Chapter 81
Ray Pendragon.
His name was as mythical as his place at the Seoul Hero Academy.
The son of a British nobleman, he came to the Academy to study abroad at the school with the most prestigious curriculum of all.
As soon as he entered the academy, he grasped the system and founded a club in his first year, and in his second year, he rose to the rank of Diamond Club. He also took control of the student council.
He can be said to be the protagonist of a web novel.
“We, the student council of Seoul Hero Academy, welcome you! The blue-haired one is the president. I wonder if the dark-haired one is the vice president?”
Ray Pendragon looks at each of us in turn, then smiles broadly.
“Now, why don’t you take a seat? I didn’t call you here to scold you or anything, so there’s no need to stand around like that.”
I do as he says and look at the table in front of me.
Except for the head of the table, where Ray Pendragon was sitting, all the seats were taken by people of lesser rank than him.
……Funny.
After hearing his words, I pulled out a chair after the oldest person sitting at the nearest empty seat, and I──
“……Huh?”
I placed the chair across from the president and sat down.
He looked at me with an amused expression and raised his eyebrows.
Julie, who was standing next to Ray Pendragon, looked surprised, but I knew better than anyone that he wasn’t the kind of man to get upset over something like this.
“If we’re going to talk about this, why don’t we do it face to face, student council president.”
“Yeah. You don’t even have to turn your head, so I guess that’s okay. Have a seat!”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
With that, the members of the student council took their seats until I took mine.
Among them was Seo Yeon-soo, whom I had met while preparing for the all-out war.
Amidst the tense atmosphere, it was Julie, who was sitting next to the student council president, who spoke up first.
“Choi Yeon.”
“Yes.”
“You got the second best score in the recent class ranking match. It says that you played the biggest role in deciding Class C to be second in the overall class ranking?”
“Yes.”
“First in entrance grades. During the entrance exam, you pulled out a knife and went for the throat of Instructor Ji-hyun……? Is this true?”
The members of the student council began to murmur at Julie’s words.
Among them, Pendragon still maintained a smile as if he was having fun.
“Yes.”
“May I ask why you acted like that?”
“She told me to do what I was most confident in……so I swung the sword I was most confident in.”
Julie gives her a look of incomprehension. Then her gaze turns to me.
“Eugene Han. Top scorer in the recent class ranking match. It says you played the biggest role in making Class A number one. Wow, junior. You’re a great guy, aren’t you?”
Julie stares at me as she says that but I just shrugged my shoulders in response.
“Let’s see…… Yeah, the record says it’s the best in the academy. Can I ask what happened?”
“No.”
“Oh, you mean…… huh?”
Julie’s eyes widen as if she’s misheard.
“What did you just say?”
“I said no.”
Why would I tell her that?
I don’t have anything to gain by telling her anyway so I decided not to answer.
“Well, if you don’t want to answer, I can’t help it…… then why don’t you tell me what you did on your entrance exam? Uh, what? Shooting Instructor Ji-hyun in the head with a sniper rifle? No, I mean, who would play a prank on the entrance exam record…….?”
“Oh, that’s true.”
“Right? A prank…… is true?”
……Wow, human eyes can get that big.
Still, since it’s true, I can’t lie about it.
I nodded, and Ray Pendragon, who was sitting next to the bewildered Julie, started laughing.
“Snipe at the instructor……! Krhhhh……!
As the student council president, who is holding his stomach and banging his head on the table, begins to laugh, Julie gives him a liberated look, as if she’s given up.
“Yeah, well, the presidents and vice presidents in each class have always been weirdos…… so I guess that makes sense. Well then, here’s the deal…….”
“Julie, wait. I’ll tell them this.”
Finally,
“You two, why don’t you join the student council?”
What Ray Pendragon called us here for.
Student Council recruitment.
The current Student Council President, who will be stepping down next semester so he has to find a successor to take over after but I wasn’t surprised, as I had already heard this beforehand.
I just thought, “Oh, it’s coming,” and that was it.
Pendragon continued.
“Being a member of the student council will give you benefits you can’t imagine. You’ll basically be pretty free from school rules, you’ll be able to control your student fees, and most importantly, you’ll be viewed differently by the outside world. What do you think, does it sound appealing?”
Pendragon suggests to us with a smug look on his face.
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
The idea of running the student council in the Academy route was very appealing.
As is often the case in these games, the student council has a lot of power and is able to manipulate the school system to a small degree.
In real life, there’s an urban legend that if you’re in student council and don’t get a car, you’re an idiot, so if you have that kind of power, you can do a lot more.
If I had been offered this as an ordinary character, I would have taken it in a heartbeat…….
But I am now the heir to the Corleone family.
With a background like mine, the student council route did more harm than good.
‘It’s either money or power.’
Money? There’s a lot of work to be done in the student council, and I’m just going to collect the pennies that come out of it?
How much pocket money do I have right now?
Power? I don’t know about the sunny places, but in the underworld, Corleone has absolute power
I don’t need to make contacts in politics or the hunter industry, so it’s faster to go the route I’ve already laid out.
Above all.
‘I already know your tricks.’
I can’t play with him so I shake my head lightly.
“No thanks.”
“What? Why? You have no reason to refuse.”
Pendragon asks, looking at me with an uncomprehending expression.
“It’s just that I’m a bit of an introvert…… and I don’t feel comfortable standing in the center of a shiny stage.”
I replied, smiling broadly and Pendragon looked confused by my answer.
“Then……what about Miss Choi. Aren’t you a little interested in the student council?”
“Not really.”
She shook her head in disapproval.
“Hahahahaha, I didn’t expect you two to say no to everything. You’re more humble than I thought, aren’t you?”
……You take this as humility?
“You can feel comfortable saying it because everyone in here is trustworthy anyway.”
It’s like…….
“Student council, do you want to do this?”
It feels like they’re forcing us to do it.
Even in the original, number 1 and number 2 among freshmen had to join the student council, but…… under no circumstances was this kind of atmosphere created.
It was clear that there was a reason behind it.
“Even if we do this, aren’t you going to encourage the sophomores and juniors to join the student council?”
“Huh? Isn’t that right?”
“Then we’d end up being under the seniors, and you may have heard the rumors already…… and I’m not a big fan of being under anyone.”
Having said that, I’m not going to suggest it again.
“Mr. President, didn’t I tell you, these days, things don’t get done by talking.”
A man stood up from his seat, slapping the table.
The title on the plaque in front of him read [Secretary].
“If the seniors are telling you this, shouldn’t you just take it in stride, you freshmen?”
He stands up from his seat with a typical bossy remark and glares at me and Choi Yeon.
“I’m only saying this because you’re the granddaughter of the Sword Saint, and you’re the highest-ranked student in the academy. But…….”
His fist was shaking as if he was about to strike.
“You speak as if the Academy’s student council is nothing.”
With a sneer on his face, he slowly steps in front of me and looks down at me.
“You think the …… student council is nothing, you fucking brat.”
As I hold his gaze, a chill runs through the room.
Eventually, unable to stand the atmosphere, I──
“Phew!”
Ouch. He laughed.
“……what’s so funny?”
“No, I mean, how could I not laugh? After all, you’re telling me in such a harsh way that we’re so good that you really want to recruit us, but the situation was so funny that I couldn’t help myself.”
“……what?”
Ignoring him, I stood up and looked at the student council officers with a smile on my face.
“Anyway, I’m not interested in the student council, no matter what persuasion you’re of-oh, and don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to play pretend with the student council, so I hope you don’t get the wrong idea, and…… want you to realize that I’m not here to get into trouble, as the president said earlier.”
As I say this, I glance down at the man in front of me.
“I’m not the one to be accused of being rude, so why don’t you show some manners, senior.”
“You asshole…….”
I can hear his fists clenching.
This is some kind of event that has been reported to the faculty office.
If he hit me here, he and the student council would be at a disadvantage.
“Mr. Secretary, that’s enough. Isn’t that embarrassing against first years?”
“But president──”
“──Stop it.”
The president, who had been smiling the entire time, spoke with a stern face, and at the same time, the air around him began to feel heavy.
It was as if the gravity of this place had been turned up high.
At this, the secretary general’s complexion, which had been flushed until just a moment ago, turned bright blue.
He let out a breath, looked at me once more, and went back to his seat.
Only then does Pendragon begin to smile again.
“Well, I apologize if the atmosphere has gotten a bit too heated. We didn’t exactly invite you here for this either, and I hope this doesn’t sour our relationship…… What do you guys think?”
After all, the original plan went awry, so it’s better to be friendly than to turn them into enemies.
That’s good enough for me.
“Why don’t we grab a bite to eat later, it’s the least I could ask for.”
“I don’t mind, as long as you don’t …… bother me.”
Hearing my best answer, Pendragon nods and stands up.
“Alright, I’ve really enjoyed our meeting today, and I hope we can do it again with a smile. By the way, Vice Chairman, do you mind if I ask you to send back the kids?”
“Sure. I’ll do that, juniors. Shall we?”
Julie stood up and walked ahead of me.
I follow her out the door, and she slams it shut behind her, then looks at us both.
“…… juniors.”
And her expression, which was smiling just a moment ago, turned cold.
“Do you juniors realize that you’ve almost ruined your lives outside the academy as well as inside?”
“You mean us?”
Julie sighed at my question.
“Don’t you realize that the student council president is a member of the Pendragon family? If you mess up, you could turn the Pendragon family against us! Do you even think you’re the kind of family that can stand up to them?”
House Pendragon, a prestigious British family in the game who claimed to be descended from the mythical King Arthur.
Yeah. This is why the Student Council route is usually a popular choice for players in the Academy route.
It gives you a lot of power within the academy.
Of course, if you turn it down, the repercussions can be quite severe, so the community used to post stories of newbies who turned down student council offers.
“I turned down student council, my family was ruined, students shunned me,” etc.
Well, that’s why the responses were usually something like, hmmm~ Newbie stinks~ or yes, you’re an asshole for turning it down, was usually the answer, but…….
──I’m not a normal character.
“It works.”
“Huh? It works?”
No problem at all.
I’m Corleone, and even though I’m hiding my identity, I’m followed by Hanwol Group while behind Choi Yeon is the Sword Saint.
I wonder if anyone can crush us as a family.
“Thank you so much for today, I’ll see you later if I can.”
“……See you later.”
“Uh, yeah.”
With that, we left Julie on the ice and headed to class.
Suddenly realizing that there was still time until the first period ended, I smiled as I thought of something.
“Choi Yeon.”
“……?”
“Come with me somewhere.”
“Huh? Uh, where?”
“To get something nice to eat.”
I feel like I should steal the president’s banquet.
