Eek! Become the Villainess! Eek! 2

“Many students already know my name, but for those seeing me for the first time today, allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Bailak, formerly of the highest Executor ranks and currently in charge of Dungeon Ecology.”

Though the words ‘formerly of the highest Executor ranks’ didn’t seem to be a lie, judging by the scars all over his face and his rather rugged appearance, Alice felt anew the high standards of the Academy from the professor’s intelligent and composed greeting.

‘I thought it would be a quiet class where I could sit and read, since Taylor is taking it as an elective, but it seems to be a rather eccentric and practical kind of class.’

Though called an elective, it was actually a combat class to train Academy students to become future Overseers and Executors.

The Ruincrest Academy students from high-ranking families had all grown up eating only good elixirs and potions, so they were all Awakened. Even if they graduated from the Academy with the lowest grades, they could immediately become lower-level Executors.

“The most dangerous thing in a dungeon includes monsters and the dungeon’s unique gimmicks, but this professor considers other humans to be the most dangerous element. So, this time, I will include fighting humans in the records, not just monsters.”

That wasn’t wrong.

However, in a layer preparing for rebellion, teaching how to fight humans instead of monsters was subtly unsettling.

“This class will have you enter a virtual dungeon in groups of at least two. The moment you enter the virtual dungeon, everyone will be summoned to a random location, and the location of supplies will also be random. Also, all kinds of combat are allowed inside.”

“What do you mean by all kinds, Professor?”

“Like in a real battle. Use all the power you can.”

The students all raised the corners of their mouths, their faces full of anticipation.

There would be kids they usually wanted to beat to a pulp, and the meaning of training like in a real battle was the same as being allowed to really kill the opponent.

Of course, the Academy’s virtual dungeon had various formulas applied inside, including a protection barrier, so even if you died inside the virtual dungeon, you wouldn’t really die.

Even if you suffered near-fatal damage, you would be automatically summoned outside, and all the wounds you sustained in the dungeon would be healed on their own once summoned.

Of course, the pain was real.

The reason was that it was difficult to develop a sense of real battle and mental strength if there was no pain in real battle.

“The goal is simple. Kill as many monsters as possible, above a certain number, as quickly as possible, and you will be automatically summoned outside the dungeon. Or, you can hunt the boss monster inside the dungeon, but in the case of the boss monster, it will still be difficult for your level, so it’s easier to think of it as a kind of gimmick.”

But as Professor Bailak said, this wasn’t just about counting monster kills, nor was it about cooperating, but a class to fight humans in the dungeon, as he had already said at the beginning.

“Or you can hunt the students next to you. It will all be included in the score, and if you hunt a certain number of humans, the AI will automatically start counting the score. If you achieve the highest score, you will naturally come out, so everyone be careful of being backstabbed.”

Friendly fire, including alliances, was a pretty brutal class.

Well, it was a training close to real battle that was possible because you wouldn’t really die even if you died inside.

“The internal time of the dungeon is currently accelerated at a rate of 240 times. One minute here is 240 minutes there. The virtual dungeon will end exactly two hours later.”

Hmm, two hours means roughly 28,800 minutes?

In terms of time, that’s 480 hours.

In terms of days, that’s like being in the virtual dungeon for 20 days.

The fact that Ruincrest Academy students routinely took such classes and even took exams meant that their average level was high was no empty boast.

“Taylor, looks like we’ll be stuck in the dungeon for 20 days together?”

“…gulp.”

“Don’t worry. You have this older sister, you know.”

Taylor nodded, looking at Alice.

The words that she would protect her weren’t empty.

“Make sure to activate your smartwatches. Depending on the situation, the AI will provide real-time feedback to each student.”

At the same time as those words, the virtual dungeon began to operate.

Starting with the sound of the virtual dungeon operating, the students began to form alliances.

The kids who were already close from taking the same classes would form groups of six or seven, and they were already sizing each other up, distinguishing between who to kill and who to ally with.

I thought they were well-bred young masters and ladies, but it seems that wasn’t the case when looking at classes like this.

“Taylor, do you have any friends to ally with?”

“…no.”

Taylor shook her head as if she was sorry.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Honestly, this older sister can win against everyone. Let’s just do it with the two of us.”

“Ah! If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, would you like to team up with me!?”

At that moment, Alice turned her gaze to the direction of the voice, which sounded familiar.

Purple roll-bun hair and a body that seemed about to burst out of the Academy uniform.

Her face was definitely younger and her height was shorter, but it was definitely Fira Dunhill, whom Alice knew.

“…Fira?”

“Ah, ah! I’m not Fira, but Pyon!”

“Fira.”

“…Did I get caught?”

“Alice? Who is this person?”

Taylor grabbed Alice’s sleeve as if not wanting to be taken away, as Fira approached Alice.

Taylor, who had been stuck with Alice for a month since Alice came to Ruincrest Academy, was seeing this woman, whether she was Fira or Pyon, for the first time.

Besides, she couldn’t have not known if she had such a flamboyant appearance, and she suddenly appeared in this elective class.

“Hehe, I am Alice’s husband…!”

“What!? Husband!?”

“No, we’re something like friends. Don’t say crazy things, Fira.”

Leaving behind Taylor, who was misunderstanding, Alice grabbed the wrist of the slightly smaller Fira and led her away.

“Taylor, wait a moment. I’ll go talk to Fira for a bit.”

“Oh my, how forceful!”

“Ah, sister…”

“It’ll be just a moment. Just a moment.”

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-2 weeks ago.

Fira Dunhill wanted to see Alice.

She wanted to see her very much.

She didn’t know why she wanted to see Alice so much, and it felt like her own emotions and not her own emotions were constantly whispering to her instincts to go to Alice’s side and attend to her.

If she wanted to see Alice, she could just go down to the lower layer, but unfortunately, Alice was currently on a long-term infiltration mission in the Ruincrest layer to investigate the rebellion.

“No, Fira Dunhill. What is this all about?”

“A, as you can see!”

“Are you serious?”

Fira avoided the gaze of the administrator Asanaka, who was in charge of Fira’s administrative work this month.

“A First-Class Overseer wants to go to a suspected rebellion area? And that’s a place where Second-Class Overseer Alice is already on an infiltration mission?”

Fira Dunhill’s official affiliation was First-Class Overseer of the Annihilation Countermeasures Department of the Central Administration.

As you can tell from the brutal name of the Annihilation Countermeasures Department, it was a department that had to resolve major incidents that threatened the peace of the Ark with force, including all-out war with calamities and the execution of rebels.

However, there wasn’t usually that much to do.

If a biological factory went out of control or a dungeon broke and monsters flooded, she would go out for fun, but the Annihilation Countermeasures Department was a living nuclear bomb and an asymmetric force, so the First-Class Overseers belonging to this department couldn’t move arbitrarily in the first place.

In Fira’s case, she was more of an irregular among the First-Class Overseers.

She was a being who could really bring the age of humanity to an end if she wanted to, so the Ark Administration provided her with convenience in many ways.

Still, she was a First-Class Overseer, so she had to report to the administrator to do something, but usually, if Fira suggested something, they would listen to her.

But this time, it was a bit of a no.

“No, a Second-Class Overseer is doing an infiltration mission, and you want to be deployed there?”

“Y, yes! I want to see how a bright, young child is doing her job, and besides, I’ve also obtained information that there are ringleaders of the rebellion in the Ruincrest layer. It’s only natural for me, a member of the Annihilation Countermeasures Department and an executioner, to infiltrate that place!”

“……”

The administrator Asanaka, who was in charge of Fira’s administrative processing this month, glared at Fira with a dumbfounded look.

Fira, the First-Class Overseer of the Annihilation Countermeasures Department and the Dunhill family’s greatest masterpiece, wanted to go to the Ruincrest layer where Second-Class Overseer Alice had infiltrated.

There were countless reasons why this couldn’t be done, but the most representative reason was that external access to the Ruincrest layer was completely blocked due to suspicion of rebellion.

Alice, who had infiltrated Ruincrest, was in the process of identifying accurate evidence of rebellion and the central figures of the rebellion, and above all, the rebels weren’t fools, so if someone from the outside, including an Overseer, came, they would naturally hide their rebellion.

It might be different in other layers, but Ruincrest, where high-ranking officials gathered, knew the work status of Overseers and administrators to some extent, so special attention was required.

‘Especially in the case of rebellion, a First-Class Overseer should have been infiltrated, but due to the special nature of Ruincrest, all First-Class Overseers whose faces were known were judged to be unable to infiltrate.’

But if Fira Dunhill, who was famous among the First-Class Overseers for good or bad reasons, went there, the rebels would immediately destroy all the evidence. All the information network that the Second-Class Overseer had painstakingly built would also become useless.

In addition to this, the administrator couldn’t allow Fira to infiltrate the Ruincrest layer because it was subject to various regulations, including the inter-layer asymmetric force transfer agreement, the laws of the Ruincrest Autonomous Guarantee Organization, and the Ark Central Council’s peacetime force use clause.

“Fira-nim, are you serious?”

“I’m serious!”

“I know that she’s a hot topic in the Central these days, but… Fira-nim knows better than anyone that this can’t be done…”

“……”

Fira wasn’t a fool either.

She wasn’t a First-Class Overseer for nothing… She didn’t know that there were hundreds of reasons why she, who was capable enough to be the commander-in-chief of the external expedition team, couldn’t go to the Ruincrest layer where Alice was.

But, but…

“But I want to go! It’s the first time! It’s the first time I’ve had a child who’s so nerve-wracking!”

“….”

“Besides, the rebellion infiltration is a long-term mission! I don’t know when I’ll be able to meet our Alice again! I don’t want to wait forever!”

What is this? Did she fall in love at first sight?

Alice was a person of interest even among the administrators.

A suddenly appeared Overseer from a returnee.

A young Overseer whom the select few Rilstia Frostia personally embraced and protected, who became a Second-Class Overseer in less than a year after falling to the Ark, and who had both ability and performance. She independently installed an Artificial Sun in the lower layer and even took on the position of Governor-General, remodeling the lower layer, which the Central Administration had abandoned, into a place where people could live.

In addition, according to rumors, she had single-handedly subjugated a True Ancestor or dug up and sent evidence of a mega corp’s rebellion, but even considering the exaggerated rumors, the administrators thought that it was somewhat true that she was a special child with outstanding abilities.

But being special was one thing.

There was no reason for Fira Dunhill to infiltrate the place where that child was.

No, she shouldn’t do it for that child’s sake.

“Hahaha! Administrator Asanaka! You have a lot on your mind!”

“Rilstia? What’s going on?”

At that time, Rilstia, wearing fluffy bear slippers, appeared with a smile.

In fact, she had been there since earlier.

“Fira Dunhill, are you so greedy for our Alice?”

“…Yes.”

“Haha! Baalzebub’s masterpiece says she’s greedy without hesitation, so I’m getting chills! But you can’t take my pa-ttak!”

“…If I use force…”

“Are you serious?”

However, as Fira’s eyes gradually turned cold, Rilstia clicked her tongue inwardly without realizing it.

Alice was pretty and capable, but she didn’t have a charm ability like a succubus, yet she kept attracting all sorts of people.

What is it really?

No, in the first place, a succubus’s charm couldn’t charm a First-Class Overseer…

“Well, anyway, I have a way for Overseer Fira to infiltrate the Ruincrest layer without any problems!”

“Really!?”

“Yes! But Overseer Fira must also become my pa-ttak!”

Fira Dunhill was the only First-Class Overseer who didn’t have a direct superior.

The Ark Central Administration regarded Fira’s existence as equal to that, and at the same time, they highly valued the fact that Baalzebub, who could destroy humanity if she wanted to, was instead dedicating herself to humanity and the Ark.

Well, on the surface, the administrators rotated and handled Fira’s administrative affairs, but basically, Fira was an Overseer who existed on her own.

To tell such Fira to become her pa-ttak was, in short, a roundabout way of saying, ‘Just give up if you’re not going to give up all your rights. Alice has received a long-term infiltration mission, but are you really immortal and can’t wait a little while?’

But Fira Dunhill’s decision was truly quick.

“I understand! I, Fira Dunhill! Will become Rilstia Frostia’s pa-ttak!”

“…?”

“If I become Administrator Rilstia’s direct pa-ttak, you can send me to Alice, right?! I won’t let you get away with breaking your promise!”

Is she crazy?

Before Rilstia could react, Fira renewed the magic of the contract to all the maggots in her body on her own.

It wasn’t just one or two, but thousands of maggots simultaneously cast the contract magic on Rilstia. Above all, the contract magic was bound between Rilstia and Fira without any delay because the caster of the contract magic, who was the one who was disadvantaged, voluntarily imposed conditions that were disadvantageous to herself.

“Ah, no…”

“It’s done! I am your pa-ttak! So, send me to the Ruincrest layer to assist Alice right away!”

“…Haha.”

“Oh my. Congratulations, Your Excellency Rilstia. You have that Fira Dunhill as your direct pa-ttak.”

“No, I didn’t want this…”

Rilstia thought to herself.

I don’t think of myself as normal either, but the First-Class Overseers are all crazy.

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“That’s what happened!”

Alice shuddered at Fira’s words, who was smiling brightly and telling her about her exploits.

Isn’t this woman crazy?