Correcting the Villainess of the Academy

Tap. Tap.

Yoram Main Building. The sound of low-heeled shoes echoed on the stairs leading to the underground.

“Hmm~ Hmm hmm~”

A pleasant humming as if heading out for a picnic. However, when combined with the faint emergency siren from above, it gave off a rather strange impression.

A girl in a white school uniform trod down the stairs, her shiny brown hair swaying with each step.

She was paying no mind to the sign that read “Archives Room,” instead heading further down.

‘Top Secret Area’

“Hmm…”

After descending dozens of spiral steps, she finally found what she was looking for and slightly curled the corners of her lips upward.

Thanks to the power being cut off in the machinery room, no alarm had triggered. The guards’ attention was likely all focused on her dogs running wild above ground.

In truth, unless it was Haewolhwa herself, no one could have stopped her.

Today’s ruckus was purely because she wanted everything to be handled as neatly as possible.

“I wonder if Sadalmelik is doing well…”

Murmured the girl as she easily pushed open the heavy iron door.

And she walked slowly down the weathered stairs that unfolded further below.

“Spica. Your power is truly useful, huh?”

Despite there being no one to hear her, she spoke as if chatting with a friend.

“Isn’t it great? Stimulating the biological hormones of lower beings to turn them into absolute slaves.”

Giggling, she lightly swept her fingers over the crease in her clothing.

“I never knew such a fun game existed. If I had known earlier, I would’ve jumped in myself. I mean, I was stuck playing caretaker… No, wait.”

The girl, shaking her head, quickly denied her earlier lamentations.

“Everything is for the greater purpose; how can its value be compared to mere games?”

A bird chattering to itself. Before she knew it, she had reached the very bottom of the underground.

At the end of the stairs lay a cavern, its nature still intact and far too vast to be merely called a cave.

Glancing around excitedly, the girl’s eyes sparkled.

At the end of her gaze was a gigantic crystal embedded whole into the cavern wall.

“So, this is what that old boar was talking about.”

The girl approached and exclaimed in rare admiration.

With her racial trait of innate particle sensitivity, she immediately realized it was no ordinary mineral.

For each step she took, the insides of the crystal throbbed violently, as if it were liquid.

This meant the particles that had flowed through the tributaries hadn’t fully crystallized yet. The student looked even more pleased, a grin appearing on her lips.

“It’s quite a concentrated amount. They said this place was established 100 years ago, right?”

As the girl approached, she brought her palm to the crystal and closed her eyes.

“With this much… at least half of the capital would disappear.”

With a sinister smile, she whispered.

She had no reason to refuse.

A grand ambition. The greatest threat to the union. The lower beings who called themselves Wizards.

This was a perfect means to blow away the most vigorous of their kind alive.

“Alright then…?!”

Having easily made her decision, the girl was about to insert her hand into the crystal.

It was as if her body was refusing the command of her head, and she abruptly halted.

Her arm, once outstretched, froze in place, merely shaking.

“Spica. You’ve been quiet for a while, and now you’re acting out again. Still not giving up, huh?”

The girl, peering down at her arm, let out a deep sigh as if dealing with a nuisance.

“See, you should’ve listened from the beginning. I didn’t want to treat my sister like this.”

She attempted to force movement in her arm. The peculiar resistance she felt vanished as if it never existed.

“I told you. The feelings you’re experiencing are misunderstandings. It’s just your logical circuits going haywire, you know? I mean, why stick to me like this…?”

With a squelching sound, she thrust her arm deep into the crystal. As she extended her other arm into the empty space, the gathered particles began to flow into the crystal from nowhere.

“You can never become one of them. To put it in their terms… a wolf can never become a sheep. Why can’t you understand this simple thing… It’s done.”

As her hand filled with sensation, the girl let out a small gasp and withdrew it from the crystal.

Thump. Thump. A low vibrating sound seemed to echo from within the crystal, with each heartbeat adding to its depth.

Soon, the internal liquid began to thrash violently as if it was in agony. Amber light shone and emitted bursts with every pulse.

The girl watched in satisfaction, pondering something with her hand resting on her chin.

“Seems like the quantity is quite considerable. It should take at least a few days to completely overload this.”

But soon, shrugging as if it were no big deal, she turned away.

“Well, it’s fine. No one would catch me anyways; and even if they did, it would be too late by then.”

As she resumed her cheerful humming, she let slip a slight complaint.

“If Polaris had just woken up properly, I wouldn’t have gone through this trouble… Why did the egg have to crack…”

Logically speaking, the next alpha should have been Polaris.

Polaris possessed a transcendent power that traveled on a different orbit than the rest.

But for some unknown reason, Polaris’s biological signal had suddenly disappeared, and she stepped into the alpha’s place.

However, even with the cunning of inheriting the first generation’s memories, she realized things were still not that easy.

Mobilizing the inferior beings she had influenced to consume a stronghold entirely had failed, and the City’s artificial witch, Bettelgeuse, was killed by someone whose identity was unknown.

A tragedy that wouldn’t have happened had Polaris been present.

“Well, it’s fine.”

The girl shook her head.

After the rain, the ground hardens. Every situation has its ups and downs.

In the larger picture, her other plans were proceeding smoothly.

The most powerful wizard would be slaughtered at the southern edge.

The opponent would perish at the eastern shrine.

The sturdy wall in the north would break down without a trace after being ravaged by corrupted beasts.

And this little fireworks show would serve as a prelude to all those events.

“Don’t worry, Spica. Even if you get caught up and die, I’ll just bring you back to life.”

Feeling cheerful again, she hummed.

“That’s why I’m sacrificing this body to build a nest. Well, when you come back to life, you might regain your senses a bit.”

The girl, rambling on, seemed to remember something and exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Oh, speaking of…”

As she rummaged through Spica’s memories, she seemed to have found a trace of someone she had carefully hidden away.

“The one with the mask. Your friend, right? The one who interfered with our plans last time.”

Almost at the end of her sentence, the corners of her mouth began to twitch violently, as if rebelling strongly.

“Was it the bloodline of the opponent? That lineage is really annoying…”

With an unpleasant smile, the girl stared down at her palm. Not just her lips, but her whole body was shaking violently as if afflicted by chills.

“Perfect. Let’s just kill her off this time. If we leave her alone, she might interfere with our plans again…”

The girl turned sharply to gaze at the underground water pooled on the floor of the cavern.

“Don’t worry about it. Just bring me the corpse as your nest. Wouldn’t that be better? In a true sense, we’d be one.”

Then, she looked at her reflection in the water and grotesquely twisted her lips up.

“Spica, my lovely sister. I’m really envious of you. To feel this entire festival so vividly in your own body.”

Drip. Drip.

Water droplets glistening on a stalactite fell like tears into the lake.

*

A day after the social gathering.

The Academy, which should have been calming the chaotic heat of the festival, was instead filled with a somber atmosphere.

“What the heck is going on…”

Kwon Yuri sighed heavily, leaning against a desk in the empty classroom.

“At least no one died, so that’s a relief…”

But then she shook her head.

Yoram’s academic schedule was temporarily on hold. Rumors had spread that the education board was even considering a temporary suspension, only adding to the chaos.

“This is really suspicious. Something definitely feels off. Clearly sane people suddenly going crazy…”

“Right? Definitely suspicious.”

A nervous voice echoed from beside her.

Choi Ireh was still busy rummaging through some documents.

“If it wasn’t for that incident, I’d have arrested you on the spot, you know?”

Upon hearing her, Kwon Yuri stuck out her tongue.

“What are you talking about? It wasn’t me! It was that white rabbit or whatever.”

“They said they heard testimonies.”

“Hah. Bring me some real evidence instead of just testimonies. What even…”

Lightly scoffing, Kwon Yuri shot a glance at Choi Ireh.

The girl with twin braids was examining a face she had never seen before.

A rosy hue blossomed on her cheeks, and a gentle smile lingered at the corners of her lips.

Seeing this, Kwon Yuri feigned gagging as she expressed her emotions, of course, discreetly, away from Choi Ireh.

“This person isn’t it… this one neither…”

Choi Ireh was looking through the visitor registry from the last social gathering at Yoram.

Acquiring it under the authority of the Discipline Committee Chair, she was meticulously combing through the details about the men.

“Ugh, just give it up already.”

“Who said you could decide.”

“I told you. If such a person existed, I would have seen them first, right?”

Choi Ireh acted as if she didn’t hear Kwon Yuri’s words at all.

Leaning back in her chair, she closed her eyes as if reminiscing happily.

“Tall, refined jawline, a prominent nose, deep voice, considerate demeanor, so caring… sigh… I think I’ve met my fated partner. I never thought they’d be this close…”

“Eww.”

Then she shot straight up, a worried tone creeping into her voice.

“What do I do… what if that person got hurt due to this incident… I need to visit them or something…”

“That’s strange…”

Still suspicious, Kwon Yuri couldn’t shake off her doubts.

“Isn’t it just some upperclassman or underclassman whose face you don’t recognize?”

“Absolutely not.”

Choi Ireh asserted.

“That was a completely new face for me. I’ve never heard that voice before. My memory is crystal clear.”

After hearing her words, Kwon Yuri tilted her head, still confused.

“This doesn’t make sense… I can’t remember inviting anyone like that…”

Suddenly, Kwon Yuri realized her slip and clamped her mouth shut.

Slowly, she turned her head to the side.

Before long, a girl with the form of a horrific spirit was glaring at her.

“…Hey.”

“Hehe… Ireh, we’re friends, right…?”

“This is serious! You’re openly mocking me now!”

“Yikes!”

Kwon Yuri dashed away from the oncoming Choi Ireh and sprinted into the hallway.

Bouncing like a rabbit, while searching for a hiding place, she finally found something and beamed.

“Seoyeon!”

She had something she wanted to ask too.

The incident occurred around midnight. No matter how she looked at it, there were still a few hours of leeway.

In that time, what sweet happenings might have transpired—from the very person who was the bridge? She was extremely curious.

“Where have you been! I was searching for you for a long time! By the way… huh?”

But as Kwon Yuri waved her hands and dashed forward, she noted a peculiar expression on Seoyeon’s face.

With vacant eyes, Baek Seoyeon didn’t even look at her as she staggered forward, as though deaf.

“Hey! Finally caught you! …Huh?”

Choi Ireh, having caught up late, quickly noticed Baek Seoyeon’s strange demeanor as well.

Both of them, witnessing Baek Seoyeon drifting away like a ghost down the corridor, simultaneously opened their mouths.

“Did Seoyeon just glare at you…?”

“Me? Why would Seoyeon glare at me? Must’ve seen wrong.”

Choi Ireh shook her head as if it were nonsense.

Kwon Yuri tilted her head, even more confused.

“What the…?”

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