How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 14. The Club

“That’s enough. Everyone, return to your classrooms!”

The supervising instructor spoke, calming the restless crowd.

“Is it not too serious?”

The students, curious yet compliant, dispersed as instructed, and Kim Do-jin turned to follow the throng.

Time passed.

– Ding dong ding.

Before long, today’s classes had come to an end.

So he began preparing to head home.

[Please submit your club application by the end of this week. Once again, I remind you. All freshmen must submit their club… ]

The school announcement halted his steps.

‘By the end of this week?’

Like any other school, the Hero Academy for Awakened Ones also had club activities.

It was encouraged by the school for students with shared interests or hobbies to gather, unwind, and build camaraderie.

‘If it were up to me, I’d want to join the billiards club, but that’s not possible…’

‘Arc’—my school was home to dozens of clubs: the band, dance, theater, reading, academic, art, soccer, and many more.

And it was a rule that students had to join and participate in at least one of these clubs.

Yet, Kim Do-jin had no intention of joining any club at all.

The only exception to this rule was the student council, whose main duty was to oversee all the clubs.

‘It might take more time and be more troublesome than regular club activities… but for the sake of revenge, I have no choice but to endure it.’

Having made this decision, Kim Do-jin set off to the student council room on the fifth floor of the main building to fill out the application form.

– Knock, knock!

Finally arriving at the student council room, Kim Do-jin rapped on the door.

“Yes. Come in!”

A kind voice flowed from within.

– Bang.

As he swung the door open, the faces of two female students sitting on the sofa, smiling brightly, froze momentarily.

‘Yeah. I guess it is strange, even to me.’

The notorious Kim Do-jin, already infamous as a troublemaker in school, had barged into the student council.

“W-What brings you here…?”

The two girls, their faces tense, glanced nervously at Kim Do-jin, who maintained a calm expression as he stated his purpose.

“I came to fill out the application form.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said I came to fill out the application form.”

“Ah, yes! H-Hold on…”

As indicated by the color of their name tags, the two girls were second-year students.

However, caught off guard by the unexpected situation, they treated the first-year Kim Do-jin with unexpected formality, handing him the application form.

“…….”

Kim Do-jin silently accepted it and quickly began to fill in the blanks, while the two girls kept their distance, whispering cautiously.

“Hey, that’s Kim Do-jin, right?”

“Yeah, it is. He looks a bit different, though…”

“Right? But he wants to join the student council? What on earth is he up to?”

The two girls couldn’t help but think this way.

If that infamous troublemaker had no ulterior motives, then why on earth did he seek to join the student council?

And indeed, Kim Do-jin harbored a secret agenda of his own.

A scheme that these two young women could scarcely fathom in their wildest dreams.

Anyway, some time passed after that.

– Thud.

At last, Kim Do-jin set down his pen, having completed the application form, and stepped out of the student council room.

Now, he was finally returning to the dormitory.

“…Huh?”

For some reason, Winter was nowhere to be seen.

“Winter?”

He had expected a joyful rush to greet him as he opened the front door, but the dorm room lay silent.

“…….”

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a runaway situation.

“Not good.”

Kim Do-jin hastily slipped on his half-removed shoes and dashed outside.

If it became known that his pet was a spirit beast, it could lead to all sorts of trouble.

With a racing heart, he circled the dormitory, searching for Winter.

“Haah….”

Fortunately, Winter was at the lakeside park in front of the dormitory.

Flipped onto his back, surrounded by a dozen young women.

“Ah! This one is so cute! Is he asking to be petted?”

“Hey, I want to give belly rubs too!”

Kim Do-jin shook his head and approached Winter.

“Could you move aside, please?”

The girls, finally noticing his approach, jumped back in surprise, parting to let him through.

“There you are, you rascal.”

Kim Do-jin deliberately lifted Winter high, making it clear he was the owner.

“Bark!”

Winter greeted him like a master, and the girls slowly retreated further back.

“Let’s go.”

Thus, Kim Do-jin turned his steps back to the dormitory with Winter in tow.

“Surely you didn’t use your powers in front of people, right?”

“Woof.”

“If you’re feeling stifled, it’s fine to take a walk alone, but you must never reveal your powers. Understand?”

“Woof!”

Winter barked as if he understood everything, yet Kim Do-jin couldn’t shake off his worry and repeated the warning a few more times.

“Ah?”

Just then, he unexpectedly crossed paths with Misaki Ai, who had also ventured out for a stroll on the narrow path.

“Ah!”

Misaki Ai gasped in surprise upon seeing Kim Do-jin, bowing her head in greeting, only to quickly shift her attention to Winter at her feet.

“Do-jin, you have a puppy? Wow… he’s so cute!”

It seemed she had a genuine fondness for animals, as her face lit up with a bright smile, and she began to play with Winter.

Though her eyes were covered by a blindfold, the joy radiating from her was unmistakable.

“Kyaah, that tickles!”

Caught off guard by Winter’s playful tongue, Misaki Ai suddenly crouched down, lifting her head to ask.

“What’s his name?”

Kim Do-jin found himself looking down at Winter, who was now sprawled out on his back, basking in delight.

“Winter.”

Misaki Ai tilted her head, curiosity piqued.

“What a pretty name. But why Winter?”

Winter was winter, and winter meant snow, and snow meant white.

Yet this Winter had a base coat of black fur, making it hard to say the name truly suited him.

But what if it didn’t match?

“Just because he likes the name.”

At Kim Do-jin’s response, Misaki Ai nodded in understanding.

“Ah, I see.”

She wanted to play with Winter a bit longer, but sensing Kim Do-jin’s reluctance, she decided to rise.

“I’m sorry for taking your time. He’s just so adorable that I couldn’t help myself…”

With that, Misaki Ai bid her farewell and left, while Kim Do-jin found himself staring at her retreating figure for a while.

“…….”

He decided it was time to leave.

He picked up Winter, still sprawled on the floor, belly exposed.

* * *

Morning broke the next day.

Kim Do-jin, arriving at school on time once more, trudged toward his seat.

“…….”

Suddenly, he spotted the empty desks of Nasca and Renya and thought to himself.

‘No matter how I think about it, it feels a bit unsettling…’

The notion that Nasca and Renya’s fall was merely a stroke of misfortune seemed less likely than the possibility of interference or attack from someone else.

Yet, lacking any further information on the matter, he shook his head and plopped down in his seat.

As he fiddled with his smartphone to pass the time, a most unwelcome message arrived.

– Vroom.

A text popped up, uninvited.

[Woo Tae-sung – Did you make it to school? I’ve got a good lead, so come see. 3rd floor music room, now lol]

Kim Do-jin snorted, swiping the screen away.

‘Only someone like you would find that good news.’

Ignoring it, he continued to browse the internet, when suddenly the chatter of students nearby caught his ear.

“Hey, did you hear that story?”

“Yeah? What story?”

“They say it was Lim So-hee who did that to Renya.”

In an instant, Kim Do-jin’s mind snapped to attention, his fingers pausing as he focused on the conversation.

“What? Lim So-hee? No way, that’s ridiculous. Does she look like the type to do something like that?”

“Oh, you just don’t know. How can you ever know someone completely?”

“Well, that’s true… but why? What’s sparked this rumor all of a sudden?”

“They say the doctor who treated Renya found signs of blindness in her eyes. It seems she was exposed to a strong light for a moment, and that might be the cause of the fall.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Who among our first-years could pull something like that off? Other than Lim So-hee.”

“Whoa…”

It felt unnecessary to hear more.

– Thud!

—

Kim Do-jin sprang up from his seat, ignoring the startled gazes of those around him, and hurriedly left the classroom.

The reason for Nasca and Renya’s fall.

The good case that Woo Tae-seong had mentioned.

The empty seat of Im So-hee.

The rumors spreading through the school.

He could roughly guess what was happening in the music room without even looking.