I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

At that moment, in the penthouse on the top floor of the H Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul.

“Ha-a-am.”

A red-haired woman in a crimson dress, Gunggi, Yun Hye-ra, yawned lightly as she waited for someone to arrive.

“When will they come?”

Yun Hye-ra, preparing to welcome someone, passed the time by conjuring flames in the air, playing with them with her fingers, and practicing her control over magic power.

Originally, she was supposed to stay in Ulleungdo to recover more of her magic power.

Even now, her magic power was not fully restored, only about 70% recovered.

Thanks to her focus on recovery, she was able to rejoin the frontlines sooner than expected, but to reach 100% recovery, it would take at least until halfway through the practical training.

The reason she came up to Seoul was to meet and converse with a certain person.

There was a knock on the door.

Yun Hye-ra snapped her fingers, and her dress quickly transformed into a black suit.

A suit that completely covered her skin, resembling the attire of Yeouido’s male office workers.

Although it might seem stifling in the summer, the inside of the penthouse was cool, like a crisp autumn day, thanks to the air conditioning.

“Excuse me, Director.”

“Come in.”

Creak.

The door opened, and a platinum-haired old gentleman in a gray suit entered.

Next to the old gentleman were the society’s agents in suits — ‘Brewers’ — positioned as if to guard him. The old gentleman took off his fedora as he sat across from Yun Hye-ra.

“Desmond Fayegreen, the ‘Merchant,’ greets Director Gunggi.”

“It’s been a while. It’s the first time we’re meeting face to face like this since the incident in Gangneung.”

“Yes. Nearly three months have passed already.”

Desmond, the chairman of Fayegreen Airlines, smiled bitterly as he stroked the fedora resting on his thigh.

“Thanks to the Society’s kindness, I was able to preserve the Fayegreen Group. I’m always grateful, Director.”

“Now that it’s a subsidiary of the Society, it’s only natural that the Society takes care of it. I look forward to your continued cooperation, Chairman. Our leader isn’t particularly fond of others stepping up as chairman.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Desmond Fayegreen.

“Where is your granddaughter currently recuperating?”

“At a villa in Montana. She’s reflecting on her actions at a mountain villa.”

After the ‘Gene Thief’ incident, he had collaborated with the Society to protect the group and get his granddaughter out of the international ability user prison.

“She’s now devoutly following Buddhism, has shaved her head, and recites sutras every day.”

“…Even though she’s American?”

“Faith transcends race and nationality.”

“Indeed, that’s a valid point. Good. It seems you’re not wavering, so I can trust you with a serious task.”

Yun Hye-ra handed a tablet on the table to Desmond.

“You’ll be heading to Jeju Island to auction off the ‘Phoenix Feather.’ The reason is to secure cash to expand the group’s internal shares and obtain flight rights throughout East Asia through expansion.”

“You mean I should provide a justification for the massive amount of cash required for the Phoenix Feather sale. Understood.”

“How much do you think it will fetch?”

“In Korean won, the bidding will likely start at around 200 billion. It’s literally ‘the price of life.’”

Desmond carefully picked up the red, shimmering feather that Yun Hye-ra had created with magic flame from the table.

“An ability to reverse time. A legacy left behind by the S-rank hero ‘Phoenix,’ who was once very famous in America.”

Beep.

A woman appeared on the tablet screen.

Her hair was strikingly clear, like the color of water, and she wore a bright smile, but there was a black diagonal stripe over the photo.

“Everyone thought she was a phoenix, but in reality, she was reversing time. She wasn’t undying; she was rewinding the time of her physical body. She experienced countless deaths, saved America, and then passed away.”

“I find it personally regrettable. We’re both flame-based ability users, and our concepts overlap.”

“Is that so…? But weren’t you, Lady Gunggi, associated with a tiger?”

“I meant as a winged flame beast.”

“Ah, I see. That makes sense.”

Gunggi, Yun Hye-ra. Phoenix.

Similar, yet distinctly different entities.

Yun Hye-ra was Korean, while Phoenix was American.

Both had died, but while Yun Hye-ra remained alive in spirit thanks to the Chief, Phoenix was no longer of this world.

On June 7, 2022, Phoenix died.

Before a nuclear missile, fired by a Russian villain, could strike New York City, she flew into space holding the warhead from below.

The nuke exploded, and Phoenix did not return.

If she were to return alive, it would take a very long time—perhaps somewhat shorter than expected, but at least nine months for her to come back from the other side of space.

Maybe even longer.

And if she were to return, she might come back as an entirely different being than before.

But considering the current time in this world was July 2025, it was practically safe to assume she was dead.

“Chairman Desmond, do you believe Phoenix is still alive?”

“Yes. She was a hero of America. By the way, if I may ask, was she perhaps associated with the Society…?”

“She was not.”

Yun Hye-ra shook her head with a bitter smile.

“She was a top recruitment target because she was a woman, but our leader wasn’t keen on actively recruiting her.”

“Was it because of Phoenix’s…”

“Let’s skip over the issue of the deceased’s sexual identity. What matters is one of the three abilities she possessed.”

Yun Hye-ra cleared her throat and held up three fingers.

“Blue Flame, Mana Burn, and Time Reversal. We need to focus on the last one—the time reversal feather she left behind, embedding her power when her mana was full. Now, only seven of Phoenix’s legacies remain worldwide.”

“…What plausible reason do I have to justify obtaining that?”

“Just say you’ve been keeping it hidden for three years after receiving it as a gift, and now you’re finally bringing it out. People won’t care how you got it; they’ll be more concerned with ‘who will win the bid.’”

“Ugh.”

Desmond nodded heavily while fiddling with the red feather.

“I’m already getting messages on my personal SNS from people wanting to buy it before the auction even starts. From the President to chairmen of groups bigger than mine, even S-rank ability users.”

“If you use it within 10 seconds, you get an extra life. You don’t have to use it yourself; someone else can use it for you.”

“…Phoenix was an incredible hero.”

Desmond gently brushed his hand over Phoenix’s photo with a wistful expression.

“I firmly believe she will return someday. I will carry out the mission entrusted to me with that belief.”

Thump.

Desmond clenched his fist and stood up.

“One day, blue flames will burn brightly on this land again!”

“I don’t know how Chairman Desmond managed to get his hands on Phoenix’s feather, but I doubt he can undo a shirt soaked in orange juice.”

I pointed to the front of Professor Lisa La’s shirt.

“I suggest asking the flight attendant to find a quiet place to change. It’ll be hard to get orange juice stains out later.”

“Let’s just think of it as wearing orange-scented perfume.”

Professor Lisa La didn’t seem to mind the juice on her shirt at all.

“And we’ve already passed the 10-second ‘golden time’ while we were talking. Anyway, that feather is something a lot of people are after. Even the chairman of Haegneul Group is eyeing it.”

“I’m sure. Officially, they don’t have it. Even if they did, having an extra one wouldn’t hurt.”

The Society only had one.

I put that single feather up for auction, and the Chief gladly approved.

As for the secret of resurrecting the dead, research on the Phoenix’s feather was already complete.

The Society was able to revive people through other means, making the feather somewhat unnecessary.

Good to have, but not essential.

But to everyone outside the Society, it was a coveted item.

I used it as bait, and now the whole world was flocking to Jeju.

“It’d be nice if the students could focus on their summer semester, but things are complicated, huh? Because of the Phoenix’s feather, people from all over the world will be gathering on Jeju Island.”

“We can’t just throw education away because of a crowd. The summer semester program will proceed as planned.”

“I think so too. …Looks like we’re about to arrive.”

Before we knew it, Jeju Island was visible outside the window.

“I enjoyed our conversation. The time flew by, thanks to you.”

“Good luck. You don’t have to return the handkerchief.”

“Oh my, I was going to use returning it as an excuse to ask you out.”

“I’ll have to respectfully decline that.”

“You’re quite the wall, aren’t you? Hehe.”

Lisa La looked at me with a gentle smile.

“When you push people away like that, how do you think it makes them feel?”

“I’d imagine they think, ‘This guy’s not interested in me.’”

“…You’re ruthless, really. Well, if you ever want to see the Phoenix’s feather, just let me know. I’m planning to watch the auction.”

“Are you thinking of buying it?”

“Yes. I am a billionaire, after all.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Oh.

She suddenly seemed like a different person.

Not that I’d be getting any closer to her because of it.

‘If anything, I should be keeping my distance.’

If Professor Lisa La ended up buying the Phoenix’s feather for billions, or even trillions, of won…

‘I might feel a little guilty.’

Because the blue feather she’d buy…

‘Is a fake.’

It was just a blue feather created through the “Material Creation” ability of my Goblin Bat, missing one crucial function.

‘Until it’s used, no one will know if it’s real or not.’

And it was not like the original owner would come back from space to say, “This is fake.”

‘I’m not sure if it works on the demons of Pandemonium, but it’d be troublesome if it fell into a villain’s hands.’

If an evil person bought it, they’d just waste their money and end up getting executed.

If a good person bought it, that money would be repurposed as research funds to develop resurrection technology.

In the end, as long as they were saved from dying, it was all good.

No matter what happened in the middle, if the outcome was favorable, then everything was fine.

‘As long as they get saved from dying, it’s all good.’

It was not like they were going to die before July was over, right after buying it.

If the resurrection technology was complete before the feather was used, they’d be the first civilian clinical trial.

Ah.

What was the missing function, you asked?

…

Time reversal.

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