Form a Group with People You’re Close With #1
The first day of school. How long had it been since those two words made my heart race like this?
After graduating and spending years in the real world, who could have predicted I’d become a teenager again and get to enjoy my youth a second time?
“Transfer students and new students, please consider joining the Ancient Culture Research Club! Sign up now and we’ll throw in a free magnifying glass and excavation kit!”
“If you’re interested in the path of the sword, come to the Swordsmanship Research Society. We receive official commendations from the Student Council every year, and we even cleared the dungeon at point C-2 recently.”
It was still early morning, long before the first class began. In front of the school building, students had lined up desks and stacked pamphlets on them, all lying in wait for the new and transfer students.
“Quite the crowd.”
It was more people than I had imagined. The more members a club secured, the larger the budget the Student Council granted them. No wonder everyone was so desperate.
“Nike must be around here somewhere.”
Before first period started, I headed toward the table assigned to the Victory Cooking Club. By now, Nike should have been handing out pamphlets to students just like we practiced, promoting the club and recruiting members.
With Nike’s newly reborn cute appearance and the mass-produced Petit Scented Candle Soup we’d spent the entire weekend perfecting, we should have been able to draw people in easily.
“The grade dropped to around 1.5-tier because I watered it down so much, but we can stretch three servings into ten.”
I had suffered all weekend to balance flavor and quantity. Time to see the results.
“……”
What I found at Nike’s table was as desolate as an abandoned amusement park.
“Nike, why isn’t anyone here?”
“W-well…”
“And what’s with that ridiculous witch hat? Why are you hiding your face with that thing? I specifically told you to use that eye-catching pink hair to promote the club.”
Nike was using an oversized pointed hat to completely conceal her lively pink hair and the pretty, neatly groomed face she had worked so hard on.
“I told you promotion was important. We only need one more person.”
“But… it’s embarrassing! Making me show my face in front of people and draw attention…!”
“I see.”
Nike had lived like a wild person in the forest throughout the break. She didn’t have any friends to begin with. Maybe asking someone as strangely lacking in self-confidence as Nike to do something like promotion had been too much.
I never expected her to produce zero results.
“No, this is within expectations.”
I had already predicted during the weekend that Nike might not be helpful with promotion. In the end, the only one I could rely on was myself.
“I’ll handle the promotion.”
At my words, Nike’s expression brightened noticeably.
“You really will? Then you’ll do the soliciting too?”
“I won’t do anything so undignified.”
If it were Ha Seungri, maybe, but Victor could never tolerate shouting like a street hawker to attract customers. I needed to use a slightly more direct method.
With that in mind, I hung up the sign I had prepared in advance.
It was plain, unadorned Human Gothic font. But this would be different.
Chrrrrrr.
I poured the mass-produced soup from the thermos I had bought with our remaining funds into paper cups. Spring. The first day of the new semester. Students shivering from nerves and the lingering cold. Hot soup. This would work as promotion.
“……”
But fewer people gathered than I expected. Why?
“Hey, look. They’re handing out soup in cups. Should we get one and try it? I didn’t eat breakfast this morning, so it’s perfect timing.”
“Stop. That guy’s Victor. I heard from my sister. He’s supposed to be really scary. If you get on his bad side, your whole school life will be miserable.”
“Executor Victor? I know him too. He was famous even in the middle school division. They say he splits helmets in half with a single sword strike. He’s seriously terrifying…”
So that was it. Having this stone-faced man standing behind the tasting table was keeping people away. Of course. Even at big supermarket tasting corners, people naturally gravitate toward the friendly-looking aunties.
“Can’t be helped. Nike, I’m stepping away. I’m leaving this to you. Feel free to pour more from the thermos if you need to.”
“Okay! I’ll do my best!”
Anyway, first period would start soon. While Nike might be different, there was no way Victor would tolerate slipping into class right before the bell. Judging by this guy’s personality, he would have to be sitting in his seat at least an hour early. What a stickler.
Let’s see. Where was my classroom now that I was a second-year?
“Out of the way. Move.”
“Eek, it’s Victor…!”
The hallway was packed with people. On the central bulletin board were lists of students’ names, student numbers, and which class they had been assigned to.
“Allecto, we’re in the same class again! Let’s eat lunch together this year too, okay?”
“…Yeah. I’m glad.”
“Diarmuid, where’s Diarmuid? We’re in the same class again this year too! This must be fate!”
“Shut up, you’re embarrassing me.”
“What’s wrong? Didn’t we promise to conquer the Tempering Dungeon together and earn the title? If it’s us, we might even find the Crown!”
They were all so noisy. Who was in whose class, and so on. None of that mattered to me.
“I’m in second-year A-1.”
A-1 class. I had vaguely expected this. Among the various classes divided by grades and comprehensive evaluations, A-1 was where only the most outstanding students were gathered.
Most of the game’s main characters were in this class.
But originally, Victor was never supposed to enter A-1. After the tutorial, he disappeared from the storyline and only reappeared in the mid-game.
Thinking about it now, maybe the Victor in the game had returned to the main ArcLight family on the mainland, just like Victorica had said. What exactly had he done there to turn into such a slimy monster?
“It’s not like I don’t have any guesses.”
Since I was staying at the academy, that future wouldn’t happen anyway, so there was no need to worry about it. The real problem was this.
“Lady ArcLight is in A-1 after all. How can she be so perfect? We’re the same age, but we’re on completely different levels. I bet Lady ArcLight could find the hidden Crown too, right?”
“Lady Blackstar is also in A-1. Does that mean we’ll get to see it again this year? The duel between the two noble ladies, I mean.”
So both Enio and Victorica were in the same class. That was only natural.
“No surprises here.”
It was actually comforting how textbook it was. Very Victor-friendly.
After reading a few more lines that caught my attention, I moved to where I needed to be.
A-1. The classroom built in the best facility in this prison academy. When I slid the door open and entered, quite a few students were already seated despite the early hour. As expected of the honors class.
“Look, it’s Victor.”
“He’s really attending school. Usually people who get demoted to regular students just drop out.”
“More importantly, did you hear? About Lady ArcLight and Victor…”
Whispers, whispers.
The students murmured quietly among themselves as I entered the classroom. Normally this would be the time when everyone would be buzzing about the ‘transfer student’ who had caused such a stir during the break.
“You all seem very interested in other people’s business. If you have that much free time, fix your appearances. Hey, Daily. Did you come without washing your hair? That’s a dress code violation.”
“Ugh.”
The brown-haired boy with glasses I had pointed out trembled. His name was Daily Rumor. If my memory was correct, he was the vice president of the Newspaper Club and an information broker. He was the friend-type character who always asked the protagonist Luke, “Hey, did you hear about this?”
“Daily, you didn’t wash your hair? Ew!”
“Get away! Don’t sit next to me!”
At the girls’ screams, Daily grumbled, “I was up all night writing an article, okay,” grabbed his shampoo, and headed for the bathroom.
Now it should get quiet. I sat down at an appropriate seat by the window in the very back. I crossed my arms, closed my eyes, and stayed still.
“Allecto, if the opening ceremony ends early today, want to go shopping together…?”
“…Yeah, sure.”
Even though it was the new semester, a few students who already got along were already gathering in small groups and chatting away. In the midst of that, I—Victor—was thoroughly alone. Well, the first day of a new semester was always like this.
That was when it happened.
Slide.
The moment the sliding door opened, the atmosphere in the classroom changed at once. I cracked my eyes open and saw familiar silver hair swaying. Victorica had arrived.
She entered the classroom with her close friend, the ‘competent secretary Shadi,’ and took a seat roughly in the middle, unpacking her things on the desk. Every movement was flawless, elegant, and refined.
However, the students’ attention was elsewhere.
“Lady Victorica really didn’t say a word to Victor. Isn’t this the first time?”
“They used to exchange greetings every morning in first year.”
“…They really broke up!”
What a commotion. Honestly, since it was someone else’s love life, it was pretty entertaining. With that kind of energy, seats gradually filled up one by one.
8:40. Twenty minutes before the opening ceremony. Only two seats remained. One was the seat to my right. The other was the very front row directly in front of the teacher’s desk.
No one was really going to sit next to me. Even considering Victor’s terrible reputation, wasn’t this a bit much? Was I doomed to eat lunch alone in the bathroom every day—
I was half-joking, half-serious in my self-mockery when the door opened and she appeared.
“Everyone looks familiar.”
With those bewitching red eyes, she slowly scanned the room, spotted someone, and walked straight over without hesitation to sit beside me.
“Victor. Long time no see.”
“Enio.”
Enio was acting unusually friendly toward me. Probably because of Victorica. She was deliberately pretending to be close to me to subtly irritate her.
However, Victorica, who was sitting in the row ahead of me, didn’t even glance back. She simply continued talking with Shadi.
Whether she did or not, Enio kept bothering me with questions.
“Victor, I thought you would come see me at least once before the new semester started. Why didn’t you?”
“There was no particular reason to.”
“Really? I was sure you’d come because of the key. It’s the key to my personal storage unit. Since you were kicked out of the dormitory, I was going to tell you to stay there for a few days.”
Was she serious? If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have had to camp out in that bug-infested forest. What a waste of stamina.
“By the way, Victor, that thing really was at the third pillar like you said. I didn’t tell anyone, but it was something very precious to me.”
“I’m glad you found it.”
“How did you know it was there?”
How did I know the Yellow Ribbon was there? Because I had played the game to death, obviously. Of course, saying that out loud would guarantee I really would be eating lunch alone in the bathroom.
“It’s nothing special. When I was still an executor, various pieces of information came to me.”
Groooan.
My stomach hurt because I had lied. I hoped Enio would accept this explanation. I didn’t want to have to lie any more than this.
“Hmmm, is that so? I see.”
Enio nodded with a subtle expression. A sudden ominous feeling passed through me. If Enio sat next to me like this every day, would I have to endure stomach pain and keep lying all the time?
Raising my hand every hour saying “Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom” and getting branded as the class toilet guy was something I absolutely hated.
“Anyway, thank you, Victor. I want to repay you. Do you have time after the opening ceremony today?”
“I don’t.”
After the opening ceremony, I would be extremely busy. I had to take over the club promotion from Nike and run around all day. However, Enio seemed slightly surprised by my blunt refusal.
“Really? Then I guess it can’t be helped.”
Enio turned her head away from me and started taking various things out of her bag. Maybe I had been too curt in my rejection. It would have been nice if this Victor guy could have spoken a little more smoothly.
Anyway.
Thus, 9 o’clock arrived. The front door of the classroom opened, and a man with long, flowing black hair entered. He looked to be around thirty. The dark circles under his eyes were quite striking.
“Ugh, don’t tell me our homeroom teacher is that strict guy…”
“This year is doomed.”
Bang, bang.
“Alright, class has started, so everyone be quiet. You already know who I am. I am teacher Berjurak. Now, I’ll take attendance.”
Teacher ‘Black Flag Berjurak.’ Exactly as I remembered.
Then it was about time for the door to open again.
Slide.
Right on cue.
“Whew, I made it just in time!”
“You’re late, Luke. I’ll be docking points.”
“Ugh!”
So that was him. The protagonist of this prison academy. That was Luke.