Chapter 65: Regular Meeting (Part 2)

Suddenly, the barrage of sharp words flying at me left my mind in a daze.

I wonder why these bastards can't just kill me.

Spotting the blue brooch pinned to the chest, I realized the short guy was a second-year male student.

Anyone would think he's my superior.

"Publicity Department new recruit. Sit down quickly. If you're late, you have to act like Elise at least."

The man sitting at the far right spoke.

His face was that of the vice president, exactly as in the photo with Mun Su-rin from last time.

Generally, the men on the right sent me negative glances, while the women on the left sent positive signals.

...What the hell is this?

I sat naturally next to Elise's seat.

The glances from the right side watching me were ignored as I focused on Mun Su-rin.

Seeing that Mun Su-rin's expression was not good, I smiled as if to say it's fine and nodded my head.

"Haah... From now on, the regular meeting will begin. The first agenda was about managing students for the mid-term exams next week, but let's first deal with the dungeon practice training terror that occurred yesterday."

Mun Su-rin looked at my face and passed it without saying anything, thankfully.

Even if I ruin my image, I must not ruin Mun Su-rin's image. Especially not by saying things like "she got angry because of a man" that would further damage her mental state.

"There are eight fatalities. Twenty-two injured. The rest of the materials are arranged on the desks for your reference. The academy will handle the other matters, and our job is to calm the students' agitation. Does anyone have any opinions on this?"

"Since there's a party member right here, how about asking the junior Hoyeon? President?"

"...Vice President. Are you saying that now?"

"It's fine. What exactly are you curious about?"

I answered before Mun Su-rin's next words could come out.

Shin Dong-min, the vice president, shot me hostile eyes as if to say he was clearly against me.

Probably because he had noticed my closeness with Mun Su-rin.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be glaring at me so openly like that.

It seemed he had been forced into the meeting for that very reason.

"There are many things to consider. As the party member who was there, think of something to say to the other students."

'Is this bastard going to say something like that...?'

That line was meant to mock the victims of the terror, including me.

"Right. Or maybe spill some heroic tale about how we caught the ogre. Pfft..."

The short guy who had been picking on me earlier chimed in from the side.

"Hey! That's too harsh! That's what you say to a junior who was terrorized?"

"What? What's the problem? Did Hoyeon suffer any loss from the terror? Instead, his career only gained the addition of 'we caught the ogre.' Isn't that right?"

"That's not the problem! Are you really student council members?"

The secretary next to the student council president worked hard to speak on my behalf.

I was grateful, but Mun Su-rin's expression was truly on the verge of exploding. I had to step in before Mun Su-rin did.

"Since the seniors are trying so hard to take care of the juniors, I am truly grateful."

"...What?"

"The way you support your junior's success is very impressive, seniors. I want to repay that feeling somehow. How should I do it?"

I faced the short senior head-on and spoke.

"Tsk. Since you've been mentioned in so many places, you think you're something special, but why can't you stand out at the academy? Right?"

Are you kidding? I hadn't even taken the mid-term exams yet, so what kind of spotlight were they talking about?

Beating up classmates wouldn't work, and even if the president mentioned it, no one would believe it without proof.

...Maybe if I beat the senior, they'd believe it?

"Senior. If you don't believe me, how about a duel? On the condition that the video is publicly posted on SNS."

"W-what?"

These kinds of bastards couldn't handle it when someone stronger than them appeared. Stupid fools.

"...Publicity Department new recruit. What kind of attitude is that toward seniors?"

The vice president, unable to watch the short guy falter, jumped into the conversation.

"Seniors? Do I have to treat someone who says that as a senior? Vice President?"

"...Just like an orphan would speak."

The vice president muttered quietly while looking at me.

"...?"

I was momentarily stunned and couldn't speak.

He had straight-up insulted me by not attaching the honorific "nim" to me.

"Vice President!"

"President, am I wrong? Placing an orphan without parents into the student council... that would make the student council have no one to be proud of."

Madman.

"Madman."

The vice president's words were so absurd that I unconsciously let my thoughts spill out.

Thankfully, I didn't have any memories of struggling as an orphan, so it didn't sadden me, but the feeling was disgusting.

But the human psyche is such that no matter how much you hear such things, forced prejudice is inevitable.

When you hear "that person looks fine on the surface, but actually he's gay!" your view of the person you've been looking at normally starts to feel off in every little way.

It's something that happens whether you want it or not.

That bastard was aiming for exactly that.

Even if his image dropped, he probably wanted to tell Mun Su-rin that I was an orphan.

"Vice President... I'm really disappointed. Judging people by that."

But that was too short-sighted.

No matter how pretty and kind Mun Su-rin was, she wasn't a trophy worth chasing after a normal man.

She was the person who single-handedly handled almost all the student council and academy work. It was something no one could do without ability.

Someone like that wouldn't open her heart to a man with many secrets like me.

Her background check on me had probably already been completed.

"President, everyone says it on the surface. But their true feelings are different. The student council must be perfect. There's no need to create flaws. That's the path for Victoria Academy."

Wow, how am I supposed to respond to that?

With her so boldly like this, my head started hurting too.

Anyone would think she's a passionate hero fighting for the student council.

"And, publicity department new recruit. What did you just say to me? Did I hear wrong?"

"..."

"Showing such disrespect to me, the vice president, is smearing the face of the president who recommended you. Do you know that?"

I was pondering how to respond.

Honestly, the original plan hadn't been like this.

I was supposed to pretend to cooperate with the vice president who hired the stalker, then appear dramatically when I saved Lucy, like before.

But from the first meeting with the vice president, he had already been hostile toward me, and Lucy, who still hadn't overcome the trauma from Felix, kept lingering in my mind.

The plan had already fallen apart.

"If I apologize sincerely now, I can give you a chance to pick up that mistake."

Then, since I hadn't done anything wrong, did I really have to bow my head?

I didn't want to pretend to cooperate with such a crazy person in the first place.

The only thing that bothered me was whether overdoing it would harm Mun Su-rin, who had recommended me.

Still, I had an image management plan in place. I had to somehow neutralize it through publicity department activities.

"First, apologize for saying I was an orphan, and I will apologize as well."

"Stubborn pride. If you hate me, are you trying to challenge me to a duel? Well, a duel with the student council vice president is a pretty good opportunity to prove your skills."

Shin Dong-min said with a nasty smile.

A duel.

Shin Dong-min wasn't weak. He hadn't been eaten alive by the student council vice president.

Moreover, the original game's power balance was extremely off.

Most normal students were fine, but the third-year named students were A-class hunters or even stronger.

Probably because the villains had to get stronger as the protagonist grew, the balance had been messed up.

Right now, even Mun Su-rin would rise to A-class hunter level or higher once she awakened.

I didn't know how strong Shin Dong-min was.

In the original timeline, he was nothing compared to the ogre, but now we were at an earlier point than the original.

I was known as a fire magic user. And Shin Dong-min was clearly a water magic user.

Since he was confident in his own skills and had the attribute advantage, he was acting so smug.

"Is it because you laid out the board that you're the type who can't play well? Your skills..."

"Thank you for giving me such a good opportunity, Vice President."

The vice president didn't expect me to accept the duel, so his eyes narrowed.

The other seniors looked shocked.

But Mun Su-rin and Elise maintained blank expressions.

Even though Mun Su-rin knew I had really caught the ogre, what about Elise? Why wasn't she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surprised at all?

"Hah. When is a good time? I'm fine right now."

Shin Dong-min said in a low voice.

"Since we're doing it, let's do it on a big stage. The mid-term exams will end soon, and there's a festival. We can hold it as a friendly duel hosted by the student council at the festival."

Every time there was a festival at Victoria Academy, the student council held events to raise the atmosphere.

This time, they were claiming the duel between me and the vice president as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an event for the festival.

"Fine. Accepted."

"V-vice President. There's no need to face such a guy!"

"Instead, if I win the duel, you must kneel and apologize for insulting me right away."

The vice president ignored the short guy who was making a fuss and fixed his gaze on me.

It seemed like people wanted to humiliate me in public. But would that be enough?

"What if I win?"

"What?"

"What if I win? I should get some reward too."

"Tsk. You don't get to choose anything you want. And you have to apologize for challenging me right now."

I shrugged my shoulders.

Honestly, I didn't think I'd lose.

"Vice President."

And a cold voice rang through the meeting room.

Mun Su-rin, sitting at the head table, was looking at Shin Dong-min with an expression she hadn't shown before.

"Leave ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the meeting room."

"President. I got a little excited. Sorry."

Shin Dong-min finally seemed to understand the situation and bowed his head, but it was already too late.

Mun Su-rin's atmosphere was truly terrifying.

There was something that made you instinctively feel overwhelmed like facing a beast, as if a grazing animal is staring at you.

She had only shown that stern look when she caught the stalker in the original story, but I could guess how much stress she had accumulated now.

Originally, I had only gotten her a little excited because of me, but Shin Dong-min was not in a position to argue with Mun Su-rin.

He was lacking in talent, skill, family background, student council standing, and reputation compared to Mun Su-rin.

Knowing that, he hired the stalker to harass Mun Su-rin in a shameful way.

"...Yes. Understood. I need to calm down a bit. I'll see you next week."

Shin Dong-min seemed to judge that retreating here was better, so he stood up and left the meeting room.

"Then, let's continue the meeting."

The meeting room without Shin Dong-min continued under Mun Su-rin's lead.

"So, I plan to do publicity department activities one more time. Since there was that unpleasant incident yesterday, we need to refresh the atmosphere."

The meeting had reached the last agenda.

Of course, no one spoke, and Mun Su-rin continued the meeting alone.

The last agenda was about publicity department activities.

Since the topic of publicity department activities had come up, I had prepared an idea to propose.

"How about going on a volunteer service from the publicity department?"

"Volunteer service?"

"Yes. I go to an orphanage every weekend, and we can film there. The kids there play with me often, so the pictures will come out nicely."

"Oh ho..."

Mun Su-rin looked at me with admiration as if she hadn't known that.

Elise also turned her head to look at me.

Everything was because of Baek A-young, but somehow it felt refreshing.

But if she didn't know this even after checking my background, did she investigate me the moment we met at the cafe?

"It's fine. Volunteer service. It would be perfect for image management. Moreover, filming Ho-yeon personally doing volunteer service as storytelling... Ah, ah... S-sorry. That was a slip of the tongue just now."

"It's fine. I was thinking the same thing."

I had originally planned to do it.

I had to use whatever I could.

People were weak against emotional manipulation.

An orphan handsome promising student from the academy who actually volunteers at an orphanage every week?

This was truly a jackpot material. It was a guaranteed hit.

The volunteer service was decided for this coming weekend.

Today was Friday, and the volunteer service was Sunday the day after tomorrow.

Why was it decided so quickly? Because I had to turn the public's eyes away as fast as possible.

I had to turn the public's eyes away from Hoyeon's sad story from the terror that broke out at the academy.

It was a cliché, but there was a reason why repeating such clichés for decades had meaning.

After the meeting ended, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remembered the short guy's face as he left.

'See you at the joint class next week.'

Just before the mid-term exams started, joint classes with second-years were held to raise the new students' experience.

Anyway, since I had clashed with the vice president, I had to mess with that underling enough to make him suffer.

"Hoyeon."

While I was chewing my lip with gloomy thoughts, Mun Su-rin spoke to me.

"Rumi, can I make this cookie?"

"Hmm, it seems difficult to make at home..."

"Right...?"

Lucy and Rumi were casually chatting in a cafe.

The twins were mostly together during such leisure time. They ate together, went shopping together, and studied together.

They were looking at one smart watch with their heads pressed together.

Recently, Lucy had been interested in a video about homemade cookies.

"Huh... Why? Are you trying to make it for Ho-yeon?"

"Yeah. Yeah? It's true. It's... not really anything else. Like a token of gratitude... hehe."

"..."

From Rumi's perspective, Lucy seemed to have a crush on Ho-yeon.

But Rumi couldn't fully trust her own eyes.

Because her human relationships had been extremely narrow until now.

Plus, she was anxious.

The closest friend and beloved family, Lucy, and the secret friend Ho-yeon she truly liked.

What if Lucy liked Ho-yeon? What should I do?

I could clearly choose one.

"Whoa. Look at this cookie too. Doesn't it look delicious? But this one looks difficult too."

Sigh.

Watching Lucy worry about what cookie to make for Ho-yeon, Rumi's mind got more complicated.

"Rumi? Why are you like that? Ah, did the cake I ate earlier make you full? I told you to eat just a little~."

Lucy, sending a bright smile at herself, was more trustworthy than anyone.

The days they had trusted and relied on each other passed by Rumi.

Due to the recent events, Lucy was in a very unstable state.

Asking about Ho-yeon now might be dangerous.

But Rumi had already lied to Lucy about Ho-yeon. She didn't want to betray Lucy, and could no longer hold back her curiosity.

In the end, Rumi opened her mouth.

"Rumi. Do you perhaps... like Ho-yeon?"