Right after the shocking entrance ceremony,
An emergency meeting was called at the professors' request.
It included not only full professors but also the vice-dean and the dean herself.
The agenda was singular.
"That delinquent can't be left unchecked!!"
"How dare he stick out his tongue so vulgarly at Ark's entrance ceremony!!"
"It was broadcast nationwide, and now Ark's reputation is tarnished!!!!"
Kim Taeyang.
The meeting was about his punishment.
Vice-Dean Shin Hyewon chimed in sharply.
"It's not just about the ceremony. Kim Taeyang stole Seol Harin's constellation. This is a national loss. We must help her reclaim it."
A rookie like Seol Harin losing her constellation was a serious matter.
"Huhhh?! Do you all really think that?! Pomi looked happy with Gundaru-kun!!!"
"He must've used some illegal method."
"I've never heard of seducing a constellation with drugs."
"Logically, isn't it strange for a constellation that's been with a hero for ten years to switch sides overnight? Even if it wasn't drugs, there must've been some trick. Considering Kim Taeyang's background, it couldn't have been a clean method."
Despite some dissent, most agreed with the vice-dean.
Kim Taeyang had used underhanded means to win over Pomi.
Thus, the consensus was to discipline him and return the constellation to its rightful place.
But this was Ark.
The real power lay with Dean Yokozawa Tomoe.
"Well~ Tomo-tan thinks you're all being too hasty."
"Dean, this concerns the academy's reputation."
"Exactly why we need to be careful! What if Gundaru-kun did nothing wrong? What if the constellation switched because he's just that charming?"
"That's unlikely, isn't it?"
"It's not a 0% chance!"
"…"
The dean's words had some merit.
The problem was the extremely low probability.
"But he still needs to be punished for ruining the ceremony!"
"Huhhh?! Ruined?! Thanks to him, Tomo-tan's subscriber count skyrocketed!!!!"
The dean was a streamer as a hobby.
It didn't suit a top-tier hero and academy dean, but… who cares?
This is a game world.
"Tch, that's…"
"Besides, he didn't say anything that bad, right? Just some rough humor~"
In any case,
The dean had already made up her mind.
Further discussion seemed pointless.
"…I have one suggestion."
The vice-dean spoke up last.
"At least let us investigate the situation. With my disciplinary committee, we can find out how Kim Taeyang won Glacis's favor. And maybe fix his attitude while we're at it."
"Hmm… That's fine by me!!"
The vice-dean left the meeting room with a smile.
A deeply shadowed,
Somewhat sinister smile.
***
As soon as the entrance ceremony ended, I was officially recognized as an Ark student.
New students were assigned dorms.
Unlike the temporary lodging, the dorms were spacious.
Three rooms for one person…!
The quality was so impressive it deserved applause.
"Amazing! Super amazing!! I knew it'd be big, but seeing it in person, it's HUGE!!! The furniture's top-notch too!! This sofa's so cushy my fingers sink in!!! It's freaking hot!!!!"
That's the only way I can express "good"…!
Good thing no one's around!!
Ark's student welfare matches its prestige.
A huge three-room dorm, with a fridge that magically restocks food.
Best of all, new students get a 10 million won stipend upon enrollment.
Most players use this to buy weapons or gifts for heroines.
But I have other plans.
I'm setting up a home gym so I and the heroines can train anytime…!
Sure, there's a student gym on campus, but it's always crowded, making efficient training impossible.
Plus, training Seol Harin in front of everyone feels a bit awkward.
After ordering a ton of home gym equipment online, I logged into the community.
The Ark Community.
Aka,
A platform only accessible to Ark students, staff, and professors.
It's a verified but anonymous space, a wild jungle of trash posts and aggro.
Ask a passing student if they use ArkGal, and they'll say, "What's that?"
But the daily user count is nearly the total of students and staff combined—a bizarre community.
That's ArkGal. [TL Note: ArkGal is short for Ark Gallary]
- Entrance ceremony was hilarious, give it a like lol
- Bragging about his slave in front of the whole school!! Insane!!!
- It's only been a week since the entrance exam, and he's causing chaos without taking a breath lol
- Master and slave's entrance oath 😍
- Y'all know?? Tomo-tan was livestreaming the ceremony lololol
- Did the ceremony video drop?! It dropped, so I'm writing this, dammit!!!!
- Anyone else creeped out by the video? Him yelling in that Hawaiian shirt alone… it's kinda scary;; gives off psychological horror vibes;;
- Kim Taeyang phobia ㄷㄷ
- If you're into Seol Harin as a slave, smash that like;;
"Hey, hey. I'm already a celebrity, huh? Heh heh heh."
As expected.
ArkGal was flooded with posts about me and Seol Harin.
The fact that Seol Harin declared herself a slave had already spread like wildfire through ArkGal.
The only silver lining for her is that there's no video evidence.
While browsing other posts, I stumbled across unexpected info.
- Is Kim Taeyang really Kim Taegun's son???
Kim Taegun.
The name of Kim Taeyang's father.
I only knew it from the contact saved on my smartphone, but I had no idea what kind of person he was.
I just assumed he was an ordinary guy.
But it seems he's some kind of big shot.
Not a character from the game, though…
Does Kim Taeyang have a surprisingly impressive background?
I immediately searched for Kim Taegun online.
"Huh?! Is this for real?!!"
The results were somewhat shocking.
Here's the summary:
Kim Taegun, a former nationwide gangster turned businessman.
He's the CEO of a shady third-tier loan shark company and a famous celebrity.
A loan shark ex-gangster as a celebrity?
Because he throws parties everywhere he goes, always surrounded by stunning women.
How an old guy like him attracts such young women is beyond me, but you can tell he's bad news just by looking.
Even more shocking were the rumors about those women.
They were allegedly the girlfriends, wives, daughters, or sisters of men who couldn't pay their debts.
The rumor was that he took their women in exchange for clearing their loans.
This guy… he's literally Kim Taeyang…?
Did I inherit his genes or what…?
Now I get the meaning behind his name!
"Blonde Tanned Gangster" shortened to Kim Taegun!!!
Checking Kim Taegun's SNS, I saw a flood of photos of him at yacht parties with a dozen bikini-clad women.
Some were pretty explicit, with him openly groping them.
Like father, like son—tanned skin, muscular build.
A scary middle-aged face…
"Hey! What's with this setup?!"
He feels like the kind of guy who'd cause trouble just by being near him.
Kim Taegun is an unknown figure, even to me as a possessor.
I should delay contact with him as long as possible.
For now, I'll just note that a guy like this exists and move on.
—Or so I thought.
Bzzzzt.
My smartphone vibrated.
The caller: Dad.
Kim Taegun.
"…"
I hesitated but decided to pick up anyway.
From the speaker came booming music and a middle-aged man's voice.
"Hey!! Son!!! Saw your entrance ceremony video!!!! Second-ranked, huh? You're better than I thought?!!!!"
"Huh? Whose son do you think I am? Of course I'd pull it off!!!"
"Hahahahaha!! You've grown up since you went independent, you punk!!!!!"
Kim Taegun seemed thrilled as I played along.
Like father, like son—his speech was identical.
The Kim Taeyang family…
What a nightmare.
"Hey! Say hi to my son!!"
"H-Hello, young master…! I-I'm Kim Seona, 23, working as your dad's… I mean, master's secretary…! You're amazing…!!!"
Oh, for fuck's sake.
- Son!! How many girls have you stolen?!!
"Huh? Where's the time for that? I'm busy training—"
He's my father, after all.
If I can't cut ties, I might as well stay on his good side.
A son dedicated to his studies is the best kind of son, right?
That was meant to make Kim Taegun happy.
But his reaction was way beyond my expectations.
- Huh?! What did you just say, you punk?!!!!
"…?"
His roar sounded furious.
What's wrong with a son who studies and trains hard?
- Obviously, stealing girls is more important than training!!! I didn't spend a fortune sending you to Ark just to train!!!! I sent you to steal high-class girls!!!!
Oh no.
I let my guard down.
This guy's an idiot!
An idiot obsessed with stealing women!!
Time to change tactics!
I need to out-crazy him!
"Hey, hey!! Oyaji!!!! Of course I was joking!!!! I've already turned the daughter of the top-ranking conglomerate, called the next Swordmaster, into my slave!!!!"
- Hahahahahaha!! That's my son!!! You're something else… huh?!!!!
Slap!!!
…Did I just hear something naughty?
Please let that be my imagination.
"Heh heh heh! Watch out, Dad! Keep this up, and I might steal your girls too!"
I felt a chill down my spine after saying it.
Goddamn this mouth.
It doesn't know boundaries.
Even if we're the Kim Taeyang family, going after family girls is too far, right?
- Hahahahaha!! Are you a genius?!!
"?"
- The son steals the father's girls!! The father steals the son's girls!!! Stealing and stealing and stealing again!!! An infinite loop of NTR?!!!!
"???"
- Hey! You incompetent scientists!!! Acting all smart but amounting to nothing!!!! Our family invented perpetual motion first!!!! Hey!!!!
"…"
I'm certain now.
This guy's a villain.
Yup, definitely a villain.
Best to keep my distance while taking whatever benefits I can.
Thankfully, despite his words, he doesn't seem too interested in my life.
His SNS is just him and his women,
And there's not much record of calls or messages with Kim Taeyang.
- Son! Keep living big and bold!!
As the call ended, I felt drained.
Is this the exhaustion Seol Harin feels dealing with me?
Guess I'll buy her a snack next time…
After a short break, I prepared for classes.
Tomorrow's the first day of real classes.
Basic swordsmanship, marksmanship, magic, hero history, and more…
A ton of classes await me.
And as a veteran player, I already know roughly how it'll all go.
"Heh heh heh. This is gonna be fun."
The muscle-bound delinquent who turned Seol Harin into a slave!
The lunatic who ditches the uniform to strut around in a full beach outfit!
The troublemaker who made enemies of all the professors at the entrance ceremony!
That's me, Kim Taeyang!
My official Ark debut is right around the corner!
…Mom, I'm scared to go to school!!!!