How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 1. Betrayal

“Since it’s the last one, a cigarette should be fine, right?”

Kim Do-jin pulled a cigarette pack from his coat and spoke.

“…….”

No response came.

Yet the fact that his head remained intact signified acceptance.

– Tap, tap.

With a bitter smile, Kim Do-jin took a cigarette and placed it between his lips.

He then extended his index finger, bringing it to the tip of the cigarette.

“…Ah.”

In an instant, Kim Do-jin’s face stiffened.

It was a habitual action, one he had momentarily forgotten.

Since drinking the poisoned wine.

The realization struck him: not a single spark of ‘mana’ remained in his body to kindle even the smallest flame.

“Could you lend me a lighter?”

“…….”

After a brief silence, a lighter flew toward him.

– Thud.

Kim Do-jin snatched it and immediately lit his cigarette.

– Sizzle!

He tossed the now useless lighter aside and took a deep drag from the cigarette.

“Whoo…….”

As he exhaled the smoke halfway, a sense of calm washed over him.

Kim Do-jin quietly lowered his head to gaze at his belly.

Thanks to the anesthetic properties of the poison, there was no pain, but a large hole in the center of his abdomen oozed blood in steady streams.

“Damn….”

Kim Do-jin took another drag from his cigarette, lost in thought.

‘How on earth did it come to this?’

Looking back, it was a single wrong decision made three years ago that marked the beginning of this tragedy.

At that time, Kim Do-jin was frantically scouring the world in search of the superhuman who had murdered his entire family, when suddenly, a man appeared before him.

He was none other than Cheon Sang-seok, the strongest ‘Awakened’ in South Korea, the leader of the ‘Heaven’s Guild,’ renowned as the best guild in the world.

Having sought to seize the world’s hegemony but unable to contend with his rival, Maximilian Lavant, Cheon Sang-seok proposed that Kim Do-jin lend him his strength, and in return, Kim Do-jin set forth a single demand.

He asked that the power he would gain from killing Maximilian Lavant be used to find his own nemesis.

For Cheon Sang-seok, who had initially brought this to the negotiating table, there was no reason to refuse such a condition.

In pursuit of his revenge, Kim Do-jin needed Cheon Sang-seok’s power, and Cheon Sang-seok, in turn, required Kim Do-jin’s might. Thus, they joined forces, becoming allies.

And three years passed.

Kim Do-jin, trusting in Cheon Sang-seok’s promise, devoted his three years entirely to him, ultimately succeeding in placing Cheon Sang-seok in a position akin to that of a world emperor.

It was nothing short of a miraculous turnaround.

The world was astonished, and Kim Do-jin and Cheon Sang-seok raised their glasses in celebration.

It seemed as if everything was falling into place.

Yet, that was merely an illusion held by Kim Do-jin.

Cheon Sang-seok had long been secretly plotting Kim Do-jin’s demise, and now that Kim Do-jin’s value had diminished, he finally set his plan into motion.

‘Was I too complacent?’

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered the possibility of betrayal.

He simply believed that no one would dare harm him, having ascended to a realm of absolute power.

‘But who would have thought he’d use the essence of the divine tree as poison…’

Kim Do-jin shook his head, staring at the cigarette wedged between his fingers.

The way it burned down toward the end seemed to mirror his own plight.

“Damn. If I had known I would die like this, I would have smoked without a care for my health…”

With a bitter smile, Kim Do-jin took another drag from his cigarette.

Then he lifted his gaze to the true architect of all this, Cheon Sang-seok.

“…”

Under the opulent lights of the ‘Order’ director’s office.

The expression on Cheon Sang-seok’s face, under Kim Do-jin’s gaze, was astonishingly calm.

Despite having inflicted a treacherous poison, there was not a hint of guilt to be seen.

Kim Do-jin, filled with self-reproach for not recognizing Cheon Sang-seok’s true nature sooner, asked,

“When did it begin? Have you been planning this moment since you first persuaded me?”

Cheon Sang-seok, watching the dwindling cigarette in Kim Do-jin’s hand, slowly parted his lips.

“From the beginning? No, not quite. There was a time… yes, there was a time I thought I could lead you.”

In the midst of his words, a strange emotion began to creep into Cheon Sang-seok’s eyes—fear, oddly unbefitting of a victor.

“But it didn’t take long for me to realize that was merely an illusion.”

Before long, his gaze shifted, no longer resting on the Kim Do-jin before him, but rather on a past version of Kim Do-jin.

Dozens of meteors staining the dark night sky crimson, a tempest that sent back thousands of arrows shot by the enemy, the relentless lightning that could turn a massive fortress to dust…

The horrifying might of Kim Do-jin, who had single-handedly repelled thousands of awakened soldiers in the Battle of Cairo, felt as vivid as if it had happened just yesterday.

Cheon Sang-seok felt breathless merely recalling that moment from two years ago.

“Haah… yes. The power of ‘Devouring’ you possess… it is far too dangerous.”

As he turned his gaze back to Kim Do-jin, Cheon Sang-seok’s voice grew agitated.

“Think about it. It’s a colossal power that could even topple the order of the world! As the Director of the Order, how could I allow such power to reside in a single individual?”

Kim Do-jin felt no worth in responding to Cheon Sang-seok’s words.

Perhaps for others, it might be different, but from the mouth of a man who had seized the throne precisely because of that power, such words were utterly hypocritical.

“Shut up…”

With a scoff, Kim Do-jin took the last remaining puff of his cigarette.

Soon, the little tobacco left burned away, and he flicked his finger at Cheon Sang-seok.

– Thud…

Cheon Sang-seok, with a hardened expression, watched the cigarette butt rolling at his feet before raising the sword he had set down once more, aiming it at Kim Do-jin.

“Fine. Let’s end this now.”

– Crackle, crackle!

Around Cheon Sang-seok’s sword, his unique ability, the golden aura, began to ripple.

‘This is the end.’

Kim Do-jin’s face, fixed on Cheon Sang-seok, was painted with shifting hues.

‘To meet such a pathetic death…’

With a self-deprecating sigh, Kim Do-jin lowered his head.

Since awakening the power of ‘Devouring’ at the age of seventeen, he had believed there would be no rival in the world. After capturing Maximilian Lavant, hailed as the strongest awakened one at twenty-two, he thought there would be no rival in history either.

Such a fate, to be merely used and then cast aside… Could there be anything more pitiful?

If I could live again, I would not repeat such blunders.

Yet, despite this regret, it is already too late.

“Haah…”

Kim Do-jin closed his eyes, seeking solace in the emptiness.

But in the very next moment.

“…!”

He opened his eyes wide once more.

It was a jewel that had caught his gaze just before he shut them.

A radiant, rectangular red gem dangling from the end of a necklace.

This was the ‘artifact’ Kim Do-jin had stumbled upon two years prior, within the depths of a mysterious ruin hidden in a crack.

‘It seems they don’t intend for me to simply die.’

A smile flickered across Kim Do-jin’s lips in an instant.

This artifact contained an unknown, vast magical power.

So profound that even Kim Do-jin could not fully grasp it, yet it was certain that this immense power held energy waves capable of transporting the user through space.

In other words, there was still hope for escape.

“Keuh, keh keh keh.”

Kim Do-jin, who had been hanging his head in despair, suddenly began to laugh like a madman, and a sense of unease began to bloom on Cheon Sang-seok’s face as he watched.

“…What’s so funny?”

“Have you thought about it?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“What will happen if you fail to kill me.”

“…….”

At Kim Do-jin’s words, Cheon Sang-seok furrowed his brow.

Why wouldn’t he have thought about it?

He had pondered it countless times.

What kind of vengeance Kim Do-jin would unleash upon him…

That was why he had taken every precaution.

He had spent years crafting an unprecedented poison, using treasures that could leap humanity’s magical science and technology several steps forward as ingredients.

Failure was not an option.

No, it had to be this way.

“…….”

Cheon Sang-seok struggled to conceal the rising tide of anxiety as he drew back his sword.

“There’s no way that will happen. Die.”

At Cheon Sang-seok’s words, Kim Do-jin’s lips curled into a sardonic smile.

No way that will happen? Perhaps it might.

Kim Do-jin himself was not certain of his success.

Maybe the odds were fifty-fifty, or perhaps even less.

But there were no other choices, after all.

He could only leave it to the will of the heavens.

“Good luck.”

It was a message to his opponent, and also a whisper to himself.

Kim Do-jin fixed his gaze on the tip of Cheon Sang-seok’s sword, gripping the artifact hanging from his necklace with one hand.

“It’s over!”

Cheon Sang-seok grimaced like a malevolent spirit and swung his sword fiercely at Kim Do-jin.

– Swoosh!

The terrifying golden aura that clung to Cheon Sang-seok’s sword shot toward Kim Do-jin’s heart.

And in that moment.

– Bang!

Kim Do-jin tore the artifact from around his neck and lifted it forward.

– Zing!

The artifact, responding to the energy of the aura, erupted with an intense light, accompanied by an unearthly roar that seemed ready to swallow the world.

“What!”

Cheon Sang-seok hastily raised an arm, squeezing his eyes shut.

And when he opened them again.

“…Damn it.”

Kim Do-jin was nowhere to be seen.

Nowhere on this earth.