Calm Before the Storm
After the full-scale war broke out.
The Hunters threw their weight behind strengthening public order, and the Villains hid their presence from society.
Naturally, the occurrence of crimes plummeted.
Academy City was no exception.
That was why.
"…."
While the world's atmosphere was turbulent,
the world was strangely peaceful.
However.
There was no one who did not know that this peace was only temporary.
It was merely the state of the weather being calm on the night before a storm arrived.
Before long, when the time came, a tempest would strike.
Many would die, and many would live.
People spent their daily lives seemingly no different from before, yet they could not help but reveal their anxiety.
Amidst that, time flowed on.
* * *
November.
The second semester was coming to an end.
"Graduation is already upon us…."
The fairy of the Guangming Seong family, Seong Dasom.
For her, facing graduation next year, it meant that life as a student had little time left.
She suddenly felt a pang of regret.
"Time really flies…."
Still, looking back, she was satisfied.
She had no regrets.
She was proud.
Above all.
'I even got married to Soohyeok….'
Even after graduating from the Academy, Eun Soohyeok would be with her.
Imagining a future where the two of them joined the clan operated by the Seolchang Eun family, Seong Dasom smiled.
She missed him.
She had to go meet him quickly.
She decided to hurry her steps.
Then, along the way.
"Ah, Eunsol junior!"
"Munch…. Hello, senior."
She ran into Cha Eunsol.
She was eating nuts.
"Where are you going?"
"To eat dinner with the kids. Munch, munch. What about you, senior?"
"I'm also going to eat dinner with my husband. Have you decided what to eat?"
"Munch…. We'll probably decide when we meet? Would you seniors like to come along?"
"Thank you for the offer, Eunsol junior, but my husband hasn't finished his work yet, so it seems difficult to eat together. So please invite us next time."
"Okey. I will."
Because there were circumstances where they had been expelled from families that were enemies to each other.
The two, who had been close from before, continued to converse amicably.
Then, just as they were about to part.
"Then I'll get going. Eunsol junior, enjoy your dinner."
"Munch, munch. You too, senior. And…."
Sneakily.
Cha Eunsol's gaze lowered.
Staring at one spot with green eyes, she soon rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a bag of nuts.
Seong Dasom tilted her head.
"Hm? Is that for me?"
"Yes. Please have some. It's good for your body. Good for your head too."
"Ah… thank you. I'll enjoy them."
Cha Eunsol offering snacks so readily—she wondered what the occasion was.
Feeling bewildered but grateful, Seong Dasom accepted the gesture.
Soon, Cha Eunsol turned her body.
"Then please take care of your health from now on. I'll be going."
"What? I'm always careful. See you next time."
Having said something meaningful, Cha Eunsol left without looking back.
Seong Dasom scoffed under her breath.
"She's strange sometimes…."
Continuing down the road,
she opened the bag and ate the nuts.
Crunch, crunch—the sound of chewing rang out.
They were savory.
'They're delicious.'
Smiling at the light satiety, Seong Dasom soon entered the student council room.
The student council members working inside treated her as if accustomed to her presence.
Seong Dasom greeted them with her eyes and entered the student council president's office.
"Honey! I'm here!"
"You're here? It looks like it'll take some time to finish what I'm working on, so sit there and rest. Or go eat with the kids outside."
"Then you'd have to eat alone. It's fine. Waiting here is a way to kill time too. So let's eat together."
"Sure, do as you like."
Eun Soohyeok was in the middle of working.
Seong Dasom sat on the sofa so as not to disturb him.
At that moment, the snacks on the table caught her eye.
She naturally reached out her hand.
"These are all the things I like?"
"I prepared them to your taste. But… we're going to eat dinner soon, and you're eating snacks?"
"I have a separate stomach for snacks. Ah, are you implying I eat too much?"
"No. Eat a lot. You look good when you eat, Dasom."
"Tch…. What if I gain weight?"
"You'd be cute even if you gained weight."
"Ugh… you really are…. But I do think I've gained weight lately. I have been eating more. I'm especially drawn to sweet foods. And also… hmm…."
"Sleepy?"
"I've been sleeping more these days too. I haven't overexerted myself or anything…. Ah, excluding sleeping with you. Or no, is it because of that? Should we cut back starting tonight?"
Yawning while nibbling on snacks,
Seong Dasom, burying herself in the sofa, giggled.
Eun Soohyeok let out a dry cough.
"That much is just good exercise."
"Hm… is that so? Well, fine. I want to do it too, after all."
"That's a relief."
"But I do get tired often. Is it because I'm being lazy? My career path is already decided, and it's my last semester so I'm relaxing. I resigned as student council president too."
"And here I am working like this."
"You're not resentful because of that, are you?"
"Of course not. I can do anything for you."
"Kkick. Thank you, honey."
"It's nothing. I'm done. Let's go eat now."
"Yes!"
Eun Soohyeok rose from his seat.
Seong Dasom quickly approached him and linked her arm through his.
The two of them left the student council room affectionately to have dinner.
Not long after.
"Strange…. It should have started by now…. Could it be…."
Feeling suspicious about her period not coming, Seong Dasom secretly used a pregnancy test.
The result.
"Oh my…."
It was two lines.
* * *
That day, Do Yeeik advised:
If you don't want yourself and the child who will one day be born to be looked down upon by the world, become strong, become great.
To that end.
"I'm going to run in the election."
"What? Why?"
Yeon Haneul decided to run in the student council president election to be held soon for next year.
Her reasoning was that if she were elected student council president of the nation's foremost Academy, representing the will of its students, she would surely be able to raise her standing.
She explained to Do Gyeonu.
"And since the student council president's duties involve helping Soohyeok senior often, I roughly know what it's like. So I think I could do well."
Twitching her rabbit ears.
Yeon Haneul showed confidence.
Do Gyeonu gave a bitter smile.
"Do it if you want to. I'll support you. Just don't overdo it. If you're forcing yourself to run because you're worried about the Patriarch's advice… I wouldn't want that."
"The Patriarch's advice is part of it, but I'm not forcing myself. Honestly, I was vaguely thinking about it while working as a student council member. I wanted to try challenging myself. But traditionally, the student council president is elected from students born in the Ten Great Houses. So I had given up inwardly… but now it's different. I think it's an opportunity for me."
"Because you're part of the Shingeom Do clan now?"
"Yes!"
Taking the Future Festival as a turning point.
Following Do Gyeonu, who had returned to his family, Yeon Haneul had been incorporated into the Shingeom Do clan.
She answered spiritedly.
She caressed her wedding ring as if it were incredibly precious.
Then she cautiously asked.
"But you know. Is it okay? Even if I become student council president. I was wondering if it might get in the way. Of the game's progression…."
"Aah… you don't need to worry. It wasn't an episode that was treated as important in the game. It doesn't affect the ending at all. In the first place, since the last episode has been moved up, what does it matter if the progression changes?"
"Then that's a relief. By the way, who became student council president in the game?"
"Junsik, from the Heukma O clan."
"Ah… I figured he'd win. That'll be tough. He's popular."
"Well… I think you might actually be at an advantage?"
"Why?"
"What decides superiority in the election is who recruits more representatives from the ten major disciplines. Swordsmanship has me, Alchemy has Yuri, Martial Arts has Haerang, Magic has Arin, and Spearmanship has Soohyeok senior locked down, right? Well, Soohyeok senior is the student council president so he probably can't openly support you… but you'll still benefit."
Furthermore, in Archery, Ham Minju; in White Magic, Seong Dasom; and in Spirit Arts, Cha Eunsol also held considerable influence.
Though not among the ten major disciplines,
Yu Ga-eul of the Assassin discipline, and Lisa, the princess of the Grace Empire, would also be able to exert some influence.
If so, that meant they had secured more than half of the total students.
That was Do Gyeonu's view.
But while Yeon Haneul was intrigued, she didn't completely relax.
"Hm… is that so? But I don't think the kids will unconditionally support me. For example, Arin. Haerang too…."
"Arin… hm… I suppose so. I'll try to persuade Haerang."
"How?"
"I'd have to really push her from behind, I suppose."
Do Gyeonu let out groaning sounds.
Finding him lovely, Yeon Haneul covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.
"Kkik. Then I'm counting on you. I'll try to persuade Arin somehow."
"She'll act reluctant at first, but eventually she'll put on airs while lending you her strength."
"That really does sound like Arin…."
"By the way, have you decided on a vice president candidate?"
"Yeah, I have someone in mind."
"Who?"
"Well, you see…."
The very next day.
Yeon Haneul went to find someone.
"So, umm… would you run in the student council president election with me?"
"What? Me?"
"Yeah. Be my vice president."
Lisa Grace, princess of the Grace Empire.
Having served as class representative two years in a row, and knowing how to care for people attentively, she would excel in the role of vice president.
Moreover, by being with her, she could stably draw out the collective will of the Grace Empire students.
That was Yeon Haneul's judgment.
"…."
Meanwhile, Lisa, who had received the sudden proposal, blinked blankly.
After briefly falling into thought, she responded with a bright smile.
"Yes, I'd love to. I actually wanted to raise my own standing too. Let's do our best together, Haneul."
And so.
The two began their election campaign.
* * *
Academy students who were not Hunters were excluded from the full-scale war.
However, they could not be complacent and think it unrelated to them.
This was especially true for students attending Geumgang Academy.
Because.
'Tacheon will raid the Academy.'
That was why.
I sought out So Hyeyul to deal with the incidents to come, the final episode.
When she heard the topic, her yellow eyes widened.
"Tacheon will raid? The Academy, not Haemongdong?"
"Yes."
"Hmm… it's hard to believe. Your predictions have all been correct so far, but would Tacheon really do that? The leader of the Villain Alliance raiding the Academy, deceiving the Hunters without any regard for his prestige…."
"No, he will appear in Haemongdong too. He'll have to appear in person to tie down the Ten Houses' Patriarchs and the renowned Hunters. However, he'll split his soul like the Puppet Ghost Girl."
"If so… it's not impossible. Sending eighty percent of his soul to Haemongdong and twenty percent to the Academy…. If what you say is correct, then this Academy will become a battlefield too."
Seeing So Hyeyul's look of acknowledgment,
I nodded.
Soon she asked.
"To the point of stabbing us in the back… why is Tacheon targeting our Academy?"
"It's the same as the previous full-scale war. It's also the reason the Chairman tried to fulfill his ultimate desire at the Academy."
"…You don't have to say the rest? He's after this place's spirit veins."
"Yes, because this Geumgang Academy is the point where all of Academy City's spirit veins intersect."
"So he's trying to fulfill his ultimate desire through this place's spirit veins. Declaring a full-scale war while secretly trying to fulfill his ultimate desire from behind the scenes…. He didn't show it outwardly, but inwardly he must be quite cornered. What a coward."
"That's right, he's a coward."
Even in the game.
When his plans were hindered by Gang Hanbyeol's party, Tacheon launched a surprise attack on Geumgang Academy while the world's attention was focused on the full-scale war.
And he tried to infiltrate the Academy's spirit veins with bugs called Tamhon, modified for a special purpose.
Using those bugs as a catalyst, he aimed to make all of Academy City into a magic circle to fulfill his ultimate desire.
'Hanbyeol and the kids would fight to stop that….'
In the game's final episode.
Geumgang Academy, having experienced So Hyeyul's death the previous semester, was in an extremely chaotic state.
Because of that, it was all the more vulnerable to Tacheon's surprise attack.
But in this world, where So Hyeyul had not died, things would be different.
'If we respond well to Tacheon's raid, we can minimize the damage.'
However, if.
If we cannot stop Tacheon's ultimate desire.
The world will be torn apart by Tacheon, and the Villains will reign like gods in that torn world.
They will achieve everything they desire and fall into the happiness of omnipotence.
Meanwhile, the Hunters and humanity, defeated in the full-scale war, will be reduced to fuel to maintain the Villains' world until the moment they die.
And someday.
'The world will be subordinated to the Gates….'
And thus.
Every being who lived in this world will be forever preserved, souls and all, regardless of their will.
A bad ending.
That was why.
"Then we'll have to take measures to prepare for Tacheon's raid. Unfortunately… we'll have to resolve it ourselves. The Hunters will be forced to focus on the full-scale war."
"It can't be helped. But we have the Chairman, Instructor Suhoguk, and the Witch on our side. We also have Soohyeok senior and Dasom senior."
"Oh? Are you excluding yourself, Gyeonu student? And Hanbyeol student, and the other friends are there too, aren't they?"
"No. We won't be there then. We have something else we must do."
"What? Something else you must do… what else is there?"
"Yes. Something more important. Which is…."
Because I know the future that lies ahead.
I will not hesitate.
Just as I have until now, continuing on.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss.