The Villain’s POV in the Academy

Chapter 349: The Villain’s POV in the Academy

And just like that.

Everything began returning to normal.

First, under Miyu’s painstaking Module tuning, I lowered my Replacement Rate back to its previous 69.99%. According to Miyu, even she hadn’t known whether such a thing was actually possible.

-No one has known for a long time exactly why the Nanomachines of an Overadapted who exceeds the Maximum Replacement Rate begin malfunctioning. But surprisingly, not only did you overcome the symptoms, Aaron, the Nanomachines themselves actually returned to normal functionality.

Miyu was genuinely astonished.

Perhaps something called a ‘soul’ truly did exist, and perhaps it might serve as a clue to uncovering the secret that had remained unknown until now.

Well, anyway.

Thanks to that, I returned to a normal Replacement Rate, but before I even had time to be grateful for it, I found myself buried in work.

-Brother! I secured the budget for the restoration project of Production Colony AEYS-152! According to the records, there used to be a New Weapons Technology Research Institute there, and if we can restore it, it’ll be a huge help to our business!”

-Brother, we recently received information that a new Mystic Species with special abilities was discovered about 500km away from the city. Please go check it out, and if possible, I’d like you to capture one…… no, around five of them alive.

-Brother. We had some rats sneak into our research institute last night. Most of what they stole was dummy data, but a few important things were mixed in. Please teach those fools who dared to target the ‘Stingray’ legacy without even knowing fear a lesson. In a very ‘quiet’ way, of course.

-Brother, we’re planning to acquire an environmental industry company soon. But apparently, some fearless C-Rank Mercenary Corps has been putting strange ideas into our business partner’s head? Could you investigate them for me?

-Brother. Did you see this news recently? It shows a fairly skilled Wizard robbing a bank. What? Am I asking you to catch him? In a way, yes, but don’t kill him. Bring him back alive. He might even be a Sage-Class Wizard, so if he’s useful, I’m thinking of recruiting him.

-Brother, you had connections with the Sector E mafias, didn’t you? What? You haven’t contacted them since the Dragon Incident? Then that works out perfectly. Apparently, refugees from the Fallen have been flooding into that area and causing quite a commotion, so if you go establish some discipline, we might be able to open up a new market. Please~.

“……This is killing me.”

It was the first time since fighting the Sky Dragon that I genuinely felt like I was going to die.

Kalia kept casually handing me new quests every single day as though I were the protagonist of some game.

The problem was that every single one of them was ridiculously important to the future of the New Stingray Group, and Kalia herself was enduring a murderous workload, so I couldn’t refuse.

In the end, for the first few months, forget handling my original Foundation duties, I could barely even set foot in the city.

Even amid all that, whenever I was in the city, Airi and Serena persistently came to see me.

Serena approached me like a bulldozer just as she always had, while Airi, perhaps because her previous confession had given her momentum, began appealing to me even more actively.

“Darling, I made you a lunchbox filled with love~ Would you like to try it?”

“Serena, you didn’t put anything weird in there, did you? Turtle soup again, or some strange elixir mixed into…….”

“Th-There’s no way I’d do that! More importantly, why are you here? Don’t tell me you’ve been hanging around here every day? Are you a stalker?”

“Me? Aren’t you talking about yourself?”

“……Stop fighting here and both of you go home.”

Well, those were roughly the kinds of days I spent.

But that only lasted for the first few months, and by the time the chaos caused by the Sky Dragon Incident had been completely brought under control, both of them returned to their lives as students, so they came around comparatively less often.

Airi, naturally, returned to the Academy.

Serena returned to the Fashion Department at the university she had originally attended.

Since school had been suspended for nearly half a year, it seemed they would graduate around the summer three years from now.

Right, news about the Special Class members.

Airi tried to continue her activities as usual, but after returning to school, a bombshell went off.

Some tabloid media outlet caught wind of the fact that she was the daughter of a famous actress, and once it was confirmed to be true, she received so much attention that attending classes properly became difficult.

The frenzy continued for about a month, after which her fan club grew in size and advertising offers and media interview requests began flooding in indiscriminately.

And although absolutely nothing about her herself had changed, she seemed disgusted that everyone’s opinion of her had completely transformed simply because the stigma of being ‘from the Fallen’ had fallen away.

Separate from that, after stepping down as Student Council President, she was diligently attending classes as an ordinary student of the Tactical Combat Department.

Miyu, being the genius she was, simply graduated.

Students in the Tactical Combat Department had a fixed training curriculum, making it difficult to skip grades within the system.

However, having determined that there was already nothing left for her to learn as an undergraduate, she asked the professors around her for help, and through the power of connections, she entered graduate school immediately.

She had only just entered graduate school, but it probably wouldn’t take her very long to finish her Master’s and Doctoral programs and obtain her degrees.

Not only I, but even Kalia, was eagerly waiting for her to become a Doctor as soon as possible and join Stingray Corporation.

Since Silence had been a fourth-year student, he began working seriously as an intern through an Industry-Academic Cooperation Institution affiliated with the Stingray Foundation.

Although all of the aftereffects from the Junk Chip had been cured, he continued wearing his mask out of habit. Because of that, there had been some friction with his coworkers early in his internship, but he soon demonstrated his abilities and earned their recognition.

It had already been tentatively decided that after graduation, he would officially work for the Stingray Security Team, specifically as a member of the Special Security Team.

Reina seemed to still be dating Silence, and I heard that even while busy with her second-year General Combat Department activities, she still found time here and there to go on dates.

Naturally, they apparently fought from time to time, but judging from the stories about her folding Silence’s waist in half whenever that happened, or carrying him tucked under her arm like a teddy bear, it seemed she had him completely under her thumb.

Just like her romantic life, her own abilities began growing rapidly as well.

Perhaps the Sky Dragon Incident and her activities afterward had served as some kind of catalyst, because after establishing a firm combat style of her own, she became talented enough for other corporations to covet.

And then there was Guardian.

This guy was a problem child.

When he had been the youngest member surrounded by his seniors in the Special Class, he had at least behaved himself somewhat, but once the other members became less present due to their respective activities, his true nature began revealing itself in earnest.

Failing to keep up properly with classes was a given, and he frequently got into conflicts with students sponsored by other corporations. People even began raising questions about why someone like him had become a member of the ‘Special Class.’

But once practical training began in earnest, those voices vanished completely. He silenced everyone’s complaints by literally crushing everything with overwhelming physical ability and sweeping away monsters.

Thanks to the efforts of Kalia and me, Stingray had been growing rapidly recently, but our standing still wasn’t what it used to be. Thanks to his exploits, however, we were able to show everyone that Stingray wasn’t completely dead yet.

Of course, he himself probably had no such intention.

Then, let’s talk about those outside the Special Class.

First, Ciel.

She was successfully continuing her activities while somehow keeping her identity as an ‘Android’ hidden.

However, she still hadn’t completely fixed her ‘yes-man’ tendencies as an Android, though apparently that actually appealed to the guy she was seeing in a positive way or something.

Maria.

Together with me, she helped Kalia handle an enormous amount of work and steadily grew Stingray.

She took charge of so many miscellaneous tasks that it was difficult to consider her merely a Chief Secretary, and she was one of the reasons I couldn’t complain despite being buried in work myself.

Evangeline.

Likewise, she started attending elementary school again.

Even after returning to school, her popularity remained tremendous, and she continued captivating the hearts of numerous boys, but even she, who seemed as though she should have nothing but happiness in her life, had worries of her own.

‘My height…… isn’t increasing…….’

Compared to her other friends, who were shooting upward, her growth was somewhat slow.

Considering she wasn’t an ordinary human child in the first place, it was only natural, and personally, part of me hoped Evangeline would remain adorable like this forever.

But regardless, it seemed to be a complex for her, and she even got an upset stomach after drinking milk too enthusiastically.

There was truly never a dull moment watching that girl.

Vladimir.

I hadn’t properly met him face-to-face since the Sky Dragon Incident.

Apparently, all this time, he had been secretly taking care of Linda Beta and his daughter while disguising them as ‘guests,’ but his father discovered the secret, causing a huge uproar.

Still, unlike our Chairman Drake Stingray, Chairman Kharitonov was extremely soft on his only son, and it seemed he ultimately surrendered to him.

I received a formal wedding invitation not long ago, so I supposed things were going well for them.

And then, some very happy news.

After six months, Lexus Vane, who had been comatose, finally opened his eyes again.

His injuries had been so severe that even after Cyberware implantation, rehabilitation would probably take quite some time, but we should simply be grateful that he had awakened.

Once Lexus returned, we intended to employ him again on our side.

Of course, this time he wouldn’t be teaching students, but working as an executive in the Security Team.

And so, with students doing the work of students and adults doing the work of adults, the city gradually regained stability.

The city, where rain no longer fell, was exposed to more dangers than before, yet somehow, it felt even livelier than it once had.

The empire collapsed, and a new city was born.

Within it, we would once again struggle to survive.

And…….

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you.”

In the middle of those ordinary days.

I suddenly encountered the Author.

When I came to my senses, I found myself in a space I had visited before.

“……This is rather sudden.”

“Haha. I’m sorry. The preparations took quite a while.”

The Author smiled pleasantly as he spoke.

He looked far more relaxed than before.

As if all his worries had disappeared.

“Now, please have a seat.”

“……Very well.”

Then, I realized that someone was already sitting across from me.

I couldn’t help but be startled when I saw his face, because the person sitting there was none other than ‘Dwindrog,’ whom I had believed to be dead.

“Why are you here…….”

“You’re too late. I thought I’d die waiting.”

“What is going on?”

I asked the Author, and he answered while taking the seat at the head of the table.

“I wasn’t the one who invited him. He visited this place first.”

“While fighting the Sky Dragon, I saw an opportunity and attempted a Dimensional Transfer, only to fall into this place. I couldn’t leave afterward, so I’ve been waiting here.”

“Wait. So you’re saying you ran away in the middle of the fight? While we were going through hell in the Hunting Ground?”

“The bastard interfering with Dimensional Transfer disappeared. Why wouldn’t I? Finding a way to survive was wiser than expecting us to win that battle.”

“…….”

I clenched my fist, then soon relaxed it.

Right.

What had I expected from this guy?

Even though we had fought together, it hadn’t been because of camaraderie or friendship.

It had only ever been a cooperative relationship based on mutual interests.

Still, regardless of how it happened, the outcome had ended in our victory, and he had risked his life fighting until nearly the very end, so I had no intention of arguing about it.

More importantly, I owed this guy my life once.

“……Fine. But why are you here? Weren’t you trying to return to your original world?”

“I’ll explain that.”

The Author cut in.

He continued speaking while shuffling a set of glowing cards.

“I explained this to you before. This place was originally a ‘Board Game.’”

“Yes.”

“And a game has winners and losers. Then do you know who won this game?”

“Me, obviously.”

I answered confidently without the slightest hesitation.

I had suffered the most, so of course it was me.

The Author smiled at that.

“Yes, that’s correct. You were the most active throughout every scenario, made the greatest contribution, and even successfully cleared the Ending Content.”

“By Ending Content, do you mean the Sky Dragon?”

“Yes. Actually, rather than Ending Content, it was originally more like an Unbeatable Boss Monster that appears if you trigger something incorrectly…… but somehow, you managed to kill it.”

“So it really wasn’t something we were supposed to kill.”

Of course.

There was no way the difficulty would have been that absurd otherwise.

“Anyway, normally, when that thing appears, the rule is Game Over followed by a restart…… but since you killed it, I had quite a bit of trouble dealing with the aftermath myself. And only today have we finally been able to reach the ‘Ending.’”

“Ending…….”

“So, as the winner, I’ll ask you. Though I’m not even sure there’s any point in asking…….”

The Author opened his mouth with a peculiar smile.

“Would you like to return to your original world?”

There was no need to think about it.

“No.”

“I thought you’d answer that way. Then how about transferring your authority to Mr. Dwindrog and the others?”

“Do as you please.”

“Give it to me! Give it to me!”

Dwindrog pounded the table hard enough to nearly break it.

Ignoring him, the Author handed me a single glowing card, and once I realized it was the ‘Authority to Return to the Original World,’ I passed it directly to Dwindrog.

After receiving the card, Dwindrog muttered with an overwhelmed expression.

“Fi…… Finally……!”

“Are you crying?”

“Wh-Who says I’m crying!”

He pretended otherwise, but the rims of his eyes had turned red.

Even after the very form of his soul had changed, had he wanted to return that badly?

In some ways, I even envied him for being capable of feeling such affection for his original world.

While I was thinking that.

The Author asked me once more.

“Are you truly all right with this?”

“With what?”

“You’ll never be able to return again. Like him, I’ll also relinquish my Master Authority and return as of this moment.”

“Is there some problem with that?”

“Naturally, with the Master gone, you’ll no longer be able to use my support or benefits like Player Privileges. The story has also diverged far too much from the original, so you won’t be able to rely on your original knowledge either.”

“You worry too much, Author.”

I answered with a smile.

“Don’t worry. You may have created that place, but it isn’t yours. It’s mine. I won’t give it up.”

And so.

The place where I would live would forever remain here.

(Main Story End. Continued in Side Story 1.)