How to Survive as the Academy’s Villain

Chapter 32

‘…What is this?’

Seeing the surroundings suddenly change, I couldn’t help but shout internally.

We were definitely talking in the library, and just at the sound of a finger snap, we were teleported?

“Don’t be alarmed; we’ve just moved locations for a moment.”

Woosh!

Like a scene from a play, torches along the long hallway started lighting up one by one from where I stood.

“Where are we?” I asked in as calm a voice as possible.

“Can’t you tell? It’s a path. A path to my laboratory.”

Laboratory?

The word made me instinctively grimace.

“Shall we go? Since you wanted me to examine your body, it’s better to do it properly here.”

I felt an inexplicable sense of unease as she smiled slightly while speaking.

Ah, no.

Can I cancel this even now?

At that moment.

Splat!

…What the hell is this?

“Blood?”

I had stepped into a puddle of thick, copious blood.

“Hmm? Did some spill during the transfer?”

Transfer? What were they moving that caused this much blood…

‘No, snap out of it, Kang Hyunsoo.’

I was practically prey in a predator’s den.

Step by step, trying to calm my rising fear, I followed her down the long corridor.

‘What is that?’

Between the cracks of the hallway, I started to see rooms filled with strange objects.

Clink!

Rooms filled with bizarre torture devices.

Bang! Grrr!

Rooms containing large monsters in cages.

And at the very end of the corridor, we reached the laboratory.

‘No, this is…’

The place was filled with grotesque objects.

There were dissected monsters and various internal organs preserved in strange solutions.

Vrrrrr!

Machines with fearsome blades whirred ominously.

Just by looking, it was clear that this laboratory was far from a typical magician’s lab.

Gulp!

‘Damn, the original depicted her as somewhat of a lunatic, but I didn’t expect her to be this much of a mad scientist.’

I swallowed nervously and asked as nonchalantly as I could, “Are we checking my body here?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jamie nodded and, looking at the cluttered desk, snapped her fingers again.

Instantly, the chaotic mess transformed into a clean, empty space.

Thud!

She placed a parchment there and began writing with a quill.

“New research specimen ‘Kamon Vade’, first internal examination…”

What, research specimen?

“…dissection currently not possible, internal scan with mana instead…”

Dissection? Internal scan?

The more I heard, the more eerie it sounded, and I looked around.

There were traces of once-living beings and blades stained with dried blood everywhere.

‘No, I need to get out of here…’

Jamie’s words combined with the surrounding environment threw me into a state of panic, and I began moving towards the door instinctively.

Step.

There. That’s the door we came in from. If I can just escape…

“What are you doing?”

A chilling, spine-tingling voice echoed behind me, causing me to stop in my tracks and slowly turn my head, like a rusty machine.

There she was.

Scritch-scratch!

Jamie continued writing on the parchment, her gaze fixed on me.

“Just… looking around.”

“Looking around?”

“Yes, it’s my first time in a mage’s lab, and it’s quite fascinating.”

“Is that so? But that’s the exit. There’s not much to see there. If you want to see something interesting, try opening the door on the other side.”

Her response, accompanied by a faint smile, made me sigh deeply inside.

‘Phew, she didn’t notice…’

At that moment.

Vrrrr!

Clank, clank, clank!

Suddenly, various devices in the secret lab started operating.

Sharp blades and saws began moving, and sparks flew and explosions erupted.

‘What the hell? Why are these things suddenly working? Are they really going to dissect me? Didn’t she say dissection wasn’t possible earlier!’

Barely suppressing a scream, I tried to control my panic.

“Where is it?”

Jamie, rummaging through the whirring machines, seemed to be searching for something.

After a while.

“Found it!”

She held a small, transparent orb. Inside it, a blue-grey flame flickered.

“With this, I can confirm everything.”

Jamie smiled and nodded, then turned to look at me.

“Kamon, come here. It’s time to start.”

…What?

What the hell are you going to do?

“It might hurt a little, but just bear with it. You won’t die.”

“What?”

“Oh, right. I don’t want to hear any screams, so let me shut your mouth for a bit. Understand?”

Snap!

With another snap of her fingers, my body and mouth were paralyzed.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’ll just sting a little.”

Sting? Like hell it will… No, don’t do it. Fuck, don’t do it!

“Then let’s begin.”

With Jamie’s brief declaration, the orb in her hand containing the blue-grey flame began to glow.

And then.

“Mmmpf, mmmpf!”

Suddenly, a prickling sensation started spreading all over my body, as if being lightly electrified.

‘Huh?’

I was extremely tense due to Jamie’s words, but if the pain was only this level, I could definitely endure it…

“…Hnng! Grrraah!”

Endure, my ass.

Ahhh, I’m dying. I’m really going to die!

At this rate, getting expelled from the academy would’ve been better. Why did I insist on regaining my magical power…

Grooooan.

Just as I started to regret bringing this calamity upon myself.

“Alright, it’s done.”

The pain that had been racking my entire body vanished instantly.

And Jamie spoke immediately.

“You’re truly interesting. How are your mana routes blocked?”

What?

Mana routes?

Her words, hinting at a solution, snapped me out of my pain-induced haze.

“But I can see traces of mana flow in those routes. That’s strange. Normally, blocked mana routes are congenital, so there shouldn’t be any traces of mana flow. But forcibly closed mana routes? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Jamie muttered to herself, tilting her head as if talking to herself.

“Could it be a massive curse? Hmm, maybe then it could forcibly close. But such a curse would require at least an Ancient Dragon or Demon King level…”

“Mmm! Mmm!”

“Oh, sorry. I got lost in thought and forgot.”

Jamie snapped her fingers with a radiant smile, and I regained my bodily and vocal freedom.

But before I could even relish that freedom, I hurriedly spoke to her.

“Phew, so what does it mean that my mana routes are closed?”

“It means exactly that. The pathways through which mana should flow are all blocked, so the mana from your mana heart can’t spread.”

Blocked pathways preventing mana from emerging?

Why are they blocked?

Could it be because my soul and Kamon Vade’s soul switched?

“And if that continues, the accumulated mana will eventually explode. Literally, you’ll die in a bang!”

“Die?!”

“That’s right. You’d vanish without a trace from an internal mana explosion.”

What? Explosion?

Vanish without a trace?

The implications were beyond what my mind could easily grasp and accept.

“Is there a solution?”

“Well, it’s hard to say anything definitive since this is the first time I’ve seen such a case. But…”

Jamie trailed off ambiguously, then looked at me with a faint smile.

“Don’t worry; it won’t explode right away. It would take at least a few more years of accumulation before that happens.”

“Is there no other way? A way to unblock my mana routes?”

I was desperate. Desperation and frustration boiled over in my heart.

I had just discovered the cause, and now my life had a countdown…

How could this make sense?

“Hmm.”

Jamie, lost in thought, shook her head.

“Right now, it’s almost impossible to unblock your mana routes. Any method would be extremely dangerous. Forcing open the closed mana routes could actually kill you. But…”

“…?”

“But it’s not like there are no solutions at all. There are ways to release the accumulated mana even if your routes are blocked.”

“What are they?!”

I shouted in a voice filled with more excitement than ever before.

If Jamie had a solution, I wouldn’t die from a mana explosion and could regain my magical power.

“But before that…”

Jamie’s lips curled into a deep, almost sinister smile as she continued.

“Could I… dissect you for experiments? If not, can I at least take some samples for separate experimentation? What do you think? Wouldn’t you like to contribute to the advancement and innovation of magic? This is the first time I’ve had such an interesting and fascinating specimen. What do you think? Your body could bring great change and progress to the world.”

What?

Dissection? Contribution to magic?

“Hehehe.”

Jamie’s smile, which seemed like it could tear her lips apart, suddenly turned into mad laughter.

“A special and fresh specimen with postnatal blocked mana routes came to me voluntarily?”

Laughing crazily, Jamie suddenly hardened her expression and looked at me with the most chilling and terrifying gaze, caressing my cheek.

“Missing such an opportunity would be dereliction of duty as a magician!”

Her eyes, filled with a desire to dissect and research me alive, made my legs buckle involuntarily.

“…”

I sat down, unable to utter a word, trembling as I looked at her.

“Sigh.”

Unexpectedly, a small sigh came from her.

And then.

“Sorry, I guess I got a little too excited. Did I scare you?”

Jamie, with a soft smile, spoke gently as if nothing had happened.

I muttered in a daze.

“You get… overly excited.”

And internally, I couldn’t help but shout.

‘…Fuck. What the hell is this?’

She’s practically the most insane and psychotic person in the entire universe!