Chapter 28:

Chapter 28:

The Plan (2)

“Hey there, everyone! Long time no see!”

Dr. Kang Hyorin, the genius in dungeon and monster research, stood before the class. It was the first time we had seen her again since she had to postpone the class and leave due to some urgent matter.

“I had some family issues... But I’m back now.”

She seemed a bit worn out, with some dark circles under her eyes.

“Let’s try to move forward with the curriculum! Since the previous test hasn’t been graded yet, today we’ll be playing strategic chess.”

“Ugh...”

Sighs echoed through the classroom. Strategic chess was one of those practical exercises that the students dreaded.

“Yay, strategic chess! Finally!” Lucy suddenly exclaimed.

“Huh?”

Lucy, Lumi, and I had grown closer as members of the same club. We didn’t sit right next to each other, but they occupied the seats in front of me, side by side.

Although I couldn’t see their faces, I could smell a subtle scent from the twins hung in the air during class, distracting me from focusing.

I was confused by Lucy’s enthusiasm because she wasn’t exactly a top performer academically.

Not all mages excelled in studying. While there were aspects like magic circles that required memorization, most of it came down to one’s natural talent as a mage.

Lucy always struggled during theory classes, often holding her head and groaning. So why was she so confident, even with the supposedly challenging strategic chess?

A holographic monitor mounted on each individual desk appeared, forming a chessboard-like field.

Wow, it’s been a while. Really.

Strategic chess was one of those practical exercises at Victoria Academy. It was like a game where I played as the leader, controlling a raid party to conquer a dungeon.

It worked just like chess, taking turns to move your party members, and the goal was to defeat all of the opponent’s monsters. Even in the original game, strategic chess was notoriously difficult.

Strategic chess had three main elements:

– A dungeon as the background.

– Monsters as the opponents.

– The raid party under your command.

All three had over 50 different variations and were randomized. The difficulty could range from easy to extreme.

Maybe, since it’s the first time, Dr. Kang Hyorin would give us an easy challenge. But considering this professor seemed to enjoy watching us suffer with the extremely difficult test before, I wasn’t too sure.

“Okay, let’s get started.” As Kang Hyorin spoke, the hologram in front of me started to change.

The dungeon was set in the lush [Jungle], the monsters we faced were [Banana Red Blood Monkeys x2], and my raid party consisted of [Melee Warriors x10, Curse Mages x5, Support Mages x5].

It wasn’t the most optimal combination, but honestly, the difficulty didn’t seem too high.

The Banana Red Blood Monkeys were boss-type monsters, strong but not the brightest. I could use the melee warriors as the frontline and stack curses with the curse mages to take them down with minimal damage.

“Is that it? It’s a piece of cake!”

“Um, maybe the professor toned it down since it’s our first try?”

“Lumi, let me show you how it’s done. Watch closely, okay?”

“Sure! Good luck, Lucy.”

“Hmm...”

Considering Dr. Kang Hyorin’s expression during the previous test, I highly doubted it would be that easy.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Then, another student raised their hand and said, “Professor, my raid party isn’t following my commands!”

Kang Hyorin smiled like she had been waiting for this, “No worries. The party members are a little scared on purpose. Unless it’s a completely safe and risk-free move, they won’t listen to orders.”

“What? What counts as a safe move?”

“That’s for you to figure out.”

“...!”

“I want to see your creativity and leadership, so just relax. The end goal isn’t the only important thing, it’s the journey itself. Try anything, get creative~”

No matter how she sugarcoated it, it was still a daunting task for us students.

“I doubt you can solve it, but I’ll give extra points as a little motivation to those who manage to clear it.”

Did that sound like something a person would say to motivate us? It’s the extreme difficulty for sure.

In the original game, the trick was to keep the main force intact and minimize damage. It earned you a higher score and saved you from expulsion. Plus, if I wanted to pursue Alice’s route, I had to beat her in exam grades, adding another layer of challenge.

“Huh? Why aren’t you guys listening...?”

Lucy, who was once confident, gave orders to her party members who stood frozen in place.

“Ah! No, why aren’t you attacking when you can totally take them out from there!”

Other students were in the same boat. I watched them scream and restart from the beginning. I was feeling a bit intimidated by professor Kang Hyorin, who sat there sipping her coffee, seemingly enjoying the spectacle.

She seemed a bit scary, no matter how I looked at her, with a somewhat sadistic personality. Was she an S?

I took my time analyzing my own puzzle. In this shitty adult game called Sex Academy, if I wanted to progress with the scenario, I had to clear this strategic chess at least five times.

“Okay, thanks.”

Felix, feeling a bit awkward, glanced around and took a gentle seat on the sofa. Lucy, with her friendly nature, struck up a conversation with the timid Felix.

“Yeah, our club consists of me, a guy named Hoyeon, and my sister Lumi. The three of us.”

“Um, Hoyeon? Is he... the person from the student council’s PR department?”

“Yes, that’s right. Our club has a student council member.”

Lucy’s shoulders perked up with pride, even though it wasn’t anything extraordinary. After all, she was the president of a club.

“Uh, I see... So maybe that’s why no one comes to this club... Sigh.”

“What did you say?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“No, I heard you clearly. Tell me again why no one comes to our club.”

Lucy gave him an unusually serious look. Felix lowered his head as if admitting his mistake and let out a sigh.

“This is something you have to keep a secret.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. What’s the matter?”

“Well... There are many negative rumors about Hoyeon.”

“Negative rumors?”

“Yes, for instance, there are rumors about his relationships with women. From the student council president to Professor Im Sol, and even with Alice, a fellow member of the PR department.”

“....”

“And there’s also a rumor that he went to a motel with a classmate.”

Lucy was the type of person who believed only what she saw. And from what she had seen, Hoyeon was a kind and hardworking student, even if their relationship had started with a misunderstanding.

‘But that initial misunderstanding... What if it wasn’t an accident when he touched my chest?’

“Well... Now that I think about it, Hoyeon is mostly surrounded by girls.”

Although Lucy had male friends as well, she had never seen Hoyeon interacting with any boys other than Kim Yeonghan.

“Right? That’s why I think girls might hesitate to join our club because of that.”

“Maybe...”

After forming the club, many boys approached Lucy and Lumi, but no female students had expressed their desire to join.

“Well, it’s not confirmed, so let’s just forget about it. I hope those are just baseless rumors since Hoyeon is in the same club as you, Lucy.”

“Yeah, I hope so.”

Felix, who believed that even if Lucy and Hoyeon weren’t dating, they were at least involved in a flirtatious relationship, spread the rumors himself in an attempt to separate them and conveyed those rumors to Lucy.

However, contrary to his expectations, Lucy’s behavior didn’t change significantly because they were just friends.

Felix pursed his lips and took a sip of the drink that was on the table.

‘I still have plenty of time. I should take it slow.’

Lucy was the girl whom Felix, a demon, had fallen head over heels for. The girl who had led him to engage in the risky act of infiltrating the academy. Even being here now carried a considerable burden of risk.

‘As long as I can have her beauty and eat that voluptuous chest, I’m willing to do anything!’

Thump, thump, thump.

At that moment, footsteps could be heard from outside.

Felix reverted to his innocent face, placed the drink back on the table, and sat on the sofa with a tense expression.

“Oh, the place looks clean.”

Hoyeon commented with a smile as he observed the tidy club room.

“If you knew how much effort Lumi and I put into cleaning it, you’d be amazed. Hehe...”

“You did a great job. You should have reached out to me for help.”

“But Lumi was adamant about not asking you... What can I do, right? We wouldn’t even have this club without you...”

“Well, now that it’s starting to feel burdensome, we can stop discussing it.”

As soon as he entered, they naturally engaged in a friendly conversation.

Despite having spread false rumors, there was no significant difference. Felix felt like his world had been turned upside down, but he held back and turned his attention to that side.

“Oh, right! I’m planning to recruit a new member this time, and I called you to ask for your opinion. What do you think? Doesn’t he seem nice?”

Lucy introduced Felix to Hoyeon. They became aware of each other for the first time. They exchanged glances, and Hoyeon smiled.

Lucy expected a positive response from him, but the words that came out of Hoyeon’s mouth were completely unexpected.

“I don’t like him.”

***

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