How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 28. Change of Heart

‘What on earth could she be sneaking around my bedroom to find…?’

As Kim Do-jin’s mind wandered with various speculations, Carla Arlen’s search persisted.

After a while, she finally emerged from the bedroom, as if she had found her target.

But.

‘…What now?’

For some reason, Carla Arlen began to glare at Kim Do-jin with a sulky expression, as if blaming him.

“…….”

He couldn’t make sense of what was happening at all.

Kim Do-jin simply kept his poker face, eyes glued to the television, until he could no longer bear it and retreated to the bathroom.

“Ah, my stomach hurts.”

Carla Arlen would have to leave at some point, but he worried that if he stayed in the bathroom, she might seize the opportunity.

So, he deliberately took his time, making it seem like he would be in there for a while, and sure enough, he heard the front door open shortly after.

“Huuh….”

Only after stepping out of the bathroom and confirming that Carla Arlen had vanished did Kim Do-jin let out a deep sigh of relief.

Why on earth had Carla Arlen sneaked into his dormitory and rummaged through his bedroom?

Kim Do-jin tilted his head in confusion as he made his way to the bedroom.

‘…Could it be that she was looking for this?’

He thought, glancing at the black mask resting in the drawer.

The very mask he had worn during his fight with the villain Lee Woo-sang the previous evening.

It seemed that this was the only item Carla Arlen might have had any reason to search for in his room.

But the real question was… why was she looking for it?

Especially to the extent of sneaking into someone else’s home.

‘To begin with, I’m puzzled as to why she suspected me of being that hero… Did she really need to go this far to confirm it?’

He felt lost in a whirlwind of confusion.

Yet, that was not the end of his troubles.

“Wait! Just a moment….”

Suddenly struck by a thought, he opened the bottom drawer, and indeed, there were signs that Carla Arlen had found something.

The photos of Yoon Yuna that this possessed Kim Do-jin had plastered all over his room.

He had thought it strange and had taken them all down, stashing them in the drawer, but it seemed Carla Arlen had stumbled upon these as well.

‘She must have misunderstood that I have a crush on Yoon Yuna…’

While it seemed that possessed Kim Do-jin had already been showing signs of affection at school, the level of obsession was a different matter entirely.

“Umm….”

In any case, things were getting tangled.

Carla Arlen now knew that Kim Do-jin was the masked hero who had appeared in the news yesterday, and she had also discovered his obsessive crush on Yoon Yuna.

The latter was a misunderstanding of a rather complicated nature.

“Well, what now….”

It didn’t seem necessary to correct Carla Arlen’s misunderstanding.

She didn’t strike him as the type to take action just because there was a misunderstanding.

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However, what did concern him was her excessive interest in him.

‘For now, it might be best to keep my distance…’

With no clear reason for her behavior, he had no choice but to do just that.

“Huuh….”

Kim Do-jin organized his thoughts and then stepped out for dinner.

* * *

The next morning.

– Creak.

As Kim Do-jin entered the classroom, Carla Arlen stared at him intently.

“……”

It was a gaze so blatant, fueled by the belief that no one could see her.

‘Hmph…’

Feigning ignorance of her stare, Kim Do-jin trudged to his seat and sat down.

And soon after.

– Creak.

This time, Yoon Yoo-na opened the classroom door and made her entrance.

“……”

Carla Arlen’s gaze, which had been fixed on Kim Do-jin, now shifted to Yoon Yoo-na.

Before long, she began to alternate her attention between Kim Do-jin and Yoon Yoo-na, clearly misinterpreting the situation.

‘It doesn’t really matter if she misunderstands…’

Kim Do-jin let out a wry smile inwardly, continuing to act as if he were oblivious to Carla Arlen’s scrutiny, and time slipped by.

“Is everyone here?”

As the brief morning assembly concluded, the class began.

“As I mentioned earlier, this time teams will be randomly assigned through a draw. Everyone, please pick a number.”

Following the instructor’s instructions, the students busily moved about.

After a while.

“Ah…”

The teams were drawn, and by a twist of fate, Yoon Yoo-na was among Kim Do-jin’s teammates.

‘What kind of luck is this…?’

He had deliberately kept his distance, yet here he was, entangled in this way.

“……”

Kim Do-jin glanced at Yoon Yoo-na, who wore an inscrutable expression, before heading off to meet the other two team members.

“Hey! We’re on the same team again!”

One of the other two teammates was none other than the rubbery human, Ryu Jin.

“Let’s do our best, Kim Do-jin!”

Feeling fortunate, Ryu Jin greeted Kim Do-jin with a bright face, and Kim Do-jin approached Ryu Jin along with another team member, Hong Hyun-hwa.

“Hello.”

Hong Hyun-hwa, the closest friend of Yoon Yu-na, possessed the powers of ‘healing’ and ‘shield generation.’

Essentially a healer and supporter, she was a figure who could hold her own with just that ‘shield’ ability in any situation.

“Please, Hong Hyun-hwa!”

With a beaming smile, Ryu Jin welcomed Hong Hyun-hwa and turned to Yoon Yu-na beside her.

“You too, Yoon Yu-na!”

In response, Yoon Yu-na nodded with her characteristic expression devoid of laughter.

Then, she subtly shifted her gaze to Kim Do-jin, and there was something peculiar in her eyes.

“…….”

After briefly meeting Yoon Yu-na’s gaze, Kim Do-jin turned his head, pondering the reason behind that strange look.

‘…Could it be that she suspects I’m that masked hero from yesterday?’

No other reason came to mind.

‘Well, I suppose. How much could I have hidden with just my face covered? But there’s no solid evidence, so I can just play dumb.’

With that thought settled, Kim Do-jin moved to join his teammates.

They soon began the strategy meeting, and the test they were about to face was the ‘Demon Beast Team Battle,’ which they had encountered once before.

Of course, the type of demon beast was different from before, so there weren’t many strategies they could establish at this point.

“First, let’s set our basic positions.”

Yoon Yu-na was already known as a top-tier talent in the dealer position, and Hong Hyun-hwa was also recognized as a top-tier supporter, so there was no need for deliberation.

Depending on what kind of demon beast appeared, things could change, but for now, Yoon Yu-na and Ryu Jin decided to take the front line, with Kim Do-jin in the middle and Hong Hyun-hwa in the rear.

“…….”

Though Yoon Yu-na’s demeanor seemed somewhat altered during the meeting, nothing significant occurred.

“Next, Yoon Yu-na, Kim Do-jin, Hong Hyun-hwa, Ryu Jin group. To the testing ground.”

At last, it was Kim Do-jin’s team’s turn.

“Let’s go.”

As they entered the testing ground and waited for a while, the ground suddenly split open in the distance, revealing the demon beast.

“Ahhh!”

The demon beast for this test was the ‘Royal Thorn Magasari.’

As one could infer from its name, it was a colossal starfish shape, reaching a height of 5 meters, with long thorns densely embedded all over its body.

—

As if to prove the presence of monsters, round eyes bulged out from every corner.

“Disgusting, really….”

Ryuujin roughly rubbed his goosefleshed arms and drew his sword first.

– Srring!

The rest of the team followed suit, each pulling out their weapons, and soon the battle began.

– Fwaaararararak!

As expected, the ‘King Thorn Magasari’ unleashed a torrent of baby Magasari from its five ‘arm holes’ the moment it sensed the enemy.

“Ah, please….”

With a flurry, dozens of baby Magasari sprang to life, splattering slime everywhere.

“Yun Yuna, Hong Hyunhwa. You two handle the babies. Ryuujin and I will aim for the core.”

The ‘King Thorn Magasari’ fought by retreating and producing baby Magasari, which were not too difficult to deal with since they lacked thorns.

However, the sheer number was the problem; even if dozens fell, dozens more would emerge.

Of course, they couldn’t be produced endlessly.

When new baby Magasari were created, the ‘core’ at the center would reveal itself and become vulnerable, making it the perfect moment to strike and shatter the core.

“Got it.”

At Kim Dojin’s command, Yun Yuna and Hong Hyunhwa nodded in agreement, but Ryuujin tilted his head in confusion.

“You and I are going for the core? How exactly?”

In response, Kim Dojin ripped a large chunk of rock from the ground with a loud crack.

“When the core is exposed, I’ll drive this rock spear into it.”

That explanation still left Ryuujin wanting.

“I don’t really get it, but can’t you just drive the rock spear in by yourself?”

Ryuujin asked, puzzled about his role, while Kim Dojin sharpened one end of the boulder into a spear-like point.

“No. I don’t have enough magic to put proper force into a spear this big. I’ll create the arrow and aim; you’ll be the one to shoot it.”

Only then did Ryuujin grasp Kim Dojin’s plan.

“Wait, hold on! You can’t be asking me to use my body’s elasticity superpower, right?”

“Elasticity, my foot. Just brace your belly.”

With that, Kim Dojin pressed the now-completed massive rock spear against Ryuujin’s abdomen.

“Ah, I really….”

Living and dying by appearances, Ryuujin desperately tried to avoid using his rubbery powers.

“Dammit!”

—

Finally, Ryuujin couldn’t withstand the pressure from Kim Dojin.

– Whoosh!

Ryuujin soon stretched his body as flexible as rubber, and Kim Dojin hung a rock spear on Ryuujin’s body as if placing an arrow on a bowstring.

“That’s enough.”

Now, all that remained was for Yun Yuna and Hong Hyeonhwa to wait for the adequate disposal of the baby Magasaris.

“Truly a talent worthy of the top ranks in Arc.”

Kim Dojin emitted a golden glow from his whole body, looking delighted at Yun Yuna’s graceful manner of taking out the baby Magasaris.

“With two unique abilities… If Director Yoon saw this, she would be pleased.”

As Kim Dojin had identified, Yun Yuna currently possessed two unique abilities: “Magic Enhancement,” also known as “Buff,” and “Teleportation.”

The golden aura emanating from Yun Yuna’s body was the result of applying the “Magic Enhancement” ability to herself. As for the remaining ability, “Teleportation,” it had only been heard of verbally, as no one had witnessed it directly.

The reason being that Yun Yuna’s control over teleportation was not yet perfect.

While teleporting to desired locations was possible, unfortunately, her clothes and equipment couldn’t be teleported… So, using teleportation would leave her naked.

How could she use the “Teleportation” ability where others could see?

Nevertheless, Yun Yuna demonstrated exceptional close combat skills, killing the baby Magasaris without relying on the “Teleportation” ability.

– Fwalaralaralak!

Finally, the “King Thorn Magasari” unleashed a new wave of baby Magasaris.