Every morning, a solemn atmosphere would permeate the entrance of Asung High School.
This is because of the students in the enforcement team who stand by the entrance with clipboards during school hours.
Under the clear spring sky, cherry blossoms danced around Asung High School's Gate No. 1.
Six enforcement team students, adorned with prefect armbands, stood at their designated positions. They scrutinized every student passing through the gate.
"Hold on, there!"
"Me?"
"Wearing gym pants under a skirt is a clear violation of school rules. Identify yourself and your school year."
"Oops, I forgot. Can I just take it off?"
"Of course. However, since you have violated the school rules, there will be a deduction."
"Come on, just a little..."
The female student grumbled as she told the enforcement team member her division and year and left.
Every school day during morning hours, hair and uniform inspections are conducted at the four gates of Asung High School.
The enforcement team took turns overseeing each gate. Naturally, the process wasn't always smooth.
"Stop! Where's your cap and name tag?"
"My hat is in my bag, but I forgot my name tag... I forgot. Can't you just let it go?"
"No, I can't. Tell me your affiliation, school year, and name."
"Come on, just look the other way. I left my name tag in the classroom and forgot. I'll put it on as soon as I get there."
"No, you can't. Stop with the excuses and tell me."
"Ugh, seriously. A first-year student is so inflexible..."
"Huh?What did you just say...?"
"Hey, junior. If you're so old-fashioned, won't the students be suffocating, or not..."
At that moment, a dark shadow fell over the male student who was complaining to the Enforcement Team member. Sensing a formidable aura, he abruptly stopped speaking.
His survival instinct screamed at him to shut up.
"P-President…," The first-year prefect’s voice trembled.
The person who was ranked highest among the most powerful in Asung High School.
The President of the Student Council, Ahn Woojin, was standing behind the boy, giving off a chilly atmosphere.
Woojin's authority as a president was unparalleled, and his personality was also very strict and decisive.
There was even an incredible story that he single-handedly suppressed an armed group that hijacked a train on his first day as the Student Council President —a seemingly unbelievable feat. He was like a monster.
"I, that...."
If Woojin doesn't like him, he can't even imagine how his school life will go from now on.
The male student, who had been complaining, looked at Woojin with a frightened expression and then quickly lowered his head.
"A man of no dignity," As Woojin's icy voice fell, the male student trembled. "Affiliation, school year, name."
"I belong to Chrysanthemum Hall, 2nd Year, Jo Mansu…!"
"Write it down."
At Woojin's instruction, the inspection team member shouted "Yes!" in a disciplined manner and then entered "Jo Mansu, Chrysanthemum Hall, 2nd year" in the register.
"Jo Mansu."
"Yes---!"
"Observe the school rules like a sword. And…”
Speaking solemnly, Woojin looked down at Jo Mansu closely. Jo Mansu could not meet his eyes.
Woojin warned.
"If you show the same behavior to our member again, next time it won't be just deduction of points."
The sarcastic whisper made Mansu's entire body freeze.
"S, sorry... Excuse me..." Mansu hastily bowed his upper body and apologized and, with swift steps, left the area. The enforcement team member silently watched Mansu leave, and Woojin clicked his tongue.
Soon enough, he turned to Woojin with a look of admiration, "Thank you, President..."
Ahn Woojin, the Student Council President.
Even though he was only one year older than the new member of the enforcement team, he seemed like a person living in a completely different world.
He could feel his maturity.
Ahn Woojin was handsome, strong, had top grades in the second year, and was full of charisma. He was truly the most perfect man he had ever seen in his life.
"You're working hard."
"Yes?"
The prefect was surprised. He didn't expect Woojin to offer him comfort.
Woojin grabbed the front brim of the formal hat on his head. His turquoise eyes shone brightly in the shadows beneath the brim.
"Those kinds of guys come up pretty often. They know that the prefects won't cross the line, and they're more likely to back down if they're dealing with a junior. Plus, you're a first-year freshman who just joined recently. You're probably an easy target."
"I see...."
Woojin said this, and then he felt a sense of unease for a moment.
‘Wait. Isn't this..., isn't this too obvious?’
He felt the urge to teach the new prefect all sorts of things after seeing him meet a problematic student. It was like a gamer who had played the game for a while trying to teach a newb who had just joined. He felt a twinge of skepticism.
"Ahem."
Woojin cleared his throat lightly. Perhaps it was better to end the conversation here. A faint, awkward smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Anyway, you'll get better if you keep at it. Keep fighting."
"................!"
The prefect saw it. The corner of Woojin's mouth, which had only contained coldness, curled up slightly. The subtle kindness moved the prefect's heart.
"President, I'll do my best...!"
The prefect, who suddenly got his morale boosted, saluted and declared his determination in a disciplined manner. His voice was filled with enthusiasm.
"Huh? Ah, okay..."
Woojin nodded and left the place; unaware that he had just become a role model for the new members.
* * * * *
I had come to see how the new prefects were doing, and as expected, the problematic students were still the same.
But I was glad to see that the new members seemed to be in good spirits.
‘I'll treat them well. They're the ones who will help me catch the villains.’
I had to maintain his charisma and authority, of course, but I also had to give the impression that I cared about each and every one of my members. It is all for my own purpose.
In the year I became the Student Council President, the recruitment rate for the enforcement team reached a record high, the highest ever in the history of the school.
The application rate was already high. It was because they were doing important work for the school, and it was a great addition to the school's record books.
However, I was told that the reason for the sharp increase in applications was because many students heard about me. Although I wasn't sure what those rumors were, it was rewarding to have built a certain image.
Thanks to this, the probability of selecting even one more promising talent increased. Therefore, I actively intervened in the personnel affairs. To catch villains, it was essential to choose individuals worthy of the task.
At the time, the personnel officers were all in a dying state due to the enormous workload. There were dark circles under their eyes, and they looked like zombies.
—”Are you going to take care of all of this...? President?"
—"You don't have to! We'll do it somehow! We've only been up all night for four days! We can do it with just energy drinks!"
—“You're asking us to submit all this...! For us?"
—”Hmph.... I'll follow you for the rest of my life...!”
I thought they would find it inconvenient if I took on the work, and I was prepared for the possibility of being disliked. Surprisingly, they were moved to tears. I still didn't understand why they would follow me forever, even though I could only be the president for one year.
Anyway, I worked hard to narrow down the applicants who could be helpful.
I mainly focused on indicators that could estimate 'how strong they are.' To catch villains, it was good to have someone strong. Also, the stronger the enforcement team this year, the more weight my authority would carry.
‘It was pretty tough, huh...?’
The task of screening the applications was much more arduous than I had expected, as there were so many applicants.
I even regretted stepping forward.
I was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the vice-president offered to help me. She has an incredibly fast processing speed.
If it weren't for her, I might have suffocated under the paperwork…
"Do you have anything to say?"
The student council office. I was sitting at my desk, reminiscing about the past, when I looked at the back of Oh Baekseo, who was reviewing a matter on the sofa.
Baekseo asked me if she had eyes in the back of her head. She turned to me with her usual kind smile.
"No, I just happened to see it. How did you know I was looking?"
Wanna take a guess?"
"...There was a mirror."
"Correct."
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there was a small mirror on the table in front of Baekseo. It had been hidden by her body until a moment ago.
'I thought she was just looking at the documents...'
Was she secretly looking at me through the mirror?
...No, that can't be.
I'm just being too self-conscious.
She probably just happened to look and noticed me.
Suddenly, Baekseo stood up with the documents and moved to the opposite sofa, and I could see her body from the front.
"Why did you change seats?"
"I think the president wants to see my face. You can see it better from here, right?"
There, that smirk, that sly smile.
She's messing with me again because I took the bait.
"It's not like that, so stop kidding around and... get back to work."
"Hehe, okay."
The office fell silent again as we returned to work mode.
Then, with a bang, the door slammed open, breaking the silence again.
"Yeseongi is here~."
A sluggish voice filled the office.
"You're here."
"Welcome."
I and Baekseo greeted the newly arrived school uniform-clad girl.
Her hat was precariously perched on her head like a work of modern art. It looked like it was about to fall off at any moment.
Judging from her voice, she was sleepy and yawned long and hard.
"Huaah... President, can I take a short nap before the meeting? Yeosengi is so sleepy, did she catch narcolepsy or something?"
"Hmph.... Boss, can I get a little sleep before the meeting starts? Yeseongi, I think I have spring fever..."
"If you don't stop referring to yourself in the third person, I'll double your workload later."
"That's an abuse of power!"
I would not hesitate to abuse my power if it meant I would never have to hear that kind of language in Korean. That's crossing the line.
Ha Yeseong, the person in charge of public decency, 2nd year.
I called her here for the unofficial meeting we would be having today.
"Baekseo-sshi...! I'm so scared of the President!" Yeseong said, pretending to cry.
She put down her hat and the file she was holding on the table and sat down next to Baekseo. She even hugged Baekseo's arm right away.
"Come on, don't be silly. Don't worry," Baekseo smiled benevolently like a saint and stroked Yeseong's head. Each time, Baekseo would gleefully accept Yeseong's pranks.
"Baekseo-sshi's touch is so good, it's so relaxing...."
Yeseong looked like she was about to melt as she enjoyed Baekseo's gentle touch. She looked like a puppy with Baekseo as its owner. Or, rather, a dog.
"Here. This is proof that I worked hard!"
The three of us decided to start the meeting.
Sitting side by side with Baekseo, I took the paper from Yeseong across from me. It was a report written by her.
"I've narrowed down the list of people of interest among the new students."
The topic of the meeting was ‘to select and monitor the targets that the student council should be wary of, and to what extent.’
It was an informal meeting topic that had become customary among the executives.
It wasn't against the rules, but it wasn't supposed to be publicized because it was against the rules of fairness. Nevertheless, I was told that the meeting had become customary because it was actually producing results.
'How they validated it remains a mystery.'
Well, the idea was good.
It was a daunting task to manage all the students at Asung High School. Over 2,000 students enroll at Asung High School every year. It was necessary to select students who needed to be monitored intensively separately.
In addition, in this world, students can even wield the mysterious power of ‘magic.’ The potential danger of individuals with ill intentions was incomparable to my past life.
There were even statistics that show that ex-offenders were more likely to reoffend.
That's why I decided to follow this practice.
‘Nice work on the report.’
I looked over the report that Yeseong had given me.
It listed the students in this year's freshman class who had any "peculiarities" that were "worthy of attention as student council" before entering Asung High School.
'I heard there were 54 last year, so this year's number isn't...?’
I thought the paperwork was thin, but I didn't expect it to be only ten students.
What is it?
I was prepared for this.
"It's less than I thought? Very much..."
Yeseong replied confidently, "Actually, there were 60 candidates, but I have already investigated them all, and the rest were just kids who needed a moderate amount of attention. I'll show you them separately later! Anyway, I judged that these guys should be the focus. So, this Yeseong has been focusing on them!"
When I became the president, I put Ha Yeseong in an executive position because, contrary to appearances, she was diligent and good at her job.
The information on the ten people she selected was detailed and neatly organized.
Among them were also troublemakers I had seen in games. Although they might not reach the level of becoming great villains, they definitely required attention as members of the enforcement team.
As expected, the report was reliable, saving me a lot of trouble.
"Good work."
"Hehe."
I reviewed the list of cautionary students. One person’s information immediately caught my eye. It was about the person involved in the train incident the other day.
‘Iseah. She's here too’
In the proof photo, there was a smiling female student with clear eyes.
‘The next boss of the mafia.... I didn't expect her to be a student at our school at first.’
Iseah would go on to lead the mafia's ‘Dowager’ in the future.
That's why the mafia was pampering her. Later, she became a great villain in the black market, but she was also a person who would inevitably face problems.
‘It was already public knowledge that she was a member of the mafia.’
As a result of interrogating Anomia, it was revealed that the person they were targeting in the last train incident was Iseah.
So, the student council summoned her and received a statement from her that she was a member of the mafia.
She didn't even try to hide it. She must have judged that it was okay to reveal it.
In fact, it was true.
'The mafia is not a problem at the moment.'
That's because the mafia's dirty deeds had not yet been exposed to the surface.
In the end, the investigation was closed, concluding that the train incident was a case of a power struggle between two gangs that escalated into an armed conflict.
The captured Anomia members were handed over to the Judicial Academy, charged with terrorizing a public place, a train, across multiple jurisdictions.
Anyway,
Considering that she was a member of the self-proclaimed 'mafia' organization that was suspicious enough to be in conflict with Anomia, and that the students who gossiped about Iseah or secretly harassed her in middle school suddenly dropped out…,
…she was on a watch list.
'A being shrouded in veil, with many suspicious circumstances...'
That was the phrase written in the report.
Yeseong evaluated Iseah that way.
‘She may become a villain later, but not yet. It's better to keep an eye on her and see if there's anything suspicious.’
Whether she is laying the groundwork to become a villain, secretly committing villainous acts already, or doing nothing, I decided to monitor Iseah.
It would be to my advantage if I could pick up on any circumstantial evidence that she was about to commit a crime, so I could nip it in the bud and stop her in her tracks.
"President?"
"What?"
She was staring at me with a dubious gaze. "Why are you staring at her picture so intensely? It seems like love at first sight. Maybe she's the President's type?"
Click!
Suddenly, Baekseo quickly turned back to the report she was reading without changing her expression and swiftly turned to the page about Iseah.
Her hand movements were so fast and accurate that they seemed invisible. Apparently, her curiosity was also piqued.
She narrowed her eyes and stared silently at Yeseong. "It's a joke. Hehe. ...I'm sorry." Yeseong apologized tactfully.
---- End of Chapter ---
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