I Am a Villain, So What?-Chapter 149: Return

"Cadet Lucien! Cadet Lucien!"

Just as the Dungeon shook and the sky began to crack like shattered glass, Oliver called out to me from the edge of the clearing.

I turned away from the pile of ash where the boss had died.

I stopped in my tracks.

Oliver was kneeling in the dirt, but he wasn’t alone. Countless animals—deer, wolves, birds, and badgers—were surrounding him. But they weren’t flesh and blood. They were glowing, pure white spirits, freed from the corruption that had turned them into undead monsters.

They nudged against Oliver’s hands, nuzzling his cheeks before fading away into the light, returning to the cycle of nature.

Amidst the spirits, Oliver was smiling, tears streaming freely down his face.

"I saved them, Lucien!" Oliver sobbed, wiping his eyes beneath his glasses. "We saved them all!"

"Yeah," I said softly. "You did good, Oliver."

Soon, the warped world of time and space began to forcefully eject us. The rotting trees dissolved, replaced by the vibrant, healthy greens of the true Ecological Park.

I looked at my system radar. Kael and the others were rapidly approaching my position.

’I don’t have time for a Q&A session with the Hero.’

I quickly reached into the ash pile and grabbed the dungeon’s medium—a pulsing, emerald-colored gemstone. [The Heart of the Forest].

"I’m heading back first, Oliver," I called out, pulling my coat tight. "Handle the aftermath."

Before the Druid could protest, I channeled my mana into my legs, applying the footwork I had just memorized from the Holy Empire’s manual.

[Blink ]

With a burst of white light, the forest vanished from my sight, teleporting me safely past the perimeter barrier and onto the main road to the teleportation gate.

****

Click.

I unlocked the heavy front door and stepped into the foyer, exhausted to my very bones.

"Welcome back, Master!"

Alicia was waiting in the hall, her silver hair catching the chandelier’s light. She took my soot-stained coat with a pristine smile. The warmth of her greeting, combined with the smell of Lily’s cooking, instantly melted my fatigue.

"I’m back, Alicia. Where is Merle?"

"In the basement laboratory, Master. Shall I fetch him?"

"No, I’ll go to him."

I walked down to the basement. I handed the corrupted artifact, the [Heart of the Forest], to Merle for restoration. Then, I sat at his desk and spent three hours meticulously transcribing the contents of the Holy Assassin’s folder from my [Absolute Memory] onto fresh parchment.

When I handed the completed manual to Merle, the old alchemist wept openly, recognizing the lost arts of his former Director’s allies.

The task was complete.

****

The butterfly effect of my actions became immediately apparent.

In the afternoon, during a makeup class for those who had failed the Five-Element Basic Magic assignment, Oliver Verdant stepped up to the testing tablet.

Instead of freezing in fear, he closed his eyes, recalled the courage he found in the Deep Forest, and effortlessly produced a vibrant, soaring flame. He shed his title as a failing student, his classmates looking on in shock.

As I sat in the back of the classroom, watching the scene unfold, a cascade of blue windows filled my vision.

[System Notification] [Hidden Scenario Cleared: The Rotting Heart]

[You have prevented an imminent tragedy! You conquered the Unregistered Dungeon that would have turned the Ecological Park into a corrupted wasteland and brought down the Fern Kingdom!]

[In the process, you obtained critical strategic information from a nameless revolutionary, a survivor of the Holy Empire!]

[Reputation Update:]

The Protagonist Party: They will remember today. Their perception of you has shifted to ’Someone with ulterior motives, but deeply connected to a lost, righteous cause.’

Kael Ardyn: He is firmly convinced you are a comrade from the Holy Empire. (Favorability massively increased).

Oliver Verdant: He will cherish yesterday forever. His perception of you has shifted to ’A kind, heroic person who hides behind a scary mask.’ (Absolute Loyalty achieved).

[Reward:]

You have gained 3,000 System Points!

Acquired: Heart of the Forest (Pending Restoration).

I swiped the notifications away, resting my chin on my hand.

’A comrade from the Holy Empire, huh?’ I scoffed internally. ’Let Kael believe what he wants. It makes my job easier.’

****

Nothing else significant happened for the next few weeks. The only major difference was that the sticky humidity of summer had arrived, and the Imperial Academy officially mandated the switch to our summer uniforms. The heavy blazers were discarded in favor of crisp white dress shirts and lightweight vests.

Sitting in my room the night before, I had opened my interface. I decided I could no longer leave my accumulated points gathering dust.

[Remaining Points: 12,758]

The nearly 13,000 points made me swallow hard. It was a fortune.

’They’re an emergency fund for dire situations, yes, but hoarding too many is just foolish.’

I had originally planned to use a massive chunk of them for the Ecological Park conquest, buying emergency buffs and counters. But thanks to the nosy Protagonist Party stepping in as my vanguard, those points remained completely untouched.

With summer here, the first semester would soon end, and the long summer break would begin. In terms of the game’s timeline, that meant the "Tutorial" and the "Early Game" were officially over.

During the summer break, the Protagonist Party’s levels would skyrocket through various training arcs and hidden events, proportional to the exponentially increasing difficulty of the world’s disasters. I had to keep up, or I’d be left behind to die as a mid-tier mob.

To prevent an untimely death from an unexpected event, I needed to bolster my utility and survival skills.

I browsed the System Shop, scrolling past the elemental affinities and weapon arts until a specific passive skill caught my eye.

[Skill: Sixth Sense (Lv. 1)]

Description: Awakens the user’s latent physical and spiritual intuition to superhuman levels. Grants passive danger detection and heightened spatial awareness.

Cost: 5,000 Points

"So... does this make me Spider-Man now?" I chuckled to myself in the quiet room.

I didn’t hesitate.

[Consumed 5,000 Points to purchase Sixth Sense (Lv. 1).]

[Consumed 2,000 Points to upgrade Sixth Sense to (Lv. 3).]

[Remaining Points: 5,758]

The nearly 13,000 points were instantly halved, but I had no regrets. A sudden, sharp chill washed over my brain, followed by a profound clarity. I could hear the exact flutter of a moth’s wings outside my window. I could feel the microscopic shifts in the air currents.

[Sixth Sense’s core abilities—Danger Detection and Presence Detection—are now permanently active.]

[Skill Synergy Unlocked!]

[Detection gains sub-skill: Weakness Identification.]

[Sixth Sense gains sub-skill: Berserk.]

I instinctively knew what these new integrations meant. Weakness Identification would highlight structural flaws in enemies or magic, making it invaluable for a sniper. Berserk, however, was a double-edged sword. It temporarily removed all physical limiters, granting explosive strength and speed, but the recoil would tear my muscles to shreds. I hoped I’d never be pushed far enough to use it.

Where would I need these enhanced abilities? At the Academy? No. The essential highlight of a cadet’s life was approaching: Summer Break. Recovering the hidden pieces scattered across the continent would be a long, arduous task. No amount of preparation would ever be enough.

Of course, there was one mundane hurdle to clear first.

****

[Class A Lecture Hall]

"Is everyone preparing well for the final exams?"

Instructor Samantha walked into the classroom, her platinum armor gleaming slightly under the magical lights. At her words, the collective faces of Class A’s elites fell.

The Imperial Academy’s exams were notorious for pushing cadets to their absolute mental and physical limits.

"The finals carry a vastly different weight in your cadet records compared to the midterms," Samantha warned, pacing the front of the room. "Stay sharp and prepare thoroughly. The midterms were purely written, but the finals include practical combat exams and survival assessments. Don’t let your guard down, or you will fail. And I do not tolerate failures in Class A."

She was right. In this world, letting your guard down meant death.

"Today, we’ll have a pop quiz to prepare for the written portion of the finals. It’s a compilation of applied magic theory questions that trip up students every year. Memorize the concepts."

She placed a stack of papers on the front desk.

"It won’t affect your cadet records or be graded separately. Study it, or don’t—it’s entirely up to you. I’ll leave the master answer sheet face-down on my desk for reference. Do not cheat."

"Ugh, a pop quiz..." "Sigh... I stayed up until 3 AM swinging my sword, my brain is mush..."

The cadets groaned in collective misery.

Samantha scanned the classroom with sharp eyes before stepping out. With her illustrious past as a Platinum Knight, she likely had many miscellaneous duties with the Imperial Guard. Handing out a self-study quiz was probably her way of compensating for not actually teaching today.

As soon as the door clicked shut, the frantic scribbling began.