Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Seo Hyun-woo slowly shook his head, rejecting the question he had posed to himself.

He had come too far to turn back now.

Above all, he couldn't discard other possibilities just to win over one Jin Se-hee.

'It's true that Seo Hyun-woo possesses a superior ability. But I can't predict what will happen to Seo Hyun-woo going forward. Especially after Kang Jin-ha completes Miterich's program—I can't even begin to guess what might happen. That's why I need more allies. And I need to become stronger myself.'

What mattered to him was not the protagonist Kang Jin-ha, but Seo Hyun-woo.

Right now, he himself was Seo Hyun-woo, and he had room to gradually intervene in the affairs of various characters and events.

In a situation like this, acting the way the original Seo Hyun-woo did would be an incredibly foolish choice.

'Even if the story starts veering off course little by little, there's nothing I can do about it. What matters is that I survive in one piece. And the first incident doesn't contribute much to the protagonist's growth anyway. If I had to assign its meaning, it should be seen as the stage where he helps Baek Seo-yeon and they become aware of each other.'

Seo Hyun-woo knew in detail how the relationships between Kang Jin-ha and the various heroines would develop.

If he ranked the heroines by their importance and narrative weight centered on the protagonist Kang Jin-ha, Baek Seo-yeon wasn't particularly high.

Her presence only mattered in the early-to-mid portions of the story, and later on, she hardly appeared at all.

'Viewed from that angle, Jin Se-hee should also be considered a heroine. She eventually gives up and ends up dating Seo Hyun-woo. The heroines with the most weight are separate from her. Among them, Yoo Si-eun carries the most weight.'

Yoo Si-eun, as the Security Department Head, only made her belated appearance after the Security Office received its disciplinary action.

From that point on, she became entangled with Kang Jin-ha, and her presence as a heroine gradually grew.

Particularly in the mid-to-late portions, Yoo Si-eun's appearances increased significantly as she steadily built a closer relationship with Kang Jin-ha.

'But Min Ha-young and Lee Da-jeong aren't low in weight either. Relatively speaking, they sit between Baek Seo-yeon and Yoo Si-eun. The important thing is that there are still more heroines beyond them.'

Seo Hyun-woo felt a throbbing in his head and closed his eyes.

Even excluding Jin Se-hee, the total number of heroines was four.

On top of that, after Kang Jin-ha completed Miterich's program, two more heroines would be added.

In other words, Kang Jin-ha had six heroines in total.

'The original author of this novel must be some pathetic loser who's never been in a relationship. Seriously, what kind of guy has six heroines? God, my head hurts. It'd be one thing if the heroines were weak. But every single one of them is above average in ability.'

The novel Seo Hyun-woo had read was classified as a school-life or academy genre work.

As was characteristic of the genre, the number of heroines was inevitably high, and the protagonist was inevitably swept up in it all.

In a sense, only Seo Hyun-woo—the mid-boss, essentially—had ended up looking like a fool.

'I can't afford to worry about the heroines outside Miterich. They haven't appeared yet, and they'll only show interest in Kang Jin-ha. As it happens, one of them is connected to the current incident.'

Kim Tae-jun, who had met his death yesterday, was a case of a person mutating into a magical beast after taking an illegal drug.

And that drug must have been obtained at a steep price through a special distribution channel.

The religious organization that produced the drug was destined to become entangled in numerous future incidents and clashes with Kang Jin-ha.

'A heroine who's involved in all sorts of crime...... Now that I think about it, it's absurd. In the end, she was easily forgiven just because she's a heroine, wasn't she? There may have been plausible justifications, but the fact that she committed crimes doesn't change.'

Seo Hyun-woo felt a surge of resentment before ultimately giving up on the train of thought.

Debating right and wrong in this situation would change absolutely nothing.

Meddling in the protagonist's affairs would only create problems.

'What was the next event again...... Ah, right. There was the one where they tested combat equipment against Seo Hyun-woo. It wasn't described in much detail in the novel, but in reality, it's what triggers a major change in this world......'

Knock, knock.

At the sound of knocking, Seo Hyun-woo immediately opened his eyes and turned his head.

Baek Seo-yeon was entering with her usual indifferent expression.

Upon seeing Seo Hyun-woo, she spoke first.

"Were you sleeping?"

"No. I was just resting my eyes for a moment. Staring at the monitor was making me a little tired."

"My nagging must be that unbearable to hear."

"Not at all. You're the only one who nags me. I quite enjoy listening to it, in my own way."

"I don't even have the energy to nag. I was in such a terrible mood that I couldn't sleep properly."

Baek Seo-yeon felt the fatigue weighing on her and barely managed to suppress a yawn.

After yesterday's incident, no one had died or been seriously injured, but Baek Seo-yeon had been unable to hold back her unpleasant emotions and had returned to the dormitory in that state.

As a result, she hadn't gotten proper sleep and had barely managed to attend the morning meeting.

"Then why not get some rest now? Knowing your personality, you've probably already finished a fair amount of work."

"I can't do that. I'm not going to slack off during work hours."

"You're too strict. There's no need to work that hard. Don't the other students take breaks now and then during their training?"

"That's precisely why I hold the Vice President position. If I were going to act the same as every other student, I wouldn't be Vice President."

Seo Hyun-woo answered with a smile in place of words and moved to the sofa.

Baek Seo-yeon was not only meticulous and detail-oriented but also possessed remarkably strong responsibility and conviction.

That was exactly why even the original Seo Hyun-woo had never been as demanding with Baek Seo-yeon as he was with the other department heads.

"Did you come because of the department inspections? I was actually thinking I needed to discuss that with the Vice President."

"You're well informed. The department inspections aren't something that can be wrapped up in a single day. Moreover, this time we need to inspect the Security Department as well. Including the reports, it will take at least three days."

"Then why don't we set it at a generous four days and begin the inspections? Since the Security Department has been added to the inspection list, the Administrative Office shouldn't have any objections."

"......That's not a bad idea. Even one extra day would give us considerably more breathing room."

Seo Hyun-woo exchanged opinions with Baek Seo-yeon and settled on the approach for the department inspections.

Roughly five months had passed since Seo Hyun-woo became Student Council President, but this was the first time he was handling a department inspection.

That was why he intended to proceed with a degree of caution.

As it happened, this inspection would also give him the opportunity to verify Kang Jin-ha's ability and potential.

"Ah, and regarding yesterday's incident, the Security Office will be conducting a separate investigation. I'm told they'll also be sending a formal request for cooperation to the Hunter Committee."

"Of course they will. A human turned into a magical beast. It should be on CCTV footage as well, shouldn't it?"

"They say they'll be referencing our testimonies along with the CCTV footage. Separately, I understand that opinions have been raised about the insufficient number of CCTV cameras and the excessively slow response time of the security officers."

"The Chancellor must be quite displeased. Or was it the chairman who stepped in?"

Miterich had a chairman who stood above even the Chancellor.

The chairman was the individual who had single-handedly shouldered Miterich's establishment, training system, and massive investment.

Of course, support from the Hunter Committee and the government played a role, but neither could surpass the chairman's financial power and influence.

And for good reason—Miterich's chairman was a Setinos-grade Hunter who belonged to the top tier, and bore the title of the strongest attribute-type Awakened.

"I understand the chairman cares deeply about Miterich. If something like this occurred, it would only be natural for the chairman to step in."

"On top of that, two Student Council officers got caught up in the incident. We handled it well enough among ourselves, but from the chairman's perspective, the security must seem lax."

"The chairman most likely believes there's a reason behind a student becoming a magical beast. Otherwise, there would be no cause to request cooperation from the Committee."

Seo Hyun-woo nodded slightly and leaned back.

All of this was essentially predetermined.

The only difference was that the person who resolved the incident had changed from Kang Jin-ha to himself and Baek Seo-yeon.

But because this meant the distance between Kang Jin-ha and Baek Seo-yeon hadn't been closed, he couldn't help but be a little concerned.

'I have to conduct the department inspections with Baek Seo-yeon anyway. If things go well, maybe I can use this opportunity to connect Kang Jin-ha and Baek Seo-yeon.'

Of course, Seo Hyun-woo wasn't confident about this.

Even if he artificially manufactured such a situation, there was no guarantee it would produce good results.

But if he could at least make Baek Seo-yeon clearly recognize Kang Jin-ha's existence, the momentum might continue to some degree.

'By now, Kang Jin-ha should've joined the Transformation Department. He'll gradually reveal his true worth and start capturing the attention of those around him. The Transformation Department inspection was definitely scheduled for day two.'

Seo Hyun-woo recalled the method by which Kang Jin-ha had drawn attention and felt a measure of relief.

It wasn't easy for a Temporary Member who had only just joined to defeat a Full Member.

But Kang Jin-ha's ability was already beyond Full Member level, and if he set his mind to it, he could likely beat even a Managing Member, the rank directly above.

'Baek Seo-yeon fundamentally takes interest in strong opponents the moment she sees them. Even if they're weak, she doesn't casually look down on someone who puts in the effort. Given that, connecting the two of them shouldn't be that difficult.'

"You're lost in thought again. Is there something that needs to be changed?"

"No, nothing in particular. We'll proceed as is."

"......Understood."

Baek Seo-yeon glanced sidelong at Seo Hyun-woo and recalled the hairpin she had received yesterday.

The gift had broken before even a full day had passed since she received it, which only seemed to deepen her lingering attachment.

Perhaps she should have just accepted his offer when Seo Hyun-woo said he'd buy her a new one.

'......But still, that feels wrong. I don't want to trouble the President for no reason. I left it with a specialist, so it should work out somehow.'

***

Day two of the internal department inspections.

Seo Hyun-woo was touring the interior of the Transformation Department alongside Baek Seo-yeon.

While actual training and battles were primarily conducted outdoors, theoretical education and various administrative tasks took place inside each department's facilities, so they needed to examine things with care.

Above all, since the department inspections themselves were the responsibility of Seo Hyun-woo and Baek Seo-yeon, failing to check things properly could lead to accountability issues down the line.

'The Enhancement Department and the Special Department inspections are already done. I finished the reports ahead of time too. So maybe I can sneak in a day of rest?'

Seo Hyun-woo listened to Min Ha-young's explanations as she walked ahead, looking around as he went.

As the Transformation Department Head, Min Ha-young was in the position of leading the department's operations and management.

Furthermore, since the inspection results would determine future budget allocations and operational policies, any aspects that might draw criticism had to be identified and resolved in advance.

'Hmm...... About now, Kang Jin-ha and a Full Member should be in the middle of a Training Battle. That's where Kang Jin-ha's hidden ability gets revealed. Min Ha-young will start taking interest in Kang Jin-ha from that point on, too.'