Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Have you gone crazy like the President too? No matter how much you do the same work, they’re still enemies. There is no reason for them to date, is there?”

Jin Se-hee, the head of the Attribute Department, frowned and snapped sharply.

Intense red hair, orange eyes that seemed to contain the sun, and an expression filled with confidence.

Since she herself was also aiming for the Student Council President’s seat, there was no way she could accept such an act.

“Since the President has gone crazy, he could be dating the Vice President, right?”

“How can you interpret it that way?”

“And it isn’t as if men and women dating is such a bad thing. It only makes me a little jealous.”

Min Ha-young, the head of the Transformation Department, smiled brightly while showing a sharp look in her eyes.

Glossy black hair, eyes redder than blood, and a meaningful expression that made it impossible to know what she was thinking.

After hearing about the President from Jin Se-hee, Min Ha-young had become fairly interested.

“Don’t tell me you had feelings for the President?”

“What do you think? Do I look like I have a one-sided crush on the President?”

“The President would not be able to satisfy you either.”

“You’re right. If I can’t have something, it’s better to break it. Of course, if I don’t like it, then it isn’t even worth breaking.”

“You speak in such a difficult way. So are you interested in the President or not?”

“My thoughts haven’t changed. The President is attractive, but he doesn’t suit me. Maybe I’ll be able to beat him someday. Or maybe it will end like this.”

Min Ha-young lightly shrugged and looked toward where Seo Hyun-woo was.

Seo Hyun-woo was talking with Baek Seo-yeon and showing various changes in expression.

It was certainly different from before, as if the person himself had changed.

“In some ways, that is a relief. I was wondering whether you might fight the Vice President over the President.”

“What? Puhaha! That’s an interesting idea. Even if I were interested in the President, I wouldn’t fight the Vice President. The Vice President is rather difficult to deal with too.”

“......That is true. The Vice President is also a special-type Awakened.”

Special-type was a term that referred collectively to abilities that did not belong to the other four systems or abilities in which several systems were mixed together.

For that reason, there were not many Awakened who belonged to the special type, and even the abilities they used had very distinct characteristics.

It was possible for Seo Hyun-woo and Baek Seo-yeon to occupy the positions of Student Council President and Vice Student Council President respectively because they were both special-type Awakened.

“And the Vice President’s position feels too much like a supporting role, doesn’t it? That’s why I end up saying those two might be dating.”

“That is not necessarily true. There is a dedicated secretarial office for the Student Council, is there not? Besides, I understand that when the President is absent, the Vice President temporarily carries out the President’s duties in his place.”

“That’s why it’s a supporting role. You have to keep trailing around behind the President. Ugh, I don’t want to become Vice President badly enough to do that.”

“Hmm....... So you mean that rather than becoming the king’s loyal subject, you would become a rebel plotting treason.”

“That’s a nice comparison. You must read a lot of books. You’re a rebel too, right?”

“Who knows? I am not sure myself.”

Jin Se-hee looked at Seo Hyun-woo with a bitter gaze.

Where had the arrogant and cold Seo Hyun-woo gone, leaving only that shell behind?

Because the Student Council President she had wanted to surpass had disappeared, her enthusiasm for defeating the Student Council President was cooling.

“What? Why are you giving up already?”

“The President I want to beat is not someone like that. His spirit has been broken too much.”

“Aha, you mean it isn’t fun? Well, that isn’t entirely wrong. Like that, he doesn’t even make me want to beat him.”

“Not fun, huh....... Is that so? Maybe that really is it.”

Jin Se-hee turned away with a subtle sense of certainty.

Then she quickly disappeared, leaving Min Ha-young alone.

“What’s wrong with her? Did I say something wrong?”

***

‘The end-of-day meeting ended safely too. It looks like there still aren’t any signs yet.’

Seo Hyun-woo returned to the Student Council President’s office alone and sank into the sofa.

Outside the window, the sun was already setting, and a faint orange light lingered.

He could have returned to the dormitory like this, but for now, he wanted to stay in the Student Council President’s office a little longer.

‘When does Kang Jin-ha start acting? I need to know that so I can move accordingly.’

Seo Hyun-woo turned on the TV with the remote control and tilted his head.

The rough outline of this world’s future and the movements of its characters was already set in Seo Hyun-woo’s mind.

However, as the Student Council President, he had to act carefully until he graduated from Miterich.

He would have to focus especially until Kang Jin-ha, the protagonist, graduated from Miterich.

‘I have to interfere only enough that I don’t obstruct the flow of the story. At the same time, I need to make allies and become stronger myself. Hmm....... This is difficult.’

Seo Hyun-woo closed his eyes and began organizing the plan he had made in advance.

He had already repeated the process of revising and establishing the plan dozens of times.

Even so, he could not let his guard down.

He was not perfect, and he could not know how this world would unfold either.

‘Maybe the story has already changed. Seo Hyun-woo’s personality, way of speaking, and behavior have changed too much. It wasn’t described properly, but didn’t that affect things in some form?’

Seo Hyun-woo recalled Baek Seo-yeon and the department heads’ reactions and tapped the sofa’s armrest.

He had often heard things like he should go to the hospital or that he did not seem like the President.

The department heads, who were practically the protagonist’s heroines, did not matter much, but the other department heads might become a bit of a problem.

‘Choi Jae-yeon, Jin Se-hee, An Jung-hoon. I don’t know about the other department heads, but these three are close to variables. According to the original story, they naturally become my allies as time passes.’

Of course, those three became Seo Hyun-woo’s comrades only after graduating from Miterich.

Among them, Jin Se-hee was not an ordinary comrade.

When Seo Hyun-woo met the protagonist again after the protagonist graduated from Miterich, had he not been dating Jin Se-hee?

‘I don’t really know about this. I’ve never actually dated anyone. I can’t understand why Jin Se-hee would come to like Seo Hyun-woo. The original Seo Hyun-woo didn’t exactly have a good personality.’

Seo Hyun-woo checked the information on Jin Se-hee, then soon shook his head.

Even if he returned to his original personality now, it would be meaningless.

For now, it seemed best to simply move according to the plan he had decided on.

‘One person who will become my ally right now is more important than the three who will become my allies later. And even if the character relationship chart changes, the important incidents are bound to happen. All I can do here is keep my balance well.’

Seo Hyun-woo sighed and rose from his seat.

Then he filled the nearby electric kettle with water and turned it on.

Coffee, green tea, black tea, oolong tea, various drinks, and more.

The Student Council received a fairly large budget allocation from Miterich, so it could enjoy a light degree of luxury.

‘It’s true that the Student Council Headquarters has fewer personnel compared to the other departments. It’s just me, the Vice President, and a few students assigned to the secretarial office.’

Each department included all the students belonging to its system as personnel.

Since the budget was set according to personnel numbers, it was important to operate it efficiently.

The Security Department also received a large budget, but it simply had many expenses because it had a lot of work to do.

‘The secretarial office doesn’t spend that much money either....... Wait, why did I forget that?’

Seo Hyun-woo froze for a moment while pouring water into the teacup and recalled something.

He had made all kinds of plans, but he had completely forgotten the danger lurking nearby.

Had the members of a terrorist organization made up of Awakened not infiltrated Miterich?

‘There was a time when a student holding a major position in Miterich leaked information, and students were taken hostage. As if that weren’t enough, they even attacked during a Miterich event and made the terrorist organization’s name widely known.’

Seo Hyun-woo slowly calmed his troubled mind and began pouring water into the teacup again.

It was not yet time for the terrorist organization to cause an incident.

Besides, the protagonist had no choice but to get involved in major incidents, so was there any reason to worry that much?

‘A member of the terrorist organization has already hidden somewhere close to me. The person who always comes and goes from the Student Council Headquarters and can steal the information the Student Council has is.......’

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded from outside the door.

Seo Hyun-woo remained silent while holding the teacup.

Soon, the door opened, and a male student in a purple uniform appeared.

“Ah, you were still here. May I tidy up inside?”

“You’ve been working hard. Should I help a little?”

“Thank you for saying so, but I will do it alone. It is my job.”

Seo Hyun-woo made an effort to act naturally and sat on the sofa.

He had never imagined the person he had just thought of would suddenly appear.

When he first saw him, he had simply let it pass, but now that he knew his identity, his guard was already rising.

‘Because I was only thinking about the story and the protagonist, I ended up forgetting the hidden enemy. What should I do about that? Should I hand him over to the Security Office right now?’

The male student who had just entered was one of the secretaries working in the Student Council’s dedicated secretarial office.

Unlike members of other departments, secretaries in the Student Council’s dedicated secretarial office had a special purpose, so they were given the position of Managing Member from the start.

On top of that, since they could access some of the information managed by the Student Council, had they not been selected only from students with clear identities and no criminal records?

‘No. I can’t do that. If I remove him now, the story won’t proceed properly. On top of that, the protagonist’s chance to grow will disappear too. For now, it’s best to leave him alone and prepare in advance.’

Seo Hyun-woo sipped his tea while glancing sideways at the male student.

If someone held the position of secretary, they could freely enter and leave the Student Council President’s office.

Of course, they could not surpass the authority of the Student Council President, so they could only move within a limited scope.

‘Actually, there are a few more members of the terrorist organization besides him....... But among them, there is someone who turns to the protagonist’s side, so I probably don’t need to worry too much.’

Seo Hyun-woo partially revised the plan he had made in advance and slowly put down the teacup.

The existence known as Seo Hyun-woo was the current Student Council President and a person the protagonist had to surpass, so he was bound to become involved somehow.

All he had to do was prepare little by little and wait calmly.

“President, I have tidied up everything except what you are currently using. I will be going now.”

“Good work. I’ll clean up the teacup and table myself.”

Seo Hyun-woo looked at the secretary with a sharper gaze than usual.

The secretary seemed to flinch for a moment, then lowered his head and carefully left the Student Council President’s office.

Then, feeling a strange unease, he kept looking back.

‘What was that? It felt like the look in his eyes when he saw me had changed a little. Did he perhaps realize I’m leaking information?’