Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I Became the Academy Mafia, Chapter 2“Young Master. I’ll escort you.”

“Yeah.”

Was this what it meant to be the heir to the underworld?

It seemed Eugene Han Calione even had a dedicated personal secretary.

Apparently, he had been my personal secretary since I was young, but did that mean he was also a member of the Calione organization?

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Even though he was merely walking down the hallway, the way he surveyed his surroundings and the discipline in his gait stood out.

At a glance, I could tell he was no ordinary man.

Then again, he was the personal secretary assigned to the boss’s son, so maybe that was only natural?‘As expected of Calione. Even the personal secretary is incredible.’I followed him outside the building, where a black sedan was waiting for me in front of the entrance.

“I’ll escort you.”

The secretary said that as he opened the rear door.

I naturally climbed into the back and pulled out my smartphone.Along with the [City of Seoul] window, the windows below it caught my eye.[Character Encyclopedia(N)]

Originally, the only people in the Character Encyclopedia had been me and Father.

Every other window displayed [??]

instead.

“Is this the interface I received as a special benefit?”

It had the intuitive design you would only see in a game, so it wasn’t difficult to understand what it contained.

Bzzzzzzzz─At that moment, a notification arrived.

If there was an N, that probably meant something had been updated. Apparently, the condition for updating the Character Encyclopedia was meeting a new person.[Don Vito Calione], [Eugene Han Calione], [Han Seo-jun], [??], [??], [??], [??], [??], [??]

A person named Han Seo-jun had been added to the Character Encyclopedia.

When I clicked on him, a brief description appeared along with a photograph.[Name: Han Seo-jun][Affiliation: Calione, National Intelligence Service][Description: A member of the Calione Family and an agent of the National Intelligence Service. He is currently serving as the personal secretary of Eugene Han Calione, son of Vito Calione and heir to the Calione Family.]

“Huh...?”

National Intelligence Service? My personal secretary, Han Seo-jun, belonged to the National Intelligence Service?

I swept back my hair as a sudden headache washed over me.

Then, piece by piece, the puzzle in my head began falling into place.

Right. If I was the heir to the Calione organization, then naturally I would be someone the government kept an eye on.

There was no doubt he had infiltrated the organization to monitor me.

“Is there some problem, Young Master?”

Han Seo-jun, who was driving, asked without taking his eyes off the road.

To hide my agitation, I answered him in as indifferent a voice as possible.

“Nothing. I just died while playing a game.”

As I said that, I pressed the differently colored words ‘National Intelligence Service.’[National Intelligence Service][A state-run intelligence agency. Also known as the National Intelligence Bureau, it is an organization primarily responsible for investigating villains and conducting national intelligence operations.]

It was essentially the equivalent of the CIA in this world.

Anyway, I never imagined the ability I’d received as a special benefit would even reveal hidden details of the setting.

Since it hadn’t appeared immediately, there seemed to be some sort of condition attached, but even so, it was an extremely satisfying ability.

And besides.‘I might be able to make something useful out of this.’Han Seo-jun belonged to the National Intelligence Service...

It certainly was somewhat unusual.

Even thinking back on how the original game progressed, he had never once harmed Eugene. Not even when Eugene was engaged in villainous activities.

So that was why he had always faithfully carried out the role of personal secretary, obeying even the most unreasonable orders without question.‘For now, it would be better if I’m the only one who knows this.’I could report his identity to Father right away, but that would be shortsighted.

In [City of Seoul]

where countless incidents occurred, I would need all sorts of preparations if I wanted to survive as Eugene Han Calione.

Whether that meant force or information.

And it would be a waste to burn the National Intelligence Service card like this. There were plenty of ways I could make use of it, such as during ‘that’ event later on.

“We’ve arrived, Young Master.”

While I was thinking, the sedan smoothly came to a stop before I knew it. Beyond the window were enormous crowds and a massive school gate.

This was the ‘Seoul Hero Academy,’ said to train the finest heroes in Asia. Commonly called SHA.

“I’ll accompany you.”

Han Seo-jun said as he opened the rear door.

He wasn’t seriously planning to follow me all the way in there, was he?

Entering the examination hall with a personal secretary attached to me risked drawing unnecessary attention, so I shook my head and spoke firmly.

“Don’t follow me in right away. Come in a little later. There’s something else I need you to do.”

“Something else... you want me to do?”

Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to order him to do anything, because Han Seo-jun looked puzzled.

I explained in detail what I wanted him to do from now on, then turned toward the Academy.

“Young Master, are you certain I should only do exactly as you instructed?”

“Yeah. Nothing will happen, so don’t worry too much.”

“...

Understood. Please be careful, Young Master.”

I lightly waved at Han Seo-jun as he bowed his head, then entered the area containing the examination hall.

“Please present your examination pass.”

As I tried to enter the examination hall, a man wearing an armband labeled ‘Disciplinary Committee’ held out his hand.

“Here it is.”

After showing him the examination pass I had brought in my pocket and stepping inside, an enormous crowd filling the entire area came into view.

“There are way too damn many.”

Examinees and adults who appeared to be their parents filled the entire examination area.

Well, according to the setting, this was the best Academy in Asia, so I could understand it.

“This is still way too many.”

Since the path was hidden by the crowd, all I could do was follow the flow of people.

Most of them were probably here to take the exam just like me.

Fortunately, my guess was correct. After following them for a while, a gymnasium appeared with a sign indicating it was the examination hall.

The gymnasium was absolutely enormous.

It was large enough to remind me of a massive domed soccer stadium.

After entering the gymnasium, I saw that there were about ten minutes left until the exam, so I decided to look around.

It definitely felt strange seeing everything directly with my own two eyes after only ever seeing it as polygons on a monitor.

There had been this eccentric guy who only ever played the Academy route. Wouldn’t he be incredibly jealous if he knew about my situation?

“Starting now! We will begin the Seoul Hero Academy entrance examination!　Examinees, please move to the group listed on your examination pass!”

A voice came through the speakers.

I checked that I was in Group B and headed in that direction.

Ten people per group.

A total of twenty-one groups formed in an instant.

People who appeared to be instructors stood at the front of each group, and the instructor for our group was a woman wearing sunglasses.

“We will now begin the examination for Group B.”

After saying that, the woman grinned

-and curled up the corners of her mouth before dropping into a chair with a thump and saying.

“From now on, all you need to do is show the instructor your ability.”

So this was how they were doing it after all. Frankly speaking, I thought I was lucky.

Right now, I had no traits whatsoever.

At most, I possessed physical abilities slightly stronger than an ordinary civilian.

But this wasn’t an Academy where something like that alone would be enough to get accepted.

-Wow, a fire ability user.

-That guy’s definitely getting accepted.The first member of Group B began showing off by spewing flames from his entire body.

Perhaps he already knew how to control his ability, because the flames began freely moving around different parts of his body.

“Okay, next.”

After seeing that, the instructor wrote something on the paper she was holding and called for the next person in a businesslike voice.

“Hmm, that’s an unusual hair color.”

The instructor, who had remained expressionless until now, smiled when she saw the second girl step forward.

In fact, I knew why that instructor was smiling.

Pale aquamarine hair.

A girl with that hair color carrying a sword made it obvious who she was.

The head of South Korea’s most prestigious swordsmanship family and the man occupying the seat of the strongest, the Sword Immortal.

She was undoubtedly Choi Yeon, his one and only granddaughter.

“Alright, then let’s get star...”

The instant the instructor opened her mouth, Choi Yeon’s hand suddenly moved at tremendous speed.

And just as I was about to blink───────!!!

Sparks burst before my eyes.

An unbelievably fast draw. Sparks had erupted between the sword of the girl who rushed forward in an instant and the instructor’s dagger.

“What’s this supposed to be?”

Attacking the instructor before things had even started, and while she was still speaking at that.

The instructor, who had blocked the sword with one hand, asked the girl as though curious.

“...

Didn’t you tell me to show you my ability?”

Choi Yeon replied calmly as if it were only natural, then quietly sheathed her sword again.

She then returned to her place and stood in the exact same posture as before, her face expressionless.

Completely confident, as though merely waiting for the result.

“Hah.”

And after seeing that, rather than getting angry, the instructor smiled in amusement, wrote something else on the paper, and shouted.

“Good, next.”

Anyone watching might have wondered what kind of exam this was. Both the sudden attack on the instructor and the way she brushed it off as though it were nothing were clearly not ‘normal.’

Maybe it would be different elsewhere.

But here, at ‘SHA,’ it was entirely possible.

More than anything, with that instructor in charge, it would probably earn her bonus points instead.

Instructor Ji Su-hyeon.

That NPC, whom anyone who took the Academy route would inevitably come to know, was famous as a devil instructor.

The kind of hero she pursued was one who used everything at their disposal to achieve victory.

In other words, a hero who won.

I still remembered how shocked I’d been when, during the game, I challenged the instructor to a spar and struck first, only to see her favorability toward me increase.

“Good, next.”

The instant the instructor said that, a tremendous boom erupted from the right.

Several students collapsed at the sudden noise.

When I looked toward the source of the sound, an instructor and a man were clashing fists.

“That guy’s enrolling today too?”

I muttered involuntarily at the sight.

The son of the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, and someone who would later become a named NPC.

Jung Ui-hun.

“This Academy class has a lot of weirdos.”

Saying that with the corners of her mouth raised in amusement, she immediately looked at me and spoke.

“Alright, you’re next. What can you show me?”

I still had no traits or special abilities.

But even so, there was an ability that only I could show.

I slowly approached the instructor, pulled my hand from my pocket, and extended it toward her.

“...?”

What I did wasn’t particularly impressive.

I simply extended my thumb and index finger into the shape of a gun and aimed it at the instructor.

That was all.

The instructor frowned at the sight, but I ignored her and spoke with a relaxed expression.

“La famiglia lavora per la famiglia.”

“Wait, that’s──.”

The instructor’s eyes widened at the same moment.

Bang──────!!

Along with the crisp gunshot spreading past my ears, time began to flow slowly, like a scene from a movie.

My senses had become so intensely sharpened that I could perceive everything around me.

A shell casing slowly falling to the floor.

A sniper rifle spewing pure white smoke from its pitch-black barrel.

And the instructor’s head jerking slightly backward.

Just as I had instructed beforehand, Han Seo-jun had aimed directly at Ji Su-hyeon’s head and fired the moment he received the signal.

Fortunately, she didn’t die.

The lead bullet was floating in front of her head as though time itself had stopped, slowly spinning in place.

Everyone was frozen in shock, but only one person, me, continued walking as though nothing had happened.

Step─ step─My footsteps echoed through the gymnasium, and after approaching the instructor, I spoke quietly.

“My ability is Famiglia.”

What do you think?

Instructor Ji Su-hyeon looked at me with an incredulous expression.

“Famiglia...? Your family is your ability?”

“What can I do when that is my family’s motto? You know it well too, don’t you, Instructor?”

There was no way you wouldn’t know.

Because there was only one family in this world that used this motto.

And because these were the words a man who had once written a legend had proclaimed to this world.「La famiglia lavora per la famiglia」Family works for family.

I then politely bowed toward her and greeted her in a voice only she could hear.

“Eugene Han Calione. The ability I brought to today’s Academy examination is family, Famiglia.”

The greatest ability I could show right now.

The greatest force I could display right now.

It was demonstrating the power of my family.

Inexhaustible wealth, authority capable of covering up most incidents on the spot, and power like an armory that could mobilize anywhere.

Something possible only because I was a Calione. A privilege I could receive only because I was the heir to Calione.

The result was what had unfolded here before us.

Well, what do you think, Academy Instructor Ji Su-hyeon? You certainly had a habit of giving passing marks to unconventional people who defied you.

Then how would you evaluate me?

A brat hiding behind his family? A reckless fool who knew nothing?

No, I could guarantee it. You would realize it. An ordinary reckless fool could never pull off something like this.

Something an ordinary person could never even imagine.

I could sense the instructor’s eyes trembling behind her sunglasses.

Then she lowered her head deeply.

“Pfft... Bwahahahaha!! Hahahaha!!”

The instructor’s body trembled.

As though she couldn’t contain her laughter, the instructor clutched her stomach and burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! You, you, you! You do know, right? If I hadn’t stopped that bullet, it would’ve gone straight between my eyebrows?”

Ji Su-hyeon looked at me while wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

I gave her as relaxed a smile as I could manage.

“Even if it hit you, wouldn’t it end with nothing more than a slight bruise? If something had actually happened to you from that much, I would have been disappointed instead.”

“Heh heh heh! You’re insane, aren’t you? From the way you talk, no one would think you were the guy who ordered someone to shoot an instructor in the head.”

“Thank you.”

“Hah! You really are a crazy bastard.”

Saying that, Ji Su-hyeon approached me, placed a hand on my shoulder, and spoke while holding back her laughter.

“Good. You can go home. The results will arrive by mail within three days, so just relax and wait.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

After saying that, the instructor wrote something on the paper and pointed toward the exit the examinees before me had taken.

“I’ll see you at the Academy, young master of the underworld.”

She must have liked me quite a bit, because Ji Su-hyeon had practically informed me in writing that I had passed on the spot. I gave her a brief nod and headed toward the door her finger was pointing at.

Had I gotten past one major hurdle with this?

As I stepped through the door thinking that, I saw Han Seo-jun standing near the entrance waiting for me.

“...

Just like I said, nothing happened, right?”

When I approached and asked him as he stood there expressionlessly, Han Seo-jun nodded.

“Yes. Strangely enough, the surrounding security guards didn’t pay any attention to me whatsoever.”

“That’s because it’s the Academy entrance examination.”

“...

Pardon?”

“On the day of the Academy examination, assistants are allowed, and so are all kinds of weapons.”

Of course, that was only because they were confident they could swiftly respond to any trouble or incident that occurred inside the Academy.

After all, hadn’t there just been a monster who stopped a sniper bullet fired from less than three hundred meters away?

But when Han Seo-jun still looked as though he didn’t understand even after my explanation, I shook my head and climbed into the car.

“Then let’s go. I’m tired.”

“Yes, Young Master. However... before returning home, there is somewhere else you need to stop by.”

“...

Somewhere else?”

If Han Seo-jun was saying this, then an order must have come down from someone above me.

Where in the world were we going?

“Yes, the Don

is waiting for you.”

What?

The excitement I’d felt from doing well on the exam vanished in an instant.

Father came to this Academy?

“...

Where is Father right now?”

“He is currently waiting in the parking lot of a commercial building outside the Academy.”

“...

Let’s go.”

“I’ll escort you.”

I immediately followed Han Seo-jun into the car and headed toward the parking lot where Father was supposedly waiting.

An underground parking lot beneath a commercial building not far from the Academy. Parked there was a black sedan that looked extraordinary at a single glance.

And in front of it.

As though he had no need for bodyguards, a man stood alone in front of the sedan with a cigar in his mouth.

A man exuding such charisma that he was difficult to approach even while standing there alone.

Don Vito Calione.

Father was there.