Welcome to the Union Hero Academy (2)
“Hmm?”
Jin Soyeon blinked her eyes several times, as if she had sensed a subtle gaze.
When she turned her head, her eyes met those of Lee Siwoo, who was staring at her with a piercing look.
Even though their gazes locked suddenly, Lee Siwoo did not avoid her stare.
Jin Soyeon tilted her head.
“……?”
She wondered why he was looking at her like that, and a tiny question mark floated above her head.
But soon she raised her hand and greeted him in a friendly tone.
“Hey~ Siwoo, you were in the same class, right? Hi.”
“……Hi, Soyeon-ah.”
They exchanged polite greetings.
Jin Soyeon had a slightly closer bond with Lee Siwoo than with others.
“By the way, Soyeon-ah.”
Lee Siwoo suddenly stood up from his seat.
The chair scraped back with a loud creak.
The students around them cautiously made way.
Everyone stared at Lee Siwoo in confusion as he rose from his seat.
He walked slowly toward Jin Soyeon.
Oh, he’s wondering about my breakup with Jinhyuk, huh?
He’s already approaching like this.
“It wasn’t intentional to eavesdrop, but it’s true that the two of you broke up?”
“Hm? Ah, yeah.”
Jin Soyeon swirled her head a few times, glanced at me once, and answered slowly.
Lee Siwoo’s cold eyes suddenly sparkled with a strange glint.
“You two have been famous as childhood sweethearts since middle school, so I was surprised.”
We had been quite the notorious couple during middle school.
Because we weren’t a real couple.
Many students wondered why a girl like Jin Soyeon was dating me.
Especially the boys secretly in love with her spread rumors that we were dating only because we were childhood friends.
“You two really matched well.”
Lee Siwoo glanced at me.
Did he really think we matched?
I don’t think so.
He likes Jin Soyeon.
“Me and Jinhyuk?”
Jin Soyeon stood up straight with a smug expression, glanced at me, and laughed playfully.
“No way. I feel sadder about it.”
That’s true.
We don’t really match.
But seeing that arrogant nose of hers makes me want to break it.
“Anyway, that axe soldier—”
“What?”
When I added a comment, Jin Soyeon glared at me with sharp eyes.
“You don’t know how many proposals I received, do you?”
“Ah, yeah, yeah. It must be nice to have that many.”
“Wow… your tone is getting on my nerves.”
While Jin Soyeon and I were exchanging a few words,
Lee Siwoo spoke in a slightly lowered voice.
“Even after breaking up, your relationship still seems good, you two.”
Ah, I shouldn’t seem too close in front of him.
Honestly, it just looks weird when ex-friends seem too friendly, right?
“We didn’t break up badly. We’ve known each other since kindergarten, too.”
“Childhood friends, huh……”
I quickly added the rest.
Lee Siwoo quietly mulled over the word “childhood friends.”
He seemed a bit envious of our relationship.
But he also has a childhood friend.
Not as close as me and Jin Soyeon, but—
There’s one pretty young lady.
That girl with the “fiancé” setting arranged in the family.
“What’s with that attitude.”
“That’s so ridiculous.”
At that moment,
“Who is she? Why is she being so friendly with Siwoo?”
“Look at her tail-wagging. Hah. Pathetic.”
The chatter came from a group of female students a short distance away.
They were openly insulting Jin Soyeon,
as if they wanted everyone to hear.
“Right? Seol-hyeon-ah?”
“……”
In the center of the female students,
“Seol-hyeon-ah?”
“You mean Jin Soyeon?”
She was like a masterpiece—
There was one stunningly beautiful girl.
The girl in clothes that looked like they belonged on a drama queen radiated a noble aura.
Wow, she already created a faction on the first day?
“Siwoo showing interest in girls is rare, you know.”
Long blonde hair with waves reaching her shoulder blades.
Skin as white as ivory, unique to the Slavic type.
A somewhat glamorous figure.
“She’s pretty.”
“Compared to Seol-hyeon, she’s nothing. Right, guys?”
The female students nodded and echoed “Yeah, yeah.”
Saying that felt a bit off, but it was like praising an aristocrat.
Honestly, it was funny.
‘It’s Yu Seol-hyeon, Yu Seol-hyeon.’
Yu Seol-hyeon.
The 7th-rank top student who entered the academy.
She was one of the hero aspirants in Romance Hero Academy, a villainess character.
Daughter of the leader of the Gaonnuri Clan, one of South Korea’s top 10 hero clans.
Granddaughter of the Spear Ghost Yu Gapryeong and childhood friend of Lee Siwoo since they were young.
“Yu Seol-hyeon’s personality isn’t normal.”
She had a pretty high self-esteem, like the daughter of a wealthy family.
She didn’t care about things she wasn’t interested in, but when something caught her eye, she obsessed over it.
She secretly had strong possessiveness and hated being targeted.
……Well.
To sum up Yu Seol-hyeon: she was a typical villainess heroine in a female-oriented game.
But she wasn’t just a villainess.
She didn’t bully people for fun, so she was harmless as long as you didn’t irritate her.
Yes. As long as you didn’t irritate her.
“She’s already showing interest in Soyeon.”
I had expected that, but it was because of Lee Siwoo.
Because he and Yu Seol-hyeon were both childhood friends and engaged.
Ah, of course, it was a half-joking engagement from the family, so they weren’t seriously thinking about it.
But on paper, it was an engagement.
Given Yu Seol-hyeon’s prideful nature, even if she had no romantic feelings for Lee Siwoo, it would be extremely unpleasant for her to see her childhood fiancé interested in another girl.
“The more intimacy Soyeon has with Siwoo, the worse her relationship with Seol-hyeon will become.”
It was a matter of pride as a woman.
She would never accept that she had no interest in anyone, but someone else was showing interest in a commoner girl.
Especially someone with strong pride.
“Eventually she’ll become a completely hostile NPC.”
It was a common plot point.
The fiancée of a rich young master becoming a villainess and turning hostile toward the heroine because of jealousy.
But Romance Hero Academy was a role-playing game with fairly high freedom.
That meant there was also a route where Yu Seol-hyeon remained neutral and became a friendly ally.
In fact, in the game, there were many times when she and Lee Siwoo were brought in as positive allies.
Of course, it was never easy.
In the first playthrough, it was practically impossible.
But who am I?
I was no ordinary player of Romance Hero Academy.
I had a track record of clearing the game dozens of times.
I even made a 100% all-clear guide and spread it online.
“To face many villains and monsters in the future, it would be best to secure as much power as possible.”
Of course, that included Yu Seol-hyeon.
Since she was set as the daughter of a major clan and a villainess, her performance was outstanding.
It was necessary to recruit her, not just for personal strength but because her family was also powerful.
“If I can prevent that one event where she completely turns black, it’ll become much easier.”
It was one of the decisive triggers for a mischievous villainess to fall into villainy.
If I solved that event first and slowly built up intimacy and relationship points, I could definitely create a positive relationship with her.
Like I did in the game, I’d try it once.
Of course, the game and reality would be different.
“Hey, you guys. Is that a line for me?”
Jin Soyeon’s anger exploded at the mocking words from the Yu Seol-hyeon faction.
She glared with furrowed brows and snarled.
“What do you mean I’m tail-wagging? Hah, you’re all so funny.”
“……”
Lee Siwoo also stared at them blankly.
The girls flinched when their eyes met his.
Some even secretly avoided his gaze.
Yeah, even if Soyeon is easy to approach, Lee Siwoo is intimidating.
“Stop whispering behind my back and say what you have to say straight.”
Because of her outstanding beauty, Jin Soyeon had received plenty of jealousy from girls and never backed down in gossip.
“Do you understand?”
“Sorry.”
Ah, she’s finally stepping in.
“Our girls are really interested in Siwoo.”
Yu Seol-hyeon walked through the female students with a dignified gait and approached Jin Soyeon leisurely.
“I’ll apologize on your behalf.”
She smiled sweetly and came right in front of Jin Soyeon’s nose.
She said she was sorry, but her attitude didn’t look apologetic at all.
Was it because of her aristocratic confidence or that smile?
Either way, it would be unwelcome to Jin Soyeon.
“You’re Jin Soyeon, right? I’m Yu Seol-hyeon.”
“……Yu Seol-hyeon?”
“Ah, have you heard of me?”
“I’m famous. The third daughter of the Gaonnuri Clan.”
“Don’t worry about it. It just makes you uncomfortable if you do.”
“……”
Jin Soyeon looked at Yu Seol-hyeon with a sullen face while she covered her mouth and giggled.
She sighed once and nodded.
She probably couldn’t spit on someone’s smiling face.
“Siwoo, you too—hi.”
“Hello.”
Yu Seol-hyeon naturally turned her gaze to Lee Siwoo and greeted him.
Lee Siwoo seemed a bit bothered by Yu Seol-hyeon’s sudden appearance.
Because she was his nominal fiancée.
“Siwoo isn’t the type who’s interested in other people’s love stories, but seeing him like this makes me think you must have made an impression, huh?”
“Eh? What?”
She dropped a slightly mischievous remark typical of a villainess, and Jin Soyeon blinked her large eyes in confusion.
Like the typical reverse harem protagonist, Jin Soyeon had zero sense of romance.
“Yu Seol-hyeon.”
“Why? Ah, did I have no awareness?”
Yu Seol-hyeon frowned and smiled while brushing her hair back.
Soon a strange atmosphere filled the air.
I watched them with a slightly interested face.
It might sound a bit weird to say this, but the situation was quite intriguing.
In the game, the heroine, hero, and villain had all gathered in one place to create an interesting scene?
As a dedicated fan of Romance Hero Academy, I was bound to get excited.
“Why is the class atmosphere like this from the first day? What are you all doing over there.”
A woman’s voice suddenly broke the subtle atmosphere.
“Everyone, sit down. It’s annoying, so just find your own seats.”
After the homeroom teacher appeared, the students quickly took their seats.
“Well, I’ll leave now. And……”
Yu Seol-hyeon finally glanced at me.
It was the first time she had turned her gaze to me, someone she had never paid attention to before.
“Lee Jinhyuk, right? Soyeon’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe. Ex-boyfriend, huh? Interesting. Anyway, see you next time.”
With that, she walked toward her group.
“Who is that girl, really.”
Jin Soyeon only gave a grumpy reaction.
She was truly a heroine and a villainess.
To improve our relationship, I would probably need to exert a lot more effort.