Chapter 120
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Lesson 25. Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder - 1
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Club activities had wrapped up.
Ban Yu-won, leading the charge against the stubbornly clinging Stone Senior who kept begging for a weapon, mercilessly dispersed all the special admission students who were desperately trying to squeeze into Tike's footage even a little more.
It was consideration on his part, ensuring they got plenty of rest time since they'd all be heading into the Tower again tomorrow.
And the same went for Ban Yu-won's group.
"Huh, come to think of it, where's Light?"
"He went off with the Ice Princess... Aire earlier."
Mira responded to Ban Yu-won, who was finally noticing Light's absence and tilting his head.
Aire and Light? He'd known for a while that Aire liked Light, but for Light to respond to her at a time like this?
What was he thinking?
"Jealous?"
"Me? Of who?"
Ban Yu-won tilted his head at the out-of-left-field question.
He could feel Mira's violet eyes quickly scanning his face from top to bottom.
"Of As Light. The Ice Princess... not interested?"
"What? Oh, so you're asking if I'm jealous of you... Pfft."
Once he caught on to her intent, Ban Yu-won couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Mira was adorable—blinking her eyes unnaturally, pretending otherwise while sneakily gauging his reaction.
Who was the one jealous right now, anyway?
"Yu-won, stop laughing and answer me."
"No, but you're just too cute, ow."
Mira poked his lower back discreetly where no one else could see.
"Why am I getting hit? I just said you're cute, ow!"
"Sh-shut up. Just answer already."
"Ahem."
Right then, as the two were whispering, a deliberate cough came from right in front of them.
Dokgo Yeon stood there with a chilling expression, looking ready to draw her sword and swing it any second.
"Ah, Dokgo Yeon. Good work out there."
"I only gave them a quick look at my swordsmanship."
In a way, Dokgo Yeon had undervalued the special admission students from lower dimensions even more than the upper-dimensional ones.
She'd always placed great importance on mindset, and the special admission students' attitudes had been the worst of the worst.
That said, thanks to Ban Yu-won taking them under his wing—providing talismans, setting up training rooms, and giving promising ones like Kshana with their straightforward innate abilities real opportunities to grow—their vibe had gradually brightened, and they'd started showing more proactive attitudes.
'And today.'
Word had spread that one of them had awakened their aura thanks to Ban Yu-won's personal sword instruction to Dokgo Yeon, and the special admission students had swarmed her.
Dokgo Yeon's usual personality would've had her brushing them off without mercy... but perhaps because she'd witnessed and appreciated their changes firsthand, she'd astonishingly sparred with each one once.
Even Woo Hyeol-rin, who had overpowered Ban Yu-won with brute strength before, was no match for Dokgo Yeon.
In fact, he'd gotten the absolute worst of it, and Ban Yu-won couldn't for the life of him figure out why Dokgo Yeon had gone so hard on him specifically.
"E-everyone... good work..."
That very Woo Hyeol-rin, who usually made a point of thanking Ban Yu-won every day, slinked away after a single word this time—clearly beaten, sore, and exhausted from Dokgo Yeon.
He gave a feeble nod toward Ban Yu-won before vanishing, which was a little heartbreaking.
What on earth was up with that guy...
"Anyway. Are you starting that now? The promotional video shoot."
"Yeah. It's just me and Yu-won, so the rest of you rest up."
"Tomorrow's the day we enter the Tower. Don't torment him too long."
"Got it."
Mira nodded without shrinking under Dokgo Yeon's icy tone.
"I get what you're worried about, but relax. We haven't gone that far yet."
"Gone where? It's just a promo video."
"Hmmm..."
Dokgo Yeon's eyebrow twitched at Mira deliberately choosing provocative words to invite misunderstanding.
For someone like Dokgo Yeon, who despised romantic relationships altogether, Mira openly flaunting her desires might not sit well...
That was when it happened.
"Yu-won."
Lucelle, who had quietly approached Dokgo Yeon's side, called out to him.
She'd clearly overheard Mira's words, yet her expression remained remarkably calm.
"Hope it's a nice change of pace. But next time, play with me?"
"It's not playing... Fine, got it."
"Hee-hee, thanks. See you tomorrow then."
Lucelle reached out with both hands, firmly grasping Ban Yu-won's and shaking them affectionately a couple times.
She gave Mira a quick eye-greeting before heading off first.
Mira blinked at the display of their solid bond right in front of her, then scowled fiercely.
"Not an easy one, huh."
"Ah, anyway, let's not be late."
Dokgo Yeon seemed to share the sentiment, speaking in a somewhat deflated tone before leaving.
Mira pouted unnecessarily and tugged at him.
"Let's go. I'll show you to the student council room."
"What about Kettra Senior?"
"Gone. I got rid of her."
"Let's not use such scary words."
He'd been to the student council room just recently to hash things out with the student council president.
It was in the academy's main building. It looked small from outside, but spatial expansion magic inside created plenty of room, including the president's office and workspaces for the executives.
"Kyaha! You made it? I figured shooting wouldn't start till next week."
"What's that? A camera?"
"Oooooh! The famous camera artifact! ...President, we had something we agreed to talk about next, right?"
"Seeing you like this makes me even happier, Ban Yu-won."
As soon as they entered the student council room, the president sprang up from the sofa like she'd been waiting, followed by the familiar Graham and the other executives greeting them warmly.
Ban Yu-won snorted and said,
"It's obvious you all knew ahead of time and were waiting, so drop the act."
"What a harsh thing to say. I did my homework. Videos like this need natural direction so viewers don't catch on."
The president cackled, swishing her devilish tail that sprouted from behind her.
She still didn't get it—they'd all caught on after going around in circles, so this "first meeting" act only worked under that pretense!
Ban Yu-won pushed the filming lead, Tike, forward and declared sternly,
"Anyway, filming's already started. No retakes. We'll shoot once, edit, and upload as-is, so everyone behave."
"Then I'll go first. No way I'm passing up this chance I sacrificed the vice president for!"
The astral scene of the president boldly declaring she'd offered up the vice president as tribute.
And with her grabbing Tike and charging into the president's office after her bombshell, the mood turned awkward.
Graham was the only one who knew the full story around Mira, Ban Yu-won, and Kettra, so the other two in the room tilted their heads at the mention.
"I'd wondered why the vice president was missing from a student council promo. What happened? And now that you mention it, Mira's been keeping her distance from the vice president lately."
"Huh? Wasn't that pulling back after pushing didn't work?"
The two student council executives Ban Yu-won was meeting for the first time had starkly different impressions.
One was a smart-looking guy with a monocle. The other was a lively woman with attractive tanned skin.
Mira introduced them.
"The guy's the accounting director, third-year. The woman's the external affairs director, fourth-year."
"Got it, titles slapped on super casually. And they fit the image perfectly."
"There are a few more lower down, but this is all the key executives."
Mira stepped back half a pace with those words.
A signal to introduce themselves.
"Uh, um. Nice to meet you, Ban Yu-won junior. Began, Began Delawalker. Call me by name if you like. I've wanted to meet you... So, are you two dating?"
"Call me Rica, Rica sis! But seriously, Mira, you're really switching to this pretty boy?!"
He knew it'd turn out like this.
No way a normal greeting could've happened in this situation.
And quit calling him pretty boy.
"Ban Yu-won, first-year. Looking forward to working with you, seniors."
"We'll be seeing a lot of each other. Treat me like family."
Mira added slyly.
A single sentence that explained the Kettra situation without needing details, getting the point across instantly.
"It's... a bit hard to believe. Is fairy love always like this?"
"Whoa, so that's how it is? Wow..."
Began and Rica still looked incredulous.
But the moment they saw Mira's faint smile, both acted strangely obvious—awkward coughs and grins.
"Knew you two looked great together from the start, yeah!"
"Me too! And outsiders shouldn't meddle anyway!"
Ban Yu-won turned to Mira seriously, but she was already playing innocent with a prim expression.
The sole bystander, Graham, had an exasperated look.
"I'm done! Next up... accounting! You're it!"
"Understood. A chance to show everyone how transparently we record the student council books."
Began pushed up his monocle on his nose, stood, snatched Tike, and bolted.
He was running scared from Mira, sure... but Ban Yu-won tilted his head at how smoothly he started filming.
"How exactly did you practice?"
"Yu-won, you think this is our first time trying a shoot?"
"Ah, this guy's clueless about all the projects we tried to change the academy with."
The external affairs director, Rica, shrugged like it was some proud achievement, but Ban Yu-won saw through it.
"'All the projects' implies they all flopped, huh."
"Kyahahaha!"
The president burst out laughing at his sharp jab, then suddenly turned serious.
"Junior, don't you think fixating only on results is something to avoid?"
"I don't know any place that obsesses over results more than this academy."
The academy interior was so heavily influenced by the Tower that normal cameras couldn't function.
But Professor Campanella from the artifact creation department had pushed through countless studies and developments to overcome it...
And succeeded in creating a camera that could film and store up to five minutes of footage inside the academy!
"Of course, it breaks after one use, so we had to stockpile them and shoot in five-minute chunks!"
"What an insane money pit..."
Once the student council learned of it, they got Campanella's help and created a Union Academy Student Council channel on YouTube.
Starting with the intranet might've been better, but they figured building external recognition would be smarter for the long term than trying to shift the entrenched internal atmosphere.
And it bombed.
"Pardon?"
"Bombed. Spectacularly."
Rica sighed and elaborated on the president's overly succinct summary.
"Zero interest. We even debated stripping Mira for views."
"If you wanna strip, do it yourself."
Mira snapped back angrily.
But Rica looked unexpectedly sad at that, and the president patted her shoulder silently.
Ban Yu-won couldn't put it into words, but he got it completely.
As Mira tilted her head at the odd mood, Rica hurriedly changed the subject.
"Anyway! Even if Union Academy draws attention from all dimensions, we couldn't properly show the Tower and just uploaded vids of student council activities. Sure, our members are all hot... but bluntly, YouTube's full of good-looking people if that's all you're judging by."
"Now that you say it, that's obvious."
Ban Yu-won had thought Rebellion's channel grew fast because the members were attractive, but that was only a plus—the core content was solid.
On YouTube, drawing eyes from countless dimensions, looks were just a bonus, not the knockout punch!
"It was just boring. Unlike Rebellion's videos."
"Ugh. We worked so hard on those scripts."
Rica weakly agreed with Mira's blunt assessment.
Ban Yu-won nodded, noting Rebellion had really taken off once they started Tower explorations—then the president chimed in from beside him.
"But Rebellion's different. Nothing special about the footage, yet it's so fun you finish before you know it."
"Ah, same here."
"They had some super captivating ones."
"Me too. External affairs director, your turn."
"Okey-dokey~."
As the accounting director returned and handed off Tike, Rica snatched it eagerly and started filming with gusto.
That's when Ban Yu-won caught on.
"So that's why it's boring?"
"Huh?"
"You're all just reciting memorized scripts? We're promoting the student council, but you're literally only doing that."
For the umpteenth time, Ban Yu-won was a child of modern media society.
Growing up on Earth—where media was overwhelmingly advanced among countless dimensions—and mastering the power of language, he had the skills to produce and edit YouTube videos that held their own even amid all-dimensional attention.
It wasn't just the Tower climbs; he had the talent to make even casual group chats fun by 'staging' and 'delivering' them engagingly. That's why Rebellion's channel exploded so fast.
"We have to stage it. Make the student council look appealing, so future students trust and rely on us. Isn't that the point of the video?"
"Ahem, yeah..."
"Junior... that's a cool thing to say."
"Heh, too late to fall for me now."
Mira giggled lightly, hugging his arm.
He knew the president had no such feelings, but her earlier question and Mira's cute attempt at nonchalance while staying vigilant amused him, so he let it slide.
"But what now, junior? Footage is already shot."
"I did say no retakes."
"You did."
"That was a lie."
"Kyahahahaha!"
In the end, Ban Yu-won reshot from the student council entrance onward.
The first Union Academy Student Council promo video—born from ace director Tike's Earth sensibilities and producer Ban Yu-won, wielder of the Babylonia Code—emphasized the executives' strong, mysterious auras (using photon magic for lighting and even some illusions from Eve, not that he'd taught them to) led by the president, while downplaying mundane student council work into a dialogue format with Ban Yu-won and Mira.
The president was thrilled with the result, readily offering to grant Ban Yu-won any wish—and since he had something in mind to try with her, he pocketed the favor for later.
"So, what was it in the end?"
As they left the student council room after filming and walked the hall, Mira asked.
Ban Yu-won tilted his head and countered.
"What do you mean? I explained what I wanted to do with the president."
"Yeah, that's wild in its own way... but that's not what I meant."
Mira's cheeks flushed.
"Uh, the Ice Princess."
"You've been hung up on that?!"
"You didn't answer earlier."
Mira replied nonchalantly, but her twitching ears betrayed her embarrassment.
Did fairies always show emotions through their ears like this? Ban Yu-won thought as he replied,
"Aire and I are just friends. No sparks or anything."
"Riiight, sparks. Hmm, hmmm."
For some reason, Mira's mood skyrocketed.
Ban Yu-won noticed but pretended not to.
"Plus, you know Light's true nature. Even if I liked Aire, no way I'd be jealous of him."
"Love doesn't have set forms."
"No, really. Sorry about that."
"Anyway, good as long as it's not. It was bothering me."
"Bothering you?"
Mira nodded.
"Pink, Dokgo Yeon, and for good measure, Yumina the professor or As Light. They're Rebellion members, and you have this weirdly stable dynamic with them... Hard to wedge in between."
So she'd decided to accept it as-is, Mira said.
Wise call, Ban Yu-won thought.
Her intense first impression made her seem reckless, but she actually respected boundaries surprisingly well.
"But the princess... Aire's different. And yet she acts all chummy with you."
"Ah—yeah, no need to spell it out. I get it."
Unlike Rebellion, she wasn't someone Mira had to yield to.
"But nothing's there, right?"
Relieved perhaps, she bit back a smile and clung to his arm with both of hers.
"Excluding Rebellion, that makes me number one then."
"You remember the contract?"
"Of course. That's why. I gave you everything, so I'm all empty now."
So fill me up anew—.
Mira added in a murmur, smiling seductively.
No need for a corny "with what?"
It was settled the moment they made the contract.
This was why contracts needed caution. Ban Yu-won felt the soft sensation against his arm and thought so again.