episode_0014

Senior Andi Pulitzer shouted, waving her arms like a cowardly nerd in a B-grade horror movie.

“There’s no way you could sell a student newspaper for money! There’s no way the academy would allow something like that….”

“Permission from the school?”

I can’t admit it… No.

“Why do I need to get permission?”

“uh…?”

“Senior. You’re doing ‘club activities’, but you don’t have to ask the academy about each and every thing, right?”

The moment you request permission, the matter becomes a ‘matter that requires permission.’ If the Academy forces a newspaper to be sold without permission, there is a high possibility that it will be quite controversial.

Conversely, if you do not request permission from the beginning, there is no need to obtain permission. Isn’t that what club activities are all about in the first place?

“Still, the newspaper department is receiving a lot of support from the Academy….”

“It’s not part of the school like the broadcasting club, is it?”

“That’s true, but in the first place, is it okay for the academy to do something like that?”

“No, sister! You’re a miscellaneous merchant!”

“Uh, huh?”

“Career experience, student autonomy, running a newspaper department, and experiencing actual sales and promotion like this are all processes to gain experience and develop qualifications as a student. Isn’t that right?”

“After hearing it, it seems like it’s true…?”

I grabbed senior Andy’s shoulder, who was tilting his head and blinking.

And, like a nerd, I forced eye contact with senior Andy, who was trying to avoid eye contact, and spoke repeatedly.

“I’m not saying let’s make money from this.”

“You said you were going to sell it for money…?”

“Hey, that’s just the cost of paper and ink. Do you think I joined the newspaper department to make money?”

This was a fact.

Because I didn’t come here to make money, but to manipulate public opinion.

“Senior. What I want is for as many readers as possible to read our newspaper. Isn’t that right for you too?”

“Then shouldn’t I get paid more…?”

“Would students read newspapers that were given out for free? Even if they were given to them, they would just throw them away and create more waste. Just like before.”

“That’s true, but….”

Senior Andy suddenly turned into a turtle. I twisted my curly hair with both fingers, lowered my shoulders, and shrunk my body.

“If I could sell it for even a penny, I would read it at least once. Even if it’s a waste of money.”

“Is that so?”

Actually, I’m not very sure. People who won’t read it in the first place won’t buy it.

The reason newspapers were sold for money was to produce statistics. Unlike Mugaji, where it is difficult to accurately determine the number of readers, in the case of paid newspapers, the number of buyers is readers.

“That’s right. I won’t sell it that expensively. About 1,000 won per copy? It would be inconvenient to sell it for coins, so that would be good. Even if the purpose is a newspaper lottery, it’s a reasonable price.”

“If that’s the case….”

Senior Andy nodded in understanding, still looking slightly anxious.

Since Soohorang had already agreed on his opinions before coming to the club room, there was no need to persuade him any further. It was Suho who provided the first prize of the newspaper lottery, a medium-level magic stone.

“Oh, of course, we need a source of income, so I’m thinking of creating a space for advertisements in the student newspaper.”

“…uh?”

“Originally, media income comes from advertising rather than sales. That’s basic, right?”

“Well, is that okay?”

“sister.”

“Yes.”

“Problems don’t become problems if you don’t make them problems.”

“It’s a problem!”

“It’s not a problem.”

If it were a normal school, this kind of crazy behavior could have been a problem.

This is the academy. A multinational, special-purpose educational institution for nurturing heroes.

Students from various countries and cultures enroll, and there are professors who are nothing more than tactical weapons in their own right. Naturally, they are granted various extra-legal powers, and in most laws, they are in fact treated as extraterritorial. The value of the name of the Academy was too great to raise an issue with this kind of ‘club activity’.

“Well, even if that’s the case! There’s no way advertisers would want to put an ad in the student newspaper in the first place, right?”

“I got one in advance, so you don’t have to worry.”

“what?”

I took out a piece of paper from my bag and handed it to my senior.

The senior who took the paper tilted his head and made an expression of uncertainty.

“This is… a milk delivery promotional paper, right?”

“Yes. This is a milk delivery promotional sheet for Yakult, which has the largest refrigerated distribution infrastructure in Korea. They also deliver milk to the Academy. Have you seen it? The Yakult lady riding around in a Yakult-colored electric cart.”

“I’ve seen it before… why is this happening all of a sudden?”

“I contacted the local Yakult manager and decided to promote the academy’s milk delivery in the student newspaper for 1 million won. Just for two weeks.”

“Well, is that okay…?”

“You think it’s interesting? Since many of the Academy students come from other countries, many of them don’t know anything about this. So, they liked it when I told them that if we promoted it through a student newspaper, there would be a lot more students signing up for subscriptions.”

“Dohan, you had a plan…?”

Senior Andy, who was admiring while saying that, suddenly asked again as if something was strange.

“But 1 million won? I don’t remember ever hearing anything like that…?”

“I have to give that to Suho, who provided me with the intermediate magic stone.”

“aha.”

The mid-level magic stone itself costs millions of won if you were to purchase it directly, so it was not something worth paying for only 1 million won.

He received cooperation and promised to correct ‘wrong’ rumors about Suho if the student newspaper was successful.

“How is it that all your questions have been answered?”

“Ugh. Dohan, you are so sincere about the club…? Wow, I’m touched….”

Senior Andy’s eyes lit up and he put his hands together as if he was truly moved.

I smiled brightly and responded to the senior in the same way.

“Right? I work so hard for the newspaper club, why did Andy do that?”

“Yes…?”

“I tried to explain everything, but he didn’t listen to everything I said and suddenly started screaming… I was just trying hard for the newspaper department… Ugh….”

“Well, well, that’s not it! I was just surprised—.”

“Sir, you don’t like me…? I’m sorry. Hehehe.”

“S-sorry!”

“What are you sorry about?”

“Uh, so, the sudden yelling, the interrupting, and….”

Whether Andy tries hard to make excuses or not, I pretend to cry and torment him… No, it was education.

The important thing when educating this type of person is to drill into their heads that I am ‘right’ and you are ‘wrong.’ Not the logic of power, but the logic of morality.

Once you establish this discipline, even if you try to rationally refute your opinion later, you are likely to miss the moment to refute while worrying about things like ‘What if I’m wrong?’ or ‘What if the other person feels burdened by me?’ high.

If such experiences are repeated, we lose the ability to make our own decisions and become dependent on the judgment of others. At least that will put your mind at ease.

“I’m really sorry…?”

“Ugh! Of course!”

It wasn’t until Andy started crying out of guilt that I stopped craving him.

And he whispered to her like a saint offering forgiveness of sins.

“So, will you listen to me carefully from now on…?”

“of course!”

“Hehe….”

“Uhehe…?”

“Why are you laughing because you did a good job?”

“I-I’m sorry….”

“I’m just kidding. You have a really pretty smile.”

“Ehehe….”

I guess this is enough for now.

This is why I tried to make Suho the manager whenever possible. Because it’s just annoying.

“Sister. I’m a little thirsty….”

“Should I float?!”

“No. The water is fine. Could you please buy me an ionic drink?”

“huh!”

The senior quickly ran out of the clubroom without even taking money to buy a drink.

Well, you can probably buy it with your own money. It’s not a problem worth worrying about.

“Wow, I’m a little tired after talking a lot. Club activities are not normal. Isn’t that right, Suho?”

“…Kim Do-han, you bastard.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“How did I become friends with this guy?… I suddenly started to become disillusioned with my own relationships.”

“Suho, I am always grateful for your loyalty.”

This is sincere.

I feel very fortunate that the first friend I met after falling into this world was Suho.

“…Ugh, that’s right. I have to do it for my own good. This is why I tell you to make friends only when you make them.”

“Anyway, Suho, the only friend you have is me, right?”

“That’s the saddest part. Fuck.”

“haha.”

I chatted with Suho for a while, and it wasn’t long before Andy came back out of breath.

I ran so hard that my face was soaked with sweat.

“Hey, here! Ion drinks! I didn’t know which one you would like, so I bought one of each type!”

“Wow, your sense is crazy. Thank you, sister.”

“Ehehe.”

“Suho, pick one too.”

“…Andy senior. How much was this? I’ll pay for the drinks.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay! I bought it because I wanted to, so you can just drink it! I’m a senior!”

Oh, it’s Suho too.

Even though I knew that my senior wouldn’t accept the money anyway, I deliberately pretended to be sorry and took out my wallet to show his interest. After all, it’s thorough.

It was a skill that a ‘fake’ like me couldn’t match.

I need to imitate something like that too. I have to remember this.

Kang Soo-ho, who saw me nodding my head and admiring him, frowned and asked.

“Kim Do-han, what are you thinking?”

“Suho, do you think the hole on the top of your head has gotten bigger?”

“Fuck.”