Ignoring the Black Prince’s words, I continued my thoughts.
Maeda Shinji is a simple and pathetic third-rate villain.
If his behavior has changed, it’s likely for the same reasons as in the original story.
That means the League’s actions haven’t strayed too far from the original narrative either.
The villain crashing the cultural festival is 99% likely to take on the role of a trickster, just like in the original.
If a more powerful villain, an EX-rank villain, were to invade the cultural festival, they wouldn’t resort to such costly, complicated, and inefficient methods like setting up a magical barrier.
I now know exactly who the enemy is.
What remains is to prevent the terror with minimal damage.
I have no intention of wasting time inside the barrier like the original protagonist.
I can’t request the dispatch of an EX-rank hero from the association or report Shinji right now.
Doing so would likely lead the League to send even stronger villains, disrupting the existing plan.
Messiah, being a world-class villain and the strongest in the universe, is the type of idiot who would do anything to disrupt the cultural festival.
Thus, the best approach is to tamper with the magical barrier in the old school building and render it inoperable.
If I can disable the barrier, I can easily subdue both Shinji and the trickster without any damage, which is different from the original.
To do that, I first need to have Aris or Seira witness the barrier in the old school building.
Aris and Seira.
Which one should I call to the old school building?
‘I should definitely call Aris.’
[See, you really do favor Saionji, don’t you? Partner.]
The Black Prince spews nonsense.
Favoritism my foot.
It’s better to contact Aris, who is officially from the same organizing committee, rather than reaching out to Seira, who has no connection at all.
I’m not doing this because I favor Aris.
[Try being a bit sweeter to my little sister too, partner.]
Ignoring the Black Prince’s remarks, I dial Aris’s number.
Ringing, disconnect.
[This is Saionji Aris. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, what can I do for you?]
“Senpai, you’re alone right now, right?”
[Yes, but what is it?]
Aris’s voice quivers slightly.
Since she’s alone, I figure I can say this.
“Let’s meet at the old school building tomorrow. It’s something we need to do together, just the two of us. Please don’t tell anyone and come alone, Senpai.”
[That is……]
Aris trails off at my words.
A moment of silence lingers.
Many thoughts race through my mind.
What if Aris refuses?
Should I really call Seira instead?
Just as I was thinking that far,
[…Understood. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. Then let’s meet at the old school building after the organizing committee meeting and training are over tomorrow.]
“Alright. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. Then let’s meet in the Old School Building after tomorrow’s Executive Committee meeting and training.”
Aris’s consent came through the phone.
I clenched my fist.
I had overcome a significant obstacle.
“Yes, let’s do that. Have a good night, senior.”
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, have a good night as well. Thank you for your hard work today.”
Hearing Aris’s evening greeting, I hung up the phone.
Now, all that was left was to act according to the plan.
*
Shuo Hero Academy.
Student Council President’s Residence.
A dedicated accommodation for the Student Council, separate from the dormitories.
Inside the small standalone house.
On a lavish bed, Aris, clad in a sheer negligee that revealed her slim and glamorous figure, held her smartphone to her ear.
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, have a good night. Thank you for your hard work today.”
Click.
The call ended.
Aris placed her hand over her heart.
Thump, thump.
Her heart raced like it was about to explode.
Blushing furiously.
“Th, th, th-this is, this is a d-d-d-date proposal, right?!”
A Kansai dialect slipped out of Aris’s mouth.
The Old School Building.
Once used as the main building of Shuo Academy, now an abandoned structure.
Rumors circulated about ghosts, and its eerie atmosphere made it a spot for courage tests, but its most famous purpose was, of course, as a secret rendezvous for couples at school.
During a time when school regulations prohibited dating, many couples engaged in secret relationships within the Old School Building, leading to its infamy as a rendezvous spot, even after entry was banned for regular students.
But now, in such a place, to meet alone without telling anyone!
“Ugh…”
Aris bit her lip.
Her face flushed bright red.
Bizarre and scandalous thoughts raced through her mind.
Putting down the phone, Aris hugged her large stuffed bear, Kuma-chan, burying her face into it.
“I’m going crazy, absolutely crazy. This idiot is really crazy! What on earth was I thinking accepting that invitation? Truly insane.”
Aris pounded her own head with her hands.
Though she knew her true feelings, she had somewhat opened her heart to him without showing any specific change in demeanor.
After the events on the rooftop that day and what happened at the association today, Aris had been able to slightly lower her mask in front of him.
However, she still hadn’t acknowledged her feelings.
Even if they shared a somewhat comfortable relationship, she was still the Student Council President of Shuo.
She couldn’t carelessly give her heart away to anyone.
So, under normal circumstances, she should have declined this proposal.
“B-but if it’s a place where we can be alone… maybe it’s okay…”
Just like on the rooftop.
Without anyone watching, just the two of them.
If it’s a place where she could be honest, it might be alright.
Having kept her secrets until now, maybe she could allow just a little…
“W-what kind of shameful thoughts am I having…!!”
As those thoughts crossed her mind, Aris banged her head against her hands.
“Ugh…”
She bit her lip, struggling to suppress the rising pink emotions.
“St-still, just in case, I should at least wear some nice underwear…”
You never know what might happen.
Just like the legends of the Old School Building, such things could occur…
Thinking back to the black lace adult underwear she had bought recently, Aris’s face turned red again.
“Ugh! Kim Deok-Sung! You just wait until tomorrow!”
Aris shook her head, trying to dismiss her scandalous imaginations as she shouted.
The scoundrel waved off the trifling fantasies while shouting.
Thus, the pink night of Aris was deepening.
*
Having set an appointment with Aris, I quickly returned to the accommodation.
“You’ve arrived, Kim Deok-Sung.”
As soon as I returned to the dormitory, I met Han Seo-Jin.
Receiving her polite greeting while I sat on the bed in my suit, I was about to take a shower when she spoke.
“Kim Deok-Sung, I have something to report.”
Report? Did I request something? I don’t remember.
“What is it?”
“The PV of the video we discussed previously has been completed.”
Video? The one related to that foundation? I recalled Han Seo-Jin mentioning it.
But do they even make PVs for nationalistic YouTube these days? A million question marks floated through my head.
“I will show it to you now.”
Her gray eyes settled calmly.
“It’s the result of mobilizing all cultural capabilities of South Korea.”
As I heard her words, I felt a chill down my spine.
What did they mobilize? What the heck did they create? Why on earth do I have to watch something like this?
Click.
Han Seo-Jin pressed the play button on the tablet PC she handed me.
Suddenly, a video began to play.
It was an animation.
It resembled the original anime, but drawn with much more refined art.
[Nishizawa Eri, her expulsion is unjust.]
And the subject of the animation was me.
Creak.
Getting up from the disciplinary committee seat, I defended Eri.
[From now on, you can live as a woman, not a man. Makoto.]
I saw Makoto blushing at my line.
[Don’t compare yourself to others, Rin. You’re great just as you are.]
I said cringey lines to Rin, who bowed her head deeply.
[You! How dare you touch my precious senior! I will never forgive you!]
With Kasumi, bleeding and collapsed, I charged at the villain, infuriated because she was hurt.
With every line of dialogue I recited in the beautifully animated scene, I felt like I might cough up blood.
Did I really say such cheesy lines? Seriously? I don’t recall that at all.
No matter how I look at it, it seems overly polished.
Why on earth did they include lines like those?
[Olivia.]
[I’ve come to save you, as promised.]
The PV ended with a wedding scene featuring me and Olivia, and finally, me lying in a meadow reaching toward the sky.
By the time I finished watching the entire PV, my mind was already in shambles.
It was painful to see. I was going crazy.
Why on earth did they make this damn video? Is it meant for torturing my mind?
“How is it, Kim Deok-Sung? Isn’t it a wonderful quality?”
Han Seo-Jin asked me, with rarely visible enthusiasm in her gray eyes.
“The script checks and research were conducted through the cooperation of the cooking department.”
She mentioned. I wondered why lines I didn’t remember saying were written there. So, that was it?
This is absurd.
What do they think of me, seriously?
“Wow, partner. You must feel great. The ladies have gilded your face. Very nice.”
The Black Prince teased me like that.
Damn.
I swallowed my sigh inwardly.
They’ve turned me into a Japanese anime protagonist.
“Uh, yeah….”
I nodded weakly at Han Seo-Jin’s words.
Setting aside the content, the quality of the animation and overall direction were top-notch.
They did make it well, according to otaku standards. The problem was that the protagonist was me.
“This Hero Kim Deok-Sung Animation Project saw participation from all animation production companies in the country in a self-crunch mode, as well as prominent novelists, scriptwriters, singers, and voice actors—all representing the proud cultural prowess of South Korea embodied by K-POP.”
“Thanks to the proud cultural prowess of South Korea, represented by top novelists, scriptwriters, singers, and voice actors in K-POP, we have produced this!”
Han Seo-Jin says with a voice dripping with madness.
So sure, mobilizing everything is great, but why make something like this?
“It’s getting rave reviews on YouTube.”
Tap.
As Han Seo-Jin touches her tablet, a colorful thumbnail appears.
[“Korea has finally done it!” The animation that only Korea could make! ‘Hero Kim Deok-Sung’ PV released! The world is in shock! “Korea has already surpassed our Japan!” Japan’s animation industry surrenders!]
[“Following K-POP, are we now conquering the world with K-Animation?!” The proud K-Animation’s glory is causing a stir just with the PV release! Even famous Japanese directors are amazed by the quality! The Japanese animation industry is gripped with fear from the PV release! The end of Japanese anime is near!]
[British lady reacts to Kim Deok-Sung PV! “I love you, Kim Deok-Sung! The girls will also appear in Season 2, right? I’m looking forward to it!”]
The flashy thumbnails of nationalist YouTube are dizzying.
Seriously, why are people getting nationalistic over this?
And what’s this? A declaration of surrender from the Japanese animation industry?
The end of Japanese anime?
This is embarrassing.
And a British lady? Why is Evangelin throwing her hat in the ring? Season 2? Who would even watch this?
Evangelin’s flushed face and the red heart symbols superimposed on her eyes.
I was afraid to click on the thumbnail of the British lady.
Why do I have to see this?
My mind is spinning.
I barely manage to hold on to my sanity.
“Oh, whatever.”
It’s too late to backtrack now.
I should have realized it when they mentioned the video production.
“So, where is this being distributed?”
“It will be released simultaneously in 2,000 theaters with the Shuo Hero Academy cultural festival.”
2,000 theaters?
Isn’t that screen monopoly?
I have nothing left to say.
Once it surpasses 1,000 screens, controversies about multiplex screen dictatorships and favoritism will definitely arise, but this time, are there no such controversies?
“The advance ticket sales have already exceeded 90%, and there’s scalping happening.”
What?
Advance ticket sales over 90%, and scalping?
My head is spinning.
Why are people willing to buy scalped tickets for this?
I just don’t get it.
“I will create nothing but the best work.”
Tap.
Han Seo-Jin places her hand on her chest and speaks.
Her voice is almost maniacal.
I can’t muster the energy to say anything more.
I sigh and nod.
“Fine.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
Hearing Han Seo-Jin’s reply, I put my head in my hands.
I’m exhausted thinking about this.
I might as well just go to sleep.
*
The next day.
After finishing class, the executive committee meeting, and special training, I made sure to check my movements to avoid getting caught and arrived in front of the Old School Building.
The Old School Building.
Among the sleek, futuristic buildings of Shuo Hero Academy, equipped with the latest and greatest tech straight out of a sci-fi movie, this dilapidated structure stands out as the only one wearing its age like a badge.
It looks genuinely eerie, much like the rumors of it being haunted.
It’s also rumored to be a couple’s secret meeting spot, which is why it often appears as a backdrop in the underground “weakest hero” erotic doujins.
In fact, I remember that more than half of the content in the “weakest hero” NTR doujins revolves around Kim Deok-Sung luring the heroines into the Old School Building by exploiting their weaknesses, leading to some kind of dramatic turn.
Suddenly arriving at the Old School Building brings up all these unnecessary thoughts.
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