieve?

Analyzing all of this wasn’t exactly “enjoying” a novel.

Like how a renowned chef ate not for pleasure but to analyze the blend of sauces, ingredients, and cooking techniques—tiring themselves with the act of eating.

‘Still, I did get a few ideas.’

Three, to be precise—three solid takeaways.

Beyond the vampire novel, as I skimmed through other stories, I came across elements that made me think, “This feels like that.”

‘It wasn’t a total waste.’

These could serve as new concepts for the Goblin, or even as a fresh direction for the Sephirot Knights.

‘Would this be considered a decent success?’

Harvesting three solid concepts in a single day from classical works predating the Great Cataclysm wasn’t without its significance.

Although I failed to extract new superpowers directly from the books today, there were notable achievements in materializing forms and weapons via the Goblin Bat.

For instance…

Rumble.

Suddenly, the ground trembled.

I checked my Taeguk Watch to see if an earthquake alert had been issued, but there was no alarm.

“……?”

More importantly, this wasn’t just ordinary ground-shaking.

The vibration coursed through the concrete, shaking the room I was in—a tremor infused with magical power.

The vibration carried a familiar magical scent.

This thick coffee-like aroma emanating from the magic belonged to one person and one person only.

“Ha.”

So she’d shown up.

I wondered what she’d been up to and where, but she finally appeared.

‘How did you even know I was here?’

Finding where someone like Do Ji-hwan was located wasn’t too hard, but to send vibrations directly to this room—it seemed like she had a specific method in mind….

“Ah.”

My gaze fell naturally to the basket the staff left earlier, telling me to enjoy it while reading novels.

“Tangerines.”

There were tangerines.

Tangerines in the room—and tangerines might as well be CCTV.

And for those who could watch the CCTV, it’s only natural that they complied when asked for information.

If they didn’t , the entirety of Jeju Island could be at risk.

No matter how much of a god of the “land of tangerines” they were, if Jeju Island disappeared, Ji Cheon-hyang would just become the god of a local grocery store.

Crunch.

I peeled a tangerine and popped it into my mouth before grabbing my coat and stepping outside.

With each step forward, the vibrations seemed to guide me, stimulating my senses and leading me out of the building.

And behind the building—

“Ah, you’re here! Ji-hwan!”

A woman, sitting on a bench, warmly called out to me.

---

At that moment.

“It’s such a coincidence to have four S-class gathered like this. Haha….”

The youngest S-class, Tae Irin, cautiously spoke to the three other S-class women seated around a table.

“Unnies, is there something bothering you? Everyone’s expressions seem… off. Is it because of that Mr. Ahn Kyung-hwan?”

“To some extent.”

Yoon Iseon shook her head as she picked at her lunchbox, looking displeased.

“I never imagined he’d be like that. How did he go unnoticed all this time?”

“Because he was meticulous only doing it here in Jeju. I requested information for investigation purposes, but even Cheonriyan seemed unable to catch anything.”

Kim Yoon-ji lightly tapped her Taeguk Watch with her finger.

“After obtaining a warrant, I reviewed all conversations through Taeguk Watches, but there wasn’t much dialogue with Geiya. Just the kind of casual chatter you’d expect between old friends. That’s all. Although, it was all in code.”

“Ugh, that’s… unsettling. Between men, no less.”

Yoon Iseon openly expressed her discomfort, and Tae Irin let out an awkward laugh at her reaction.

“H-ha…. Well, yes, I suppose…?”

“It’s not just between men. It’s the same for women, isn’t it?”

“That’s true. Senior, do you happen to know anyone around you like that? Someone looking to rise in status by confessing their feelings or something?”

“There are plenty. I’ve turned them all down. The reason we eat separately among ourselves, away from professors and others, is to avoid such nuisances. So no one tries anything while we’re eating.”

With only S-classes gathered, others clearly kept their distance.

Of course, part of that was thanks to one woman’s distinctly stormy mood.

“…Hey, Seol-hee unnie? Is something bothering you?”

“It’s fine. I was just thinking about something.”

Baek Seol-hee, who had been silently eating her lunch, picked up a long, grilled sausage with her chopsticks, her expression unreadable.

“…What do you think about the reverse situation—not someone trying to rise in status, but someone of higher status scooping up someone significantly beneath them?”

“Hmm… I guess it depends on the person accepting it.”

“Right?”

Crunch.

Baek Seol-hee smiled faintly and popped the sausage into her mouth in one go.

---

Her brown ponytail gleamed orange under the sunlight as she wore a white tennis outfit, sitting on the bench and waving to me.

“Have you eaten lunch? Are you hungry? I packed a lunchbox. Want some?”

“…….”

“What’s with that look? Surprised because I showed up unannounced?”

“You could’ve called first.”

“Oh, right. Calling.”

The woman scratched her head awkwardly, smiling.

The item everyone else wore on their wrist was conspicuously absent from hers.

“…Surprise?”

“It’s certainly a surprise.”

I sat down next to her.

“But isn’t it a bit misleading to call yourself my noona? We’re the same age.”

“If we go by birthdays, I was born a few months earlier. That makes me your noona, doesn’t it? Call me noona.”

“Do you have a younger brother fetish or something?”

“Yep. You knew that.”

Despite being the same age as me, this shameless woman insisted on being called noona. Her overwhelming power matched the mana pouch visible at her side.

In short, she was the “second-in-command.”

Not by age or seniority, but given her superpower’s nature and manifestation, she was capable of devastating power in this world.

If Gwang Ik Gong was the tactical nuke of the hero world, this woman was the tactical nuke of the Secret Society.

“So, did you bring the item, Director Seong Ji-eun?”

“Yes, I brought it. I brought it, but…”

Villain name: “Chaos” Seong Ji-eun.

“Where do you think it is?”

With a sly smile, she unzipped the collar of her tennis outfit, placed her hand on her chest, and gave me a teasing look.

“It’s here. Find it.”