1. How to Build a Character (2)
“Unnie, you need this!”
“Noona, you need this too!”
“No, it’s fine……”
As I packed my bags, the younger kids kept coming up to me, trying to press all sorts of trinkets into my hands. I could tell they were thinking of me in their own way, but I carefully turned down their cute gesture.
“I’ll make lots of money and come back.”
I smiled and rubbed the head of Ganghun, who was seeing me off in front of the group of kids.
“Don’t overdo it.”
“Yeah.”
Having left the warm send-off of my orphanage family behind, I arrived at the entrance of Guardian Academy.
Built like a giant island in the middle of the city, Guardian Academy was surrounded by an outer wall around its vast grounds. Large drawbridges located on the east, west, south, and north connected the inside and outside, allowing people to come and go; perhaps because it was the entrance ceremony day, countless people were passing through.
As directed, I went to the reception desk at the eastern gate entrance. There, I was provided with a tablet-like device.
Soon, a message appeared on the device.
[Gang Nahyeon: Class F]
With these specs, of course. Not surprising at all.
“The bus to the auditorium is now departing!”
Even getting around inside these vast academy grounds was done by shuttle bus.
Various scenery passed by beyond the bus window. Training grounds, dormitory buildings, walking trails, a downtown area with gathered shops, and so on.
Having all sorts of convenient facilities was the academy’s consideration, so that one could focus on building their strength while living entirely within the academy without needing to go outside.
The children looked outside, exclaiming in admiration whenever a new place appeared, or quietly making their eyes shine.
I marveled at the scenery exactly as described in the novel, then soon lowered my gaze to my device to check the dormitories and other precautions.
There was nothing particularly eye-catching.
If there was one problem, it was that there was a curfew in the school rules. 10 PM.
……I’m sure in the original novel, the protagonist and his party went wandering around in the middle of the night, didn’t they?
No, if I worry about it, I lose. Let’s not worry about it.
The auditorium I arrived at was packed with people.
I lined up at the placard that said “Class F,” and as if I had arrived just in time, the entrance ceremony began immediately.
Maybe because it was Class F, people around me kept glancing and whispering.
This filthy strength-supremacist academy. Just you wait. I’ll climb up soon enough.
The boring formalities that always came with an entrance ceremony passed by. After the sermon time of numerous outside figures, the principal’s address followed.
A woman with impressively long, wavy hair and a mature aura, who looked to be at most in her mid-to-late twenties.
A sexy noona-type heroine with the setting of being much older despite her young appearance. The type who said suggestive lines like, “If you’re interested, want to spend the night together? Oho, I’m joking.”
I lamented the trashiness of this novel that made even the principal a heroine, and let her sermon go in one ear and out the other.
As time passed, finally the highlight part, the freshman oath time, approached.
The freshman oath was done by Deomdeomi—so the game protagonist?
“Freshman oath, Park Siu. As a student of this school…….”
Come to think of it, there was a scene where the scammer muttered some cringeworthy line like “I’ll live on in this world!” while watching Deomdeomi do the freshman oath.
“I shall live on, O world……!”
Ah, this was it. Exactly the voice I imagined.
……Huh?
When I looked to the side, a beautiful young man with black hair, red eyes, and a cat-like face was clenching his fist tightly with a serious expression.
Is this guy the scammer?
……The glances and whispering were probably not because we were in Class F, but because of this notorious protagonist sitting next to me. As expected of a (former) villain character. His reputation was quite bad.
Still…… I couldn’t miss this opportunity. Operation “Sunshine,” commence.
I made eye contact with the scammer. I flashed a bright smile at him as he gazed at me blankly.
“Hey, hi!”
“Huh? Oh, hi.”
That’s right.
The character I’d decided on was none other than a “sunshine char.”
As expected of a harem novel, there were so many characters with various attributes that this was the only remaining choice. Damn it.
The scammer answered hesitantly, seeming flustered by my appearance as I smiled widely and initiated conversation.
“What’s your name? I’m Gang Nahyeon!”
“Me…… you don’t know?”
“Huh? Who are you? Are you a celebrity?”
“Na Yuhan” before the scammer possessed him—that is, the villain extra in the game, Na Yuhan—was famous in Awakened society. As the delinquent who represented Awakened society.
Womanizing? Basic. Violence? Essential. Drinking? Obviously.
In a way, you could say he was a kind of celebrity.
He’d appear in the news at the drop of a hat, but strangely, his real name was never revealed and he was always referred to as “a certain individual.”
This was because the Na Clan was a prestigious family that wielded tremendous power in Awakened society.
Of course, if you just looked at internet news comments, you could figure out his identity, so it was like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. But if you were far removed from internet news, it was a different story.
In other words, a civilian who had no interest in Awakened society might not know Na Yuhan!
“……No. I’m Na Yuhan.”
“Yuhan, then. Nice to meet you!”
In this operation, “I” was a dull, innocent child from an orphanage who knew nothing about “Na Yuhan.” A “convenient” child who tried to believe in the other person first even after hearing bad rumors.
I smiled happily and shyly as if I really knew nothing.
“You see, I’m a government-supported Awakened. So I’m someone who doesn’t know anyone here, which feels a bit awkward.”
I naturally dropped “my” background. In other words, it was an appeal saying, so I might not know much about you!
The scammer nodded as if convinced by my words.
There were two types of Awakened in this world.
Prestigious families who utilized the hereditary traits of awakening to become a family of Awakened and wielded power, and the Awakened born into the “Awakened society” formed by these families.
And “government-supported Awakened,” individuals with talent who occasionally appeared during civilian investigations and were awakened through government support.
“So I’m worried if I can keep up with the academy’s pace. Yuhan, do you know a lot of people here?”
“I’m from an Awakened clan, so roughly, yes.”
“I see! Amazing! Do you know how to handle your abilities too? I have no idea about anything!”
“……Well, who knows?”
The scammer smiled slyly.
You know very well, you original-game otaku bastard.
This otaku guy flaunted his knowledge of the original work like crazy in the novel. Even me, who read it lightly, couldn’t forget it.
But wasn’t that knowledge going to be a great help to me now? I welcomed it the more he knew about the game—that is, this world.
“Ah, tell me!”
I deliberately put on an aegyo voice (*ugh*), clasped my hands together, and looked up at him.
……If I wanted to scrape some crumbs off this guy, I’d have to get used to this kind of thing. Tears were falling.
I acted like a clingy government-supported Awakened who wanted to rely on just about anyone.
Awakened from the Awakened society generally showed outstanding ability in both controlling their powers and utilizing information compared to government-supported Awakened. Because they had lived in Awakened society since childhood.
In this strength-supremacist Guardian Academy, where support was also given in order of ability, government-supported Awakened were naturally often weeded out.
It was common for government-supported Awakened to cling to Awakened from the Awakened society whom they had connections with in order to escape that swamp. There were also cases where this weakness was exploited to make subordinates.
At worst, my current actions would be seen as that kind of clinging. I wouldn’t be suspected of approaching this guy intentionally.
“Moving out.”
“Ah, let’s go!”
By perfect timing, the entrance ceremony ended and it was time to move to the classroom.
As I hurried my steps, the conversation with Na Yuhan naturally cut off.
Right now, he didn’t seem very interested in me. He must be preoccupied thinking about his strategy for surviving the academy from now on.
That was fine.
‘Unlike the Awakened from the Awakened society who look at the scammer with extremely prejudiced eyes, the value of government-supported Awakened who are less prejudiced won’t disappear.’
In the early days when his specs were lacking too, the people the scammer needed as a foothold for his activities were clearly the latter.
And among the government-supported Awakened, I was the ranged dealer type who could fully earn his keep with just a little support.
Moreover, the operation the scammer carried out first to find the hidden piece could only be performed smoothly with my skill.
Without me, the scammer guy would have to struggle alone with his insufficient specs. Rather than that, it was better to hire me and have me shoot guns like crazy.
If I could appeal to that one point, I’d be able to join the protagonist’s party without issue in the early stages.
Still, if possible, I should expand my own network as well, making my value appear higher from the scammer’s perspective.
“I want to make lots of friends~”
I began speaking to the government-supported Awakened like myself with an expression full of excitement.
They were easy to distinguish. The majority of Class F were government-supported Awakened, and I just had to pick out the children filled with anticipation and nervousness about this new society.
Since I chimed in with them well, just like when talking to the orphanage kids, everyone quickly approached me warmly.
The conversation topic started with something everyone could moderately relate to, like “the excitement of the first day of school,” and flowed to a safe conclusion about all doing our best together going forward.
“Let’s work hard together!”
“Fighting!”
“Escape F-rank!”
“Ah, come to think of it, I heard some tips for school life, so I’ll share them.”
Perhaps because the atmosphere seemed good, the group of freshmen surrounding me instantly grew larger.
After all, it was still the first day of school for children bloated with the dream of having hit the lottery called Awakening. As I fanned their hopes, everyone chattered joyfully.
Soon, the students who arrived in the classroom sat back down with those they had become friendly with.
I naturally sat with the group I had just gathered, and invited the scammer who had been following behind.
“Yuhan! Sit with us too!”
At that, some of the children’s expressions became uncomfortable.