Matriculation Ceremony (2)
Han Sora, who had come to the academy with her mother seeing her off, managed to finish moving into the dormitory without being late. She'd gotten in at 8 a.m. and the matriculation ceremony started at 10, so there was actually time to spare.
As valedictorian and salutatorian, Han Sora and I had been summoned an hour early for the rehearsal, but it was still plenty of time to swing by the dorm, drop off our things, and head back out.
"See you later, Sora."
"Y-yeah! Thanks for carrying my stuff!"
By the way, Cheonmu Academy's dormitories were separated by gender, with strict controls on visitors of the opposite sex.
Thinking about it, that only made sense. Love it or hate it, this was South Korea's number one hunter training facility—co-ed dorms would be absurd.
It was a shame I couldn't invite a girl to my room, but since the reverse was equally impossible, it wasn't all bad. At least there'd be no chance of Seo Woojin sneaking into Han Sora's room unannounced.
Going by the entrance exam results, Sora and Eunju will probably be sharing a room.
Cheonmu Academy housed everyone in dorms on a two-to-a-room basis, and once assigned, your roommate never changed until graduation.
Rooms were assigned by entrance exam rank. The top-ranked male student roomed with the second-ranked male, the top female with the second-ranked female, and so on. By the exam results, Han Sora was first overall and first among the girls, while Cha Eunju was third overall and second among the girls, so the two of them would surely be sharing a room. Kim Isabel, a Recovery Department student, lived at the academy church anyway, so the arrangement meant nothing for her.
In the original story, I think both Han Sora and Cha Eunju had different roommates.
Given that I couldn't recall them, they probably weren't heroines. I might recognize their faces, but they likely weren't important enough to warrant remembering their names.
Not that it mattered—what mattered more than either of them was my own roommate, and I already knew who that was before even meeting him. If nothing had changed from the original, the second-ranked male was a foregone conclusion.
In the original, that was the roommate who shared a dorm with Seo Woojin. Obviously not Lee Seonho, and Park Cheonho even less so. The fact that I remembered the guy's name meant he was a main-tier character in his own right, though.
Wondering if he'd arrived yet, I stopped briefly by the dormitory on my way to the Grand Auditorium, but there was no sign of anyone inside.
Planning to move in at the last possible second, huh.
Well, there were no classes on matriculation day, so it wasn't a terrible call.
I was idly looking around the room with that thought when I spotted a suitcase I'd never seen before, tucked away in the corner beside a bed.
Looks like he stopped by for a moment and headed back out.
If I'd come a little earlier, we might have crossed paths. We'd be seeing each other at the Grand Auditorium soon enough anyway.
Either way, as roommates, he'd be the person I saw most. No need to rush out hunting for him.
Matriculation ceremony, Cheonmu Hunter Academy.
Called up onto the stage as the freshman salutatorian, I'd now been involved in the event for a good two hours.
Thirty minutes to arrive early before rehearsal and exchange pleasantries with the professors, an hour of matriculation rehearsal after Han Sora showed up, and then another thirty minutes once the actual ceremony began.
Having carved time out of my sleep the night before to spend with Han Sora, my body was a bit tired, but with self-suggestion at my disposal, it was nothing I couldn't endure.
"...Next, we have a congratulatory address on behalf of last year's graduating class. Please give them a warm round of applause..."
...Still, completely aside from all that, this matriculation ceremony is stupidly long.
Couldn't they just have the chairman deliver a brief address and call it a day? How many tedious segments does one event need?
I clearly wasn't the only one thinking it—more than a few students dozing off among the incoming class. Even Cha Eunju was in the front row, desperately fighting to keep her eyes open.
Sorry to her, but that dazed expression of hers was so vacant it honestly cracked me up.
"Next, the incoming class representative will take the matriculation oath of Cheonmu Hunter Academy. Student Han Sora, please come forward."
"...I'll be right back."
"Go on. Don't be nervous—you'll do fine."
As her name was called, Han Sora leaned in close to whisper to me, then walked carefully toward the stage.
From behind, her nerves were plainly visible, but I wasn't worried. Even in the original story, she hadn't fumbled anything at the matriculation ceremony.
As salutatorian, I had nothing special to do up front like Han Sora—I only needed to keep an eye on the occasional gaze drifting toward me from the audience seats.
For instance, the murderous glare Seo Woojin was aiming at me from over there in the Swordsmanship Department's seating block.
What's glaring at me now supposed to accomplish?
In the original, that spot would have been his. Judging by where he was sitting now, he was several rows back even within the Swordsmanship Department.
Seating was arranged by entrance exam rank, which meant that unlike the original—where he'd been valedictorian of the entire incoming class—you'd count backward to find his position faster than forward. Well, with his affection-powered ability starting off on the wrong foot, it couldn't be helped.
That said, I couldn't let my guard down just yet. The one thing he undeniably had going for him was that handsome face.
Even if he couldn't manage a serious romance, there'd be plenty of girls at the academy willing to throw themselves at him on looks alone, and that alone would eventually let him use part of his awakening ability.
Frankly, whether the guy got strong or not didn't concern me. All I needed was to devour the original story's main heroines at my side. Of course, if he got strong and decided to be a nuisance, I'd naturally deal with him then.
Several more segments crawled by after Han Sora's oath, and at last the emcee's voice announced the final item on the program.
"Next, we have words of guidance from Chairman Baek Young-ui, head of Cheonmu Academy."
At the emcee's announcement, a blonde woman strode toward center stage from off-stage, heels clicking.
Far from the footsteps of a seasoned career woman one might expect, what appeared before our eyes was a girl who looked considerably young for the part.
Click, click, click.
"......"
Long blonde hair falling almost to her ankles and a tailored suit that didn't quite suit her frame.
Height-wise she was obviously shorter than Cha Eunju, and her figure left plenty to be desired if you were trying to call her a grown woman.
...But appearances aside, the fact remained that she was the academy's chairman. And the fact that she was South Korea's one and only S-rank hunter.
"Whoa, it's really Baek Young-ui..."
"Hey, that's Chairman Baek Young-ui! And she may look like that, but she's an S-rank hunter..."
"She looks exactly like her photos..."
The Grand Auditorium's seats shifted into a buzz of commotion—no surprise, given that one of the most famous figures in the entire Korean hunter scene had just appeared. Even the students who'd been dozing through the tedious ceremony were jolted nearly awake as she cleared the air, walking slowly to stand before the stage and take hold of the microphone.
"I sincerely welcome all of you who have entered Cheonmu Academy."
"......"
"......"
"......"
"Having outcompeted so many rivals to enter this academy, may your days ahead be filled with results worthy of that effort. That is all."
The ceremony ended with almost comical abruptness, leaving the incoming students to murmur among themselves, faces full of bewilderment.
Indifferent to their reactions, Chairman Baek Young-ui simply turned and walked offstage, heels clicking once more—as if that alone had fulfilled her entire duty.
"......"
"Truly an S-rank hunter. The atmosphere just changes around her..."
"...Does the chairman teach any classes?"
She certainly had presence, no argument there.
Her appearance being what it was, she didn't project nearly as heavy an aura as the original novel described. It might have been the temporary footstool placed behind the stage just for her that gave me that impression.
I honestly couldn't tell whether Baek Young-ui counted as a heroine or not. In the original, the story ended before that was ever revealed.
She's cute and pretty, no question—but way too dangerous.
She was someone I'd need to be cautious about approaching first. There was no established route for winning her over whatsoever, and it was even questionable whether she could be won over at all.
Naturally, her looks fell squarely within my preferences, so if an opportunity presented itself I'd give it a try, but I had no intention of forcing the issue.
...Not that finding out she wasn't an original heroine would stop me on that count alone, of course.
After nearly three hours total—including the rehearsal—spent trapped in the matriculation ceremony, I stepped out in front of the Grand Auditorium and several familiar faces immediately caught my eye.
"Ah, Seonho...!"
"Han Sora, over here!"
Cha Eunju and Park Hana, calling out to us from the garden in front of the auditorium. It seemed they'd waited for us, since the valedictorian and salutatorian took a little longer to get out.
"G-good work up there, Han Sora... A-and, u-uh, u-uh-uh, Se-Se-Se-Seonho, y-you too..."
"...What's wrong with her? Did she eat something bad?"
"Sorry—Isabel has androphobia. I'll cast a buff on her, so can you give me your head for a second?"
"Y-yes, yes, yes, of course..."
Kim Isabel bowed her head without a moment's hesitation, and I channeled the Succubus Heart into her. Once her breathing had visibly steadied, she spoke again.
"Thank you as always, Seonho. I feel a little calmer now."
"It's nothing, really."
"...Wait, you're not pulling some kind of prank, are you? There's no way androphobia gets better this easily."
It was Park Hana, looking at Kim Isabel with sheer disbelief at how noticeably she'd changed from a single buff. Understandable, I supposed—seen for the first time, it would inevitably look strange.
"Seonho's buffs are just that good. I used to be unable to even make eye contact with men, but thanks to Seonho, I've already improved quite a bit."
"It's a mental-type buff, right? Even so, that seems like a stretch."
"N-no way...! You don't understand how amazing Seonho is...! If it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't have even passed the entrance exam..."
"He really is. I've gotten quite a lot of help from Lee Seonho myself, so I can't argue."
"Hmm, that much, huh...?"
The heroines who'd experienced my buff—my Suggestion, more precisely—defending me so earnestly and working to convince Park Hana made for quite a charming scene.
Though Park Hana, who had no use for a buff at the moment, remained lukewarm.
"Enough of that—let's go eat. They open the cafeteria on ceremony days too, right?"
"Ah, actually, before that I need to stop by the dorm for a bit."
"Why? Did you forget something?"
"I left my wallet in my room since I figured I only needed to show up for the ceremony. I was going to drop my plaque off too while I was at it."
"Then I should stop by the dorm as well."
"Okay, let's meet in front of the student cafeteria in ten minutes."
With that convenient excuse, I slipped away from the group and hurried toward the male dormitory.
The wallet thing was just a pretext—there was simply something I wanted to check on.
The moment I returned to the dormitory, I sensed movement outside my door that hadn't been there before. Apparently whoever it was had also rushed back to the dorm the instant the ceremony ended.
Wary of walking into an awkward situation, I took my time, casually pressed my dorm card against the reader, and slipped quietly inside.
Click.
The instant I stepped into the shoe locker area, a pair of unfamiliar shoes caught my eye—ones that hadn't been there earlier.
Seeing the sneakers, slightly small for a man's feet, I smiled inwardly and entered the room, where the person I'd been expecting was waiting for me, exactly as predicted.
"......"
"...Uh, hello?"
"...Yes. Hello."
My dormitory roommate, a weapon at their hip that left no doubt about their Swordsmanship Department affiliation, eyeing me with a gaze full of wariness.
The crossdressing heroine of the original story, Do Yoonchae, had made her entrance.