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Tuesday, the day of the picnic.

I was concerned that the temperature would get too low because of the cold wave after CSAT, but the weather wasn’t that bad at all.

According to Yeom Junyeol’s message, it would be sunny all day today.

The kids in charge of packing lunch boxes were worried that they have to buy thermos lunchboxes, so it turned out well.

Dingdong.

As I was preparing to reply to Yeom Junyeol and start moving, a message from an unexpected person arrived on my device.

It was Ryujang, MITRON’s patissier, and agent of the Crow Demon King.

[Ryujang] Hello, student Jo Euishin.

[Ryujang] I heard about your autumn picnic. Year One Class Zero seems to be very excited.

There must be someone in our class who stopped by MITRON this morning.

Some kids were in charge of buying snacks, and it seems like they mentioned it to Ryujang.

Well, maybe it was Ryujang who interrogated them, worried about seeing the kids out on a weekend.

[Ryujang] My host asked me to tell you to have a safe trip.

[Ryujang] I hope you have a great picnic.

Reading that, I understand why Ryujang contacted me about it.

Sidelentium, Crow Demon King of Silence, appeared during our class’ first practice.

At that time, he intentionally intervened and revealed his presence, making the Oath of the Three Knights retreat.

Having Ryujang send this message to me means that Sidelentium wouldn’t intervene this time.

Things would be easier with Sidelentium’s help, but I assumed from the beginning that he wouldn’t get involved this time.

I calmly wrote a reply to Ryujang.

[Me] Thank you. I will.

I left the dormitory after exchanging messages with Ryujang when I encountered a rather unwelcome person.

He’s the chairman of Jiikhoe so it’s not strange to see him here, but it’s still quite unpleasant.

Gye Idam, wearing his gym clothes, stood around the freshmen building with a sour face.

“Uh…”

Our eyes met.

Don’t tell me that Gye Bastard is waiting for me!

I don’t want to get upset ahead of an important class event.

Maybe it’s just an ominous hunch, but Gye Idam hesitated before walking toward me.

‘Should I just pass by him? Or is it better to tell him to get lost?’

It’s not easy to do the latter since there were many dormitory students even on weekends.

It just so happened that someone was passing by.

Perhaps she didn’t see Gye Idam, she walked straight to me and talked.

Normally I would’ve been very happy to say hello, but the timing was somewhat twisted because of this Gye Bastard.

“The CSAT is over, so slowly…”

“Hi, Euishin-ah.”

Almost as soon as Gye Idam spoke to me, the passer-by greeted me too.

It was Ahn Dain, the title heroine of PMH.

Seeing her tightly put up hair and gym clothes, Ahn Dain seemed to have come from morning training at Cheonik Mountain again today.

She’s a genius with just her natural talent alone, but her hardworking nature and efforts make her worthy of being the title hero.

Ahn Dain’s greeting felt like pure air washing me away from Gye Idam’s toxicity.

“Uh, I need to talk to you about something… Ah, were you talking with Gye Idam sunbaenim?”

“No.”

“…Really?”

I answered Ahn Dain’s question with a grain of salt.

Gye Idam technically only said a word to me unilaterally, so we weren’t really talking.

Ahn Dain said hello when she saw Gye Idam.

Since they’re both student leaders, they must know each other.

Ahn Dain politely greeted the garbage seniors.

“Hello, Gye Idam sunbaenim.”

“…”

Gye Idam nodded back with a blunt face.

It seems like he’s trying to hide his true trashy and vulgar character and put up the facade of a silent Jiikhoe chairman.

However, it was impossible to completely hide his fan spirit in front of Ahn Dain, and his neck looked a bit red in contrast to the winter sportswear he was wearing.

Ahn Dain wasn’t interested in Gye Idam at all though so she didn’t notice it.

“Euishin-ah, I saw the picture you sent me last time. The weather suddenly got cold before and after the CSAT, so I was worried if Olmu was doing well. I’m relieved that he seems to be healthy.”

I sometimes send Ahn Dain photos of Olmu.

It was a joy for me as she fully understood the genius, preciousness, and perfection that is Olmu.

The most recent photo I sent to her was taken while Olmu and I took a walk and he was wearing small wool shoes.

Olmu ran healthily in the cold wind, and I was glad that the shoes I bought were helpful.

“Winter is coming soon so I want to send a scarf or a hat to wrap up Olmu… Would that be okay?”

“Olmu is a kind genius and he wears clothes well so that’s great. I think he’ll be happier if you give it to him yourself.”

“Really? I can meet Olmu?”

Ahn Dain must want to give the clothes to Olmu before winter.

She looked very bright when I suggested that she give it to Olmu in person.

Gye Idam was watching everything, his eyes full of envy.

I wish I could ward off the tactless bastard just standing there, but he can’t seem to move.

“Oh, and Euishin-ah, there’s something I want to consult you about your assistant homeroom teacher…”

Ahn Dain’s bright expression after talking about Olmu suddenly turned dark.

Our assistant homeroom teacher was the Mischievous Dragon Yong Jegun, and I thought maybe his time has come.

Rumors have it that the Year One Class Zero was aiming for Yong Jegun.

The frequency of his making fun of Kim Shinrok, their homeroom teacher, was getting out of hand these days, and Kim Shinrok’s fans weren’t going to let it pass anymore.

Among the seniors who haven’t graduated yet, it is said that Kim Shinrok’s previous students want to help as well.

Kim Shinrok’s students might gather, with Class 1-1 in the center, to fight against Yong Jegun.

“You mean Professor Yong Jegun?”

Ahn Dain nodded, looking distressed.

They may declare war soon, but I didn’t think she’d talk about it to me, a student from Class Zero where Yong Jegun is the assistant homeroom teacher.

As expected of the considerate Ahn Dain.

‘I think Yong Jegun would like it though.’

If I intervene, it would take away the enjoyment that Yong Jegun would get.

For both Yong Jegun and Ahn Dain, it might be best for me to watch on the sidelines.

Just to make sure none of them would seriously get hurt.

I was about to tell her that I’ll be fine about it and they can attack Yong Jegun all they want when…

“You’re early, vice pres.”

“Hi, Euishin-ah! We’re ready now. I had to stop Wooram from buying unnecessary things so we’re a little late.”

My classmates were coming out of the freshmen building.

Seeing my classmates, Ahn Dain immediately apologized.

“Oh right, Class Zero is going to have a picnic today. I heard from Yuri but I forgot. Sorry for keeping you here.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Ahn Dain didn’t need to apologize.

The only one who should be apologetic is Gye Idam for wasting my time.

He had the gall to say hello to my classmates too before leaving.

After we parted ways with Gye Idam and Ahn Dain, my classmates and I headed to the main gate where we were supposed to meet the others.

While on the way, Mok Wooram carefully said something.

“I’ve been worried about your relationship since the last time you fought. Well, you seem to have settled down seeing that you talked.”

“We didn’t talk.”

“But you didn’t ask him for a battle this time, Euishin-ah. If there’s another problem then wouldn’t you have asked him for a battle again?”

Kwon Lena wasn’t right or wrong.

If Gye Idam had talked to me longer, I might’ve called him to a battle without realizing it.

Still, I couldn’t get my classmates involved in the mess between me and the Gye Bastard so I decided to move on.

Everyone was looking forward to the picnic, and everyone arrived thirty minutes earlier than we had promised.

Professor Ham Geunhyung and Yong Jegun arrived ten minutes before the set time, being the last two to arrive.

“Professor Yong Jegun, did you wear the class shirt from the Red Lion team building?”

“Yeah, I like what’s written.”

Yong Jegun smiled brightly.

The class shirt this time was actually a hoodie shirt.

Yong Jegun wore a tailored jacket over the class shirt, and the word Ecstatic was clearly seen since the front button was unbuttoned.

Yong Jegun’s long hair already makes him stand out, and the word on his shirt added to it.

Searching the word ‘ecstatic’ on social media might return photos of Yong Jegun.

Yong Jegun thanked Dokgo Miro for the word, but Dokgo Miro barely smiled, perhaps thinking I can’t believe he likes it…

“Ah, Euishin-ah. I prepared well for the event you mentioned last time.”

Inside the reserved air shuttle.

When the attention shifted away from Yong Jegun, he suddenly talked to me in a hushed voice.

Though no matter how low his voice gets, the old tiger sitting next to us would surely hear it.

“I had a drinking party with Jeokho-ssi not too long ago, and I heard something interesting. Let’s talk after the picnic today.”

…Yong Jegun and Jeokho drank together?

I turned to look at Hwang Jiho, and I saw his eyes open a little wide.

It seems like he wasn’t there and he didn’t seem to know about it.

With a bad feeling, the air shuttle arrived at the theme park.

With the remodeling not being done yet, the park was full of races of Namgung Group.

All the rides seem to be working though.

“Everything’s working!”

“Wow… it’s much different with the lights on.”

The theme was Marchen Castle.

A Ferris wheel slowly circling the sky, the hot air balloons and monorails traveling throughout the park.

The park was empty, but the rides were in normal operation.

“You said everything is automated, right? No employees? Are we really the only ones here?”

“We’re not the only ones.”

Hwang Jiho pointed to a pair of mascots at the entrance.

Two attention-seekers wearing aurora-colored mascot costumes appeared from behind a pile of dolls.

“…A group costume.”

“…Even a phrase is on it.”

The two attention-seekers looked at us with sad faces.

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