First Event (3)

“Holy crap…”

I let out a hollow laugh as I stared at Si-hyeon’s Status Window, which had changed over the past week.

Favorability already at 18…

It had spiked the very next day after I lent her the Counseling Room, then climbed a little more every single day after that. Only yesterday had the rise finally stopped—leaving it sitting at a clean 18.

“Shit… it can’t already be like this…”

Even while getting ready for work, my feet refused to move. Going to school suddenly felt terrifying.

In True Teacher, the Favorability system is split into five stages based on the number:

[0~19]: No romantic interest, or just basic human/teacher-student liking.

[20~39]: Feels romantic attraction but hasn’t consciously realized it yet.

[40~59]: Consciously aware of romantic feelings and constantly thinks about the target.

[60~79]: Rose-tinted glasses firmly on—sees the target as an absolute heartthrob no matter what.

[80~100]: Caution advised. If a confession is rejected, there’s no telling what might happen.

Si-hyeon was right on the verge of crossing Stage 1. One more push and I would stop being her teacher and start being a man in her eyes!!

And we hadn’t even finished the first event yet!!

“This is bullshit!! Was lending her the Counseling Room really that exciting for her?!”

Judgment error. I never imagined giving her a place to read manga would jack her Favorability this high.

But there was nothing I could do about it now. Back when I was still playing True Teacher as a game, Favorability only spiked in the exact moment you took a specific action. Now that the game had become reality, a female student could raise her Favorability just by thinking about me even when I wasn’t around. Exactly like real life.

“And the first event still isn’t complete…”

If it had been finished, a message would have popped up and one of the empty stars in Si-hyeon’s Status Window would have turned solid (★). Meaning I still needed more contact with her to clear the first event. Which basically guaranteed she would hit Stage 2 Favorability.

“Haa…”

Okay. Panic ends here. From now on I was Cool Beauty Yoon Ha-neul, calmly sorting the situation.

First: Stage 2 Favorability. I was giving up on preventing it. Looking at the rate her number was climbing, Stage 2 would arrive in the blink of an eye anyway.

“Instead… I finish this fast before she gets anywhere near Stage 3.”

Minimal contact. Clear Si-hyeon’s first event as quickly as possible. And for that…

“Huu… I really didn’t want to pull this out already…”

I opened the Status Window and stepped into the Gacha Shop.

Ding!

“Right now you’re the only thing I can trust!!”

When things get desperate, paying real money is always the correct answer. At the moment I had nothing for a speed-run of Si-hyeon’s route. My stats were pathetic, I had zero abilities unlocked through those stats, and I didn’t even know what the clear condition for her first event was.

“Balance… 600,000 won…”

That was every last bit of disposable cash I had after fixed expenses and everything else.

“I’ll only do three pulls with this…!”

The Gacha Shop was divided into three tiers: Normal, Intermediate, and Advanced. Higher tiers meant better strategy items, of course. Normal dropped E~C rank, Intermediate D~B, Advanced C~S. Cost per pull: 50,000 / 100,000 / 300,000. Ridiculously expensive.

“It’s still early-game… honestly I don’t need S-rank yet.”

So the absurdly pricey Advanced Gacha was out. But the cheapest Normal Gacha wasn’t a great choice either. If I was going to spend money, I wanted something useful beyond just this one event. Which left the obvious pick!

Intermediate Gacha!

“Please give me something good on the first try!!”

Ding!

The moment I hit the button the gacha started. My phone buzzed with a notification right after—probably the money leaving my account. I ignored it.

A red-haired mermaid auntie cheerfully chattered inside the virtual hologram screen as she spun the roulette.

Tiririririririri—!!!

“Please! Please something good!! Please!!”

Back when this was just an eroge I never got this sweaty-palmed. Now that it was my actual blood money and my actual life on the line, dopamine was exploding inside my skull.

A moment later the spinning roulette slowed and stopped one by one.

Bababa bam babam~!

“Kyaaaaah!! You bitch!!!”

A D-rank item. Not bad, I guess. I’d probably use it someday…

“My precious 100,000 won!!”

That was five whole chickens just replaced by this thing. Wasn’t this way too expensive for how shameless it was? If the game had become reality, couldn’t they at least make the prices a little more reasonable!!

“Damn it! I’m not giving up…!”

I had no choice. If I let Si-hyeon’s Favorability climb too high this early, something I couldn’t handle might explode later.

“One more!”

Ding!

Biririririririri—!!!

The second gacha spun.

Ding!

“O-ohhhhh!!”

“Kyaaaaah! The mirror dropped!!”

I had been ready to burn the entire 600,000 won. Beginner’s luck must have been real, because a B-rank item came out on the second pull. And it was one of the exact items I had been hoping for!

With this, things would be fine.

“Alright~, everyone pair up and draw each other’s portraits. Begin.”

“Si-hyeon! Pair with me!”

“Huh? You’re not pairing with Gyeoul?”

“If twins draw each other it just feels like a self-portrait. Besides, Gyeoul already paired with Chris.”

Si-hyeon looked over at Gyeoul at Bom’s words. A girl who looked exactly like Bom, yet somehow languid and sleepy where Bom was bright. She had already settled in with Chris.

“Oh! So we’re drawing the exact same model? Then we’re rivals!”

“Ehh… no matter how I look at it, Si-hyeon’s gonna win…”

“No no no, Gyeoul. You’re talking nonsense because you haven’t seen my art skills yet.”

“……Nonsense?”

Chris’s usual boundless energy was already draining the life out of Gyeoul.

They took their seats and began sketching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their partners’ portraits.

“Hehe, draw me pretty, okay? I’ll draw you like a princess too!”

“A-a princess…”

Si-hyeon picked up an art pencil and started with a simple rough sketch—Bom’s bright round eyes, cute lips, and softly swaying short hair. Before long a surprisingly decent portrait of Bom appeared on the paper.

“Heehee, mid-check time!”

“Huh? I’m not finished yet.”

“I’m curious~, let’s see… whoa! You actually drew it really well!”

“…It’s still just a rough.”

“Still still! Gyeoul! Chris! Look at this!”

Bom’s dramatic fussing pulled Gyeoul and Chris over from their own drawings. Both of them stared at the rough portrait and marveled.

“Wow… that’s really good. …Chris is totally defeated.”

“Jesus! I haven’t lost yet! My drawing still has three transformation forms left!”

“…I transform?”

The lively chatter of her friends, the way they praised her drawing and looked so happy—Si-hyeon felt a strange mix of emotion and embarrassment.

Then Bom, sitting beside her, asked, “Si-hyeon, are you going into art later?”

“Huh?”

“O-oh, you’re not? I just thought if you draw this well you must have studied for that path.”

“Mm, I’m not going into art.”

“Really? What a waste. You’re so good at it.”

“…….”

Si-hyeon closed her mouth at Bom’s words. What she wanted to do later… if she could go that way, she would probably be very happy, but…

No… who am I kidding.

Si-hyeon saw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reality with perfect clarity. She might still be an immature high-school minor, but she was old enough to know what she needed to know. The difference between what she wanted to do and what she had to do was crystal clear.

‘It would be so nice if Si-hyeon became a lawyer later and joined Mom’s firm, right?’

The freedom she was allowed… yes. The Counseling Room. Reading manga in secret there. That was the full extent of the freedom granted to her.

If it were Teacher… how would he answer…

Just then, among the three friends chattering away, Gyeoul suddenly spoke.

“Uh, Homeroom…”

“Huh?”

Si-hyeon flinched and followed Gyeoul’s gaze. There, by the open front door of the art room (left open for ventilation), their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠teacher was standing and secretly watching them.

“Ugh… what? Is he peeping on us right now?”

“Oh, is this stalking?”

“Something feels super suspicious.”

The three of them muttered doubtfully while staring at their homeroom teacher. Si-hyeon jumped in to defend him.

“I-I’m sure it’s not like that.”

“Huh? Do you know why Teacher’s acting like that?”

“…No, I don’t, but…”

Si-hyeon lowered her voice at Bom’s question, yet she still disagreed with the three of them. Because Teacher was a good person.

But what is he actually doing?

Teacher stood secretly by the art-room door, watching them.

Huh? A hand mirror…

He took out a small hand mirror, looked into it, and muttered something. What on earth? Had he lost something? Was he trying to return it to its owner?

While she was thinking that—

Huh… a wallet?

Teacher turned around, opened his wallet, then pulled out his smartphone and searched for something. A second later he slumped as if he had taken a huge shock.

Pfft… he’s kind of cute.

The ridiculous sight made a laugh slip out of Si-hyeon before she could stop it.

Then—

“Ah.”

Their eyes met. Teacher looked just as startled as she felt and flailed for a second. Then he gave an awkward little smile and gently waved.

Si-hyeon carefully raised her hand and waved back so her friends wouldn’t see.

It feels like we have a secret friendship.

Ever since they had bumped into each other at the Bookstore, she had gone to him for counseling and been given the Counseling Room. Thanks to Teacher she could now read her favorite manga comfortably and freely. Because of that, Si-hyeon felt a strange inner closeness toward him—even though they didn’t talk that often.

“You four over there. Why aren’t you drawing? Hurry back to your seats.”

The art teacher called out to the clustered girls, and that was the end of the short art-class incident. Homeroom Teacher disappeared somewhere after the greeting.

I should do something to repay him next time.

Si-hyeon finished Bom’s portrait while thinking about what kind of thank-you gift would be good.

When the portrait session ended and the school day was finally over, Si-hyeon headed to the Counseling Room again with a light, excited heart.

“Excuse me…”

She knew no one was inside, but she still greeted carefully as she opened the door. Once inside she closed it, felt a rush of freedom, and softly approached the bookshelf.

“Heehee, today I’m reading two volumes~.”

The gloomy thoughts about her future that had hit her during art class had already vanished. Yes. This was enough. She could just enjoy these small happinesses and keep working hard at the things she had to do, not the things she wanted to do.

Having steeled her heart once more, Si-hyeon picked up a manga volume and headed for her seat.

“Huh?”

Something she had never seen before was sitting on the desk. A 14-inch tablet PC.

“Waaah…! An Ultra Tab!”

It was a ridiculously large tablet from a famous big company. Artists loved it precisely because of that size.

“I’ve always wanted to try one of these…! But why is it here…… huh?”

Thud.

When Si-hyeon lifted the tablet and opened the cover, a memo that had been tucked inside fluttered down onto the desk.

“…….”

She carefully unfolded it and read the contents.

“Teacher…”

Was it a coincidence? How could he give her something like this right when she had been worrying about that exact thing? And he said it was used… yet the brand-new protective film still hadn’t been peeled off.

Ding!

“Hiiiiiik…!”

Favorability had gone up way more than I expected. Already at 29…

Si-hyeon still had four events left.

…It wouldn’t go all the way to 100, right?