How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 52. Cooperation

[This morning around 10 AM, a terrorist incident occurred in the heart of Seoul, perpetrated by a villain. This villain is a mass teleportation superhuman…]

Kim Do-jin sat on the sofa in his dorm room, smacking his lips as he watched the news.

Due to the ‘Special Defense Agency’ controlling the information, the fact that he was a victim of that terrorist incident was not reported.

But what good would that do him?

If he hadn’t been targeted by that villain in the first place, it wouldn’t have mattered.

‘What on earth is the purpose of this villain organization?’

Kim Do-jin resolved to investigate the villain organization that was after him, but it was not as easy as it sounded.

Thus, he gnawed at his lips, pondering if there was a better way.

‘If I weren’t possessed by this scoundrel, I would have found them and smashed them to pieces by now…’

It was then, in the midst of his thoughts.

“Woof woof woof woof woof!”

Suddenly, his secretary Jin, seemingly bored, had Winter perched on her lap, playing around.

“Woof!”

Winter wagged its tail, enjoying the attention, while Kim Do-jin shook his head in dismay.

“Ugh… so distracting…”

With a deep sigh, Kim Do-jin expressed his dissatisfaction.

“Why don’t you just go home already?”

Just hours ago, he had nearly been kidnapped by SS-class villains.

Naturally, Kim Mu-ho had intended to assign S-class or higher awakened individuals from the ‘Fame Guild’ to protect Kim Do-jin, but thanks to support from both the ‘Special Defense Agency’ and ‘Ark,’ it was concluded that only Secretary Jin would accompany him at all times.

That was the reason Secretary Jin was currently in Kim Do-jin’s dormitory.

—

Of course, it was too much to live in the same dorm room, so Secretary Jin was granted a special room in the girls’ dormitory.

“Ah, why? I’ll just play a bit longer with Winter.”

At Kim Do-jin’s insistence that Secretary Jin should return now, she shook her head, though the reasoning was not entirely unreasonable.

“Have you forgotten that one of the reasons I’m in charge of your protection is that I could be a target too? It’s not just me watching over you; you need to watch over me as well. I’ll be visiting often, so keep that in mind. Understand?”

Her words were not wrong, and Kim Do-jin found himself at a loss for a rebuttal, his mouth working silently.

“Ugh…”

But then, at that moment.

– Ding-dong!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

“…?”

Kim Do-jin walked over to the video phone to see who had pressed the bell.

“Lee Jin-ryul?”

The identity of the unexpected visitor was none other than Lee Jin-ryul.

However, Kim Do-jin was not particularly surprised upon recognizing him.

He could roughly guess the reason for the visit.

– Beep!

Kim Do-jin promptly opened the front door, and Lee Jin-ryul greeted him with his characteristic warm smile.

“Hey! You good?”

The fact that he had nearly been kidnapped by an SS-class villain was being concealed by the ‘Special Defense Agency.’

Kim Do-jin feigned confusion, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s up?”

With a sly grin, Lee Jin-ryul replied.

“Shall we talk inside?”

Kim Do-jin nodded and gestured for Lee Jin-ryul to take a seat on the sofa.

“I see Secretary Jin Seohyun from the Myeongseong Group is here as well.”

As Lee Jin-ryul settled onto the sofa, he exchanged polite greetings with Secretary Jin, their eyes meeting.

“…?”

Secretary Jin felt a flicker of curiosity at his apparent familiarity with her, but after glancing at Kim Do-jin, she spoke calmly.

“Oh, yes. Are you a friend of the young master? Then I’ll take my leave, and you two can enjoy your conversation…”

With that, Secretary Jin made to excuse herself.

But then.

“No. I believe it would be best for Secretary Jin to hear what I’m about to say.”

Lee Jin-ryul spoke, halting Secretary Jin in his tracks.

“Pardon?”

Secretary Jin tilted his head, glancing at Kim Do-jin, who gestured for him to sit back down on the sofa.

“……”

It was then, with the three of them and a single dog settled on the couch, that he continued.

“First, I shall reveal my true identity.”

Lee Jin-ryul suddenly pulled out an agent’s ID from his pocket, continuing his speech.

“In truth, I am not Lee Jin-ryul, a freshman of ‘Ark,’ but Baek Ji-hoon, a secret agent of the Republic of Korea’s ‘Special Defense Agency.’”

At this sudden revelation, Secretary Jin’s eyes widened in surprise.

However, Kim Do-jin, who had already suspected something, narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why would a secret agent from the Special Defense Agency reveal himself to us?”

Lee Jin-ryul, with an expression of intrigue, looked at Kim Do-jin and replied, “Because the Special Defense Agency has deemed you trustworthy, and I wish to request your assistance.”

Kim Do-jin frowned slightly at those words and retorted, “Request assistance? Are you saying you want to use me as bait to catch that villain organization that was trying to kidnap me? Since I’m their target?”

“…That’s not entirely incorrect. But as you know, the Special Defense Agency exists to protect the safety of the citizens of the Republic of Korea. Naturally, your safety takes precedence over any operation, and even if you refuse our request, we will do our utmost to protect you from those villains.”

“……”

Kim Do-jin wore a discontented expression, yet inwardly, he welcomed the approach of the ‘Special Defense Agency.’

He needed information about the villain organization targeting him, and if he could leverage the intelligence of the ‘Special Defense Agency,’ what could be better than that?

“Hmm…”

Feigning a serious demeanor, Kim Do-jin asked, “Can you explain in more detail? What exactly do you want to do?”

Lee Jin-ryul nodded and began to elaborate.

“In fact, we were aware of the villain organization that attempted to kidnap you and recently tried to abduct Director Kate.”

“Was it indeed the same organization?”

“Correct. The name of that secret villain organization still lurking in the shadows is ‘Leviathan.’ Their goals seem to mirror those of ‘Revelation,’ which nearly conquered the world before, and the attempts to kidnap Director Kate and you are merely parts of that grand scheme.”

At those words, Kim Do-jin’s gaze shifted slightly.

The name ‘Leviathan’ suggested a villain organization far more formidable than he had anticipated.

“Remarkable, that such an organization could hide its existence.”

“Indeed. We only recently learned the name and rough scale of the organization. And according to the hard-won intelligence, there’s a spy embedded within ‘Ark’ itself.”

“So, the reason for disguising as an ‘Ark’ student is…”

“Yes. It’s almost certain that one of the first-year students and one of the instructors are involved. I’m currently on a mission to provoke them and uncover their identities.”

Kim Do-jin had a rough idea of this already, but he feigned ignorance as he replied.

“I see.”

“Yes. Anyway, that’s the situation we’re in. But now I have one more task added to my plate: to act like a close friend while providing you with protection from the closest quarters.”

“And when that villain organization, Leviathan, shows its face, you plan to catch them?”

“Exactly. That’s our proposal. Agents from the ‘Special Defense Bureau,’ including myself, will ensure your safety. If you cooperate with our operations in case of an emergency, it will greatly aid in bringing down Leviathan.”

Kim Do-jin pretended to ponder for a moment before responding.

“Truth be told, I have a grudge against them and wish for personal revenge. If the Special Defense Bureau shares information related to them with me, there’s no reason I wouldn’t cooperate.”

Sharing information with Kim Do-jin had already been a decision made from the start.

Lee Jin-ryul smiled slyly, feeling he had finally achieved his goal.

“Good. Then shall we begin discussing the specifics?”

* * *

Monday morning returned once more.

Kim Do-jin prepared as usual and headed to school.

– Creak.

Upon arriving at the classroom and opening the door, he found students chattering excitedly about the recent terror incident.

Of course, they were completely unaware that the very subject of that incident was among them—Kim Do-jin.

“…….”

Kim Do-jin trudged through the crowd of students to his seat.

– Thud.

As he sat down, his classmate, Lee Jin-ryul, greeted him casually.

“Hi.”

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Unlike the other students, Lee Jin-ryul seemed to know that Kim Do-jin was the incident’s focal point, yet acted as if he didn’t.

“Hey.”

Kim Do-jin replied in kind, glancing around the room.

There could be others in this classroom besides him and Lee Jin-ryul who knew the truth.

‘If there’s a spy from Leviathan in Class 1-1… they must know I was a target of their organization.’

Of course, the spies of ‘Levathain’ would act as if they knew nothing, just like Kim Do-jin and Lee Jin-ryul.

Yet, there was a possibility that their act could have flaws, so Kim Do-jin began to observe the people one by one, his attention sharpened.

‘Karla Arlen…’

The first figure that caught his eye was none other than Karla Arlen.

Coincidentally, only Kim Do-jin could see her translucent face, and no matter how he thought about it, she didn’t seem like a spy for ‘Levathain.’

‘…pass.’

He tore his gaze away from Karla Arlen, who was awkwardly glancing in his direction.

‘There’s no way an organization like Levathain would send such a clueless spy… She’s not someone whose past could be easily manipulated.’

Next, Kim Do-jin’s attention shifted to Yoon Yoo-na.

“……”

Yoon Yoo-na, too, seemed to be aware of Kim Do-jin while conversing with her friend Hong Hyun-hwa, but as he watched her, he shook his head.

‘It can’t be Yoon Yoo-na either.’

Yoon Yoo-na was the daughter of Yoon Si-heon, who had been killed by Cheon Sang-seok while trying to protect Kim Do-jin, making her the person he had observed most closely until now.

If she were a spy for ‘Levathain,’ she would surely have sensed something strange, yet he found no trace of that at all.

Ultimately, Kim Do-jin decided to trust his judgment and excluded Yoon Yoo-na from his list of suspects.

The next person he observed was Lim So-hee.

‘Lim So-hee as a spy for Levathain?’

So far, Lim So-hee had appeared to him as a timid yet kind-hearted individual.

However, just because someone belonged to a villainous organization didn’t necessarily mean they were evil.

There were cases where fundamentally good people were caught in a bind and had no choice but to act as spies, were there not?

“……”

Kim Do-jin didn’t think Lim So-hee was a spy for ‘Levathain,’ and he hoped she wasn’t, but he didn’t exclude her from suspicion just yet.

‘Still, I should confirm it.’

With that thought settled, he turned his head again.

This time, the figure that caught Kim Do-jin’s eye was Misaki Ai.