How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 27. Insight

“Young Master! Over here!”

The morning after absorbing the villain Lee Woo-sang’s powers, the air was thick with anticipation.

Secretary Jin, waiting by the car parked in front of the dormitory, waved her hand, calling out to Kim Do-jin.

“Huh?”

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Kim Do-jin, just stepping out of the dormitory building, tilted his head in curiosity as he approached her.

“What’s this all of a sudden? You didn’t say a word.”

He had intended to scold her for not giving him a heads-up, but that thought vanished as soon as he caught sight of what Secretary Jin was holding.

“Tada! I’ve brought what you asked for yesterday. The Spirit Stone.”

Her efficiency was beyond his expectations.

The Spirit Stone was not just costly; its scarcity made it a rare find.

“Oh, you got it already?”

Kim Do-jin accepted the box from Secretary Jin with a grin.

As he gently lifted the lid, he found a pair of finely crafted bracelets made from the Spirit Stone nestled inside.

“But what exactly are we going to use this for?”

Secretary Jin, who had been watching his reaction with a hint of pride, suddenly wore a curious expression.

This Spirit Stone was meant to suppress Im So-hee’s ‘Levitation’ power when it spiraled out of control, but he had no intention of sharing that with her.

“There’s a use for it.”

Kim Do-jin replied curtly, intending to send Secretary Jin on her way.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

“Eh? Is that all?”

“Yeah. Why? Do I need to give you some kind of bonus?”

“Of course! You said it was urgent, so I went out of my way, even after hours yesterday!”

Seeing the sparkle in Secretary Jin’s eyes, Kim Do-jin couldn’t help but nod in acknowledgment.

“Alright, you can go now.”

“At your service! Shall I drive you to the main building?”

“No. It’s not that far.”

With a wave of his hand, he resumed his path to school.

– Vroom.

Moments later, as Secretary Jin drove away in Kim Do-jin’s private vehicle, whispers rippled through the surrounding students.

“Wow, how much does that car cost?”

“I don’t know. It looks like it’s been modified, but it must be worth at least hundreds of millions.”

Soon, several students gazed at it with envy, but Kim Do-jin felt no thrill.

He continued walking, lost in various thoughts.

“Eh?”

Suddenly, his eyes met Yoon Yoo-na, who was walking with friends across the street.

“…!”

Yoon Yoo-na flinched for a moment, startled, then quickly averted her gaze, her reaction distinctly different from before.

‘Could that masked hero from yesterday be suspecting it’s me? I did use my rock manipulation powers, so it’s possible to think that… but I suppose she’ll conclude it’s not me. After all, this Kim Do-jin has a reputation to uphold.’

With that thought settled, Kim Do-jin kept walking, and soon spotted Im So-hee.

She was adorably clutching the straps of her bag with both hands, making her way to school alone.

‘This is perfect.’

Kim Do-jin quickened his pace to catch up to Im So-hee.

“…….”

Im So-hee, oblivious to the presence beside her, continued walking steadily until—

“…Eek!”

Only after a beat did she jump in surprise, letting out a shriek.

But as soon as she recognized the figure as Kim Do-jin, relief washed over her, and she broke into a bright smile.

“Oh, hi!”

Seeing Im So-hee, with her characteristic round glasses perched on her nose, Kim Do-jin immediately revealed the pair of friendship stones he had brought.

However, since Secretary Jin had delivered them in a pretty box, they somehow resembled a gift.

“W-What is this?”

Students nearby suddenly began to murmur and stare, and Im So-hee’s face flushed red, as if she had misunderstood something.

“Oh, I guess it could be misinterpreted.”

Kim Do-jin muttered, then promptly opened the box.

“Eh? This is…”

Inside the box lay a pair of friendship stone bracelets.

Im So-hee’s eyes widened as she looked up at Kim Do-jin in astonishment.

“This is the friendship stone bracelet I mentioned yesterday. They can weigh up to 50 kg, so there shouldn’t be any accidents of flying off into the sky from now on.”

At that explanation, Im So-hee gasped, her mouth agape in wonder.

It was perhaps only natural to be surprised that such an item had been procured within a mere day of mentioning it.

“Thank you. I had no idea you could find it so quickly.”

Regardless, Im Sohee expressed her gratitude repeatedly, and Kim Dojin urged her to try it out right away.

“Ah, got it.”

Im Sohee soon picked up the charm bracelet, attempting to fasten it around her wrist, but the slenderness of her wrist made it a challenge to secure.

After all, it was not crafted for her specifically; it was a product available in the market, intended for the training of adult men.

“Ugh… what should I do?”

Im Sohee gazed at the bracelet, which hung loosely even when she tried to tighten it, feeling flustered, yet there were alternatives.

“What about wearing it on your ankle?”

In fact, wearing it on her ankle might have been more suitable than on her wrist.

For Im Sohee, it was not for training but rather to suppress her ‘levitation’ superpower.

“Okay.”

Im Sohee attempted to fasten the bracelet around her ankle, but her posture was awkward.

“Come here.”

Kim Dojin led Im Sohee to a nearby bench and instructed her to take off her shoes.

“Huh? Uh, okay….”

Im Sohee blushed, fumbling and glowing as she hesitated to remove her shoes.

‘She’s shy about everything.’

Kim Dojin knelt before her, quickly fastening the bracelet around her ankle.

– Click.

Im Sohee’s small frame meant her ankle was slender, yet the bracelet managed to stay in place just enough.

“How does it feel?”

Kim Dojin shook her ankle gently to check if the bracelet was secure, and Im Sohee, still glowing, replied.

“I-it’s… good….”

“Good? So it’s not uncomfortable?”

“Uh-huh….”

That was a relief.

Kim Dojin placed Im Sohee’s tiny black shoes back at her feet, and she hesitantly slipped them on.

“Give it a try.”

As Kim Dojin patiently waited for her to put on her shoes, he prepared for the final test.

“Yes.”

Im Sohee soon channeled the mana within her body to her ankle, and the mana-infused bracelet of midstone tightened around her, growing heavy with its burden.

“Ugh!”

Im Sohee gasped in surprise, marveling at the sudden weight tugging at her ankle.

Kim Dojin smiled at the sight of it working so well and asked, “Can you handle it?”

Im Sohee nodded, drawing mana from the midstone bracelet to lighten it once more.

“Yes. With this, I don’t think I’ll fly off like before. Thank you! I can even take out the dumbbells I stashed in my bag!”

Thus, the task of giving Im Sohee the midstone came to an end.

Kim Dojin resumed his journey to school, and after some time, he finally arrived at the classroom.

– Creak.

He opened the classroom door and, as if by habit, walked toward his seat.

But in the midst of it all…

“…Huh?”

For some inexplicable reason, his gaze suddenly locked with that of a stunningly beautiful girl he had never seen before.

‘What is this?’

It was strange enough that their eyes met, but even more peculiar was the thought.

‘Was there such a beauty in this class?’

Though it was a hero high school, they were still just a bunch of spirited high school students, and it was only natural for the boys to gossip about who was pretty and the girls to discuss who was handsome.

In Class 1-1, it was usually said that Yoon Yuna was the prettiest, with some claiming that Im Sohee was not far behind.

The name of Misaki Ai, who kept her eyes tightly shut, occasionally came up as well…

In any case, those three were often regarded as the most outstanding beauties of Class 1-1, but the girl whose gaze he had just met was certainly no less striking.

‘But why is she sitting there? That seat… wait a minute?’

Kim Dojin felt he was beginning to grasp the identity of the girl.

‘Could it be Carla Arlen!?’

The seat she occupied was unmistakably Carla Arlen’s, and her appearance, even if she hailed from France, was entirely fitting.

‘I think I heard she took after her father with her blonde hair and blue eyes… Seems like that’s true. But… why can I see her?’

Feigning nonchalance, Kim Dojin walked toward his seat while scanning the room, but it seemed that only he could see Carla Arlen.

If her ‘invisibility’ power had been active, the classroom would have been in chaos by now.

‘This is unbelievable… So, I must have gained the ability to see through her invisibility.’

At last, seated, Kim Do-jin found his answer.

‘One of the two superpowers absorbed from that villain yesterday. So this was the mystery I couldn’t unravel?’

It seemed that the other superpower possessed by Lee Woo-sang was not merely the ability to create illusions or invisibility, but rather a piercing insight that could see through such magic.

‘Huh…’

If it weren’t that, there was no way to explain the current situation.

‘What a predicament…’

Kim Do-jin glanced at Carla Arlen, who had been staring at him intently, and pondered what to do next.

‘But why does she keep looking at me?’

The reason eluded him entirely.

Another pressing question loomed: how long could he pretend not to see her?

‘At some point, I’ll have to confess, right? That I’ve seen through your invisibility…’

Pretending to be oblivious was undoubtedly no easy feat, so he resolved to maintain the charade for now.

Surely, an appropriate opportunity would arise eventually.

But then…

‘Why, of all things?’

It seemed that a suitable moment would be hard to come by for the foreseeable future.

Carla Arlen, for reasons unknown, kept casting glances at Kim Do-jin even during class, while he struggled to ignore her gaze.

“Ugh…”

Time passed, regardless.

Finally, the day’s lessons came to an end.

Kim Do-jin hastily tidied his desk, confirming that Carla Arlen had already left the classroom before heading toward the dormitory.

It wasn’t a long walk, yet he took the time to search for a few pieces of information on his smartphone.

The news from the previous evening and details about the powers of illusion and invisibility.

“Hmm…”

He read through the online information carefully as he walked, eventually returning to his dorm room.

‘Looks like Winter has gone for a walk again.’

At last, he switched off his smartphone and flung open the refrigerator door.

He pulled out a chilled can of cola and collapsed onto the sofa.

It was a routine he followed daily, yet each time, it felt as if the fatigue melted away completely.

– Clink!

Kim Do-jin immediately popped the cap and gulped down the cola.

But in the midst of it.

“Phhht!”

He ended up spraying cola everywhere.

Before him lay a scene so shocking, so utterly unimaginable, that it left him aghast.

‘What the hell… what kind of situation is this?’

To his bewilderment, Carla Arlen stood before him clad in nothing but her panties.

It seemed she couldn’t even fathom that her state was fully visible to Kim Do-jin, and he, in turn, quickly pretended he hadn’t seen anything at all.

“Ah… I almost choked…”

He mumbled a half-hearted excuse for the cola spray, avoiding her gaze entirely.

After hastily wiping the floor, he turned on the television, fixating his eyes on the screen.

‘In all my life, I’ve never had to manage a gaze this difficult.’

Sitting next to Carla Arlen, nearly naked, and only watching the television felt like a monumental task.

‘If I reveal that I can see her, who knows what might happen… It’s best to pretend I see nothing at all.’

With that thought, Kim Do-jin continued to act as if Carla Arlen was invisible, while she stared at him for a while before retreating into the bedroom.

‘…What is she planning to do?’

It seemed Carla Arlen was searching for something in the bedroom, but he had no inkling of what it could be.