Chapter 88

Chapter 88

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 88The video we spread caused a huge stir in society.

That was only natural, since the other party wasn't an ordinary villain, but Plague, the infamous villain rumored to have once overthrown an entire country.

On top of that, he had never directly named a target like this before, usually only vaguely conveying his ideology.

There were even rumors that the source of the video was none other than Calione, the massive mafia organization.

There was no way it wouldn't become an issue.

“Is it because of that?”

“Boss! You watched WeTube yesterday too, right?”

The moment I entered the classroom, Jin-woo looked at me with a broad grin.

“...

You mean the Plague video?”

“That's right. That one! Do you know who uploaded that video to the internet?”

The corners of his mouth twitched as though he was dying to tell me.

Judging by the look of him, he seemed proud that Calione had taken the lead in the matter.

“That was on the news today too, so stop making a fuss and sit down.”

“Huh? It was on the news?”

I passed the bewildered Jin-woo, who acted as though he was hearing that for the first time, and sat down.

“Hm? I don't see Young-je.”

Normally, Young-je would have arrived earlier than anyone else and already been reading a book.

Perhaps to answer me, Se-ah, who was sitting in front, turned around and looked at me.

“Young-je? He left a long time before you got here, Eugene, and hasn't come back yet. Maybe the instructor called him?”

“Instructor Ji Su-hyeon?”

“Yes, where else would Young-je have to go?”

Just as I thought that made sense.

“Maybe he went to the bathroom?”

Another plausible opinion came up.

Well, the bathroom was certainly possible... should I contact him?

“Looks like everyone's almost here?”

At that moment, Young-je opened the front door with a complicated expression and stood in front of the lectern.

“I'll start with the instructor's announcements. Dungeon Studies and Monster Studies this morning are self-study because of a meeting between the Academy instructors and staff. For Monster Studies, there'll be a quiz next class, so she says don't just fool around.”

The students brightened at the word self-study, only to groan when they heard there would be a quiz afterward.

“From the atmosphere in the faculty office, things seem pretty serious because of the Villain Alliance. There's also the freshman welcome party coming up soon.”

At Young-je's words, a student sitting in front raised a hand.

“Wait, then don't tell me they're canceling the freshman welcome party?”

The freshman welcome party was a kind of field of opportunity.

At the possibility of missing such an event, the other students also looked uneasy.

“Who knows. I don't really know either, but isn't that probably why they're holding the meeting? The fact they're having one could mean they're trying to find some way to hold the freshman welcome party anyway.”

The freshman welcome party was an event attended not only by freshmen but also by graduates who made donations.

For the Academy, missing an event like that wasn't particularly desirable, so the meeting would probably lean toward going through with it if possible.

It had always played out that way in the game as well.

“That's all for the announcements. Study, use your phones, whatever. Just don't bother the other kids around you who are studying.”

Since I was already confident in Monster Studies, I spent my time checking the news and world affairs through my Smart Lens, and before I knew it, lunchtime wasn't far off.

The instructors who were supposedly in a meeting hadn't shown even the tips of their noses.

Just as I was wondering what would happen to the afternoon classes at this rate.

“Ha, I'm going insane... Everyone been doing self-study properly?”

Ji Su-hyeon came in, roughly messing up her bangs with one hand.

“You heard from the class president that we had meetings all morning, right? I'm going to tell you the Academy's guidelines based on the results, so listen carefully.”

Ji Su-hyeon told us three things.

1. Academy classes will proceed normally, but practical sessions such as sparring and dungeon exploration will not be held. Accordingly, afternoon classes, which are concentrated with practical lessons, will not be conducted. This is because Academy instructors have been mobilized at the request of the Association and government to search for villains. Students will be instructed to return home after lunch.

2. The freshman welcome party will proceed as planned. With the help of Academy graduates and the Association, the highest level of security will be maintained, and student safety will be given top priority.

3. For the time being, students are advised to refrain from outside activities.

The students began murmuring and showing unease.

The fact that the Academy had formally gone into meetings meant that the Academy itself was feeling threatened by the possibility of terrorism.

It felt as though the sense of crisis had suddenly come right in front of us.

“Anyone curious about anything or have questions?”

In the middle of that, Jin-woo suddenly raised his hand.

“...

Jin-woo Vivald. What is it?”

“Then can we eat lunch and go home now?!”‘Ha, that crazy bastard...’Ji Su-hyeon rubbed her face with her palm at Jin-woo's extremely excited shout.

“...

Yeah. Eat and get the hell home.”

“Woohoo~!!”

He became wildly excited at the news that he could go home earlier than usual and let out a strange sound.

Feeling embarrassed just from looking at him, I turned my gaze away and raised my hand.

“Then are club activities also prohibited today? Since this was announced suddenly, I think we'll need time to prepare.”

Ji Su-hyeon nodded at my question.

“Yeah, if you're going to ask something, ask a question like that. Not some dogshit question like whether you can go home.”

“Huh?”

“Shut up. Jin-woo Vivald.”

“Yes!”

After silencing Jin-woo with a single sentence, Ji Su-hyeon turned her gaze back to me and continued.

“Unfortunately, club activities are completely suspended starting today as well. Well, what can we do? A globally notorious villain declared that he's going to commit terrorism.”

Saying that, Ji Su-hyeon looked at the watch on her wrist and checked the time.

“So... there are ten minutes left until lunch. Rest for a bit, then eat and go home. Ah, and Kim Se-ah.”

“Yes?”

“The government and Association requested assistance from spatial mages. Want to do it?”

“What? A-a request? But I──”

“Of course, you'd be going as something like an assistant, so you'd only need to support me. Daily pay is around 200,000 credits?”

Two hundred thousand credits a day.

At those words, Se-ah's jaw dropped wide open.

“T-two hundred thousand? I'll do it! I'll definitely do it!”

Se-ah shouted with obvious delight, and Ji Su-hyeon chuckled.

“Good. Then come to the faculty office after lunch.”

“Yes!”

Apparently delighted at having found a high-paying part-time job, Se-ah quickly answered and sat down with a huge grin.

“Even just one week is 1.4 million! Hehe...!”

Jin-woo, who had been watching her closely, suddenly raised his hand.

“Instructor. Aren't you hiring more patrol personnel or anything?”

Apparently, the figure of 200,000 credits per day sounded extremely tempting.

But Ji Su-hyeon shook her head and answered firmly.

“No.”

Jin-woo's head drooped.

Seeing that, Se-ah giggled and lightly patted Jin-woo on the shoulder.

“Don't be too sad. I'll earn lots of money and at least treat the club to a meal.”

“Really? You?”

“How about tteokbokki in front of the Academy?”

“...

Cheapskate.”

“With assorted fried food mixed in.”

“──Or so I thought, but you're actually an angel?! Deal!”

All she'd done was add fried food, yet Jin-woo's evaluation of Se-ah had instantly gone from cheapskate to angel.

Ji Su-hyeon looked at them in disbelief, shook her head, and headed toward the door.

“Anyway, the rest of you don't wander off. Once you're done with what you need to do, all of you go straight home.”

Only after the students answered, “Yes~,” did Ji Su-hyeon leave the classroom.

“Wow, I'll have so much free time today. Guess I'll go to a PC café.”

Even though he'd just been told there was a terrorism threat, Jin-woo still insisted on going to a PC café.

He looked so much like a stereotypical Korean high school student that it almost felt peaceful.

“Hello? Huh? Father? You want me home? What? Right now? No, I'm at the Academy... You know we got out early? How did you even... sigh... understood. I'll go straight home.”

But Jin-woo was also part of the Calione Family and the successor to the Vivald Family.

There was no way he could be the only one resting during an emergency affecting all of Calione...

I feel a little guilty because this is probably because of me.

Just a little.

_____________

And so, several days passed.

The Academy I saw on the way to school was extremely noisy.

It seemed to be because of preparations for tomorrow's freshman welcome party.‘Mr. Kim! Carry this over here!’‘Hey! That, that, that! I told you to be careful!’For some time already, workers had been coming and going on one side of the Academy to install a stage and various structures, while the other students watched them with faces full of anticipation for tomorrow's freshman welcome party.

Surprisingly, despite several days of emergency conditions, nothing had happened.

As a result, the students who had initially followed the instructors' orders diligently began to loosen up, and some instructors also returned to their normal routines when nothing happened.

Seeing people like Jin-woo enjoying the shortened classes simply because they were shortened, it seemed everyone had regained a bit of breathing room.

And the freshman welcome party was the first festival they would experience after entering the Academy.

Of course they couldn't help but be excited.

Passing through the bright hallway and entering the classroom, I saw Jin-woo turn toward me with a delighted expression.

He stopped noisily chatting with the other kids, got up, and ran toward me.

“Ah! Boss! Boss, what do you think?!”

“About what?”

“You know, that thing. That thing. The text we got.”...

Text?

“You mean the message saying afternoon classes will resume after the freshman welcome party?”

“That's right! That! Boss, seriously, isn't restarting afternoon classes after only one week a bit much?”

So that's what he'd been making such a fuss about?

More importantly, it was obvious to anyone that he was the one who'd loosened up the most over the past week.

He had Family work too, but maybe because of his natural personality, he was far too carefree.

“Still, we're paying expensive tuition to attend the Academy. It wouldn't be right to only have morning classes and go home. Right, Young-je?”

“...

I'd rather attend afternoon classes than get dragged around by my mentor every day just because afternoon classes are canceled. I strongly support the Academy's decision.”...

Somehow, I could understand how he felt.

I also had to return straight to the estate after the Academy and help with organization work, so I hadn't had a moment to rest either.

“Look at this. These guys are weird. They're saying staying at the Academy longer is better. Boss, what do you think?”

“No, I──”

At that moment, Ji Su-hyeon entered the classroom with her usual exhausted expression and collapsed onto the lectern.

“Ah... everyone's here? You saw the message, right? Getting off work in the afternoon was so damn sweet... sigh. Guess the easy life is over.”

“Instructor, you think so too, right?!”

There was another instructor just like Jin-woo here.

“Hm? What is he babbling about now? Stop talking nonsense and sit down.”

“...

Hmph.”

Though their reasoning seemed slightly different.

“Everyone's seated, so I'll keep the announcements short. Just like the message said, afternoon classes resume after tomorrow's freshman welcome party. That doesn't mean everyone should lower their guard! It's only government policy, and there still hasn't been any announcement that the bastard has backed down. Keep that in mind, and... the next announcement is──”[──Bzzzt ────Bzzzzzzzt]

A loud burst of static suddenly came from the classroom speaker, cutting Ji Su-hyeon off.

The other students frowned or covered their ears at the noise.

Just as I too was thinking, ‘What the hell is going on?’──♪ ───♬Ring around the rosie.(Let's circle around the roses.)A pocket full of posies.(A pocket full of flowers.)Ashes! ashes!(Ashes! Ashes!)We all fall down!(We all ended up falling down!)

Absolutely out of place here.

A cheerful and bright song echoed throughout the entire Academy.

A song that most people in this class.

No, most citizens of the Republic of Korea had probably heard at least once on the news.

“...

Huh?”

The moment someone recognized it and let out a short voice──────────!!

With an enormous roar, my vision went black.