I'm Neither the Mastermind nor the Villain

Chapter 22

"First of all, I apologize for my misunderstanding."

The principal's clone bowed his head obediently.

When Kang Yeeun collapsed, the principal, who had been observing the situation, apologized to me.

"Haha, I'm glad the misunderstanding has been cleared up."

But then, why couldn't the principal defeat Kang Yeeun, who I, just a mere first-year, managed to handle so easily?

I voiced the question that had come to mind directly to the principal.

Hearing my question, the principal let out a hollow laugh.

"Well, putting aside that your skills as a first-year, Baek Sejin, far surpass even academy graduates... why couldn't I defeat that demon contractor?

There are two reasons. One, this clone contains the least amount of my power,

and two, if I used my full strength, I could have killed that demon contractor, but I was concerned it might also destroy these facilities."

Oh, am I really that skilled?

I suddenly had another question.

If he was so worried about damaging the facilities, why didn't he just send a stronger clone from the start? Why bother struggling with a weaker one?

"Are you saying you deployed the weakest clone in such an important place?"

The principal's clone nodded and replied.

"Exactly. This place is normally protected by a barrier, so there's no need to worry.

But this time was different. So just in case, I sent a clone, and it happened to be the weakest one. As you know, monsters were pouring in outside."

"I see."

"If you understand, then head back up now."

"Ah, yes."

As I turned and stepped onto the stairs leading back to the surface, the principal's clone called out to me.

"I won't question how you found this place or why you came here. But remember, I will be watching you closely."

"Haha, what an honor."

I had been a little worried about how to dodge further questions, so this was a relief.

*

The situation was resolved.

With Kang Yeeun's collapse, the monsters summoned by Gamigin's authority stopped appearing, and the dark mages couldn't withstand the academy's forces.

The incident was resolved much faster than in the original story.

Kang Yeeun was handed over by the principal to the police, who had arrived in person.

'There are quite a lot of strong ability users among the police.'

Watching the police take down monsters alongside the academy members, I thought that.

Well, it makes sense.

If an ability user commits a crime, how could ordinary people possibly subdue them?

Usually, guns are enough, but ideally, the police should have physical abilities similar to the criminals so they get hurt less.

Anyway, in the original story, it wasn't even mentioned that Kang Yeeun was at the academy.

So in the original, did Kang Yeeun defeat the principal's clone and safely escape from the dormitory basement?

Probably.

When I arrived, I did get the feeling that Kang Yeeun had the upper hand.

The principal's clone was already half-transparent and flickering, as if to prove it was the weakest version,

while Kang Yeeun, though exhausted, didn't seem to be in such bad shape.

But why did Kang Yeeun want to see the Philosopher's Stone?

Was she trying to create something similar?

Did she do all this to understand the structure of the original Philosopher's Stone?

If so, then her actions make sense.

Instead of looking at Philosopher's Stones installed in other cities, she broke into the academy and entered the dormitory basement.

The Philosopher's Stones in other cities or schools are just modified, degraded versions of the one in the academy.

They have fewer functions and lower performance.

Maybe she had already seen those degraded Philosopher's Stones and was disappointed.

So she wanted to see the original one at the academy.

In the original story, she must have seen the original.

She probably couldn't steal the Philosopher's Stone itself, but she learned its structure.

Then Gamigin could have told her real contractor about that structure, and that contractor might have created something based on that information.

'But did Gamigin's contractor ever appear in the original?'

.....I don't think so.

It's something I can't know for now.

Unless I meet Gamigin's real contractor myself in the future, or they come looking for me.

"Kang Yeeun herself seems quite weak for a contractor of Solomon's 72 demons. Even if it's a fake contract."

[Indeed. Yet with that feeble authority, so many monsters poured forth, so it must have involved Gamigin's intervention. That horse-head must have been quite curious.]

"Well, it's one of the pillars supporting Korea. No wonder Gamigin would be interested...."

"A pillar supporting Ko... what?"

"Ah, you're here."

While I was chatting with Marbas, Seonghyeon approached.

I was up on the rooftop where no one else cared to come-how did he find me?

I guess even the protagonist needed some time to think.

When you want to think, the rooftop's the place.

"So, what were you mumbling about just now?"

"Nothing much. Maybe someday you'll see it with your own eyes."

"Someday... see it myself?"

Seonghyeon looked dazed, as if he didn't understand.

"Anyway, monsters invading the academy-it's really shocking."

"Yeah... Well, even before, lots of spies and infiltrators tried to get into the academy. Most couldn't even get inside, though."

"Haha, now that you mention it, that's true."

Since there had been many such terror attempts at the academy before, this wasn't exactly an unprecedented event.

But starting this year, it will get worse.

Because the protagonist has enrolled.

"By the way, why didn't you answer your phone? We were looking for you everywhere."

"Ah, really?"

I took my phone out of my pocket.

I'd put it on silent so it wouldn't interfere during the fight, and must have forgotten to switch it back.

When I turned it on, I saw several missed calls from Seonghyeon and Lee Jiwoo.

And a message from Lee Yeonseul checking in, plus over a dozen missed calls from Kim Gabyeol....

I squeezed my eyes shut tight.

Noticing me like that, Seonghyeon cautiously spoke.

"By the way... who was that woman earlier? You know, the one with gray hair."

I guess Seonghyeon saw the police arrive, arrest, and drag away Kang Yeeun.

Since the police had barged right into the academy, anyone interested probably witnessed that scene.

The police who arrived late were nonetheless made up of strong ability users and helped greatly in clearing out the monsters inside the academy.

In the original story, the police probably played an even bigger role.

Now, it just looks like they arrived a bit late,

but in the original, they arrived right during the most intense fighting, so their timing was perfect.

There was even a description of the students sighing with relief when the police arrived.

And also of them fighting alongside the police against the monsters.

Of course, even then, the news criticized the police for arriving too late.

"I saw that woman too, but... I still can't quite figure out who she was."

"Really?"

Seonghyeon's expression gradually hardened, then he said he'd be off and left.

***

The monsters that suddenly invaded were truly... horrifying.

I had braced myself for things like this upon entering the academy, but way more monsters showed up than I expected.

Even though the first, second, and third years, plus the teachers and police, all worked together to wipe them out, the academy was already covered in monster corpses inside.

And then there was Baek Sejin-that guy was a problem too.

While we were still fighting off the endless wave of monsters, I saw Baek Sejin heading toward the dormitory.

It was only after seeing that that I realized.

Baek Sejin hadn't been fighting alongside us.

When I first jumped off the bridge to fight the monsters, I did wonder for a moment why Baek Sejin didn't jump down with us.

And even when all the first, second, and third years gathered to take down the monsters, he was nowhere to be seen.

So I thought maybe I was wrong about him being strong-that maybe he was actually weak.

I figured he had just evacuated along with the other students.

So when he made it through the monsters alone and arrived at the dormitory, I was completely shocked.

Shortly after he entered the dormitory, the monsters stopped coming, and soon all the monsters were dead.

My suspicions grew deeper.

I started to wonder if he had actually planned or participated in this terrorist attack.

It might sound absurd, but my gut was telling me that.

That he was hiding a secret, and that secret would be truly shocking.

Of course, this was just my intuition, and in fact, it could be that he had taken care of the mastermind behind the monsters.

If that were the case, he would be a hero.

And that mastermind would be the woman who came out of the dormitory with the principal.

But when I talked with him alone on the rooftop, he replied as if he didn't know that woman.

Not only that, but he spoke as if he had only seen her for the first time when the principal handed her over to the police.

Even though he must have already seen her in the dormitory.

At that point, I couldn't help but freeze.

Because his smile looked like that of a cunning snake.

Because his narrowed eyes made me afraid of what secrets he might be hiding.

'I know it's wrong to doubt people, but....'