Villain Simulator-Chapter 148: Tampering with these balls

On the spot, I closed my right eye, positioned the monocle over it, and then reopened it.

"Wow..."

For a moment, I was left speechless.

The clarity of what I saw was astounding, revealing details previously invisible to me.

It was a world on par with what I perceive with Mana Affinity (A).

Streams of mana stretched across the sky, each displaying varying colors, textures, and degrees of clarity—some faint, others bold; some warm, others cool; some bright, others dark.

Among them, there was a particularly thin and pale white band that seemed to crumble if I held it in my hand, attached to the balls and spreading outwards through the academy. It was the unique mana trace of these balls.

Nonetheless, regardless of how mesmerizing it was, I managed to keep myself from getting too immersed in it.

My focus was clear: I had to ensure Rosalie’s failure.

To do that, I had a simple plan.

Since I couldn’t stop Rosalie from searching for Mana balls, I would just tamper with the Mana ball she would get.

Needless to say, I wouldn’t risk my arrangement by tampering with the smallest ball, which held the highest score. Instead, I would focus on the second-smallest ball.

Even with plot armor, Rosalie wouldn’t be able to surpass me if I interfered with that one.

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Moreover, Rosalie would be led here by the faint traces of the two smallest balls.

In that situation, if I were to take the second-smallest ball while leaving the smallest one untouched, it would undoubtedly raise suspicions.

After all, why would someone who is capable enough to reach here ahead of Rosalie leave the highest-scoring ball behind?

That would only draw attention to my actions, making the situation fishy.

Because of this, I chose to tamper with the second-smallest ball.

In terms of how I’d go about doing it,

"Simple."

[Skill Activated: Anti-Magic.]

I grabbed the second-smallest ball, activated my skill, and poured my mana into it.

The magic formula engraved inside the ball was instantly revealed to me. It was very small, but countless lines and shapes of mana were tangled inside.

"Phew!"

Breathing deeply, I started to unravel them one by one and eventually got to the core of the mana formulas.

From there, with careful precision to not disrupt the delicate balance of mana within the ball, I erased the marking little by little from the core of the mana formula.

It was as if the structure of the Mana formula was altered entirely, with E becoming F, Ear becoming Far, and so on.

Once I had finished, I concealed the ball in another challenging location to further obscure its discovery and add another layer of disguise to my actions.

After that, I hid behind a tree near the garden’s exit, using my [Concealment] skill to stay hidden and [Anti-Magic] to get rid of any traces of the ball I was holding.

By the time I completed these tasks, it was slightly over 20 minutes.

Shortly afterward, I heard voices approaching.

—It’s up here, right?

—Yes, just follow.

There were guys approaching this way.

It was a group I recognized all too well.

"…Huh? The traces of the smallest ball vanished."

"What? How could that be?"

Alex exclaimed in surprise, and Rosalie replied with a shake of her head.

"I don’t know myself."

My view was obstructed by the big Hannah at the back, but I managed to see Rosalie, frowning and squinting as she looked for clues, and Alex nervously following behind her.

Standing like Rosalie’s bodyguards in front of Hannah was Rosalie’s partner.

’This extra character also dared to follow the protagonist. How foolish!’

I sneered inwardly and watched Rosalie move around the garden, as she soon seemed to have reached a conclusion.

"As I expected."

"What did you find, Rosalie?"

"Someone had already taken the smallest ball before we even arrived here and purposefully changed the location of the second smallest one to make it more difficult for us."

"But who could have arrived here before us and still done this?" Hannah asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"Who else? It must be that bastard, Adrian… He must have cheated!" Alex interjected with annoyance painted on his face, and even Rosalie nodded in agreement with his accusation this time.

"I agree. No matter how good his senses are, it is impossible for him to come here so early. But don’t worry, he can cheat like this, but he won’t be able to cheat in front of Professor Isabella.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about the report."

"Yes, even if he gets the highest scoring ball, it’s not the end. I can still write a better report than him."

Rosalie smiled confidently, and Alex also cheered from the side.

"Hahaha, yes, no one can do that better than you. To be honest, if not for that bastard cheating, I say today’s test is tailored for you."

"Indeed."

Rosalie nodded with a faint smile.

In fact, being the main character of the talent flow storyline, Rosalie’s talent for magic was even higher than that of Sylvia at her peak.

Mana control, coordination, agility, response, resonance, sensitivity, affinity—all her abilities were perfect and innate.

She was a prodigy who had learned dozens of mana formulas and had even invented a few of her own.

Poor thing, she didn’t know one thing:

’Even if your eyes are good, are they better than my Magic Microscope: Golden Monocle, which is on par with Mana Affinity (A)?’

Not at all!

Regardless of how great her talent was, it was still a talent that hadn’t fully developed and produced any tangible fruits.

So, it didn’t matter if Rosalie could currently out-magic or out-mana some of the Academy professors when it came to understanding, assembling, and comprehending magic formulas; I was still light years ahead of her, dishonest as pie and cheating so blatantly.

’Hehe.’

With a sly grin on my face, I returned my attention to Rosalie’s gang, who were gathered around the least noticeable location in the garden.

"Wait, there’s something here."

Soon, Alex shouted from the top of the tree and spotted the ball.

More accurately, I was the one who put the ball there.

"Here’s the ball."

After jumping down from the tree, he gave Rosalie the ball.

She praised him, then pushed it back toward him.

"Good, and you can keep it."

But how could the sissy Alex, Rosalie’s most loyal minion, take his master’s trophy? As expected, he soon denied it.

"No, Rosalie, you should take it. It was because of you that we could even arrive here, and among us, you’re the one deserving it the most."

As a matter of fact, not only Alex and the others, but deep inside, I was also requesting Rosalie.

I really hoped she would accept it.

Of course, how could our main character allow Alex to keep the ball?

The prior declaration was merely a formality for maintaining her reputation and a sort of test for Alex’s loyalty.

"Since you’re persisting so much, I will take it."

Considering how she didn’t even refuse it once more and took the ball right out of Alex’s hand without saying thank you, I bet that she would have taken it from him sooner rather than later had he not offered it.

Upon witnessing this ridiculous scene, I could not help but silently give a "praise" and click my tongue inwardly.

’Ah, so hypocritical. As expected of the protagonist,’

"Let’s go; there’s no point in staying here anymore. If we move faster, we still might be able to get other high-scoring balls."

"Yes, let’s go."

Everyone else concurred, and Rosalie nodded and turned around gracefully, like dancing a waltz.

Following behind were her minions, especially the sissy Alex, who couldn’t help but lament.

"Ah! What a waste. If both of the balls were here, I could have gotten this second-smallest one. Now I have to settle for the next best. But Rosalie, I am looking forward to you beating the shit out of that, bastard Adrian."

"Don’t worry, I won’t let him get ahead of me this time. Just wait and watch."

’Yes, yes, I am also waiting and watching. My dear Rosalie.’

I licked my lips as I watched their retreating figures. I simply couldn’t wait for Rosalie to use that ball and get the zero points.

’Hehehe.’

…..

Ding-Dong!

At precisely 13:00, the bell rang, signaling the end of the first segment of the Monthly test.

Of course, I was empty-handed. My ball was in my pocket, and I no longer had the Golden Monocle with me since I didn’t need it anymore.

"Haah."

Since I was already near the sword and magic faculty, I yawned and leisurely returned to the class hall.

—You’ve caught one of the most difficult balls. Congratulations! Rosalie.

Inside the class hall, it seemed that the scoring was already underway.

—Thank you, professor.

A name that flowed particularly clearly from beyond the door.

A voice that you could recognize just by the tone.

Rosalie Cypra.

I opened the door to the hall.

"Next!"

"Veena Rathi."

Veena, with her usual stoic face, showed her ball to Isabella.

I quietly sat in my seat.

"Oh, you have also caught one of the smallest ones. Congratulations! Veena. You also get a bonus AP of 1.5 points!"

Isabella, who had scored Veena, quickly turned to look at me.

"Adrian, you caught something too?"

"Yes."

I answered briefly, stood up, took out the ball from the pocket, and showed it to Isabella.

Isabella flicked her head and carefully looked at the ball before a bright smile appeared on her face, and she shouted.

"Oh-ho! Congratulations! You got the smallest ball of the test. 3 bonus AP for you."

—What? He found the smallest ball. I thought it was Rosalie.

—Yeah, I am surprised too.

—I already knew it since he had already beat Rosalie once.

—Haha, I know, right?

Isabella’s statements caused an uproar among the class.

I even sensed a few malicious looks directed at me, particularly from the protagonist’s group, but I chose to ignore it all and quietly recline in my seat while secretly chuckling even more maliciously in my heart.

’I hope you’ll like my gift, my dear protagonist Rosalie. Hehe.’