When people talk about an “academy story,” there are usually certain things that come to mind.

“First of all, the school is the main stage.”

Since it’s an academy story, the background is naturally a school. But if it’s only school life, it gets boring, so other genres get mixed in.

“And since everyone has special abilities, a ‘hunter story’ is arranged into it.”

Because the skills we used outside can also be used here, it would be accurate to say that an ability-based “hunter story” is mixed with an “academy.”

“And of course, the protagonist will be in the remedial class.”

That’s right. In developments like this, the remedial class overcomes hardship and eventually defeats the advanced class.

“Then I guess that makes me the protagonist, right.”

I ignored Killer King’s nonsense and asked what I was actually curious about.

“A graduation exam was mentioned earlier. What’s that about?”

“How dumb. Have you still not figured out the world system? Did you forget what our goal is?”

As he said that, Killer King pointed to a notice on the bulletin board.

—Notice for the third-year graduation exam.

It was an announcement I’d already checked on the way here.

“That’s the objective of this scenario.”

Killer King’s inference sounded plausible.

The point in time we’d possessed must be right before a key event in this world system. Considering that we even had the setting of being “third-years,” the “graduation exam” was without a doubt the main event of this scenario.

Coincidentally, the name of the scenario was also “Graduation.”

[You have discovered a core clue of the scenario!]

As expected.

“But Kang Ilhun.”

“I am not Kang Ilhun.”

“Is it really okay for you to talk like that?”

Gyeong Sein, catching what I meant, cut in.

“That’s right. Killer King keeps making statements that don’t match the world system— Egegegegek!”

Kang Ilhun—no, Killer King—had been repeatedly making remarks that completely ignored the rules of this world system. And yet, he hadn’t received any sanctions from the world system at all.

[A unique skill, ‘Character List’, has been activated!]

[‘Character List’ provides information in a form appropriate to the current world system.]

+

Character: Kang Ilhun (Cha Sungwoo)
Potential: S
Core Settings: Delusionist (S), Analyst (S)
Description: One of the core figures of Class Z. Often spouts nonsense because he cannot distinguish reality from delusion.
+

I see. So if you had a setting like that from the start, it was fine to say garbage like this.

—Third-year Class Z, Kim Dokja. Third-year Class Z, Kim Dokja, please come to the faculty office immediately…

After asking the others for a moment, I entered the faculty office.

If the “graduation exam” wasn’t starting right away, there was no harm in calmly looking around the surroundings first.

When I opened the door, I saw a spacious room filled with colorless partitions. The familiar sight of a faculty office sent a slight shiver down my spine.

…But why is that guy over there?

In one corner of the faculty office stood a boy with both hands raised over his head. Just from his broad shoulders and his messy hair at the back, it was obvious who it was.

“Yu Joonghyuk?”

As if annoyed about something, he muttered continuously before turning to look at me.

“In a world system like this…”

With a tztztzt sound, Yu Joonghyuk clamped his mouth shut.

I see. For someone like him, even when hit by backlash, he didn’t let out undignified noises like “egegegek.”

Facing Yu Joonghyuk was a teacher who was in the middle of delivering a lecture. This person’s back was familiar too.

“Joonghyuk. Students aren’t allowed to smoke.”

“I’ve never smoked.”

“Then what’s this that came out of your pocket?”

“Magic cigarettes. An item that helps mana circulation and sharpens the senses.”

“Isn’t that still a cigarette?”

I had a rough idea what the situation was.

When I approached and cleared my throat lightly, the teacher turned this way.

“Oh. You’re here?”

It seemed this teacher was the one who had called me.

Emerald-green eyes peeking through swaying blonde hair. The lower half of her face was hidden by a mask with a cute lamb drawn on it, but this constellation was obvious to anyone.

‘The One Who Brought Ten Lambs.’

“Sorry. I caught a cold. Cough cough.”

That didn’t sound like the voice of someone with a cold at all.

White wings fluttered faintly behind her back.

I hesitated for a moment over what I should call this teacher.

[A unique skill, ‘Character List’, has been activated!]

+

Character: Ms. Lamb (The One Who Brought Ten Lambs)
Potential: Due to difference in rank, unable to confirm.
Core Settings: Due to difference in rank, unable to confirm.
Description: The homeroom teacher of Class Z. Often scolded by the principal for being lax about managing students’ grades. Likes watching internet broadcasts alone, and when in a good mood, her wings flap.
She was quite famous back when she was an active hunter. She’s scary when angry.

+

Watching her wings flap incessantly, I asked,

“Ms. Lamb.”

“Yes, Dokja.”

Ms. Lamb was examining my face from every angle with sparkling eyes.

Feeling oddly pressured by that gaze, I lowered my head and asked,

“Um… didn’t you call for me?”

“Oh, right.”

Ms. Lamb exclaimed softly in surprise, then opened a drawer with a grin.

Inside the drawer were test papers marked with zeros.

“You wrote strange answers on yesterday’s test. Why did you do that?”

The test paper fluttered before my eyes.

Even at a glance, it was clear I’d deliberately picked only the wrong answers.

[The ‘initial setting values’ of this scenario are influenced by how you cleared your previous scenarios.]

I carefully recalled how I’d cleared the previous scenario.

「“Kyaaaah!”」
「“W-why would you do something like this—”」
「“My fable! My fable…!”」

Yeah, it definitely wasn’t the normal method the scenario recommended.

But in the end, everyone had been satisfied, hadn’t they? That was why I’d become the representative of District 13.

“Are you rebelling?”

Damn it. Don’t tell me there was a setting value like “delinquent.”

“Or do you not want to graduate?”

I looked at Ms. Lamb, who was smiling as if she were enjoying herself.

[You are moving away from the core objective of the scenario.]

I hurriedly answered,

“I do want to graduate.”

“Then why did you deliberately get all the answers wrong?”

“I don’t really know. Maybe Yu Joonghyuk possessed me for a bit?”

At my words, Yu Joonghyuk, who was facing the wall with his hands up, glared this way.

[You have satisfied the unique setting of the character in question.]

[The world system pays you 300 coins.]

Looking at Ms. Lamb laughing “ahaha,” I had a rough idea of what my setting value was.

I just had to act like Kim Dokja.

“That’s a funny joke. But if you keep joking around like that, you won’t be able to graduate. What should we do?”

“Does this school really not let students graduate just because they did poorly on a test?”

“You know that classes are assigned points based on the final exam scores, right?”

I nodded for now.

Ms. Lamb added,

“At this ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) rate, Class Z is short by 500 points, so it will be ‘entire class ineligible to take the graduation exam.’”

“That won’t do. There’s a reason we absolutely have to graduate. Is there a chance to retake the test?”

“Hmm. There’s no such rule, so what should we do.”

“You said we’re short on points, right? How do we raise those points?”

“There is a way.”

Ms. Lamb’s eyes sharpened.

“But it’ll be troublesome.”

“I’ll do anything.”

At my words, her ears turned red, as if she’d thought of something.

“Anything?”

*

After school, we all gathered together and picked up trash around the campus grounds.

“Alright, let’s clean!”

Ms. Lamb even gave up going home and helped us with our on-campus volunteer work.

“Over here!”

“Yes.”

“And over there!”

“Yes!”

“And over heeere!”

This looks like another cigarette butt Yu Joonghyuk left behind earlier.

The culprit who’d thrown it away happened to be sitting on the steps by the school gate, gazing at the sky in thought. His face looked like he couldn’t understand why he’d ended up in a world system like this, cleaning the school grounds.

“I feel like I’ve gotten thirty years younger. Egegegegek.”

“Cleaning after a long time is actually pretty fun.”

In contrast, the companions all looked cheerful.

Killer King, who was picking up trash nearby, nodded.

“As expected, clubs are for volunteer work.”

“We’re not doing club activities.”

“Kim Dokja, let me tell you something important.”

“You don’t have to.”

“If you sweep like this, you can gather five pieces of trash at once.”

Come to think of it, it wasn’t strange that the companions were enjoying this.

Uncle Dansoo, Gyeong Sein, and Killer King had done nothing but tear themselves apart clearing scenarios up to now.

After constantly risking their lives, suddenly getting “picking up trash” as a mission was practically a break.

[Constellation, ‘The One Who Brought Ten Lambs’, looks pleased.]

And perhaps that was Ms. Lamb’s real intention.

But did Ms. Lamb think she was hiding her true identity well?

I glanced at her peeking this way from afar, then bent down to pick up another piece of trash.

[You have acquired 1 point.]

Another cigarette butt.

Is Yu Joonghyuk actually a chain smoker? Why are there so many?

“You look like you’re having fun.”

The one who said that was Cha Yerin.

“As if.”

“Then you’re not having fun?”

“What’s fun about picking up cigarette butts.”

“For something like that, your expression looks pretty good.”

We continued picking up trash together, having a conversation that meant nothing.

Of course, it was all planned.

More precisely, it was bait to hide our “real conversation.”

—Yerin. Did you find out?

On my [Group Chat], Cha Yerin gave a slight nod.

[The current world system is observing your actions.]

[Group Chat] was the only way for us to exchange opinions while avoiding the gaze of the world system, but we couldn’t overuse it.

So we decided to exchange brief thoughts only like this, when our movements overlapped.

—Ye Hyeonwoo is in Class A. Gu Seonah is in Class B. Ji Eunyu is in Class C.

As expected, all the elite students were concentrated in the front classes.

—Shin Yuseung, Jung Heewon, Lee Jihye, Kim Namwoon, and Lee Hyunsung are all in front classes too.

Familiar, welcome names.

It seemed most of the original cast had also been placed in the front classes.

—But the condition of the original characters was a bit strange.

—Strange how?

—Even though they’re all in different classes, they were moving around together with Gu Seonah.

The characters were moving together with Gu Seonah? Not Yu Joonghyuk?

As if she’d thought through a possible answer, Cha Yerin added,

—Maybe she obtained some kind of “school bully fable.”

A school bully fable… It didn’t really sound like something that would exist, but it was certain that Gu Seonah had done something.

If she’d steadily collected “Kim Dokja fragments,” and if among those were fragments related to “crowd control,” then it wasn’t impossible.

It wasn’t a good sign at all, but I replied in a light voice.

—Still, the situation isn’t bad.

Normally, I would never say something like that. “The situation isn’t bad” was practically a taboo phrase in Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.

But this time, I wanted to say it. Cha Yerin would probably understand.

—Yeah.

Maybe she alone did.

[‘Character List’ has been activated!]

+

Character: Lee Seyeon (Cha Yerin)
Potential: A+
Core Settings: Literary Girl (S)
Description: A literary girl who reads more books than anyone else in Class Z. She remembers every book she has read even once. Knows an unusually large amount about the academy. 

+

We smiled bitterly as we looked out over the campus, dyed red by the setting sun.

—I never imagined this “world system” would come out as a scenario.

I nodded as well.

—Classes divided by letters of the alphabet. A world structure extremely similar to Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. Constellations and demon kings. And…

At the same time, we looked toward the school name written on the campus grounds.

‘Philia Hunter Academy.’

There are countless “academy stories” in the world, but there is only one academy with a name like that.

—Is this how Asuka Ren felt?

This school was the “hunter academy” from a novel I’d left unfinished—Infinite Wardens.

In other words, this scenario was similar to the situation in “Peace Land.”

Just as Kim Dokja had received help from the original protagonist, “Kyrgios,” in Peace Land—

—Have you found the protagonist?

If we could just safely find the protagonist of this world system, this scenario would be over.

『The protagonist, a student of Class Z at Philia Hunter Academy: Ma Hyeonseong.』

The name sounded similar to Lee Hyunsung, but that was just a coincidence.

—If we just find that guy, this scenario ends.

Ma Hyeonseong was a typical Yu Joonghyuk-type protagonist.

If we could secure that bundle of talent, then no matter whether the enemies of this scenario were the <Twelve Zodiac> or the Gourmet Association, there’d be nothing to fear.

—The problem is…

Cha Yerin’s expression wasn’t good.

Just in case, I asked,

—You remember the protagonist’s name, right?

—Yes. But I don’t think Ma Hyeonseong exists in this “world.”

—What? Why not? This should already be the timing when he transferred in…

For reference, Ma Hyeonseong transfers to this school at the beginning of the third year. That meant he should already be a member of Class Z by now.

After hesitating for a moment, Cha Yerin said,

—You were asleep during the Fifth Scenario, so you probably don’t know.

What was that supposed to mean?

[The current world system is closely watching your behavior.]

The world system was starting to suspect us, but the timing was such that we couldn’t stop the conversation.

—What do you mean?

—Hunter Ma Hyeonseong appeared as one of the disasters in the ‘Fifth Scenario.’

—What?

Instinctively, I looked toward the entrance of the campus.

At some point, Yu Joonghyuk, who had been sitting on the steps earlier, was no longer there.

Cha Yerin said,

—Hunter Ma Hyeonseong was killed by Yu Joonghyuk in the Fifth Scenario.