Chapter 65: Isn’t Travel in Academy Stories Always Like This? (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: Isn’t Travel in Academy Stories Always Like This? (2)
And so, the day of the trip arrived.
I was in a foul mood, having been dragged to the Academy at the crack of dawn by Lilac, who seemed worried I might try to make a run for it.
“Uh, you all saw me at the orientation, but I’ll give a quick introduction. I’m Seo Dae-han, the president of the travel club ‘Geumgangsan.’ I’m a third-year, and my major is Swordsmanship.”
After a short wait, a senior with a fairly solid build stepped forward and began the introduction.
“Some of the freshmen might be worried about going on a trip right before midterms, but honestly, written exams aren’t that important at the Academy. Just think of it as a day without assignments, okay? So, feel free to just enjoy yourselves!”
He seemed quite used to these situations, cracking jokes to lighten the atmosphere.
“Our club’s motto is ‘leisure.’ Not everyone here will walk the path of a hero, but I expect most of you will. The truth is, being a hero comes with a lot of responsibility. Since it’s a job directly linked to people’s lives, it’s easy to lose your peace of mind.”
Commanding the crowd with a powerful voice, he nodded with a smile on his face.
“But that’s exactly why I believe leisure is important. If you keep tightening the string, it’ll eventually snap. Our club’s purpose and reason for existing is to remind us that before we are superhumans, we are humans who need to save ourselves before we save others.”
Oh, that sounded pretty plausible.
In the original work, everyone was trembling in a terrifying atmosphere and couldn’t even dream of saying the word ‘leisure.’ So, this is what the club was originally like.
“Well, that’s just the founding philosophy. Freshmen, don’t worry about any of that and just play! Playing, laughing, and chatting to your heart’s content—that’s what makes memories!”
I wondered if we’d be taking a bus since it was a travel club, but it seemed we were moving via portal.
“We usually take planes for overseas trips, but you can ride a bus anytime, right?”
He seemed like a romanticist, yet he was strangely realistic.
“Our destination this time is the Rose Festival being held nearby. We’re not just going there to play; in exchange for helping out with some patrols, they’ve given us priority seating and other perks. I posted the notice in advance, so you’ve all read it, right?”
Well, fortunately, the first travel destination hadn’t changed.
I hadn’t read the notice since Lilac probably memorized the whole thing anyway, but really, how hard could the task be?
“Ah, and before we enter. True to its reputation, the Rose Festival is an event where flowers are the main attraction. It’s very popular with couples, so if there are any ‘situationships’ among you, I hope you’ll progress into a full-blown couple! I actually confessed my feelings here last year! Yu-jeong, I love you…!”
“Hey! You crazy bastard!?”
Apparently, the person who just screamed was Yu-jeong.
Haha, what a lover boy. I kind of hope they break up.
* * *
The festival grounds were bustling with people upon our arrival.
Thinking about how none of these people knew that this Rose Festival would soon connect with an Otherworld legend and turn into a Dungeon, I felt like telling them to evacuate, but it wasn’t that simple.
Who would believe me? I wasn’t Lilac.
Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t stop it if I forced the issue, but I had to go in for the Reward Room anyway.
“Alright, we’ll handle the complicated stuff for now, so you freshmen go take a look around the festival.”
“Oh, no. We’ll help too.”
“Hey, it’s a tradition in our club that as long as the freshmen don’t cross the line, we don’t give them a hard time. The seniors will handle the luggage and patrols, so you freshmen go have some fun first.”
Lilac looked at him with deeply moved eyes, but having read the original work—and having been kicked around by society—I knew better.
There are rarely any decent people among those who lure you in with sweet words.
It wasn’t that they had bad intentions, but they weren’t letting us go play first purely for our benefit.
This Rose Festival was famous for being more beautiful and having more to see at night than during the day.
And since they had to prepare the travel club’s traditional surprise Hidden Camera Prank, it was probably more convenient for them if we went far away to sightsee.
If I were truly passionate about roses, it might be different, but unfortunately, I didn’t care that much about seeing night roses. I decided to play along with the seniors’ cute little prank.
“Hey, Lilac. The seniors said so, so let’s just go by ourselves for now.”
“What? But how can we? Let’s at least help them carry the luggage before we go.”
The senior’s face momentarily stiffened.
Their luggage was full of props for the Hidden Camera Prank, so they obviously didn’t want to be caught.
“Hey, ignoring the seniors’ kindness isn’t a good thing either, man.”
“Is… that so?”
“He’s right, Lilac. The seniors gave us this time because they were thinking of us. It’s rude to decline. Let’s go look at the flowers.”
“Hmm, then since it’s a festival, should we buy something delicious and walk around?”
Lee Yu-na, who was relatively quick on the uptake, persuaded Lilac, and Kang Ha-ni seemed to have caught on as well, as she stood firm on the idea of going to play.
“Well, if everyone says so. Then, Senior, we’ll leave it to you.”
“Yeah, don’t worry and just have a good time! We’ll join you after a quick round, so don’t worry!”
Senior. With you smiling with such a mischievous face, who wouldn’t know you’re up to something?
“Man, the seniors really are nice. I’ll make sure to be the one grilling the meat later.”
Ah, there was one guy who didn’t know.
He’s not exactly dull, but he’s strangely clueless about things like this.
* * *
Kim Ga-eul.
She had been looking forward to today quite a bit.
The first trip with the travel club! And it was the Rose Festival, an event that practically screamed for a lunchbox!
From the day she first heard about the destination, she had undergone desperate special training at the Cooking Club to make a lunchbox.
She had packed it so they could all spread out a mat and eat together.
There were colorful, pretty rice balls, Vienna sausages cut into cute shapes, a salad made of vibrant fruits and vegetables, and even fried dishes—the stars of any picnic.
Even she thought the quality wasn’t bad.
With this, capturing Kang So-hyun’s stomach wouldn’t be difficult.
Although the taste had been subpar last time, this time she had even gotten the taste verified by Yu-na from the same club, so it was perfect.
‘When everyone else is thinking of buying food, if I’m the only one who brought a home-cooked meal, he’ll see me in a new light, right?’
Maybe he would even praise her, saying it was delicious.
…She also wanted to try feeding each other if the mood was right, and she wanted to take photos to post.
It was a bit risky to call him out and do such things normally, but this was a group trip with the club.
Even if she got a bit excited and did things she wouldn’t normally do, it wouldn’t stand out. It was a golden opportunity where no one would suspect anything even if she happened to have a lot of photos taken alone with So-hyun.
“Lo…!”
“Hey! So-hyun, look over there! They say it’s a Giant Rose infused with mana! A wish! Let’s go make a wish!”
“Oh, it really is huge.”
Her turn was snatched away by Han-hee, who suddenly approached, but she didn’t give up.
Han-hee was snapping photos in front of the building-sized Giant Rose, but that was surely just an expression of affection as a female friend.
“Los…!”
“So-hyun~ Yu-na says we should all walk together for a bit!?”
“Lilac. I don’t think she meant for everyone to join.”
“Huh? No. Yu-na definitely said she wanted to walk together.”
“Look, I can’t tell you because of certain circumstances, but just know that you really need to be good to Yu-na.”
“Hey, there aren’t many friends who treat Yu-na as well as I do, you know?”
“…Sure, man. You’re the best.”
They enjoyed a walk together like that, and then there was another brief lull.
“Haha, the kids seem really excited. Hey…”
Just as a gap finally opened and she was about to call Kang So-hyun again, Han-hee appeared out of nowhere again, holding a rose-colored cotton candy in her hand.
“It’s rose cotton candy! Rose cotton candy! It’s really sweet!”
“…Isn’t that just regular cotton candy with food coloring?”
“Hey, why are you being such a buzzkill? Everything sold at places like this is like that. People buy it for the atmosphere. You think this is actually made of roses?”
“True~”
Her heart felt like it was going to break after the continuous failures.
If Kang Han-hee wasn’t there, Lilac was, and if Lilac wasn’t there, Kang Han-hee was dragging So-hyun around.
At least Yu-na tried to pull Lilac away, so there were some gaps, but Kang Han-hee was practically glued to him.
Anyone would think she was his girlfriend. Two good-looking boys always sticking together and even sharing a room.
“…It couldn’t be, right?”
An anxious thought flashed through her mind for a moment, but it probably wasn’t that.
Thirty minutes passed like a whirlwind, and amazingly, she still hadn’t managed to take a single photo with Kang So-hyun.
“…This is just bad luck.”
When she said she was tired and would rest on a bench, the group worried, but she told them she was fine and sent them on their way.
“…I mean, what right does a girl who still calls him a ‘loser’ have to ask for a photo?”
In truth, she knew.
If she had been a bit more aggressive and tried to take a photo, there would have been plenty of opportunities.
She was the one who hesitated, and she was the one who couldn’t seize the chance when it came.
It wasn’t as if Lilac or Kang Han-hee had actually blocked her.
“I’m the loser. Who am I to call him a loser? I even got on his sister’s bad side because of that. Hmph.”
She just wanted to be close. She just wanted to fulfill the small desire of setting a photo of the two of them as her smartphone wallpaper and grinning while looking at it at night…!
Even though she knew he wouldn’t refuse, she couldn’t muster that tiny bit of courage.
If she could confidently call him by his name instead of ‘loser,’ would the opportunity have come?
If their first meeting had left a better impression, could they have been closer?
Meaningless delusions kept floating up.
“…So-hyun.”
When no one was around, she could call his name so naturally.
“Oh, what. How’d you know? And why are you calling me by my name all of a sudden?”
“…Huh?”
“Well, you called me, so why are you surprised?”
There he stood, with a drink in each hand.
“It’s really exhausting following those guys around. You’re having one too, right?”
“Rose Ade?”
“I don’t know. Everything else was sold out. What kind of vending machine runs out of stock during a festival?”
With a pssh sound, the scent of roses wafted from the can.
“…Rose-scented carbonation, seriously. Who thought of this?”
…Is this a miracle?
Did this miracle happen as a reward for honestly calling him by his name?
“Los…!”
She swallowed the word ‘loser’ that was about to come out of her throat with superhuman patience.
She felt that the moment she said ‘loser,’ Kang Han-hee would appear and snatch him away.
“So-hyun.”
“Oh, yeah. Ga-eul, what’s up? Is there something you want to ask since you’re using my name?”
“Let’s take a photo together to commemorate the trip.”
“Huh? Oh, I took one with everyone else, but I guess I haven’t taken one with you yet?”
“Y-Yeah! You have to take one with me too! You said you took them with everyone else!”
“Why are you so worked up? Sure, let’s take one. Want to go to that Giant Rose over there?”
“No, I like it here. I’ll take it on the bench, so come closer.”
“It’ll probably look prettier if we take it somewhere flashy.”
“Well, there are too many people over there.”
“…Aren’t festivals supposed to have a lot of people?”
“It’s not that. Anyway, I said I like it better here! Or do you hate it here?”
“No, well, it’s not that. I guess it is pretty nice here in its own way.”
She calmed her racing heart and opened the camera app.
Yes, this was the kind of photo she wanted. In front of that Giant Rose, no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t have been able to take a photo that showed just the two of them so quietly.
Though it was a simple photo with modest roses and a bench as the backdrop, the fact that it was just the two of them made her happy.
“Is it that good? Are the others bullying you? To the point they won’t even take a photo with you?”
“No, they’re not~ Seeing as you don’t know, you really are a loser. Whatever.”
“Hey. I thought you were going to call me by my name, but you’re back to ‘loser’ again.”
“I’m going to try.”
“Huh? Try what?”
“To call you by your name. It’s just that I’m not ready yet. But someday, I’ll try to greet you normally and call you by your name.”
“Why are you being so serious about it? Besides, does calling someone by their name really require effort?”
“Yes.”
Having said that, she smiled brightly.
“A loser like you might not know, but it’s important to me.”
* * *
Excuse me. You said you still liked Cheon Yu-hak.
Pretending not to notice is getting really freaking hard.
I don’t think I’m just being conceited here.
Who on earth, if they’re just friends, sits glued together on a bench to take a selfie and then grins while looking at it?
“Hehe, Loser. You’re getting hungry, right? Let’s go call the others.”
“Ah, yeah. Sure.”
Whether she was unaware or thought she hadn’t been caught, she walked toward the group with a smile.
“Everyone! Let’s have lunch!”
“Oh, okay!”
“Actually, I packed a lunchbox. The portion is a bit small, so let’s buy some other food and eat together!”
Kim Ga-eul pulled out a fairly decent-looking lunchbox from her backpack.
“Oh, Ga-eul, you’re well-prepared.”
The moment Lilac praised her.
“Oh, what a coincidence.”
“Huh?”
“I packed one too. A. Lunch. Box.”
Lee Yu-na’s eyes sparkled as she pulled out a pink lunchbox.
“Whoa~ Yu-na and Ga-eul, you guys are on the same wavelength as me?”
Ha-ni also pulled out a lunchbox she had prepared.
“…I don’t think we’ll need to buy anything extra?”
“I guess not?”
And so, their unintended lunchbox battle began.
Ga-eul.
Good luck.