Our School's Prince (3)
"The director wants to grab a meal after seeing your face."
While we were still waiting for a response from customer service, an appointment was set with the director of Our School Has a Prince, the drama that Kang Jun and I had accepted.
There was a high chance he'd ask us to show off our acting skills when we met, so Kang Jun and I had been practicing even harder.
"Aigoo, Haesol! That's not it!! You're way too stiff!"
"It's. Fine? You. Must. Be. Shocked."
"Aaaah!! My eyes!! If you're gonna make that face, just give it to me instead!"
"...Isn't that a bit much?"
The acting trainer teacher's wail echoed through the room. Hell, I was the one sighing deeply.
"No, seriously, is that one line so hard? 'It's fine? You must be shocked.' Just say it normally, like you're actually talking. You don't read everything like a robot in real life. Aigoo, how are we supposed to put you in front of a camera? I might need to rethink this."
I'd been planning to upload it once customer service fixed things, but that wasn't happening. The acting trainer was always good at dishing out tough love, but seeing Kang Jun snickering in the corner made me realize my acting was pretty damn serious.
"And it's not just your lines—why do you make that face when you deliver them?"
"Did I do it again?"
My expressions were decent when I wasn't speaking, but the second I had lines, my face went rigid, and my delivery turned wooden. That was my chronic issue.
Focusing solely on expressions? Not bad—I'd even gotten praise from the trainer for steady improvement there.
The problem was the lines.
"You got no talent for acting."
"I know."
"Even with that handsome face, at this level, you're unusable."
Fuck. Time to spend some coins.
"...Gonna hit the bathroom."
Did Kang Jun catch my expression tightening? The guy was scurrying after me.
I was heading to use coins right now—your tagging along would be a problem.
"Why're you following?"
"Uh... you okay, hyung?"
"I'm fine. You think I haven't heard shit like this before? Even I know my lines suck. Figured since there aren't many, I could half-ass it, but the teacher sniffed it out. Gotta practice with some real grit, like with dance and vocals."
"Thought you were hurt 'cause of your face."
"If this got to me, I never could've been an idol."
I hadn't been a trainee long, but I knew how vicious the gaslighting from industry trainers could get. Were they toughening us up for the cutthroat biz, or just assholes? Who knows.
"Go back to the practice room. I really gotta handle something."
"Got it."
Only after confirming Kang Jun was unfazed did he head back. I slipped into an empty bathroom, did my business, and opened the status window.
"Huh? What the—when did this come?"
Surprisingly, there was a reply to my customer service inquiry! I'd expected three days, but this felt glacially slow.
Hello. This is System Gaia.
We apologize for the delay in reviewing your inquiry, as we discovered some irregularities.
Your first issue appears to be a glitch due to an outdated update on your device, despite the service already being live. For better service, please go to (Settings > System & Security > Updates) and set updates to always check.
Regarding your second issue on stat increases, we confirmed the error as you described. However, it stems not from our side but from illegal tampering with your device itself.
Illegal device modification violates Dimensional 1st Realm Criminal Code Article 14.
That said, your inquiry suggests you didn't tamper with it yourself. We traced your device's purchase path and confirmed ties to corruption.
If you submit your status window device for investigation cooperation, we can provide a brand-new AI-type Rosebell status window as compensation.
For your smooth and comfortable use...
"?"
As I scrolled, a massive red flag hit me like a brick.
This wasn't about me—it was aimed at Poni's higher-ups, who must've had this thing before.
My suspicions, based purely on gut, were confirmed. The tampering culprits were definitely Poni's bosses.
One thing came to mind, and I acted fast.
I can provide the device if you guarantee my identity's protection. I'm worried about retaliation.
This couldn't link back to me.
> A new reply to your customer service inquiry. Response via personal message.
"Fast as hell."
Thank you for your reply and cooperation. Your identity will be fully protected as requested.
Personal info on the device is accessible only to us and won't be shared without your consent.
We suspect this tampering isn't isolated. Your inquiry sparked the probe, but trial evidence can come from other sources. No worries on anonymity.
If any harm comes to you from this, we'll compensate 200%.
Hearing this GM out, it felt like a snowball was already rolling without me. Even if I jumped in now, no real role for me.
Lucky me—I could just munch popcorn and watch.
If I hand over this status window, they give me the latest model. Win for me. The manipulated probs reset to normal—another win. And better performance? Obvious.
No matter how I sliced it, Poni's higher-ups were the crooks. Zero downside for me—as long as my anonymity held.
Not zero worry, but better than stonewalling.
From their view, I was a no-ID drifter. Question was, would they deliver the promised comp?
Blindly trusting their "200% if harmed" and shipping the device felt off.
Better demand the new one first.
Grab reward upfront, worries gone. Plus, them scrapping with Poni's brass? Pure profit.
Busy with this, they'll bury any Haesol scrutiny.
I could tolerate Poni nagging me constantly. But higher-ups pressuring? Nightmare fuel.
Didn't love drawing eyes from mystery overlords either.
Hope this screws them royally—forget I exist.
I kept chatting with the GM.
If you deliver as promised, no reason to refuse.
> When are you free? We'd like to retrieve via summon. Cooperate now for extra coin reward.
"Summon? They want a direct trade?"
Unclear what summon meant, but they were desperate to grab my device ASAP.
"Not right now."
Busy working.
No thanks on direct contact. They'd peg me as "Poni"—a human popping up would raise flags. Meeting risked my anonymity.
Also conditioned: new device first, then return old one.
They pushed back, antsy.
> It won't take long. Just 10 minutes. Latest AI status window is ready. Special summon for anonymity—clean item swap, no issues.
"They need it bad."
All costs on us. Just give coordinates.
Coordinates? Another mystery term.
Better ask coolly than fumble.
Don't know how to check coordinates.
Coordinates via status window...
Good—they didn't blink at my ignorance. No updates, clueless on basics? Makes sense.
Staff on standby for quick handling. Won't take long! Receive new item, confirm, put old one in box for reverse summon.
Got it. Here's the coordinate.
Just a box? No reason to drag feet. Shared status window coords, and soon—bam! Light burst from thin air!
From past shop buys, I knew goodies hid in that glow. Reached out—poof! Light gone, heavy box in palms.
One obvious button screamed "push me."
Lowered toilet lid, set box down, pressed it.
Box popped open smoothly, revealing contents.
Tiny as hell? Matched the pics of the new model. Had to check price.
"Holy shit."
Hot seller lately, main shop banner. Way outta my league—never even bookmarked.
11,990,000 coins, no less.
Never dreamed it'd land in my hands easy.
Thought it was pie in the sky.
But me using it? Kinda off. Poni'd flip—how'd I score this?
Logically, didn't add up. For me, it'd be pearls before swine.
Wasn't I barely milking the old one?
Sell it? Flip new for old used—perfect alibi.
Sure, new one's specs crush it. But I wasn't hurting for that price tag.
Better sell, buy what fits my life. Optimal move.
Borrowing Poni's ID already—full use needs legit "identity."
Poni sees new one, eyes bulge. Greedy fuck'll scheme to snag it. Already busted once.
No trust—why advertise gold?
Buy used oldie cheaper, pocket difference for wants.
More I thought, bigger win.
Decision made, action time.
Put old in new's box for reverse summon. First, yanked "ID card" from old.
Formatting blocks tracking, so hand over as-is.
No leak worries—ID card holds all personal data. Remove it, relink anywhere. No card, no trace.
Random status trivia paying off here.
Confirmed new one's legit, slotted old in box.
They were drooling for it—box lit up, vanished clean.
How's new stack up? Had to test before selling.
New one's palm-sized, Apple Pencil case vibes—kinda cute. Curiosity piqued, mashed power button on square beauty.