Student Council President Election #6
Student Council President Election #6
Mysterious figures, every last one of them shrouded in darkness.
They stared at us from within that darkness, their eyes burning crimson. What the hell? Were these devil-like bastards rumored to live in the deepest dungeons?
"Who the hell are you people?!"
I immediately hid Leona, Yu-ri, and Si-hoo behind me and yelled.
"Wh-what are these pricks...!"
"Kim Geun-cheol?! Why are you blocking me?! You get behind me right now!"
"Geun-cheol...!"
My friends shouted, completely on guard.
The bastards inside the Student Council Room were radiating that much suspicious energy.
A brief standoff.
About ten seconds in, one of those shadowy figures spoke, low.
"Ah, the kids are here. Turn on the lights."
"I don't want to turn on the lights."
"I like the dark."
"Should I go get the president?"
"I told you to stop with that threat! It's actually terrifying!"
—Click.
The lights came on, revealing their forms. Upperclassmen, every one of them standing with an imposing posture.
I knew it instinctively.
"Are you by any chance the student council members?"
"Correct, first-year."
I swiftly checked their nametags.
[Simon]
[Kang Won-gyu]
[Choi Soo-jin]
A foreigner and a Korean. And one woman with a familiar name. No doubt about it. This Soo-jin was definitely the woman the student council president kept going on and on about!
"We're the previous Student Council members. Led by that psycho of a president, we're a kind of warband, you could say."
"Warband?!"
What kind of vicious name was that?
I looked at Leona and asked, and she gave me a straightforward answer.
"The largest unit is a guild. A guild is actually a pretty big concept. Think of it like belonging to a faction. And below that, there are clans. Clan members often meet up to handle things together. You can think of it as a trusted group that works together regularly."
"So a warband is a smaller concept than that?"
"Right. A small number of people banding together before officially starting work. That's what warband means. Well, even though it's the student council, they aren't active-duty yet. So the name fits."
Simon, who had been speaking, nodded at that.
"Exactly. This year's student council president is normally smart, huh? Unlike our time."
"Ah."
Leona nodded, mouth slightly open.
"So, why are you upperclassmen here?"
When Yu-ri asked, Simon answered.
"The reason we were waiting here is nothing major. Now that it's time to pass things on, shouldn't we handle the handover?"
Handover!
"Ah! So that's what it was! You were glaring at us with glowing eyes from the dark, so I definitely thought you were strange people!"
"See, that's why I said we should live with the lights on."
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Leona Kainus, the student council president. Nice to meet you all."
"Right. I'm Simon. This is Won-gyu. And lastly, Soo-jin."
"Soo-jin..."
My friends flinched the moment they heard that name.
"That person is the..."
When Si-hoo asked without any tact, everyone nodded heavily.
"Right. The president's girl."
"I said I'm not!"
Soo-jin shouted, aghast.
"...Though that is just what the president thinks. Anyway. I'll end the introductions of us ghosts of the past here and tell you what needs to be done."
I should listen to this.
"Truth is, the student council doesn't really have much to do. Right? What can we do, anyway. We just handle some annoying things for the school and the students. Chip in when there's an event. That's really it. The festival is basically the student council's last job. It's simple. Just set up the equipment according to the manual. That's it. Nothing hard about it."
A simple explanation followed.
It would honestly be messed up if the student council actually had that kind of workload. If it did, why the hell would the school even exist.
"If something comes up, you just gather during lunch or after school and handle it quickly. Nothing major. It's simply an honorary position. But it'd be boring if that was all, right? You can look forward to the perks."
"Perks?"
"Upon graduation, you're granted the right to join the Academy Student Council Alumni Association."
"Student Council Alumni Association?!"
The name sounded so old-fashioned I was momentarily shocked.
That existed?
"Those connections will definitely be helpful. The upperclassman student council members have already established themselves and are active as Heroes. Dungeon exploration, overseas dispatch, war-zone missions, villain takedowns... They have information from every field and are prepared to help the younger students, so I hope you’ll join when you graduate."
As expected of the New Republic of Korea!
A connections-based society!
"Alright. That's some pretty solid info."
"Student Council Alumni Association, huh... If there's something like that, that's not bad."
Leona and Yu-ri nodded. They were people who knew very well about the value of connections.
"Si-hoo, we can just join the alumni association together later."
"Ah, ahaha. But I wonder if it's actually a normal group?"
The moment he said that.
"..."
Silence descended.
"Ah."
That's right.
This student council was a suspicious enough organization to make you doubt whether it was normal. We'd walked in ourselves for a bit of simple power, but the truth we witnessed during the festival was more than enough to shake our hearts.
"The student council president."
That psycho upperclassman.
"He's known as the strangest person among the second-years..."
"A psycho. An absurd one at that."
"Soo-jin."
Soo-jin pushed her hair back and poured out criticism, as if troubled.
"He's crazy. After confessing his feelings like that, now he says he'll overcome his trauma and keeps persistently asking for sparring matches. I even tried dating a boyfriend to ask him to block it... but how could anyone be a match for him. They all got destroyed, and after a few repeats, I couldn't even meet any guys anymore."
Ah.
I can sort of understand.
"No, but why did you make such a strange person president in the first place? Though it’s a bit awkward to say this, he seemed like a pretty strange upperclassman. Why did you vote for him?"
I had basically acknowledged him as my boss. But that didn't mean saying he wasn't a psycho.
"Well... I don't know. Why did we do that. We just didn't, well, really understand what voting was..."
A regret-filled voice.
This is why people need to be born in a democracy.
"But I don't regret it. Even if he's strange, he's a person worth following. Anyway, let's stop talking about this. Speak of the devil."
"..."
"..."
Whether they scared themselves just by saying it, the student council members started glancing towards the door, watching nervously.
"K-Kim Geun-cheol? I have a feeling we've walked into a somewhat... suspicious group?"
"Don't worry, Leona. With your charisma, we'll manage somehow."
"Charisma...! Well, of course!"
Let's just put our faith in Leona.
"Anyway, back on track... The student council's duties are really nothing much. Mediating when disputes break out between students, at that level? Without bothering with formal punishments or anything, more of a feeling of solving things casually and internally."
Wait.
Dispute resolution?
"No, you even do that kind of thing? But I've been punished before so I know, there was no one helping me out like that."
"If you get that kind of help from the first year, you lose your independence. They intentionally leave you alone. Anyway, that weird student council president has a talent in his own way, and he resolved disputes between students several times in bizarre ways... Even if his methods are a bit psycho."
At Simon’s words, the other two upperclassmen nodded as if frightened. Just what the hell was that guy? At least I could clearly grasp that he was an extremely strange person.
Seems he's even stranger than what I saw.
—Creeeak.
It was then.
The door to the Student Council Room opened.
"One piece of advice."
"Huh?"
"The first."
—Stomp.
A suspicious man.
Came inside.
"When doing a handover, a person in charge must be present."
"You're the student council president, boss!"
For some reason wearing soaking wet clothes, he had marched in confidently!
"The second."
Didn't he say one?
"If you're going to talk behind someone's back, you must do it where no one can hear."
"Gah...!"
"Ah!"
Only after hearing those words did I realize.
That we had been talking behind his back.
"Gasp!"
—Shudder!
The other student council members were already trembling! Leona had also herded us into a corner like a mother bird protecting her chicks and was body-blocking us herself!
"The third. Losing power does not mean a superhuman's strength disappears."
"President! That's—!"
"To hold the succession ceremony without me, how foolish! The previous president directly passes the epaulettes to the next president! Is that not the tradition!"
"Hey! And what's with your clothes!"
Soo-jin shouted sharply at him as he proclaimed tradition.
"I merely took a shower to resolve a dispute between students. But it happened on the spot, so I hadn't brought a towel or a change of clothes. Couldn't be helped."
"What!"
I can't comprehend a single word he's saying!
"Anyway. The president's epaulettes. Take them. Leona Kainus."
"Ah...! Yes!"
The student council president fumbled and handed over the soaking wet epaulettes, and Leona took them and immediately placed them on top of the desk. I thought she'd at least put them in her pocket, but I guess putting wet things in there is a bit much.
"The president's duties are nothing special. You just do what needs to be done. Of course... sitting in the seat of the student council president, you will likely come to understand superhuman society quickly."
"I believe I already understand it well enough."
"Is that so."
The boss nodded.
"Call on me if you need help. We busy second-years are about to get even busier, but if a first-year asks for help, I can at least lend a hand."
"Yes. If the chance comes."
"Understood."
—Stomp.
Had he finished what he had to say?
The president turned his gaze towards me.
"Hello, boss."
"Right. We meet again, Kim Geun-cheol."
"Yes."
"The situation these days... is not good. They don't seem to teach it well to the first-years, but the Gate Incident is escalating."
Ah, now that he mentioned it.
The school wasn't really saying anything about that.
"They don't readily give that information to underclassman cadets. There's a risk they might not overcome their youthful recklessness and jump right into a combat zone."
"..."
"I hear that soon, we might even go train inside the gate on the parade ground. It's something I heard directly, so it's certain. The gate on the parade ground is connected to somewhere in the otherworld. Inside, there are numerous soldiers and heroes stationed."
"Excuse me?"
What was this?
"The entrance isn't only here. The inside is currently under exploration. The first-years... must also be in their Combined Class right now. When that class ends, you might end up going there for field experience training. As the situation grows more chaotic, the class content is changing."
Eyes of endless gravity.
The boss gave me serious advice, the same as last time. His presence was so overwhelming that I could do nothing but listen intently to his words.
"The otherworld and dungeons are all dangerous. Therefore you, the student council president. And you, the vice president. You will need to lead the members of your class well. That is the extent of my advice."
—Rustle.
Having gathered up his clothes and towel, the president finished what he had to say and strode outside.
"Adios."
Leaving behind the same greeting as last time.
"Psycho."
"Psycho."
"Psycho."
We had no choice but to say it, with one heart and one mind.