How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 47. Secret Agent

“Uh?”

Kim Do-jin’s eyes widened in surprise.

The person proposing to team up was none other than Yoon Yu-na.

‘Wasn’t it me who always begged to team up, only to be turned down every time…?’

Caught off guard by the sudden shift in their dynamic, Kim Do-jin felt a wave of discomfort and quickly shook his head to decline the offer.

“No, I have others in mind to team up with.”

Though that wasn’t entirely true, he simply said it that way.

“Eh!? Ah! I-I was just asking!”

Yoon Yuna replied hastily, spinning on her heel and darting away.

“……”

Kim Dojin stared at her retreating figure for a moment, then considered whether he should go rescue the teammates he had been thinking about.

But just then.

“Huh?”

He caught sight of Lee Jinryul approaching Yoon Yuna, speaking to her.

‘……’

Kim Dojin halted in his tracks, observing the scene between Lee Jinryul and Yoon Yuna.

It was his interest in Lee Jinryul, not Yoon Yuna, that held his attention.

* * *

‘Eh!?’

Flustered, Yoon Yuna quickly turned away, trying to hide her reddening face.

Then, leaving Kim Dojin behind, she hurried her steps as if fleeing.

‘Why is she rejecting him? After all those times I asked to team up!’

A surge of frustration made Yoon Yuna bite her lip.

She felt an unbearable shame at how eagerly she had proposed teaming up, only to be met with rejection.

‘Ugh!’

The more she thought about it, the more her face burned with embarrassment.

At that moment.

“Yoon Yuna?”

Suddenly, Lee Jinryul popped up beside her, initiating conversation.

“Oh. Why?”

Yoon Yuna responded coldly, without even realizing it, but Lee Jinryul pressed on, undeterred.

“Shall we team up again this time?”

At his words, Yoon Yuna instinctively turned her head to glance back.

“……”

Her gaze landed on Kim Dojin, who was watching them with a peculiar expression, and in that instant, Yoon Yuna’s mind became a whirlwind of thoughts.

‘Could it be… was he jealous?’

It was a ridiculous assumption.

Yet, unaware of the truth, Yoon Yuna pondered seriously before, for reasons she couldn’t quite grasp, she rejected Lee Jinryul’s offer.

“Not that, I decided to go with Hyunhwa.”

With an exaggerated motion, she turned sharply and strode away.

“……”

Caught off guard by the unexpected rejection, Lee Jin-ryul merely exchanged glances with Dokgo-su, tilting his head in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

“Who knows……”

* * *

‘…What’s this? Did Yoon Yuna just turn down Lee Jin-ryul’s offer?’

Kim Do-jin squinted, puzzled.

Yoon Yuna’s increasingly inscrutable behavior.

“……”

The confusion he felt this morning only deepened, but now was not the time to dwell on such things.

‘Forget it. I should find a teammate too.’

With that thought, Kim Do-jin scanned his surroundings in search of a suitable partner.

‘Who would be good…….’

The first person to catch his eye, quite coincidentally, was Misaki Ai.

A girl who always wore special goggles to seal away her powerful ‘Fascination’ ability.

‘Misaki Ai, huh…….’

After a moment of hesitation, Kim Do-jin strode over to Misaki Ai and spoke.

“How about being on the same team?”

Misaki Ai, who had also been struggling to find a good team, brightened at the proposal and accepted eagerly.

“Really? Ah! That sounds great!”

Thus, the first team member was easily decided.

Kim Do-jin immediately moved on to find the next teammate.

But… was it just his imagination, or had he been seeing Carla Arlen everywhere he went since earlier?

“……”

He glanced back at Carla Arlen, awkwardly standing under a nearby tree.

“……”

Noticing her unnatural angle as she looked elsewhere, he decided to pretend he hadn’t seen her and continued on his way.

“What do you think, Im So-hee?”

Kim Do-jin’s next choice was Lim So-hee, to whom he owed a favor, and Lim So-hee accepted the proposal with a bright smile.

“Ah! Sounds great!”

With that, Kim Do-jin had secured his second team member and was about to leave once more.

But then.

“…….”

Once again, the figure of Carla Arlen caught his eye, suddenly appearing before him.

‘Huh…….’

Carla Arlen sat quietly on a nearby bench, her gaze fixed on some strange point in the distance.

Kim Do-jin stifled a chuckle at her awkward demeanor, for he had intended to invite her onto the bus as well. He approached her slowly, his footsteps heavy with purpose.

“How about joining the same team?”

At this, Carla Arlen lifted her chin, responding with an air of aloofness as if she had been waiting for the question.

“Well, if that’s what you wish…”

Kim Do-jin turned away, a wry smile creeping onto his lips.

The addition of Misaki Ai, Lim So-hee, and now Carla Arlen meant he was just one member short of completing his team.

‘Who should I fill it with?’

In truth, the last spot could be filled by anyone.

So he leisurely scanned his surroundings.

“Is there an open spot?”

Suddenly, a male student approached and asked.

‘What kind of twist is this?’

The student was none other than Lee Jin-ryul.

“…….”

Kim Do-jin was taken aback; he hadn’t expected Lee Jin-ryul to suggest teaming up first, but the surprise didn’t linger long.

“Sure, why not.”

He had been curious about Lee Jin-ryul’s true nature all along.

Kim Do-jin soon accepted the proposal, and thus, the five-member team was complete.

* * *

‘Hmm…….’

Lee Jin-ryul glanced subtly at Misaki Ai, lost in thought.

—

“It’s not easy when your eyes are covered. I need to know where the opponent is looking if I’m to sneak a glance myself.”

In truth, the primary reason Lee Jin-ryul sought to join Kim Do-jin’s team was Misaki Ai.

Two days prior, a spy had aided in the attempted kidnapping of Chairwoman Kate from within.

During the process of uncovering him, Misaki Ai had emerged as a strong candidate.

“Though she claims to have sealed her mesmerizing powers by walking blindfolded for a long time, that’s merely speculation. She could secretly wield them at any moment, turning insiders into her pawns… Clearly, further investigation is necessary.”

While these thoughts churned in his mind, Lee Jin-ryul maintained an air of nonchalance, engaging in conversation with his teammates.

Time passed.

– Squeak!

At last, the exam commenced.

One hundred first-year students, divided into twenty teams, surged into the vast forest that served as the examination grounds at the signal.

Their task was simple yet daunting: to locate and slay the boss monster hidden somewhere within this immense woodland.

“Follow me.”

The nature of the boss monster remained shrouded in mystery.

Yet, Kim Do-jin, with the keen instincts unique to a ‘Devourer’ psychic, discerned its approximate location and promptly led his team toward the wetlands in the southern part of the testing area.

“Why are we heading this way?”

At Lee Jin-ryul’s sudden question, Kim Do-jin explained with an impassive expression.

“The southern part of the exam site is the only area with a distinctly different natural environment. Is that merely coincidence? And if we must choose a direction—north, south, east, or west—this place likely holds the highest probability. Monsters tend to establish hierarchies through discrimination, after all.”

His reasoning, though somewhat cobbled together, seemed to carry enough weight.

“Oh, that makes sense.”

The team continued to follow Kim Do-jin, and indeed, they soon encountered around twenty monsters known as ‘Red-Furred Soldier Ants.’

“Ah! Look at those!”

The presence of ‘Red-Furred Soldier Ants’ implied the existence of a ‘Red-Furred Queen Ant’ nearby.

And it was clear to anyone that this ‘Red-Furred Queen Ant’ was the boss monster for this exam.

“You were right. They say the ‘Red-Furred Queen Ant’ has a penchant for damp places. So, her lair must be somewhere to the south.”

As Lee Jin-ryul spoke,

– Sssssss!

The ‘Red-Furred Soldier Ants’ raised their antennae in a threatening display.

However, the team members, moving deftly along the branches as instructed by Kim Do-jin, easily disregarded the threat.

“Let’s go.”

While capturing soldier ants would earn points, if they aimed for first place, those points held little significance.

—

Even if they were to capture all the soldier ants, it would not compare to the score of just one queen ant.

Kim Do-jin and his team deliberately ignored the soldier ants, continuing to leap from branch to branch as they pressed forward.

It was then, after some time had passed.

“I think we should take a break.”

As fate would have it, a massive procession of over three hundred soldier ants blocked their path, and Kim Do-jin chose to wait until they had all passed before advancing.

“Ha…”

It was about time for a rest, anyway.

Kim Do-jin leaned back against a suitable spot on a branch and his teammates found their own places to settle.

As they all assumed their resting positions.

Suddenly, Lee Jin-ryul asked Kim Do-jin.

“By the way, about the attempted kidnapping of the chairman the other day. What organization do you think was behind it?”

That question was, in fact, a ploy to gauge Kim Do-jin’s reaction.

If Kim Do-jin had any ties to that villainous organization, he might show some telltale sign of unease.

But Kim Do-jin saw through Lee Jin-ryul’s intentions, responding without a flicker of emotion on his face.

“Well, I don’t think there’s any organization in the country capable of that.”

As he spoke, Kim Do-jin scrutinized Lee Jin-ryul’s gaze, noticing that he was subtly observing the reaction of Misaki Ai, who was positioned behind them.

‘Is Misaki Ai suspicious too? Well, she would be the most likely to be. Her alluring psychic abilities could be used to extract sensitive information. Though, it seems she’s grasping at straws…’

Kim Do-jin thought this while maintaining an indifferent facade, glancing at Lee Jin-ryul, who nodded calmly in agreement.

“That makes sense, right? Hmm… then what kind of organization could it be…?”

Lee Jin-ryul attempted to probe Misaki Ai’s reactions several more times, but ultimately gave up without any substantial results.

“Let’s get moving.”

With that, Kim Do-jin and his team resumed their journey southward.

And after some time had passed.

“Is this it!?”

They finally arrived at a clearing presumed to be the queen ant’s hatchery.

But then.

“…What do we do now?”

The problem was far from over.

The hatchery where the queen ant resided lay deep within the earth.

“The moment we start digging, the queen ant will flee. Instead, the soldier ants will swarm in to greet us.”

“Then….”

“The queen ant must come up on her own.”

“How?”

Kim Do-jin, instead of answering, pulled out two strange fruits he had picked along the way and placed them before him.

“…?”

The team members tilted their heads in confusion, demanding an explanation, and Kim Do-jin turned to each of them in turn, speaking.

“We need a bait, someone to douse themselves in this fruit juice and climb up there.”

At that, the team members gasped, their mouths agape.

He had wondered why they were picking fruit so suddenly on the way, but it turned out he had been planning to exploit the queen ant’s behavior from that moment.

“I see. But who will be the bait?”

In response, Kim Do-jin slowly turned his head to look at one person.