Student Council President Jo Arin and An Yumin (1)
Song Sia...
Two days ago, the members of Aegis had gone out together on a hero activity.
Crimson Teeth had carried out a terrorist attack during the Pure White Festival. The fallout from that terror had drawn even more villains to their ranks, which meant Seoul’s public safety had grown even more chaotic. But the members of Aegis ranked among the absolute top of Theia’s freshmen, and the academy had matched them with villains appropriate to their level, so this particular villain-hunting operation had not been especially difficult.
Ha Yeeun really shone during this activity.
After a stretch of poor condition, Ha Yeeun had finally recovered her form. It was probably thanks to her failing stream starting to do well again. Song Sia, on the other hand, had been acting strangely. Her expression was paler than usual, and she spent the entire day staring at nothing but her phone’s lock screen, as if she were waiting endlessly for someone’s reply. She still made no mistakes during the hero work itself, yet the change in the always-cold, always-composed Song Sia was unsettling.
Could it be because of Lee Junwoo…?
Even Song Sia’s decision to join a minor club like Crime Research had been suspicious. An Yumin had looked into it just in case and discovered that Lee Junwoo was a member of that very club. Learning that fact left her restless.
She had already decided to give up on her feelings for Junwoo. Her own misunderstandings and ridiculous jealousy had ended whatever relationship they once had. But it was not easy. She hated the idea of other women hovering around him—especially people she knew, like Song Sia or Ha Yeeun. Just imagining it filled her with such vicious jealousy that she felt she might lose her mind. She even found herself wondering whether Junwoo was helping Ha Yeeun again now that the stream was recovering. Ha Yeeun had used him mercilessly, after all. Surely that could not be the case…
I hate this… It hurts… It’s agony…
If it were true, An Yumin would not be able to endure it. This jealousy was different from before. All three of them had agreed to exile him, yet the person who had been the direct cause of his panic attacks was An Yumin herself. The other two members of Aegis might still find some way to reconnect with him, but she alone could not even approach his vicinity. He had already drawn a clear line after what happened.
It’s my sin. So I have to bear it.
Even if they became complete strangers with every last bond severed, she must never again trigger his trauma.
We can never… go back to the way things were.
That despair left An Yumin choking every single day. She remembered the time before Aegis, when she and Junwoo had simply hung out together at the high school academy. She had always been snappy and sharp-tongued, yet he had accepted every one of her complaints without a single word of complaint in return. Raised by a single mother with neither father nor siblings, she had always starved for affection while pretending to be strong. Junwoo had been the first person to fill that emptiness. She had never once expressed those feelings directly, but she had loved the time they spent alone together. Walking to the convenience store side by side, sitting on a bench and talking about nothing important, receiving his encouragement for her absurd goal of surpassing Senior Jo Arin—none of that would ever be possible again.
No. Are you giving up already? You know Lee Junwoo isn’t that cold of a person.
The voice rising from deep inside her heart made her resolve waver whether she liked it or not. The Junwoo she had loved had been kind. Even after she had cursed him so viciously, he might still forgive her. If it meant earning that forgiveness, she would do anything.
No. I don’t even hope for forgiveness. Just… as long as we don’t become complete strangers…
She kept denying it because she no longer wanted to suffer, yet she still clung to the hope born from the proposal Junwoo had made not long ago. If he truly hated her to the point of death, he would never have recommended her as a member for this student-council patrol mission.
An Yumin arrived at the temporary gathering place for the student-council patrol. The moment she did, her eyes met those of Lee Junwoo, who had already arrived ahead of her.
Even looking at me… he doesn’t seem displeased.
He was not exactly friendly, yet neither did he give off any sense of rejection. That single fact alone filled An Yumin with a fierce, almost unbearable happiness.
“Miss An Yumin. You’ve arrived.”
But the moment was short-lived. The red twin-tails who had arrived first—Student Council President Jo Arin—spoke to her.
Senior Jo Arin. Even among the countless talents filling Theia Academy, she was the student who most deserved the title of genius. They shared a slight acquaintance. Ever since their days at Theia’s high school academy, she had been the senior An Yumin both respected and feared the most—and the one who had recommended her as a partner in place of Choi Hana.
An Yumin hurriedly steadied her heart.
Right. Today I have to complete every mission perfectly.
She could not afford to hear that she was inferior to Choi Hana. Nor could she lose her position as student representative. If Song Sia or Ha Yeeun pushed her out of that seat, every point of contact with Junwoo—like today’s mission—would vanish completely.
And this is in front of Senior Jo Arin. If I act clumsily here…
She had softened considerably since high school, yet Senior Jo Arin was still infamous for her terrifying personality. As a genius, her standards for herself and everyone else were mercilessly strict.
Lee Junwoo is watching too. I need to focus even harder today.
Jo Arin soon began explaining the day’s mission.
Saturday evening.
The regular members of the student-council patrol and the temporary members had gathered in one place. An Yumin was among them. We had run into each other often enough even after she left Aegis, but this was the first time we would be operating as a single party since then.
Well, this is actually a good situation.
This was the story quest in which An Yumin officially took part. The fact that a mere extra like me had been made a temporary patrol member was proof of how much I had grown.
Our eyes met for a moment.
“……”
A flustered An Yumin quickly averted her gaze. Of course, my absolute composure never wavered; I felt no particular emotion toward her. We would only get tangled up more frequently from now on because of quests.
Still, An Yumin has no idea I’m a villain.
That meant situations could arise in which I would help her while keeping my identity hidden. Naturally, there was not a shred of goodwill in those actions. Everything was solely for my final purpose.
And An Yumin is a little different from Song Sia or Ha Yeeun.
Song Sia was being marionettized. Ha Yeeun’s corruption was progressing. Yet even after several meetings, An Yumin had triggered no interaction events related to me. Perhaps, as the protagonist, she possessed some mental defense mechanism the other two lacked.
Then maybe I should shake her heart a little more.
If I could place a leash on her that I could control the way I had with Ha Yeeun and Song Sia, she would become far more useful to me.
I cursed her pretty hard during Hell Week. Giving her a carrot this time should be fine.
I already knew exactly how this mission would unfold. If the very person who had developed panic attacks because of her ended up helping her during this operation, An Yumin would only grow more confused.
At that moment Student Council President Jo Arin called out to the assembled group.
“You all know about the villain infiltration that happened during the first-years’ Hell Week. Because of that, the student council has decided to patrol the Ark system more frequently than before.”
Everyone focused on her words. She was a short girl with red twin-tails, a cute student perched atop a witch’s broom—yet every cadet present knew Jo Arin’s reputation. She was the fire mage called the greatest genius since the founding of Theia Academy. That was not all. Anyone who had graduated from Theia’s high school academy could not possibly be ignorant of her other nickname.
Mad Dog Jo Arin.
It literally meant “crazy dog.” Naturally it was not a flattering moniker. She was short, and her parents were ordinary civilians. Before her talent fully bloomed, Jo Arin had been bullied by her fellow awakeners. Her introverted personality had made her an especially easy target for the delinquents in her class.
Her tsundere way of speaking was annoying as hell too.
Of course, once she awakened to fire magic the situation reversed completely. From that point on Jo Arin never tolerated a single provocation from any delinquent. She had beaten down even the most infamous students—and strong fighters from other academies—with her magic alone.
And in the end she completely dominated that year.
The current second-years at Theia Academy were called the golden generation, which meant a large number of promising students had already been famous since high school. Naturally there had been plenty of hot-blooded, rough types at that age, yet Jo Arin had already finished ranking them all during their high-school days.
Her personality has softened a bit now, though.
I had heard that she was actually extremely gentle toward people she was close to. That extreme tsundere attitude had apparently been a defense mechanism from the days she was bullied. In any case, she was a student I needed to be extremely careful around.
An Yumin really looks up to Jo Arin.
Jo Arin had been An Yumin’s role model ever since high school. That made her more of a pure hero than any other original character. The effect of the title Unknown would not apply to her.
Her main stats must already exceed 100 if it’s Jo Arin.
My Intelligence was a mere 23. Even Song Sia, a fellow mage, sat around 70. I had to hide my identity thoroughly in front of her.
If she ever finds out I’m a villain, it’s instant death.
Yet Jo Arin was an extremely important character in the story—especially as the person who would become An Yumin’s mental mentor.
She’s a completed form who overcame every bit of wandering from her high-school days.
This was the first quest of Chapter Two that was just beginning. It was the important episode in which An Yumin would learn from Jo Arin the mindset a hero needed to possess. And in that episode, crucial foreshadowing related to the Archmage Leticein would be revealed.
Leticein…
Even in the original work he was foreshadowing incarnate. The game Full Moon’s Grey City itself was practically a story of chasing the traces he had left behind. The first gate had opened on Earth thirty years ago, and twenty years ago—when humanity had been driven to the brink of extinction—a mysterious mage had ended the Dark Age.
Leticein’s Ark is also a system he left behind.
He was a genius who had created advanced magical theories that even modern magic scholars still could not interpret. There was a reason every villain coveted his legacy.
The Three Sacred Treasures he left behind. Just one of them is enough to place an awakener at the absolute peak.
Naturally, given Unknown’s goals, I wanted those treasures as well. But they had been impossible to obtain even in the original story. Only by following that story perfectly would I be able to learn even a fraction of their true nature.
In this mission, I need to gather those clues faster than An Yumin.
Even if the original protagonist obtained a certain amount of information, I—who already possessed prior knowledge—held the clear advantage.
At that point Jo Arin’s entire explanation came to an end.
“Then you two over there, follow me. We’ll be patrolling the campus restricted area, so stay sharp.”
Jo Arin pointed at me and An Yumin.
As expected, same party as the president.
An Yumin might not notice, but Jo Arin’s instincts were razor-sharp. I needed to take measures today so that my identity would not be exposed.
Fortunately, at this point in time I can still deceive Jo Arin in advance.
The patrol members dispersed toward their respective areas. I followed behind Jo Arin while confirming the item I had prepared.
Jo Arin moved at the head of the party. Riding her broom meant she felt no fatigue at all, yet her mind was busy. The two juniors following behind her occupied her thoughts—especially the male freshman, Lee Junwoo, far more than the other.
Considering his high-school records, his performance during last Hell Week was almost absurd.
Awakeners sometimes experienced a special phenomenon called power awakening that caused their abilities to grow rapidly. The mechanisms of authority were still largely unclarified, so those who possessed powers that defied ordinary concepts were usually called irregulars. But Junwoo’s case was different again.
Using her authority as student council president, Jo Arin had personally reviewed every record of the events that had unfolded during Hell Week. Even standing before villains, even in the middle of sudden crises, Junwoo had remained far too calm.
Even though he’s just a mere academy freshman.
It was possible if a student possessed exceptional mental strength, yet considering the recent incidents caused by Crimson Teeth, as student council president she had to assume the worst-case scenario as well.
What if he’s a villain hiding his identity?
Even so, she did not want to entertain that suspicion. The truth was that Jo Arin had been watching Junwoo long before this—ever since their high-school days. He himself had no idea of that fact.
Right. First I’ll confirm it during today’s mission. Then I won’t need to waste any more energy on unnecessary suspicions.
She possessed the Witch’s Eye. With eyes that could pierce the truth, she would be able to confirm everything for certain.
It was right then that it happened.
“Senior. Would you like some of this too?”
At those words she turned her head. The moment she saw what Lee Junwoo was holding out to her, Jo Arin’s face flushed bright red.
It was the exact same chocolate she had once received from him back in their high-school days.