Episode 24: Bullying Like an Ordinary Person

“Congratulations, how did you find the generator so quickly?”

“Hmm… It just worked when I tried?”

‘I let my guard down… Wait, no-weren’t all default characters set to male at the start?’

The white-haired girl who boldly charged forward and destroyed the generator in one strike-she was one of the white-haired female students who had passed through the academy gates during the entrance ceremony.

Unlike the male students, there were too many white-haired female students to keep track of, so I had ignored them, but who would’ve thought the protagonist was a girl?

“President? We should wrap things up soon.”

“……Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment…”

I had been so focused that I hadn’t even noticed the student council members approaching me.

‘Information, information…’

Information

Name: Seo Jian

Age: 18

Alignment: Good, Inquisitive

Skill List

Path of Victory (UR)

If there is even the slightest possibility of success, it can be realized.

Drops of Effort (UR)

Greatly increases growth stat efficiency. If experiencing near-death situations, the increase doubles.

Immortal Slayer (UR)

Can kill immortal beings.

Stats

Physical Strength: B+

Defense: B+

Magic Power: B+

Stamina: B+

Agility: B+

Luck: B+

‘Seriously… the protagonist was a girl?’

Exactly matching the skill window visible at the start of the game.

‘As expected, Great Fortune (S) isn’t there.’

Still, it’s a huge relief that she has Immortal Slayer (UR), a skill absolutely necessary to defeat the final boss.

‘Drops of Effort (UR) and Path of Victory (UR)… The former is a UR-grade ability you can choose when starting a second playthrough, and the latter is a skill you get from purchasing DLC.’

Anyway, the protagonist is already strong enough to solo the final boss without any issues. What a sight.

‘Maybe I’m not even needed.’

Honestly, in these possession stories, the original protagonist is often too weak or deranged, so when I didn’t see them earlier, I felt a bit lost and scared…

I even shivered slightly at the thought of having to solo the final boss… but now, knowing I can just ride the bus, the corners of my lips curled up.

‘She doesn’t have mental attack immunity, but… I can just gather the opportunities and give them to her. Easy.’

To counter Yun Se-ah, who earned the nickname “Player Guillotine,” the developers scattered plenty of opportunities specifically for her throughout the academy.

If you gather them normally, you can solo-play and nullify Yun Se-ah’s mental attacks, and if you gather more, you can even distribute mental defense opportunities to your party members.

‘There’s no reason for me and the protagonist’s party to be hostile.’

I have no intention of opposing them-in fact, I know the locations of most opportunities… so I can easily help them grow.

I can… go home.

‘……If they don’t meet the required strength… I’ll force them to grow and make them defeat the final boss.’

Of course, it’s unlikely I’ll have to go that far.

-Click

“Cadet Seo Jian was originally assigned to Class B, but considering her achievement of single-handedly locating and destroying the generator, I request she be promoted one rank higher, Chairman-nim.”

This was the final record of the detailed student evaluations from the entrance ceremony incident.

…

…

…

Right after the entrance ceremony, the new cadets moved to the armory to receive weapons suited to them.

Since the protagoni-Seo Jian had used a one-handed sword to destroy the generator, it seemed she had chosen the straightforward Striker position.

‘So good.’

Thankfully, she didn’t pull some ridiculous stunt like that idiot who picked the Defender position and grabbed a spear.

“Leave the cleanup to me… The rest of you, please head to your assigned classes. The conversation between the Chairman and the board might be… a bit unpleasant to hear.”

“……Understood.”

With a subtle hint, the student council members immediately understood and began packing up to head to their classes.

“A-yul-yang, you should go too. Unlike the freshmen, we have classes, remember?”

“True. Don’t be too late. It’d be embarrassing for the student council if the president is late.”

After sending Kang A-yul off, I leisurely approached Eve to hand over the records.

[“Eve Maitner, Chairman!!! What is the meaning of this?! You clearly said it was virtual reality! ‘A test of the cadets’ mindset when faced with sudden enemies without physical damage,’ wasn’t that what you said?!”]

“Oh, that? Sorry! I’ve been distracted lately~”

[“That’s not the issue! Broadcasting the entrance ceremony live-what were you thinking?!”]

A furious roar erupted from Eve’s phone, filled with overwhelming anger.

‘Did he swallow a train’s whistle or something? So loud.’

Even though it wasn’t on speakerphone, the sheer volume suggested just how furious he was.

“Why? Because your nephew and son, whom you bribed to get in, were caught on live broadcast foaming at the mouth and fainting?”

[“Th-that’s…!!!”]

“Ah, that was hilarious. One kept bragging that it was just a hologram and could be ignored, only to get knocked out by a single tail strike from the Lizardman… The other tripped over the first guy’s legs while running away and fainted too… Pfft! If they were placed in Class A, they’d be demoted to Class C. The student council president recorded everything.”

As Eve’s playful side emerged, the old man’s voice on the other end grew even louder.

[“You washed-up has-been…!!”]

“Yeah, but I’m an S-rank you couldn’t reach even if you piled your guild members into a truck. Did you think you could boss around S-rank heroes just because Cheonma, Jinmyeong, and I stayed quiet?”

[“……”]

‘Ah, the Chairman seems really pissed now.’

Eve’s voice began to carry anger.

“This is the academy I built. When I first proposed establishing it, you all whined about why we needed another academy when there’s already a national one. But the moment it was built, you resorted to underhanded tricks to get your kids in…”

Hitting the mark, silence followed.

“Well, maybe it’s for the best. I’ll abolish special admissions from now on and only bring in the kids I personally select. Anyone who rejects this proposal will be removed from the board by my authority as Chairman.”

[“We’ll cut off all funding to the academy!! Without the capital from our guild and others, the academy won’t last long-“]

The old man’s desperate threat to withhold funding was his last resort, but…

-Crash!

“Whew, listening to that nonsense was exhausting.”

‘Did they really think Eve Maitner, who’s been humoring them until now, was their friend?’

It was an obvious outcome.

They clearly had no idea what kind of status Eve Maitner held in South Korea.

“Oh my, Se-ah. You heard everything, didn’t you…?”

After saying that, Eve stared intently at me.

‘Ah, this is unsettling.’

“How about it? Want to become the new sponsor of Raon Academy?”

It was an overt, unspoken pressure to become the new sponsor.

“……Well, since I was the one who demoted that guy’s kid by two ranks…”

[Me]

[Deokbae-ssi, I’m planning to invest in Raon Academy.]

[Kim Choon-sik]

[Understood, Miss. How much should we invest?]

“…Chairman-nim, which guild was that person from?”

Since things had come to this, I needed to remind these old men exactly who held their leashes.

“Hmm… [Eunsa] Guild, [Jinhae], [Baekma], and [Seorabeol], I think? Not major guilds, but together, they’re more influential than one.”

“Most of them are the guilds that colluded with Naseon Guild to fix potion prices, right?”

[Me]

[Raise the potion prices for Eunsa, Jinhae, Baekma, and Seorabeol Guilds. The major guilds that might protest already know what I did last time, so they’ll stay quiet. If they buy in bulk, we can give them a slight discount to keep them happy.]

[Kim Choon-sik]

[Ah, so you’re forcing the mid-sized guilds to either purchase at major guild levels or accept inflated prices. A clever dilemma.]

[Me]

[And if they try colluding with major guilds…]

[Kim Choon-sik]

[Understood. We can increase the second shipment volume to the Vultures Guild. Your foresight in establishing trade with them is proving useful.]

[Me]

[……I haven’t even told you about that yet.]

[Kim Choon-sik]

[M-my apologies.]

“Hmm… If their guilds are on the verge of collapse, they’ll behave, right?”

When I showed her the messages, Eve’s lips curled up into a huge grin.

“How do you always come up with such pretty schemes~?!”

“Mmph, mmph mmph!” (Eve, I can’t breathe!)