Translator: Wan ED/PR: novio
23. 50% attendance rate (5)
“What are you going there for!”
Maeng Hyodon, who heard about the air taxi’s planned destination, didn’t react for a few seconds and then raised his voice.
“To skip school.”
“Me too!”
Ju Su-hyeok agreed with my words with a bright voice.
Seeing the two of us behaving so confidently, Maeng Hyodon was speechless.
While Maeng Hyodon sat with a blank face, Ju Su-hyeok, who seemed to be hungry, ate two more pretzels.
Watching Ju Su-hyeok’s eating show, Maeng Hyodon frowned.
“Ah, you’re eating a lot.”
“The franchise of these still hasn’t entered our country, so you can’t eat them besides the moments when you ride the air taxi. You have to eat them now!”
Ju Su-hyeok held a pretzel as he said that, so the male highschooler eating show turned into a pretzel advertisement.
As if Maeng Hyodon was thinking the same, his frown deepened.
“Crazy bastards.”
Saying that, Maeng Hyodon clenched the carnation basket tightly.
‘Is he worried I will try to steal it again?’
Ju Su-hyeok was also smiling brightly, as he looked at Maeng Hyodon clenching the flower basket. He seemed to have the same thoughts as me.
“I’m not going to snatch it, so put it down and eat a pretzel.”
I had no thoughts of using a luring strategy from now on.
If Maeng Hyodon decides to flee in front of the school, Ju Su-hyeok and I will catch him and drag him in front of his 3rd year middle school homeroom teacher.
“Who is worrying about that!?”
Maeng Hyodon refute my words with an enraged expression.
Even so, he hesitated and then let go of the flower basket handle and stretched his hand towards the pretzel.
I guess he was really worrying about it.
“… Uh, delicious.”
“Delicious, right? The coffee here is also worth drinking. Uisin, you don’t want to drink anything?”
“Please recommend a drink other than coffee to me.”
“If you’re fine with a sour taste, you can drink lemonade.”
While I was sipping a drink recommended by Ju Su-hyeok, Maeng Hyodon scrutinized all the pages of the pretzel menu.
Maeng Hyodon was making taste reviews, saying that the ones with a cinnamon and hazelnut aroma were delicious.
He seemed to be eating a lot and very well, so I asked:
“Did you also not eat lunch?”
“… Uh.”
Ju Su-hyeok’s friend isn’t just anyone I guess, as this guy also didn’t eat lunch and was stressing over the situation alone.
“I also didn’t eat! Hyodon, let’s drop by your school and then let’s go to eat.”
“If you’re like that, then why are you going there!”
Even though he was grumbling, Maeng Hyodon didn’t refute the suggestion about eating a meal again.
It seemed that those two didn’t think about the pretzels they were currently eating as lunch, but as a snack.
***
Outskirts of the Gyeonggi province.
In around an hour, the air taxi arrived at Maeng Hyodon’s alma mater, the Tallae middle school.
“It’s like a movie set!”
Ju Su-hyeok exclaimed while looking at the old school.
It was said to be a public middle school, however the whole facility was severely behind the times.
Even though the facilities of Jinsu middle school, which I attended once, were on the underdeveloped side, it was even worse here.
‘Did you even embezzle the budget sent by the education office? It’s a bit too much.’
Maeng Hyodon stared at the half rusted main gate with a complicated face.
Then, Maeng Hyodon, who was looking at the main gate, suddenly shouted in a harsh voice:
“Ah, crazy! What is that!?”
At the end of Maeng Hyodon’s gaze.
Two banners were hanging.
[Congratulations] Eungwang Highschool Maeng Hyodon [Successful admission]
— Tallae Middle School —
[Joy] Child of proud Tallae, Maeng Hyodon! Congratulations on successful admission to Eungwang School! [Congratulations]
— Tallae Middle School General Alumni Council, Parents Council —
At the banners the writing ‘Eungwang School’ was more pronounced than Maeng Hyodon’s name.
For the ‘Eungwang School’ writing a bigger and thicker font was used and even its color was extravagant.
‘It’s not even a Student Council, but the school, Alumni Council and Parents Council.’
I recalled the miserable experiences in Maeng Hyodon past recollections he went through during his middle school days.
Among the people who had bombarded Maeng Hyodon with curses weren’t only teachers.
There were also parents of the bastards, who picked the fight with Maeng Hyodon and were crushed in reverse; those parents were also representatives of the Parents Council.
“Dog bastards without a conscience.”
Maeng Hyodon grinded his teeth as he glared at the banners.
‘It isn’t even the entrance examination season now. You mistreated Maeng Hyodon like that and now you are going to milk him dry as an advertisement, even in May?’
Those bastards may not know that Maeng Hyodon was sold to the fighting club and still behave like this?
Ju Su-hyeok examined the banners and Maeng Hyodon’s reaction, and then asked:
“It was done without your approval, Hyodon?”
“Uh.”
Of course there was no way Maeng Hyodon would agree to it, so it was done in secret.
No matter if it’s a graduate, to put someone’s name and disclose the private information without approval was a violation of the private information protection law.
“Let’s take it down.”
I activated a device.
“Uisin, who are you going to contact?”
“The Player’s Association. The people at this school are ‘dog bastards without a conscience’ who put banners in secret from Maeng Hyodon. So I think there is no use to talking to those people in person.”
I had only the fragmented information from the game and what I managed to gather now, but from the degree of power abuse against students, I could guess that this Tallae middle school was overflowing with clear trashes.
In modern times, the students’ human rights has improved from the past and the law was also revised.
But it was impossible to catch all teachers who abused their power on select students without enough money or influence, to just build up their career for dozens of years.
‘It will be useless even if Maeng Hyodon protests against Tallae middle school personally.’
When Maeng Hyodon protests there were a few kinds of expected responses:
‘What are you arguing about what adults are doing?’
‘He graduated and now he is horribly rude.’
‘It can be handled after the person in charge who is somewhere checks it. But when it will be, I don’t know.’
The nonsense and ‘nothing to do with me’ speech like this were expected comments to avoid responsibility.
Of course, even after you listen to all this dog shit sound, the banners won’t be taken down.
‘If Maeng Hyodon was an ordinary person he would have to look for a local government office, police or a lawyer. However, Maeng Hyodon is a Player, so he can request help from the Association.’
The Association’s goals are ‘Enemies subjugation’ and ‘Players’ protection’.
That protection also included protection of personal information.
Receiving the Association’s guidance I filled up a document on the device for Maeng Hyodon.
“Can I do it with an electronic signature?”
“Yep. You can just write your name.”
“Sent.”
Maeng Hyodon finished filling up and sending the document as he accepted my and Ju Su-hyeok’s advice.
When we crossed the Tallae middle school’s main gates and headed to the teacher’s office.
“Looks like it’s being taken down!”
“Oh.”
Outside, a few middle-age teachers hurriedly ran towards banners with Maeng Hyodon’s name.
‘The Association was restaffed a few times, so it seems that only people doing good work are left.’
As if the ropes tying the banners were very solid, the teachers of Tallae middle school succeeded in taking them down with great difficulty, only after suffering for a long time.
***
In front of the teacher’s office.
The three of us hid our presence and came all the way here.
We haven’t run into other teachers or students yet.
Looking inside through the window of the teacher’s office’s corridor, Maeng Hyodon mumbled:
“He is here.”
Currently it was time for afternoon classes at the Tallae middle school.
I was worried in case that Maeng Hyodon’s 3rd year middle school homeroom teacher would also be in the middle of class, but luckily it seemed that he didn’t have classes.
‘This Person is Maeng Hyodon’s 3rd year middle school homeroom teacher, huh?’
Beyond the scratched glass window.
I saw a working, skinny teacher.
The other teachers in the teacher’s office were surfing on the web or chatting, while laughing ‘haha huhu’.
‘Maeng Hyodon’s homeroom teacher is working alone?’
It was the middle school where a talent like Maeng Hyodon was mistreated.
There was no way the school administration was working properly.
“What to do, not go and…”
Maeng Hyodon averted his eyes from the window as he spoke.
“Hey, can’t you just deliver it to him?”
Naturally we can’t.
“Uh, can’t.”
“Yep, can’t.”
Me and Ju Su-hyeok resolutely said it at the same time, but Maeng Hyodon was only clenching the carnations flower basket and didn’t respond any more.
Should we forcibly shove him into the teacher’s office?
I and Ju Su-hyeok were measuring the timing to forcibly push Maeng Hyodon into the teacher’s office.
Before that, the other side moved first.
“Uh…”
Maeng Hyodon’s 3rd year homeroom teacher was looking towards us with a surprised face.
This Person wasn’t a Player, there was no way He had sensed our presence, but I guess He somewhat knew that His student had come.
He hurriedly stood up from His seat and ran towards us.
“Hyodon!”
He opened the teacher’s office’s door and grasped the arms of a stiff Maeng Hyodon with dry knuckles.
“You have no idea how worried I was! Why didn’t you come to school even once after the admission announcement? I came to your house a few times looking for you, but your father-nim said ‘Hyodon is busy’ and then soon even that house was sold!”
“… My apologies.”
Maeng Hyodon said he heard about his Eungwang School admission announcement through his homeroom teacher.
From that, it’s assumed he was sold to the Fighting Club straight away after that.
Like this, the contact between the teacher and the student was cut off.
‘This Person continued to worry about Maeng Hyodon, huh?’
The teacher who was speaking very quickly before, after hearing Maeng Hyodon’s apology, spoke weakly:
“Thank you for coming to find me, Hyodon… You aren’t hurt anywhere, right? Do you eat well and attend school?”
“… Yes.”
At teacher’s questions, Maeng Hyodon only sometimes replied up to the standard, but the two, the teacher and the student, started the conversation.
I and Ju Su-hyeok decided to leave the place for the two of them.
“We will wait outside.”
“Right, have a conversation and then come.”
We waited for Maeng Hyodon around the building entrance which was the closest to the teacher’s office.
Around 30 minutes passed.
The teacher with a bit puffy eyes, holding a flower basket in one hand and patting Maeng Hyodon’s back with the other, emerged.
“Are you Hyodon’s school friends?”
“Yes!”
At Ju Su-hyeok’s reply, the teacher was overjoyed.
“Right! If something happens, can you make sure to contact me?”
Ju Su-hyeok and I exchanged device codes with Maeng Hyodon’s respected teacher.
As He had still classes and work remaining, He apologized that he couldn’t buy us a meal and after leaving with goodbyes saying to see Him next time, He headed towards the teacher’s office.
“Did you also get your teacher-nim contact information?”
“Uh. I decided to ask if I don’t know what to do about the math problems.”
I guess they also talked about choosing a math class.
Maeng Hyodon didn’t talk in detail about what he talked with his homeroom teacher, but his expression was better than before he came here.
He must have said something like thanks.
‘Fortunately, the carnations were safely delivered. It’s done, but…’
As we headed towards the main gate, I looked back.
Even at the playground, a bit of the teacher’s office was visible through the windows.
I saw a person, who was sitting in the seat of honor, criticizing Maeng Hyodon’s homeroom teacher about something with a dissatisfied expression.
It was one of the guys who wasn’t even working and was just killing time[1] a while ago.
‘The standard of facilities in comparison to the budget allocated to school is peculiar. Should I send a civil complaint to the Gyeonggi province’s education office or the national newspaper?’
When I was writing a civil complaint draft in my head, Maeng Hyodon who had looked at my face, said something:
“Why is he smiling suspiciously again?”
Was I making that suspicious expression?
Even Ju Su-hyeok agreed, saying: ‘Uh, I heard about it and looking at it, it’s true!’.
I received a ‘suspicious’ review even from the title hero.
***
While calling and waiting for the air taxi, Maeng Hyodon suggested we spend time at the snack bar.
At the snack bar, Maeng Hyodon chose to buy every item on the menu one after one.
Stir-fried rice cakes, rabokki[2], ramen, sundae[3], mini gimbap, fried seaweed rolls, boiled eggs, fried chicken…
The table was full of all kinds of dishes from the menu.
“I always wanted to eat here.”
“You are here for the first time? You didn’t eat here even once?”
“Uh.”
Maeng Hyodon never received pocket money, so he wouldn’t have an occasion to go to the snack bar.
Even though Ju Su-hyeok had a dubious expression, he didn’t question further and got down to conquering the menu dishes.
The taste was average but we ate everything on the menu without leaving anything.
We wanted to divide the payment, but because of Maeng Hyodon’s stubborn insistence, he was the one to pay the entire bill.
***
When we arrived at school, all afternoon classes had already ended.
As I had a dinner appointment with Seong Siwan, I parted with Maeng Hyodon in front of the main gate.
Left alone, I decided to check the message window and saw the pile of unread messages.
‘It’s from almost all our class kids and club members.’
I missed after-class ordinance and club activities, so kids sent messages asking what happened.
I told Ham Geun-hyeong and the Newspaper Club president about it, but it looks like the information wasn’t conveyed very well.
When I replied to all of them, excluding Hwang Jiho, a new message arrived.
[Min Geurin] Hey.
[Min Geurin] send me a picture of our classmates, please.
It was an unexpected message.
I guess Min Geurin was curious about our classmates’ faces.
[Me] Okay.
I sent her a group picture we took during the Han River outing, after finishing the duck boat race.
The names were written on the group t-shirts, so they would be identifiable.
Sawol Seeum’s name wasn’t written, so I sent a special message ‘Chicken=Sawol Seeum’ together with the picture.
[Min Geurin] … So many.
[Me] Are you going to use those pictures for virtual visualization data?
By compiling the faces from the photo, they could be put on the cotton puppet dolls embodied with AR glasses.
If the pictures are attached to cotton puppets, there is a very slim chance the brain will recognize them as a person.
[Min Geurin] No.
[Min Geurin] I’ll make portraits after looking at the picture.
If Min Geurin personally makes portraits, there should be no problems, huh?
Seems like she was thinking of painting all of the kids’ faces.
‘I guess she liked our classmates.’
All of them were nice kids, so it was only natural to like them.
Though it was a bit subtle to call Hwang Jiho a good kid.
[Min Geurin] May I ask when this picture was taken?
[Me] During outing.
[Min Geurin] You went on an outing on the Han River? Was it a school thing?
I talked about the outing our entire class went to.
The writing on the matching group t-shirts.
The duck boat race for the chicken flavor.
Ham Geun-hyeong’s crushing board games victory.
After I finished my description, Min Geurin said one thing
[Min Geurin] I also want to go on to the next one…
[Min Geurin] There are a lot of people on the Han River, so I can’t, right?
I hoped that Min Geurin and of course also Song Daeseok could go on the next outing.
I recalled Song Manseok’s back when he was riding bicycle along the Han River.
If that is the case, would I be able to bring over those two people to the next outing? When I was thinking.
Someone spoke up to me.
“Uisin, hi! Sorry for making you wait.”
It was Seong Siwan I had promised a dinner with.
“No, I came a bit early.”
“Hahaha, shouldn’t the inviting person come first?”
In front of the main school gates.
Seong Siwan and I decided to wait for the person said to be his older cousin together.
“What type of person is your older cousin-nim?”
“When I start to brag about my older cousin there is no end!”
As if he was waiting, Seong Siwan started to brag.
A harsh, but nice person.
A person who is strong in front of the strong and weak in front of the weak.
A Player with powerful supernatural abilities.
An amazing Player who had never missed 1st place through his time attending the Eungwang School.
Like Seong Siwan said, there was no end to bragging about his older cousin.
“I joined the Wings Council, because of my older cousin.”
“Your older cousin-nim was also in the Wings Council?”
“No, he was the Student Council’s president. At that time the Wings Council didn’t exist. 13 years ago, no, I’m in the 3rd year now, so it would be 15 years ago, huh? At that time, it was my older cousin who created the Wings Council…”
No way, Seong Siwan’s older cousin was that Student Council’s president from 15 years ago?
Before the crucial words came out, Seong Siwan suddenly stopped talking.
“Uh, it seems that he arrived!”
The air sedan stopped in front of us.
First to open was the driver seat.
And then the door behind the driver seat opened.
“Hyung! Long time no see!”
Seong Siwan smiled and spoke to his older cousin, who was also a person I knew.
The Student Council president 15 years ago was a Playable Character.
*~*~*
[1] killing time – in raws: ‘munching on dry pollock’
[2] rabokki – type of ttaekbooki (stir-fried rice cakes) with ramyeon noodles. Ramen stir-fried rice cakes if you wish to call them that.
[3] sundae – Korean blood sausage. It is stuffed with pork or beef insides and vegetables, noodles or rice, and then steamed.
Translator’s note: Um… the gender of the teacher wasn’t mentioned here, and my memory eludes me if it was really ‘he’ later. I really distrust my memory of anything gender related in this novel when after checking the character list on munpia I discovered the author wrote one of the character’s gender as ‘??’. I was truly convinced that that character is ‘he’, but now… The gist of it is, Jo Uisin doesn’t mention Maeng Hyodon’s teacher’s gender here, so I may get it wrong.
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
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