During middle school, the outcasts Hani and Dokgo Miro naturally became friends.
The main reason why they became close was because of their shared experience of being bullied and discriminated against.
Even so, the two knew to themselves that even if they didn’t have that shared experience, they would still be good friends.
On top of that, Dokgo Miro’s house and the nursery where Hani often was weren’t far from each other.
When the two got close, Dokgo Miro frequently visited the nursery and hung out with the people there.
Among them was the volunteer teacher Gong Cheonghwon.
At that time, Gong Cheonghwon was still a college student.
He brought in a band and played and sang in front of the kids, to which Dokgo Miro was greatly amazed.
“Cheonghwon oppa, you sing much better than my vocal teacher!”
“Thank you.”
“I’m serious! Please debut! Ah, do you want to debut with me? Oh, no I actually want to be a solo idol, but we can form a unit group sometimes.”
“I’m just doing band stuff as a hobby.”
Although Dokgo Miro’s proposal was rejected on the spot, Gong Cheonghwon still helped her improve her vocal skills.
Although her school life was still painful even after moving up a grade, her new homeroom teacher was indifferent to the students and it was actually more comfortable for Dokgo Miro than the last one.
Being friends with Hani and the others from the nursery made Dokgo Miro’s life more bearable.
But a problem appeared the year after Dokgo Miro and Hani became friends.
“Your dream is to become an idol?”
Dokgo Miro felt the creeps when she saw her new homeroom teacher’s face.
There was a lot of malice in the teacher’s eyes.
Not only did that teacher not have much passion for education, they also did not like children very much.
As Dokgo Miro later found out, the teacher only chose the job for a stable income and social status.
In Korea, the profession of teaching is considered sacred.
However, the education system places more importance on memorization to pass exams rather than having good character and vision for learning.
It’s only expected for this type of teacher to exist.
“You should be grateful that you’re a player born with talent and abilities. I can’t stand you.”
That teacher only liked being called one, but he didn’t really like teaching.
It’s easy to get caught physically bullying someone, so the teacher chose to mentally traumatize others.
He does so under the guise of discipline and education.
“Kids, Miro says she wants to be an idol so let’s go take a picture with her. Only when she stops saying that she wants to be an idol will we stop taking pictures, okay?”
Since then, Dokgo Miro lost her privacy at school.
The kids giggled as they photographed Dokgo Miro every moment they could.
She was photographed in all kinds of places on campus, and the kids put crazy narratives to it.
If she resists even a little, she’d be called a school gangster.
‘School violence records for idols is career-ending…!’
Dokgo Miro thought about several idols who were brought down because of discovered records of school violence.
Her parents have already sacrificed a lot to make her dream come true.
All Dokgo Miro could do was to keep her distance from Hani so she wouldn’t get involved in all the bullying.
As a result, at some point, Dokgo Miro gained some trauma from cameras and recording devices.
Dokgo Miro developed the ability to instinctively sense if there’s an operating recording device nearby.
When she realized that she had that ability, Dokgo Miro made a decision.
‘I won’t just be treated like this. They want to paint me as the school thug? We’ll see.’
She doesn’t feel fear when there’s no recording device.
From then, Dokgo Miro hid her face and body with masks and thick clothes and ran wild in the back alleys.
Starting with Gwangil, she swept around all the middle schools, destroying all the neighborhood bullies.
She reigned as the King of the Back Alleys, a ghost that can never be photographed.
‘…Although Hani was caught up because of ‘that incident.’
The middle school students of Eungwang District enjoyed a peaceful life.
Although she failed to go after the sly teachers, she was able to have a more serene middle school life after her bold decision.
However, when she was in sixth grade, she and Hani were caught up in an incident and eventually became awkward with each other.
Still, she graduated elementary school safely.
That private middle school was famous for poor attendance management.
The tuition is expensive, but it’s easy to be excused from class by presenting an absence report in advance.
Dokgo Miro then went to another school with lax attendance policies and was able to join the show Playlist.
However, her fear of recording devices still remains.
‘I’m still scared of cameras…’
She hates school, and she’s scared of cameras.
But she wants to be an idol.
She still yearned for a life beyond the spotlight.
Dokgo Miro could not give up on the dream that gave her strength during the difficult times.
‘Today’s the first day of the second semester in Eungwang High.’
She thought of Hani and the other kids.
She was worried when she heard strange rumors that Hani and the Eungwang Light Nursery were involved with a service company and some corrupt police officers.
Dokgo Miro was so worried that she personally went to the police station, and she destroyed the place to pieces as soon as she realized that the recording device in the station wasn’t functioning properly.
Fortunately, things seemed to have worked out.
Hani was also getting along with her classmates well.
‘What could a normal high school life be…?’
The classroom of the Year One Class Zero of Eungwang High.
An old semi-basement practice room.
For a moment, Dokgo Miro was torn between the two.
But that moment of hesitation was short as she headed to the practice room again today.
* * *
The second semester began at Eungwang High.
The most noticeable difference between now and the vacation was the students’ attire.
‘The school’s vibe is so different when the kids are actually wearing their school uniforms.’
Although, there was still quite a variation between the students who were in the new black uniforms and the old white uniforms.
Still, unlike the plain clothes that the kids wore during the vacation, the uniforms gave a feeling that everyone belonged to the same group.
Since the new semester began and new things are bound to happen, I felt excited.
However, the happiness was short and I began to feel depressed again.
It’s because of the newspaper article released today and the reaction of the kids who saw it.
[Red Wall Thief vs Phantom Thief]
‘That word’ appeared on the front page of the Eungwang High Newspaper website.
The front page was studded with praises and analyses of ‘that word’ and his actions.
I read about half of it before my hands shriveled in embarrassment.
The problem was that the newspaper department had unnecessarily excellent research skills, and they all work hard in obtaining information.
It wasn’t just the article that made me depressed.
[Yeom Junyeol] Hello, teacher! You’re on the front page of the school newspaper!
[Yeom Junyeol] (Link)
Yeom Junyeol, my good student, was so happy about it.
I appreciate it, but my hands and feet were already numb.
[Yeom Junyeol] I was so surprised by the extremely detailed analysis! They analyzed the expected escape route during the auction, but I wonder how it was really like in reality.
[Yeom Junyeol] Teacher, your activities were so well organized by timeline that I had to read the article three times! Although, there were parts that were different from what I think happened, so can I confirm which one’s right when we meet again for our lesson?
Yeom Junyeol sent me a stamp of Hongryong reading a newspaper.
Even after the Hongryong stamp, the stream of excited messages came from Yeom Junyeol.
Fortunately, he doesn’t really use ‘that word’ directly, but I still had a difficult time.
The horrors spawned from the article continued even in real life.
“Hey, Euishin!”
I heard an urgent voice calling me, and when I looked up, I saw Saeum of April.
He fell from the sky sharply and stood before me.
Perhaps thanks to Yong Jegun’s guidance, Saeum seemed to get better with his flight skills.
“Have you seen the school paper, Euishin?”
Saeum floated up a hologram that showed the article.
“Uhm… Did the print edition of the newspaper come out yet? I want a physical copy of the Red Wall Thief article and put it on my wall! If possible, can I get three or four copies of it?”
Does this mean, aside from his room in the April Clan mansion, his dormitory room also has ‘that word’ plastered all over his walls?!
Knowing that we live on the same floor, a cold chill went down my spine.
“…Is that really necessary?”
“Yes! Oh if the newspaper department is not going to release print copies, then I’m planning on printing it out myself.”
I could sense no malice from Saeum’s smiling face.
I couldn’t just ignore my playable character’s request, so I told him the scheduled date of printing and where the newspaper would be distributed.
I wasn’t happy, but Saeum was.
We headed to the classroom as I tried to think more of my classmate’s happiness instead of my agony.
* * *
Professor Ham Geunhyung, who started the assembly, spoke in a gentle voice despite of his rough face.
It must’ve been because our class’ attendance went up.
“It’s the first assembly of the second semester. I’m glad that you all came.”
Ten out of sixteen students from Year One Class Zero were present.
I, Hwang Jiho, Kim Yuri, and Hani have been here since the start of the first semester.
Kwon Lena and Maeng Hyodon started school in late March.
Saeum of April first attended school on April first.
Min Geurin and Song Daesok joined before the final exam.
And Mok Wooram, who joined our class during the vacation.
Having ten people in our class made everyone happy.
‘What could the other six be up to?’
Dokgo Miro would of course still be practicing to be an idol.
That leaves five other kids.
“…That’s all for the important announcements. If anything happens, contact the class president, vice president, or me. I hope you all would behave well. That’s all.”
When Professor Ham Geunhyung ended the assembly, Mok Wooram pointed to a panel with a class motto written on it.
The class motto of Year One Class Zero students.
‘Going to school on time.’
Everyone else was already used to it, but for Mok Wooram, it seemed to be a little strange.
“I understand that a class motto is a kind of educational goal and means values and virtues that the class wants to pursue. Is going to school on time the best value that this class wants to achieve?”
Mok Wooram still spoke in a stiff tone that makes it difficult for everyone to judge if he was good at speaking Korean or not.
Maeng Hyodon, who previously got scolded for saying the same thing, ignored Mok Wooram.
It was Kwon Lena who answered.
“Yep! We all hope that the other students in our class come to school soon.”
“I see! It is an excellent class motto then.”
Mok Wooram quickly agreed to Kwon Lena’s words.
I know Mok Wooram probably didn’t do it on purpose, but his elective subjects were all related to music, just like Kwon Lena.
Although Mok Wooram was a pushover, he’s a kid who studies well.
It will be a great help for Kwon Lena who has a hard time keeping up with her studies.
On the other hand, there’s another guy who’s making a fuss.
“Ah, what do you mean I have to take maths on the first day…”
Maeng Hyodon looked like he was about to throw up when he saw the timetable.
Among the current students, Maeng Hyodon was the only one who chose mathematics.
Kim Yuri and I tried to stop Maeng Hyodon as the class president and vice president, but he eventually chose math again.
Except for mathematics, all the subjects make use of our bodies rather than our brains, so the burden of studying would lessen significantly.
“Did you see the class materials posted by Professor Gong Cheonghwon?”
“Yeah. I think there’s a lot of materials this time too.”
Hani and I were able to enroll in Gong Cheonghwon’s class.
Gong Cheonghwan was in charge of the course ‘Deeper Understanding of Enemies’, and it felt like it’s improved from before.
The only problem was this guy.
“Hahaha! I’m looking forward to what kind of class this is.”
Hani stared at Hwang Jiho with a blank face.
