The In-Crowd Goes to the Student Council
The sender was Su-rin noona. Why was she messaging me out of the blue?
Not that I minded. If anything, this was my chance to dust off the romantic instincts I'd been keeping buried.
Was I not supposed to ask what she wanted right away? My romance cells were so thoroughly dead I couldn't even tell what I'd done wrong.
That aside... why was this noona so cute?
I typed out another reply.
The student council?
All of a sudden?
There she went again, flooring the accelerator. In the game, club activities had just been a contrived device for tangling the protagonist up in events alongside the heroines.
There had never been a student council route. So what was I supposed to do with this?
I wasn't sure about this. Should I have turned her down more firmly? I'd been a shut-in loner in my old life, and I still didn't have enough conversation in me to handle this kind of thing.
Telling me to start living like one of the popular kids was asking a lot.
Ahh, I had no idea what I was doing.
The club I'd had in mind was Lucy's social club. The heroines who'd joined it were Rumi and Lucy — two of them — and with two heroines in one place, the incidents and accidents that cropped up there were so frequent that joining the social club was basically mandatory.
Elise was in the book club. Nam Da-eun was in the rest club. Mun Su-rin was in the student council.
At Victoria Academy, one club per person was required, which was the only reason Nam Da-eun signed up for something called the rest club. Of course, she never actually did any club activities. Elise's book club never produced anything the original story would have treated as a real event, so I'd only been planning to join Lucy's social club. I hadn't expected a request from the student council, of all places.
"No matter how I look at it, not going seems like the right call."
The student council was bound to be a gathering of kids from prominent families and guilds. Even if I walked in there, I'd never blend in. There was the time problem, too. Student council work meant sacrificing a serious amount of personal time, and I was already pouring most of mine into the heroine routes and the main story. Factor in my own training and studying, and even two bodies wouldn't be enough.
Come to think of it, didn't they elect the student council by vote? That was odd. The original game had never once mentioned an election. They probably just left it out because it wasn't an important event.
I'd given it some thought out of courtesy, but I really did need to settle on turning her down.
"Wait a second. Isn't the Disciplinary Committee part of the student council?"
The Disciplinary Committee was definitely a student council affiliate. What if I tried that?
Victoria Academy's Disciplinary Committee didn't work the way it did at other schools. They weren't stuck with the grunt work of calling people out over conduct or dress code. They were an internal body for resolving incidents that broke out on campus. Young cadets with real power on their hands generated a lot of incidents, and every time the academy borrowed the authority of a public institution to deal with them, its prestige took a hit. That was why the Disciplinary Committee handled those cases itself.
The more I think about it, the better it sounds.
With a Disciplinary Committee badge I could wander the campus as I pleased and sniff out a few hidden opportunities while I was at it. They didn't operate every day the way the student council did, so my social club activities and personal time wouldn't take much of a hit. And any incident big enough for the Disciplinary Committee to step in was one I'd have to get involved in anyway.
"Good. Decision made."
With that settled, I might as well get some sleep.
"Lee Ho-yeon. Class A, first year."
"Yes. I'll put him on the blacklist for every club at Victoria Academy."
"Make sure of it. He's a vulgar bastard who ignored our Magic Research Department and slandered our advising professor."
"Don't worry. The moment anyone hears the name Lee Ho-yeon, they'll want nothing to do with him."
Inside a club room marked Magic Research Department, the department president and Victoria Academy's club association president were cutting a backroom deal.
Surprisingly enough, the Magic Research Department carried a great deal of weight among the clubs. They had the numbers, and the family of their president, Kim Hyeondo, had been a renowned magic house for generations. On top of that, the club association president had been promised a contract with Kim Hyeondo's family guild after graduation, and in return he had been covering for the department at every turn.
Thanks to that arrangement, the Magic Research Department's influence sat above every club on campus except the student council.
"A-and you're certain he has no backing?"
"Don't worry about it. He's an orphan, and he isn't tied to any guild. He got his picture taken with the student council president recently and that caused a brief stir, but it turned out to be nothing. Stop fretting and do the job."
"Ah, understood."
"Guys like him need to be stomped so thoroughly they can't even twitch. That's how they learn their place."
"Yes. It'll all go exactly as you say, President."
"Lee Ho-yeon. I don't know how you deceived Professor Lim Sol... but I will take her back!"
Bwahaha! Hahaha!
The two men's so-called hearty laughter filled the club room to the rafters.
Riiing. Riiing.
Tuesday. A strong, fine morning!
Waking up in the dorm had started to feel familiar. Hearing the alarm and actually getting out of bed, on the other hand, was still an ordeal.
I pulled myself together, splashed water on my face, and looked into the bathroom mirror.
"I really am handsome..."
I wasn't joking. It didn't make sense. A high-bridged nose, skin and lips that looked alive without a single product on them, and a pair of moderately sharp, masculine eyes. It was the kind of face that, if it belonged to a friend of mine, would raise my own stock just by walking next to him — and the kind I would never, ever introduce to a girl.
I pulled on my cadet uniform, pinned the brooch that marked me as a first-year to my chest, and left the dorm.
I was in an unusually good mood today. Something nice felt like it was coming.
"Ho-yeon! Wanna walk together?"
A guy's voice called from behind me. I only had one male friend I was actually close with.
Blonde delinquent Kim Young-han. Calling him that made him sound like trouble, but it was just his face. He was a thoroughly solid guy, and that was why I stayed on good terms with him even while I was busy chasing heroines.
This one never betrayed anyone. In the original game, whenever a crisis was about to hit the protagonist, he was the first to give a warning, and if there was news worth hearing he would pick it up from somewhere and bring it over. Late in the story, a group threatening the protagonist went after Kim Young-han's life to squeeze him for information, and the stubborn bastard still didn't talk.
Put simply, he was a good guy. The kind you didn't lose anything by keeping close. He wouldn't work as emergency rations, but he'd make a hell of a meat shield — a sturdy, comforting bowl-of-soup kind of friend.
"Sure. Let's go."
The way it usually went with two guys, we could walk without saying much and it never felt awkward. After a while, Kim Young-han spoke up first.
"You decide which club you're joining?"
"Me? I've got two places in mind."
"Yeah? I'm thinking the tea ceremony club and the fishing club. Which ones are you looking at?"
Tea ceremony and fishing. Those choices did not match a blonde delinquent in the slightest. Dye your hair black, then, you punk.
"I'll probably go for the student council and the social club Lucy put together."
"The student council? You got a recommendation ticket?"
"A recommendation ticket? What's that?"
"You don't know about recommendation tickets? To get into the student council, you need one from a current officer."
What kind of nonsense was that? Was this country a communist state in the original game? No. There had never been a setting like that.
"Doesn't the student council get elected by vote?"
"The student council turns over every two years, and this one started last year, so they've still got a year left. If you want to join mid-term, you have to get a recommendation ticket from one of the officers."
What kind of asinine setting was that? They were just telling you to take a parachute appointment, weren't they?
"Ah. I didn't know that."
"Yeah. But they don't hand those tickets out for no reason. It's not written into the rules or anything, but most of the time they only use them to fill a seat when a vacancy opens up."
So they at least kept up a minimum of appearances.
Why did this suddenly feel more complicated?
There had been no talk of a vacancy on the student council. Which meant Mun Su-rin was trying to bring me in for no particular reason — a freshman the student council president had parachuted in herself.
Wasn't that a situation tailor-made for drawing a bunch of unnecessary aggro?
"How about joining the fishing club with me instead. Let's go after a big catch."
I left Kim Young-han standing there, reeling an imaginary fishing rod against empty air, and walked on toward the first-year lecture building.
"Victoria Academy's club for elite mages! The Magic Research Department is recruiting new members!"
"Swordsmanship club looking for freshmen~! First come, first served — you show up and sword training is a go~!"
"Fishing club here! Become one with nature and discover a whole new kind of fun!"
Club promotions had definitely ramped up. Dozens of cadets were out on the paths handing out pamphlets.
"Isn't that the fishing club you were looking for? Go ask."
"Oh? Should I? Come with me."
"No. I told you I'm not going...."
Kim Young-han jogged over to grab a fishing club pamphlet and launched into some back-and-forth with the cadet running the booth.
"Good grief."
I had no intention of joining, but I couldn't just abandon him there, so I went over and stood beside him.
"So there are spots for two new members, right?"
"Yes, yes! Plenty of room for two! Honestly, we haven't been getting many new members since last year... our goal this year is to add more than ten."
"Then could I get two application forms?"
"One of those two isn't me, right?"
"Of course it's you, Ho-yeon. Come become one with nature."
"I said I'm not doing it."
"Um, excuse me. This is Kim Young-han, and the other gentleman... would you happen to be Lee Ho-yeon?"
"Yes, that's me, but I wasn't planning to join..."
"I'm sorry. There's only one spot left, so it would be difficult for Lee Ho-yeon to join."
"...What?"
What the hell was he talking about all of a sudden? Hadn't he just said they were taking more than ten new members this year?
"What do you mean? You said there was plenty of room for two."
Kim Young-han raised the same objection to the promoter, who was suddenly talking nonsense.
"Sorry. There was a mix-up. If Kim Young-han joins, that should fill the last spot."
"...."
What was this uneasy feeling?
I wouldn't have joined even if there had been room, but the way he changed his tune the second he heard my name... it felt like there was something going on behind it.
"Alright. If there's no room, nothing I can do."
"Huh? Ho-yeon! Where are you going!"
"I'm heading out first. You go ahead and join."
Scheme or no scheme, it was annoying. I wasn't joining anyway.
But the moment they heard my name, the cadets who had been busy hawking their clubs parted in front of me like the Red Sea. Then they made a show of looking anywhere else, or struck up conversations with other people, as if meeting my eyes was the last thing they wanted to do.
"...."
There was definitely something going on here...
Haa. It wasn't like I could walk up and ask, either.
I might as well just go to class.
I headed into the academy with that discomfort sitting in my chest. Kim Young-han caught up with me not long after and told me that the second I left, the fishing club cadet had gone right back to recruiting someone else.
"I felt weird about it too, so I'm not joining."
Loyalty like that really didn't fit a blonde delinquent. Good man.
I sat down and waited for the homeroom professor, and that was when I felt two gazes on me from the side.
I glanced over. One of them was Rumi. The instant our eyes met, she startled, her eyes going wide, and whipped her head away.
Why was she doing that?
I can join the same club as Rumi, so that should be fine.
There were so many heroines that I had too many people to look after. I would take care of Lucy and Rumi through the social club.
The other gaze belonged to my extra of a rival, Do Jinhyeok. He was practically radiating murderous intent.
I genuinely did not understand this. What had I ever done to him? Nothing, except being the protagonist.
Was that the problem?
Of course, you ran into people you just disliked for no real reason. He was a villain to begin with, so maybe he'd simply been born to it. Poor bastard.
Rattle—
The classroom door opened and our homeroom professor, Kim Jin-hyeok, walked in. Black suit and slicked-back hair, same as always.
"Has everyone been looking into clubs? One club is mandatory, so make sure you join."
He delivered the announcement in the same even tone he used for everything.
"There will be a dungeon practical next week. As you all know, Victoria Academy has no attendance scores and no class-attitude scores. You can skip every lecture, and if you rank first on the exam, you are first."
That was why Nam Da-eun would eventually stop coming to class altogether. She was first in practicals anyway, so there was no point in sitting through lectures.
"However, dungeon practical training includes the process in the score. You'll enter as teams, but each member receives an individual score. That said, if you force yourself into situations you don't need to just to chase points and end up disrupting teamwork, you'll be penalized. Use your own judgment."
In short, it was training designed to build cooperation. Whether the awakened went into hunter work or joined the Association, working with other people was essential.
"Today's classes will proceed normally, with no special notices. Any questions?"
"...."
"If not, prepare for class."
With that, Homeroom Professor Kim Jin-hyeok left the classroom. The second he was gone, the room grew noisy again.
I should get ready for class too.
I didn't need the theory lectures, but there was no reason to skip them and leave a bad impression on the professors either. I pulled a paper out of my bag and started reading. No matter how many I got through, the papers never seemed to end.
Rattle—!
The classroom door opened again. It was a little early for the theory professor to be arriving. Maybe they'd come in ahead of schedule today.
I thought that and kept reading.
But for a professor walking in, the room was getting awfully loud.
"H-huh? The student council president? What's she doing in a first-year classroom?"
"Um, is there a kid named Lee Ho-yeon in here?"
"Y-yes. Lee Ho-yeon is over there..."
"Thanks. Hehe."
A voice that had no business being heard in this classroom. And she was looking for me.
Step. Step.
I lifted my head, and Mun Su-rin was standing right in front of me.
Ah. I'm in trouble. The thought flashed through my mind.
She wore a beautiful smile I couldn't possibly refuse, and held a student council application out to me.