Take Responsibility! I Became a Middle Schooler
I had become a middle schooler. That so-called period of stormy adolescence. This was the age when a ridiculous number of lunatics started popping up everywhere. Once boys hit middle school, their brains go a little haywire and they cause all kinds of trouble. In my previous life, I'd seen plenty of those crazy bastards during my own middle school days. Some of them turned into juvenile delinquents and acted like total trash, ruling their little gangs. But there were also the pitiful ones who caught a certain 'disease' and churned out endless dark histories. We have a name for that sickness.
"Chuunibyou."
"Hmph. I told you not to compare me to such vulgar creatures."
Gil Young-woong, with his head dyed bright blond and fully committed to the chuuni concept. This guy was the real deal. He was on a completely different level from the fakes who only half-assed their act. Every word that came out of his mouth carried genuine sincerity. He truly believed he had once been a king in another world and had simply lost his memories upon crossing over to this one. When I asked how he could remember being a king if he'd lost his memories, he said he'd seen fragments of them in his dreams. In other words, he had one wild dream and this was the result. They say chuunibyou usually strikes without warning, so maybe it wasn't that surprising.
After I realized he wasn't faking it, he actually started to feel kind of amusing. Almost refreshing.
"So, have any memories come back yet?"
"No. It seems the seal on my memories is rather powerful. But there is no need for concern. There is no way I would fall to a mere seal like this. One day I shall regain my memories and my power, and I will become a king in this world as well. When that day comes, Oh Sung-woon, I shall specially appoint you as my first vassal."
He said all that with one hundred and twenty percent sincerity. If he were only moderately crazy I might have avoided him, but at this point he was just pure entertainment mountain.
"You talk like becoming king is already a done deal. You really that strong?"
Jo Kwang-hoon appeared from the side and jumped into the conversation. Somehow he'd ended up in the same class as us, so the three of us often ended up chatting like this.
"Hmph. Before long, this world shall be left with only the single vast empire that I shall found."
"This crazy bastard."
"Then I guess I should start calling you Hero King from now on. The blond hair really sells it."
"Hero King...? Hero King, huh... Mm, that has a rather pleasing ring to it."
Gil Young-woong seemed to like the sound of 'Hero King' and kept nodding as he repeated it to himself.
"Enough with the nonsense. Let's just do this."
As always, Jo Kwang-hoon pulled out one of the board games he'd brought. It was a one-on-one board game that, of course, involved rolling dice. Pure luck-based bullshit.
"Let's go, Gil Young-woong."
"I do not play such low-class games."
"Oh? What, you scared? Still salty about getting crushed by me last time?"
For once Jo Kwang-hoon was challenging Gil Young-woong instead of me. He must've beaten him a few times and gotten a taste for it. This guy really did prefer winning over losing.
"...Very well. Though it is a cheap provocation, I shall indulge you."
As expected, the Hero King couldn't resist a taunt. And so the game began.
In the early game, Gil Young-woong got incredibly lucky. Dice rolls kept exploding in his favor, giving him a massive lead. Jo Kwang-hoon tried desperately to make a comeback, but the early jackpot was too overwhelming. It didn't look like a reversal was possible.
"Hmph. What a pathetic display for someone who talked so big, you novice."
"Agh, fuck... Hey, give me a break, man."
"Is that the proper attitude for making a request?"
"Please, Your Majesty Hero King, sir, kindly grant me one mercy."
"Hmph. I don't particularly like it, but as a king I shall show magnanimity."
"Thanks!"
Jo Kwang-hoon bowed his head without a shred of pride, and the Hero King actually gave him one turn back. 'Hmm... I can already see where this is going.'
Sure enough, right after that it was like they were in cahoots. Jo Kwang-hoon's dice kept exploding with insane luck. Gil Young-woong's eyes began to tremble in panic. And not long after, Jo Kwang-hoon really did pull off a complete reversal.
"......"
"Heh heh. So? Want me to give you a turn back?"
"Ugh..."
"Ask me politely like I did earlier and I'll generously let you off the hook. Kick kick."
"Gah! I don't need it! Even without your mercy I can win! Do not get cocky, you mongrel!"
A FEW MOMENTS LATER.
"T-this cannot be...! That I, I should lose to a mere mongrel like this...!"
"Puhahahahahaha! You strutted around acting like a king but you're actually a total weakling, huh?"
"You bastard...! You bastard! You bastard! You bastard—!!"
Just as I thought. He let his guard down last time and lost too. He never learns. This guy suits the title 'King of Letting His Guard Down' way more than Hero King.
"Gil Young-woong, you just need to stop dropping your guard."
Even if I said that, he'd probably still drop it at the critical moment, wouldn't he?
"When is it coming out? Just tell me that much."
"How many times are you going to ask me that?!"
We were already in our third year of middle school. It had been three years since Tyche succeeded in developing the full-dive VR machine. But in those three years, aside from the news that they'd succeeded, there hadn't been a single update. At this point it wouldn't be strange if they were already in production and starting marketing. There were even rumors going around that Tyche had lied about the success. However, those rumors were quickly put to rest. A small number of fairly well-known people had been invited by Tyche, experienced the full-dive VR for themselves, and returned. They all stated that the experience was beyond belief, and only then did people get truly excited and accept that it was real.
So what was I doing right now…?
"Please, Princess of Tyche, I beg you!"
"Hey!! I told you not to call me princess!!"
I was clinging desperately to Kang Yu-ri, the actual princess of Tyche. If anyone knew, it would be her, the one the Tyche chairman cherished more than anything. I was pretty sure that chairman still called her his princess. She just found it embarrassing. It was basically her berserk button. My current strategy was to deliberately press that button until she couldn't take it anymore and just spilled the information.
"I won't tell anyone. I'll keep it all to myself, so please just tell me!"
"Ugh, seriously...! I told you I don't know!!"
"If you don't know, who would?"
"I! Really! Don't! Know!"
'She's even getting veins popping on her forehead while yelling. She really must not know...'
That was a bit unexpected. I'd thought the chairman's precious princess would at least know something.
"Then call your grandfather and ask him."
"That won't do any good... He won't tell me anything."
"...Huh? But you're the princess of Tyche."
"Hey!! Damn it...! This is all because of you! It's your fault!!"
"???"
What the hell was she talking about? Why was she suddenly blaming me out of nowhere? I couldn't understand.
"How is this my fault?"
"Shut up! It's all your fault!"
"...?? Just tell me why already."
"They found out I was leaking company secrets to you!!"
"Ah."
The moment I heard that, I remembered asking her for the personal information of the full-dive VR developers. After that I'd also asked her to take pictures of the machine and to try using it herself to give me her impressions. So that's what got caught.
"Wait, how did they even find out?"
"I... I slipped up a little when I was talking... Anyway! You were the one who asked me to do it! So it's your fault! Do you have any idea how much I got scolded?!"
Kang Yu-ri pointed at me with teary eyes, venting her resentment. Looking at her face, I did feel a little sorry.
"Um..."
"Because of you, they won't tell me anything anymore!"
"S-sorry."
"Sorry? If you're sorry, then take responsibility."
What? A sudden chill ran down my spine. Just moments ago she'd been furious with resentment all over her face. But suddenly her expression changed to something like 'Gotcha.'
"Take responsibility... for what...?"
My voice was even shaking from anxiety. My instincts were screaming at me to run.
"Take responsibility for my life!"
"...???"
What kind of nonsense was this? It felt like I'd just watched someone rage at a gacha game company after getting screwed over, demanding they take responsibility for their life. I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even speak.
"...Taking responsibility for your life? At least be reasonable with the nonsense..."
"Because of you I got treated like a tomboy! My life is ruined now! So take responsibility! Take it!"
Even she seemed to know she was being unreasonable. Her face flushed red as she shouted. It was kind of cute, but this was too much.
"Sigh... What if I say no?"
"No! You have to take responsibility!"
"What the..."
"Wish coupons!"
"......."
Oh right. Those existed. I'd completely forgotten about them since I hadn't used any until now.
"I'm going to use all five wish coupons I've saved up!"
"Wait, there are five of them??"
How the hell were there five?
"Three for the full-dive VR stuff! One for bringing me those cats to raise! And one for changing the school lunch system!"
"Ah..."
'Now that she mentions it, those things did happen...'
I'd found an injured mother cat and her kittens. They didn't look like they'd survive if I left them, so after worrying about it I'd called Yu-ri. When I explained the situation, she'd answered with "One wish coupon." At the time I'd honestly thought she was just saying it and wouldn't actually use them, so I'd accepted without much thought. As for the school lunch, our middle school was pretty good overall but the food sucked, so I'd asked her to change it... and she'd said "One wish coupon" back then too.
'Fuck.'
Thinking about it now, I regretted it. Why had I agreed so thoughtlessly? I hated my past self for not considering the consequences.
'What do I do... Should I tell her you originally need seven coupons to make a wish...? Ah, this world doesn't have Wyvern Balls so she wouldn't get the reference...'
I needed some kind of excuse.
"Look, about that..."
"Shut up! Don't even think about making excuses. I'm using all five wish coupons. Take responsibility for my life! No, take responsibility for me!! For the rest of your life!! I'll even count those five wish coupons as payment for that."
"No, taking responsibility for the rest of your life is completely unreasonable..."
"What!!"
"......"
Seeing those burning, blazing eyes, my mouth clamped shut. That face was two hundred percent serious. Kang Yu-ri was not joking at all.
While my brain was running at full speed trying to figure out how to get out of this situation, another voice came from beside us.
"Hmm. From the looks of it, it seems my help is required here."