The Doll Ghost Woman, Lee Ga-hyeon, had infiltrated the Academy—and not just any part of her, but her main body, disguised as a visiting instructor.
This was something that had never happened in the game.
I couldn’t help but be deeply bewildered.
*Timing-wise, it was around when the episode where we encounter Lee Ga-hyeon would occur, but something like this never happened…*
In the game, Gang Han-byeol’s party first met Lee Ga-hyeon during the first-year second-semester club activities.
They ran into her by chance at the Hall of Honor while on a field trip as part of Mystery Exploration.
At that time, Lee Ga-hyeon—or rather, her avatar—revealed her secret: she had infiltrated the entrance exam to gather information on the freshmen.
「Lee Ga-hyeon」
—So you’re the Spear Ghost’s disciple. I was curious what your face looked like, so I secretly infiltrated the entrance exam, but I missed you then… I’m glad to see you now. Above all, your face is exactly my type. I thought you’d look fierce like the Spear Ghost, but this is quite unexpected. *Sigh*… I want to add you to my collection.
Because I knew of such a future,
I had been preparing for the inevitable clash with the Demon Society and the moment I would come face-to-face with Lee Ga-hyeon.
I hadn’t accounted for the possibility that the future might deviate from the game’s progression.
*Why is Lee Ga-hyeon here? What’s her purpose?*
It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand.
Unlike the originally planned progression, the avatar Lee Ga-hyeon had sent to infiltrate the entrance exam had lost its life to me.
Unable to obtain any information from it, she had ridden the wave of the Demon Society’s resurgence and followed other villains in infiltrating the Academy disguised as a visiting instructor.
This time, she had come to obtain information on the Geumgang Academy students.
*Still, I managed to buy one semester.*
In truth, with villains sneaking in, it was impossible to completely prevent information leaks after one semester had passed.
It was fortunate enough that I had managed to delay the information leak even this much.
So there was no reason to panic over the appearance of a variable named Lee Ga-hyeon that could act as a bad omen.
Rather, this variable…
*Could become a favorable opportunity.*
In the game, the villain who appeared mysteriously and raised the difficulty of story progression, causing endless headaches, was none other than the Doll Ghost Woman, Lee Ga-hyeon.
Such a woman had now set foot in the Academy with her main body, not an avatar.
She had walked into the enemy camp of her own free will.
*If things go well…*
I might be able to drastically weaken Lee Ga-hyeon by eliminating her main body right here and now.
Having made my judgment, I began monitoring her movements in secret from that day onward, waiting for an opportunity.
As it happened, she was assigned to Yu No-eul’s class, so I frequently ran into her during morning classes.
Thanks to that, I could observe her smoothly and without seeming unnatural.
Then one day.
"Everyone, enjoy your lunch! And Gyeon-u, could you help me out? I need to return the teaching tools we used in class to the materials room. You can do it since you’re the vice representative, right? I’ll give you some candy as a reward."
"Huh? Sure."
Yoo No-eul called out to me as I was about to go have lunch with my friends after morning classes.
Then she held out a box of teaching tools that she could have carried by herself.
*She never asks me to do this sort of thing… What’s going on?*
I couldn’t help but wonder inwardly.
Since it was a trivial request anyway, I decided to help her.
"I’ll go with you. You need an access pass to enter the materials room. Instructor Ye-na, Instructor Mi-yeon, Gyeon-u and I will return the tools, so please go ahead and eat without us."
"Got it. We’ll head to the cafeteria first. Let’s go, Instructor."
"Ah, yes… Gyeon-u, do your best."
Yoo No-eul asked for understanding from Hong Ye-na, Lee Ga-hyeon—who was in disguise—and the other visiting instructors.
At that, Hong Ye-na nodded lightly and left the classroom with the instructors who were there.
"Shall we go then?"
"Yes."
Yoo No-eul smiled brightly and guided the way.
Carrying the box of teaching tools, I followed her up the stairs of the teaching building and entered the materials room.
"Instructor, where should I put this?"
"Just leave it somewhere visible. Someone else will organize it later."
Perhaps everyone had gone to eat lunch; there was no one in the materials room.
Looking around the dim space, I soon set the box down in a suitable spot as Yoo No-eul suggested.
Through the window, students could be seen leaving the teaching building.
Click.
"…."
That was when the sound came.
I turned my gaze from the window and looked back at Yu No-eul, who had suddenly locked the materials room door.
"Instructor? Why did you lock the…"
"Why, you ask? It’s just that this instructor has something intimate she’d like to discuss with you, just the two of us."
"…."
"Gyeon-u, do you happen to like older women? Even ones with a big age gap? Instead of Ha-neul?"
…What was she talking about now?
I frowned as I watched Yu No-eul stride toward me, her heels clicking.
Regardless, she nonchalantly brushed the dust off my shoulder and loosened her necktie.
"I didn’t know Gyeon-u liked women in their thirties. But Gyeon-u, you know I’ll be in my thirties in five years too, right? Honestly, aren’t I more attractive than Instructor Mi-yeon?"
"No, me liking older women… what are you talking about? I like people my own age. And why is Instructor Mi-yeon suddenly coming up?"
This was absurd.
I had no idea what kind of leverage Yoo No-eul thought she had to be playing around like this.
I asked in annoyance.
Yet she asked calmly, catching me speechless instead.
"Why is she coming up? Because you’ve been sneaking glances at Instructor Mi-yeon every chance you get lately. Were you peeking because you’re interested in her?"
"Peek? That’s not—"
"Did you think you wouldn’t get caught? Gyeon-u, what was my specialty again?"
"…Intelligence."
"Right, intelligence. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? The person in question, Instructor Mi-yeon, probably noticed much earlier. She’s intelligence too, even though she pretends to be from the archery line."
"…."
"More importantly…"
Women are sensitive to gazes, you know.
Yoo No-eul tightened my necktie and whispered in my ear.
Then she stepped back.
"You seem to have noticed something too, but I’d rather you didn’t interfere needlessly. You might alert the other party and end up gaining nothing. So leave the role of watching that person to me, and could you stay still and pretend you don’t know?"
So this was the reason Yoo No-eul had created this situation.
Only then did I understand.
Well, it wasn’t as if the Academy would remain defenseless after hearing news of the Otherworldly Heaven’s resurrection.
She and the other instructors had been keeping an eye on the villains disguised as visiting instructors.
"So you knew too, Instructor. That that person isn’t a Hunter."
"Her acting like she wasn’t from intelligence was completely obvious. So I asked the Chairwoman. I told her there was a very suspicious person and asked her to assign the person to me. I said I’d monitor her thoroughly up close. But… as I thought, you knew too. I’ve thought this for a while, but you have good eyes. Good enough to change your major to intelligence."
"I had a feeling something was off. Should I say it felt awkward? Now that I hear what you’re saying, I suppose it was because habits unique to intelligence were showing through that person."
"You probably felt a sense of dissonance."
"So what’s the plan? It’s not just you, Instructor No-eul; the other instructors are each keeping an eye on people they find suspicious, right?"
"The Chairwoman and we are planning to set a trap and catch those whose guilt is certain. We probably can’t root out all the villains who have infiltrated the Academy that way, but it’s better than doing nothing."
It was the most realistic alternative for now.
In fact, it had been mentioned in passing in the game to create the Academy’s atmosphere.
I nodded.
*The problem is, neither Instructor No-eul nor anyone else seems to have figured out Lee Ga-hyeon’s true identity…*
I wouldn’t have seen through it either if I hadn’t checked her status window.
Lee Ga-hyeon’s disguise was near perfect, after all.
In any case, the situation was far more serious than the instructors expected.
If they moved without knowing better, they would end up falling prey to her instead.
*What should I do…*
How to deal with Lee Ga-hyeon.
And whether I should inform the instructors of her existence.
I fell into thought.
* * *
Lee Ga-hyeon could split her soul and implant it into other bodies.
In the game, this trait made her a headache of an enemy who had to be fought multiple times.
It couldn’t be ruled out that even now, aside from her main body, separate avatars existed.
I had to consider the possibility that she had hijacked the bodies of other related personnel, such as students, regular instructors, or staff.
Having reached that conclusion, I had been arriving at school early for several days to check people’s status windows.
"How is it?"
"Hmm…"
Unfortunately, it was too much to check every single person’s status window.
My eyes grew dry, and fatigue gradually built up.
There was the drawback that I had to meet the other person’s eyes to bring up the message, and I had to account for people I missed in between.
So to approach this efficiently, I enlisted the cooperation of Cha Eun-sol, who could see through Lee Ga-hyeon’s true nature at a glance.
Of course, asking her wasn’t smooth sailing, but I somehow managed to compromise by not suggesting training for a while and treating her to meals for several days.
This was entirely thanks to Yeon Ha-neul’s contribution.
"I don’t see any yet. *Nom*…"
This was the third time we were scanning people entering the teaching building.
Yeon Ha-neul, Cha Eun-sol, and I slurped instant noodles on the teaching building rooftop while looking down below.
As morning assembly time approached, more and more people were arriving at school.
"Didn’t you buy rice balls earlier? I want to eat a rice ball."
"Okay. What flavor?"
"Jeonju bibim flavor."
"Here. Ha-neul, you want one too? Is cup ramen enough? You didn’t eat breakfast."
"Hmm… then can I have tuna mayo?"
"If I move my hands, I can’t concentrate enough to see people’s souls… Are you not going to unwrap it for me?"
"…Fine, I’ll unwrap it. Ha-neul, give me yours too. I’ll unwrap it."
"No, I’ll eat mine myself."
While examining people’s souls, Cha Eun-sol was thoroughly on top.
I suppressed my momentary frustration and kindly unwrapped the triangular rice ball and offered it to her.
She bit into it without caring about getting her hands dirty.
Meanwhile, Yeon Ha-neul nibbled carefully.
It was then that Cha Eun-sol delivered the good news.
"Found one."
"Where? Who? What do they look like?"
"That male visiting instructor over there, carrying a yellow briefcase. *Nom*…"
Cha Eun-sol pointed in a direction.
I handed her the triangular rice ball I was eating as a reward and quickly fixed my eyes on the man.
Our eyes happened to meet briefly.
The man’s status window appeared in my vision.
[Personal Info]
Name: Gu Jin-pyo (Lee Ga-hyeon) (Male · 35)
Alias: Lee Ga-hyeon’s Soul Doll
Affiliation: Seryu Clan
Including her main body and avatars, I had found a total of four Lee Ga-hyeons so far.
And I had just discovered the fifth.
In other words, the complete Lee Ga-hyeon, who would become whole when merged into one, was gathered at the Academy.
*Originally there were six, but I took out one during the entrance exam.*
I averted my gaze from the man and pulled up the information on the remaining Lee Ga-hyeons from my memory.
[Personal Info]
Name: Lee Ga-hyeon (Female · ?? years old)
Alias: Six Demons — Doll Ghost Woman, among ?? others [+Details]
Affiliation: Demon Society
[Personal Info]
Name: Seo Min-hui (Lee Ga-hyeon) (Female · 18)
Alias: Lee Ga-hyeon’s Soul Doll
Affiliation: Geumgang Academy
[Personal Info]
Name: Choi Yeong-mo (Lee Ga-hyeon) (Male · 43)
Alias: Lee Ga-hyeon’s Soul Doll
Affiliation: Shining Clean Co.
[Personal Info]
Name: Bak Su-hui (Lee Ga-hyeon) (Female · 29)
Alias: Lee Ga-hyeon’s Soul Doll
Affiliation: Geumgang Academy
A Hunter from another clan, a visiting instructor, an Academy student, a cleaning company employee, a staff member.
She had infiltrated the Academy with diverse identities, meticulously planned.
I clicked my tongue.
*It’s good that an opportunity to catch them all at once has arisen. The problem is, I have to hit them all simultaneously…*
If even one escaped alive, our information and the threat we posed could be relayed to the Demon Society.
It could negatively affect the future.
But I couldn’t just turn a blind eye and ignore her out of caution.
*There’s no good angle to play, no angle at all…*
My worries deepened inevitably.
* * *
Ever since losing a portion of her soul during Geumgang Academy’s entrance exam,
Lee Ga-hyeon had always been curious.
*Who killed me?*
Who was it that had made her—who should only have value if perfectly beautiful—into an incomplete being?
Lee Ga-hyeon hid in the darkness of Academy City and gathered information independently.
But there was a limit to the information she could obtain without approaching the Academy.
Chairwoman So Hye-yul had also kept a tight lid on things, even resorting to magic.
In the end, having gained little, she decided to infiltrate the Academy directly to find out.
She also planned to dig up Geumgang Academy’s secrets, as requested by the Otherworldly Heaven.
*The Spear Ghost’s disciple who didn’t participate in the entrance exam obviously isn’t a student… The probability of them being a student is low. I should focus on investigating the instructors first. To do that, it would be good if I could access the roster of people involved in the entrance exam…*
If she assumed the culprit was a student, it was likely someone from the Ten Great Houses.
Among them, the most likely candidate was the Thunder Blossom of the Divine Sword Do Family, Do Si-eun, who had assisted with the entrance exam as student council president.
Next were Do Gyeon-u of the Divine Sword Do Family, Min A-rin of the Magic Dao Min Family, Nam Yu-ri of the Alchemy Nam Family, Cha Eun-sol of the Circulation Cha Family, and Yong Hae-rang of the Righteous Hero Yong Family.
In that sense, Lee Ga-hyeon naturally became interested in Do Gyeon-u and Min A-rin, students of Yoo No-eul’s class.
She was particularly bothered by Do Gyeon-u, who was subtly observing her.
*For someone with such an innocent-looking face, he surprisingly has a rebellious streak… How unique. I like him very much. I want to add him to my collection. Does he like me too?*
That was not the case.
Because the emotion in Do Gyeon-u’s gaze was wariness rather than affection.
She could glimpse similar emotions even in his gaze, which had decreased a few days ago.
Lee Ga-hyeon was simply curious.
*There’s no way he knows my true identity, so why is he wary of me?*
Had he simply judged intuitively that she was dangerous because of his good instincts?
She didn’t know.
Lee Ga-hyeon wanted to know the reason.
*He seems to be avoiding me. I’ll ask him when I get the chance later. I should keep an eye on him for now.*
And so,
they became aware of each other.
I Had Become the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss