The Service Scene
The early morning air felt crisp as I trudged along. Kim Sae-kom, having finally forced me back into the maid uniform, couldn't hide the delighted grin stretching across her face.
“It fits you so perfectly… I knew getting it custom-made was worth it.”
“Please, don't get your satisfaction from something like that!”
The maid outfit clung to my body like a compression shirt, utterly failing to conceal the bulging muscles that threatened to burst free at any moment.
“Still, there's one thing I'm disappointed about.”
“What now?”
“A maid uniform should end in a skirt. Why—”
“What's wrong with wearing pants!”
I'd chosen regular pants instead of the bloomers that were supposed to go under the maid dress. She'd beaten me with laundry for speaking informally, but at least I'd defended my right to pants.
“Whatever. Take this to room 403.”
Sae-kom shoved the laundry she'd been enthusiastically whacking me with into my arms.
“Shouldn't they handle their own stuff…”
“Stop complaining and hurry up! If you're a maid, show some respect for the academy students.”
“Yes…”
I didn't want to find out what she'd hit me with next if I talked back, so I quickly headed up the stairs. When the hell was I supposed to work out if I was already running errands from the crack of dawn? For someone who looked so delicate, her laundry-beating strength was no joke.
“Wait… it's only the fourth floor, but I'm not even out of breath?”
Guess these weren't water muscles after all.
-Knock knock
I rapped carefully on the door of the room that had already lodged one complaint.
“This time I got it right, yes?”
“Yes… I struggled to turn the black shirt into a white one.”
The academy student had such a scrawny frame it made me wonder if he even ate. Even if the average weight for male dormitory students didn't break sixty kilograms, this guy was pathetically frail.
“Why can't you just listen the first time? Now I have to do everything twice.”
“…My apologies.”
“That's why you're stuck being a maid—”
The nameless F-class student spat those words and slammed the door shut.
'Fucking hell. The guy couldn't even take one punch from me.'
I'd never actually been in a fight, but in this life I'd been born with muscles, so my presence alone didn't lose out to anyone. Best to just ignore these stick figures.
As I was cursing them out internally, another voice called from behind me.
“Ju Yu-bi.”
“Who the—?!”
“Why don't you show me that shit-eating expression too?”
“I have done no such thing, Opera. Ha, hahaha.”
Opera. The head maid of Colonge Dormitory was a stickler for rules who made most old-timers look relaxed. Of course, while her personality was eccentric, she boasted stunning beauty for someone barely in her thirties.
“Always mind your expression. A maid's image is the image of Colonge.”
“Yes ma'am!”
Only after bellowing that reply loud enough to satisfy her could I escape the group scolding. This place felt stricter than the military, except for all the women.
'Ah, it's not that there are many women. All the maids are women.'
At this point, I was the only male maid in the entire Ascentio Academy.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out.
“Yu-bi, did you get scolded again?”
“Sae-kom… you've come to comfort me!”
“If you're done getting chewed out, hurry down. We need to move too.”
“……”
Yeah, figures. No allies for me in this world, huh?
I let out a heavy sigh and followed after her. My lung capacity must have scaled with my body, because I was confident I could smoke a whole cigarette in one breath without even tasting the filter.
“So where are we going?”
“…Did you even bother memorizing the schedule?”
“How was I supposed to—”
She hit me again. Damn, her hands were vicious.
“We're setting up the banquet hall today. All the dormitory maids have to pitch in or we won't finish by afternoon.”
'Dragging people around for something like that… If you're calling for backup, at least prepare some tea or something.'
The weather sat in that awkward space between late winter and early spring. No snow, but the air was plenty chilly as we walked.
“…Aren't you cold, Sae-kom?”
“It's bearable. And don't call me by name—use proper honorifics. I'm technically the deputy head maid.”
Oh, she'd already climbed that high in Colonge?
“Then I'll just call you Chief from now on.”
“This little—!”
She spun around to smack the top of my head, but this time I caught her hand mid-swing.
“What? Your cheeks are all red?”
“…W-what are you saying!”
“If you're cold, just say so—”
-Smack!
I got hit again immediately.
“Tsk… why are you so overreactive?”
“S-shut up! Hmph!”
“……”
This was so fucking unfair. I show a little concern and she loses it.
“By the way, since it's the freshman welcoming banquet, regular people can attend too, right?”
“Seems that way. It's a day that raises the academy's prestige.”
The freshman welcoming banquet that had been glossed over so briefly in the webtoon. But since I'd reincarnated here, maybe I'd finally get to see it in person.
The [Human Summoning Art] used by the first-year mage that had only appeared in the original protagonist's flashback scene.
“This is totally a jackpot.”
“I don't know what you're talking about, but stop smiling. It's creepy.”
“?”
Wasn't that just straight-up character assassination?
The Grand Auditorium, where the freshman welcoming banquet was being held.
Preparations under Opera's command proceeded with military precision.
“Didn't I tell you not to put that there?”
“S-sorry…”
“I said clear all the chairs, didn't I?”
“Then are we supposed to eat standing up—?”
“We're not eating here! This isn't your first time, so stop complaining and move faster!”
Man, she was ridiculously strict.
A formal setup for refreshments and tea. Like I'd ever done anything like this before!
'Wearing this maid outfit on top of it… This is so damn embarrassing.'
The other dormitory head maids kept stealing glances and flashing nasty little smirks.
“So Opera really did end up recruiting a male maid.”
“Even the great Opera couldn't have predicted the maid shortage.”
“Right? She should've done better when she was at that troll dormitory. Tsk tsk.”
They were badmouthing Opera more than me. The head maid currently getting thoroughly roasted had originally been in charge of A-class students. I had no idea why she'd been demoted. I only remembered that detail from when the character was first introduced.
“That's enough. Let's get out of here.”
Having finished the setup, Sae-kom called me over.
“Huh? We're done already? Aren't we going to watch?”
“Regular citizens are attending. You think there'll be seats for us?”
“Still…”
Why couldn't we watch when even regular people were allowed? The new freshmen and second-years were just starting to file in. Kim Mi-ran's summoning spell as freshman representative was supposed to kick off the opening ceremony.
“Chief.”
“Whatever it is, no.”
“I need to take a shit.”
“……Hurry up and come back.”
Guess she had enough mercy to allow bathroom emergencies. I quickly slipped away to the second-floor restroom area of the auditorium. Of course, I could feel the stinging glares following me.
“What's that guy doing squatting over there?”
“…Can't you see the uniform? He's a crazy maid.”
“Oh, right. Let's just go.”
Had the higher-ranked academy students never seen a male maid before…?
Just then, someone called out to me.
“Hey, you. Bring me some water.”
“…Hey! Over there!”
When I didn't respond, the person raised their voice loud enough to draw everyone's attention.
“Can't you hear me?”
“I'm currently on my way to the restroom, so I'm afraid I can't assist you right now.”
Right on cue, Mi-ran was stepping up onto the platform.
“What is a mere maid even saying?”
“Finally… Wait, what?”
“If you're a maid, just do as you're told. What would you even do by watching this?”
She wasn't technically wrong. But her tone was seriously pissing me off.
“…I'm sorry, but I'll leave after watching just this.”
“Hah, so you're from Colonge Dormitory? I can tell by the male maid. No wonder Opera's fallen so far—her subordinates don't even listen anymore?”
“……”
Damn it, I couldn't even punch this bitch. The woman yapping away with considerable authority wore an A-class badge. Was she throwing her weight around just because she was doing well?
As I listened to her arrogant rant growing louder, Mi-ran's summoning spell began.
“I'll let it slide just this once. Now go.”
“What the hell are you—”
“Or you can stay and watch too.”
Even as I spoke, my eyes were glued to one spot. Mi-ran, who had completed her incantation. Something was being summoned there.
The service scene that had been mentioned in the protagonist's flashback.
'F-finally, I'm going to see a girl group with my own two eyes!'
The three-cut flashback scene the views-obsessed author had crammed in as fanservice. Back then, a girl group had appeared. I didn't know what it was exactly, but—
'Anyway, summoning girls in the middle of showering and making them scream was pretty funny.'
'I don't know what Mi-ran was thinking, but if everyone enjoyed it, isn't that what matters?'
She'd stuffed way too much dialogue into just three cuts, but the art was detailed enough to identify specific fanart-level characters. People had complained that the speech bubbles covered all the important shots in the service scene, but since it was a webtoon mostly read by men, the backlash wasn't that bad. Everyone already knew the platform's regulations prevented actual nudity anyway.
'But… since I've reincarnated into this webtoon, I get to see it live.'
The curtain was rising on the girl group shower scene.
“It's coming out!”
“Yeah, it's out.”
The spell completed. Instead of a girl group, the first-year Mi-ran had summoned a monster.
A green monster whose motif I couldn't even begin to guess. The moment the creature with the torn grin swung its tentacles, people on the first floor began evacuating.
“Everyone, please remain calm and exit through the rear doors.”
“To allow regular attendees to leave first, academy students will wait momentarily.”
The students, who weren't too rattled, followed the instructions and stayed put. It was a monster that even students at their level could subdue without much difficulty. The real problem was Mi-ran's safety.
“Head Maid Opera! There are still personnel who haven't returned.”
“There shouldn't have been any stragglers, Sae-kom. Who is it?”
“…Ju Yu-bi went to the restroom.”
Opera rubbed her face once before letting out a deep sigh.
“I'll go look for him. Deputy Head Maid, please lead the others to safety.”
“I-I'll go with you!”
“The only place where evacuation is currently impossible is the second floor, where the entrance is blocked. That area isn't even within the creature's range.”
“……Understood.”
However, from the supposedly safe second floor, someone was leaping down.
“Never again. Do not look down on maids!!”
It was Ju Yu-bi.
“What the hell? Where's the girl group? What is that thing…”
While I was busy cursing reality, the student who'd been picking a fight with me opened her mouth again.
“Is that what you were waiting for?”
“……”
“What, you have a tentacle fetish or something?”
My body, which had been tightly contracted, couldn't return to normal.
'My… my girl group…! I carried all those plates just to see this!'
What did a guy who'd spent his twenties shut up in his room do every single day? Watch idols, read webtoons, watch YouTube, watch anime. All I ever did was stare at idols dancing inside rectangular screens!
“I was finally going to see it in person! A shower scene, no less! Why the hell did that thing pop out instead!”
Mi-ran, who had climbed onto the auditorium platform, had lost consciousness and collapsed behind her spell.
“Hah, what an incomprehensible fool.”
“…Say whatever you want.”
No one could understand the crushing disappointment in my heart right now.
“Are you really scared of a pathetic monster like that?”
“What?”
“You're frozen in place, too scared to even move.”
“What's your name?”
Who the hell was this nobody to be running her mouth? At least tell me your name…?!
“W-why are you in A-class?”
“What, surprised? First time seeing an A-class student?”
What surprised me wasn't that. The heroine who was supposed to be mocked as a failing student and rescued by the protagonist. The magic swordsman Han Gi-hui was wearing an A-class badge.
“What the fuck? This doesn't make sense.”
“Hmph, how vulgar, throwing around curses like that. If you're scared, just admit it.”
“Even if I were scared, it wouldn't be in front of someone like you.”
“……W-what?!”
Maybe it was thanks to the confidence my muscles gave me. I didn't want to be looked down on by Han Gi-hui, who was originally supposed to be a failing student. But the moment the furious Han Gi-hui started getting angry, the monster's gaze turned our way.
“Damn it, you drew its aggro! Shut your mouth!”
“Y-you—?! I could handle something like that with one hand!”
“Oh really~?”
“Hah, don't you dare put a maid like yourself on the same level as me.”
“Yes! Understood, ma'am!”
After teasing her thoroughly, her face turned bright red—exactly like the Han Gi-hui from the original webtoon.
“W-what can you even do?”
“Anything would be better than a failing student like you.”
“Failing student? Hah, then prove it.”
Clatter—
The one thing a swordsman must never release until death. Han Gi-hui unfastened the scabbard from her side and tossed it aside with an arrogant expression.
“Go ahead.”
“……”
“What, scared now that you see it? A mere maid like you daring to look down on me—”
“Hey, throwing away your sword like that is exactly why you're a failing student.”
“……?!”
I picked up the scabbard and stepped in front of Han Gi-hui. I had no idea how she'd gotten into A-class or why a monster had been summoned. The original author had already thrown probability out the window, so there was no way I'd know. But one thing was certain.
Right now, I refused to be looked down on by her.
“Never again. Do not look down on maids!!”
I hurled myself toward the monster.