I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

The survival exam would begin in three days.

The Academy’s students were busy preparing themselves through training, causing the training arena to be packed with second-year students.

For now, I was personally training the members of the Disciplinary Committee so they could achieve the highest possible scores during the exam.

One of them was Viera Regnan, a regular-class student who was currently practicing her archery.

It was extremely rare for Academy students to choose a bow as their primary weapon.

However, Viera’s abilities would be needed by my forces in the future for several important missions.

”How are your shots today, Viera?”

She turned toward me.

”I think they’ve improved tremendously, Captain. Ever since you taught me the Eagle Eye spell and Stabilize technique, my accuracy at a distance of one hundred meters has increased to seventy percent!”

”Good. Improve your accuracy even further. Once you reach ninety percent, I’ll teach you a spell that will give your arrows much greater destructive power.”

”Really? Thank you, Captain!”

Little by little, each member of the Disciplinary Committee would develop their own unique specialties.

Even if you couldn’t excel in the fields that most other students specialized in, at the very least, you could develop a specialty that would make the Academy prioritize you for certain tasks.

Next, I noticed a man surrounded by three other members.

It was Tazz Barget.

The three members were attacking him with wooden swords, yet Tazz didn’t dodge at all.

That was because I planned to turn him into a Tank—a vital role when fighting as part of a team.

”Repel!” Tazz shouted as one of the wooden swords was about to strike his body.

When the wooden sword struck Tazz’s thigh, the attacker’s hand suddenly began trembling before he dropped his wooden sword.

Repel was a spell that hardened the user’s body like stone and allowed it to repel incoming attacks.

That was why the student’s hand had trembled from the impact of Tazz’s Repel spell.

”I did it! I did it...! I finally mastered the spell!”

The corners of my mouth lifted slightly as I watched these students, who had once been nothing more than a group of losers, gradually improve.

However, I soon noticed another member.

A small, thin girl was struggling to swing her sword properly.

Her name was Tianna Lovecraft—a second-year student from the regular class.

She possessed a physique that was completely unsuited to her dream of becoming a member of the Calvatra Knights.

If she shifted her focus toward becoming an Assassin, I believed she would still have plenty of room to grow.

However, this woman was incredibly stubborn and insisted on continuing to train in swordsmanship.

After approximately four hours of training, the members lined up before me to listen to my instructions.

”This is our final training session before the second-year students take the survival exam. On the thirtieth day, gather at the office for a briefing regarding the safety procedures we’ll follow during the event.”

”Any questions?”

The members simply shook their heads.

”Good. Dismissed. Get some rest!”

---

After training the members of the Disciplinary Committee, I left the Academy grounds to meet with the new recruits who wanted to work for me.

Over the previous few days, I had distributed several flyers throughout the capital to fill certain positions.

I wanted to establish an information-gathering team because I couldn’t rely on the information I possessed as the game’s developer forever.

I needed to continuously update that information based on the developments occurring in this world.

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Second, I wanted to establish an armory and develop magical artifacts myself for my team’s use.

And finally, I wanted to establish a merchant guild so that I wouldn’t always have to rely on the wealth of the Garcia Family, which was controlled by Duke Alvaro, whenever I needed to execute certain operations.

After approximately fifteen minutes, I finally arrived at a building I had purchased as the first headquarters for the team I intended to build.

”Keep the change,” I said as I stepped down from the carriage and handed the driver a gold coin.

I then entered the four-story building.

There were already around twenty people waiting on the first floor.

They all looked toward me as I walked toward the interview room.

”The five of you, come with me. I’ll call the rest of you in one by one afterward.”

I took out a key and unlocked the door.

There was a work desk inside.

After sitting down, I watched as four men and one bespectacled woman entered the room.

”All right, let’s begin the interviews.”

The five of them nodded.

I needed capable people to fill several important positions within the organization I planned to build.

I first looked at the bald man and the largest man in the room.

”You two. State your names.”

Judging from their appearances, these two seemed well-educated.

I thought they would be suitable for the positions of Guild Master of the merchant guild I planned to establish and Master of the Armory responsible for my team’s weapons and equipment.

”Yes, sir! My name is Olen Mask!”

”My name is Joff Bozes, sir!”

Huh? Wait... What?

Did I hear their names correctly?

Let’s ask again just to make sure.

”Could you repeat your names?”

”Yes, sir! My name is Olen Mask! I’m skilled at crafting weapons!”

”My name is Joff Bozes! I’m skilled in commerce!”

Ah... So I didn’t mishear them.

Marek, you bastard!

He had casually created Easter egg characters based on famous people from the real world.

I then looked at the man beside them.

He had brown skin and a short-cropped hairstyle.

His character design looked somewhat familiar.

”What is your name, and tell me about your background,” I said to the man with the cropped hair.

”My name is Karl Johnson. I used to be the leader of a street gang called Gruv Street.”

Hearing this, I grabbed my head, trying to suppress the rising frustration caused by yet another problem created by my childhood friend.

Marek, have you completely lost your mind?

Why would you design and name a character like the protagonist of a famous game?

Are you trying to get our game sued over copyright issues...?

”I came here to start a new life. All of my friends died fighting against a rival gang,” Karl said, his voice filled with emotion.

I then looked at the man sitting beside Karl.

He had a thick black beard.

Judging from his skin tone and facial structure, he seemed to be from the Nation of Kuwalid, whose territory was almost entirely covered by a desert climate.

”Introduce yourself and tell me about your skills.”

”Very well, sir. My name is Omasa bin L—”

”Stop! Stop right there!”

His introduction was cut short by my shout.

Forget copyright issues.

Once our game reached full release, we were definitely going to get boycotted by America and Europe.

There was no need to ask about this man’s abilities.

He obviously knew how to make explosions.

I swear, if I ever managed to return to my original world, I would teach Marek a lesson.

I’d create a character with the exact same design as his beloved waifu and make a side quest where that character—who looked exactly like his precious waifu—was brutally assaulted and killed.

Yeah... Let’s do that if I ever manage to go back.

”You can all leave. You’re accepted into my organization.”

The four men looked confused.

But they didn’t seem inclined to complain now that they had been accepted.

”But, sir, I haven’t even introduced myself or told you what I’m capable of,” said the only woman in the room.

I looked at her incredibly voluptuous figure.

She was also wearing a pair of glasses with a very distinctive design, eerily similar to those worn by a famous adult actress from my previous world.

I could already guess her name and profession without her telling me anything.

”You’re accepted too. Now, all of you, leave the room.”

The five of them left.

I then began writing notes about the positions each of them would occupy later.

”Next, come in!”

Not long afterward, a short and thin man entered the room.

For once, I couldn’t find any obvious clue from his character design.

”State your name and occupation.”

”Yes, sir. My name is Joe,” the man said while politely bowing.

”Your full name?”

”Joe Kowai. I’m a woodworker skilled in constructing buildings.”

Finally.

A candidate who doesn’t have a reference from my original world.

”All right. You’re accepted into the construction planning department of this organization.”

The man looked overjoyed upon hearing the news.

He even shook my hand enthusiastically because he was so happy about being accepted.

”All right, next!”

There were still several applicants left.

This is going to be a long day.

---

[3rd PoV]

The following day, at the Imperial Palace, Duke Alvaro was staying inside a room specially prepared for him by the Emperor.

He was reading a report concerning the escalating conflict along the border between the Aragon Empire and the Republic of Venetia.

He had come here to attend a meeting regarding the dispute that threatened to spark a war between the two nations.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

He stopped reading when he heard someone knocking on the door.

”It’s me, Alfred, Master.”

Hearing his servant’s voice, Duke Alvaro permitted him to enter.

Alfred entered while carrying a report in his right hand.

”I’ve received a report regarding the Young Master’s activities, Master,” Alfred said as he bowed his head.

”Very well. Let’s hear what you’ve learned.”

Alfred proceeded to explain Raul’s recent activities, including how he had begun training problematic students within the Disciplinary Committee.

He also reported on Raul’s activities the previous day, when he had interviewed several people to fill various positions within the organization he intended to establish.

”Thank you, Alfred. You may leave now.”

Duke Alvaro paused for a moment.

”Keep an eye on that boy wherever he goes. Monitor every movement he makes. Understood?”

”Yes, Master.”

After Alfred left, Duke Alvaro began carefully reading through the report he had received, attempting to determine what Raul was planning.

”Hoo~ Interesting...”

He leaned back slightly.

”It seems he doesn’t want to rely too heavily on House Garcia and intends to build his own power from the ground up.”

Duke Alvaro narrowed his eyes.

”Could it be that he doesn’t trust me regarding my support for Princess Elena?”

He believed Raul was attempting to build his own faction in preparation for the upcoming Imperial succession.

What he didn’t know was that Raul was building all of this for an entirely different reason—

to minimize the devastation that would be caused by the Demon invasion several years in the future.