Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Translator: Penny
Episode 25: The Battle for the Commoner [1]
Episode 25: The Mortal Scramble [1]
The news spread like wildfire.
I had asked Mr. Deok-bae to leak some information to the reporters from my maternal family's broadcasting station, whom I'd met at a press conference before, hoping to give them a scoop. They seemed to have spread the story even faster than I'd anticipated.
Yuseong Group Doubles Potion Prices Due to Rising Raw Material Costs... Is This Yuseong Group's Tyranny?
"All Patents Are Mine Anyway": Yuseong Group's Potion Technology Monopoly Cripples Small and Medium-Sized Guilds. If This Continues...
If Things Go South, Yuseong Group Will Partner with Vultures for US Expansion—An Overwhelming Act of Tyranny That Even Domestic Guilds, the Government, and the Association Can't Touch.
"Hmm, at least no broadcasting stations are directly criticizing them."
"Right? I just came from the Board of Directors meeting, and so many people were asking about you."
During lunchtime, for reasons I couldn't fathom, Eve's first words to me after I'd been "kidnapped" to the Chairwoman's Office.
"What was their general attitude?"
"I don't know. All they wanted was for me to get you to supply the potions at the original price. They're disgustingly quick on the uptake..."
Even though articles were circulating about tyranny and calls for the government to reclaim the patent rights and make them public for all guilds to use... as expected, the shrewd Board of Directors seemed to have grasped the situation far better than those trash journalists who were just peddling sensationalism.
"Even though it cost a lot, it was a really good decision for my biological father to register the patent with the Akashic Records."
"Right, because only the patent holder can manipulate the patent there."
Unfortunately, among Yun Seong-ho's many blunders, the one thing he did right was registering all the potion-related patents with the World Patent Office, which is used globally, rather than the Korean Patent Office.
According to the information registered on the Akashic Records website, the patent still has a whopping 52 years until expiration.
If it had been registered in South Korea, all sorts of people would have swarmed in, complaining about technological monopolies and pressuring the Korean Patent Office to drastically shorten the expiration period.
The government had been raiding our headquarters almost daily, seizing whatever potions they found.
That explains why the government became so cooperative immediately after my interview, where I said we'd consider expanding overseas if they raided us after the funeral.
Yun Seong-ho's patent registration and the discovery of the American option transformed Yuseong Group from a weak goose laying golden eggs into a dragon guarding a lair overflowing with gold coins.
Who knew that revealing our dealings with the Vultures Guild would prove so beneficial?
How could guilds in Korea, with the intelligence to patent something in the Akashic Records, not have considered expanding overseas when they were colluding to fix potion prices domestically? Well, I was planning to release it eventually anyway...
At least, that would happen when the world needed resources for the final battle against the Final Boss.
The power Yuseong Group wields now is immense—enough to grab the top guilds in Korea by the throat.
Until then, I'll hold onto the overwhelming negotiating card of "suspending potion supplies."
Playing this game, the Association, the Government, the Guilds... there were just too many frustrating elements.
Countless external forces obstructing the protagonist simply because he didn't join their guilds.
I'll set them all straight.
"By the way, I heard the Special Admission Procedure is changing."
"Yes, from now on, I'll be personally selecting the Cadets for Special Admission."
Eve's announcement surprised me.
That's the method the protagonist used when the Guilds were heavily pressuring him...
I felt pleased that the original story seemed to be evolving in a positive direction.
"I anticipated resistance, so I added a condition: applicants must demonstrate their abilities by competing in a mock battle against a student with average grades for their year. But everyone just nodded along in agreement, which makes me a little uneasy. Maybe I should have just announced direct admission without the mock battle?"
"Still, it's truly remarkable how you silenced the Board of Directors."
"Hey, it's all thanks to our President. Now that the Board of Directors knows we're a team, they'll probably listen to me more often."
Eve grinned, making a money gesture with her hand.
"By the way, how are your second-year classes going?"
"...Hmm, they're manageable."
The second-year curriculum consisted of mandatory integrated courses for the entire class and elective courses that cadets could choose to attend from 1 to 4 PM on Wednesdays.
Most cadets signed up for popular subjects like Anti-Demonic Beast Combat or Anti-Personnel Combat. But I chose Alchemy, hoping to find ways to improve the Hidden Pieces I planned to create and further refine the potions I already knew.
With a fairly relaxed schedule, I thought I could coast through Academy life without any major problems...
As expected, enjoying Academy life in Yun Se-a's body proved quite challenging.
In the game, class content and training sessions were always skipped, leaving only the results of stat increases. This made it difficult to grasp exactly what was being taught in class, making it hard to keep up with the curriculum.
I knew from countless retries that Goblins' weakness was their necks. But I couldn't answer a question asking how to induce a Goblin to expose its neck with "Just dodge everything and hit its head to kill it."
In other possession stories, the system would provide answers, or the author or God would conveniently equip the possessed protagonist with glasses or lenses that displayed all the answers. But the God of this world was remarkably strict.
"Oh, by the way, a transfer student will be joining your class. They were originally in Class B, but it seems they were hiding their skills. In a mock battle, they defeated a Class A student in just four seconds."
"A transfer student?"
Had I been reminiscing for too long? The lunchbox I'd bought from the cafeteria was already nearly empty.
Eve rose from her seat, using Lightning Magic to incinerate the towering stack of instant noodle containers without leaving a trace of ash. She'd eaten them so quickly I hadn't even noticed.
"Yeah, I'm heading home now. I was supposed to keep it a secret, but I wanted to tell you. There's still time before the detailed exams... They'll probably be introduced during the end-of-day announcements, so look forward to it. You'll be surprised."
A transfer student...
Whether transferring into third grade or second grade, attending the entrance ceremony was mandatory.
So, they must be one of the people I glimpsed at the ceremony.
Typically, transfer students come from other academies.
Since they likely entered through the Special Admission Procedure, they must be quite skilled... I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do.
"Then, I'll head back."
"Alright, have a good rest of your classes!"
Creak
"Hmm... was the next class Practical Combat?"
Filled with anticipation, I finished the afternoon Practical Combat class and returned to the classroom.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing, sitting in my seat?!"
"That's unfair. I heard from the Chairwoman that transfer students can sit wherever they want."
"There are plenty of empty seats. Don't touch other people's spots—go sit in one of those."
"That's difficult. I owe the owner of this seat an immeasurable debt of gratitude that I can't possibly refuse."
Narrow-Eyed and Kang A-yul were locked in a standoff, each gripping the other's collar.
Since the homeroom teacher and class composition remained the same for three years, the second-year classmates were largely unchanged, except for a few who had been demoted due to poor grades.
Kang A-yul, who had just finished Practical Combat and returned to the classroom, naturally couldn't understand the situation.
The reason was the blind girl standing before him.
Kang A-yul couldn't make sense of it.
Yun Se-a was the one person Kang A-yul had never been able to defeat since entering Raon Academy.
Every time he lost, he felt unbearable rage and inferiority...
Why do you see them as your enemies? Our positions aren't even the same. Even if they were, haven't you considered that they could become allies like Cheonma and I, someone you can trust to watch your back?
After hearing the words of Kang Jin-myeong, his grandfather and an S-Rank Hero, I acknowledged Yun Se-a as both a rival I needed to surpass and a wall I had to overcome. Furthermore, I recognized her as a future comrade I could trust to watch my back when we eventually became Heroes and ventured into the Gates.
However, recently, Yun Se-a had begun acting strangely.
During the winter break, on Christmas Eve, she returned to her Main Residence with a determined glint in her eyes. Since then, she seemed to have undergone some kind of transformation.
Normally, Yun Se-a would use her overwhelming Mana to create a gravity field that restricted her opponents' movements, then exploit their slowed reactions to launch aerial attacks from the Void. But in this Practical Combat exercise, she fought as if she had lost her powers, desperately dodging my sword strikes.
Normally, the psychokinetic pressure was so intense that only she could withstand it. But now, it felt as if the force was focused solely on suppression, so weak that she could break free by exerting force in one direction.
Remembering research findings that sudden mental instability could weaken a psychic's ability output, Kang A-yul naturally grew worried about Yun Se-a.
No matter how clumsy she acted, Yun Se-a always smiled and indulged her childish whims. This time, A-yul thought, she could finally be the one to help Yun Se-a. As she turned back toward the group...
"Oh my, was this seat taken?"
An anomaly had occurred.
Ever since Kang A-yul enrolled at Raon Academy, he had never once left Yun Se-a's side. The students of Class A were well aware of this unspoken rule, a law as immutable as any written decree.
Yet, the blind man before them sat confidently in that very seat.
At first, they had tried to persuade him politely to move to an empty seat, but...
"Just give it up once, please. I heard you've been sitting together for a year."
His unwavering attitude, as unyielding as his tightly shut narrow eyes, momentarily snapped their restraint.
"What are you two doing?"
When they regained their senses, they realized they had been caught in a fistfight with the blind man, their hands gripping each other's collars, by the very person they least wanted to see them in such a state.