Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Club
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Club Room
After school, I headed to the Hero Culture Research Club room tucked away in the corner of the third floor of the annex building.
To take the club entrance test I had mentioned yesterday.
‘In the original story, there was no such thing as a test. Is this a butterfly effect caused by Lee Ji-hoon—no, Isia?’
I opened the door and went inside.
The club room had a large desk in the center.
The walls were completely covered with bromides.
Photo books of active heroes, illustrations of hero animation characters—there was a wide variety.
‘Silver Tail’, ‘Invincible Under Heaven’, ‘Dark Knight’, and more.
‘Why is Dark Knight up there…….’
My face heated up.
As soon as I entered, I saw Isia striking a cat pose on top of the desk.
Click, click.
Curly-haired horn-rimmed glasses guys and chubby students were taking pictures with their cameras.
“What’s this?”
The club president, Lee Sang-hyeon, spotted me and looked startled.
“Whoa! You actually came!”
“Yes. I’m here for the test.”
Isia also saw me and blushed, looking embarrassed.
“Meowww.”
She quickly jumped down from the desk.
It was understandable that she’d feel shy showing such a sight to a junior.
Lee Sang-hyeon rearranged the club room as if conducting an interview.
The four of them sat in front.
I sat alone in the back.
“Alright. Let’s begin the test!”
Lee Sang-hyeon was a D-rank Awakener.
His grades were a bit below average.
Whatever test he could come up with was all within my expectations.
‘If he asks something like guessing hero comic titles, it might be a bit tricky…….’
I nodded readily.
“Yes, go ahead and start.”
“The theme is how much you know about active heroes! If you’re really interested in our club, you should pass this easily!”
The club members fidgeted and whispered among themselves.
“We’re not exactly in a position to be picky about members…….”
I suppressed a rising smirk.
I’d seen heroes countless times while playing the game.
I knew pretty much everything unless it was obscure.
“Yeah, yeah. Give me the questions.”
“What is Office Lady’s ability?”
“Brainwashing.”
Lee Sang-hyeon stroked his chin and grinned.
“That was a warm-up. What is the exact name of the werewolf that Silver Tail transforms into?”
‘Silver Tail’ was a character I’d leveled up to the final party.
I knew it wasn’t a regular wolf.
Its true nature was an A-rank monster.
“Imperium Lupus.”
The club members were shocked by my answer.
“Gasp! You even know that? I didn’t know when I first joined!”
“Are you a Silver Tail fan? Your fandom is impressive!”
“Meow meow.”
Isia’s eyes widened, and she made a cat-like sound.
It seemed she couldn’t speak human words but could make cat meows instead.
Lee Sang-hyeon squeezed his eyes shut.
“You’ve done your homework, I see. In that case…….”
And so, we went through Q&A for a full 30 minutes.
In the end, he admitted defeat.
“I lose…. Sorry for judging you by your looks. I admit it! You’re a true hero maniac.”
“With combat power like this! You’re a total powerhouse?!”
Lee Sang-hyeon offered me a handshake.
“I’m the president, Lee Sang-hyeon. Third year. Welcome to Hero Culture Research Club.”
“Yes. I’m first-year Shin Noda.”
The club members next to him jumped up in excitement.
“Shin Noda?!”
“Shin Noda—you mean the one who took down ‘Luna Bear’…?”
That damn rumor had spread throughout the entire school.
Even second-years knew about it, not just first-years.
“Ah, yes. That’s me.”
“No way! You’re the first-year ace! Why would you join a club like this?!”
Lee Sang-hyeon asked the club members with a confused look.
“What’s going on? Who is he?”
“Sunbae, you don’t know? On the first training day, he took down Luna Bear in one hit. With a training spear, no less!”
“Oh, I’m kinda out of the loop with rumors. So that happened.”
The excited club member voluntarily brought out coffee and snacks.
I expressed my thanks and took a sip of coffee.
“But why come to a place like this instead of Practical Combat Club or Spear Arts Club?”
I decided to play along moderately.
Everyone except Isia was worthless, converging to zero.
But these were the guys I’d see at every club activity anyway.
“Well, I just thought this place was suitable for harboring my passion for heroes. It’s hard to find people who understand in regular clubs.”
“Ooh! What an honor!”
One club member pushed up his glasses and brought up a new topic.
“Now that we have a new member, we can’t not ask this, right?”
“Oh yeah, that.”
“Meow. Meow.”
What the hell was that?
There was no such thing in the game.
Something new must have been added.
I perked up my ears for what they’d say next.
“What do you think about Dark Knight?”
Sudden Dark Knight drift!
I panicked.
If I defended him too openly, it’d be weird, so I shifted into neutral gear as much as possible.
“Ah, Dark Knight? Hmm. Well, I don’t think private sanctions are good. Better to leave it to heroes…….”
Everyone except me let out an ‘Ah!’ and sighed.
“No way. You were perfect in every way, but not a Knight Order member?!”
“To think you’d say something so old-fashioned. I’m disappointed, Noda.”
“Hiss.”
Isia made the hissing sound a cat makes when wary.
Between her open mouth, her fangs looked sharp, and her tongue was covered in rough-looking barbs.
‘She even mimics cat details like that?’
Originally, ‘Lee Ji-hoon’ was a heteromorph type, but not a cat—he was a shark.
Transforming into a sharkman(?) made him great for both damage and tanking.
I had no idea about a cat.
“We’re all Knight Order members.”
“What’s Knight Order?”
“We have to explain from there? Knight Order refers to Dark Knight fans. It’s a kind of internet meme. You know, that Dark Knight. Knight of darkness, so Knight Order.”
“Ah…….”
I sighed.
This reality was hard to accept.
I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide.
Lee Sang-hyeon stroked Isia’s head and said.
“Especially our Sia can’t get enough of Dark Knight.”
Isia brought over a tablet PC and wrote something.
It was scribbled hastily.
[I like Dark Knight the most in the world! My mom works at K Comprehensive Tech Institute! Mom survived thanks to Dark Knight.]
The ‘K Pharma Villain’ incident.
So she’d been a fan since then.
“How about we do some Dark Knight cosplay today? It’s the first day, so let’s put on costumes and take a group photo!”
His words made my head spin.
Lee Sang-hyeon brought five black robes from the storage room.
He bragged as he said.
“For the record, I recognized him from his first appearance in the Fire Man incident. Back then, he was my own little dark hero, you know? Nowadays, everyone knows him, so it’s kinda meh.”
“You’re telling that story again. Sunbae, you know you look super creepy every time you say that, right? You don’t do that while watching internet streams too, do you?”
“Calling a sunbae as lofty as the sky ‘super creepy’?!”
After some twists and turns, we all put on robes and struck poses.
Wearing the robe felt oddly familiar.
‘If I had Dragon Flame Sword here, it’d be perfect.’
It looked exactly like the ‘Hermit’s Leather’ item, custom-made as ‘Dark Knight’ costume.
Laura teased.
[Kuhuhu. They have no idea the real Dark Knight is right next to them……. How amusing.]
Lee Sang-hyeon set up the camera in front and put it on timer.
Then he came over to where we all were and posed.
He glanced at me and urgently shouted.
“Noda! Pose, pose!”
“Yes?”
I’d been standing still, but hurriedly mimicked grabbing a gem like when using the ‘Inheritance’ skill.
Click.
The photo was taken.
It was a Polaroid camera, so the picture came out right away.
The president wrote ‘Hero Culture Research Club Saved from Closure Commemoration’ on the back.
The photo was stuck on one corner of the wall.
He looked at the photo and said.
“Shin Noda. You pretended to dislike Dark Knight, but you know your stuff? That pose of yours—it’s the stance Dark Knight takes when using the ‘Blue Flame’ skill!”
“Blue Flame?”
“Yeah. The blue flames he uses to finish off villains!”
Ah, so that’s why it’s called Blue Flame.
To someone who knew nothing, it’d look like such a skill.
In reality, it was just an effect.
After finishing club activities, I went home and sent Isia a private message.
My goal in joining this club from the start was Isia.
‘God of Mechanisms’.
Now that it had become reality, it was a skill I absolutely had to secure.
I didn’t remember every single line of text exactly, but it was something like this.
-------------<Skill>-------------
◈ Name
God of Mechanisms
◈ Rank
000 A
◈ Description
The user can freely manipulate machines with power sources.
The limit of manipulable machines changes based on rank.
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‘God of Mechanisms’ refers to ‘Deus ex Machina’, meaning a god descended via machinery.
But in the game, it was used more like an omnipotent machine god literally.
The user of this skill could start a car without keys and drive it at will, or hack a computer with just their mind.
However, there were clear limits.
For example, a PC with the network blocked or an old vehicle without remote control capability couldn’t be affected unless touched directly.
Isia couldn’t speak but typed chat quickly, so sharp replies came right away.
[Senior Sia. Did you get home safe?]
[Yeah yeah! You home now too, Noda?]
[Yes. Today was really fun. By the way, do you like cats?]
[Yeah.. But I can’t talk to cats! Everyone asks that (๑]ᴗ<๑)>
[No lol, I was thinking if you’re free tomorrow afternoon, wanna go to a cat cafe together? I’ve always wanted to go but it’s kinda weird going alone as a guy haha]
The reply paused for a bit.
She seemed to be thinking.
It was fine if she refused.
There’d be plenty more chances.
[Okay! Cat cafe tomorrow!]
[(Thumbs up emoji)]
After that, we exchanged trivial daily chit-chat for a good while.