Vol 1 Chapter 7 (1/2)
Part 1
Lunchtime
If it were any other day, it was the ti towards a nearby lake, gobble down the lunch, and partake in a merciless territorial dispute for the school fields that resembled the history of Korea in the third~seventh century
But today wasn't the day for such happiness; again I foundlike I've chewed on a bug while eating
Please excuse me if this situation sounds familiar
Really, if not for Seo Yeonji, ould I deny myself my own lunch break to take a trip to the infiro by my oill
We got the club room, we had a party, and we finally started to have decent club activities-- so what's the problem, you ask?
You should knohat I had in my hands at the ti with allwith their various gaa, aniaoods' which were like oxygen to us Otakus
Regardless of whether they're supposed to be oxygen or nitrogen or whatever, having to carry so many, I felt like I would keel over at any moment
The reason why I was put under this undue stress traces back to the letter that I received fro
And that's what happened back then
After that initial rip on the box, it started to break down even further I was forced to throay the box near the infir only its contents
'This is seriously annoying! I never had the time to have my lunch, too'
Incidentally, Yeonji never specified that I needed tobefore the end of the lunch break! I felt a little sorry for the security guard (nothing to be said for Yeonji) but I decided that I shouldafter school instead
I honestly didn't care if Yeonji was actually going to try and execute me by impalement or whatever She can do whatever she wants!
I opened the door to the infir apathy I put down the items that had caused immense pain in my arms, wiped the sweat off my head, and announced my entry in front of the club room
”I' in- ?”
I turned the door handle, only to find the door locked tight
It was not unusual for it to be locked, but I knew that, earlier today, the nurse had left the door open with an unwelcoing Yeonji's games into the club
I faced the door to give it a knock, but then a written note on the door caught my eye
'Out of office'
””
What kind of business could she have outside of the infir, too
'Well, she's not the type to spend a lot of tiet some rest on a bed in the mean time'
With that thought, I began finding a hiding spot for the iteround
But suddenly,
'Knock knock'
The most unfortunate noise echoed from the entrance of the infirmary
”Wha?!”
I reflexively turned around and saw a shadow loo on the opposite side of a translucentAdd that fact up with the knocking froer outside?!
Thinking logically, neither the nurse nor Yeonji would bother to knock; the nurse essentially owned this place, and Yeonji simply lacked the courtesy to do so
Then, the person outside was neither of the two but someone completely unrelated to Clotaku Club!
To analyze the situation at hand:
1 All the Otaku goods froht on the floor
2 There was an outsider about to enter the infirmary
3 And if I were to be seen here with them Oh, boy
”Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!--!”
I ioods as I let loose a loud scream I need to hide them quickly!
The loo shadow outside remained quiet, likely because no one answered the door If I did not fully hide these cursed things in theto meet an explosive end
” ”
But where was I supposed to hide them? The club room's door was locked, and there were no suitable containers in sight
The front door began to slide open
'Waah-! Wait! I don't knoho you are, but just wait! Just give an extra knock or two on the door- how iet?!'
Before that thought began for to action
Faced with a life-threatening crisis, I instinctively juoods as I dug into the bed, pulling a blanket over my shoulders
'With this, maybe I could pass off as a 'Random Male Student 1''
Cold sweat dropped from my body I hid myself with such speed that I never knew I could reach, yet the distance to the bed was great enough that the person outside could have seen me leap
'I am a random student, I am a random student, I am a random student'
'Clack-clack-clack'
A gentle sound of footsteps passed by as I chanted athat noise was 'tap-tap-tap', the sound of polite knocking No doubt remained that the person was not Yeonji; If she ever had to knock, the sound would rather be 'bang bang' or 'crack'
After the knocking, silence persisted for some time Perhaps the person found the memo stuck on the door
As if to prove I was right, the same sound of footsteps filled the room once more But the noise did notin intensity, approaching my direction
'Ah- oh, God, I'm so dead'
I hugged the itehter If I were to show er in this state
Let's just say, it was a scene that I wouldn't even share it with another Otaku
With coht, the footsteps continued to near my location I closed my eyes in fear
”Hmm?”
It was an unfamiliar voice
The voice, which carried a hint of interest or perhaps curiosity, was definitely neither from Yeonji nor the nurse It was a beautiful, clear voice, as if it could only be produced by drinking thedew, yet it resounded with authority and power
The back ofa gaze in my direction
'What are you looking at? If there's no movement, it's obviously a simple corpse I'm supposed to be dead, so if you could just leave me alone'
--But to actually vocalize that cos refused to cooperate
”Huff, huff”
I did my best to appear asleep, but heavy breaths escaped my lips due to the tension I was afraid that my loud heartbeats could also be heard
” Excuse me”
So poked at my body from outside the blanket
Apparently, it was hoping for tooafterso much noise; the voice that had called out was directed to someone ide awake
Aw, damn it all
I opened htly In the narrow vision I had, I could see the finger that had apparently poked me
”Ahehed aardly
There was promptly an annoyed response,
”You are very clearly pretending to be asleep, and yet you persist at being ignorant ofto make a mockery out of me?!”
--Oh
My body suddenly shook; I was struck with a irl's speech How should I describe it? It was a fa, one that I was sure to have felt before in my life, yet impossible to comfortably withstand
Yes, to bluntly describe it--
”H? If you received the honor of being addressed by me, you should at least have the rettable that the only man here is an uncultured brute”
It was the feeling of proxy ean to itch, and I felt the ends of hs followed
I turned around with the motion of a robot
Standing in front of irl
Her eyelashes made a sharp, wide curve on her face as if to hint her personality, accompanied by her smooth, white face that was creased only with an expression of anger Her pointed nose and her puffy lips added h school student, and her shapely physique added up to a certain display of beauty
She stood, hands reat lioness standing over her fallen prey; I felt almost intimidated
And, on top of all that--
The girl's hair was perfectly golden
”Uh, wha--?”
Witnessing that oddity, I sat, stunned
No, seriously, that really was blonde hair
Compared to other schools, our school i as you work hard) but dyeing your hair was strictly forbidden So, what explains her golden hair?
'Wait, no, e student, or solish parent? Wasn't that kind of character trait only found in games?'
”Sigh-”
As if to olden hair aside with her ser
”How rude, expressing such surprise whilst beholdingat my beauty? You should know your place, peasant”
Uuuuugghhh
I shook once h the tips of my limbs
'I I never thought I'd hear so like that in the 3D world!'
Within the flood of pain so powerful that it could dismember me the moment I lose focus of n exchange student or a Korean-European or whatever, it was not important
This girl is an Otaku!
Her Otaku power level was too great for any natural resistance to fend against it If I had a Scouter init to explode
As said before, Otakus can easily recognize other Otakus
At that moment, the Otaku detector within irl in front of me ithout any need for further confirmation, a pure Otaku
My body tensed up and froze I brought all of oods within my arms
Like the girl had said herself, she was pretty good-looking; no one would want to be seen hugging Otaku goods in front of a cute girl, never mind that she is an Otaku like me
”E-excuse me, hoow can I heeelp yoouuu”
I spoke tiet out of the situation I talked in a very polite tone for some reason
Frolance in her direction, she was a first year student without a na just like me but somehow, it felt natural that I spoke to her in a polite way What was I going to do if she started going 'How dare you speak to norant peasant!?'
The girl srovel
”At least you are wise for realizing your ignorance sooner Hive you Let me ask one question; where is the supervisor of this roo my question!”
Sooing to turn into a spiral galaxy!
”I-I don't know I think she ht co a flood as I held tightly onto the Otaku goods Even objectively, I looked pathetic
”Is that so? What a useless peasant!” cursed the golden-haired girl, frowning It was difficult to tell whether sheto lose their functions ”Regardless, what are you doing here?”
Despitequestions!' the girl asked with a hint of suspicion Why are humans such inconveniently curious creatures?
”Huh? Oh, uh I have a slight sto for a bit! Aha-ha, ha-ha-ha”
”--Hae”
The girl let out an anime-catchphrase-like sound and continued to stare in suspicion, regardless of my best excuse
Then, after soht blue eyes, I became aware of the subject of her attention
She was looking at the spot right next to where I lay: the obvious oods
”Cough, cough!”
I coughed to create a diversion while I rolled over to cover up the spot I must have roused her suspicion when I turned around to look at her, revealing what should have remained hidden
'She wouldn't try to pull the blanket ahile I'm still on the bed, would she?'
”Cough Cough”
”Hmmm~?”
As I aardly faked lare froirl attack my back
Before I had any chance to brainstorm my potential responses to her inevitable question of as under the blanket, she had already opened her mouth to speak
”You--”
'Nooo--!'
'Rattle- Rattle-'
But then, the infir open Then entered the voice of Yu Yeongson, ”Is someone there?”
'Oh, hell, that was too close'
It couldn't have been a better tireeted her with a tinge of tiredness, ”Oh, my So, it was you”
”How are you, Miss Yu?”
It seeirl
The nurse's droning voice continued, ”I'aveelse to tell me?”
”I had been on the case ress I caht reconsider”
”Reconsider” replied the nurse, sounding uncoo inside first”
”Excuse me, what about this man?”
”He said he had a stomachache I told him to rest here for a bit since he had permission from his teacher already Is there a problem?”
”No, not at all”
How persistent Even as she gave up and left, it was obvious frolare that she was still suspicious of me
”Then, let's go inside Hey, it's alet back to your class soon”
”Okay” I spoke hesitantly
As the nurse left, she pointed under the bed without the girl knowing I quickly understood what she wanted; as soon as the two disappeared into the inner roooods under the bed and escaped the infirmary She would take care of the stuff there later
I amazed myself with how nervous I had becoine what terrible things ht have happened if the nurse did not appear at that moment
Still, I wonder as up with that girl
Re stare that had bo for my future
After the raging war between Yeonji and I,
Having enjoyed a erator, I had a chance to ask the nurse, ”By the as that girl who ca lunch?”
I had al the boxes I reolden-haired girl aloods
At that tih my head was that I should escape froirl obviously knew each other, so I becairl's history
”'That girl'?” asked Yeonji, rising like a cobra twisting out of a basket
Why her face had to be contorted at the sound of 'girl' I wanted to ask, but I answered honestly at the fear of losing irl while I wasthe boxes earlier”
I didn't feel like explaining in detail, so I gave a suolden hair, blue eyes, first year student, and e tone of speech
I hoped that Yeonji would not becoave her fewer details However, her actual reaction was completely unexpected
”It's the Pubtaku Queen” lop of wasabi in her mouth
I asked, just in case I had misunderstood her, ”A what queen?”
”The Pubtaku Queen” Yeonji replied, clearly annoyed ”The cul One in a thousand If the seventh century Silla had Queen Seondeok and Jindeok, the twenty-first century Eunsung High School has the Pubtaku Queen”
I had no idea what any of that s, I turned to the nurse for clarification
”That girl her naan the nurse, ”And she's easily described as a 'Publicized Otaku' (Pubtaku) She's been fas a maid and a butler with her to school every day”
”A maid and a butler?!”
They exist in real life?!
”Hs a tablet just to watch anime in class at lunch, and one time, she wore a fancy dress to school instead of the school's uniform! Sometimes, she reads visual novels in the middle of a class with a laptop! She also has a weird club that sells doujinshi+ at every school event!”
Yeonji intervened, telling a story that juraphy and a fantasy novel At that level, it may as well have been a horror story
”Can can she really do all that?”
Iall of that to happen Yeonjiher eyes widely
She delivered a furious tirade, ”Of course she can't! That kind of thing will kill the ie of Otakus and interfere with the mission of the Clotaku Club! Do you knothe reputation of Otakus after all the things she pulled off in middle school?!”
Yeonji appeared to have a deep-rooted hatred for the girl Perhaps she was overreacting, considering ere all the same Otaku species
”Same species my ass! She's my enemy! My enemy!”
Her hate seemed to extend beyond the rules of nature, then
After a series of grunts andthat all Pubtakus are evil I already know there's a bunch of Otakus who aren't afraid of being noticed If you just look a little, you'll find plenty of them around”