Chapter 378
Chapter 378
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 379
Chapter Title: Opening Ceremony
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Time passed, and Monday arrived.
The Taekhwi Festival, the Mage Academy's once-a-year event that countless students had been eagerly awaiting, finally began.
Just like last year, the festival would span three days, and as expected, it kicked off with the opening ceremony.
For that reason, I was sitting in a chair in the multipurpose room behind the auditorium, serving as the "student representative" in charge of hosting the event, even though it was as early as 8 a.m.
"...Do I really have to do all this?"
"With all those eyes on you? Of course. Sponsors, broadcasters—they'll all be watching you, Senior."
And right now, I had completely surrendered my appearance to Choi Seo-yoon under the pretext of "polishing up."
My hairstyle was changing with every flick of the dryer from her delicate hands, and unknown creams were being applied to my face.
"I don't think it needs to be this thorough."
"Come on, you're the student rep. You have to look as sharp as possible. Oh, and this isn't makeup, so don't worry. It's just a cream to even out your skin tone."
As she massaged my face with cream from her hands, Choi Seo-yoon suddenly paused.
Then she leaned in close and stared right at my face.
Just as an awkward embarrassment started to creep in, she spoke.
"I noticed last time too, but Senior, your skin is seriously amazing."
"My skin?"
Yeah, my skin was good.
Thanks to the fruit from Gretel I ate last year, all the toxins and waste had been completely flushed out.
"Yeah, and there's this faint nice scent too... Got any special secrets?"
"Secrets... I do have one."
Her face lit up with curiosity at my words. I smirked at her and said,
"Just eat good fruit."
"Fruit?"
Choi Seo-yoon blinked. Then she seemed to mull it over before nodding.
"Hmm. I've heard fruit is good for your skin, but it must really work. Didn't know you were into fruit, Senior."
Fruit, fruit... She muttered to herself under her breath so I couldn't hear, then pulled out an eyebrow razor.
"Last up, eyebrows."
Scrape, scrape. A small sound echoed in the quiet room. Peaceful time flowed by.
Feeling self-conscious under her gaze, I quietly closed my eyes.
Then I ran through the Taekhwi Festival schedule in my head.
My top priority was to rack up as many hidden achievements as possible during the festival to gather points.
The "student representative" role was one of them, and there were probably more lurking in the play, random mishaps, and a few minor incidents that would pop up.
With unknown events cropping up left and right lately, it was smart to stockpile points every day I could, so I'd probably be busy for all three days.
Right then, small footsteps approached from beyond the door.
Soon, with a creak, the door opened.
I cracked my eyes open and turned toward it.
"Oh my〜 Is Student Sunwoo getting all dressed up as student rep?"
The one who entered was a teacher, Lee Hee-young.
Choi Seo-yoon gave a light bow to Lee Hee-young by way of greeting and answered with a smile.
"It's an important role. Gotta make a good impression."
"Right you are. The student rep is the face of the school."
Then she continued.
"Oh, right. There's an important guest here today, so I came to have you say hello ahead of time."
Just then, a familiar face appeared behind Lee Hee-young.
The moment I saw it, my expression hardened involuntarily.
I knew she was coming, but facing her in person still made me tense up.
Lee Hee-young smiled faintly as she introduced her.
"You know her, right? Han Se-yeon from Hansung Pharmaceuticals, the festival's biggest sponsor again this year."
Han Se-yeon looked back and forth between me and Choi Seo-yoon thoughtfully, then gave a small smile.
"Hello. Nice to see you again since that night of the full moon. Heard you got picked as student rep this time?"
"...Ah, yeah. Hello."
I bowed awkwardly.
Han Se-yeon looked at me, then shifted her gaze to Choi Seo-yoon standing opposite.
Her expression subtly changed in that instant.
Sensing the look, Choi Seo-yoon smiled brightly and bowed her head.
"Hello."
"...Ah, yes. Nice to meet you."
With the awkward greeting over, Choi Seo-yoon resumed trimming my eyebrows.
Feeling an odd discomfort, I subtly checked Han Se-yeon's reaction when Choi Seo-yoon stopped again.
"Senior. Hold still. One slip and it's disaster."
Choi Seo-yoon grabbed both my cheeks firmly with her hands.
Lee Hee-young looked at her and chuckled softly.
"You two look great together, don't you?"
At Lee Hee-young's question, Han Se-yeon forced a smile.
"...Yeah. I'd heard you two were close, but closer than I thought."
As Han Se-yeon muttered blankly, Lee Hee-young smirked and whispered to her.
—There's even a rumor they're dating!
What?
I panicked for a second. Where did that rumor even come from?
"...R-Really?"
Han Se-yeon, who had been desperately holding a poker face, cracked in an instant, her face showing pure shock.
—Yeah. And seeing them together, it kinda seems true. So fresh and cute, right?
"...Y-Yeah, it does."
Han Se-yeon stared at me in a daze, mumbling.
Right then.
Choi Seo-yoon stopped her hands and stepped back from me.
She peered at my face, then smiled contentedly.
"All done, Senior."
At her words, I glanced at the large mirror on the wall.
"Oh. What the—?"
Parted hair revealing just a bit of forehead, a tidied-up face.
My already decent-looking face now had a sleek, urban vibe in the reflection.
['An artist's touch' has passed over you.]
[Charm greatly increases temporarily.]
[The probability of others feeling favorable toward you greatly increases.]
...Artist's touch?
Did Choi Seo-yoon have that trait?
"Oh my, oh my."
Lee Hee-young looked at me with wide-eyed surprise.
"Sunwoo, you look so cool. Amazing what a little fixing up does. Right?"
Han Se-yeon glanced at me and nodded cautiously at Lee Hee-young's question.
"...Yeah, totally different."
Lee Hee-young smiled and clapped her hands.
"Alright, prep's done. Time to get up. Not much time left."
I nodded and slipped on my uniform robe.
A quick check of my watch confirmed it—only about ten minutes till the opening ceremony.
"You memorized the script, right?"
I smirked at Lee Hee-young's question.
"Of course."
"Alright, let's go."
With that, we left the room and slowly headed to the auditorium.
A peek inside showed the entire student body packed into seats, filling the hall.
Beside them sat broadcasters, reporters, and sponsors.
Now I had to host the opening ceremony as student rep in front of them all.
"Senior, I'll head to my seat now."
Choi Seo-yoon smiled at me. I gave her a small smile back.
"Thanks for today."
"No problem. Good luck, Senior!"
Her energetic vibe even got my blood pumping.
"Yeah. Go on."
"Yep."
With that, Choi Seo-yoon headed to her seat. As she left, Han Se-yeon called to me.
"...Student Sunwoo?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't get nervous. Do great."
I smiled faintly and nodded.
"I will."
After that, I got the teacher's signal and slowly ascended the podium.
Countless gazes turned to me.
Meeting them calmly, I said,
"We now begin the Taekhwi Festival opening ceremony."
The Taekhwi Festival opening ceremony came to a close.
As student rep, I handled the hosting flawlessly, with no major slip-ups.
Considering it was my first time, I call it a solid success.
[You have achieved the 'Student Representative' achievement.]
[You acquire 5,000 points as a reward.]
[Many people sense a powerful charm from you.]
[You acquire 5,000 points as a reward.]
A sweet 10,000 points in the bag. As I stepped down from the podium, teachers approached with words of praise.
"Good work, Sunwoo."
"Ah, thank you. You too."
"Sunwoo, you were great today."
"Thanks."
After exchanging greetings, Han Se-yeon, here as sponsor rep, approached.
"Good work."
"Ah, yeah. You too, Ms. Han."
She smiled at me, but there was an indescribable bitterness in it.
"...Mm. Lots to talk about, but I'm swamped today. See you next time."
"Ah, sure."
With that, Han Se-yeon vanished somewhere.
The moment I felt free,
Familiar faces approached.
"Sunwoo! You were awesome! Great job!"
"Good work, Senior."
Yoon Ha-young and Choi Seo-yoon beamed at me.
"Good job. Handled it perfectly."
Yoo Ah-ra followed with a small smile. Then Lee Seo-jun chimed in.
"Yeah. Didn't even look nervous."
"Kid doesn't get nervous anyway."
Shin Young-jun smirked, then looked me up and down.
"But man, you look sharp today?"
I shrugged instead of answering.
The stares directed my way definitely felt different from before.
Even I could tell I looked changed.
"So, opening ceremony's done. What's next?"
Third-years traditionally skipped festival events.
Lee Seo-jun stretched lightly and glanced at Yoo Ah-ra.
"Gotta prep for tomorrow's play."
Yoo Ah-ra's face stiffened at that. She looked lacking in confidence.
Lee Seo-jun shot me a look.
"You're coming this time, right?"
"Nah, got other stuff."
"...Other stuff?"
Everyone looked puzzled.
My task today was handling the small incidents during the festival to snag achievements.
Thinking of what was coming made me tense, unlike during the ceremony.
I called them "small incidents," but the scale was kinda big.
The biggest one hitting the Taekhwi Festival today was...
I turned my gaze.
—Man, why am I so tired today.
—Yawn. Yeah. Even though I slept great last night.
At the end of my gaze, the Law Professor shuffled along with sluggish steps.
Students around him clutched their heads, feeling dizzy.
The third ability, 'latent trait,' not even fully researched in mage academia.
No one else noticed, but I could sense the special aura emanating from the Law Professor.
His 'sleep induction' latent trait, dormant for the past two years, was showing signs of going berserk.
This incident could get dangerous, so I had to be careful.
One wrong move, and victims might never wake up.
As I sorted out my plans in my head, the group stared at me with concerned faces, sensing the gravity.
"Senior? Something up?"
"Huh? Nah, nothing. Just gonna wander and check things out."
I smiled lightly, as if to brush it off.
But Yoon Ha-young, who knew me well, frowned and fell deep in thought.
"...Something's up."
I gave a wry smile at her quiet mutter.
Then Yoon Ha-young, sharp as ever in weird ways, laughed to shift the mood.
"He says no, so probably nothing~ Anyway, Seo-jun and Ah-ra are doing play practice. What about the rest of us?"
Under Yoon Ha-young's lead, as the convo flowed, Choi Seo-yoon eyed me and said,
"I'll tag along with Senior and sightsee too."
Yoon Ha-young smiled and jumped in.
"Then I'll follow Sunwoo around too〜"
Yoon Ha-young clearly smelled trouble and was sticking close on purpose.
"Shin Young-jun, you?"
Just then, Shin Young-jun eyed me suspiciously, stroking his chin before speaking.
"I'm helping Lee Seo-jun with play practice..."
"Settled then. Everyone split up today!"
"Yeah."
As we split into two groups,
A small voice came from Shin Young-jun behind us.
"Hmm. Whenever Kim Sunwoo stiffens up and says 'nothing's wrong,' something always blows up that day..."