Chapter 64
Wednesday, after all lectures had ended.
After receiving a ssage from Yun Jeongseop, I headed to the Hall of Justice.
The ssage contained nothing in particular, but he was probably going to bring up the disbandnt of the Mystery Club.
The disbandnt episode was an incident that took place after the Spring Scholastic War ended, yet, strangely, no system window was appearing to announce the episode.
I had not paid much attention to minor sub-episodes, but they had always appeared right on ti.
But if it was not being announced like this…
“It ans the story’s progression has begun to deviate significantly from the original tiline… is that how I should take it?”
Losing the thread of the episodes was the worst possible scenario, but it was sothing I would have to accept eventually.
The only problem was that it was happening sooner than I expected.
“At this rate, I will not graduate from Hero Prep, let alone advance.”
How was I supposed to handle bizarre villains pouring out faster than they ever did in the original work…?
“Ha… this is insane.”
Lost in thought, I arrived at the Hall of Justice and quickly found the classroom.
When I opened the door, all the mbers of the Mystery Club were already gathered inside, every one of them wearing a grave expression.
“You are here.”
Yun Jeongseop’s brief greeting.
I gave a light nod, then spoke to the only outsider standing beside him.
“Why is the president here?”
The Student Council President, Yu Hyeonjeong.
But it was Yun Jeongseop who answered.
“The Student Council oversees cadets’ club activity authority.”
“So this eting is about that?”
“Yes. The principal’s declaration to disband all club activities that have lost their aning and purpose.”
Yun Jeongseop looked around at us one by one and continued.
“Even I, as the Mystery Club’s advisor, received a recomndation. To disband the club.”
His tone made it sound as if it had nothing to do with him.
Unable to watch any longer, Yu Hyeonjeong cut in.
“It is not that they will disband you unconditionally. They are telling you to et the conditions appropriate for a club. The Mystery Club has few mbers, and there is almost no related activity. There is no external exchange with other academies, and no related presentations, either.”
She pulled a sheet from the docunts in her hand and passed it to , the club president.
The official notice listed the conditions for club activity.
Every one of them was sothing the Mystery Club would struggle to et.
“But if you fulfill the conditions listed in the docunt by the end of this month, aning within the next two weeks, you can avoid disbandnt.”
Looking at the stated conditions, I swallowed a hollow laugh.
eting all of this within two weeks was not realistic.
Sure enough, Yun Jeongseop spoke firmly.
“No. We will disband.”
“Instructor!”
“Instructor…”
Cha Yeri, who had been listening quietly, spoke.
“What about the vice principal’s opinion? From the beginning, the Mystery Club…”
Cha Yeri glanced at Yu Hyeonjeong and trailed off.
She had probably been about to say, The Mystery Club was created under Vice Principal Park Cheolyeong’s instruction.
Yun Jeongseop understood the context, but his only answer was to shake his head in silence.
“…I see.”
It ant Vice Principal Park Cheolyeong had let go of the Mystery Club.
In truth, ever since Principal Kim Shinwoo returned, the points allocated to the Mystery Club had been cut off.
Kim Shinwoo was not the type to leave abnormal point distributions alone, and after the Countdown incident, the Mystery Club had beco a useless card to Park Cheolyeong.
So it had drifted along in ambiguity, until it finally hit a crisis with Kim Shinwoo’s decision.
“Should we not refrain from deciding so quickly, and instead look for a way to et the conditions during the grace period we were given?”
Among us, only the outsider, Yu Hyeonjeong, showed a positive attitude.
Probably because she wanted to look good in front of Lee Eunho.
When we showed no particular reaction, her gaze naturally shifted to , the club president.
At the sa ti, as if ordering to say sothing, she frowned.
Pressed by her insistence, I looked over the notice again.
“Insufficient mbers, club room undetermined, missing activity reports, unqualified activity topic, failure to submit regular promotional publication…”
After listing the reasons for disqualification written on the notice, I lifted my head.
“It seems doable. It is just a bit annoying.”
“What?”
Yun Jeongseop’s brow tightened subtly.
He had likely received an order from Park Cheolyeong to ensure the club was disbanded.
“So I am saying I will run the club properly. Then there is no problem, is there?”
“…Ji Seokhyeon, what sche are you plotting now?”
“A sche? I simply do not intend to leave the Mystery Club. There is no interference from seniors, it does not waste much ti, and even the advisor instructor neglects it. Why would I want to be chased out of such an ideal club?”
“……”
Lee Eunho could not leave.
Because of the promise he made with during Countdown.
Cha Yeri was the sa.
As she had told a few days ago.
And above all, if the club was disbanded, I had nowhere to go.
As a social care beneficiary, and a troublemaker, there was no place that would take .
Of course, I did not need to keep up club activity for my own sake, but with the protagonist gone, I had to lead the original story myself.
“Yes! First, it would be best to recruit mbers. Then we can decide an activity topic and visit regions related to superpowers to produce an investigation log.”
Yu Hyeonjeong’s agreent.
But I shook my head openly.
“I am sorry, but I do not plan to recruit mbers.”
“What? What did you just say?”
“The Mystery Club’s purpose is neglect. If we are going to recruit mbers, it is better to just join a new club.”
“Cadet Ji Seokhyeon, if you do it like that, you will not be able to avoid disbandnt.”
She was right.
No matter the conditions, recruiting mbers ca first.
But it was dangerous to let outsiders into the Mystery Club, which would be dragged into all sorts of incidents from now on.
If I used Lee Eunho and Cha Yeri’s na recognition, we could recruit mbers instantly, but neither of them would want that.
Besides, the original work already had the answer.
A thod to keep the Mystery Club without recruiting mbers, without falling out of Kim Shinwoo’s favor, and to settle it within the crisis of an episode…
I spoke seriously.
“Let us form a coalition club. Let us broaden our perspective.”
“…Ah, so you an sharing club activities with other academies?”
“Yes. You understand quickly.”
“……”
For a mont, silence fell over the classroom.
Perhaps they found my suggestion absurd, because they only stared at with blank expressions.
You know how, when sothing is truly ridiculous, words do not even co out?
It looked exactly like that.
Within that silence, a familiar nasal chuckle slipped out.
“Hmph.”
It was Cha Yeri.
But as if she had never laughed, she quickly put on an innocent expression and spoke.
“What Cadet Ji Seokhyeon ans is that we should step outside the authority of club activities regulated by the academy, correct?”
“Yes. Simply put, we remove the need to recruit mbers. If we link our activities with clubs, circles, and organizations of other academies that share the sa the, we can maintain the club with minimal personnel.”
“Wait.”
Yu Hyeonjeong cut in.
“I am sorry to say this, but it seems you do not understand the situation of the 4th Scholastic District because you are from the outskirts.”
“What situation?”
“For the academies of the 4th Scholastic District, club activities are an important factor that stimulates competitive spirit. The Spring Scholastic War is the representative example. In practice, club activity is the only thod to determine superiority over other academies.”
A world where superpowers existed, and monsters existed.
In such a world, competition with others was a crucial elent.
The academies of the 4th Scholastic District vented that through club activities.
Superpowered sports.
Yu Hyeonjeong’s point was that, even before we tried to create a coalition club, it would be difficult to obtain cooperation from other academies.
The likelihood of Hero Prep’s baseball team training together with Bloody Espers Academy’s baseball team?
I would wager it would be a blessing if they did not beat each other with bats.
“Um…”
Lee Eunho spoke.
“If we cooperate with clubs that do not involve competition… it might not be completely impossible.”
“Cadet Lee Eunho?”
“I think there would be areas where we could help each other. For example, the Library Club could use another academy’s library, or a drama club could build a stage together with new people.”
“That part is certainly positive, but… how exactly do you plan to implent that within two weeks? And what if Hero Prep opposes it?”
While the two talked, I glanced at Yun Jeongseop’s expression.
Because it was such a fanciful topic, I expected him to shut it down at once, but he was listening with a surprisingly serious face.
Or perhaps it was so absurd that he was thinking about sothing else.
I stole the question aid at Lee Eunho.
“We ask soone who will not oppose it for help.”
“Who would that be?”
“There is soone within Hero Prep who wants a title more than anyone else.”
“…Do not tell .”
Yu Hyeonjeong looked at as if she were already sick of it.
Ignoring her gaze, I spoke to Yun Jeongseop.
“Is that person busy right now?”
***
We t Vice Principal Park Cheolyeong.
We did not go to the main building.
We called him here, where the Hall of Justice was.
Because Principal Kim Shinwoo would be in the main building.
I told him everything up to this point.
Including the detailed outline of the coalition club, just as the original work described it.
After hearing my explanation, Park Cheolyeong pondered with a heavy seriousness.
But when his thoughts began to drag, I poured on the flattery as if being chased by the pace of the story.
“For academies, club activities are a competitive elent. But what about the academies established relatively recently? For them, with their students’ overall competitiveness being low, collaborating with Hero Prep would be a very sweet proposal.”
“That would be so…”
“And we do not need to collaborate with every academy. First, we flip over the Spring Scholastic War’s ranking table. We make proposals to the academies at the very bottom. We tell them to pursue cultural exchange that benefits everyone, without competition.”
“…But if you attempt it and instead create negative public sentint, what will you do?”
As expected, Park Cheolyeong worried about practical matters.
“If the negative sentint is rooted in competitive club culture, then we can exclude clubs and circles that participate in the academy leagues. And if the sentint still grows fierce, they are simply petty people who cannot stand seeing us succeed. Besides…”
“…?”
“Is this not Hero Prep? Since when did we worry about other academies’ opinions?”
It was arrogant, but not wrong.
Most social leaders were alumni of Hero Preparatory School.
Tacitly, the reality was that if you could not graduate from Hero Prep, you could not sit in the Director-General’s seat.
As the first academy, the one that produced the most A-rank Hunters, and the one that carried the legitimacy of having been founded by heroes, Hero Prep held aning beyond an academy in the world of awakened beings.
“It will likely be an opportunity not only for us, but for you as well, Vice Principal. A coalition club would take on a role that influences the entire 4th Scholastic District. At its center—no, above it—you would be seated. Sothing like… the chairman of the coalition club committee.”
“Chairman… But how would simply sharing club activities create influence?”
“Of course, that alone is not enough. But does the 4th Scholastic District not have one rather successful event? The Spring Scholastic War?”
“Hm?”
“We benchmark it. We could call it the Autumn Arts War, perhaps.”
“The Autumn Arts War…”
“Under clear autumn skies, we display artwork throughout the alleys. Music flows in the streets, and at night we build a splendid stage to close it all out. In short, we showcase the students’ efforts across the entire 4th Scholastic District. If necessary, we can invite celebrities, and if we sell related rchandise, it will be a tidy profit. Considering the influence of the 4th Scholastic District and Hero Prep, it will quickly draw attention, and it will settle as a fairly successful festival. And if fortune favors us… it could even beco another tradition of the 4th Scholastic District.”
“……”
“Ah, and then you would beco the inaugural chairman.”
Could I have spun sweeter words than this?
As an aside, I felt I had added even more embellishnt than the original work did.
As I finished, I gauged Park Cheolyeong’s reaction, and he seed to be studying my expression as well, eyes sharp.
“There is sothing I wish to ask.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you trying to keep the Mystery Club to this extent?”
Why I wanted to keep the Mystery Club.
It was simple.
If I did not go through this troubleso process, a large portion of the episodes would collapse.
I was doing what Lee Eunho should have been doing in the original work.
Nothing more, nothing less.
But I could not answer that directly.
“So why were you listening so seriously to a ridiculous suggestion from a re cadet?”
“That is… because our interests aligned.”
The answer I wanted.
“It is the sa for . How often does soone from a social care background get a chance to maintain ties with the heir of Hyeonseong Group and a promising cadet? I am simply doing my best to entangle myself.”
A pretense so thick it had thorns.
Even Park Cheolyeong, listening, wore a clearly unsatisfied expression.
“Hm. You are still a cadet whose true thoughts I cannot read. …Well, fine. I will take your opinion into account. But it seems the ti given is short.”
“Short is an understatent. We need to begin behind-the-scenes work right now.”
“Do you have sothing in mind?”
“First… we have to persuade Hero Prep’s clubs. We will leave that part to Cadet Yu Hyeonjeong.”
Yu Hyeonjeong, who had been listening silently, jolted.
“Why am I being dragged into this?”
“Did you not say the Student Council oversees club activity authority?”
“That is true, but… I think this is sothing I need to consider.”
“Lee Eunho will be right beside you, helping.”
“…Pardon?”
This ti, Lee Eunho glared at .
But soon, as if resigned, he forced a smile and turned to Yu Hyeonjeong.
“I will move with you. That will be easier.”
“Well, if that is the case…”
She seed thoroughly taken with him.
I did not think it had been this bad in the original.
Turning back to Park Cheolyeong, I said,
“Then the only thing left is to obtain the principal’s permission.”
Perhaps the most important part of all.
Park Cheolyeong spoke in a sowhat heavy tone.
“I will do it. I have no choice but to.”
“Then I will prepare the operating principles and related docunts. As for Cadet Cha Yeri—”
When I turned to Cha Yeri, she cut off with a sly smile.
“I will move with Cadet Ji Seokhyeon.”
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