Chapter 11 - The One Where She Hates Him (But Keeps the Soda)

I needed money. Not because I was greedy, but because I was broke. I nearly passed out when I saw the bill waiting in my dorm. A debt of 300 million won. That's what I inherited from the old me, who apparently maxed out every loan a Valor cadet could possibly get.

The interest was low, just 1% a year, but that didn't matter. I was bleeding money, and not a single won was coming in. The guy's bank account only had 3 million won left. That wasn't even enough for basic survival in a world where everything ran on power or cash.

Luckily, I knew how to get rich.

The first method? The stock market. Towers and dungeons popped up constantly in this world, and I remembered exactly which guilds would conquer which ones. Guilds here worked like corporations, and they all had publicly traded stock.

Today was March 2, 2025. My old settings document should be loaded with useful information. I opened my laptop.

▷ Settings List

[March 15, 2025. A new guild, Horse's Main, goes public. July 4, 2025. They conquer the Devil's Nest.]

Horse's Main was secretly run by demons. I wrote that in on purpose because they played a key part in the plot. After they cleared Devil's Nest, their stock price jumped 1000%. They wouldn't get exposed until three years later and delisted after that.

[December 8, 2025. The guild Creator's announces its plan to conquer the Tower of Miracle.]

This was a turning point for the current top guild. That failure would drag them down to 7th place. It was also the moment Elena Vaughn took over leadership, since she had originally opposed the plan. That gave me two windows to profit, once before the announcement, and once before the plan flopped.

Just those two events could make me rich.

"The problem is…"

I had no capital to invest.

"Should I try the field?"

"Field" was just another name for wild zones filled with monsters. Unlike dungeons, fields didn't require permits unless they were high risk. I could probably get into the low-grade one in the forest nearby.

"Wait."

Something clicked. I'd written a setting for that forest before. I opened the file and hit CTRL+F.

[Year 2026. Djinn Tomer discovers aether in Gari Mountain Dungeon.]

There it was. Aether. A formless, mystic-grade weapon. I gave it to Tomer in the story to build her up as a threat. But if I took it now, she'd be weaker later on. Would that break the story? Maybe. But it wasn't like she was powerless without it.

"Well, whatever."

I'd go grab aether after leveling up my stats a bit. Maybe once I hit 3 or 4 across the board.

Buzz...

My smartwatch buzzed.

[Traveling Club Announcement - Freshman orientation trip this Saturday.]

"Oh right…"

Another buzz.

[Academic Club Announcement - Freshman orientation this Friday.]

"…And this too. Great."

There went my weekend.

Friday. Academic Club Orientation.

Valor's combat training ran Tuesday through Thursday. That meant Mondays and Fridays were supposed to be free. Key word: supposed. Today, I was headed to room 304 for the academic club. Celeste Wren was already walking in.

The room was packed. Around 30 first-years, with 23 of them being girls, most probably enchanted by the club president.

I sat a little behind Celeste. I could smell her shampoo or perfume or whatever it was. Five minutes of subtle sniffing (not by choice) later, the club president walked in.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lucien Black. Welcome to Alpha."

Lucien Black. Third-year student. Also, a djinn. That wasn't why I joined, but it didn't hurt. I couldn't exactly yell "HE'S A DJINN!" even though it'd probably earn me some Story Points.

Lucien was under contract with the devil Evelyn, who gave him charm and an enchantment ability in exchange for his soul. He was probably targeting Celeste, which was why Evelyn boosted him in the first place.

"We'll keep it brief since this is just orientation."

The girls leaned in a little closer when he spoke. The charm effect was definitely working.

"In Alpha, we study and discuss monsters. Their behavior, weaknesses, types, and how to counter them. Basically, we do monster analysis."

Monster analysis was no joke. It was a hot academic field, and even non-combatant heroes with the right Gift were valued for it.

"For example, let's talk about the totem scallop."

A hologram appeared behind him. As the name suggested, it looked like a scallop holding a totem.

"High-intermediate grade, rank 3. High intelligence. High magic affinity. Peaceful unless provoked. But they produce valuable pearls, so guilds love hunting them."

In other words, smart clam, rich loot, and usually non-aggressive… unless you walked into its turf.

"As you know, it's extremely hard to kill totem scallops, but careful analysis shows they're classified no differently than an ordinary scallop. It's quite difficult to locate their vital points because no other monster shares similarities with them."

Lucien kept going. I already knew all of this, so I couldn't help but yawn.

"Yaaawn…"

His face tightened, and right on cue, every girl in the room turned to glare at me like I just insulted their family. Honestly, I was a little concerned they'd throw hands if I yawned again. The only one who didn't react was Celeste. She kept watching the screen.

"Cough."

Lucien Black cleared his throat and resumed.

"The totem scallop's vital point hasn't been discovered because of its ambiguous attribute and behavior. As for other monsters like the thousand-mile horse…"

The orientation finally ended after forty minutes. I managed to avoid further public execution by keeping my yawns internal. Just as I was about to slip out of the room, I spotted Lucien walking up to Celeste.

"Cadet Wren."

"Yes?"

"You forgot this."

He handed her a piece of paper. She smiled politely as she took it, but I knew this wasn't something she forgot. He likely used his magic to swipe it without her noticing. It was subtle and creepy. I didn't include this scene in my original novel, but I remembered this pattern, how he started targeting her.

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

She took the paper with her usual composed smile. That was it for now.

I left and stopped at a vending machine nearby. I got a Coin Cola and a Spring Sprite. Seeing the names made me chuckle, exactly how I had written them to dodge copyright issues. Now they were real.

A moment later, Celeste walked out of the building. I stepped into her path with the drinks and held out the cola.

"Here."

"…?"

She stared at me, visibly confused.

"We're in the same club. Same team, same club. Funny coincidence, right?"

This was a test. Working out gave me 4 SP. How much could I get by interacting with a main character?

"Do you think I'll drink something like this?"

Celeste's lips pushed forward slightly, like she was genuinely offended. I was expecting it, so I just shrugged.

"I just got it from the vending machine."

Celeste probably preferred men who didn't try too hard, maybe even a little cocky. Also, being good-looking wouldn't hurt. I casually nodded toward the can in my hand.

"Touch it. It's cold."

"I'm fine. You can have it. Also…"

Her eyes narrowed. There it was. That slight shift in her expression that betrayed what she was really feeling.

"Don't talk to me so casually. This is your first warning."

She walked past me before I could respond. I cracked open the soda and took a sip.

Psssh

Gulp, gulp.

Her shoulders flinched at the sound. According to her profile, Celeste loved junk food, soda, burgers, fried chicken, ramen. But she never bought them herself. Her butler did. Even then, only once a week. Her mother hated "cheap" food, and Celeste never showed that side of herself to anyone.

I tossed the unopened Coke into her bag. It landed clean.

"Carry me next time too."

She paused and looked back. I couldn't hear what she muttered under her breath, but it wasn't hard to figure out.

"Who is this crazy guy?"

It didn't take long for Celeste to realize something was off. Her textbook was soaked.

"That nutjob."

She scowled, pulling the Coke from her bag. When did he even put this in? That little...

She sighed, frustrated, then quietly used her magic. A thin stream of power passed through the pages, separating the moisture. It pooled onto the ground like condensation drawn from the paper.

Her uniform was still perfectly pressed, but sweat gathered at her temple. That kind of delicate magic wasn't easy. Even trained heroes struggled with such precision.

"Huuu."

She caught her breath, proud despite herself. Then her mood shifted.

"When I see him again…"

Her fingers twitched as she thought about what to do. Maybe she'd ask the guys to "teach him a lesson." But the moment passed. She checked her surroundings.

Quiet.

She pulled out a handkerchief, wrapped it around the can of cola, and carefully placed it back inside her bag.

"Hmmm."

Then she walked off like nothing happened, a little quicker than before.