I Became the Academy's Kibitz Villain-Chapter 406: Project Jeju (4)

1:03 PM, Haegneul Hotel Grand Ballroom.

“Who would have thought a wedding hall would turn into an auction house overnight?”

As the ballroom of the Haegneul Hotel in Seogwipo, Jeju, was suddenly transformed into an auction house, Yoon Iseon coughed awkwardly while glancing around self-consciously.

“Unnie, there you are. Phew. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Tae Irin, also dressed in a black suit, approached Yoon Iseon. Though her expression didn’t change much, her face seemed noticeably more relaxed in front of Yoon Iseon.

“Isn’t it easier to find me now?”

“It’s easier for me to use magic power to locate someone rather than looking with my eyes, but the concentration of magic here is too dense.”

Tae Irin gestured with her eyes toward the ballroom filled with people.

“You don’t see this many S-class ability users gathered together except during the World Cup.”

“It’s true; there are some faces you rarely see.”

If you listed their aliases one by one, it might take over a minute, as numerous individuals in formal attire waited for the auction to begin.

Although there was still an hour left until the auction started, the ability users were already engaged in close discussions with Hero Alliance officials or government representatives from their respective countries.

“They’re all here to buy the Phoenix Feather, right?”

“At the very least, we don’t have to worry about someone trying to steal it in front of everyone. …Though I am worried about something else.”

Yoon Iseon scanned the room again.

“…If there’s a terrorist attack and people get hurt or die, the entire world might momentarily grind to a halt.”

It was a gathering of individuals who could be called heads of state.

While it might seem absurd for anyone to dare attack such a summit in real life, wasn’t it often the case in movies or novels that stories began with such meetings being ambushed?

“Someone I know once told me that in the U.S., there’s a system called the ‘Designated Survivor.’”

“Designated Survivor…?”

“If all the administrative officials, especially the President and Vice President, die, the highest-ranking remaining official becomes the acting President.”

“…Why are you bringing this up now?”

“Well, if someone wanted to bring about the world’s destruction, wouldn’t this be the perfect target?”

“But this place is full of people capable of stopping any villain trying something like that.”

“True. …I hope I’m just being paranoid.”

They said bad premonitions were never wrong, but all Yoon Iseon could do was hope her worries would remain just that—worries.

“Unnie, you worry about all kinds of things. I’m more worried about problems caused by the Phoenix Feather.”

“Oh, uh, right.”

That part didn’t concern her at all.

Yoon Iseon wanted to say this but held her breath, suppressing the words rising from her chest—words that would normally have reached her throat.

“Doesn’t it worry you? If some strange villain suddenly appears and steals the Phoenix Feather, it’ll be utter chaos.”

“Hmm… Would there really be such a villain?”

“Of course there would. There’s the Secret Society. Those people breaking other villains’ cradles? It’s clearly a warning not to mess with the Phoenix Feather they’re bidding on.”

Tae Irin’s gaze turned toward a red-haired woman.

“She’s openly showing herself now, but who knows what schemes are being plotted behind the scenes—oh?”

Step, step.

The red-haired woman Tae Irin pointed at walked over with a bright smile.

“Hello?”

“…Hello.”

“Baridegi, Tae Irin, right? I’m ‘Red Rider,’ Yun Hye-ra.”

“I know.”

Responding in a slightly stiff tone, Tae Irin merely nodded at Yun Hye-ra’s outstretched hand instead of shaking it.

“Hehe, I came over because it seemed like you were having an interesting conversation. So, you’re saying I’m part of the Secret Society, and they sent me here to pretend we’re not up to anything shady?”

“If Red Rider is a Secret Society executive, a diversion tactic would make sense. …You can fool others, but not my eyes.”

“Eyes, huh…”

Yun Hye-ra shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, even if what you say is true for Baridegi, I’m purely here for the auction. Although, I’ve already gained something more valuable than the Phoenix Feather.”

“…….”

“Aren’t you curious? About what happened after I obtained Do Ji-hwan’s time?”

The people standing nearby subtly paused their conversations, their ears perking up.

“If you want, I could tell you.”

“Your joke’s going too far, Yun Hye-ra.”

“Oh my, thanks for calling me by name. Yoon Iseon, I’ve always wanted us fellow flame manipulators to get along better!”

“…Yes.”

Yoon Iseon forced an awkward smile and lightly shook Yun Hye-ra’s extended hand.

“Yoon Iseon, aren’t you curious? About how extraordinary Do Ji-hwan is?”

“…Do I need to be?”

“Any woman would be curious, wouldn’t they? About the best man in the world?”

“…How do you know that?”

“Hehehe.”

Yun Hye-ra chuckled softly, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Who knows? Maybe it’s because I’m so experienced that I can compare others to Do Ji-hwan, or maybe, like Baek Seol-hee, I had my first experience with him and can now talk about it.”

“That’s…”

“It depends on how people interpret it, doesn’t it? Even if I tell the truth, it’s up to others to accept it their way.”

Yun Hye-ra’s eyes curved into crescent moons.

But between her smiling eyes, her red pupils were fixed on Tae Irin.

“No matter how much truth is told, if someone spreads lies and others believe them, the truth becomes tainted.”

“That’s….”

“In that sense, at least I came forward openly, didn’t I? I’m not wearing a mask or anything. Hehe.”

“…Tch.”

Tae Irin clicked her tongue lightly and looked away.

“Uh, hmm….”

A middle-aged man, who had approached in an attempt to strike up a conversation, was standing nearby.

“Oh my, Deputy Vice President of Haegneul Daily, nice to meet you!”

“You know my name? Haha, it’s an honor. I’m…”

“Of course I know. Ever since I came to Korea, your articles have given me such a warm welcome.”

“Haha, if my reporters’ enthusiasm made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”

“It’s fine. Do you have any questions? Ah, are you here to investigate Do Ji-hwan’s nights? That’s a bit inappropriate. But feel free to interview me about anything else. We have time before the auction starts, so let’s chat.”

“Would you really? That’s an honor.”

“Hehe. Then let’s go.”

Yun Hye-ra winked at Yoon Iseon and Tae Irin before leaving.

“…Unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think it’s just my imagination that she stopped the Haegneul Daily President from approaching us?”

Tae Irin gazed at Yun Hye-ra with a complicated expression.

“The magic power I sense from her… It’s the same as what I felt in Yangyang. That magic power.”

“…Even so, she said herself she’s here as Red Rider.”

“…….”

“If it’s a lie, we can deal with it later. …If someone is hiding behind a false facade, that is.”

Yoon Iseon’s gaze turned toward the Deputy Vice President of Haegneul Daily, and Tae Irin tilted her head slightly in confusion.

“Why are you looking at that deputy vice president?”

“You seem good at perceiving things through magic power, but not so much with just your eyes.”

“…Sunbae, you do realize my rank is higher than yours.”

“Ability rank aside, I’m still three years older than you. Now, lend me your ear for a moment.”

Whisper, whisper.

“…Is that true? Really?”

“Of course. Haegneul’s technology is flawless for such things.”

“This is ridiculous.”

Tae Irin gaped, staring intently at the back of the Deputy Vice President’s head.

“That’s….”

“Someone once said that a golden tower built on lies might fool everyone for a while, but it’s bound to be exposed eventually.”

Yoon Iseon lifted her head to look at the ceiling.

The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

“In the bright light of the sun, everything is revealed.”

Time continued to tick by.

1:44 PM, 16 minutes before the auction begins.

[Even watching from afar, they’ve filled the surrounding area with Hero Alliance agents. Ruthless.]

I waited for the auction to start, perched on the rooftop of a building about 5 kilometers away from the Haegneul Hotel.

[Not that it bothers me.]

“…At 5 kilometers, you can cover that distance in under a minute anyway.”

Seong Ji-eun—Chaos—wearing an ethereal white dress unlike her usual attire, approached me with a sarcastic tone.

“You’re capable of that much even without my power.”

[In one minute, a demon could easily kill a hundred people. And with your power, you’d make it in ten seconds.]

“…But Yumir could do it in just one second.”

Chaos replied curtly, her lips curving into a pout.

“I want to learn teleportation after this is over.”

[Instead of teleportation, you could just phase through the Earth. Oh, no, wait, that would be too complicated.]

Traveling through the Earth’s core from New York to Jamaica might be easy, but reaching the Korean Peninsula would be much harder.

Especially underground, beneath the East Sea.

[Let’s try to resolve this without full integration. Your soul is already five years old; it’s time to get some rest.]

“…What are you saying? I’m 17 years old with three human years and five ghost years added on top.”

[Didn’t you tell me to call you ‘noona’?]

“Noona or ‘mama’ doesn’t depend on age.”

[…It’s starting. Get ready to face them.]

Crunch.

[They’re approaching.]

One of the tangerines we had placed on the ground burst.

Among the tangerines arranged in a circle around us, the one on the western side had ruptured.

“As expected. The villains are showing their true colors as soon as the auction begins. Aren’t they afraid of Cradle Break?”

[Nobody includes their own downfall in their plans.]

I picked up my Goblin Bat.

[People only come to their senses when those plans fall apart.]

Villain approaching, villain approaching.

A Hallabong orange, split at its sides like wings, fluttered over my head and chirped.

I aimed the Goblin Bat—transformed into an anti-material sniper rifle—in the direction pointed out by the Hallabong, also known as Jicheonhyang.

[Oh, deity of abilities, let another one fall today.]

Bang.

The bullet was fired.

As I observed the scene in the distance, a hollow laugh escaped my lips.

[Unbelievable.]

“As expected.”

Standing before us was a figure with a long, hot-pink ponytail—

“You thought you could neutralize me. A sniper’s attack is easily countered by protecting the target’s critical point. That’s why…”

The man pointed a purple-glowing sword at me. The lower half of his body shimmered with a radiant pink magical aura.

“I surrounded my jewels with protective magic essence.”

[Plum Blossom Swordsman.]

An S-class ability user from China, previously driven out by Doul.

[Does this man even have a conscience?]

“Instead of conscience.”

From Plum Blossom Swordsman’s blade, a subtle scent of plum blossoms wafted into the air.

“My two jewels remain intact.”