Chapter 154

The second battle between the Student Council President and the part-time worker at the meat shop seemed to be about to commence, but before squandering this rare opportunity to gain crucial information from the Student Council President, I quickly tied her arm with mine, grabbed the card, and dashed out.

If she had resisted, we probably would have stopped midway, and I might have ended up looking pretty foolish. Thankfully, the Student Council President merely glanced at my arm and did not resist.

“Erica, you checked everything you wanted to yesterday, right? See you later~.”

‘Really, you knew I came yesterday just to check on myself but pretended not to know?’

While hearing this truly perplexing farewell, I ran down an alley outside the shop. After running for a few more minutes, I finally released the Student Council President’s arm in front of a vending machine.

There was a slight difference in height between her and me, so while being dragged, the Student Council President had to lean forward to keep up, yet she didn’t seem nearly as exhausted as I was.

It must have been because I took the initiative to bring her here…

Even after reaching the vending machine, instead of inserting the card I had taken out before, my hand trembled, so the Student Council President stepped in, pressed the button for two ion drinks, and handed one to me.

“By any chance, do you remember anything about that woman who was working at the meat shop earlier?”

“Not at all. I only realized there might be some connection to my past after hearing her speak earlier. She didn’t even react when I was with someone else yesterday.”

From formal honorifics when we first met to casual speech now.

The guilt inside the Student Council President seemed to have subsided a bit, so I didn’t mention anything related to that. I opened the can and took a sip to moisten my parched lips while saying:

“Hmm…”

“You don’t know her anyway, so don’t worry about it.”

I hadn’t realized whether the woman was a girl like Jin Tae-sang who seeks NTR situations, so I brought the Student Council President here, but now that I know, even if she doesn’t say anything more about that place, we won’t go there.

Even if that ties into dropping one of the heroines, it’s fine. I’ve come to realize she isn’t important enough to complicate my relationship with the system-recognized main heroine.

If she has a secret, it’s probably something trivial—like being the granddaughter or daughter of the building owner of the meat shop—not something big or significant that drives the main storyline.

Even her supposed connection to the past of this body is likely false…

“…But, after thinking about it, I just remembered something you said before. You mentioned that there’s a woman who makes me feel uncomfortable whenever she thinks about me.”

My thoughts were flipped by the Student Council President.

“So, we wondered if there’s some kind of pervert or if you have some ability to read minds. But back then, you told me something.”

“An enemy.”

“In this world, if it’s okay to k*ll others, this person would be the first one you’d need to eliminate—an enemy with a power almost complementary to yours.”

“What’s that?”

Is the woman working at the meat shop really that important?

Initially, Erica mentioned that the final boss was the older sister of this body, but now it seems that there’s someone with a complementary power?

Is Erica’s storyline abnormally difficult, or are the other heroines’ storylines just as difficult?

“Is there any chance that I was mistaken back then?”

Even if the powers are complementary, they would cancel each other out. In a physical fight, I would definitely lose.

Without the Student Council President’s words, I’d have been disinterested, but now that I hear her, I’m starting to become curious.

Since every setting in this world has meaning, if the concept of ‘complementary powers’ is true, the life and personality of this character might be the complete opposite of mine.

“No, there’s no way you could have been mistaken.”

Such certainty in her tone that she was absolutely correct.

Why is the Student Council President confident that Erica was right back then? Does her wisdom provide her with some basis that Erica’s judgment was correct, or is she just confident that her previous lover wouldn’t make a mistake?

Mysterious as the original owner of this body, this woman seems oddly convinced, even loving, looking at me and smiling.

“How can you trust me so much?”

My original plan was to delve deeper into Irina, but even though I lost the chance to smoothly continue that topic, I couldn’t help but ask.

I know that the affection of heroines surpasses that of ordinary people, but if that affection extends to previous lovers, that’s problematic.

The sustained affection towards an ex could lead to one of three things: forming a three-person angle, or the protagonist having an abnormal love for her like Irina; if it’s the latter, it means Kim Ha-neul has torn apart truly loving people. In other words, Kim Ha-neul’s genre could be leaning towards NTR if that’s the case.

Even though I dislike Kim Ha-neul, the Kim Ha-neul I’ve seen so far doesn’t seem to fit that category. My caution towards him isn’t because I distrust his humanity but out of worry that I might fall for him.

Ultimately, if neither of those is correct, then the last possibility must be true—they genuinely loved each other. If Kim Ha-neul didn’t manipulate anything, then they must have sincerely loved each other but parted ways because of some specific incident.

If I could hear the reason from the Student Council President, I might figure out what kind of incident it was.

I had just finished organizing my thoughts when, as if she had been waiting for it, the Student Council President spoke.

“Because I know you.”

It’s a cryptic statement.

It sounds like she fully trusts whatever you say because she knows you, or perhaps she’s confident that you only speak the truth.

And her words were filled with love—not for me but for Erica.

This, perhaps, is the punishment for reincarnation.

You are loved, yet not loved.

Though I didn’t commit it, everyone thinks I did.

The original owner may have acknowledged me, but does that hold any meaning?

If I told her the truth—that I’ve inhabited this body—the Student Council President would change her attitude immediately.

…and the owner of wisdom would soon realize this truth as well.

“I can sense your unease right now. You see yourself differently before and after losing your memories.”

It’s not because I told her…

The bearer of wisdom would understand the truth just because she is wise.

“But Erica, you aren’t much different before and after. There’s no need to be too anxious.”

“I’ve recovered a little memory, and it feels quite different from now.”

However, contrary to my speculations, instead of heading further off-topic like before, I cut straight to the point. Continuing this way, she might start to think that ‘she’ and ‘I’ are the same person.

Given that I have already exploited the misunderstanding, I shouldn’t deepen the confusion between me and ‘me’ in front of her.

My words seemed to shake the Student Council President, who then asked with a trembling voice.

“…How much?”

“Just a few scenes.”

“Ah, so that’s why Inna distanced herself from you.”

I don’t recall telling her about Inna leaving home in front of the Student Council President.

Though shortly after the event, I struggled to control my expression in front of Han Ye-seul, I believed I managed it reasonably well the next day in front of the Student Council President.

It must be because she had already known from the beginning that the only reason she might have called me was due to Inna’s absence.

“Still, some commonalities remain. For example—.”

Was her discernment quick, or was my supposedly flawless expression management flawed?

Even while I was deep in thought, the Student Council President kept trying to persuade me.

She was probably trying to get me to accept the part of me before the supposed memory loss so that I wouldn’t carry guilt. But since she knows nothing about reincarnation, it’s difficult for me to embrace her words…

[Warning. Warning.]

“If you look closely, your eyes aren’t focused on me but on something else.”

[The bearer of wisdom is approaching the truth about the user. It is recommended that you distance yourself from wisdom immediately.]

“…What?”

No, everything?

What did I just say?

Bathed in golden light that seems to pierce through everything, she still smiled kindly.

“Perhaps something only you can see. Some means by which you obtain information that you wouldn’t normally know, even with your senses or guesswork, as you could before losing your memory.”

“Could Erica be the system’s user?”

More importantly, am I about to really get exposed?

The Student Council President learning that I possess a system.

Although it wouldn’t be much of a problem if she found out, the key is something else. I’ve continued to suspect that there are other system users besides me. The prime candidate being Kim Ha-neul.

And the Student Council President, irrespective of her former relations with this body, is Kim Ha-neul’s collaborator now.

“…I think that’s why I believe you haven’t changed much before and after losing your memory.”