School Festival #1
School Festival #1
—Yank!
I turned my head and saw Leona barely holding back laughter like she was about to die laughing...!
That face you make when you've just pranked someone good!
No matter how well I sing, making me actually perform is way over the line and I refuse to think otherwise! What is this, public humiliation?!
"Instructor! Cut! I'm requesting a reversal!"
"Superhuman society doesn't work like that."
"What the hell kind of society is that?!"
That makes no sense!
"No, I seriously have to do this? Damn it...! Wait! Instructor! I nominate Leona! Dance category!"
"Excellent. Then Leona is decided for dance."
"How about that!"
I finally made her pay.
That's what I thought, glancing at Leona.
"Hm, well. Not bad."
Leona just tossed her hair back primly and smiled lightly. Don't tell me Leona is a stage natural too...!
"I can't accept this! No way! Instructor! Take Leona, and I'm adding Woo Yu-ri!"
"You son of a bitch!"
—Wham!
Yu-ri came charging at me and war broke out on the spot.
"Oooooh! Mun Min! I hereby nominate Mun Min!"
"What insane bullshit is that?!"
"Hm, Mun Min isn't a bad choice—"
"Instructor! Ken! I'll put Ken up!"
"Gopchang Man, have you lost your damn mind?!"
Guys from all over were pointing fingers and screaming at each other to participate. There's obviously a headcount limit. If I get a classmate to join, I don't have to do it!
Of course, anyone already ensnared just becomes a drowning person dragging others down.
"You bastard! Who put who up?!"
More importantly, Yu-ri's chest is—!
"Aaaaagh!"
The feel of Milky's underwear through her clothes is pressing right into my cheek, damn it...! If she pushes any harder, it'll go past painful and into seriously problematic territory!
"Yu-ri! Take it up with Leona!"
"You did this, you fucker!"
"Woo Yu-ri? Reversal is impossible. Dance. Song. Decide."
While still grappling, Yu-ri answered the Instructor's words with strict politeness.
"Ah, that! That thing! Martial demonstration! I'll do that!"
"Understood."
Yu-ri, horrified, swerved into martial demonstration.
"There we go. Yu-ri. This is exactly what I was aiming for. Kids who see your skills will flock to enroll at your family dojo—"
"Bullshit! God, how the hell do I kill this bastard?!"
I feel like I'm going to suffocate in her chest right now. It's not like I meant for this, but here I am.
—Slide.
Yu-ri released me and grumbled.
"Fucking hell, seriously. Hey. Before I kill you, go erase my name, fast."
"That's a bit..."
"Ah, hurry up! I said I don't wanna kill you!"
"No, the Instructor said no reversals."
"You're the one who did this!"
It can't be helped.
"Yu-ri. If you keep complaining, should I suggest switching you from martial demonstration to dance?"
"This motherfucker...! How are you planning to deal with the aftermath...!"
"I don't back down."
"Bullshit! Forget it! Where's Lee Si-hoo?! Instructor! Lee Si-hoo says she'll join too!"
What's this now?
"Yu-ri?! You're dragging me in out of nowhere?"
"Take it up with Kim Geun-cheol!"
In the end, Yu-ri went berserk and dragged Si-hoo in too. Not what I intended, but very good!
"Understood. Lee Si-hoo also participates."
"Heh heh heh! Si-hoo! I'm looking forward to it!"
"Wh-what is this...! Geun-cheol-aaaaah! This is all your fault! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Instructor! For our Si-hoo, please put her down for martial demonstration!"
"The slot is already full. Very well. Then Woo Yu-ri goes to the dance category. Lee Si-hoo goes to the martial demonstration category."
"Why?!"
"Thank goodness...!"
Yu-ri's and Si-hoo's joy and despair crossed paths.
"Yu-ri. I'll be watching your dance with great interest."
A rare sight indeed.
"Fuck!"
Yu-ri's face was turning bright red. This is genuinely a fresh shock. How rare a sight is this? Yu-ri, blushing from embarrassment?
"No, Yu-ri! Your face is totally red right now! I'm calling you Red Yu-ri!"
"You're d-dead, Kim Geun-cheol, you fuck...!"
"Heh heh heh, even if I die tomorrow, I'll plant an apple tree today. You know, right? That I'm that kind of guy?"
For real, a truly rare sight: Yu-ri, face red, trembling all over, submerged in embarrassment.
So a festival does have its uses after all?
To think I'd get to see Yu-ri like this.
"Tsuh-up, tsuh-up. Hup! K-ha!"
So I circled around Yu-ri, who had her head bowed, and did the arm wave dance to encourage her.
"Get lost!"
—Thwack!
But a Finger Strike to the ribs!
"Gak!"
That's the Gak-t Pistol...!
"That hurt so damn much!"
My back involuntarily bent like a shrimp!
"That's what you get, Geun-cheol. You pushed too far. Yu-ri says she's gonna kill you."
"Even if I die today, I'm fine...!"
Honestly, if Leona and Yu-ri are dancing, wanting to watch is basic human nature. What kind of superhuman dance are they gonna show, I wonder.
"Yu-ri. You do dance better than Brian, right?"
"You better be ready for what's coming...!"
"Somebody save me. No, save Geun-cheoooool."
"Whatever shit happens to you now, I don't care."
That's legit scary.
Well, amidst all the commotion, the festival participant list filled up steadily. This guy's doing something, that guy's doing something, and since the academy student body isn't that large to begin with, it seems like most people are participating.
Anyway, first period basically turned into a recreation-like session of screaming and selling out your friends.
"Leona. You seriously better be ready. You dare make me sing? The price will be very high. I won't forgive you even if you're an angel."
"Oh my, Kim Geun-cheol? Didn't you say you sing well? Take this chance to let it rip in style, Kim Geun-cheol."
Leona, looking like she's having the time of her life, covered her mouth with one hand, laughing as she bent slightly forward and poked my side with her elbow.
Leona doesn't know.
What I'm going to do to Leona once I'm up on that stage.
"More to the point, you made me dance too, Geun-cheol. We can just call it even-steven. Don't you think?"
Well, that much is true.
"Leona. You dance at all?"
—Swoosh.
I did the arm wave dance immediately while asking.
"Hmph."
Leona crossed her arms and smirked.
"Did you forget I'm from European nobility? I, Leona Kainus! Received dance lessons many times as a child!"
"What...!"
"Therefore my dancing skill can be described as nothing less than a whirling dance! Watch well and judge! My dancing skill! Understood?!"
Her confidence is exploding!
"You...! You were a natural-born dancer?!"
"You'll see. Can Kim Geun-cheol's singing really match my dancing? I'm rather doubtful."
"Ha."
I'm a man too.
"If you're challenging me this hard, I have no choice but to go all out. Fine, Leona. Let's find out who's more artistic."
"I like that!"
"Playing around, my ass, seriously! That bastard Kim Geun-cheol, just looking at him you know he's gonna scream his head off singing and blow out a Lion's Roar!"
As I resolved on this fair contest with Leona, Yu-ri, full of spite, came over and doused the mood with cold water.
I won't do that shit while I'm singing.
"Honestly... This is why laymen are hopeless. Yu-ri. Could it be you're jealous of my artistic talent?"
"Stop talking like some noble lady!"
"Well, I'll grade your dancing skills generously, Yu-ri."
"Fuck! Martial demonstration! Was! Way! Better! Why did it change again?!"
"Kik-kik-kik. Hey. That's why you gotta have a kind heart. Who told you to sell out Si-hoo?"
Looking at Yu-ri bursting with frustration was just so funny I thought I might die. What's a friend for? Exactly this. Now that it's roughly settled, only the laughter remains.
"Ah, but if everyone participates, can we even fit the schedule? Looks like the upperclassmen are joining too."
"Mm-hm, yes. It's set up so second-years and third-years participate as well."
Then the time's gonna be pretty tight.
"Upperclassmen, huh... Honestly, I’ve never interacted with them, so I don’t know much."
"Right, same."
I nodded instinctively at Si-hoo's words.
"Ah, but who's the student council president anyway right now?"
"I wonder? Isn't it a second-year?"
No, wait.
"We're aiming for the council presidency and we don't even know who the current president is? Leona?"
"No, how would I know that? She’s an upperclassman I have no connection to, so why would I know who she is?"
Leona reacted as if I'd asked something obvious.
"Fair enough."
Come to think of it, back in regular school we did big things like student council elections and whatnot, but I don't remember the candidates' names or faces or anything. The campaign promises were all the same. The student council president was basically a figurehead position anyway.
We students just roughly voted for whoever was running and that was it—nobody gave a shit what the president actually did.
This festival is no different.
Like, you'd think the president would be involved in the festival or something, but nah. I haven't heard a single bit of news. But isn't that exactly the reality of a student council president?
"Well... It'd be different if we were running it."
We've got actual leadership.
"To see such high enthusiasm from all of you truly gladdens me as an instructor. Since things seem roughly decided, I'll wrap this up here."
Hold on.
I can't let this slide just like that.
"Instructor, ma'am?"
I called out to the Instructor who was tidying up the documents.
"Kim Geun-cheol? What is it?"
This person.
She went and forced kids to participate on a whim and created this chaos. In that case, isn't it only fair that she pay the price too?
"Instructor! Since this is a school festival, I believe the Instructor should also participate! So please, Instructor, join the dance category! The dance category as well!"
That's why I shouted!
Telling the Instructor to participate too!
"What...!"
At that, the visibly flustered Instructor swallowed her breath. And starving jackals never let an opening like that slip by.
"Instructor, please join too!"
"That's a great idea!"
"Instructor! Instructor! Instructor!"
Immediately, my classmates rode the momentum and urged the Instructor to participate!
"Wh-what is this... Quiet! Quiet down! Instructors don't do things like that!"
"Where's it say that?! Where in the school rules does it say that?! Instructor! I, Kim Geun-cheol, formally request it as student representative! Instructor, you too— Gwrk?!"
In that instant.
—Vise grip.
Something grabbed my head.
And I realized the situation had gone wrong.
"M-my body?!"
My body is floating?!
And the one in front of me is... the Instructor?! That's right! The Instructor clamped an Iron Claw on my head and lifted me!
"Quiet down, Kim Geun-cheol."
A terrifying silence.
This situation is veering badly off course.
"Save me, please save me!"
"This much doesn't even hurt. Would it be proper for an instructor to participate in a student festival? Be quiet and—"
"Still, please do it! Or I'll petition the Chairwoman, gyaaaaaaagh!"
The force—!
The force on my heaaaaad!
No! I have to sell out someone, anyone, to survive!
"Ryu! I'll have Ryu participate instead! Please let me off, Instructor!"
"Wh-what did you say?! You crazy Taliban bastard, what did you just say?!"
"Ryu Cheon-hwi? Very well. I'll have him participate as well."
Only then did the Instructor let me go.
"Raaaaugh!"
The berserk Ryu let out a roar.
Good.