Chapter 924 – 924. Savior Of The Academy
“…I’m sorry, but could you help me? I’m stuck and can’t move.”
“Sure. Should I pull?”
“Y-yes…”
There was a hint of embarrassment in Namgung Hwayeon’s voice. She must have realized I was looking up her skirt from behind.
I grabbed Namgung Hwayeon’s ankles and pulled. She didn’t budge. I pulled harder.
“Ugh! Ouch, that hurts!”
“Ah, I’m sorry. But she’s not moving at all. Wouldn’t it be better to dig the ground to make more space?”
“…I had a feeling, but I guess so. A space weasel must have played a trick.”
A space weasel.
It’s a D-rank monster in this world.
It’s a long, white weasel with a red circle pattern. It has the power to manipulate space. It’s mischievous and surprisingly dangerous if you fight it.
‘…A space weasel appearing already isn’t according to the original story…’
In the original story, Namgung Hwayeon struggles to find traces of a monster and eventually encounters a space weasel.
‘It changed because I interfered.’
I lowered Namgung Hwayeon’s legs and stared intently at her skirt. I want to press down on the center of her panties.
“…I can feel your gaze. …Are you looking up my skirt?”
“Of course not. I’m just keeping watch to see if anyone else is coming. Ah, would it be better to call someone else?”
“No. It’s fine. It’s a space weasel’s prank, so it’ll be okay in about 10 minutes. …If someone comes, please hide the fact that I’m in this state.”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
After 10 minutes, Namgung Hwayeon entered the wall through the hole. I followed her.
“The space weasel went to the right. Fortunately, it didn’t enter the main building.”
“It must instinctively know that it’s dangerous to enter the main building.”
Namgung Hwayeon naturally walked to the left.
“That’s the direction the space weasel escaped. But I lost it. I don’t know exactly which way it went. Can you tell with your eyes?”
“It’s impossible. My spirit eye isn’t specialized for tracking. But… I can see where the space weasel went.”
“You can see?”
“I can see mana. The mana is flowing erratically where the space weasel passed. If it had been an hour ago, I wouldn’t be able to, but I can track it now.”
The space weasel can use its power to twist or fix space. It’s a tremendous power, but it can’t use it freely. That must be why it left traces of mana.
‘I can guess where it is without tracking it like this, but…’
To increase Namgung Hwayeon’s favorability, it’s better to track it together, even if it’s annoying. By the way, her favorability is 30 right now.
“I’m sorry, but I’d like you to help me until the end. If we leave the space weasel alone, the students will be harmed. I want to finish this today.”
“Who am I to refuse a request? I’ll help you.”
“Thank you. I won’t forget your help today, and I’ll be sure to repay you later.”
I took the lead. Namgung Hwayeon followed behind me. We talked as we walked. It was a trivial conversation about the academy.
“The suspicious person you mentioned, who do you think it was?”
“Hmm. I had a feeling they weren’t a student.”
“When I first heard that, I thought it was the person who brought the monster. But since that monster is a space weasel, that possibility is small.”
“Why?”
“Space weasels, among monsters, especially don’t follow humans. If they had a purpose, they would have brought a docile monster. In other words, my guess is that the suspicious person you saw and the space weasel are unrelated.”
That’s right. They’re unrelated.
“…It doesn’t seem like an outsider… Did I see wrong?”
“It could be a staff member. But we can’t be careless. There have been cases of criminals disguised as academy staff in the past.”
“Come to think of it, that suspicious person seemed to be walking towards the back of the academy…”
“The back of the academy? That’s where the artificial dungeon is. The inter-class competition is next week… I’ll report this to the teachers separately.”
“I’m not sure, though…”
“Even if it’s not certain, we need to check.”
I stopped. We had arrived at a warehouse a little away from the academy’s main building. It was a warehouse for storing desks, chairs, cleaning tools, and such.
The warehouse door was open, and I could feel the space weasel’s presence inside.
“Thank you for your help. I would have struggled quite a bit without you. I’ll take care of the space weasel…”
Namgung Hwayeon, who had drawn her sword from her waist, ran into the warehouse.
I watched her back and checked her status window.
『Name: Namgung Hwayeon
Strength: B Stamina: C+ Agility: C+ Durability: B- Mana: C-
Trait: Warrior (S)
Skills: Ghost Step (A), Shrink Earth (A+), Wind Blade (B-)
Favorability: 31』
Her favorability had increased by 1.
‘With this level of stats, I don’t need to interfere.’
I know Namgung Hwayeon’s personality well. Forcibly interfering in the battle would only lower her favorability.
She used her skill, Shrink Earth (A+). She kicked off the ground and dashed forward instantly. It was fast enough to look like she was teleporting. In fact, if Shrink Earth reaches S rank, short-distance teleportation is possible.
‘In the original game, using Shrink Earth (S) was quite fun.’
Squeak! Squeak?!
I heard the startled cry of the space weasel. Immediately after, the warehouse wall broke, and Namgung Hwayeon’s body floated into the air. I could see her white panties inside her fluttering skirt.
“Namgung Hwayeon, senior?!”
Namgung Hwayeon, who had spun around and landed on the ground, slowly got up.
“I showed a disgraceful sight. I was a little careless because the inside of the warehouse was narrow. I’m not hurt, so there’s no need to worry.”
Namgung Hwayeon rushed towards the space weasel again. The space weasel was startled and started to run away. The space around the space weasel distorted. Namgung Hwayeon dodged the distorted space and swung her sword. A wind blade aimed at the space weasel.
Kiiiiing.
With the sound of space vibrating, the space weasel, which had been running away, turned towards Namgung Hwayeon.
“A one-shot battle, huh? Fine. I’ll play along.”
Namgung Hwayeon, holding her sword in both hands, used Shrink Earth. In an instant, her body disappeared and appeared behind the space weasel. The space weasel’s body split, and it fell to the ground with blood.
Namgung Hwayeon put her sword back into its scabbard. I approached her. The space weasel was definitely dead.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to deal with the monster before any casualties occurred. Your abilities were definitely helpful. Have you ever thought about joining the disciplinary committee?”
“No. But if you need my abilities, I’ll help you sometimes.”
“Don’t take back those words. You might be really needed later.”
“I don’t do it for free either.”
“You can go back now. I’ll take care of the space weasel’s corpse and the broken warehouse.”
She took out her smartphone and talked to someone. It was probably the teacher in charge of the disciplinary committee.
I said goodbye to her and returned to the dormitory. I don’t want to deal with the annoying cleanup. I’m satisfied with raising her favorability by 1.
•••
Before the inter-class competition, all the first-year Class 1 students gathered in the lecture hall after school. There were three days left until the inter-class competition. They needed to coordinate and come up with a strategy.
“So, this is the strategy you guys came up with?”
“Yeah. Since the class president and vice president weren’t here, we came up with it ourselves.”
A man with shaggy black hair said. His name was Kang Ji-on. He was ranked 26th, putting him in the upper ranks.
“I’m busy, so I can understand, but… the vice president, Choi Da-yeon, wasn’t here either?”
“The vice president said she was busy too.”
I looked at Choi Da-yeon. She was sitting in the back, arms crossed, looking at us with a haughty expression. She didn’t look busy at all.
“You don’t seem busy today.”
Kang Ji-on pouted. He seemed to have a lot of complaints about me and Choi Da-yeon. It was understandable that he was angry since the class president and vice president had abandoned the class event. I understand.
However, separately from that, I was annoyed. How dare a guy show such a disrespectful attitude in front of me, the class president… But I held back for now.
“Half of you focus on hunting, and half of you focus on interfering? All the people focusing on hunting are in the upper ranks. What kind of strategy is this?”
Kang Ji-on’s eyes twitched.
“Class president. Why are you acting like this now? You haven’t even tried to come up with a strategy with us!”
“Hey, but this isn’t right. I’m changing the strategy. I’ll interfere with Class 4 alone. The rest of you focus on hunting. Okay?”
The lecture hall buzzed. I could feel their dissatisfaction.
“Haa.”
I sighed so that everyone could hear. Some of the students flinched. They were in the same class as me, so they knew roughly how bad my personality was.
I was gentle to the girls in my class, but not to the guys.
“Do as I say. That’s the best way to win.”
“…Don’t be ridiculous. Just because the class president is a little strong doesn’t mean you can take on the entire Class 4 alone. Did you forget that the top student is in Class 4?”
Kang Ji-on’s eyes were ominous. Behind him, more than five guys were glaring at me with wide eyes. The dissatisfaction they had been building up against me was about to explode.
Hold back.
I can persuade them with words.
…But do I really need to persuade them with words?
The moment that question arose, my hand moved on its own. I slapped Kang Ji-on’s right cheek.
Whack!
The sound was a bit too intense for a slap. Kang Ji-on couldn’t even scream and fell to the floor. Blood was flowing from his nose and mouth.
“Damn it. You little shit has been acting up since earlier. I’m the class president. The leader of this class. If you’re weaker than me, shut your mouth and do as I say. Got it, you little shit!”
“You son of a bitch!!”
Kang Ji-on jumped up from his seat. His mana moved towards his legs. Thwack! I stepped on Kang Ji-on’s right instep first. My palm swung again.
Wham!
Kang Ji-on fell to the floor.
“Know your place. If this wasn’t the academy, you would have been torn to pieces by my hands. You little shit.”
I kicked Kang Ji-on’s body. Kang Ji-on tried to get up, but my leg stopped him every time.
“Cough, cough! Cough!”
Kang Ji-on eventually curled up and just got stepped on.
“Stop! Yoo-jin, stop it!”
Kim Cheon-woo appeared, grabbed my arm, and pulled me away.
“Ah, damn it, let go, this guy needs to be hit more.”
“Calm down! And honestly, you’re the one who’s wrong. Calm down!”
Kim Cheon-woo was serious. If I went any further, I felt like I would end up fighting Kim Cheon-woo. I didn’t think I would lose to Kim Cheon-woo, but I needed to avoid completely ruining my relationship with him.
I clicked my tongue and stopped beating Kang Ji-on.
I looked around. The atmosphere had turned cold. The guys who had been giving me rebellious looks avoided my gaze.
“Keep today’s events a secret. If it gets out and becomes annoying… I won’t let it slide.”
I warned the entire class with murderous intent. Some of them looked like they didn’t care at all, and some were terrified.
“And for the inter-class competition strategy, do as I say.”
“Yoo-jin. Even so, that strategy seems a bit unreasonable.”
“Kim Cheon-woo. Are you stronger than me? Can you win if you fight me?”
“……No.”
“Then do as I say. I don’t listen to anyone weaker than me.”
“…….”
Kim Cheon-woo closed his mouth. He had a complicated expression. He helped Kang Ji-on, who had fallen to the floor, up.
“…Class president. Even so, that’s not right.”
A female student said in a trembling voice.
I scratched the back of my head and said,
“Really? If you say so, I guess I can’t help it…. Then, shall we rethink the strategy?”
An awkward silence fell around us. Kim Cheon-woo looked at me as if he was dumbfounded. I avoided his gaze.
•••
“…Miss. I didn’t want to say this, but that guy… he’s definitely a psycho among psychos. It’s best not to get involved with him.”
Lee Kang-hoo, Choi Da-yeon’s lackey, who had been severely beaten by Sung Yoo-jin on the first day of school, said to Choi Da-yeon in a low voice.
Choi Da-yeon frowned.
“Who said you could talk to me so carelessly?”
“I-I’m sorry, Miss. I was just worried…”
“Haa…. You don’t know anything. That’s called charisma. He deliberately went overboard to take control of the class.”
“……He looked like he had anger management issues to me.”
Choi Da-yeon glared at Lee Kang-hoo. Lee Kang-hoo closed his mouth.
“Sung Yoo-jin is more thoughtful than he seems. If you don’t know anything, shut up.”
“…….”
Lee Kang-hoo held back the sigh that was about to come out of his mouth.
The unpredictable Sung Yoo-jin and the Miss who was strangely favorable towards Sung Yoo-jin. Lee Kang-hoo felt like he was going to go bald from the immense stress.
