I Became the Academy's Kibitz Villain-Chapter 403: Project Jeju (1)

I opened my eyes.

“You’re awake?”

As soon as I woke up, the Princess of Snow greeted me.

“Sleep a little more.”

“…You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

Baek Seol-hee, dressed in formal attire, gently stroked my face.

I was not tired, but the way Baek Seol-hee petted me as if I was a child wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

“I wish I could just keep sleeping like this.”

“You can’t. Today is that day.”

“That’s why I want to sleep more.”

Today was an important day.

We had been preparing for this day for a long time, and if things went wrong today, everything could fall apart.

Baek Seol-hee’s “coming out” changed everything. Since then, I, Do Ji-hwan, hadn’t gone outside even once.

Academy classes?

I was never a professor to begin with, so the students just handled the lessons themselves.

What about Baek Seol-hee?

She handled everything through remote classes.

-“Uh, Professor, the screen seems to be shaking?”

-“It’s just your imagination.”

-“You’re not really doing something strange, are you…?”

-“Of course not. Look, am I doing anything weird right now?”

That was what Baek Harang, her clone, said.

On the laptop for remote classes sat Baek Harang, dressed in formal attire. Meanwhile, the real Baek Seol-hee spent her lecture hours with me in the bathroom.

And at night, after putting Baek Seol-hee to sleep, I would go out as the Goblin.

Fortunately, none of the S-rank women dared to barge into Baek Seol-hee’s room, and anyone hoping to spend time with me was dealt with by her.

-“It’s troublesome if people from other countries act this way. Please go back.”

Or with active help from Yoon Iseon, I managed to avoid crises.

Foll𝑜w current novels on fɾēewebnσveℓ.com.

Even Nadeshiko, who had followed us all the way to Jeju Island, kept looking for opportunities but didn’t seem interested in me. Most of them, like Hayabusa, were fixated on the Phoenix’s Feather rather than me.

“Seol-hee, what do you plan to do after the Jeju summer semester ends?”

“Um… I don’t know. Maybe we could sneak off somewhere without telling the government? Just the three of us—you, me, and Yumir.”

The idea of an S-class superhuman hiding her whereabouts to travel was absurd, but thanks to Baek Seol-hee’s overwhelming accomplishments, neither the government nor the Association dared to challenge her.

“Got any recommendations?”

“Hmm… Japan?”

“What? Don’t tell me this is about Nadeshiko.”

“Well, I have to take care of several S-classes’ mental health, you know.”

“Ugh.”

Baek Seol-hee puffed up her cheeks and gave me a light jab, deliberately making a sound.

“Why not just plant a woman in every country and say you’re visiting your local lovers?”

“I’m halfway there already.”

“What?”

“Do you know how exhausting it is to live a double life, moving between hotels and pensions day and night? By day, I have to care for heroes, and by night… sigh.”

Even two bodies wouldn’t be enough.

I did manage to sleep seven hours a day, but the rest of my time was spent either giving mental health care to ability users or providing advice for enhancing their powers.

“Last night, someone kept me up until midnight, so I only fell asleep after 12.”

“Was it me? You’re the one who started it.”

“You were the one who insisted on bothering me first.”

“Ugh, whatever.”

Baek Seol-hee grabbed my head and buried it into her chest, silencing me.

“…Even if it means revealing your identity, do what you have to if it’s necessary. I’m okay with it. Got it?”

“…….”

Baek Seol-hee had already made up her mind.

She was prepared to face the fallout if the worst-case scenario—my identity as Goblin being exposed—came to pass.

“Don’t worry too much; everything will be fine. I’m not the only one here. Yumir is here too, and so are my ‘friends.’”

“…I’m not a fan of your ‘friends,’ especially Yun Hye-ra.”

Baek Seol-hee turned her gaze toward the adjacent room, grinding her teeth.

Although Yun Hye-ra wasn’t physically in the room, her own room was only a minute away.

“How can she do something like that? I just don’t get it.”

“Is it really that different from what you did?”

“I did it because I was furious about the government issuing pregnancy warrants. But she came here simply because she wanted to spend a night with you! …Her true identity aside!”

Oh.

“Setting her backstory aside, how can someone declare in front of the whole world, ‘I came here because I want to be with this man?’”

At last, the Ice Mask cracked.

“Ugh, I shouldn’t have let her. Thanks to her, every time Nadeshiko sees me, she keeps saying, ‘Please let me do it too.’ What did you even do to Nadeshiko?”

“I just saved her life.”

“Ugh, this is driving me crazy. It’s the worst. You met under the most love-struck conditions possible. Fine, whatever.”

Baek Seol-hee briefly clutched her head, then sighed and summoned her magic.

“…As much as I want to stay here myself, I’ll leave a clone behind. If anyone tries to force their way in, use the clone to talk your way out. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Whiiing.

The magic Baek Seol-hee summoned soon formed into another version of herself.

Ice Clone, Baek Ha-rang.

Compared to Baek Seol-hee, her hair color was duller, and her mana was noticeably weaker.

But since her role was purely as a ‘face,’ most wouldn’t suspect that the clone wasn’t the real body.

Even if they knew the real body wasn’t in the room, the presence of the clone would still throw them off—like sparrows startled by a scarecrow.

“Then, I’m off. …When this is all over, let’s go on that trip together. Promise me.”

“Why do you make it sound like a death flag?”

Still lying on the bed, I hugged Baek Seol-hee tightly.

“Wait, one last thing before you go.”

“Hm? Ah, wait, not the neck…!”

If hiding wasn’t an option, boldly revealing everything wasn’t such a bad idea either.

Gently, I buried my face into Baek Seol-hee’s neck.

“Ms. Baek Seol-hee, what happened to the bandage on your neck? Could it be…?”

“I scratched myself while showering.”

Baek Seol-hee navigated through the reporters and headed to the training hall, where Academy students awaited her.

‘She’s having a rough morning.’

Due to the Phoenix Feather auction, Baek Seol-hee and other S-class ability users in Korea had to gather for an important final briefing with A-class students from the Academy.

Officially, around 20 S-class ability users were participating.

Additionally, approximately a thousand people, including key government figures, financial leaders, and celebrities, along with their entourage, were present.

Considering each person carried titles like Prime Minister, S-class ability user, or CEO of a major company, the situation required every available resource, even a helping hand from a cat, to maintain security and order.

“Some have expressed concerns about involving students in security for this event. What are your thoughts?”

“More than 40% of Korea’s ability user power, excluding Gwang Ik Gong, is currently gathered in Jeju. What’s there to worry about? Are you suggesting even Gwang Ik Gong should step in?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…”

Perhaps because the once-innocent Princess of Snow had become more assertive, she responded to reporters with bold—one might even say spicy—answers.

“This is Oh Guk-pyeong from Hero Daily! Ms. Baek Seol-hee, would it be accurate to consider the students’ participation in security as a rehearsal for their future roles as heroes?”

“What better experience could there be to gain real-world practice? They may be students, but they’re already proud heroes of this country. The important thing is the will to protect.”

Of course, her sharpness was directed solely at Haegneul.

While I had given her a hint about Haegneul’s actions, she was particularly upset because dealing with Haegneul had cost her about an hour of “our time.”

“You’re too kind, really.”

“It sounds weird coming from a clone, doesn’t it?”

“I’m just being objective. Right, Yumir?”

“That’s right. If another S-class or A-class had gone to meet Seol-hee unnie at Jeju Airport, it could’ve caused more trouble.”

Although Baek Seol-hee wasn’t in the room, her Ice Clone Baek Ha-rang and Yumir remained.

“Come to think of it, Yumir, shouldn’t you be waiting at the dorm with your roommate?”

As a mere D-class student, Yumir had tagged along as a scholarship-supported on-site staff member. Given her rank, she had been instructed to stay at the dorm, but she casually opened the door and entered this room as soon as Baek Seol-hee left.

“Oh, it’s fine. As long as I don’t go to Seogwipo, I’m good. My roommate already went to Jeju City yesterday. She’s currently off in Hong Kong with some guy she met from overseas.”

“…….”

It seemed Yumir’s absence from the dorm wouldn’t cause much of an issue.

Moreover, her coming here implied she didn’t mind if her true identity were discovered.

“True, most attention is focused on Seogwipo, and the northern part of Jeju has relatively loose security for now.”

Meanwhile, as if they were the main character, someone made a dramatic entrance, stepping off a flight from Busan to Jeju on the morning of the auction day.

An elderly man with white hair, dressed in a black suit, descended the plane’s mobile stairs brought to Jeju Airport specifically for him, waving at the cameras as though he were royalty.

“Chairman Choi Ho-jung of Haegneul. He’s finally here.”

To handle that man—and prevent the sleazy tactics of Choi Ho-jung and other middle-aged men from Haegneul—Baek Seol-hee headed to Jeju Airport.

“That woman next to him…?”

“An A-class ability user married to Choi Ho-jung. Or rather, forced into marriage.”

The mind reader.

“Yang Da-rin.”

Surprisingly.

“Yumir, what do you think when you see that woman?”

“Um… getting married at such a young age is pretty unusual, I guess?”

“I see.”

A heroine.

A young married woman with a child.

‘The author must be insane.’

In the original story, the reward for defeating the Haegneul chairman was this ash-gray, bob-haired married woman.