Chapter 99

The truth is, a school's 'Disciplinary Committee' amounts to fuck-all, completely at odds with the terrifying image the words convey.

And for good reason, at most, it's something that happens inside a 'school.'

It can't even compare to a disciplinary hearing where someone's salary is on the line, and naturally, comparing it to a court of law is practically an insult to courts.

Besides, every kid in this school is a rich kid. When you gather a bunch of kids with money, a pecking order sorts itself out, and hardly anyone deliberately tries to break it. It's only natural. The harm from breaking the pecking order after graduation far exceeds the harm from breaking school rules inside the school.

Thus, the Disciplinary Committee at this school is even more meaningless.

A minimum courtesy between teachers and students is maintained. But in essence, teachers exist to take bribes and students exist to give them. Even if the actual bribe-givers are the students' parents, it's the students who enjoy the benefits.

That means, in terms of 'pecking order,' the teachers rank below the students.

This is why faculty who would otherwise be famous outside the school walls are treated that way inside.

They brought it on themselves, though.

Naturally, the Disciplinary Committee's standing within the school couldn't be anything but rock-bottom.

Because the faculty would likely block it before it even convened, and even if it did open, it would most likely end with nothing but meaningless chatter.

......That's how it was 'originally'.

"Ah~ This school is so shitty I can't stand it~"

Until a picture-perfect delinquent plopped her feet defiantly on her desk, draped her right arm over the back of the chair, and started running her mouth like that.

And that delinquent was the very one who had poured over a billion won into this school to get admitted and sit in the seat next to mine.

The pecking order here is basically determined by how much money you have, but my case was special. If the hierarchy were set purely by asset size, this school should be jerked back and forth entirely by Ye Sa-ra's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hands.

......I don't know exactly how things ended up this way, but it was like this in the original story too. Even if she did ultimately collapse at the end.

Still, how exactly did she collapse?

Considering Ye Sa-ra's personality, I get that dominating the school would be 'difficult' for her. But difficult doesn't mean impossible. If Ye Sa-ra really failed her suicide attempt and went mad, going on a rampage, or if the first attempt failed and she somehow made a second, that might even make a sort of sense.

But how could Ye Sa-ra have 'collapsed'?

Her visible assets alone are two hundred trillion won. Not just two hundred trillion—she gets trillions in dividends every year. And it becomes even more absurd if you consider the trust assets the media never shined a light on, or the personal accounts stuffed with cash that no one can access on a whim. Former Chairman Ye In-su genuinely loved his daughter. And he never fully trusted Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠either.

So he set up countless safeguards to ensure that Ye Sa-ra's actual assets could exceed Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung's.

To put it bluntly, it meant Ye Sa-ra was at a level where she could wave her fist around and accidentally make a few small to mid-sized companies shriek and drop dead. Even solid medium-sized enterprises would have to bow their heads, and the big conglomerates would have to watch their step around her.

Even if she threw around trillions inside the school, making fools of the teachers and executing judgment on the students, she'd still have hundreds of billions left.

Could Ye Sa-ra really have 'collapsed' just because the chairwoman threw her away?

No matter how much Ye Sa-ra's memories are bound up with Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung.

......Maybe it's proof she was broken that thoroughly.

Or maybe even all of that was part of Ye Sa-ra's 'plan.'

The game unfolds strictly from Yu Ha-neul's point of view. Naturally, the player can never know what's happening behind the scenes.

Maybe the Ye Sa-ra Route had something in it after all.

Anyway, back to the current situation.

The Disciplinary Committee really was a pitiful sight. No matter how rich the school, they haven't built an actual courtroom inside, so it was just an empty classroom with desks shoved together to mimic one.

Honestly, you could ask if they were playing pretend,

but since that was exactly what made the situation funnier, I decided to let it slide.

"Every single one of these kids ignores me—is this bullying? No matter what, treating a person who's right here like they don't exist, isn't that too much?"

So-hee was talking about her own situation, but it was also an allegory for mine. Because the situation So-hee was in was exactly the same as mine right now.

Notably, the students pointed out as 'perpetrators' couldn't even all fit inside the classroom. They numbered over a hundred, so it was only natural they couldn't all squeeze in.

They could have easily just gathered in the auditorium instead of this classroom, so the fact that they deliberately did this suggests they want to shrink the incident down somehow.

Makes sense. Putting aside what might end up in the papers, what the teachers fear most right now is Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung.

And the girls who did make it into the classroom and were seated in the perpetrators' seats were all hanging their heads, shoulders trembling slightly.

I don't know every student by name, but seeing that attitude tells me one thing for sure.

Those kids aren't among the 'kids with money' at this school. Most of the students accused as bullying perpetrators were first-year girls. Naturally, among them were kids whose families rank in Korea's top wealth brackets, the daughter of a small business owner, and outside admits who got in on grades alone.

That meant they could pull out as many as they wanted to use as bullet shields.

For the record, I'm neither a perpetrator nor a named victim, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yet I was inside the room.

I'm an invisible existence anyway, so no one could say anything about me being here.

Even if they were stealing glances at me with frightened eyes.

Yes. All these people ultimately couldn't ignore the money Shin So-hee gave them and convened the committee.

And the 'victim,' Shin So-hee, was currently giving testimony.

Only, strictly speaking, the words coming out of So-hee's mouth weren't her own voice.

To be precise, she was just relaying what I wanted to say on my behalf.

With a delinquent attitude and tone refreshing enough to clear my head.

"Ahem...... hm, well."

Among the teachers gathered in the classroom, the balding one seated in the very center cleared his throat.

He was the one I'd poured water on. It seemed he held a higher position than I'd thought.

The principal and vice principal hadn't even shown up.

Had they not been summoned? Or had they unilaterally brushed this off?

I'd figure that out later.

"That...... Miss Shin So-hee? The faculty believes there must have been some sort of misunderstanding."

I couldn't tell if he was using polite speech because it's a 'committee' of sorts, or because he was walking on eggshells around So-hee.

"A misunderstanding?"

So-hee, who just moments ago had been blatantly speaking down to the teachers under the guise of talking to herself, asked in formal speech. Her manner carried a heavy nuance of 'I'll let it slide just this once.'

......The fact that she can't act sad or angry to save her life but that kind of attitude comes so naturally—does that mean this is her real nature?

Well, not that she was a real delinquent who beat kids up or extorted money.

"I literally went through this, and you say misunderstanding?"

"That is......."

The teacher flicked a glance my way.

"The truth is the students also wanted to get along well with you, Miss So-hee......."

"......."

So-hee turned her gaze toward where the perpetrators sat in a row.

I saw a few kids from my own class. Mostly the ones who sat near me. Still, the fact that some who sat really close weren't there probably meant these kids were the pitiful ones sacrificed for money.

Although, do they even deserve the word pitiful? They did participate, after all.

Because the atmosphere forced them, because the money forced them, because they wanted a normal school life forced them......

Sure, there are plenty of excuses. But that doesn't make it okay.

Because Ye Sa-ra crumbled because of that.

I wonder how many of those kids are returning students from the academy's lower school?

"S-Sorry......!"

One girl, apparently representing the perpetrators, shot up to her feet and bowed deeply at the waist.

"We had no idea you'd be so hurt! We're sorry for judging you on our own and keeping our distance......!"

It was a surprisingly decent apology, with some sincerity behind it. At the very least, it was far better than the crying act So-hee had put on.

But I knew all too well that the sincerity wasn't 'remorse' or 'guilt.'

The real emotion embedded in those words was 'fear.'

If you're the child of one of the wealthiest people in the Republic of Korea, getting a little disciplinary action or having dogshit grades isn't a big deal. There are infinite ways to survive after graduation. To be blunt, you could just live off the interest in your bank account and live a life ordinary people can't even imagine.

But it's a different story if you're the child of someone running a small business that lives on subcontract work, or a profession so insignificant it doesn't even qualify as that, or a student who got in purely on grades as an outside admit.

Especially the students ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who got in on grades alone—they have to forge connections in this school no matter what. It's a given if they want a good job after graduation. There's no method more reliable than connections for getting into a major corporation.

So, the harm is massive if they end up leaving the school over this. Especially if the reason is being a perpetrator of group bullying; that would have a devastating impact on their university admissions.

Truly, they are wonderfully convenient targets to exploit.

They didn't pay bribes, so there's no reason to protect them. But at the same time, there's no reason to fear them. They're riddled with weaknesses, and the cause against them was actually justified. On top of that, they're desperate, which makes them easy to prop up as shields.

What a magnificent school this is.

But of course, our objective didn't end there.

As I've said several times, finding the perpetrators and punishing them was never the goal.

Our real objective—

"She should be here any minute now."

The moment I checked my wristwatch and murmured that, a sudden silence fell over the classroom. Everyone stared at me with tense expressions.

Who could I have called?

They seemed to be wondering just that. A new witness? A victim? Either way, they must think I called someone because I have something that can flip this whole incident on its head.

Well, if they're worried about a new witness or victim, I'll tell them to put that aside.

The person I called—

Just then, a click came from the door as the handle turned.

"Ah, excuse me for interrupting."

The person who entered while saying that was Team Leader Han Ga-ram.

She was pulling a large travel suitcase in one hand.

"......You are......?"

The teachers probably recognized her face. Team Leader Han Ga-ram had said this school has many clients.

She must manage the money the teachers receive, of course.

"You're late."

When I pursed my lips and spoke, Team Leader Han Ga-ram shrugged in reply.

"Ah, my apologies. It isn't easy withdrawing such a large sum while avoiding the eyes of the financial authorities."

The classroom froze solid at her words, delivered with a bright smile.