An Unwanted Invitation

Two weeks had passed since then. Ever since her first successful downward strike, I had been continuously correcting Garena's swordsmanship.

She was clumsy at first, but not anymore. Even after her ability deactivated, she could now trace a decent sword path.

Of course, I had no intention of letting her join my party. I had gone through all the trouble of training her to draw Idrian Goldenroad's attention; I couldn't let that effort go to waste.

"Anyway, is this the last party member?"

"Good work, Leader."

Seril Lever, who was sitting next to me, gathered the documents and stood up. On the top sheet, a sturdy-looking boy beamed with a bright smile.

"Deila Zeros is handling the healing, right?"

"Yeah. Since she's a Battle Mage, her healing support will probably be better than most priests."

With this, our four-person party was complete.

The boy smiling brightly in the picture was Tom First. He wasn't from a particularly high noble family, but he's from a military Baron family serving on the northern front lines, so he's reliable. Generally, people from the north were larger and stronger than those from other regions. Living in such harsh terrain had forced them to evolve that way.

"Now we just need to submit the party application, right?"

The dungeon subjugation exam had been announced about two days ago. While other students were probably running around in a panic trying to find party members, we were already done. This was entirely thanks to Seril Lever. She had spent the last two weeks running herself ragged to recruit the most efficient members.

"Why don't you get some rest?"

Dark circles hung heavy under her eyes, making her look as if she might collapse at any moment. Seril Lever forced a smile, trying to push past her exhaustion.

"I have to do everything I can. I'll only be a burden during the exam anyway."

"What if I just take your information and dump you?"

Seril Lever offered a bitter smile, as if she had already experienced such a thing before.

"You won't abandon me. Just like back at the breeding ground."

"...Of course not. But seriously, why don't you rest? If you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠collapse during the exam, you won't just be a burden—you'll be a shackle."

My tone was harsh. It wasn't how I wanted to speak, but my experience over the last two weeks had taught me that she wouldn't listen otherwise.

"Right... I can be a burden, but I can't be a shackle."

Muttering softly, she said she would rest for just a bit and headed back to her dormitory. I watched her retreating figure, glanced at the tree behind me, and then made my way back to my own dorm.

Chime.

The door opened with a clear electronic beep.

"I've had so much on my plate lately... How long has it been since I actually got to rest properly?"

The moment I stepped inside, I kicked off my shoes and threw myself onto the bed. The plush mattress welcomed me warmly.

No, I couldn't just lie here.

I bolted upright and glared at the entrance.

"Aren't you tired of this? Now you're even breaking into my room."

I spoke to the empty air.

"Show yourself. You've already been caught."

No answer came. Annoyed, I reached up to run a hand through my hair, and only then did the air shimmer, revealing a boy. His face was completely unrecognizable, blurred as if obscured by a digital mosaic. The silhouette behind the mosaic indicated he was a short male.

"The Occupation Club Leader?"

"Ah, even Irelia never caught me. How did you know?"

"You've been tailing me every single day since last week. How could I not know? It was harder trying to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pretend I didn't notice."

"Oh. So you knew from the very beginning."

The club leader chuckled and sat on my bed as if it were his designated seat. It was incredibly annoying, but what could I do? I couldn't exactly trash my own dorm room.

"Then you must know why I'm here, right?"

"Who knows? Since you haven't said it directly, I wouldn't know."

Of course, I knew. It was the exact same offer he had personally made to the protagonist, Idrian.

"Well, if that's the case, I'll tell you directly."

Join our club as an executive.

"How about joining our club as an executive?"

A strange thrill sent a shiver through my chest. For a fleeting second, it felt as if I had become the protagonist of this world. But delusions were just delusions. With the actual ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠protagonist right there, I could never be the main character.

"Not a very tempting offer. I'm the guy who rejected the Student Council's invitation. What do I stand to gain by joining the Occupation Club, which is practically overflowing with the academy's worst troublemakers?"

"Hmm. I think you'd fit right in with us, though. You pretend to be as pure as a swan, but..."

The Mosaic recalled the day of the Freshman Welcoming Party raid. Kanteil had intentionally lured out the Disciplinary Committee President, Irelia Leonhart, to disrupt their operation to arrest the Occupation Club.

This junior suits a black mask much better than a white coat.

"You don't hesitate to play dirty to achieve your goals, do you? I've done a bit of background research on my dear junior. Your track record over the past two months is quite spectacular."

Drip.

I clenched my fist so hard that blood welled from my palm and dripped onto the floor. Unbothered by my reaction, the Mosaic continued.

"The kidnapping of the second-year student, the raid on the professor's office..."

He rattled off the incidents that had caused quite a stir on campus before the entrance ceremony. Incidents that had been mistakenly attributed to the Occupation Club. Events so audacious that even the Mosaic, the leader of the club himself, had shaken his head in disbelief. Who could have guessed that the culprit was the junior standing right in front of him?

And as if placing the final period on the sentence, the Mosaic stared into my hollow eyes and finished his thought.

"And the collapse of the academy's breeding ground..."

Crash!

A sound like a bomb detonating echoed through the room. The table my fist slammed into was shattered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beyond recognition.

"Senior."

"Hmm? What is it, my dear junior?"

For the first time in his life, the Mosaic saw two diametrically opposed human emotions coexisting on a single face. Though he maintained a relaxed demeanor, he was actually deeply shaken.

What is that?

It was uncanny. A bizarre, terrifying expression crept onto Kanteil's face, as if something non-human was trying its best to mimic a person.

"Don't cross the line."

Or I might kill you.

At that moment, the Mosaic felt as if a blade were pressed against his throat. A suffocating, venomous bloodlust—the likes of which he had never experienced before—choked the life out of him, threatening to sever his neck at the slightest movement.

He couldn't possibly comprehend it, but the raw, exposed nerve of a survivor who had endured five years alone in a zombie apocalypse was not something an ordinary person could handle.

"Alright. I'll stop talking about what happened before the entrance ceremony."

As the Mosaic gasped for air and yielded, the suffocating bloodlust vanished in an instant. It was as if it had never existed in the first place.

"You're a terrifying guy, junior."

"I'm trying my best not to be terrifying. Fear is nothing but an obstacle, at least for now."

I stood up and began picking up the shattered pieces of the table, cleaning up the mess as if it were just ordinary trash.

Yet, it was this mundane behavior that struck true terror into the Mosaic. He got the distinct feeling that even if that trash weren't a broken wooden table, but the dismembered pieces of a brutally murdered corpse, Kanteil's expression wouldn't have changed in the slightest.

"Still, I have to say what needs to be said. You'll regret it if you don't join us as an executive. Even if I don't bring up anything else, the moment I tell Irelia Leonhart that you're the Black Mask, you won't even be able to sleep with your legs stretched out in your own dorm."

"Are you threatening to tell her?"

"Why should I keep your secret when you're not even a member of my club? Besides, Irelia Leonhart is absolutely furious right now and has been raiding our club non-stop. We're taking massive losses."

He pointed a finger at me.

"So, join us. I don't know why, but seeing how you rejected the Student Council's offer despite having the kind of past that forged that insane bloodlust, you clearly hate noise. But who do you think will make more noise? The Student Council, or the Disciplinary Committee led by that madwoman?"

The answer was already decided.

"So, what are the terms?"

At my practical surrender, the Mosaic smirked inwardly.

"Your term as an executive will be one month after this dungeon subjugation exam ends. If it goes any longer than that, I figure you'll find a way to slip away anyway."

"You set the perfect duration. If you had asked for anything over a month, I was planning to put a blade to your throat."

"Ha, I don't care for your weird jokes."

"Probably because it wasn't a joke."

I had avoided joining even the swordsmanship club just so I could eventually join the protagonist's club. Now, not only had he completely ruined my plans, but if he tried to make me work for more than a month, I would absolutely stab him.

Perhaps it was because of the bloodlust I had displayed earlier, but his expression showed he realized I wasn't joking.

Maybe I should have investigated more quietly when I first transmigrated.

In a ruined world, information was the most vital resource. To think that poking around to gather that information would come back to bite me like this. Life truly is unpredictable.

I completely demolished every single place I hit so that nothing could be traced back to me, yet a trail still remained.

At least there were no innocent victims, so I suppose that was a silver lining.

He went on and on, listing the benefits of becoming an executive, and extended his hand with a fairly decent contract.

He even offered financial compensation, so there's no reason to refuse.

I was actually running low on funds and considering taking up mercenary work, so there was no reason to turn down an offer that paid even more just for sitting around. Well, to be precise, I couldn't refuse anyway.

"Okay! With this, the vacancy is filled!"

"Then what should I be called from now on?"

The answer to my question came instantly.

"Yong."

Somehow, I had ended up becoming an executive of the academy's worst group of troublemakers.