Episode 269. Student Council President Moon Surin

After Lee Hoyeon lost consciousness.

Moon Surin knelt and examined Lee Hoyeon’s condition.

‘What a relief.’

For some reason, compared to the visible external injuries, there were almost no internal ones. Was it thanks to his innate combat sense that he minimized the damage? His breathing was steady, and his complexion was good. Moon Surin could finally relax.

Tuduk- Tuk-

Just then, the demonized person who had been slammed into the ground also shook their shoulders and stood up. Their aura was even stronger than before. They must have absorbed a lot of mana from the hole they created. It was just a light feint anyway. Moon Surin hadn’t intended to take him down with that.

Moon Surin cast a thin barrier around Lee Hoyeon’s body and walked towards the demonized person. And then, seeing the demonized person getting up, she frowned.

“… It was you?”

Only when the demonized person’s face was within recognizable distance could she discern their identity. Their appearance had changed drastically compared to the last time she saw them. The Vice President of Victoria Academy, who had once worked together in the student council. It was Shin Dongmin.

After he went missing, she thought he might have fallen into drugs… but to think he’d become a demonized person. ‘That’s why they couldn’t find him.’ There was a reason the investigation had hit a snag.

Having learned the truth, Moon Surin had another question. Why, of all things? How did Shin Dongmin, the son of a successful guild and someone whose own talents were not bad, end up falling so far?

The question was soon answered. Because Shin Dongmin right before her began to speak.

“Moon Surin….”

“Don’t call me so familiarly.”

Moon Surin raised her magic power. Ever since he became entangled with the demonized person and turned hostile towards Lee Hoyeon, Shin Dongmin had been an enemy in Moon Surin’s heart.

Moon Surin glanced away. Lee Hoyeon, lying collapsed on the floor. If she had been even a little later, his life would have been in danger. Now that he had done this to Lee Hoyeon, there was no room for compromise.

Moon Surin looked at Lee Hoyeon with concern, and seeing that gaze, Shin Dongmin seemed angry and growled.

“Why, why are you looking at that guy?”

“… What?”

Stomping his foot in anger, Shin Dongmin trembled violently and shouted.

“Why! Why didn’t you choose me! Why!”

“…?”

Moon Surin looked at Shin Dongmin’s face as if she didn’t understand.

“I could have given you everything. But why to a bastard like him!!!!”

Only after hearing the next words did Moon Surin understand the situation.

“… Was it just for that pathetic reason?”

Planning to check and attack Lee Hoyeon, then making contact with the demonized person, and even becoming demonized himself, all for such a reason. Moon Surin felt like her strength was draining away.

“T-That reason? The humiliation I received from both of you I could never forget…!”

An aura of black magic power flickered from the enraged Shin Dongmin. So thick and viscous that it was visible to the naked eye. It was a characteristic of an S-class demonized person. But Moon Surin sent a cold gaze, even seeing that. Did he cause all this, all because of such a pathetic reason?

Moon Surin scanned Lee Hoyeon’s collapsed body. The dried blood on his clothes, from how much he must have bled. There were bruises around his neck, and whether his bones had broken and healed or not, his joints were bent strangely. Thinking that Lee Hoyeon was hurt because of her felt like her heart was tearing apart.

“I don’t know how you broke through the barrier… but that was your mistake.”

Tentacles grew from Shin Dongmin’s back. The very tentacles Lee Hoyeon had cut off one by one were recovering with the magic power that had entered through the hole in the barrier.

“Now that it’s come to this, I’ll kill you and the guy behind you too…!”

Tentacles began to grow from behind Shin Dongmin’s back. But Moon Surin didn’t even spare Shin Dongmin a glance. She looked at Lee Hoyeon and reflected on the past. It was her fault. Since he was the child of a major guild, she had treated him with some respect even though he acted cocky, but that was a mistake. She should have crushed him from the start.

“Are you ignoring me until the end? Fine, die with that guy!”

Ppadeuk- Kkudeudeuk-

Grown from behind Shin Dongmin’s back, dozens of large and small tentacles surged towards Moon Surin. Seeing the incoming tentacles, Moon Surin calmly thought. She should have definitely instilled ‘humility’. Making an angry person compliant is surprisingly easy. Overwhelming power. Anyone loses the will to fight in the face of violence. For an opponent who doesn’t listen, there are times when violence is necessary.

Tak-

Moon Surin lightly stomped the ground with her left foot. That was all it took. Threatening to crush everything and swallow Moon Surin and Lee Hoyeon, the approaching tentacles stopped in mid-air. It was as if time had stopped. Because everything stopped with just one light step from her.

But Shin Dongmin’s expression was contorting in agony.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

No matter how much he strained, the tentacles wouldn’t move. Instead… they were being pushed back. An intangible pressure strongly crushing the tentacles. Moon Surin’s magic power, controlling the area, was all Shin Dongmin could do was flinch.

“H-How….”

At the sight that followed, Shin Dongmin couldn’t believe his eyes. His own tentacles were slowly changing direction. Clearly, those tentacles were part of the body he gained when he transformed into a demonized person. They moved according to his commands, like a third arm. But now those tentacles were turning towards him.

“N-No way. This is impossible…!”

Ttuduk- Ttududuk-

The muscles of the tentacles, forced to change direction, were breaking, and Shin Dongmin’s strength was waning.

“Th-This… is impossible….”

“Are you still curious about why you weren’t chosen?”

Shin Dongmin looked at Moon Surin as if in a daze. The situation unfolding now was something he simply couldn’t comprehend. He gave up everything and became a demonized person. He only looked towards revenge, and he was on the verge of success. So why?

“You weren’t even a candidate for selection in the first place.”

Kkwang-! Kwagwagwagwak-!

The magic-infused tentacles turned back towards the demonized person. The tentacles that came from his body, breaking and attacking his own body, looked like a flower bud before it blooms. It was a bit grotesque, though.

Having confirmed the magic reaction had disappeared, Moon Surin approached Lee Hoyeon again.

‘How should I carry him? … Would it be okay to give him a princess carry?’

While she was worrying pointlessly about how to get Lee Hoyeon out, Moon Surin noticed the change in the surroundings. The now opaque barrier was melting away from the top. The blue sky became visible, and the destroyed party venue could also be seen. And then, from outside, the women who were maintaining the gap in the barrier spotted them.

“L-Lee Hoyeon!!!”

“Hoyeon-ssi…!”

First, the twins ran over, grabbed Lee Hoyeon, and started crying their eyes out. After them, Nam Daeun approached, quietly confirmed Lee Hoyeon was alive, and let out a sigh of relief. Although he looked seriously injured on the outside, his life was not in danger. Alice also stumbled over. She too saw Lee Hoyeon’s condition and nodded.

• Sob sob- Th-Thank goodness. Sob. Hic.

• Lu, Lucy…. I was so sad.

Leaving the twins crying their eyes out, kneeling and embraced against Lee Hoyeon’s chest. The remaining three women looked at each other.

“….”

“….”

“….”

An awkward atmosphere. Without needing to say a word, they understood. That they liked the same man, these women understood. Their words and actions towards each other so far were more than enough proof.

“Hoyeon-ah… sob….”

“F-First, I’ll quickly call the medical team.”

“R-Right. Quickly!”

While Lucy and Lumi were contacting the medical team, the remaining three women observed each other.

“Thank you so much.”

The first to speak was Nam Daeun. She bowed politely and expressed her gratitude to the two.

“For saving Hoyeon, thank you so much.”

“Oh, no. Look up, Daeun.”

“No. Alice, thank you too. If anything I said earlier offended you, I apologize.”

“… Okay.”

Moon Surin seemed flustered by Nam Daeun’s apology, but Alice felt inexplicably displeased. It felt as if she was saying, “Since you saved ‘my man’, you should naturally bow your head and thank me…”. No, that thought was probably correct.

‘I just can’t understand.’

Alice couldn’t comprehend it. It was understandable that women would flock to a man like Lee Hoyeon. He had ability, and the looks to match. But those women usually knew their place. Even if it was just a one-night stand, the desire to have a relationship with a man like that. The women knew that, and the womanizers knew it too. They treated each other as a memory, a relationship like that.

Her own father was the same. Even after passing through many women, he always ended up back with her mother. That wasn’t about increasing new loves. It was just about experiencing ‘women’ anew. Like playing a new game, tasting other women.

But Lee Hoyeon was different. This crazy womanizer was truly increasing his ‘love’. The twins crying below, Nam Daeun bowing her head, and Moon Surin feeling burdened by it. All loved Lee Hoyeon.

Of course, it wasn’t strange for women to feel love for a womanizer. A womanizer’s simple one-night fling could become an unforgettable memory for her. But in Alice’s eyes, Lee Hoyeon was also sincere towards them. That’s why it was an incomprehensible relationship.

Alice finally understood why she disliked Nam Daeun. Lee Hoyeon’s peculiar and incomprehensible relationships with women. The person who knew about that strange relationship before she did. It was Nam Daeun. That’s why she felt a strange sense of displeasure towards Nam Daeun.

“… Sigh.”

With her common sense, she couldn’t empathize. So many outstanding women gathering to form a harem. In that place… for her, a latecomer, to become the center seemed too difficult.

“D-Daeun. Look up now. You went through a lot too.”

Moon Surin, feeling burdened by Nam Daeun’s apology, turned her gaze to Alice. As if asking her to do something about it. Seeing that sight, Alice felt like being mischievous for no reason. This woman who threw herself into saving Lee Hoyeon and was genuinely relieved. Moon Surin. Moon Surin still knew nothing. It was like looking at her past self.

And she wanted to help. This pure woman to get away from the womanizer. Or perhaps, one less competitor falling away from Lee Hoyeon. Whatever her intention, it didn’t matter.

‘She went through hell to save him, so this much is fine.’

Alice approached Nam Daeun, who was bowing her head. With her most confident, practiced smile, and a friendly voice.

“Daeun. I have something I want to ask you.”

“… Yeah.”

Moon Surin blinked at Alice’s sudden words, and so did Nam Daeun.

“With Hoyeon, how far have you progressed?”

And everyone’s attention focused on the words that followed.