Chapter 55
After lunch, we spent the rest of the day leisurely strolling around the Beast Farm.
Next to me, Park Siwoo grumbled with a small bump swelling on one side of his head.
“You—when I told you to bring a lunchbox, what kind of person brings kimchi stew?”
“Wasn’t it a lunchbox that didn’t even have to be packed in the first place? And you ate half of that kimchi stew yourself.”
“Hmm. Not bad though. You made it yourself?”
I nodded at his question.
In truth, the kimchi stew I’d packed as lunch was the leftovers from what I’d eaten with Seo Da-hee.
There was just enough left over that I’d brought it to eat later when I got hungry, but since Park Siwoo nagged me to bring a lunchbox, I just brought that as it was.
Walking beside us, Helena chimed in.
“It was decent enough that I wouldn’t have guessed you made it. They say even a worm can crawl if it tries.”
“That’s just the taste of seasoning.”
Honestly, any dish tastes good if you throw in enough seasoning, and kimchi stew always tastes better the next day.
But wait—did she just call me a worm?
Helena seemed to be getting cheekier by the day.
As we walked around to help with digestion, some familiar faces came into view.
Park Siwoo raised his hand first and waved to them.
The group in the distance waved back in return.
Helena, noticing this, asked,
“Are they acquaintances of yours?”
“They’re the new Student Council Executives who joined recently.”
“Ah, that reminds me—I saw a poster not long ago about recruiting new executives. I heard the competition was fierce again this time?”
At that, Park Siwoo shook his head as if he’d had enough of it.
“Because of that, the Vice President had a really hard time.”
Hard time, my ass.
It was basically a rigged game where the selected candidates were already decided.
We didn’t even get an interview since we were first-years.
Then suddenly, Park Siwoo turned to Helena.
“Now that I think about it, Helena—you’re not in any club, are you? With your skills, other clubs would’ve welcomed you.”
Park Siwoo’s words were true.
Helena wasn’t part of any organization within the Academy.
Even when the clubs were busy recruiting new members, several had extended invitations to her—but she declined them all.
“I have no intention of mingling in such lowly social circles.”
“So you still haven’t fixed that tendency to avoid people.”
A deep, low voice spoke from behind us.
Helena slowly turned her head toward the source.
It was Dan Chun-woo, who had been following us from a short distance away.
He looked at me and asked,
“Have you finished thinking? I figured you’ve had plenty of time to decide.”
He must’ve really been obsessed with my sword.
To think he’d follow me around like this—the bait had worked perfectly.
Just as I was about to answer, Helena cut me off.
“Why have you been following us since earlier? Did you suddenly develop a stalking hobby?”
“The only reason I’m following you people is because of the sword he has. If my following bothers you, you can just leave.”
At his indifferent response, Helena grabbed her own neck in disbelief and snapped back.
“You’re the unwelcome one here! And when he said he needed time to think, that meant you should come back after a few days!”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion. So—will you sell me the sword?”
Dan Chun-woo ignored Helena as though she were invisible and fixed his gaze on me.
Helena’s face flushed red with anger.
“You never look at people properly, do you? You judge only by worth, and once they’re of no use, you toss them aside. You disgust me.”
Even as she spoke with emotion, Dan Chun-woo’s eyes never left me.
His gaze demanded an answer, as if he couldn’t even hear her words.
I already knew the guy had no manners, but seeing it firsthand like this—it felt like a stone had lodged itself in my chest.
Was this what they meant by “the shrimp getting crushed in a whale fight”?
Realizing she was being completely ignored, Helena turned to me.
“You! I’ll buy that sword. For twice the price he offered.”
“Twice? So, twenty million won?”
“...Such nonsense.”
Clicking his tongue, Dan Chun-woo shot her a glare.
“What are you trying to pull?”
“Oh my, weren’t you the one who said you don’t even see the likes of me?”
“...Then I’ll buy it for twenty-five hundred.”
“Then I’ll pay three thousand!”
What the hell— I wasn’t even planning on selling it, so what were they doing?
I only planned to keep Dan Chun-woo close until just before the event started.
He had somewhat recognized the sword’s value, but even so, that was only part of it.
The Guardian’s Sword would be useful in several ways in the upcoming scenario.
Meanwhile, the two of them kept raising the price.
I knew they didn’t get along, but I hadn’t realized it was this bad.
Even in the game, their poor relationship was only hinted at—never explained.
I had no idea why they were snapping at each other like this.
“Then I’ll pay thirty-seven hundred!”
“Thirty-seven ten.”
At first, the bids went up by thousands, but now the amounts were shrinking pitifully. It was almost funny.
But jokes aside, it was time to intervene.
Whether they liked it or not, both were comrades who had to fight against the Beast Rampage.
If even one of them dropped out, our overall strength would take a hit.
“Alright, both of you, calm down for a second.”
Their gazes turned toward me.
Helena, already boiling with anger, snapped,
“What’s wrong? We’re just trying to buy your old, rusty sword for a good price!”
“Why are you lashing out at someone who’s just standing still? You still have no sense of dignity.”
“Ugh! And you’re still as obnoxious as ever!”
I sighed and channeled mana into my hand, clapping it sharply.
Smack!
The collision of mana burst out in a wave, scattering through the air. Only then did the two finally close their mouths.
“Both of you, shut it for a second. Let’s sort this out one by one. What exactly is your relationship?”
“If you ask what kind of relationship... what should I even say? Enemies? Or just… not on good terms?”
“Judging by how you talk, you two must’ve known each other for a while. Childhood friends, maybe?”
At that, Helena vehemently denied it.
“Funny joke! If we’d been childhood friends, I would’ve died of frustration ages ago.”
“I was my fiancée’s betrothed.”
“What are you trying to do by saying that!”
Dan Chun-woo’s words made Helena snap out in a flustered yell.
He answered coldly.
“Those who needed to know already knew. Like how I was cast out of my family.”
Even though that was the sort of story that could be a weakness for him, Dan Chun-woo spoke with a flat tone.
So Helena stood there flustered, unable to do anything but stammer.
Anyway — they were engaged?
If anyone had known that before I possessed the body, the game community would’ve gone up in flames over the setting.
It made sense: when playing as Dan Chun-woo, Helena’s affection rarely rose.
Sometimes, playing as Dan Chun-woo, Helena failed to cooperate properly and the run got messed up.
Would today be fine? It wasn’t exactly good for me either if things went badly.
After all, these people were comrades who had to join forces.
At minimum, no one should be tying each other’s ankles during the Beast Rampage that was about to happen.
Helena hurriedly offered an explanation.
“Just so you know—this was forced by the heads of our houses long before we were even born, and I never wanted it, okay?”
“Got it. I roughly understand. So you were close and then drifted apart—childhood friends gone sour.”
“We weren’t childhood friends!”
I ignored her protests and continued.
“I don’t know what happened between you two. But you shouldn’t do things you’ll regret. If you die, everything becomes meaningless.”
I didn’t know the exact past between them.
But I had a general idea about their future.
And their future wasn’t bright.
Not just theirs — the future of all playable characters in this game was the same.
That was why I was here doing this.
Of course, advice like that wouldn’t stick to people that age.
I’d lived recklessly myself before becoming terminally ill.
As expected, Helena looked at me with a bitterly disappointed expression.
“That was really old-man advice a moment ago.”
“I know.”
“So—will you sell the sword or not?”
“Sigh, what do you think I’d say?”
After various idle chats, lunchtime was coming to an end.
We turned to head back just as the ground began to shake violently with a dull roar.
Kugugung!
Screams rose all at once.
The unexpected tremor threw people into confusion.
Others crouched low and checked the situation, startled as well.
“A sudden earthquake—what’s going on?”
“I wonder…?”
“Something’s off.”
A cold clarity swept through my head and the hairs on my arms stood on end.
Suddenly a bad premonition flashed through my mind.
No way—the Demons were already rampaging?
Logically, that was impossible.
No matter how powerful the higher-ranked Demons were, they couldn’t trigger all the beasts to rampage this quickly.
Not without someone’s help…….
Wait—someone’s help?
I recalled the new Student Council Executives I’d just seen a moment ago.
I cursed silently.
I’d overlooked the timeline.
The Beast Rampage event was supposed to happen half a year from now.
By that time, Berid should’ve already been dealt with by the players.
In other words, according to the game scenario, Berid would have been eliminated first and there should’ve been no other assistance—but now Berid was still alive and well.
Because the event happened in this state, the Beast Rampage had been brought forward.
An unexpected variable made my irritation rise.
I forced down the heat rising in me and calmly analyzed the situation.
Although the incident had occurred earlier than expected, it didn’t change what I had to do.
Pandemonium aimed to tarnish the Academy’s reputation through this Beast Rampage.
By failing to respond and causing cadets and civilians to die, they wanted to shatter the social trust the Academy held.
That was why the Demons hadn’t launched a direct assault themselves but had taken the hassle to incite the beasts to rampage.
So I had to reveal that this wasn’t a simple Beast Rampage but a planned strike with Demonic backing.
I slapped my cheek to clear my head, then, still crouched, looked at the others waiting for the tremors to subside.
Helena, Dan Chun-woo, Park Siwoo.
We were perfectly prepared.
Now I just had to play the perfect scenario with these preparations.
And devising such strategies was my specialty.