The Villain’s POV in the Academy

Chapter 49

The Luxe Hotel’s pool villa.

Even renting it for a single day cost several million Credits, yet there were people who had rented it for four consecutive days.

On the table, unopened bottles of liquor were neatly arranged. Lavish snacks sat warm, waiting for their owners.

Before long, a group of boys came rushing noisily into the living room.

They plopped themselves down on the luxurious sofa in front of the table as if jumping into their seats.

The one who looked to be the oldest among them sat in the seat of honor, while the others took seats at a comfortable distance.

They were third-generation chaebol heirs from families attending the G20 Corporate Summit.

“Anyway, I’m dead tired because of that old man of mine. I almost threw up from pretending to be the good son all day.”

“Because you got caught messing around last time?”

“Yeah. Ever since then, he throws a fit whenever I try to do anything. Keeps going on about how Grandpa might reconsider the management rights… I even had to bust my ass just to get here today.”

“I had a hard time too, finding an excuse to ditch the bodyguards.”

“At least this place is far enough from the main hotel, so we don’t have to worry about being caught. I only brought attendants who aren’t the snitching type.”

As they were complaining to each other about how much trouble it had been to arrange this private gathering—

“Ah, more importantly, hyung!”

The youngest of them, Edward, the maternal grandson of the president of New Life Corporation, asked, unable to hide his excitement. Sixteen years old this year, his hand already held a glass of liquor as naturally as breathing.

“You really called the members of ‘Pinky Pinkies’ today, right? The ones who sang ‘Comeback Neuron’?!”

“I told you, I really called them, damn it. How many times are you gonna ask? They said they’d come right after finishing rehearsal, so they should be here soon.”

“Oooooohhh!”

“Kid, you like them that much?”

“Of course I do! You have no idea how much I like them! Especially, there’s this member named ‘Akira,’ right? The moment I first saw her on TV—”

“Ah, this otaku’s getting excited again.”

When the older boys sneered, the youngest frowned and shot back.

“Anyway, once you see her, you’ll all understand. I’m begging you guys—other girls are fine, but you have to let me have Akira.”

“That’s fine, but shouldn’t you first show some respect to the ones who called over the girl you like so much?”

“Ah, sorry, hyung-nim!”

The youngest playfully popped open a bottle of whiskey and poured drinks in order of age.

They had a toast, and the gathering began to heat up. They passed the time chatting about recent events and trading crude jokes.

“They should be here any moment now.”

Ethan, the eldest and the son of the chairman of Purity Service Corporation, muttered while glancing at his watch. It was about time the idol group ‘Pinky Pinkies’ arrived.

Sure enough—

Right on time, a call came from his attendant.

[Young master. The guests have arrived.]

“Alright, let them in.”

[I’m sorry, young master, but… they’re not the people you were supposed to meet—]

“Just let them in.”

[…Understood.]

The attendant seemed like he wanted to say more, but Ethan didn’t listen. With no choice, the attendant followed Ethan’s order and brought in the guests.

Click, clack.

The sound of shoes walking down the hallway set the boys’ hearts racing. They anticipated the thrill of having idols they’d only seen on TV at their beck and call.

But the moment they saw the “guest’s” face, their excitement froze cold.

It wasn’t the girl group members they had expected—someone entirely different had shown up.

“…Who are you?”

“Pardon me. I am Maria, Chief Secretary of the Stingray Human Resources Development Foundation.”

Stingray.

The name alone made the boys tense for a moment.

But soon enough, they relaxed, realizing she was just a secretary.

Ethan, the eldest and grandson of the chairman of Purity Service Corporation, spoke on behalf of the group.

“What business does a Stingray secretary have with us?”

“My superior wishes to meet you all.”

“And who would that be?”

“Chairman Aaron Stingray.”

“Ah, if you mean Aaron Stingray…!”

That was another infamous name.

And of course, it was infamous for all the wrong reasons.

‘Someone you absolutely must not provoke…’

A human weapon of the Stingray Conglomerate.

It was said he was violent, arrogant beyond measure, and would exact brutal revenge with everything he had if anyone crossed him—no matter who they were.

Truly the makings of a tyrant.

Before coming to this party, they had been repeatedly warned by their parents.

To never—absolutely never—get involved with him.

“Hmph. So why would the chairman of the Stingray Foundation have business with us?”

Had they perhaps made some mistake at the party without realizing?

Ethan felt a flicker of worry, though he tried not to show it.

Maria maintained her polite demeanor and continued speaking.

“Our chairman wishes to see you. We would appreciate it if you could spare just a moment.”

“If you’re going to summon people, shouldn’t you first tell them exactly what it’s about? Or have the person with the business come here themselves?”

Since the other side was acting humble, Ethan decided to press harder. He didn’t want to show weakness in front of the younger boys.

The others quickly chimed in with “Yeah, that’s right!” backing him up—as if to make up for having been momentarily intimidated by the name Stingray and their own guilty consciences.

With their support, Ethan began to regain his confidence.

“Look here, Maria. Don’t you think this is crossing the line? Just because Stingray is called the ‘Imperial Family’ doesn’t mean you can act like this.”

“If I’ve offended you, I apologize. Please understand that Chairman Aaron Stingray had no such intention.”

“You’ve already ruined the mood, so what’s the point of saying that? Honestly, why do you think Stingray has the power it does today? It’s because we bought your nanomachines and weapons, isn’t it?”

In New Valhalla City, expanding production colonies, maintaining, and running corporations required a corresponding amount of military power.

In other words, a force composed of Adaptees or Augments was essential—something that had propelled the military corporation Stingray to the top.

After all, it was Stingray who had first created the nanomachines ‘Adam’ and the Adaptee.

Even so, the Stingray Group couldn’t arbitrarily throw its weight around with other corporations.

Even with overwhelming market share and cutting-edge technology, they weren’t the only nanomachine manufacturer.

“If you act like this, it’s only natural we’d start leaning toward Militech or another company instead of Stingray.”

One such example was Militech, which also produced its own nanomachines. Its market share was nowhere near Stingray’s, but it was clinging on and aiming to rise in the nanomachine market.

As long as corporations like that existed, Stingray needed to maintain at least somewhat friendly relations with other companies.

In short, the buyer’s side was the one holding the power.

If the other side displeased them, they could simply switch to a different trade route whenever they wanted.

That was how the boys saw it.

“…If I have upset you all to the extent that you think that way, then once again, I sincerely apologize.”

Even though the words and tone could easily have bruised her pride, Maria lowered her head to boys who were much younger than herself as if nothing was wrong.

Suppressing her own emotions and showing the attitude the other side wanted—Maria had long since mastered this to the point it was easier than breathing.

There was something strangely satisfying in her manner that eased the boys’ tempers somewhat.

“…Alright, as long as you get it. We’ll pretend today never happened, so just leave. We’ve got guests coming. You only got in here because you were mistaken for them.”

“I see. I truly apologize.”

“That’s enough apologies, so just get out—”

“In that case, I’ll keep it brief right here.”

However—

Maria did not back down.

More than matching the other’s mood, she excelled at fulfilling the unreasonable orders of her superiors.

Her demeanor made him bristle again.

“What? Didn’t you hear me? I told you to get the hell out—!”

“Would you take a look at this?”

Maria pulled an item from her coat.

It was a suspicious white Junk Chip the boys had dropped earlier. Upon seeing it, all their eyes turned in unison toward the youngest, Edward, with a startled look.

—You idiot!

—Why the hell is that in her hand?!

—I-I don’t know either!

A silent exchange of glances.

Maria answered as if in response.

“This is something you dropped in the hallway earlier. It looked very important, so I came to return it.”

“T-Then the reason Chairman Aaron wanted to see us was because of that…?”

“Yes. He wishes to ask you about this item.”

The boys’ faces turned pale.

Renting a pool villa, calling over a girl group, drinking together—they could get away with that somehow. While public opinion wouldn’t be kind, it was still something they could smooth over.

But not a Junk Chip.

Junk Chips, fully classified as cyber-drugs, were a problem that no amount of money could completely bury.

Especially that white, “special” Junk Chip…

“Recently, at Trinity Academy, our Stingray Foundation has been leading a special crackdown on Junk Chips.”

“S-So what are you getting at?”

“In short, Chairman Aaron has no intention of holding you personally responsible. His focus is solely on the matter within the Academy.”

“How are we supposed to believe that?!”

“If I may be frank, do you have another choice?”

Maria’s tone was cold.

Her eyes fixed directly on their faces, and the boys could not meet her gaze.

The positions had completely reversed.

“Yes. It’s possible you’ve been caught up in some kind of scheme. I did not see any of you actually using the Junk Chip.”

“You mean… you’d be willing to look the other way…?”

“It’s possible someone with malicious intent planted the Junk Chip on you without your knowledge. Or perhaps it was something you had hidden in your pocket, which fell due to someone’s carelessness.”

“H-How much do you want? Ten million?”

“No. As I said before, I’m not the one who decides that.”

I’m not interested in money.

Only in making sure you’re careful not to offend the one I serve. Because your fate could be decided by a single word from him.

“T-Then what do you want us to do?”

“The chairman is curious about the source of this item. He would prefer to hear it directly from you.”

“The source…”

Once again, all eyes turned to the youngest.

He had only been allowed to join this gathering because he had been the one to bring in a Junk Chip for the first time.

Otherwise, they’d never have let a 16-year-old brat join in.

“W-Why are you all looking at me…!”

“Hey, say something! You’re the one who brought all of ‘those’!”

“No, this is, I mean—!”

The voices and gazes around him grew sharper.

This is your fault. You brought it.

We know nothing about this.

Pressed by the atmosphere, the youngest grew increasingly cornered. His eyes trembled, and sweat poured from him like rain.

Then suddenly—

He stood up from his seat.

“I-I…!”

“Please wait. As I said, we just want to know the source—”

Sensing the situation turning strange, Maria tried to calm him. But it seemed her words did not reach his ears, lost in his panic.

“I… I…!”

It was strange.

She had clearly said that all he had to do was tell them the source and they’d let it slide. She hadn’t even pressured him that much. For him to react this badly out of fear of being caught with a Junk Chip was excessive.

Something.

Something more was going on.

“Please, calm yo—”

“Uaaahhh! Get away! Get away from me!”

In that moment—

Edward pulled every Junk Chip he had from his coat and stomped them to pieces. Then, thud! thud! thud! he slammed his forehead against the table’s corner.

“Hey, hey! Eddie! What the hell?!”

“Stop him! Hold him down!”

“Ka! Kahahahahaha!”

The other boys rushed to restrain the now-deranged Edward. But blood began spurting from his forehead like a fountain.

And even though it had to hurt enough to make him cry, Edward grinned with a twisted smirk and stared at Maria.

“No way. Absolutely no way… Ah.”

He mumbled something—and collapsed unconscious on the spot.

“Hey! Stay with me! Hey!”

"He's bleeding way too much from the head! What do we do?!"

The boys panicked.

Maria quickly moved to Edward’s side to check his condition.

"I’ll take a look."

She pulled out a wrist-mounted cable to check his biometric monitor. As she gently turned his head to connect to his socket—

Maria noticed something strange.

‘A Junk Chip…?’

The same color chip Aaron had picked up earlier was already inserted into the socket hub at the back of Edward’s neck.

Maria tried to remove the Junk Chip from the socket, but for some reason, it wouldn’t come out.

And at that moment—

Wooooooong!

A loud noise came from somewhere.

Looking up at the sky, she saw a transport-type aircar bearing the logo of New Life Corporation arriving.

Clunk! Thud!

As soon as the transport’s door opened, private soldiers armed with Lv.3 powered suits and large-caliber plasma rifles poured out.

They secured the area and stormed into the living room, roughly pulling Maria away from Edward.

[Hands on your head! Step back!]

[VIP secured. Returning.]

Even the soldiers’ armor bore the New Life Corporation emblem.

Though the situation was sudden, the boys complied without resistance.

They assumed the corporate security team had mobilized after detecting Edward’s abnormal vital signs.

But then—

"Wait."

A deep, resonant voice suddenly rang out.

The overwhelming presence carried in that voice made everyone there involuntarily swallow hard.

Turning their heads cautiously, they saw a tall, strikingly handsome man in a black suit, standing there like a ghost. His golden eyes swept sharply over everyone in the room.

"I thought this was taking too long, so I came myself…"

The boys, cowed by the man’s aura, couldn’t even breathe. Somehow, just being in the same space as him felt like a massive hunk of metal was pressing down on their shoulders.

The only fortunate thing was that the man had no interest in them whatsoever.

Aaron Stingray’s gaze was fixed solely on the soldiers of New Life Corporation.

The soldiers, sensing the ominous energy he exuded, grew wary.

And then, to them—

Aaron Stingray asked,

"…Who the hell are you?"