Rule 8: The Disciplinary Committee Leader Maintains His Dignity Even at the Exchange (4)
In Academy City, the famous strong ones were always given fitting epithets.
The prime example was Oh Baek-seo of Ahseong High School — its greatest powerhouse and combat representative, a genius without equal. Her epithet was the Korean Butterfly.
Mahyeon High School was no different. Setting aside their combat representative, the Student Council President, their Disciplinary Committee Leader Lee Je-ho had earned a title of his own: the Rock Cloud General.
The mere thought of arm-wrestling someone who carried an epithet made Ahn Woo-jin's head spin.
And yet, there was no backing out.
"The match will be a single round."
The moderator, Shin Ga-yeon, placed both her hands atop the clasped hands of Woo-jin and Je-ho.
"If either of you attempts to use anything beyond simple physical reinforcement with mana — such as a magic formula — you will be disqualified immediately. Please keep that in mind."
Magic formulas referred to techniques derived from developed Unique Abilities. It had nothing to do with Woo-jin, who possessed no such ability.
"The table is crafted from magic stone, famous for being the hardest material available, then treated with a mana coating — so it's extremely sturdy, and you needn't worry about breaking it. Unless, of course, you set out to break it on purpose."
Woo-jin and Je-ho flinched and dropped their heads.
Their plan — to smash the table as quietly as possible if things started going south and declare the match void — had just been shredded to pieces.
"N-not that it matters! Table or no table, do you really think a little furniture could put a crack in our contest?"
"Even if the table broke, the match would have gone on."
Since the thing wasn't going to break anyway, the two of them postured like gladiators, each puffing out chest and bravado.
"You're both remarkably competitive, I see."
The moderator, Ga-yeon, pushed up her glasses and nodded.
Je-ho let out a low growl, then, steeling himself to pull a splinter out of a tiger's fang, snapped irritably.
"Then declare the duel started already, Vice Leader!"
There was no retreat. Only forward.
"It's a match, Leader. Not a 'duel.'"
"Whatever…!"
"Yes, then. Ready."
Woo-jin and Je-ho fixed all their attention on their clasped hands. On those hands rested the honor of each man's Disciplinary Committee.
"Begin!"
At last the moderator shouted and yanked her hands free — and in that instant, veins bulged along the arms of both Woo-jin and Je-ho.
WHAM! They poured mana into their bodies, reinforcing themselves, and threw every ounce of strength into their arms.
"Nghh…!"
"Graaagh…!"
Both men roared. A breathtaking contest of strength had begun.
Rumble…
The ground began to tremble.
"What is that, an earthquake?"
"It feels like the air itself is shaking…."
The students murmured.
Rumble…
The table, the dishes, the glassware — everything began to shudder. The vibration spread outward, rippling through the entire banquet hall.
And then—
CRASH!
"Kyaaah!"
"A glass just shattered!?"
"Th-the plates too!?"
Spreading outward from the two Leaders locked in combat, glasses and glass dishes began to shatter one after another like dominoes.
"Graaaagh…!"
"Uuurggh…!"
Woo-jin and Je-ho glared at each other with bulging eyes, locked in their stalemate.
KRRRUMBLE! They had merely poured mana into their bodies for reinforcement, and yet the mana coursing over their skin collided head-on, producing a violent repulsion that sent shockwave after shockwave radiating into the surroundings.
The shockwaves surged with savage intensity, whipping up fierce winds. Flutter-flutter! The hair and coattails of the two Leaders flapped ceaselessly, like banners caught in a typhoon.
The stage equipment collapsed in a heap, and its debris was swept helplessly away by the mana waves rolling off the arm-wrestling match.
Even amid all that, Woo-jin and Je-ho fought on for their lives.
"Ahseong's Disciplinary Committee Leader… he isn't being pushed back at all!"
"Our Leader isn't losing an inch against the Rock Cloud General?"
"Incredible…."
The students couldn't shut their mouths.
'This bastard — what the hell IS he!? He hasn't budged a millimeter…!?'
Je-ho was appalled by the sight of Woo-jin's arm holding firm as a fortress wall.
The same went for the clash of mana. Even with their mana grinding against each other, Woo-jin was giving up not a single step.
The strength of arm, the density of mana — none of this looked like anything a 4th Tier should have been capable of.
Had he faked his Tier?
No. Those who possessed Unique Abilities could instinctively sense others who possessed them as well. Confirmation would only come later, in his refusal to ever use one. And from Woo-jin, Je-ho hadn't felt even a speck of that signature presence.
This man had genuinely never reached the 5th Tier.
'And this is what he calls 4th Tier…!?'
Je-ho recalled his sparring session with Woo-jin alongside Shin Ga-yeon. Woo-jin's mana control had been nothing short of artistry. The way he had condensed lightning mana and swallowed the shockwave whole — that was no ordinary finesse.
In terms of such refined technique, Je-ho had judged Woo-jin his superior. But he had assumed he would have the clear edge in mana density and sheer volume. It was common knowledge that a higher Tier meant an overwhelming difference in mana.
Even a single Tier gap was supposed to be a chasm.
But Woo-jin was different. It was as if he were laughing in the face of that common sense. Just how extraordinary was this man's mana, that he wouldn't be pushed back even against an opponent a full Tier above him?
Je-ho couldn't contain his shock.
'But there's one thing I know for certain…!'
Je-ho's doubts about Woo-jin hardened into conviction.
'This man isn't some strong-for-a-4th-Tier nobody. He's a vessel meant to become a monster…!'
Unbidden, the image of heroes he had once seen in storybook illustrations flashed through Je-ho's mind.
The historic heroes who had planned the subjugation of the Golden Ram — the Argonauts, the only humans ever to reach the 8th Tier.
Je-ho loved the history of the Argonauts; he had memorized their entire saga from beginning to end. And that was how he knew: the Argonauts took far longer than most geniuses to reach the 5th Tier — yet their talent had already been blazingly evident back when they were 4th Tier.
The more extraordinary a Unique Ability, the more time and effort its awakening demands. The conditions for mastery are that strict. Someone with talent as towering as Oh Baek-seo's could compress that time — but no matter how Je-ho looked at him, Ahn Woo-jin did not seem inferior to Oh Baek-seo in the slightest.
Quite the opposite. At this level as a 4th Tier, there was a strong chance he held talent that would surpass even her.
'This man will reach the 5th Tier soon.'
If he had achieved this much as a 4th Tier, then surely his talent would carry him over the wall of the 5th Tier.
'And if this man is Argonaut-class material…'
The realm of heroes. Woo-jin might one day become the kind of titan who turned Academy City upside down.
KRRRUMBLE!
"The floor—!"
"Everyone, get back!"
The mana shockwaves spread in every direction, and the ground began to crack and give way. The Disciplinary Committee members all fled.
KA-BOOM! The stage floor blew out and sank away, startling both Woo-jin and Je-ho — but they quickly gathered themselves and kept wrestling.
KWAGAGANG!
The fallout of the arm-wrestling match kicked up a storm that hurled even the shattered debris of the stage floor in every direction.
Before long, the only souls left in the banquet hall were Woo-jin and Je-ho, locked in their furious contest, and their respective Vice Leaders.
"Nghhh!"
Je-ho's arm was tipping further and further back.
'No. Not like this…!'
Je-ho strained a tendon up his neck and forced every last scrap of strength into his arm.
"Urk…!"
Slowly, the two men's arms fought their way back toward the dead center of the table.
KAGAGAK!
"Ugh…!"
Waves of mana crashed down around them again and again, shaking the very air. Baek-seo and Ga-yeon, standing nearby, had to draw their weapons and take defensive stances just to endure the mana shock.
"Terrifying…."
"So THIS is what a true arm-wrestling match looks like…!"
From a distance, the Disciplinary Committee members watched the two Leaders wrestle, swallowing dry.
What fate awaited anyone who stepped too close, they couldn't begin to guess.
Even two 4th Tiers clashing wouldn't produce this kind of spectacle — no, not even most pairs of 5th Tiers could. This was a decisive battle that only individuals in the upper ranks of the 5th Tier could put on.
And one of these men was a 4th Tier — Ahn Woo-jin.
It was simply unbelievable.
"Hey, Leader Ahn Woo-jin…! You're starting to look worn out, aren't you? Why not stop this futile struggling and give up already, huh!?"
Je-ho taunted through gritted teeth and a sheen of sweat.
"Ridiculous… Lee Je-ho, Leader, are you aware that the veins on your neck are about to burst right now…!?"
"That's just my constitution…! The veins show clearly even with the slightest effort…! When you have body fat as low as mine, that happens!"
"So you don't remember almost getting flipped a minute ago?"
"I merely relaxed because a funny thought crossed my mind…! In the end, you haven't been able to take my arm down, have you!?"
"Bullshit…!"
Woo-jin and Je-ho forced smiles onto their faces.
'Just fall already, damn it!'
'Let me live!'
Both men wailed inwardly. Each was fighting back the urge to weep.
'This can't go on.'
Woo-jin thought hard. He needed a decisive blow.
Perhaps because his brain classified the prospect of Disciplinary Committee Leader honor collapsing in defeat here as a matter of life and death, a tunnel-vision montage flickered through his mind.
"!"
From that montage, Woo-jin snatched up a single piece of game knowledge.
— 'I'm only attending this exchange because the Student Council President instructed me to.'
That was why Lee Je-ho had come to the exchange at all — an order from the Student Council President.
And the Student Council President was Je-ho's older sister.
And—
'That's right. This bastard is a sister-complex case!'
A man with a sister complex wouldn't have the heart to refuse his sister's wishes — which had to be why he'd shown up.
A thought struck like lightning, and Woo-jin spat it straight out of his mouth, unfiltered.
"Leader Lee Je-ho, you said you're here because of the Student Council President's orders, didn't you!?"
Because of the violent shockwaves of the arm-wrestling, Woo-jin had no choice but to raise his voice.
"What's it to you!?"
"You're the Student Council President's little brother, aren't you…! So what, big sister says jump and you ask how high? Even if she ordered you to hold an exchange with people like us — the kind you hate?"
Woo-jin let out a scornful laugh.
"Got a sister complex, do you?"
Just as Woo-jin had predicted, Je-ho's face flushed scarlet.
Je-ho had been called that humiliating word plenty of times before, but he had never once imagined he'd hear it straight from Woo-jin's mouth. He exploded.
"Wh-what did you just…! How dare you…! Uughk!"
Je-ho couldn't get another word out. In that instant of rage, with his nerves momentarily stolen from him, Woo-jin slammed a surge of power into his arm.
Having lost his rhythm, Je-ho's arm began tipping backward, inch by inch.
"Nnghk…! You dirty coward…!"
Je-ho wasn't about to go down without a fight either.
"Then what about you — aren't you ashamed you became Leader living in Oh Baek-seo's shadow!?"
"What…?"
"You should have had to prove you were more capable than Baek-seo before you took that seat…! Doesn't it bother you, that you're a nuisance to Ahseong!?"
Je-ho drove his attack straight into Woo-jin's weak point. He was certain there had to be some reason Woo-jin had seized the Leader's seat — but this was the only weapon he could think of on the spot.
"I'll bet even Vice Leader Oh Baek-seo feels conflicted…! Having to serve under a Leader weaker than herself! Me, I've never stopped proving my strength so I could hold my head high in front of my Disciplinary Committee! Unlike you!"
"So what do you want me to do about it…!"
Je-ho pressed on, shouting.
"Just look at my Vice Leader! A peerless intellect and a top-tier fighter is backing me up — because I proved my capability, that's why…!"
"Ridiculous…! You think I've done nothing to earn my seat!? And our Vice Leader's intellect is second to none…! She doesn't lose to that Vice Leader you're so proud of!"
"WHAT!? HA!"
Adrenaline flooding through them, both men were burning with fierce competitive fire. And at last, one of Woo-jin's outbursts made cross-shaped veins pop out on Je-ho's forehead.
"Are you seriously claiming our Vice Leader's intellect is inferior to yours!?"
"You of all people should know our Vice Leader's reputation…!?"
The Student Council Presidents, meanwhile, had both developed distinctly pained expressions. The two Leaders were growling and bickering, and they'd realized things had gone completely off the rails.
The Disciplinary Committee members, for their part, munched on popcorn as they watched their two Leaders with pounding hearts and gleaming eyes. Before that spectacle, both committees had become one mind, like an audience seated before a movie screen.
"HAH! Our Vice Leader is wise and brilliant! And no one wears glasses like she does! Beauty and brains combined — the supreme Vice Leader! You think someone like THAT falls behind Oh Baek-seo!?"
"Our Vice Leader is a perfect being, beauty and intellect both…!"
"Our Vice Leader is the greatest supporter in existence, and…!"
"Our Vice Leader is, beyond any question, Ahseong's strongest, and…!"
The Leaders' quarrel had devolved into a contest of praising each other's Vice Leaders.
And little by little, the expressions of the two Vice Leaders began to change.
Shin Ga-yeon's face flushed crimson. Heat seemed to radiate off her skin.
Oh Baek-seo fought to hold her usual gentle smile, but she could not stop the corners of her mouth from twitching. Even she was losing her composure.
That vicious debate between the two Leaders was inflicting mortal embarrassment and cringe on the two Vice Leaders.
At last, the inevitable happened.
"Our Ga-yeon is—!"
"SHUT UUUUUP!!!"
KA-BOOM!!
"Bwuh!?"
A massive iron warhammer, suddenly grown to enormous size, sent Je-ho flying. Wrapped in mana besides, its force was staggering.
Je-ho's body tore through the air and skidded mercilessly across the ground. Only when he slammed into a wall did his body finally come to a stop.
He had already reinforced himself with mana, and his skill was considerable, so the physical damage was minor. The mental damage, however, was substantial.
Je-ho stared blankly at the stage, the picture of bewilderment.
"Hahh… hahh…!"
Ga-yeon, gripping her giant two-handed hammer, was catching her breath, her face glowing as red as a ripe apple.
Her customary, moment-by-moment composure had finally hit its limit.
"L-Leader…! Are you actually trying to kill me!?"
Ga-yeon shouted, face contorted with emotion. Her voice cracked mid-syllable — that was how completely she'd lost her grip on herself. Tears had even gathered at the corners of her eyes.
Only then did Je-ho come back to his senses and realize he had made a terrible mistake.
"……?"
What on earth had just happened?
Woo-jin sat in a fog of confusion for a moment — until someone quietly took hold of his collar and began tugging it, bit by bit.
"?"
He turned to see who had grabbed him.
It was Oh Baek-seo.
"Leader. Could you stop now?"
Baek-seo wore her usual gentle smile, but the corners of her mouth kept twitching. Her voice was gracious — yet Woo-jin sensed something inexplicably menacing beneath it.
"Oh boy."
"No way…."
"Unbelievable…."
The Disciplinary Committee members all wore expressions of stunned disbelief at the unexpected outcome. The band, too, found themselves unable to even consider playing another note.
For a long while, silence swallowed the banquet hall whole.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next day.
Ahseong High School — WIN
Mahyeon High School — LOSS
Lee Je-ho accepted his defeat without protest. He had let his temper get the better of him, made a fool of himself, and inflicted emotional damage on his own Vice Leader — he hardly had the face to complain about her intervention.
But since the result was not, in any honest sense, the outcome of a fair contest, no perception arose that one side was simply weaker than the other.
"That was insane…."
"I guess Leader Ahn Woo-jin really isn't an ordinary 4th Tier."
"He was dead even against the Rock Cloud General himself!?"
"Seriously — maybe he didn't become Leader through some dirty trick after all?"
What the Disciplinary Committee members had witnessed spread through the school as rumor. The students who still harbored doubts about how Woo-jin had become Leader began to reassess him after hearing about the exchange.
And then there was the other gossip.
"I heard Mahyeon lost?"
"They say Vice Leader Oh Baek-seo didn't even step in."
"By the way — are the Leader and the Vice Leader, like, dating?"
"They're attached at the hip every single day. Feelings are bound to develop."
"The Vice Leader praise yesterday… even I cringed, and I wasn't even in it."
"They were just having a contest over whose Vice Leader was better against the Rock Cloud General. Reading that as dating is a stretch."
"Must have been the competitive spirit."
And so, within Ahseong High School, talk of the Disciplinary Committee passed from mouth to mouth.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Disciplinary Committee executive office was steeped in silence and the aroma of coffee beans.
I set my coffee cup aside, reviewed the paperwork, and began signing in the space where my name was printed.
"……"
The pen soon stopped. Yesterday came rushing back.
My head sank.
THUD!
I banged my forehead against the desk.
'Just kill me.'
I had no confidence in my ability to live while carrying that shame.
The Student Council President had scolded both of us for brawling at an exchange event, of all things. Mahyeon was presumably in exactly the same boat.
That part didn't matter. The contest had ended in Ahseong's victory.
That didn't matter either.
…No, wait. Did that one matter?
Regardless — yesterday, I had placed a heavy burden on Baek-seo. I felt genuinely sorry.
'How am I supposed to look her in the eye now…?'
I should have kept my composure in check. But no amount of regret could rewind a moment already past.
Just then—
Click.
At the sound of the office door opening, I shot upright and snapped into proper posture. A Disciplinary Committee Leader could not be seen in disarray.
The person who opened the door and walked in was Oh Baek-seo.
"Vice Leader? Morning."
"Good morning."
Baek-seo returned my greeting with a warm smile.
'Should I apologize about yesterday…?'
It was a subject hard enough to bring up even once — was an apology even necessary? If anything, maybe Baek-seo would prefer we just let it slide.
While I was racking my brain over it, my eyes caught the rectangular box she was carrying.
"What's that?"
"This?"
Baek-seo set the gift box down on my desk.
"A present from Mahyeon. One of their students dropped it off."
"A gift?"
The shipping label listed the sender as the Disciplinary Committee Leader of Mahyeon High School, and the recipient as the Disciplinary Committee Leader of Ahseong High School. The box was fairly large.
"Why would they send this?"
"Did you check your mail?"
"Not yet."
"I checked your Leader inbox. Apparently it's a congratulatory gift for our win."
"Hm."
I got online and opened the mail from Lee Je-ho.
'So that's what this is. "Keep your mouth shut, please."'
I could read between the lines well enough.
The exchange had dealt Mahyeon's Disciplinary Committee a serious blow to its image. The message was unmistakable: please, from here on out, don't go digging up what happened.
'I wasn't planning to blab in the first place.'
I had no intention of leading the charge in dragging another committee's honor through the mud.
"They say the Student Council President got one too?"
"Probably."
Chatting with Baek-seo, I tore into the gift box.
Riiip.
Out came an elegant wooden case. I lifted the lid.
'Oh?'
Inside lay a long rod with a handle, about the same length as the three-section staff I carried every day. Its shape resembled a lightning rod, but the design was clean and sleek — and like my staff, the metal shaft could be retracted into the handle.
I recognized what it was immediately.
'This is a Thunder Rod, isn't it…?'
A rare magic tool that stored lightning mana and released it at its owner's command. I could channel lightning mana through my three-section staff's mana circuit, but actually expelling lightning outward was something I could barely manage. In other words, an exceptionally useful tool for me.
'Astonishing…. Even so, how did they get their hands on something like this?'
It seemed absurdly extravagant for a hush-gift, but the answer came to me quickly.
'Ah. The Student Council President must have had a hand in this.'
The one who wanted to get friendly with Ahseong's Disciplinary Committee through this exchange was Mahyeon's Student Council President. This gift had almost certainly been sent by her, alongside Je-ho. Which meant this magic tool carried a second message as well: let's stop fighting and be friends for real this time.
"They sent something really nice…? I'll send back a thank-you."
"I'll write it. It's a gift for me too, you know."
"Sure."
Baek-seo nodded. "And also…"
Then she drew something else from her pocket and set it on my desk.
"This is your prize. From me."
"Hm? Ah — right."
I remembered now: she'd promised me a prize if I beat Je-ho. The stockings that had been mentioned as the prize yesterday were, I realized at once, nothing more than a risqué joke. So what was the real prize?
I took it in with both eyes.
'A card?'
A pretty card — handmade, cut from cardstock by Baek-seo's own hands. I read what was written on it.
① Rest your head on Oh Baek-seo's lap and receive a head-patting session. This card's effect cannot be nullified.
※ Usable by Leader Ahn Woo-jin only
"……"
I hadn't seen this coming at all.
Compared to yesterday's joke, it wasn't exactly more risqué — but wasn't this content still pretty embarrassing in its own right…?
"Uh… thanks. I'll put it to good use."
"Mm. Use it whenever you need to."
Baek-seo beamed and headed for the sofa. She didn't seem bothered in the slightest — or maybe it was just my imagination, but her ears looked redder than usual.
She briskly swept her hair down over them, hiding them from view, so I couldn't get a proper look.
Either way, I stared at the card in silence for a while. No matter how I thought about it, this didn't feel like a simple joke.
'Wait.'
Then, a question struck my mind like a bolt of lightning.
'Could it be… does the Vice Leader have feelings for me?'
It was a reasonable guess. The risqué joke yesterday, and now the gift of a head-patting privilege — a shamelessly sweet wish, at that.
'No one does this for someone she doesn't like…!'
There was a surefire way to find out: casually ask her out on a date. So I turned to call for Baek-seo.
"Baek—"
"About yesterday."
Her voice cut across my call.
"I found myself thinking, once again, that I really do need to take care of you, Leader."
Baek-seo looked back at me, her usual smile resting on her face.
"I heard all that praise of me. So you saw me that way all along, Leader?"
"Well… I suppose I did."
Baek-seo smiled radiantly, like a flower bud blooming open.
"You're precious to me too, Leader. As a Disciplinary Committee colleague, of course."
"……"
I swallowed a dry breath.
Gratitude and ambiguity settled into my chest at the same time.
"Right…. I'm glad you think of me that way."
I lifted the corners of my mouth and nodded, trying to return her smile.
Baek-seo's head turned away again.
'Phew.'
A soundless sigh escaped through the gap in my teeth, entirely against my will — because those two phrases were filling my head: 'I need to take care of him,' and 'as a colleague, of course.'
'I see…. The way a supervisor looks after a subordinate. The way a mother looks after her son. Maybe that's the kind of feeling it is.'
To Baek-seo, I seemed to register as something like "a Leader she has to look after."
Forget the question of whether she had feelings for me — this was a matter of wounded pride first and foremost.
A wave of hollowness washed over me.
'Time to stop jumping to conclusions.'
Feelings or no feelings — within the same organization, this is the kind of question you leave untouched unless you're certain. One wrong step and things between a friend and colleague can turn awkward forever.
No more wild speculation. My first priority needed to be cementing my standing as Leader — solid enough to overturn that "Leader she has to look after" image of Baek-seo's.
"……"
More than usual today, Baek-seo kept sweeping her hair down over her ears.
She was the type who always tucked one side behind her ear. Yet somehow, for the entire time she was in the office today, her hair stayed draped over both of them.