How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 49. Target

The next morning.

‘Huh?’

Kim Do-jin, on patrol for the student council, kept tilting his head in confusion.

There was something off about Yoon Yu-na’s behavior since earlier.

‘This is different from last time. Has something happened in between?’

Yoon Yu-na, with a strangely flushed face, kept glancing at Kim Do-jin as if she were measuring his reactions.

“……!”

The moment their eyes met, she flinched and quickly averted her gaze.

‘What’s with the sudden change…?’

Though Kim Do-jin felt a wave of bewilderment, he chose to remain silent, quietly following her.

But after some time had passed.

“Hey.”

Suddenly, Yoon Yu-na turned slightly and spoke up.

“……?”

When he looked at her with a puzzled expression, she stammered awkwardly.

“Isn’t Lee Jin-ryul acting a bit strange lately? He never misses first place, yet he’s lost it to you a few times recently. Oh! But there are these weird rumors about him and me, and it’s really not like that. I have no idea how those rumors even started…”

At that moment, Kim Do-jin halted in his tracks.

It wasn’t just the unexpectedness of her words; it was the stark contrast to what he had been thinking.

‘Doesn’t she like Lee Jin-ryul?’

When Kim Do-jin stared at her, bewildered, Yoon Yu-na flinched and asked.

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“Why, why?”

He shook his head and replied.

“No. I just thought my shoelace was untied…”

With that, he trudged ahead, and Yoon Yu-na followed, her expression tense for some reason.

* * *

Time flowed on, and finally, Saturday morning dawned.

“Yawn…”

Waking from his slumber, Kim Do-jin immediately grabbed his smartphone to check the time.

“Guess it’s time to start getting ready.”

Kim Do-jin soon took a shower and summoned his secretary, Jin.

He was to fetch the recently completed magical engineering invention by Dr. Yoo Eun-ah.

“Huh? Where’s Winter?”

At last, Jin, who had come to pick him up at the dormitory, looked around and asked.

“After the shower, I didn’t see him. He must have gone for a walk. He’ll be back soon anyway, so let’s leave him.”

Kim Do-jin replied like that and got into the car with Jin.

And they were on their way straight to the ‘Cube.’

“Hmm…”

Kim Do-jin gazed out at the flowing scenery of downtown Seoul, contemplating the schedule ahead.

‘Wasn’t there a school trip to Japan coming up soon?’

He wasn’t excited merely about the school trip itself.

What mattered was that the destination was Japan, and there was something he needed to do there.

So he was reorganizing his plans regarding that matter in his mind.

“Young master, about that request I mentioned before…”

Jin suddenly began to ask various questions while driving.

And Kim Do-jin was answering without much thought.

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he tilted his head in confusion.

“You asked me that before, didn’t you?”

Jin flinched, surprised by his response.

“Oh! Did I? Haha…”

Jin scratched his head and laughed it off nonchalantly, but Kim Do-jin couldn’t let it slide.

“…”

It was strange.

Of all people, how could Jin forget something like that?

Seeing Jin, who had always been so attentive, acting this way made Kim Do-jin tilt his head in puzzlement.

But just then.

“What the!”

A massive truck suddenly burst out from the side, blocking their path.

– Squeak!

Jin, the secretary, slammed the brakes, but there was no avoiding the collision.

– KWAANG!

Fortunately, the vehicle was a wreck, so neither Kim Do-jin nor Jin suffered severe shock.

Yet, the sudden stop left them both dizzy, and in that moment, a red-haired man emerged from the truck, striding toward them with purpose.

His gait was anything but friendly.

‘What the hell!?’

Kim Do-jin shook his head, trying to clear his mind, but it was already too late.

– KWAJIK!

The red-haired man had reached the side of the car and, with terrifying strength, wrenched the door open.

Then, with a single hand, he seized each of their legs, gripping them tightly.

‘What the hell is happening!’

Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, Kim Do-jin could hardly contain his panic.

What kind of person commits such a crime in the heart of Seoul?

“Kuuk!”

In a rush, Kim Do-jin grabbed the sword he had set aside, ready to fight back, but he was too slow.

– PAAT!

The red-haired man, holding onto both Kim Do-jin and Jin, seemed to have been waiting for this moment, using his ‘Mass Teleportation’ ability.

“……!”

In an instant, his vision, once darkened, was filled with shadows of a different hue.

“This place…”

It was clear they were in a deserted location, resembling the interior of an abandoned factory.

Kim Do-jin barely managed to point his sword forward, assessing Jin’s condition.

“Are you okay?”

Fortunately, Jin appeared to be unharmed.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

Kim Do-jin narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the red-haired man standing before them.

‘S-rank? No… it feels like he surpasses even SS-rank.’

As he gauged the opponent’s magical power, a deep shadow fell across Kim Do-jin’s face.

‘Damn it…’

If he were merely facing an S-rank, he might have had a chance with his ‘Time Transcendence’ ability, but against a monster of SS-rank, it was still beyond his reach.

Moreover, the SS-class awakened ones were not limited to just the red-haired man before him.

“Well done, Marvin.”

Suddenly, a blue-haired man dropped down from the two-story railing beside him, speaking with a casual air.

The red-haired man, Marvin Krieger, replied with a hint of fatigue in his voice.

“My part is done. I can leave now, right?”

The blue-haired man smirked, as if he had expected this.

“Yes. We no longer need your help. You can’t even travel between continents, can you?”

It was a deliberate jab at his pride, but Marvin Krieger said nothing and simply walked away.

– Whoosh!

Once again, Marvin Krieger vanished into thin air, using his teleportation ability.

“…….”

Should he consider it a stroke of luck?

Kim Do-jin watched the scene unfold before turning his gaze to the blue-haired man.

‘What is this guy’s true identity?’

Given that he had been suddenly abducted, there was only one conclusion he could draw.

The mysterious villain organization that had attempted to kidnap Chairwoman Kate not long ago.

This man appeared to hold a significant position within that organization, and indeed, Kim Do-jin’s suspicions were correct.

The elite operational unit of ‘Leviathan’ known as the ‘Shadow Brigade.’

The red-haired man, Marvin Krieger, who had just teleported away, was a member of the special 0th unit, while the blue-haired man before him was none other than ‘Kai Renert,’ the captain of the 5th unit.

– Swoosh.

Suddenly, Kai Renert lifted a handful of water pooled on the floor with his powers, shaping it into a sharp spear as he spoke.

“Isn’t it bewildering, this sudden turn of events? Truth be told, I feel the same. I never expected to be tasked with abducting such a greenhorn.”

As he watched the liquid spear aimed at him, Kim Do-jin couldn’t help but feel a wave of despair wash over him.

‘To think I’d be targeted by such heavyweights… Was stepping in back then such a grave mistake?’

As Kim Do-jin had feared, his involvement in the Chairwoman Kate kidnapping incident had drawn unwanted attention.

The exploits he had displayed that day had reached the ears of Leviathan’s upper echelons, leading to the order to capture him.

‘Damn it… How did the information leak?’

Regret was futile now.

What he needed to do was find a way to escape this clutches.

‘What should I do?’

No matter how I thought about it, escaping from an SS-class behemoth with this body seemed impossible.

Yet, that didn’t mean I could simply submit without a fight.

“Why do you want to kidnap me? What do you plan to do with me? And who the hell are you to touch me without a shred of fear?”

Kai Renert let out a derisive laugh at my attempt to buy some time.

“What are you, anyway? Ah! The scion of the Myungseong Group? Heh. Yes, Kim Mu-ho’s Myungseong Group. It seems to hold some weight here in South Korea, but in front of our organization, you’re nothing. Just a pawn to be used in our conquest of the world.”

Kai Renert’s irritation with Kim Do-jin’s arrogance was palpable, and his words flowed like a river.

“…….”

As Kim Do-jin silently stared at him, he finally realized he had spoken unnecessarily and snorted dismissively.

“Hmph! Enough.”

With that, Kai Renert tossed a pair of black handcuffs onto the ground.

– Thud!

The black handcuffs that fell before Kim Do-jin were none other than magical binding cuffs.

A piece of arcane engineering primarily used to restrain Awakened ones, these cuffs took a considerable amount of time to activate their sealing effect after being worn, making them difficult to use for any other purpose.

Regardless, the reason Kai Renert had thrown the magical cuffs was clear.

“If you put them on yourself, I won’t have to turn you into a bloody mess.”

That was no empty boast.

A powerhouse like Kai Renert could easily turn even an A-class Awakened into a pulp before forcibly applying the magical cuffs.

So, if one could endure the humiliation, willingly putting on the cuffs could be a viable option.

But.

“…….”

Kim Do-jin was no ordinary A-class Awakened.

With his absurd ‘Time Transcendence’ ability, along with useful powers like ‘Petrification’ and ‘Rock Manipulation,’ it was worth attempting an escape.

So.

– Crash!

He suddenly collapsed the ground beneath Kai Renert’s feet, lifting his secretary, Jin, into his arms.

“Let’s get out of here!”

Using his ‘Time Transcendence’ ability, he attempted to flee, but Kai Renert’s movements were faster than anticipated.

“Hmph! You think you can escape?”

In an instant, Kai Renert regained his balance and launched a spear of water he had suspended in the air with astonishing speed.

– Swoosh!

Though it was liquid, it had been sharpened to a keen edge by mana, leaving no room for evasion.

“Ugh!”

Kim Do-jin barely rolled on the ground, dodging the attack, and as he set Jin Secretary down beside him, he spoke.

“It’s no use. You go on ahead! I’ll buy time somehow and catch up.”

To this, Jin Secretary shook her head defiantly.

“No. I’ll buy the time. You get out of here, young master!”

With that, she swiftly drew a pistol she had hidden in her coat.

‘What? When did she start carrying that around?’

He didn’t know how things had come to this, but he was grateful for her resolve to buy time.

Of course, that was all it was—just a sentiment.

“What do you think you can do with that? Just listen to me and go!”

There was a reason why Awakened Ones wielded old-fashioned spears and swords instead of guns.

While a spear could channel mana, a bullet, which could not be held in hand, could not be imbued with it.

Moreover, Jin Secretary wasn’t even an Awakened One; the bullets she fired wouldn’t even scratch the mana barrier enveloping Kai Renert.

So how on earth did she plan to buy time?

“What are you doing!?”

In his frustration, Kim Do-jin shouted, but astonishingly, he was wrong in his assumptions.

– Bang!

The moment Jin Secretary’s bullet struck Kai Renert’s body.

– Boom!

A tremendous explosion of mana erupted.