Chapter 19 - A Status Window Opened on the First Day of School (3)

"Sir, come on. I told you it puts us in a difficult position if we meet somewhere like this. The orphanage is perfectly good. The orphanage. That's where we should meet. Do you think I signed up as a regular donor to your orphanage for nothing?"

"It's urgent."

"Tsk... Knowing you, sir, it would have to be urgent for you to come here. But why did you beat up my people? Honestly. You could have just passed along a message."

Grumbling, Dmitry led Ivan to a nearby café.

The second floor of the café near the university bustled with citizens waiting for the entrance ceremony to end.

Or so it appeared.

The moment Dmitry led Ivan up the stairs to the second floor, the noisy café fell silent.

"Oh, carry on, everyone. Act normal."

At a wave of Dmitry's hand, the agents filling the café went back to being ordinary citizens. Only one table stood empty, right in the middle, cleverly positioned out of sight of both the windows and the stairs.

"Sit down. Ha... This was a prime spot, and now it's burned. Do you have any idea how hard it is to set up a safe house in the middle of Prizhenkaya?"

"My apologies."

"Never mind. So, what have you brought me?"

Dmitry smiled and held out a hand. Ivan took three small explosive devices from inside his coat.

Dmitry's face instantly went blank. The moment Ivan saw his hand slide smoothly into his sleeve, he spoke.

"I've removed the fuzes."

"Say that first, would you?! God, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"If you distrust me that much, you shouldn't have hired me in the first place."

"Now, that's hurtful. My job requires me to suspect even my own parents."

Dmitry shrugged and examined the explosives. As he turned them over, his smile gradually deepened.

"Interesting. Inside Jansk University?"

"Yes. Professionals."

"Clearly. Three of them, huh? Judging by the amount of mana, they weren't meant to demolish a building or assassinate a VIP. Looks like a diversion, doesn't it?"

"Yes. There was probably a separate infiltration team."

"We haven't lost track of anyone on our end. It's definitely not the prince's faction. We've got far too many tails on them for that."

Beaming, Dmitry clapped his hands. An agent disguised as an ordinary middle-aged woman soon approached.

"Send these to headquarters' Magic Department."

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel."

"And the materials? Are they ready?"

"Yes."

She took a thick stack of documents from her shopping basket. Dmitry accepted them, skimmed through them once, and pushed them toward Ivan.

"What you asked for. Getting this ready on such short notice really put us through the wringer. If Her Excellency weren't so serious about supporting you... Whew."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Oh, Her Excellency wanted to see you sometime. Are you free?"

"Not for a while."

Ivan gathered the documents and rose. As he tucked them inside his coat and turned to leave, a voice came from behind him.

"Sir."

"Hm."

"You've got a bit of a mad look in your eyes. Do you know that?"

"..."

He looked back to find Dmitry gazing up at him, his expression serious. Beneath the shadow of his hat, his eyes gleamed brightly, fixed squarely on Ivan.

"Calm down. This isn't a battlefield."

"... Hm."

"Well. Maybe I'm not in a position to say this after dragging you out of retirement for a job. But loosen up a little. Take a look around you as you go through life. Neither Her Highness the Princess nor I expect you to be perfect."

Without answering, Ivan gave a slight nod, turned, and left.

Dmitry chuckled and tilted his head.

"That's why people need a love life. Shut yourself away without any sunlight, and look how gloomy you get. Right?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Petrovich... He certainly lives up to his reputation as ‘Little’ Ivan. Remarkable."

"I nearly pissed myself the first time I saw him, too. How does someone stay like that after sitting idle for four years? Anyway."

Dmitry continued, tapping the table.

"Put someone on him. Don't leave him alone."

"Should we stop him if he crosses the line?"

"What are you talking about? Do you want to die? Just report back. And watch him from very, very far away."

Well, even if he crossed the line, how far could he go?

Dmitry didn't know why he was angry, but he was probably planning to hunt down the agent who had planted the explosives himself.

At most, he'd scare a few students. Was there any point in needlessly provoking an angry "Ivan"?

While Dmitry was thinking that, Ivan was in the director's office, taking out his axe and healing potions.

* * *

He couldn't tell anyone.

Couldn't tell them that this world might, in fact, be nothing more than some sort of game, run by an elaborate system.

So. He had to do this himself.

Ivan believed that with all his heart as he spread the reports Dmitry had given him across the table.

[Faculty and Staff Directory.] [Incoming Student Roster.] [Personal Details of All Undergraduates.]

There were some three hundred incoming students this year. As Jansk University offered a three-year program, its total undergraduate population approached a thousand.

Then there were the faculty and staff, including professors, teaching assistants, security, administration, and admissions.

Add the unfortunate undergraduates who had gone on to graduate school, and students whose graduation had been delayed by leaves of absence or other reasons.

Total: 1,733.

"And one more category."

He had to examine the students' "families," who were authorized to attend the entrance ceremony.

Anyone with a sufficiently plausible reason to set foot on campus that day could be a suspect.

In other words, including foreign dignitaries and each student's family brought the total to 2,429.

"I know you're in here."

Ivan pressed heavily, twice, on the piles of documents he had sorted and spread out by category.

"I won't assume you'll be easy to find."

Arrogance was the sharpest dagger that could kill an agent.

"But it won't take long. I promise you."

Possessors at an academy could never live out their school days quietly.

That was "common sense."

They would thwart attacks, monopolize fortuitous opportunities, and pick up secret techniques somewhere.

The academy genre fundamentally followed the standard "everyone showers me with praise" plot. It had to. Who would enjoy a story about someone attending school normally and graduating?

So, if this person knew the [original story], they were certain to imitate its protagonist's actions. That was how all Possessors lived.

Even Kim Seonwoo's first thoughts upon possessing a body had been "hoard all the lucky opportunities" and "introduce modern technology."

All Possessors were therefore viciously selfish, full of unpredictable variables, and liable to do absolutely anything.

This one would have wanted to enroll at the "academy" in peace after the war the NPCs had fought so bitterly, enjoying a fun little tale of possession inside a game.

They wouldn't want to know about, or be able to understand, the countless lives reduced to passing lines of backstory.

They would simply be having fun. It would feel like enjoying a well-made theme park.

He already accepted that this was merely venting his anger, hatred with nowhere to go, perhaps even petty jealousy.

["What's that, Santa Claus?"]

Just one flippant remark, but it had shown him clearly how this person treated others.

Not even hiding their possession, simply enjoying themselves. That one remark had thrown Ivan's heart into turmoil.

That remark, as though the person before them were merely an "object."

["Lieutenant Colonel! Did you see that? Wow, I was fucking amazing. Wasn't I? That was one of the Seven Dragon Generals, and I blocked every attack."]

["Don't talk."]

["Ahaha, I feel like I could do it again if I had to. It's a shame. Maybe I should've angled my shield a little farther right back then."]

["Cherenovika. Don't open your mouth."]

["Then maybe I could've saved that idiot Sasha, too. Such a shame, Lieutenant Colonel. It really is."]

["We're almost there. Almost there. Just a little longer. Hold on a little longer."]

["I'll let Sasha punch me when I get there. At least we won't be lonely. We've got plenty of contacts in both heaven and hell, haven't we?"]

["Please. Quiet. Your blood will cool faster. Cherenovika. Please."]

["Live a long life, Lieutenant Colonel. Take as long as you can to get there. Come too soon, and I'm going to assault a superior officer."]

Their stories were not backstory.

Amid the scattered files, Ivan was having a nightmare.

A memory from long ago.

["Do not mourn those who have gone before us."]

["For I, too, stand in their ranks."]

Their stories were not backstory.

["I survived in place of the finest men of our age."]

["We all did."]

Their history was no mere script.

It must not be.

Inside the nightmare, Ivan murmured slowly, listening to Kim Seonwoo's voice as it patted him on the back.

'Kimchi stew, spicy rice cakes, nachos dipped in cheese, spicy stir-fried pork, raw fish rice bowls, Sokcho chilled raw fish soup, hot instant noodles.'

'Home, my house, Korea, Seoul, my rooftop room, my parents.'

'Subway stations, convenience stores, streets at night, home. We have to go back. Steel yourself. Don't waver. Look straight ahead.'

'It's all right. We're not alone.'

Rambling through the things that soothed his heart.

Until the night ended.

* * *

After the semester began, Esidisi found herself in quite a predicament.

No one wanted to eat with her. At a school filled with nobles from all over the world, being "royalty" was naturally no reason to become an outcast.

But when said royal's bodyguard—a middle-aged man, a mass of muscle, carrying an axe—was constantly glaring at everyone, it was understandably rather intimidating for young students barely twenty years old.

"Ugh, Uncle, you've completely ruined everything!"

"And that's my fault? Aren't the ones trying to flirt with my niece the real problem?"

"Then why are you keeping the girls away, too?!"

"Your uncle has already heard those wenches bad-mouthing you behind your back, my dear."

"Aaaagh... My college life... My life... Dad... I hate you...!"

The strongest music student in history, made an outcast on her very first day, ran away sobbing.