Episode 23. Alice is the Heroine

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『Sub Quest Transferred.』

[The Start of Being Popular Begins with Conversation]

Alice is a very picky character.

Have a conversation matching her tastes for over 30 minutes!

• Reward: Small increase in Alice’s Favorability. Random Stat +1

———————-

I spoke to Alice, who had her gaze fixed on her smartwatch.

“This is quite unexpected.”

“… What is?”

“You don’t seem like the type to do this kind of thing. The PR department sounds like a hassle.”

Alice’s daily life is a repetitive cycle of [Going to school. Studying. Training. Going home]. I know she’s an exchange student and has circumstances requiring her to get stronger for her home country’s guild, but… She turns away approaching students, so she doesn’t have many close friends.

And yet she’s joining the PR department? That just adds another element disrupting her daily life.

“Hoo. Listen carefully. I don’t hate troublesome things; I hate doing pointless things.”

“Hmm. I think I’m starting to get it.”

“I don’t want to spend my time on things like going out with classmates who clearly won’t be of any help to me, spending hours searching cafes for sweet desserts, or scouring shopping malls for pretty clothes.”

“Aha. So why the PR department?”

Simply put, it seems she doesn’t want to lose time for self-improvement. Then why did she join the PR department?

“Why are you asking when you already know? Obviously, I joined because of the connection with President Moon Surin. She’s Korea’s top prospect, right? Isn’t that why you’re here too? From what I heard earlier, you seemed close with the student council president.”

Alice seems to think I joined the PR department to secure the connection with Moon Surin, just like her.

“We’re close, but… well, I didn’t join for the connections.”

If anything, I joined the student council to woo the student council president.

“That’s a common excuse.”

Alice turned her head away as if she lost interest after hearing my answer.

Seriously, that rude…! Hold on. I have to hold on.

But seeing a pretty woman act so rudely is strangely attractive.

She knows she’s pretty, so she acts this way.

I’m not cursing her. A person’s face can be considered a form of ability, after all.

I learned something valuable from Alice.

Seeing her like this makes me think I can be more reckless from now on.

Anyway, the conversation isn’t going well right now.

To clear the quest, I need to have a conversation that suits Alice’s tastes, and she seems uninterested in me.

But it’s okay.

No matter how clever you are, Alice, you’re still my heroine.

“Um, do you know much about cocktails? I’m quite interested in them.”

Perk.

Alice’s ears twitched. She was pretending not to be interested, but she was listening intently.

“There’s a new cocktail bar in the academy’s shopping district, and their Gin and Tonic is amazing. It uses premium gin and top-quality tonic water, of course, and they say it’s the world’s first to use mana ice, which makes it incredibly refreshing.”

“… Where is it?”

Alice started showing interest in what I was saying.

In fact, I had memorized all her tastes, so this quest was impossible to fail from the start.

The Alice route is definitely stored in my memory.

From cocktails to books, movies, and classical music, I know all of Alice’s hobbies.

“…… I think gin-based cocktails are the coolest. Although old folks perceive it as cheap liquor, nothing beats its unique aroma and refreshing quality.”

“Surprisingly, our tastes align.”

“I usually drank Pink Ladies or Singapore Slings.”

“… I liked those too.”

We chatted like that for over 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, Alice pretended to be uninterested until the end, but the system window popping up before my eyes doesn’t lie.

『Quest Complete!』

Alice must have enjoyed our conversation.

*

I came out of the PR room to head back to the dormitory.

As soon as Alice finished talking with me, she said it was time for training and headed towards the training building first.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yes. I have something to do, so I’m heading out.”

Moon Surin called out to me as I was leaving the student council room.

“Still, now that you’re in the PR department, you’ll run into your junior often.”

Moon Surin’s face bloomed into a wide smile. No matter how I look at it, it’s a smile that conveys affection beyond simple fondness.

… It’s certain now.

Moon Surin. This audacious Noona.

She created the PR department to get me into the student council. Since it would be strange to only include me, she added a pretty freshman girl as well.

That was Alice.

The butterfly effect is truly terrifying.

I met Moon Surin at the cafe earlier than in the original story.

As a result, Moon Surin started liking me faster.

Since Moon Surin hadn’t developed her trauma yet, she approached me more proactively.

Then she created the PR department to get me into the student council, and to make it seem plausible, Alice ended up joining the student council too.

Ah, my head hurts.

‘… Nothing major will happen, right?’

This definitely didn’t happen in the original story, but Alice doesn’t play a major role in the club activities part anyway…

It’ll be fine. Yeah. It has to be fine.

It’s irreversible anyway. Thinking positively, I’ve made connections with heroines, so it’s a gain.

“Indeed. See you next time, Noona.”

“Okay, Hoyeon. Go safely.”

Moon Surin always quietly calls me by my name only when we’re alone. I call her ‘President’ when others are around, so it’s the same.

Leaving Moon Surin smiling brightly behind me, I exited the student council office.

First, I need to finish everything I planned for today.

Once I submit the membership application for Lucy’s social club, my tasks for today will be done.

But where is Lucy? She’s probably with Lumi, so maybe I should contact Lumi.

Lumi’s number is saved on my smartwatch, so I turned on the hologram and sent her a text.

Me: Lumi-ya, are you perhaps with Lucy?

Lumi: Yes, why do you ask?

Me: Why else? I’m trying to submit the application for the social club. Did you finish all the club paperwork?

Lumi: Uh… well, something came up….

Me: What kind of situation?

Lumi: Hmm, could you come to our club room first? It’s Room 205.

I have a bad feeling that something’s about to happen.

I took the elevator to the second floor, turned the corner, and knocked on the door of Room 205.

“Welcome…”

Inside, I saw Lucy, her energy level drastically dropped.

“Lucy, what’s wrong? Did something happen with creating the club?”

“Actually, yes. It’s a bit of a problem. We secured a club room and even a supervising professor, but suddenly the student affairs department handling clubs rejected us, citing an error. Then, the supervising professor also had circumstances arise and couldn’t do it… What should we do?”

Seeing her, who’s usually so energetic, like this makes me want to help.

Well, I would have helped anyway.

“Was there anything, even slightly, that could have caused a problem?”

“Yeah. We got the room, we had a professor, the club name was just ‘Social Club’, and we met the minimum requirement of 3 members…”

“Hmm….?”

Then there shouldn’t be any issues, right?

Wait a minute, that minimum of 3 members includes me, doesn’t it?

“Obviously, the minimum of 3 members is you, Lumi, and me, right?”

“Yes, you’re not changing your mind, are you? No…! If you leave too, the club will be ruined…”

Lucy grabbed my arm and slumped down, sobbing, “Don’t abandon me.”

She was small, so she wasn’t heavy, but doing that meant her hand touched my chest.

However, despite that sensation, other thoughts filled my mind.

Actually, many questions about clubs had arisen since this morning.

There was the incident with the fishing club, the total club president avoided eye contact the moment we met, and the establishment of a social club bearing my name was rejected.

At this point, even the most innocent person like me couldn’t help but be suspicious, right?

And there are suspects I can guess.

The Magic Research Club.

They seemed to have a grudge against me, and since the Magic Research Club has the most influence among the clubs, they might have been exerting pressure against me.

———————-

『Sub Quest Transferred.』

[Help Lucy and Lumi Create Their Club!]

It seems there’s a dark hidden reason behind the club’s establishment!

Let’s help Lucy establish the club!

• Reward: Increase in Lucy’s Favorability. Random Stats +3

———————-

The quest was transferred the moment I realized that.

As expected, there’s something going on. I was going to help anyway, even without a quest, so this is a freebie.

“Lucy. Didn’t I tell you? Think about how great it would be if the student council joined the club.”

“Heee? You’re not abandoning us?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“Oh!”

“Let’s go to the club affairs department together.”

“Okay. Got it.”

The club affairs department was on the 16th floor. The student council is on the 17th floor, so it’s the floor right below.

Given that the club system is quite extensive, many students visited to apply for club support or new establishment.

Just then, a female student was leaving the new club establishment section, so I approached her.

“Excuse me. Did you just establish a club?”

“Y-yes? Ah, um, well, our club is just a simple hobby club made for fun among friends, but, um, if you really want to join, I can even kick my friends out…!”

“No, wait a moment. Please calm down.”

“Ah, yes…”

Although I learned how to leverage my good looks from Alice this time, I was still clumsy.

Alice probably would have gotten more out of a student reacting like that.

“Could you tell me how long the procedure took to establish a new club?”

“Um, I just filled out the new club establishment form and submitted it, and they approved it on the spot…”

“Hmm. Thank you.”

Leaving the female student still looking at me, I returned to Lucy.

There’s definitely something fishy going on. If the paperwork was done correctly, there’s no way it should have been rejected, so I have no choice but to speak to them directly.

I approached and spoke to a student working in the department.

Fortunately, this time it was a guy, so there wasn’t a dramatic reaction. He looked at me with envy, but I get it. Unlucky dude.

“Hello. I’m here regarding a new club establishment.”

“Yes. You’ve brought all the relevant documents, correct?”

“Here you go. It’s a social club made among friends.”

“Yes. It should be done shortly, so please wait a moment… Ah. I apologize. The documents show no issues, but strangely, an error is occurring. It seems we cannot establish it right now. Could you please come back tomorrow?”

“…”

That’s a stupid excuse. These are the exact same documents Lucy used when she was rejected for the new club establishment. I submitted them just in case, but I didn’t expect this exact reaction. After the rejection citing an error, I heard the supervising professor also cited circumstances preventing him from participating. This means that if these documents were entered into the system as they are, it should have flagged them as fraudulent from the start. But the documents are fine, yet an error is occurring? There’s a small chance a real error occurred, but I sensed extreme awkwardness in the man’s expression and behavior.

“You rejected us last time citing an error, and now there’s another error?”

“Yes. That’s how it turned out.”

“Can I try entering it myself? Something seems off.”

“I told you that’s not possible. If you continue like this, I’ll call a student council executive.”

“I am part of the student council. What are you going to do by calling an executive? Go ahead, call one. Let’s see what happens.”

“What? No, that’s…”

There’s a reason I’m making unreasonable complaints and acting like a troublemaker. I’m not 100% sure, but someone is trying to block me. Now that I’ve revealed I’m from the student council, there’s only one person from the club department who could possibly come out to stop me.

“Junior. Why don’t you calm down now? Isn’t it a bit much for a newly joined junior?”

The person I was waiting for appeared. The total club president who avoided eye contact earlier. I don’t know his name. I don’t even want to remember it, so I’ll just call him ‘Club President’.

“Senior. Hello. Our club keeps getting mysteriously rejected.”

“It seems there’s a system error. As a senior from the student council, I’ll work on resolving it, so please go back for today.”

The Club President wore a seemingly kind smile, but I could see it. Behind that smile, pure mockery was clearly hidden.

Let’s go back for now. I have things to prepare too.

Continuing this conversation now would only put me at a disadvantage.

There’s still time until Friday.

I just need to resolve it by Friday.

Alice was right again.

If I didn’t have connections in a situation like this, I would have just suffered through these absurdities.

It’s time to properly utilize the connections I’ve built.

And from now on, I’ll listen to everything Alice says.

Her actions and words have never been wrong.

*

Alice finished her training and got into a luxury foreign car waiting in front of the academy’s main gate for dinner.

“You’ve worked hard, Miss.”

The middle-aged man waiting in the driver’s seat spoke to Alice familiarly.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Did your training progress today? Irene-nim back in our home country is quite worried.”

“You’re bringing up my sister’s name just to annoy me right now, aren’t you?”

“How could that be? I’ve never had such a disrespectful thought.”

The middle-aged man offered Alice a water bottle with a faint smile.

“What worry could that sister have? Hmph. Forget it.”

Alice has trauma from her older sister, Irene, who used to bully her since childhood. Even as they grew older, her sister always enjoyed taking Alice’s toys or things she wanted, a memory deeply etched in her mind. One of the reasons Alice came to study abroad at Victoria Academy in Korea was to escape her sister’s influence and find freedom.

“I heard you joined the student council this time? Truly impressive.”

“It’s nothing special. They just picked me based on my looks.”

“What about that student named Lee Hoyeon? You’ll be seeing him often if you’re both active in the PR department.”

Gulp, gulp.

Exhausted from the strenuous training, Alice quenched her thirst as she continued speaking.

“He’s handsome, alright. And seems talented… but something feels off.”

“Why? Just hearing about him, he sounds exactly like the type you like, Miss.”

Zing.

Alice threw the water bottle at his teasing remark, but the man simply caught it with a faint smile.

“Hmm… It’s just… no particular reason.”

“Could he be some kind of delinquent? Delinquents always have a certain aura, even when they try to hide it. You might not believe it, but back in my day…”

The man continued rambling, speculating and boasting about his past exploits, but Alice’s mind was preoccupied with other thoughts.

A story that Alice, with her strong pride, couldn’t bring herself to voice.

Since childhood, Alice had always been praised and envied for her overwhelming talent and beauty. Furthermore, her precocious maturity allowed her to realize that others’ envy and criticism stemmed from their own shortcomings, and she didn’t get angry because she knew she was superior.

However, there were only two instances where she felt jealousy or irritation towards someone her age.

That woman named Nam Dahee, whom she met at Victoria Academy in Korea. Her overwhelming talent and combat prowess made Alice want to curse God for choosing her instead of herself. Nam Dahee’s lack of manners and social skills also annoyed Alice.

And Lee Hoyeon.

She didn’t feel jealousy. He didn’t possess talent worthy of her jealousy. They were in completely different fields anyway.

But for some reason, he irritated her.

The conversation with him was certainly not bad. It felt like a perfect match, as if she had finally met someone who truly suited her tastes. From cocktails to books, movies, and even classical music, every topic was an interesting conversation.

However, she felt like he was playing games with her, somehow above her. He spoke as if he knew her well, and his words were accurate enough that she couldn’t refute them. When she tried to make eye contact to express her irritation, his face was unnecessarily handsome, making it awkward to get angry. She was clearly annoyed, yet unable to get angry; this strange feeling of inexplicable pleasure felt unpleasant.

“Back then, you see, my nickname was ‘Blood Wind’. Blood Wind. They said wherever I appeared, the surroundings would be drenched in blood…”

“Stop it, just stop. I’m hungry, let’s go grab dinner quickly.”

“Tsk. Understood. We’ll head to our usual restaurant.”

“Yeah. And for dessert, let’s go to a cocktail bar called ‘Emilia’.”

“Where is that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“… Just go if I tell you to.”

“Yes, yes.”

As Alice completely closed her eyes and crossed her arms, the man seemed to give up and started driving the car.

‘Sigh, what is this feeling.’

Alice hasn’t realized it yet, but she has already fallen into the heroine’s trap.