She comes and goes like the wind.
There may be a reason why my “sister” in this body acts this way, but from the perspective of a romantic visual novel, there’s only one reason for it.
Balance adjustment.
Just like how the Demon King appearing in the Hero’s starting zone and continuously killing would prevent the game from progressing,
The same applies to my sister here; considering she emerged even now, at a point when Kim Ha-neul and I have become second-year students, her strength is overwhelmingly high to the point that she shouldn’t appear.
And with her holding a relatively high position within the Association, it’s only natural.
I initially intended to head directly to Han Ye-seul’s house, but after realizing the reason why I had to do so, and knowing that she had already come and gone, I closed the front door, sat down on the floor, and caught my breath.
My body still trembles, my breathing still uneven. Despite it not lasting more than a few minutes, the tension made it feel like I was punished for hours.
If I were to make a cold evaluation of our encounter,
“Ultimately, I couldn’t maintain my composure.”
Through clichés, I’ve known from the start that my sister wouldn’t really ‘devour’ this body, but maintaining that thought in front of someone who’s said to have ‘eaten’ people was a different story altogether.
I was too afraid to say anything and only ended up breaking our agreement. If I were truly the protagonist, this wouldn’t have happened, right?
Kim Ha-neul, exactly at this moment, would be wooing various heroines.
However, in an attempt to break free from the life of a heroine who gets pushed around, I aspired to become the protagonist.
Yet, no matter how determined I am, the difference between my ordinary life and the life of a true protagonist is still too vast.
I won’t become the protagonist just by getting closer to heroines. Without finding a way to narrow that gap, even if I manage to win their affection, I won’t be a true protagonist.
Moreover, a protagonist who needs saving from heroines at every important event doesn’t exist.
A fundamental change was necessary.
Even a fundamental transformation could make my ordinary life into that of a protagonist.
The first thing I need to address,
“Insufficient information.”
Or, in other words, a lack of confidence.
Why can the protagonist face powerful enemies like final bosses without hesitation? Some might say courage, but I didn’t think so.
They had confidence that they were right, which is why they could face such despair-inducing enemies head-on.
It’s different from me, who is swayed by the words of others. Of course, even if the person providing this information betrays them and they get a backstab, up until that point, they were the protagonists and heroes.
In that sense, the person I need to meet was decided from the start.
The Student Council President.
I have to meet her.
“From the start, she had everything?”
According to the system, the strongest supernatural ability user is me, and beside me is a supporter who could give me the information to instill confidence.
Of course, since my relationship with the Student Council President was strained before I possessed this body, asking her for information might be slightly awkward. However, the reason we grew distant wasn’t because of me (unlike with Yoon In-na), so if I wanted, it would be easy to mend.
“Too awkward to approach, so I ignored it until now… But this time, she probably won’t hide under the desk, right?”
Thinking about the woman who always hid under the desk whenever I came, I smiled, unlike the serious situation just moments ago.
Her chair was always unaturally far from the desk, so I always knew she was there. I pretended not to, fearing that if I acknowledged her presence, it would make her uncomfortable.
“Should I call her?”
Despite the awkwardness, I hesitated to immediately call her. I played with my phone, recalling the reasons I never contacted her in the first semester. I was always absent from class, heading straight to the Student Council Room, often because of me.
I felt uneasy. For various reasons.
[Goodwill towards Lee Seo-ra: 72 (100)]
Displayed in front of me was her goodwill—a reason I hadn’t contacted her despite its continual increase despite our lack of dialogue.
Is it because the past owner of this body was her ex-lover? Or is it because she fits my ideal partner type?
In this moment, that isn’t very important.
What’s important now is to use her goodwill toward this body to uncover the relationship between me and my sister.
And…
“…If she could help me not only with information about world knowledge but also with wooing heroines…”
I wouldn’t have to make excuses anymore for my lack of information.
As the world-acknowledged main heroine, she would certainly have undeniable skills in her field.
But will she help me?
Given how she still shows signs of goodwill toward this body…
Even if the contract with Kim Ha-neul ends and she returns to my side,
Even with the original owner of this body gone and only me left,
Will she continue to help me purely?
And can I continue to take advantage of her purely?
Though I planned to recruit the Student Council President, the first person I contacted was Han Ye-seul because of similar reasons.
To woo her would be similar to leveraging her love for Erica.
However,
This world isn’t easy enough to progress without becoming trash. More precisely, my abilities aren’t sufficient to navigate this visual novel world.
“…Since I’ve already decided to take advantage of someone’s emotions, I might as well go all the way.”
If I’m trapped in this world of visual novel clichés and systems,
Even if I follow the endings I’ve witnessed where heroines or protagonists get wooed and avoid regrets,
I’ll have to make the necessary preparations, considering the Student Council President’s goodwill. After hesitating with the phone, I finally slipped it back into my pocket and stood up.
I should first drop my luggage at Han Ye-seul’s house before meeting her.
Our meeting comes after that.
“Uh…?”
Even during the weekend before break, the Student Council President, who had been tied up in incidents such as delinquents disappearing and returning, immediately stood up upon seeing the text message on her phone.
She immediately rubbed one eye with the hand not holding her phone to verify the content and then again.
[Can we meet for a bit?]
Though she had been secretly waiting for this message, she also believed the person who had betrayed her wouldn’t send one.
Yet, the message was from Erica, her ex-lover, who had not initiated any private communication since that day.
“Student Council President, is something wrong?”
The woman assisting her, who respected her greatly, was surprised by her usually composed leader showing rare signs of confusion and asked. The President hesitated but carefully inquired, similar to how she reacted to the news of Kim Ha-neul and Erica’s date.
“Could we wrap up here for today?”
“It’s not something to discuss with me. I’ll tidy up here, so you can leave anytime. I plan to take a break this weekend as well.”
Though the president’s duties were busy, there was no force compelling her to work.
Therefore, the reason the Student Council President always buried herself in her work was not because she was helping someone in need when she became president but out of guilt for choosing the title itself.
The vice president understood this and supported her president’s decision to choose something other than work.
“Yes, thank you.”
The president, showing her gratitude to the vice president, hastily rushed out of the Student Council office, running.
Even though it’s against the rules to run in the hallways, with no students around during the weekend, it was fine to just be cautious.
Considering she had to prepare from makeup to changing clothes, starting now was quite busy.
“Could she be this pleased?”
Realizing who the vibration on the phone had signified, the vice president faintly smiled.
As the sun slowly began to set,
The woman arrived at the meeting place 30 minutes before the set time, checking her attire in front of the shop window near the agreed location.
Black fishnet stockings, a black skirt, a beige denim jacket, and a white T-shirt. Silver earrings for a bit of flair.
Despite her already flawless look, she continually checked for any wrinkles in her outfit, unable to resist.
Though she subtly reminded herself she’d soon return to the side of the person she loved, the reason her brilliant Erica continued to pretend ignorance would be because she hadn’t forgiven her yet.
Then, could the reason behind this new contact and request for a private meeting mean she had somewhat forgiven her?
Deep down, she knew her hopeful assumption might be wrong, but restraining her anticipation proved difficult.
Knowing they couldn’t spend much time together as tomorrow was Monday, she still found immense joy checking her clothing.
“…I thought I arrived early, but when did you?”
“I came here punctually, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Though they had met once during the exam period, Lee Seo-ra turned around to face Inna’s voice and smiled brightly.
It had been the day right after Inna left Erica.