Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: I Could Accept the Vice Head as My Sow, Right?
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Auditorium packed to the brim with people.
A clear, bright voice rang out from the center of the stage.
"Our Guidance Committee has uncovered 97 violations of school rules just in the first quarter of this year..."
It was a major gathering, with not just students but the Academy Head, Vice Head, professors, and even outside guests in attendance.
Yet Cloé delivered her presentation smoothly, without a hint of nerves.
She was an elite who had outshone countless rivals to claim the Guidance Committee presidency.
Not only did she possess an upright and steadfast moral compass, but her presentation skills were top-notch as well.
The guild representatives showered her with praise.
"As expected of Ark's Guidance Committee president."
"Of course. Excluding the student council, it's where the finest talents gather."
"Cloé Maiden... The more I see her, the more I want her on my team."
"She's the most fiercely contested second-year recruit. Our guild's been sponsoring her heavily for a year now—give up."
"Hah. You think you're the only ones? Our guild just doubled our sponsorship."
The sponsorship offers pouring in for Cloé grew day by day.
The fact that she'd become some thug's slave was still just circulating as rumor...
Meanwhile, little Tomo-tan found the whole event utterly boring.
"Urgh..."
"Academy Head. Don't fall asleep."
"Mmm... Mommy, lemme sleep more... And tell Vice Head-tan that acting like that won't make her any friends..."
"Don't pretend to be sleep-talking while saying what you really mean. Do you seriously think I'll fall for that?"
"I was just about to say... Yawwwn."
The Academy Head stretched, finally shaking off her drowsiness.
The Vice Head whispered into her ear.
"The highlight of the presentation is starting. Pay attention."
"It's the same old performance report every time."
"It's about Kim Taeyang."
At the mention of Kim Taeyang, the Academy Head's eyes widened.
"Hm? I thought Gun-daru was keeping a low profile lately?"
"Heh heh heh. You'll see."
Cloé inserted the prepared USB drive.
Watching this, Shin Hye-won clenched her fists tight.
'You're done, Kim Taeyang...! Cheating on note tests, harassing female students, threatening professors, convenience store robbery, lab theft...! No matter what you try, you can't escape my trap!!'
Victory was already in the bag.
Soon, the fabricated crime evidence would flash across the massive screen, exposing every detail of Kim Taeyang to the world.
Once public opinion turned, expulsion would follow like clockwork.
'Finally free of those vulgar rumors...!!'
Fwosh—!
At last.
A huge headline appeared on the screen.
-On-Site Report: The Shocking Truth of First-Year Kim Taeyang...! 24-Hour Close Coverage of Ark's Nuclear Bomb Thug...!
Murmurs rippled through the hall.
The auditorium buzzed.
Kim Taeyang.
He was already Ark's superstar.
Just his name alone drew every eye.
And "shocking truth" to boot...?
It was clickbait as sensational as any tabloid headline...!
"Kim Taeyang is the representative thug of our first-years. He's enslaved his classmates, formed a thug circle to disrupt Ark. Our Guidance Committee designated him our top target and tailed him 24/7 for the past week. Let's take a look at the results."
What appeared on the screen was a single video.
It showed Kim Taeyang walking Pomi.
"Take a good look. Here, his constellation Pomi takes a dump in front of the flower bed."
Woof! Woof!
Pomi's excited bark echoed from somewhere in the seats.
She sounded thrilled to see herself on screen.
Technically, she was showing everyone her business...
But Pomi felt no shame about it.
Anyway.
In the video, Kim Taeyang scooped up Pomi's waste and bagged it neatly.
"Kim Taeyang cleaned up after Pomi perfectly. Not only that, he even picked up nearby litter. A model example, right? Such a moral student."
"?"
The auditorium buzzed again.
Was this really an exposé? It was too ordinary.
The most shocked was, of course, Shin Hye-won.
'Wh-what...?'
Her brain felt like it had twisted into a question mark from sheer absurdity.
The video kept playing.
"Kim Taeyang also stopped a thug gang from jumping the fence as a Guidance Committee member and lectured them. Such beautiful morals...!"
"This is inside Kim Taeyang's dorm. Contrary to the rumors, no torture devices or SM tools here. Just barbells, plates, and the scent of iron—a true man's home gym. He works out here with Seol Harin, building friendship. So upstanding...! Give Kim Taeyang a big round of applause!!"
Clap clap clap.
Not many joined in.
Just Cloé, Seol Harin, and the Academy Head.
"Gun-daru's amazing! With that look, I figured he'd offed a few people! Picks up dog poop, trash, sets an example as Guidance Committee... Awesome!!"
"Th-this can't be..."
"Vice Head-tan was right! Gun-daru's highlight reel is fascinating! Shows how model a student he is despite his looks!!"
"No! Something's wrong—"
As Shin Hye-won tried to shout,
A male student in the seats wailed.
"LIEEEEESSS!!!!! It's fake!!! It has to be manipulated!!!!! Taeyang!! Look Rebel Nam straight in the eye and tell me!!! Is this really you?! Were the conduct codes you forced on us really for order, not destroying Ark?! AAAAAARGH!!!!!!!"
It was Rebel Nam.
He'd always believed Kim Taeyang harbored a plot to destroy Ark.
But to be portrayed as a model student at the performance review...?
Even Rebel Nam couldn't shake the feeling he'd been used...!!
"Hah? You dare doubt my intentions?!!"
"Y-yeah, you always got a plan, right?!"
"Don't ask the obvious!!"
"Sorry!!"
But challenging Kim Taeyang was futile.
With Rebel Nam subdued, the Guidance Committee rose up.
"Damn it! We have to stop the presentation!"
"Grab Senior Cloé!!"
"Kyaaah!"
Shin Hye-won had already stormed the stage.
"Cloé! What the hell is this?!!"
"Vice Head, what are you doing? Trying to ruin the performance review?"
"Put up the real data! Expose Kim Taeyang's true nature as planned!!"
"Oh— you mean this?"
Cloé pulled a USB from her pocket.
The one with the fabricated evidence.
And—
Crack!
It no longer existed.
"Oops? Sorry, I crushed it by accident? Hehe."
"Cloé...! You dare......!!!"
Shin Hye-won advanced threateningly on Cloé.
But Cloé didn't flinch.
On the contrary, her voice praising Kim Taeyang only grew louder.
"Kim Taeyang, with his impeccable morals...! We've all misunderstood him!! He's not a bad student!!! As you've seen, he's more moral and upstanding than anyone!!! He's not Ark's nuke—he's our savior!!!!"
With those words, chaos engulfed the auditorium.
"The video's fake!!! God of Thugs Kim Taeyang can't be this nice!!!!"
"Master! Let's go work out now♡"
"Snap out of it, Cloé!!"
"Damn! The president's been brainwashed!!"
"No choice now!! Take out Kim Taeyang right here!!!"
"Stop the Guidance Committee bastards!!! Protect the universe's strongest thug, Taeyang!!!!"
The Guidance Committee lunging for Kim Taeyang.
Rebel Nam's crew countering them.
The second-years, swept into the violence, sided with the Guidance Committee.
Most first-years quietly backed Kim Taeyang, fueled by resentment toward the Guidance Committee.
"Have the first-years lost their minds?! Backing Kim Taeyang—are you insane?!!"
"We don't need your violent Guidance Committee—we've got vigilantes!!"
"Stupid newbies! Sucking up to Kim Taeyang on Ak-gal, finally showing your true colors!"
"You guys have an Ak-gal too, seniors?"
"Wh-who does that crap! Just heard about it!!"
The auditorium descended into total mayhem.
The performance review had become a complete shitshow.
That was when it happened.
Bang!
The auditorium doors burst open, and three female students entered.
Student Council President Seol Ha-jeong.
Vice Student Council President Kuma Rodriguez.
Secretary Lena.
"Everyone's fighting with such passion? Kuma, handle it."
At Seol Ha-jeong's command, Kuma stepped forward.
Her massive frame swelled as she unleashed a thunderous roar.
"YAMERO──────────────────!!!!!!!"
A voice so booming it could be mistaken for Kim Taeyang's...!
The auditorium fell silent in an instant.
All eyes, first-years included, turned to the student council.
"Th-the student council...!"
"Third-year fieldwork's over! The student council's back!!"
Click-clack—
Seol Ha-jeong strode forward slowly.
Her straight bob swayed, and her crisp heels echoed with unapproachable elegance.
But the real shock wasn't her poise or gait.
With every step, red footprints seared into the floor.
Rumble...!!
Following those prints, red-eyed skeleton soldiers rose.
One per step.
As if she were the mother of the undead, skeletons birthed in her wake and marched behind her like an army.
By the time she reached the stage,
Their numbers were enough to control all the students.
She patted Cloé's head.
"Cloé. I didn't delegate student council authority to you to turn Ark into this. Looks like a little mistake this time?"
"P-President...?"
Cloé's pupils quaked.
"No need to apologize. I'm planning to cut you anyway."
"Cut me...?"
Cloé glanced at Kim Taeyang.
She regretted losing the presidency, but betraying him now was impossible.
Seol Ha-jeong snatched the mic and declared.
"The Guidance Committee performance review ends here. Furthermore, having failed to properly maintain Ark's order, the Guidance Committee is stripped of all authority by the student council from this moment. Consider this official notice."
"S-stripped?!"
"The Guidance Committee's authority is hereby revoked by Ark's student council. And—"
As she continued, Shin Hye-won grabbed her mic hand.
"Seol Ha-jeong...! You think you can decide this on your own?!!"
Smack!
Instantly, Kuma beside her swatted the arm away roughly.
"Hey. Vice Head. Don't touch the president."
"Kuma! You dare...!"
"Pfft. Still not scary at all. The Vice Head who got knocked out by a thug's huge dick?"
"Th-that's a ridiculous rumor!!"
The rumor that the Vice Head had been railed into unconsciousness by Kim Taeyang in a public bathroom had spread across all of Ark.
Her prestige as Vice Head was badly tarnished.
Seol Ha-jeong took over.
"Even as Vice Head, you can't interfere with the elected student council's decisions, right? With all those bad rumors about you, wouldn't it be best to lay low for a bit?"
"You lot... Think you can just do whatever? You're mistaken...!"
Shin Hye-won, the Guidance Committee's advisor professor.
She'd never gotten along with the student council.
Same for the Guidance Committee.
Ignoring the fuming Shin Hye-won, Seol Ha-jeong continued.
"I've heard a lot about this incoming class. Rumors of them disrupting Ark's order weren't enough—they're even threatening the Guidance Committee. Looks like it's more than just talk."
A strange tension filled the hall.
First-years tensed, knowing their reckoning had come.
Second-years smirked in satisfaction.
"Thus, the student council will administer the 'Student Council Trials' to all first-years."
"Th-the Student Council Trials...!"
"That's awful!"
"But what's it even mean?!!"
"Let me explain the Student Council Trials. The student council, including myself, will each oversee a room. You'll face us in rooms with different concepts. Win at least three out of five to pass. Details on the challenges will be revealed on the day."
"President!"
"A question?"
"Yes! First-year Rebel Nam here! What happens to those who fail the trials?"
"That would be... How'd we decide again?"
Seol Ha-jeong tilted her head, and Lena whispered in her ear.
"Ah, right! Failures get expelled!"
"Wh-what...?!"
The student council stood at Ark's pinnacle.
Seol Ha-jeong, Kuma, and Lena were third-years with stellar fieldwork records.
They were already hailed as top-tier heroes.
"Isn't that too harsh? How can first-years like us beat seniors?"
"Don't worry too much. We'll adjust the difficulty appropriately. It'll be easy for most students."
Seol Ha-jeong meant it.
This was just a massive net to weed out Kim Taeyang's crew.
"And one more thing. For failing to uphold Ark's order, the Guidance Committee will also undergo the 'Student Council Trials' with the first-years."
A sly smile curved Seol Ha-jeong's lips.
"Meaning the Guidance Committee can be expelled too."
"...!"
Cloé, Kim An-kyung, and the rest of the Guidance Committee clenched their fists in humiliation.
But they couldn't object.
The student council's power was absolute...!
Representatives elected by the students.
Their authority dwarfed the Guidance Committee's.
It was the student council that granted it in the first place.
"That's all. Good luck to everyone."
Seol Ha-jeong strode off regally, scanning the seats.
Her gaze, searching for a familiar face, stopped in the middle.
"Taeyang? We meet again?"
"Hah? Don't act friendly, you sow sis!!!"
"Playing coy after we kissed?"
Thud—
The students could hardly believe their ears.
Seol Ha-jeong and Kim Taeyang... kissed?
'That bastard Kim Taeyang...! Already started?!'
'Seol Harin, Cloé, Vice Head, and now the Student Council President...?!'
'But how the hell did he seduce the president?!!'
'Obvious—his monster dick, duh!!!!'
A dick that could knock women out.
Speculation flew that even the president had fallen to it.
Misunderstandings about Kim Taeyang only deepened.
*
It had finally arrived.
The heart-pounding student council event!
If built up right, a key event to steal Seol Ha-jeong's SSS-rank undead constellation!
Subjugate the student council and reign as their shadow boss...!!
The ultimate sweet route!!
A dream path impossible in the game?!!
The Student Council Trials?
Seol Ha-jeong had warned with gusto, but to this veteran, it was nothing.
Tough for newbies, but now I had the strategy memorized.
But I'm playing as Kim Taeyang, not Kang Ju-hyuk.
No room for complacency...
The day after the chaotic performance review.
I headed to Shin Hye-won's lab.
Bang bang!!
"Scuse me~"
"...Come in."
Opening the door, Shin Hye-won greeted me with a shit-eating expression. Wait, no—she looked like she'd eaten shit.
"You... Here to mock me?"
"Kekeke. Was hilarious watching you grin like an idiot, clueless your mini-sow was my slave? You'd win gold in a hidden cam contest, y'know?"
"You little shit! Don't get cocky...!"
The Vice Head's eyes twitched under dark circles.
Stress at its peak, no doubt.
Betrayed by Cloé, humiliated publicly by Seol Ha-jeong—fair enough.
"Whatcha gonna do now?"
"...What're you talking about."
"Leave that cheeky council sow be?"
"!"
The Guidance Committee and student council have bad blood—by design.
Power structure.
Student council dumps all the dirty work on Guidance Committee.
They keep their hands clean, hoarding the good image.
Shin Hye-won tried to end the injustice but kept failing to Seol Ha-jeong's schemes—a tragic legend.
Odd that Vice Head has less power than Student Council President, but...
Ark's a madhouse anyway...
Anyway.
That's why I came with a proposal.
"Hey, sis."
"Don't call me sis..."
Shin Hye-won and the Guidance Committee.
They share my enemy.
Enemy of my enemy is friend...!
Temp alliance with Guidance Committee against student council...!!
"I could accept you as my sow, y'know?"
"?"
Of course, I hadn't planned to pitch the alliance like that...
Eh, whatever. Used to it.
Clean up crazy talk later.
Everyone expects it from a psycho like me.
"......"
But for some reason, Shin Hye-won's ears turned red.
She fidgeted, then shyly replied.
"O-okay..."
"?"
Wait...
What’s okay...?
Why accept this, damn it???