Episode 75: Student Leadership Failure
Vice President Oh Se-hoon was working even at this late hour.
A few of the leaders are on hand to help with the paperwork.
Among them was Song Cheon-hye, who was dozing off while standing, as if she couldn’t stand the sleepiness.
Then, as we rushed out through the wooden door, he was startled, straightened up, and looked this way.
The other leaders’ eyes were also focused on us, but unlike Song Cheon-hye, they did not look particularly surprised.
I guess I’ve become immune to this because it happens so often.
“… … .”
Sehun Oh finished the work he was doing as if nothing had happened and slowly looked up from the documents.
He looks at each member of the thieves’ club, including Dang Gyu-yeong, and Go Hyeon-woo and me, and smiles bitterly as if he knows everything.
Even though he has a rough idea of the situation, he first asks Kwak Seung-jae if he intends to handle it according to procedure.
“what’s the matter?”
“I found him near the basement level E and brought him here.”
“Really? Were you on your way down?”
“It was going up.”
The fact that he was going up means that he had finished his business in the basement.
Oh Se-hoon exchanged glances with one of the second-year leaders without saying a word.
He opened the wooden door and went out, understanding the meaning contained in the gesture even though he had not been given any specific instructions.
‘I guess he’s going to check.’
I went to find out about the dungeon that was raided and destroyed tonight.
If there’s a dungeon that was destroyed without any bids being placed, it’s most likely because we did it.
After sending the person away like that,
Sehun Oh gestured to the empty chairs with a soft smile.
“Let’s sit down. Would you like something to drink?”
“I like honey water.”
“I’ll drink cold water.”
First, Dang Gyu-yeong sat down on a chair with his chin on the edge, and Chae Da-bin sat next to him.
Kwak Seung-jae stood leaning against a corner, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, not knowing when he would bring it.
The first-year students seemed reluctant to order drinks, but I was the type of person who didn’t really care about that kind of thing.
I was extremely thirsty after playing a fierce game of tag with the Black Ark.
He said this while sitting on a chair with his chin resting on his shoulder, similar to Dang Gyu-yeong.
“I’d like to drink some honey water too.”
“… … .”
Maybe it was because I was so calm in front of my seniors, but the expressions on the leading members’ faces turned strange for a moment.
The only person whose expression doesn’t change is Oh Se-hoon.
That’s because I experienced it once during the entrance ceremony.
I nodded casually and asked Shin Byeong-cheol and Ko Hyeon-woo,
“Two honey water and one cold water, what about you?”
“We are fine.”
The two seemed determined to remain unnoticed as much as possible.
As Oh Se-hoon was about to prepare something to drink, Song Cheon-hye moved quickly.
“I’ll bring it.”
Oh Se-hoon sat across from us, slowly looking back and forth between Dang Gyu-young and me, and asked Dang Gyu-young what was on her mind.
“Did Kim Ho join the thieves’ club?”
“I’m trying to seduce you, but you’re not falling for it. Why?”
“I don’t know if it’s because of my mood, but when I look at the two of them like this, the atmosphere seems a bit similar.”
“Right! It’s similar, right? Am I right?”
Dang Gyu-yeong tapped my shoulder excitedly.
It’s like he’s saying, ‘Look! You’re destined to join our club! Let’s go and fill out the application first!’
But I cut it off firmly and decisively.
“For the time being, I plan to remain independent.”
“Yes, it’s hard to change clubs once you join them, so think carefully.”
The smile on Oh Se-hoon’s lips grew a little deeper, but I couldn’t tell if it was because he liked my cautiousness or because of Dang Gyu-young’s expression filled with betrayal.
Song Cheon-hye quickly brought two glasses of honey water and one glass of cold water and placed them in front of us.
He puts honey water in front of me, winks at me, and turns his back on me, as if he doesn’t like something.
Oh Se-hoon also poured his share of coffee from a thermos, took a sip, and then got to the main point.
“Kyuyoung, you tell me. Why did you go down to the basement with the first-year students?”
“Well, it’s nothing special, I just thought I’d show our juniors around the basement.”
“You didn’t go into the dungeon?”
“Yeah, I didn’t even go near it.”
Dang Gyu-yeong lied without even wiping his mouth with saliva.
Everyone knew it was a blatant lie, but there was no way to uncover it right away.
Oh Se-hoon turned his arrow towards me and asked a similar question.
“Kim Hoya, do you know that going down to the basement right now is against the school rules?”
“Yes, I know.”
“But why did you come down?”
“I was so curious to see what it looked like, I couldn’t stand it.”
Lie number 2, so obvious.
Song Cheon-hye was so shocked that she let out a gasp of disbelief, “Huh! Really! Huh!”
On the other hand, Oh Se-hoon nodded as if he understood.
“You may be curious enough. But was it really necessary to go down there and break the rules?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
Oh Se-hoon turned his arrows back to Dang Gyu-young and spoke in a tone that seemed to be encouraging her.
“Kyuyoung, you need to reflect. You need to be a senior and correct your juniors when they try to go down the wrong path. Are you going to be the first to bring bad things upon them?”
“… … .”
Dang Gyu-yeong looked a little aggrieved.
Even though I was the one who took on the role of guide, if you look back at the cause, it was me who made the request.
But I tried to cover it up because I felt a little wronged and everyone would be unhappy if I brought it up.
At that moment, the second-year student who had just opened Kwak Seung-jae’s wooden door and gone out returned from the basement.
He reported to Oh Se-hoon without making a sound, only moving his lips, as if he was using [transmission].
Oh Se-hoon did not bother to hide what he had been reported to.
“I checked the basement, and there are no raids tonight.”
All the dungeons destroyed tonight were conquered after an official bidding process.
It is said that replays have also been registered without fail.
Of course, they are not stupid.
Currently, what we have found in the basement is that the dungeons are ‘destroyed’, that is, they are completely conquered.
We’ll also keep in mind the possibility that we used an emergency escape along the way.
However, since it was impossible to find out which dungeon it was used in, there was no clear evidence in the end.
In this situation, it is not something that can be pursued or held on to based on circumstantial evidence alone.
Because we had calculated this far, both Dang Gyu-yeong and I obediently followed the lead.
Because just setting foot on the basement floor doesn’t carry a high level of punishment.
“Kim Hoya. Anyway, since you went down to the basement E floor, this is a penalty point. And,”
Oh Se-hoon’s squinted eyes seemed to take on a sharp light for a moment.
“If you have anything to hide from us, tell us honestly now. I will do my best to reduce the penalty points or disciplinary actions. If you don’t tell us and we find out on our own, you will be subject to a heavier punishment. Think carefully.”
Carrot and stick.
If you honestly confess that you secretly raided the dungeon, I will fully utilize my abilities as the leader of the advance team and minimize your punishment.
On the other hand, if you hide it until the end and are later discovered, you will be subject to heavier punishment.
The penalty level can be increased by up to two times.
And the investigative capabilities of the leadership team are quite outstanding, and in some ways even persistent, so the post-incident arrest rate is quite high.
Of course, even so, my answer was already set.
‘Never tell.’
If you’ve just cleared an F or E-class dungeon, it might be better to be honest.
But where we’re going tonight is deep.
It is a place where even approaching it will result in the highest level of punishment.
Either way, it’s a disciplinary bomb, so it’s best to just hold out and not say anything.
I was confident that I could hide it until the end.
For that reason, I answered in a straight-forward manner.
“There is nothing to hide.”
“Isn’t it really not there?”
“Yes, senior.”
Oh Se-hoon also checked with Shin Byung-chul and Ko Hyun-woo, and those two are also very perceptive.
There was no way I could say anything else since I had given such a definite answer.
Oh Se-hoon nodded.
“Then I’ll give you all 1 penalty point. Be careful next time, and see you guys out there.”
* * *
Kim Ho and his gang of thieves each receive one penalty point and leave.
Silence returned to the leadership room.
Sehun Oh returned to his work with a friendly smile on his face, and the other leaders also began to help him with his work.
Song Cheon-hye also tried to join them naturally, but Kwak Seung-jae put down his coffee cup and called her.
“Song Cheon-hye.”
“Yes, senior.”
“Tell me. What do you think?”
Both Dang Gyu-yeong and Kim Ho know that they are telling obvious lies.
But where exactly did you feel uncomfortable?
You have to develop the ability to figure it out.
Song Cheon-hye took a moment to collect her thoughts and then answered.
“First of all, the combination was too flashy. If we were really just looking at the basement, either Shin Byeong-cheol or Chae Da-bin would have been enough. There would have been no need for Manager Dang Gyu-yeong to come out.”
“I saw it right away.”
“I suspect that the fact that these three formed a group is highly likely to be to break through the security of a dungeon, especially a higher-level dungeon.”
Kwak Seung-jae nodded his head.
“With those three, it’s worth challenging the deep end.”
“As you may know from watching the duel together before, Kim Ho is skilled enough to play a perfect game against Manager Mok Jong-hwa’s golem, and Go Hyeon-woo is currently ranked within the top 10 of the first-year strategy battle.”
Song Cheon-hye furrowed her brows quietly.
“But when I saw Go Hyun-woo just now, he seemed to have suffered a slight internal injury. For someone with that level of skill to suffer an internal injury… … .”
“That means you’ve challenged a dungeon of that high difficulty.”
“Between D and C class, less likely but could be B class.”
So, if we narrow down our investigation to dungeons between D-class and B-class, we might be able to find the traces they left behind.
However, even after Song Cheon-hye’s deduction was over, Kwak Seung-jae continued to look at her.
It seemed like he was expecting something more, but that was all that came to Song Cheon-hye’s mind at the moment.
Song Cheon-hye asked cautiously.
“If I missed anything, please let me know.”
“I just gave you honey water.”
“… … ?”
“Did you check Kim Ho’s hand?”
“!!”
Song Cheon-hye’s face hardened.
From her perspective, she was a bit uncomfortable with giving Kim Ho and his group something to drink, because she felt it was very shameless of them to have brought them here to get penalty points and even ask for honey water.
Because of that, I turned around as soon as I put down the honey water, and didn’t have time to look closely at Kim Ho’s hand.
On the other hand, it seems that Kwak Seung-jae was watching everything from behind.
“There was a very faint burn mark on my right hand.”
“then!”
However, Kwak Seung-jae slowly shook his head as if he knew what Song Cheon-hye was thinking.
“No. It’s hard to link it to the previous incident. Wasn’t it clean when you checked?”
“That’s… … that’s right.”
“But one thing is certain.”
That burn is relatively new.
In that case, whether it was [Inferno Fist] or some other fire magic that Kim Ho wrote.
They must have left traces in the dungeon they entered and exited today.
And the moment someone enters that dungeon.
“That will be the moment when we catch them by the tail.”
