Chapter 67

Chapter 67

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 67[Jin-woo: How was it for you guys today?]

After finishing dinner and Parnello's successor training.

When I showered and lay down on my bed, a message from Jin-woo appeared in the club group chat.[Jin-woo: I seriously thought I was gonna die. Han Yeo-eun from Artemis? No, what kind of mentor tries to stab their mentee as training? She kept ambushing me saying an assassin's enemy is another assassin. Thought I was gonna die.[Young-je: Mine was actually fine despite her eccentric personality. She teaches magic well too.][Jin-woo: Mages have it fucking easy fr][Se-ah: Wanna die?][Jin-woo: Who was your mentor again?][Se-ah: Ji Su-hyeon][Young-je: Ah][Jin-woo: sry]

Judging by that, the other kids seemed to have had an enjoyable time with their mentors too.[Jin-woo: By the way, how was it for Boss?]

This time, the arrow of interest turned toward me.[Me: He was a decent person.][Jin-woo: That's it?][Me: That's it.][Jin-woo: boring][Se-ah: Oh, Eugene. Instructor Ji Su-hyeon asked if you're coming to the Academy tomorrow.][Eugene: Why didn't she ask me herself instead of asking you?][Se-ah: She said it was annoying.][Young-je:...

That sounds like her.][Jin-woo: fr lol][Me: I'm planning to go for now. What about everyone else?]

I wasn't the only one allowed to miss three days a week.

Every student receiving mentoring had the same privilege.

In other words, the others besides me didn't necessarily have to come to the Academy.

Of course, that didn't apply to Se-ah, whose mentor was Instructor Ji Su-hyeon.[Se-ah: I'm obviously going. Oh, I'll tell Instructor Ji Su-hyeon that you're coming tomorrow, Eugene.][Young-je: I don't think I'll be able to.][Jin-woo: That crazy mentor said she'd kill me if I don't come tomorrow.]

So only Se-ah could make it...

There hadn't been any requests since the ‘Recipe Development Club,’ so it probably wouldn't matter.[Me: Then those who can come tomorrow will see each other tomorrow, and if anything happens, contact us separately.][Se-ah: Yep][Young-je: Yeah][Jin-woo: kk]

After finishing my conversation with the others, I closed my eyes.

All the windows that had been floating before my eyes closed, and my vision darkened.

Right, I probably fell asleep thinking that nothing in particular would happen tomorrow either...

Then why.

“Eugene, that person asked me to give this to you again.”[Challenge Letter]

Why won't the world leave me alone?

“...

It's in Korean this time.”

“I thought that was strange too, so I asked. Apparently she thought you threw the last one away because you couldn't read the Chinese characters.”

Was it because she'd lost to me during the last Class Ranking Match?

Choi Yeon had sent another challenge letter without getting tired of it.

When I checked the contents, they were exactly the same as before.

The only difference was...

“Last time she wanted to fight on Monday, but this time it's Wednesday.”

I casually tossed it toward the trash can.

“You're throwing it away again.”

“There's no reason to fight.”

There were far more important things to do right now than fight Choi Yeon.

Most importantly, I had to clear the main quest.

The translucent UI window was still floating before my eyes.【Main Story】[You brought a new wind to the Academy! By founding a new club, you have begun writing your own history! Successfully lead your club and advance it into a Silver Club!][Completion Requirement: Complete 5 club requests!][Requests Completed: 1 / 5][※Completion rewards may vary depending on the results.]

I'd only just raised it by one after completing the food club's request.

“Are there any requests for our club on the school community request board?”

After Jin-woo made a mess on the community last time, the club's online promotion duty had been transferred from Jin-woo to Se-ah.

We'd recently posted on the school community that we were accepting requests, so I asked, wondering if we'd received any reactions.

But.

“Yes. There were just a few comments reacting to the post, but no actual requests came in.”

“...

As expected. Did we attract too much attention?”

Our ‘Familia’ currently had two problems.

We were receiving too much attention, and we'd made too many enemies.

After effectively destroying the higher-ranked ‘Ranger Club,’ clubs that were friendly with the Ranger Club now regarded our club as an enemy.

Fortunately, they seemed to be staying quiet because we were practically allied with the ‘International Trade Club,’ but one thing was certain.

They didn't look kindly on us.

“Yes... Putting in a request with Familia carries the risk of turning the other clubs hostile to Familia against you too.”

Se-ah nodded in agreement.

“...

We need some kind of event to change the atmosphere.”

Wasn't there something in the game?

There were definitely plenty of minor events, but most events related to clubs didn't happen until around the middle of the first semester, as far as I remembered.

That made sense.

In the original timeline, after joining a club, freshmen had to go through all sorts of Academy events while adapting and serving as probationary members.

In that case... did I have no choice but to create an event myself?

While I was thinking that.

“Everyone sit dow... Whoa, is it because so many guys in our class got mentor rights? Why are there so many empty seats?”

Ji Su-hyeon came in carrying the attendance book and muttered while looking at the classroom, which was much emptier than usual.

“Han Eugene, since you're at school, did that old man reject you?”

Then Ji Su-hyeon looked at me and chuckled.

I simply smiled back at her as though it were nothing.

“He said he had some things to prepare and told me to come back in three days.”

“...

That old man is preparing for three whole days? Looks like you wrapped him around your finger pretty well.”

At her words, spoken with the corner of her mouth raised, I merely shrugged.

“Fine, fine, do whatever you want. Let's see, I roughly know who's present... there aren't any announcements... nothing much. Anyone have anything to ask or tell me?”

“Yes, right here.”

At those words, I raised my hand, stood up, and submitted the mentor consent form Kwak Chun-sik had written for me.

She checked it, then examined the contents with a somewhat surprised expression.

Despite everything, she apparently hadn't expected me to actually get him as my mentor this seriously.

“...

Looks like you really got him. You must've really caught the old man's eye?”

“I put in some effort.”

“If you put in effort, of course that old man's eyes would flip. Alright, with this, we've collected all the mentor consent forms from our class... Anyone else?”

This time, no one raised their hand.

Ji Su-hyeon swept her gaze across the classroom, nodded, and spoke as she headed out.

“Morning homeroom is over. First period today is my class, so see you then?”

The class Ji Su-hyeon taught was called [Hero Tactical Studies]

, a class where we discussed the most appropriate tactics to use when confronting villains.

She often used her mana to show simulations where those tactics were actually applied, and perhaps because the simulations of facing villains using one's own strategies were popular, most students greatly enjoyed her class.‘It is one of the most entertaining classes.’I liked her class as well, since when I used tactics I'd frequently relied on back when I was a veteran player, the surprised reactions from her and the other students felt almost like recognition of the gamer I used to be.

After a short break, Ji Su-hyeon returned looking much more exhausted than before and dropped into her chair.

“...

One announcement before we start class. Han Eugene, did you catch a villain yesterday?”

A villain?

Did she mean Elusive?

Apparently my story had come up through the Association during the morning faculty meeting.

“Sir Kwak Chun-sik helped me, but yes, I definitely subdued him.”

“Then it's true... It's fairly common for Academy students to catch villains while out mentoring... but apparently causing an incident on your first day is unprecedented, so the dean wants to see you later.”

“...

The dean?”

“Yeah. Doesn't seem like you're being called in to get scolded, and it wasn't a bad thing either. So after lunch, before club activities, go see him.”

“Yes, understood.”

A personal meeting with the dean.

Since I'd never caught a villain this early while following the Academy route, this was a first for me too.

Maybe he'd give me an award or something.

“Then let's begin class.”

The moment she snapped her fingers, the students' positions shifted, leaving the center empty.

At the same time, purple mana rose through the empty space.

It began gathering together and formed the shape of a small city.

“This battlefield will be based on a real battle I fought eight years ago. The location is Gangnam-daero near Gangnam Station. The enemy villain is ‘Golem Master,’ who has the ability to create golems out of nearby objects.”

Golem Master.

He was a villain who had been mentioned several times even in the game, and one who appeared around the middle to late stages.

“His ability varies dramatically depending on his surroundings. In a desert, he makes sand golems. In a forest, earth golems. And in a city... he creates concrete golems and golems made of asphalt. He appeared in the middle of a city and began turning the nearby roads and buildings into golems.”

At the same time, countless golems appeared over the field she'd created, filling the roads.

“But these golems actually aren't that impressive. Their bodies are just a little hard. Well, even that wasn't hard enough to mean much to Awakened. They had no intelligence either, and could only follow simple commands.”

Then she snapped her fingers again, and five human-shaped figures popped up across from Golem Master.

“Our team has five members in total. A spatial mage, a fighter, a paladin, an archer, and a swordsman who uses a longsword. Now then, here's the question.”

Ji Su-hyeon grinned as she looked at us.

“What's the way to defeat him with the least damage? Right, Noh Yoo-woon first.”

“Me?! Uh... if we're going by the standard formation, wouldn't it be best to put the paladin and swordsman in the front line, the fighter in the middle, and the archer and spatial mage in the rear?”

Noh Yoo-woon gave a textbook answer to the instructor's question.

Ji Su-hyeon nodded and ran the simulation.

The five-person party charged toward Golem Master.

They pushed through countless golems, but eventually they couldn't endure the endless numbers and were erased by the golems.

“Right, congratulations. Just as you said with your textbook strategy, the five-person party exhausted themselves trying to break through the endless waves of golems and died. Next?”

This time, Ji Su-hyeon asked a female student.

“What about having the spatial mage and archer work together to assassinate Golem Master? The others protect them from the front in the meantime.”

“Oho. At least this time you seem to have thought about the characteristics of each class.”

Ji Su-hyeon ran another new simulation.

The spatial mage calculated coordinates and handled the arrow's movement, while the archer fired an arrow containing all her strength.

The arrow flew toward Golem Master along an irregular and bizarre trajectory.

Not a bad approach.

But it was soon blocked by the golems surrounding him.

“Too bad. If Golem Master didn't prioritize his own safety above everything else, that would've had the best chance. Next?”

Ji Su-hyeon continued asking each person for a strategy one by one.

After several attempts, a few students proposed strategies that barely succeeded, but even those ended with several combatants being sacrificed.

Eventually, my turn came.

“Alright, our second-ranked student Han Eugene? What should we do?”

Ji Su-hyeon asked me with the corners of her mouth raised high, clearly full of anticipation.

I looked over the surrounding situation and terrain, then slowly opened my mouth.

“...

I would.”

Watch closely.

This is what a real veteran player's strategy looks like.