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I was from the Special Forces.

Other than that, I was just an ordinary citizen with nothing to boast about.

But my time in military service is still a proud memory for me.

You might wonder why I’m suddenly bringing this up.

It’s because I saw the qualities of a Special Forces soldier in Senior Hong Yeom.

Senior Hong Yeom was a very smart talent, fitting for the Army Special Warfare Command.

[If it doesn’t work, make it work.]

I was about to turn back, thinking it wouldn’t work… but Senior Hong Yeom stepped forward and showed me the way.

‘What a cool person.’

A true soldier who reawakened the spirit of the Special Forces in me, which I had forgotten after being possessed.

I heard there’s even a unit in the military made up of Awakened Ones.

Maybe I should talk to the Association President and arrange a position for him.

Senior Hong Yeom would fit well in such a role.

I’m still far from that.

Even a 19-year-old high school girl has things to teach me, but I was just looking at her with a narrow perspective.

‘Senior Hong Yeom isn’t some immature senior who likes embarrassing nicknames and is ashamed to be seen.’

I think I’ll learn a lot by following Senior Hong Yeom in the Student Council.

Outside, Jeong Ha-yul; inside, Senior Hong Yeom.

I have people to guide me both inside and out.

‘This is what you call good fortune.’

To become a junior who isn’t a disgrace to my senior.

It’s time to move.

“Hey, wait a second, Gyeoul. Your eyes… why do they look like that? Did I say something wrong? Come back, come back!”

I heard Senior Hong Yeom calling me with a frantic voice.

Maybe he thought I was too young to actually carry out his teachings.

‘But don’t worry, Senior.’

I’m ready to roll for you.

Since you gave me such great advice, it’s my turn to act.

“Hayan, don’t step forward this time.”

“Huh? Okay.”

I was about to turn back, but my attitude suddenly changed.

Maybe Hayan sensed something interesting, as she was grinning from ear to ear.

I took off my armband and handed it to Hayan, then moved forward toward the four (potential) criminals.

“I’ll go up first and lower the rope. Grab it and climb up.”

“…Rope? I can’t climb ropes.”

One of the girls looked like she was about to cry, but the girl next to her seemed to reassure her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll assist you from behind.”

“…Okay.”

“Then it’s settled? I’ll go first.”

One of the male students quickly climbed up to the balcony and lowered the rope.

I wonder how long they’ve been preparing for this. At this level, it’s not a spontaneous crime but a planned one.

I’ve already found one clue that could escalate the incident.

‘Senior Hong Yeom must have noticed this too.’

Is this the experience of a Student Council President?

I’m sure I’ve had more military experience than Senior Hong Yeom’s Student Council experience.

But this isn’t the military; it’s the Academy.

Student Council experience counts more here, and Senior Hong Yeom has already proven his ability.

One guy lowered the rope.

Two girls were slowly climbing up the rope.

One was slowly climbing, and the other was assisting from behind, pushing her up.

If they were all Physical Category, they would’ve succeeded in infiltrating quickly.

But the girl above is probably either Magic Category or Super Ability Category.

‘Otherwise, they wouldn’t be this slow.’

The male student who lowered the rope had a strange expression, as if he found the girl climbing the rope at a snail’s pace frustrating.

“Hurry up… we’ll get caught.”

“Don’t rush me… I didn’t want to climb ropes either.”

“Right! Don’t say anything to A-young. She’s Magic Category, so without using magic power, her physical ability is at a normal person’s level.”

“…Sorry, climb up slowly.”

The other guy was looking around below, keeping watch.

Then…

“Huh?”

He made eye contact with me.

“What? What’s going on?”

“Someone’s walking over there.”

“What? Ah, crap…”

The guy on the balcony who lowered the rope also looked in my direction and made eye contact with me.

“Hey… doesn’t she look really short? She’s wearing a skirt. Is she a girl?”

“Wait a bit, her face is coming into view.”

They were whispering among themselves, but I had already wrapped my ears with magic power the moment I spotted them.

It sounded like they were talking right next to me.

“Hey! Isn’t that Jeong Gyeoul?”

“Jeong Gyeoul? Jeong Ha-yul’s younger sister?”

“Yeah, Jeong Gyeoul from Class 12D.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. She’s not in the Student Council, not an instructor, not a senior.”

“Right… but why is she coming to the male dorm?”

“She must have a guy she’s meeting. With that face, she must have someone.”

“I guess… whoever it is, I’m jealous…”

“Shut up and get ready to climb up.”

The girls were almost done climbing the rope.

The guy keeping watch also thought I wasn’t a threat and ignored me, grabbing the rope.

If I let this go, I’d have to go inside the male dorm, so I decided to step in.

“Stop movement!”

“…What, what’s going on? Why are you freaking out! If you’re here to meet a guy, go meet him!”

“Who said I’m here to meet a guy? I’m here to meet you.”

“…Us? Are you saying we’re the blessed guys you chose?”

“You crazy guy! I’ve never even had a conversation with Jeong Gyeoul! What choice are you talking about? Hurry up and climb!”

The guy keeping watch seemed dumber than the one who lowered the rope.

Upon closer inspection, the two girls climbing the rope were the ones who used to bring me snacks from the first-year female dorm.

Bribery, illegal gifts, and other prohibited acts.

In other words, acts that violate the Anti-Corruption Law.

This should be enough to escalate things, I thought, almost dancing.

But if that’s the case, I’d be the criminal for accepting it, and I know that amount of money doesn’t count legally.

Besides, this was before I became a Student Council Member.

Of course, I could manipulate the club application documents to roughly match the timeline.

‘But manipulating documents is a bit much, and I can’t do that to the girls who brought me snacks for my sake.’

I thought I could escalate the incident again, but it failed.

But I won’t give up.

[If it doesn’t work, make it work.]

Even if it’s not bribery, I can escalate the incident in other ways.

***

In companies, there’s office romance.

In universities, there are campus couples.

In the Academy, there are couples too.

They’re called AC, meaning Academy Couple, and also Alternating Current.

In other words, Academy Couples are electrifying.

Most romances happen in the first year.

In the second year, people start finding decent partners.

In the third year, they share deep love.

Sometimes, people misjudge their pace and end up breaking the rules.

According to big data collected worldwide, statistics show that office romances, campus couples, and Academy couples are more beneficial the less you engage in them.

It’s like the stock market.

Anyway, there were two couples here trying to become Academy couples.

Or rather, they existed until now.

Because Jeong Gyeoul was about to kindly split them apart for the sake of the ignorant first-years.

“Hey… guys? Jeong Gyeoul’s eyes look a bit off.”

“Are you paying attention to another girl’s eyes instead of me right now? I’m disappointed…”

“No, it’s not that, they really look strange.”

Thud—

The male student A, who was pulling the girls up to the balcony, heard a strange sound.

“What was that sound just now?”

“I heard it too, something falling… falling?”

The students on the balcony looked down…

The rope had been cut by something, and male student B, who was almost up to the third floor, was lying face down on the ground.

“What, what’s going on! Why did the rope break?”

“Are we… in big trouble? Gyeoul is… Gyeoul is… really strong…”

“No matter how strong she is, she’s only C-Class!”

“You don’t know because you’re not in Class 12D…”

The girls looked like they were about to cry, but male student A didn’t believe the rumors.

‘She’s probably B-Class at best, but even then, she’s no match for me, a real B-Class.’

He heard she had telekinesis in the Super Ability Category, so he thought she must have used telekinesis and something sharp to cut the rope. He pushed the girls back.

“Stay back, I’ll handle this.”

Normally, they should’ve been impressed by his consideration and his willingness to step forward in such a scary situation…

“I’m going down.”

“Me too…”

“What? No, why! Just wait a bit, and we can go to our room and drink…”

“Drink? Drink what! We didn’t come here to drink!”

“I, I misspoke, not drink, but a thrilling school life…”

Even he seemed to find his own words ridiculous and chuckled.

“Fine, go, I won’t stop you even if you regret it later.”

“I didn’t know you were like this… I wouldn’t have come if I knew.”

“Just shut up and leave. Don’t drag it out.”

“…Let’s go, A-young.”

“Okay…”

The two girls jumped off the balcony.

Male student A was momentarily shocked to see the two girls jump from the third floor without any tools.

“Levitation!”

But his face twisted as he heard the magic spell from A-young’s mouth.

“Damn it, you knew how to levitate and just ignored us? We got caught because of you!”

Male student A, who had planned to roughly deal with Jeong Gyeoul and then lure male student B and the other girls, changed his mind.

“This is all because of Jeong Gyeoul. If I record a video, neither Jeong Ha-yul nor the Association will be able to do anything.”

Male student A no longer needed the other girls.

He had a girl in front of him with beauty that could turn anyone into a squid.

The girls who went down talked with Jeong Gyeoul.

I saw them heading back to the female dorm.

Male student A jumped off the balcony toward Jeong Gyeoul.

He aimed precisely at her head, planning to pin her down and cover her mouth.

But…

Male student A felt something was wrong as he fell.

“What’s this now?”

Jeong Gyeoul, who was helping male student B up, didn’t expect someone to jump from above.

She felt the air changing but thought it was just a bird flying by.

She waved her hand as if shooing a pigeon.

She had a slight bit of telekinesis at her fingertips.

At that moment.

Crash—

Male student A flew faster than the speed of his fall and slammed into the dorm wall.

Weeeeeeeee—

The entire first-year male dorm echoed with sirens, and lights started turning on one by one.

“Holy crap, Senior Hong Yeom!”

Startled by the sirens, Jeong Gyeoul ran toward Senior Hong Yeom, Student Council President Kang Min-kyung.

 

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