A Foolish Judgment
The chime signaling the end of class rang out, marking the start of break time.
From far across the room, Jeong Eunseo came sprinting toward me.
“What on earth happened back there?”
I looked at her and thought for a moment. Back there? After a brief pause, the recent incident came to mind. She was probably asking about the moment I’d shot Moon Cheol-woong in the foot.
So I answered in a low voice that only she could hear.
“He openly disrespected me, so I gave him a light lesson. That’s all.”
Her eyes widened in alarm, and she whispered urgently.
“Even so, doing something like that on your very first day in F-class is going to draw way too much attention. Your reputation at the academy isn’t exactly stellar right now, so I think it would be best to stay as quiet as possible. We’ve already turned Yoo Heeyeon and her entire faction into enemies.”
“That’s why I kept it moderate. I made it look like I tripped and fell on him. Some people might even believe it was a genuine accident.”
Jeong Eunseo shook her head and said firmly,
“Still, you should be more careful from now on. At the very least, we need to build our own faction here in F-class. Of course, we’ll have to filter out anyone connected to Yoo Heeyeon.”
I nodded.
“Understood.”
She nodded back, then stepped closer until she was practically pressed against me.
“First things first—how should we talk to each other? How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
“I’m twenty, so you’re my oppa. I’ll speak formally to you, so feel free to speak casually to me. Your tone is so stiff it feels like I’m talking to a complete stranger.”
Broad Academy didn’t admit freshmen strictly by age. As long as you were an adult, whether you were twenty-three or twenty-four, you could still be a first-year. So it wasn’t uncommon for students in the same grade to have noticeable age gaps.
“Got it.”
In truth, using formal speech with her had been uncomfortable for me too. I already knew she was twenty. I’d simply spoken politely once and had been waiting for the right moment to switch to casual speech.
“Wait, is that why you came running over?”
Her expression had looked so urgent that I’d assumed she had something else pressing to say. But she hadn’t brought up anything important, which left me puzzled.
Jeong Eunseo hesitated for a second, then finally spoke.
“I heard there’s a school store in the academy… Do you know where it is?”
“Ah…”
Judging by her reaction, she wanted to visit the campus convenience store. Since enrolling, she had barely attended classes under the pretext of searching for her lost inheritance. It made sense that she’d be curious about the buildings and facilities and wouldn’t know where anything was.
With that in mind, I gestured for her to follow me.
“The store’s down that way. Let’s go together.”
Step. Step.
As we walked side by side, the students around us began turning to stare one by one.
Whisper. Whisper.
Only the murmur of voices reached us, but every so often I could catch fragments of what they were saying.
That’s Lee Hyunseung…
The one who fought with Yoo Heeyeon in the central plaza…
Got sent to F-class…
Gunslinger…
They were mostly talking about the massive fight I’d had with Yoo Heeyeon in the middle of campus. I had expected as much. When you clash like that in front of so many people, gossip is inevitable.
What was fortunate was that, contrary to my expectations, there wasn’t much talk about it within F-class itself. The factions gathered here were mostly made up of high-ranking students from A-class and B-class. While Yoo Heeyeon’s followers certainly existed in F-class, her core supporters seemed concentrated among the higher grades, which meant their loyalty was stronger up there.
Well… it’s annoying to hear them whispering, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
I pretended not to notice the chatter and began explaining the school store to Jeong Eunseo.
“Everything on the shelves is available for immediate purchase. If you want something that isn’t in stock, you can place an order. Some items take a few days to arrive, so if there’s anything you absolutely need, it’s best to order it in advance.”
Jeong Eunseo stared at the store with sparkling eyes, then asked,
“What’s the best thing here?”
“You mean food?”
When I asked for clarification, she nodded. Her reaction surprised me. Given her family’s guild-level wealth, I would have thought she’d grown tired of every delicacy under the sun. I hadn’t expected her to show interest in cheap snacks from a school store.
The only things I’ve tried are ham bread and some chips.
Nothing I’d eaten from the academy store had been particularly delicious or nutritious. Since I barely had an appetite, I only ever stopped by to fill my stomach when necessary.
Besides, the cafeteria food is pretty good anyway.
The academy-provided lunches were of excellent quality, so there was rarely any need to snack at the store. I only came here when I missed lunch while studying in the library or stayed late on campus.
With some reluctance, I recommended the best thing I’d tried.
“Out of everything I’ve eaten, the Elf Ham Bread is the tastiest.”
I handed her one of the breads wrapped with an elf illustration on the packaging.
She looked at it with a puzzled expression.
“Why is it called that? Does it actually contain ingredients related to elves…?”
“Of course not.”
I explained to her ridiculous question.
“It’s just because there’s a picture of an elf on the wrapper. You think they’d actually put elf wings in a ham sandwich?”
Embarrassed, Jeong Eunseo cleared her throat and muttered,
“W-well, with a picture like that, it’s easy to misunderstand! How do I buy this? Can I just pay with a card?”
Even in Broad Academy Online, the card payment system had been properly implemented. However, the school store didn’t accept cards—only cash.
“They don’t take cards here. You have to pay in cash. Don’t you have any?”
Jeong Eunseo rummaged through her pockets and pulled out several cards.
“I have plenty of cards, but no cash at all.”
“Sigh… Fine, I’ll buy it for you.”
I let out a small sigh and reached into my own pocket.
Huh? What the…?
My wallet, which should have been there, was gone.
I definitely checked that I put it in my pocket before leaving the house this morning.
It was a habit of mine to double-check my belongings before heading to the academy. The chance that I’d simply forgotten it was almost zero.
Did I drop it somewhere? Damn it…
Inside that wallet were not only my student ID proving my enrollment at the academy, but also a large amount of cash and several important cards. Losing the cash wouldn’t be catastrophic, but replacing the student ID and cards would be an incredibly annoying process.
Jeong Eunseo tilted her head and asked,
“Is something wrong?”
I looked at her and answered plainly.
“Yeah. My wallet’s gone.”
At my calm response, she immediately became flustered.
“Your wallet disappeared? Then shouldn’t we go look for it? Let’s retrace our steps together and check.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Watching her reaction, I found it strangely odd.
She doesn’t usually get this worked up.
Jeong Eunseo was originally a cold and calculating person. She wasn’t the type to act this innocently excited, like a child. The gap between the version of her I’d seen in the game and the girl in front of me felt so large that it seemed off.
Still, it’s not a bad thing.
If she had been as icy as she was in the original story, working together would have been uncomfortable in many ways. But now that she was chattering away like a kid, all I had to do was respond appropriately. It actually made traveling together easier.
Step. Step.
I retraced the path we had taken to the store, scanning the ground for my wallet.
“I’ll check the area back there,” Jeong Eunseo said, heading off toward some secluded corners while I continued walking.
Ugh… Please just show up already. Replacing all those cards is going to be such a pain.
At that moment, someone approached from a distance and blatantly bumped into my shoulder as they passed.
Thud!
What the hell?
When I turned around, sure enough, Moon Cheol-woong was standing there staring at me from the opposite side. He had the audacity to shout at me first.
“Can’t you watch where you’re going? Or are you going to claim it was another ‘accident’ like earlier?”
Moon Cheol-woong’s open hostility was unmistakable. I quickly scanned our surroundings.
A-class, B-class, and even C-class students. Too many eyes on us.
Earlier, when I had crushed his foot in F-class, only F-class students had been present. The situation could easily be brushed off as an accident—I had supposedly tripped over his leg, and he had simply been unlucky enough to get hurt. That had been manageable.
But this time, he had deliberately rammed his shoulder into me. Anyone watching would see it as the prelude to a fight.
To avoid escalating the situation, I spoke calmly.
“Sorry. I was walking and didn’t notice you were there. Can you forgive me?”
He smirked and looked down at me.
“Sure, sure. Just be more careful next time.”
Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out a wallet, took out a few thousand won, and shoved it into my hand.
“Consider this compensation for the embarrassment. Go buy yourself some snacks, alright?”
No way… that’s…
The silhouette was unmistakable. A black bifold wallet with a swirling pattern engraved in the center. It was clearly mine.
In a low voice that only he could hear, I asked,
“Hey. Where did you get that wallet?”
He sneered in response.
“What? It’s my wallet. Got a problem with that?”
He waved the wallet back and forth, openly taunting me. From his obnoxious attitude, it was obvious the wallet belonged to me. He must have swiped it when I “tripped” and fell on him after shooting his foot earlier.
With ice-cold eyes, I spoke quietly enough that only he could hear.
“Keep running your mouth like that, and I’ll kill you for real before you even know what hit you.”