A red-haired senior who likes the nickname “Hong Yeom.”

I couldn’t focus on the conversation because I was too busy wondering if he was the kind of oddball I could befriend or the kind I should avoid.

Half-listening to the explanation, I headed to the afternoon classroom as class time approached.

The rest, I decided to listen to while patrolling together today.

Monday afternoon’s class is Basic Survival Skills, taught by Instructor Na Dan-myeong.

As subjects that move away from the boring theory parts finally start to appear one by one, life at the Academy is gradually becoming more interesting.

Today’s Basic Survival Skills class is…

“Running away from this instructor for two hours.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a very simple class where you use the theories you’ve learned so far to run around without getting caught by this instructor.”

“…But we haven’t learned anything!”

“You haven’t learned anything? Didn’t you learn survival according to the principles of the survival manual during the last class?”

Both have a point, so I don’t know whose side to take.

The instructor did try hard to teach us something.

But it wasn’t about how to escape, and it’s not like it was completely useless either.

The theory the instructor taught was SURVIVAL.

Literally, survival.

“Each letter of SURVIVAL is directly connected to survival, as I emphasized so much… We should review and move on.”

“Ugh…”

“What does S stand for?”

The instructor seemed to be asking questions in order, starting from the front row, leftmost student.

“S…S is probably SE…”

“Minus points!”

“Huh? Why? That’s unfair!”

“Minus points for trying to answer something I never taught!”

As far as I know, that student wasn’t the type to act out like that…

The discipline at the Academy has been a complete mess lately.

“No! Why is that wrong? Sense! You have to survive sensibly!”

I’m sorry.

I misunderstood.

“There is a part in the content about judging situations sensibly, but S doesn’t stand for that. Size up the situation. Judging the situation comes first!”

“…”

The survival skills instructor didn’t cancel the minus points.

After all, wrong is wrong.

“Next. Explain U.”

“Yes, U stands for Undue haste makes waste. It means not to rush unnecessarily.”

The female student who was called on puffed out her chest and confidently held up her notebook.

She was a top elite, even showing the instructor the spelling.

But…

“Minus points!”

“Huh? Why?”

“You spelled it wrong!”

She got minus points for spelling Haste as hsate and Waste as waset.

Is that… really a mistake?

She couldn’t actually think that’s how it’s spelled, right?

If she had just said it out loud, she wouldn’t have gotten minus points.

As expected, people need to be moderate in everything.

‘Like me, round and round, not trying to stand out.’

After that…

“R… Rrr… RR! R! RR! RRRRRRR.”

“…A student who has given up on being human has appeared.”

A student barking like a dog.

“V, V-tuber?”

“What’s that? A new survival kit? With Tube in it, is it an emergency kit?”

A student looking for the essential survival element, VTubers.

“I…Qos?”

“Aren’t you 17? You, come to the administrative office after class.”

“Huh? I’m not the one smoking…”

“We’ll talk about that there.”

“…”

Similarly, a student looking for the essential survival element, IQos.

Not a single friend gave a correct answer to Instructor Na Dan-myeong’s questions.

Is this really that hard?

R – Remember where you are.

V – Vanquish fear and panic.

I – Improvise.

I should have been the one answering!

Our future heroes, who will be responsible for the nation, are mostly blockheads.

“…This instructor is disappointed in you.”

“Sorry, sorry!”

As if there was no point in listening further, all the planned practical exercises for today were canceled.

‘…I’d cancel it too.’

Another hellish theory session has arrived.

If only I had been the one answering…

Thanks to my stupid classmates, I have to listen to Instructor Na Dan-myeong’s lullaby-like, sleep-inducing voice, as if it were laced with sleeping pills.

It’s time for me to deploy my own survival skills again.

Pretending to take notes while falling asleep.

It’s a skill I’m very good at and enjoy.

Well then… goodnight.

***

Instructor Na Dan-myeong’s survival skills class has ended.

In my opinion, this class isn’t about teaching survival skills.

It’s more about surviving this class, hence the name survival skills class…

After class and dinner, I went to the Student Council Room to meet the Student Council President.

Kang Min-kyung, who isn’t embarrassed by her nickname Hong Yeom.

“You’re here? Let’s get started then.”

“Are we going in right away?”

“Yeah, usually we start patrolling the designated route right after the last class. It’s a waste of time to gather at the Student Council Room.”

“…Do we have to do this every day? Isn’t it too harsh?”

“Don’t worry, once it gets around that you’ve joined the Student Council, people will join soon.”

Like before, she was full of baseless confidence.

If people were going to join just because we joined, we would have already been part of the Academy’s popular crowd.

“Don’t worry, let’s get the equipment first. Oh, this cabinet will electrocute you enough to knock you out if you don’t enter the correct password daily, so be careful.”

I wondered why they did that to the cabinet, but it turned out to be a locker containing equipment.

A walkie-talkie with unknown range.

A suppression rod that blocks magic.

Handcuffs that block magic.

Okay, I can understand up to this point.

There might be times when we need to arrest students.

There might be times when we need to beat up students.

Not everyone recruited into the Student Council is strong.

We need some equipment to crush villain wannabes.

But seriously… why is that toy-like gun here?

Of course, it’s not a .38 caliber revolver.

It’s definitely a stun gun that will hurt a lot if hit.

“Is this… for students? Not some smuggled goods, right? Why is there a Taser here…”

“It’s a modified version. It doesn’t have the same power as the ones the police use… It just temporarily paralyzes the body?”

Wait, don’t police Tasers also temporarily paralyze the body?

Seeing my puzzled expression, Senior Hong Yeom continued.

“…You’ve never seen a Taser before? The ones the police use are really powerful. Sometimes accidents happen, and people get electrocuted.”

What?

It seems the output of Tasers is different in my past and present lives.

Is this an upgraded version to catch villains…

Then is the Student Council Taser a downgraded version of the past life’s output?

…Unless it’s the third brother who devours Korean hip-hop in Busan.

As an ordinary citizen in my past life, I never had the chance to be hit by a Taser, and it was a very scary tool.

Honestly, I think it would hurt more than the Demon King’s flick.

“I won’t use the Taser… I might get electrocuted just holding it.”

“…There haven’t been any accidents like that yet, unless it’s a misfire.”

“…It could misfire on my thigh. Anyway, I won’t use it!”

A mere student with a Taser.

Isn’t that the epitome of insensitivity to danger?

I feel like an accident is bound to happen someday.

“I’ll take it! It seems fun!”

“…It’s not for fun, but I’ll teach you how to use it outside. It’s hot wearing this anti-stab suit.”

Anyway, I have the full set except for the Taser.

Hayan has the full set, including the Taser, and we left the Student Council Room.

I have no idea what kind of situation would require wearing an anti-stab suit, but…

Since they said it’s better to wear it, I did.

Is the Academy Student Council actually the Naval Special Warfare Student Council Unit, or maybe the Capital Defense Student Council…

Could it be the National Intelligence Student Council?

“Gyeoul is having strange thoughts again.”

“No, I was thinking about the military!”

Every time I start imagining, Hayan catches me…

Is it written on my face?

Or could it be that Hayan is the world’s first to master both magic and psychic abilities?

Is she using telepathy?

“Then it’s a strange thought, why are you thinking about the military?”

“Are you disrespecting the military? Does Hayan have a personality problem?”

“You guys, I get that you’re relaxed, but can you be a little more serious? This isn’t just a fun outing…”

“Sorry…”

After getting lightly scolded by Senior Hong Yeom and glaring at Hayan, we started the real patrol.

The route we had to patrol today looked quite long.

3rd-year male dormitory, 2nd-year male dormitory, 1st-year male dormitory.

Club Building A, Club Building B.

Stop by the snack shop for some late-night snacks. (This part was my favorite.)

Kill some time at the Central Clock Tower.

Pass by the President’s Office and the shelter, then return to the Student Council Room.

Saying it like this makes it seem quite long.

Not just quite, but very long.

Patrolling inside the buildings is practically impossible, so we don’t do it.

Even so, the area is undeniably wide.

We cover the entire Academy this way.

Every day is a living hell.

And just 15 minutes into the patrol, an incident occurred.

“Guys, should we go to the dorm and play a bit more?”

“Oh my, if we get caught in the male dormitory, we’ll get minus points.”

“It’s okay! I’ve already planned the route.”

“Then… shall we?”

Completely distracted, a group of four, two boys and two girls, tried to sneak into the male dormitory without properly checking their surroundings.

Even though we were quite close, they didn’t notice us watching.

“Those guys! Should we arrest them?”

“Can we attack? Can we use magic?”

Finally, something for us to do, but Senior Hong Yeom’s words completely shattered our expectations.

“…That level is just a warning.”

Right now, two female students are entering the male dormitory.

And that’s… a warning?

That’s… a warning?

“I think we’ve experienced enough of the Student Council, let’s head back. Good work, Senior! Let’s go, Hayan!”

“Yeah, I feel unusually tired today, let’s go back quickly.”

First assignment.

I’m a cop now! All the big cases are mine! I was excited to start work, but if all I do every night is clean up drunk people and police cars, it’s natural to feel disillusioned with the job, right?

If you disagree, you’re the drunk one.

Without a second thought, I turned around, and Senior Hong Yeom desperately grabbed us.

“Those kids aren’t the only ones! There are bigger incidents and students who attack us! Then we can suppress them immediately! That’s just the tip of the iceberg! Please come back!”

So… for those kids, we have to give a warning, so go provoke them or do something to escalate the situation and get hit first to prove self-defense, right?

Senior Hong Yeom… I didn’t see that coming.

You’re quite charming.