en-lightnovels-clean

	# 019. Clotaku Club!

	## 01. Volume 1

	### 001. Chapter 0. Prologue

	Fast and furious! A new

	project page

	and a double dosage of Clotaku Club!

	Kudos to MadTix for his blazing fast editing and Narane for cleaning and typesetting the color illustrations. Seriously, these two guys are dedicated!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Enjoy~

	____________________

	I

	am a Clotaku.

	A

	'Clotaku' is, uh, it's just that.

	That

	is, it's a portmanteau of 'Closet

	’ and ‘Otaku’

	. We try to appear

	to be normal people, while secretly keeping up

	with our Otaku lifestyle.

	On an Otaku sliding

	scale, you could say it’s on the opposite side of Pubtaku (Public Otaku).

	…Wait, all of us

	already know what Otaku is, right? It’s a pretty well-known word in our country

	at this point, so I shouldn’t need to explain.

	Okay, so.

	Why do I keep it a

	secret?

	It’s a bit awkward

	explaining this as an Otaku, but our current society frowns upon the

	Japanophile group known as the ‘Otakus’. Once you have the label of being an

	Otaku, your peers tend to view you differently, and even worse, you might

	become a social outcast.

	Especially in school.

	Elsewhere, you might

	get a weird look or two if you are found out (I personally believe this is a

	serious issue by itself), but in school, you could be outcast and bullied. Kids

	in school tend to be immature, so they are quick to reject whatever is

	considered unacceptable by the masses.

	…

	And that’s why I am a Clotaku

	– is what I believe.

	Well, just like how we

	all have different opinions, I’m sure all the Clotakus in the world have

	different reasons. However, I already have experiences of some of the situations

	from before, and that’s why I am a Clotaku.

	If there’s one thing

	special about me, perhaps it’s that I am amazingly self-conscious about being

	an Otaku.

	The ‘experiences’ I

	mentioned before still haunt me to this day, almost like a trauma, and thus

	from that day on, I decided to remain hidden from my school as a Clotaku.

	Thanks to that, I

	safely got through my middle school years, even as a third year transfer

	student; and now, as a freshman in this high school, I continued being a

	dedicated Clotaku – was the kind of promise I made to myself, but one day,

	“

	First Year

	Class 7,

	A

	ttendance

	Number 1

	Kang Injin— You

	a

	re an

	O

	taku

	.

	”

	… A disaster struck my

	quiet life, only one month since the start of high school.

	### 002. Chapter 1. I am a Clotaku

	A romantic event in the first chapter?! How envious!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Enjoy~

	____________________

	And then the sound of the bell rang from the class’s speakers.

	“Stand straight, bow!”

	““Thank you for the

	day!””

	Following the synchronized

	bow from the students, the teacher left the class through the automatic sliding

	door.

	The final class of the

	day had ended.

	“Sheesh, I’m tired.”

	“Thought I’d pass out

	and die there.”

	The moment the teacher

	stepped out the class, the class was immediately filled with noises. A few

	impatient students hurried to leave; I only yawned and remained in my seat. The

	homeroom teacher should rush in anytime soon for the day-end lecture, anyway.

	“…. Sniff.”

	…I began tearing up from all the yawning. With my recently moistened eyes, I looked at the speakers that had just sounded the class bell.

	...It struck me that those speakers must cost at least fifty thousand dollars.

	Just as a thought: the school board had to be swimming in money. Even in my middle school, I had a culture

	shock from the never-ending demonstrations of modern technology; and this high school was on a whole new level.

	Though, to be clear,

	it wasn't the school’s side that had all the money; it was the corporation that’s

	backing this school.

	The Eunsung

	High School and the adjacent Eunsung Middle School were owned by the

	all-too-famous Eunsung Group Corporations. In other words,

	t

	he schools were backed by one of the

	top mega-corporations of South Korea, and so it was obvious that every little

	thing in this school seemed futuristic and unfamiliar

	.

	Of course, it wasn't too

	easy to get into a school like this. To qualify for this school, you

	must be in the top 1% in the national exam. And even if you

	succeed there, if your grades drop at any point, you get thrown out without any

	mercy, so…

	Consequently, there

	were complaints that its students became enslaved to grades and such, but

	ultimately there were no limits to the number of people who wanted to attend

	this school. From Eunsung’s point of view, it was a win-win situation.

	Whoever graduates from this school would receive the unfair privilege of being guaranteed a

	high-paying job in Eunsung Corporations, so it wasn't such a surprise that they would

	pay no attention to what others speak of them.

	“Hey, Injin, Injin!”

	As I was spacing out,

	someone called my name. Two friends of mine were looking my way, grinning.

	“Hey, Injin, now that

	the class is done, want to go to a PC Bang? I’m gonna teach this kid a lesson

	for beating me up in Starcraft.”

	“Try it. You think you’re

	gonna micro better because you watch some pro games? You’re both gonna type GG

	first.”

	“You son of a… then,

	the loser has to pay for lunch at McDonalds! Call?”

	“Call!”

	…Hey, does anyone know ‘Pareto’s Law’? For a given group of ants, 20% of it will be diligent

	workers, while the other 80% will slack off. And if you separate those diligent

	workers into a separate group, there will be a new 20/80 split – is how the law

	goes.

	Likewise, while this

	school theoretically had the country’s brightest students, we still had a big

	share of slackers who directly go to the PC Bangs after school.

	That Pareto guy probably

	wanted to refer to this situation with his law.

	“Sorry, I can’t go

	with you today.”

	I answered, after my friends’

	little exchange. I tried to look as sorry as possible, as if I really wanted to

	go, but couldn’t.

	“Hey- don’t be like

	that and come with us, dude. I’ll even pay for your fees, if it comes down to

	it.”

	It was a pretty

	attractive suggestion; if I weren’t an Otaku, I might have faltered. Perhaps I

	might even have played a game or two.

	Unfortunately for me,

	the only games I play on the computer are

	those

	sorts of games.

	…Uh, yeah, that is,

	those

	. Yes, the sort you have in your

	mind, yeah. Damn.

	I’m not mentally ill or anything, so I don’t

	think I’ll ever find myself playing a visual novel in the middle of the sacred

	PC Bang. That’s why I don’t like going to one; there’s just nothing that I want

	to play.

	Well, I don’t always

	decline my friends’ invitations; to become the greatest Clotaku, you must

	advertise with your actions, “I am just like you guys!” To keep up with your

	non-Otaku peers, you must learn to familiarize yourself with “trendy” things

	like popular music and gaming. Ultimately, I must keep others from discovering

	my

	other

	hobbies.

	To summarize my secret

	Clotaku techniques:

	1. Familiarize yourself with popular

	TV shows and movies.

	You need to know some

	of the popular shows and movies by heart, so that you are always ready to

	discuss them with others. If that’s not possible, you should at least read a

	review or two about it.

	2. Be active.

	Men tend to enjoy

	being active. Maybe there are those who don’t, but it’s not really a bad thing

	to be active. During the physical education classes, don’t sit around in the

	shades, reading a book! Just get up and start running!

	3. Dress smart.

	For some reason, it’s

	an established general opinion that Otakus always dress like slobs. In schools,

	it doesn’t really matter because of uniforms (fortunately), but outside of

	that, like a field trip, you need to have that fancy getup. Have something for

	those rare special occasions.

	4. For those unfortunate moments where

	you end up in a karaoke, learn some popular songs.

	At the start of the

	school years, or after a field trip, it’s common to take a trip to the karaoke.

	It would be embarrassing to start singing anime songs, or end up sitting in the

	corner alone, so learn a song or two.

	5. Don’t react to the mention of the

	other hobbies

	.

	It’s rarer than

	getting hit by a lightning, but there may be times when your peers mention some

	anime or manga. At these times, if you overreact to them, your Clotaku days are

	over, so be careful. Remember, when you’re talking to an average person, your

	knowledge is restricted to ‘Two Piece’ and ‘Dhibli’. Do not release your power

	levels.

	6. Make some non-Otaku friends!

	There’s a saying that

	Otakus mingle with other Otakus, but… it’s not like schools only have Otakus,

	so it’s important to make friends with everyone and keep friendly

	relationships. In any case, the common folk significantly outnumber us Otakus,

	so you need to learn to coexist with them. If people want to be friends with

	you, be friends with them. If you don’t, you won’t get another chance.

	…And that’s it. For

	your convenience, let me call this the ‘6 Laws of Clotaku’.

	In my case, I’ve had

	misfortunes in the past, so it shows how I’m overly paranoid about being a

	Clotaku. But, if you’re anything like me, I hope it can be a good guide for

	you. If you were to forget just one of these rules… further details will be omitted.

	Anyway, this current

	situation was in the domain of the sixth law; make some non-Otaku friends. Although

	I wouldn’t actually mind playing a game of Starcraft with them… but this day, I

	just couldn't.

	That was because, after

	school… oh, I can’t say it yet. For now, I will end it here.

	“I really want to go

	today but I just can’t. I have after-school classes.”

	I played my ace: the

	legendary ‘Study Shield’.

	In other words, it’s

	just using studying as an excuse to go home.

	While my friends may

	seem a little carefree, they were relatively hard workers. Even they must

	sometimes attend after-school classes or tutoring sessions, so they usually

	understand and let me go.

	“Damn, really? Should’ve

	said it earlier. I guess we’ll just go by ourselves today.”

	It’s an ace because it

	works. My steadfast friends finally gave up and left; I gave them

	back the “I really wanted to go with you~” face again.

	“Why is it so noisy in

	here? Get back in your seats! I’m starting my final lecture!”

	And then my homeroom

	teacher entered. Nice timing, there.

	And then, I was dismissed from class.

	After that last lecture, I bolted out of my classroom, laughing as if I had inhaled a can of nitrous

	oxide. If anyone were to see me then, they would have called the police to report a

	mental hospital escapee who had stolen a school uniform.

	But who cares about that? I was simply

	euphoric at the time. Even if I were to lose all the save files for my

	visual novels, I would have been mildly annoyed and that would have been the end of it; I was pretty much high, then.

	'Hey, you’re curious,

	right? Why I’m that happy, you’re curious, right? Yes, yes, please ask me! I

	beg you… yes? Why am I so happy, you ask? Ga-haha! Oh... that was a weird laugh, I’m

	sorry.'

	Subconsciously, I made

	a sinister smile, looking around the vicinity. I made sure there was no one around.

	As I walked, I pulled out ‘that’ from my pockets.

	It was a postcard with

	a cute picture of a little chick.

	On top of that, there

	were letters, circular and shapely, undoubtedly written by a girl.

	And its content…

	〈I have

	something important to tell you. After school, find me behind the memorial. I’ll

	be waiting.〉

	…was that.

	…And that was why I didn’t

	take up on my friends’ invitation to go play games. Would

	you

	be abandoning a letter like this to go play games?

	'Okay, anyway, I'm right, right? It’s not just because I’m a 2D-addicted Otaku, anyone would think that

	this is a lo… lo… love letter, right? Right? Oh, oh… my God. Is

	this really a love letter for me? I can’t believe it. Wait, before that, I can’t

	even believe love letters exist in real life!'

	One day, I just opened

	the shoe box as usual to go home, and this letter was shyly tucked away in the

	back – that kind of situation is really dreamy for the likes of us. I, myself,

	found this in my desk while pulling out a textbook (we actually don’t have shoe

	boxes here). I panicked and thought up all sorts of wild explanations for this

	in my head, but in the end, I concluded that this can’t possibly be anything

	but a love letter… and so I

	was there

	.

	This school had a

	reputation for having the most studious students in the country, so it

	probably was not some muggers’ plot to lure me into a secluded place and steal my

	money.

	It was also not likely

	that it was a prank by my friends that I made since last month. All they do is

	play games after class, so how could they come up with a devious ploy like

	this?

	In the end, I could only

	conclude that I had an authentic love letter

	“Gahahaha…”

	After making that conclusion,

	another silly laugh escaped my lips. Trying to stifle this laughter only made

	it worse.

	“Pua-hahahahaha-!”

	And so I looked around

	first, and allowed myself to erupt with all the built-up laughter. I feared that, if I hadn't

	laughed then, I'd do some very embarrassing things when I meet the

	girl.

	'Oh, what kind of girl

	could she be? It's the age of cell phones and texting, and yet there's a girl who wrote a letter by hand! She’s probably ladylike, composed,

	and perhaps a bit shy, but in any case, a lovely girl. Gahaha… just look at

	these writings; you can just

	feel

	the

	writer’s love within.'

	It was behind the school

	memorial, too; ever since the Eunsung Corporations built this school, the only

	time a student would ever be here is during the entrance ceremony. That is,

	this place is usually completely empty.

	'Heh heh, what does she have in mind, calling me to an isolated place like this? Maybe she just appears

	to be shy on the outside, but it might turn out that she's actually daring-- so maybe some chemistry

	will happen right here!'

	…And such was the type

	of thoughts that raced through my head, which would make any girl scream and

	run away if she ever found out.

	“…Was it this place?”

	Behind the memorial,

	where the dense trees drew shadows that darkened the area, I paced around to

	look for the person who had called me here. Perhaps it was because of the

	trees, but I couldn't see anyone.

	As a thought, this area was

	hidden from plain sight quite well.

	I got to

	see the memorial itself not to long ago

	, but I never realized there was a place like

	this. As a passing comment, if I were to bury a dead body here, it would be the

	perfect crime

	;

	i

	f this school were like any other, there would have been all

	kinds of delinquents gathering here.

	'So, why would that

	girl call me to some hidden place like this…? Hee hee!'

	While trying to fight

	off all these impure thoughts appearing in my head,

	“Here.”

	A voice called.

	Taken by surprise, I

	turned around; already next to the trees, staring in my direction was… a girl.

	To explain a bit more,

	it was a cute girl.

	Immediately noticeable

	was her small stature, her skin as white as a porcelain doll

	,

	smooth

	and

	cutesy face with long eyelashes

	,

	and

	two raised, glaring eyes--

	her features were hard to forget.

	Contrasting the bright

	skin was her long brown-black hair, flowing down her body. To say it again, I

	had never seen someone as cute as her before.

	Because of her height,

	it was unbelievable that she’s a high school student, but she was unmistakably

	wearing our school’s uniform. She lacked her name tag, so

	I assumed that she was

	a

	freshman like I was (we

	didn't get

	them

	since we just got admitted to the school

	).

	In any case, that did not matter in my situation, but...

	…Okay, seriously, she was too much for me to handle.

	Admittedly I live in

	real life by day and in 2D world by night, but I can still differentiate

	between them

	;

	i

	t

	wa

	s already surprising that I got a love letter in the first

	place, but

	'

	the girl who sent it was also the most beautiful girl I’ve ever

	seen'~~ simply doesn’t sound like a realistic situation at all!

	Though, there was

	something less than friendly about the expression in the eyes that were staring

	at me. At least, it was nothing like the expression of a girl who’s in love.

	Damn it all.

	'Yeah, why would a girl

	like this ever like a guy like me… let me guess, she’s probably going to ask me

	to introduce that popular guy Minchul to her. Yeah, it’s probably that.'

	Thinking this, my

	inflated hopes immediately receded like a popped balloon. This was some

	emotional roller-coaster.

	“…Hey, why are you

	talking to yourself? I’m right here.”

	'Yeah, in all my 17

	years of life, I’ve only been a visual-novel-playing robot… heh heh, heh, heh

	heh...' I thought to myself. The girl frowned, clearly offended by my behavior.

	Intimidated by her

	sharp eyes and her cold tone, I removed all hopes from my mind.

	“Ah, sorry… did you

	wait a while?”

	This is probably what

	they call a fatigue high. After abandoning the last of my hopes, I felt like

	nothing was holding me down, allowing me to properly speak to this girl.

	She scoffed quietly,

	and replied.

	“About 10 minutes.

	Clearly our classes end at the same time, so why were you late? Next time, be

	quicker.”

	“… Sorry.”

	I only asked her out

	of courtesy, so I didn’t expect to get this kind of attitude.

	In addition, the final

	lecture took unusually long, and I had all sorts of things crossing my mind

	while coming here, and I had to laugh my heart out before meeting her… but I

	shouldn’t say any of this to her.

	“Well, whatever.”

	The girl finally spoke,

	while I made the ‘I’m sorry I was born’ face.

	“Now, do you know why

	I brought you here?”

	“…Didn’t you mention

	that you wanted to say something to me?”

	A few moments ago, I

	just thought it was a confession of love! Sorry! –I couldn’t say this out loud,

	so I just asked her. I actually don’t know what she wants, anyway.

	“Yes, you’re right.”

	She turned her head

	slightly and cleared her throat. With a shaky voice, she continued.

	“I guess you don’t

	know. For the last many months, I was watching you.”

	“What…”

	Her words caught me

	off guard.

	“Many months… you

	mean, since middle school?”

	“Yes.”

	She looked away as she replied. It almost looked like she was embarrassed.

	Since middle school… I couldn't recall ever seeing her

	in Eunsung middle school. Granted, the middle

	school was ridiculously huge, so it was very possible that I never actually met her

	before.

	Wait, no, forget the

	middle school.

	Immediately after my

	hopes had sunken down like a destroyed submarine, the tension started to rise

	again. Barely keeping myself contained, I asked.

	“O-okay… I never

	realized. But… why?”

	The girl brought up

	her hand to her mouth and coughed quietly. Even objectively, she looked really

	cute there. I almost wanted to hug her right now.

	“… I wanted to know

	more about you.”

	Ooooooooohhhh!

	If this were a sitcom, that would have been the noise from the audience.

	So, um, that is, it’s

	this, right? ‘I... I’m interested in you!’ is what she's saying, right? I’m not the only one

	who’d think this, right?

	All my blood shot up

	to my head, and I could feel myself blushing. I only dreamed of it; is this

	seriously a love confession? She made me go ‘Guess not, damn!’ just few moments ago, and now she’s

	unfairly catching me off guard like this!

	As I wallowed in my pink-tinted panic, the girl continued talking.

	“…But after middle

	school, our classrooms were too far apart to see you as often. Only now, I

	finally got to confirm my true feelings.”

	What feelings? ‘Feelings

	about my love for you’, and such? Gahaha….Now, the remaining words must be ‘So, I

	want to know more about you! I want to be with you!'

	As I was swimming in

	euphoria, the girl quietly continued.

	“Ahh… yes, I knew

	clearly then. I knew everything about you. I knew everything about the

	things you wanted to hide.”

	“Ah? ….”

	It wasn’t ‘I want to

	know more about you~’, but it was ‘I already know everything’.

	And that’s including

	the things I’m hiding… what did she mean? I was befuddled by the unexpected turn of events.

	The girl slowly walked towards me.

	And the final words

	that left her mouth were,

	“

	First Year Class 7,

	A

	ttendance

	Number 1

	Kang Injin— You

	a

	re an Otaku

	.

	”

	### 003. Chapter 3. The Meeting for Operation: Clubroom Takeover

	Another comical chapter for the story of our two Korean closet otakus. As usual, our main heroine is in a league of her own with her unstoppable level of villainy and adorableness.

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	And again, the next day;

	After school, I was greeted by the familiar little girl crouched at my front door.

	"So, why are you always sitting there?"

	She could always wait for me in front of the school gates and join up with me from there; what a strange girl she was.

	Her answer to my question was,

	"Hmph, if I'm seen walking with you, others might get the wrong idea."

	How nice of her to say that.

	However, regardless of her twisted inner nature, she was undeniably pretty. If I were to be seen by anyone I know while accompanying her, it may potentially evolve into bigger hassles...

	...But that was only a lie I wanted to believe.

	"...We need to get there slowly, I think--."

	Yeonji looked like she murmured something. I had no chance to decipher her mutters while healing from the slight crack in my ego. Sorry!

	"A-anyway, there's no problem if you just get here earlier! Just open the damn door."

	"...Okay."

	I wish I knew how she can so easily conjure up the courage to demand others to let her invade their homes. I reluctantly accepted and opened the door.

	At Yeonji's second intrusion, Mom reacted as I had feared.

	"Oh, oh my, hello again! Welcome, welcome. You must have dinner with us today. I'll even drive you back home~~."

	"......."

	I felt a piercing headache.

	I better quickly make that damn Clotaku Club or whatever happen, and stop Yeonji from ever coming back here.

	As I made that promise to myself, which would please Yeonji greatly if she found out, I sealed Mom in her room and joined with Yeonji in my own.

	"Hey, turn on the computer."

	Yeonji commanded me as soon as she had entered the room. Like a dirty nobleman demanding 'Strip off your clothes and lay down, slave!' her tone was autocratic but natural.

	As a relevant side note, there was only a single chair in my room. After I turned on the computer for her and relaxed on my bed, I could only blankly observe her actions from afar.

	The startup process finished and the desktop wallpaper (it was the default image; I already changed it yesterday) revealed itself.

	"Hmph."

	Apparently displeased at the green meadows under the blue skies within my desktop, she scoffed. What's wrong with that?

	"Fine."

	Following that curt response, Yeonji laid her small hand on the mouse and double-clicked on the icon for 'My Computer'. Then she checked the 'Properties' menu on my disk drives, picked the one with the largest size, and began a search for '.avi' files.

	Whoa.

	Sure, I saw this coming from a mile away... but she actually did it while I was directly behind her, watching her every move. What a scary girl!

	Although her 'pussycat videos excavation' from yesterday was clearly engraved in my memory... she must have taken me for an idiot, thinking that I would make the mistake of keeping incriminating files after she had told me that she would use my computer today!

	Those pussycat videos you are looking for were... heh, they were all transferred to my external hard drive! Good luck finding them!

	"......"

	... However, I did have a terrible realization about myself when I saw the total size of the files that I had transferred.

	I stared at her with a jumbled feeling between anxiety and confidence. Meanwhile, Yeonji initiated multiple searches at once with a variety of advanced search functions involved.

	From .avi, there were searches for .mp-, .wmv, .flv, .asf, and when there were no results, she moved onto .zip, .jpg, .gif, .bmp, and finally .txt.

	Of course, she could not find anything that was of great importance. I already searched for them myself in case I left a stray file.

	I wanted to break out in a mocking laughter; I restrained myself in fear for the stocking-clad kicks in my way. In any case, God bless South Korea, the land of IT.

	"Nyuu.....! Why aren't they there....?!"

	After her elaborate but fruitless attempts, Yeonji let out a noise like a kitten who received an unopened can of cat food.

	And what do you mean, 'why aren't they there'? Why is it so important that you find them?

	Before I could ask her if she would please stop her useless searches, she pouted and began typing in different keywords.

	[Seventeen]

	".....?!"

	[Schoolgirl][Sexy][Young][Asian][Hardcore][Legal][Kidnapping][Stallion][Avatar][Transformers]---

	The keywords appeared as rapidly as the rate the new search windows were opened.

	...What the hell are Avatar and Transformers doing there, why are you even searching for them?!

	"Hey, what are you doing?!"

	Breaking out of my stun, I sallied forth to prevent further appearances of any dangerous keywords. My past decision to buy wireless input devices shined in that moment, as I lifted my mouse and keyboard above my head and Yeonji was easily suppressed.

	"Ah, stop that, you idiot! Give it!"

	Would you give it back if you were in my position?!

	I ignored Yeonji as she hopped up and down to retrieve the mouse & keyboard and looked at the monitor. The last search window had some letters which terminated at 'Peni'.

	...What were you going to search, the Peninsula Campaign?

	"I said give it to me, you idiot, dummy, pervert!"

	Clearly you're the pervert here!

	I could not continue to keep the devices out of her reach as she began kicking; Yeonji realized that she could not jump high enough to get to my height. I drew her attention away with my keyboard as a bait, and snuck in a light knock on her head.

	"Get a grip, Seo Yeonji."

	"Ow!"

	Yeonji froze on the spot as if I had pressed her power switch. She stood wide-eyed as I sighed and talked to her.

	"You're not going to find anything. Let's just start that meeting now."

	"Nyuu--t!"

	Look at her, grumbling like that.

	Seriously, why do you want to see those files so much? Search them online in your own room.

	...But that was not something I would say to a girl. While Yeonji was hissing and puffing up her imaginary tail and fur, I made a sort of confession.

	"If you think about it sensibly, there's no reason for me to want to show those things to a girl. I already removed them, so it's normal for you to not find anything. So you can stop now."

	"What-."

	Yeonji flinched at my comment.

	"...Is that how it is?"

	"Yeah."

	I had no idea how was what, but I replied positively regardless and nodded appropriately. Yeonji stiffly looked away and twiddled her thumbs.

	"Is... is that how it is? They're erased, because I'm a girl, so they're not there..."

	"Uh... yeah, right."

	Did you only realize now that you're a girl?

	And then it dawned upon me that I had just confessed, 'Just yesterday, this computer was FULL of dirty stuff!'. I felt my face redden.

	Only in hindsight I realized it was quite the nonoptimal thing I could ever say. I keep digging myself into a new hole.

	"Okay... hmph, but I wanted to know what kind of things you'd look at..."

	Yeonji murmured incoherently to herself while I was busy internally wrestling with the fact that the situation was no different from having all those files uncovered.

	The atmosphere of the room became stark and grave thanks to my breathtaking confession. Both of us were at a loss for words.

	Then Yeonji raised her peach face and yelled,

	"Okay!"

	Whoa, now.

	"Then let's start our meeting."

	With my surprise, Yeonji stole the mouse and keyboard from my hands and closed the numerous search windows. She looked strangely motivated.

	I don't know what happened, but I guess I just dodged the bullet! I let out a silent sigh of relief.

	Yeonji opened up a web browser and entered our school's home page.

	It was a month since the start of the term, but this was the first time actually seeing the home page. As the home page of the great Eunsung High School, the website was more organized than an average commercial site, and the page view count was unbelievably high. How could there be so many visitors?

	"Why are we in this page?"

	"Just be quiet and watch."

	She replied, navigating through the different sections of the website. She continued to talk in her visibly positive mood.

	"Do you still remember that the name of today's operation is 'Club Room Takeover'?"

	"I know that. I wanted to ask, does it really have to be a 'takeover'? Aren't there any other ways?"

	Yeonji shot down my question with her quick answer.

	"God, you're annoying. Now that we decided that our club will be illegal, it's obvious that we'll get our club room illegally. We won't ask others for help; we will forcibly pry the help out of their hands! See, doesn't that just motivate your fighting spirit?"

	It was a mystery if there was a limit to the number of rules she was willing to break... I should say, she had more fighting spirit than the Shanghai Provisional Government of Korea in the 1930s.

	"But even if we acquire the club room with our own strength..."

	I struggled to understand what she meant by 'our strength'. Were you going to grab a baseball bat and threaten a club advisor with it?

	"Hmph, we're not going to use such a brutish and simple method. Illegally, but still under the radar, making a perfect plan that cannot go wrong is the only way to win."

	Yeonji announced her villainous plan with a girlish smile.

	"Huh, did you have something in mind?"

	"Of course."

	Still fiddling around in the website, Yeonji replied.

	"We will attack the Book Club first."

	"What are you saying?!"

	It's neither under the radar nor planned! And also...

	"Our school doesn't even have a Book Club! Where are you going to attack?"

	"We have one: the one where all the upper year students graduated so there is only a lone first grader reading a book all day."

	"That's not a real club-!"

	She was not too keen on the differences between real life and imagination.

	"If we can take that room, I am sure there will be all sorts of supernatural and fun things that happen."

	"It has already been supernatural enough!"

	"We will also have a mysterious transfer student, and a popular second year student with huge breasts, too."

	"Please come back to real life, Miss Seo Yeonji."

	"We have to make the first move before that Suzu[X]ya girl, and take over everything for ourselves. Kukuku..."

	"We're totally the main villains here-!!"

	By the time I was venting steam from my ears, Yeonji spoke with a thin smile.

	"Well, that was a joke..."

	"It was a joke?!"

	It's very difficult to tell if you're kidding or not!

	"My original plan was... Ah, I found it."

	I looked at the part on the screen that Yeonji was pointing at. It was a browser window containing an expansive grid composed of people's profile photos.

	Discernible from the address was that the page was the [Staff List] section about [About This School] category in the menu tabs. It was apparently a list of all the teachers.

	It was made obvious further by the familiar faces of my teachers, and the labels that described each teacher's faculty and work history.

	As expected of this school, the work history for each teacher was unbelievably lengthy, considering that they were only high school teachers.

	"So how is this helping us?"

	"You can see the 'home room' section below the photos, right below the specialties."

	"Uh...."

	I confirmed her words on my second inspection. My home room teacher, for example, had a label that said [Home room: Year 1 Class 7 (Homeroom teacher)]. Other notable ones were teachers who managed laboratories and art classes of various purposes.

	"What's this?"

	"It's the classes that the teachers own and manage."

	Yeonji explained.

	"If there is a student who wants to start a club, he needs to first get proper permission from the teacher who owns a relevant classroom. So, theoretically, people can choose the classroom that they want as their club."

	It was a reasonable policy. It would be quite perplexing to receive a music theatre in response to a request for a research club room.

	"'The owner of the classroom has the power to accept or reject such a request. If the request is accepted by all parties, the owner has the responsibility to become the supervisor of the club--' is what it says in the rules, here."

	"...So that's why it's so hard to make a club in this school."

	I commented after realizing the complications that may occur, as a result of these rules interweaving.

	Because the teachers have the 'power to accept or reject' club room requests, the very first filtering of requests occur all due to the teachers' whim.

	In addition, acceptance is made further unattractive to the teachers as they gain additional responsibilities and duties for the club, but who would be willing to receive more work for nothing?

	And so that seemed to be the biggest reason why there were only academic clubs in our school. Even disregarding Yeonji's comments, it was clearly impossible to create the Clotaku Club legally.

	"Still, none of it matters to us."

	Yeonji scoffed like it wasn't a problem, in contrast to my increasing agitation.

	"We're not going to submit any silly requests, so we can't get rejected for anything. The only thing I need to figure out is which room would be suitable for our activities. Let's see..."

	Yeonji began shifting through the list, like a perverted tyrant picking out a slave to serve for the night. She opened another browsing window to navigate to the [Index of School Clubs] for the directory of active clubs.

	Then, after removing the occupied teachers from her list of potential candidates--

	"Okay, this should be enough."

	"......"

	Subtracting the teachers who were already associated with another club (thus removing the classrooms that would never be available for us), the remaining options were not many.

	The sum of active clubs was 20. Although this was a small number in comparison to the total number of classrooms in this school, the actual count of the non-homeroom classrooms was minor.

	None of the 20 active clubs occupied simple classrooms; all of their locations were more unique, separate rooms, such as science laboratories and tech labs.

	Ultimately, the remaining options were unpleasant leftovers; normal classrooms were out in the open for 'closeted' activities, and I did not even want to think about using the student guidance department rooms.

	"Psh, those greedy bastards."

	Yeonji muttered angrily with her arms crossed. I agreed with her.

	It was objectionable how the unarguably socially acceptable clubs like the 'mathematics club' or the 'conversational English club' felt the need to hide in some art rooms at the corners of the school. Are there any questionable activities that are relevant to math and language that they need to hide?

	"At least the fifteenth classroom of the third years is at the very edge of the school..."

	"No. It's right next to the main staircase."

	My final suggestion was immediately shot down.

	"And using a classroom like that is annoying. We can't always have it available to us. I wonder if we can find a room that I can make it fit our needs..."

	Yeonji repeatedly scrolled up and down the list of teachers. To make a room fit our needs, she said; I stifled the urge to ask her what kind of terrible modifications she had in store.

	"Okay."

	After much time spent in peering into the monitor, Yeonji declared with much authority in a booming voice.

	"Let's aim for the principal's office."

	"The principal's office?!"

	What utter nonsense!

	"How are we, I mean, why the principal's office in the first place?!"

	"The location is amazing."

	Yeonji replied without batting an eye.

	"It's quiet, and it's discreet. If we manage to take over the principal's office, we can sit on that leather couch every evening and watch some anime on that 82-inch TV."

	"That just sounds way too heavenly! And you talk like you've been there before!"

	"I had an interview in there as standard procedure after receiving a scholarship... I pretended to be grateful while I silently calculated how I will take over the room someday. Kukuku..."

	She described her diabolic scheme with a mismatching cute grin.

	Mister Principal, I think you may have accidentally summoned a demon at you school.

	I guess you're a scholarship student too, huh.

	In the midst of my confusion caused by multiple layers of questions to ask, our next course of action seemed to be set in stone as a hostile takeover attempt for the principal's office.

	I interrupted her appropriately as she appeared ready to invade the principal's office at any moment.

	"But hey, how are you going to take over the principal's office? Do you have some sort of a plan?"

	To use the principal's office as a club room, more so as the Clotaku Club room, there had better be the most intricate, flawless plan ever.

	Yeonji went 'ahem' in response and posed in preparation of her answer. Your Otaku meter is off the charts, here!

	"Heh heh... it's simple! Take a look at this!"

	Beneath Yeonji's extended finger on the monitor was the photo of our dear principal.

	Further below her finger was the wall of text that further demonstrated the relation between Eunsung Corporations and this school, but nonetheless this was not too different from the profile of any average principals.

	"...So what about it?"

	"You can see it right away, see this, here!"

	Yeonji continued relentlessly jabbing against the principal's face, who had thick spectacles pushed up by his puffy cheeks, and with wrinkles on top of his stern expression. Then she animatedly shouted,

	"He totally looks like an Otaku!"

	Cough.

	If there were anything in my mouth, there would have been a shotgun blast in all cardinal directions.

	After I repeatedly coughed to replace the air that escaped my lungs, I recovered my breath and managed to ask a question with a stutter.

	"You... you... are you really..."

	"Yep. Let's blackmail the principal."

	Yeonji replied as lightly as dandelion seeds in the wind. This is the face of true evil, I thought to myself.

	"Tsk... Our principal was that kind of a man all along; I simply can't believe this! Yes? Oh my, don't think you can lie your way out of this; I have the evidence right here, right in here. Ah, hey, hey, it's no use doing that, I already have copies backed up elsewhere. Yes? What are our demands? Heh heh, that's right. Here, let me tell you..."

	"Stop preparing threats against the principal----!!"

	I sighed and stopped Yeonji with her extortion attempt against an imaginary principal.

	I had no clue how I'd start convincing her to reconsider her plan.

	"Um, think about it logically; the principal can't possibly be an Otaku."

	"There's no reason he wouldn't be one!"

	Yeonji was yet unfaltering.

	"These unfashionable glasses, his fat cheeks, and even the pimples on his face! It's the Holy Trinity of loser's qualities! His face is like looking at a portrait of an Otaku, seriously!"

	"...I'm pretty sure those are just chickenpox scars, not pimples."

	"Chickenpox?!"

	Yeonji unexpectedly revealed her honest surprise.

	"Does that still exist nowadays? Wasn't it eliminated by the '70s? Chickenpox may have been the deadliest curse for kids back then, but now it's the illegal, lewd videos that are..."

	"Our principal was one of those 'kids from back then'!"

	I sighed once more.

	"Even if he were an Otaku, how are we going to prove it? You can't even see what's going on in the principal's office from the outside."

	"...Nyuu-t."

	Yeonji became mildly hesitant. I pressed on the advantage and continued.

	"Also, even if we somehow get evidence, the principal would likely report us to the police and expel us rather than allow some questionable activities in the principal's office. If you consider his reputation, even if we scream 'The principal is an Otaku!', no one will believe us. Don't think this will be the same situation as mine."

	"Nng-."

	Yeonji pouted and whined in annoyance. She looked as if, oh, her brain was convinced, but her heart was unfazed. Something like that.

	"...Tsk, alright. Then we just have to pick another teacher who's easier in comparison, right?"

	"Ah, uh... yeah."

	It appeared that my lecture was understood as 'Let's pick on someone smaller!'. Yeonji resumed spinning the mouse wheel up and down and muttered to herself 'Let's see who looks like an Otaku~'.

	I asked,

	"By the way... It occurred to me just now; why are you finding teachers who are Otakus?"

	"Eh?"

	Yeonji paused her scrolling and looked my way. She had a curious expression.

	"I mean, if we're going to make threats to get our club room, I don't think we really need to go after Otakus. We could find other kinds of weaknesses, I think."

	While I had little idea of the details behind Yeonji's plans, the gist of it seemed to be 'Find a teacher who is an Otaku, then tell him to hand over the club room or we'd reveal his secrets to everyone'. In other words, she was going to repeat what was done to me to a teacher.

	However, it's not like being an Otaku is some capital crime; it was difficult to imagine that anyone, especially a teacher, would succumb to a threat like ours. As mentioned before, we could be sued back.

	With Yeonji's steadfastness, she could comfortably uncover other vulnerabilities... like, uh, she could capture a photo of some teacher leaving a love hotel with a scantily dressed woman. It was hard to understand why she would pigeonhole her strategy.

	"Hmph."

	Hearing my plea, Yeonji grunted in dissent.

	"Of course, that could be far more beneficial for us. I already examined that course of plan."

	Yeonji replied as the grandmaster of blackmail. It was a little bit unsettling how serious she was.

	As I involuntarily trembled, Yeonji cleared her throat and continued.

	"But, if we gain a club room and a manager that way, how will that help us?"

	"....?"

	Yeonji slowly spun in place in my spinning chair, her chin supported by her hand, her elbow balanced on the armrest.

	"The club we are making is the Clotaku Club. Even if it's merely a club manager, it's essential that everyone is on the same page as us. I'm treating this like finding the third member."

	Yeonji announced with much confidence. It was an awe-inspiring objective, but because we were pressed to find any club room and manager at all, her plan was unrealistic.

	I scanned her words for a point to place a rebuttal, but Yeonji spoke first.

	"And the quality of 'being an Otaku' is a strong social stigma. There are Otakus who would rather die than be found out by their peers. It only makes sense that our own club manager is a closeted Otaku."

	Hey, that reasoning is slightly off from what you just said before.

	"For now, let's just find a teacher who looks like an Otaku! And if we find our target, prepare to work day and night on finding evidence."

	"Day and night..."

	It's going to get busy--.

	I made a sigh full of worries and fears, looking at the girl scrolling up and down the list of teachers like choosing a heroine to conquer in a visual novel.

	"...But, if there really aren't any Otakus, I'll have to blackmail about love affairs and whatnot."

	"Don't do that--!"

	"There's a saying that tigers look for lobsters if they have no other prey."

	"Don't plan about finding lobsters before you even start hunting--!"

	...Hopefully, I won't end up on a photography tour in a red light district.

	### 004. Part 1

	As a certain Vice would say, "There's a bed, and we have two people in love. Then isn't there only one thing to do?" Here's your first dosage for the fourth chapter of Clotaku Club!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	So, after all that happened,

	Several days later, we commenced our next plan, 'Operation: Find-some-way-to-blackmail-the-staff-and-obtain-a-clubroom'.

	It occurred to me that Yeonji had a habit of inflating the importance of every single thing by calling it an 'operation'... but whatever, I guess.

	To explain the general direction of our plan, Yeonji was to pick out the 'right' person from our staff list, then use all means necessary to prove that he or she is an Otaku. It was a stupidly inefficient plan.

	The operation procedure was simple.

	We were to find the target's main workplace (usually somewhere in the school office), wait until everyone leaves the area, and when the time is right, one person searches their computer while the other keeps a lookout. Done.

	Once we find any Otaku material in the computer, the plan was to watch our target like a hawk from then on and eventually get video proof of their Otaku activities... but it was easier said than done.

	Firstly, 'until everyone leaves the area' was a difficult condition to fulfill.

	Waiting for everyone to vacate such a busy place was much like waiting for apples to ripen and fall from a tree; we resorted to sneaking around blind spots within the room to approach the target's computer.

	Secondly, there were none.

	After going to hell and back to investigate their computers, Yeonji's expectations were betrayed as there were no hidden folders of eroges or doujins. Rarely, we uncovered some pussycat videos(!), but they had no use for us yet.

	...But to perhaps make use of it later, Yeonji did not forget to remember the owners of those videos... Anyway, our findings were nil.

	In retrospect, it was unlikely that any sane teachers would blatantly behave like Otakus in a public setting, like the school offices. Wouldn't they normally keep it to themselves in their lonesome?

	"Then how do you explain all the pussycat videos?!"

	Yeonji grumbled in anguish. Her face showed bright red, likely because she had to sit through an adult video after a long, tiring day spent rummaging through PCs.

	"Okay, that's true."

	But pussycat videos are different from anime; you only need to watch it briefly to reach your goals. You naive, young girl.

	--But because I must never say such a thing, I resorted to agreeing with Yeonji. It seemed like Yeonji was greatly frustrated from our fruitless exploration.

	"I can't believe this! True Otakus must devote their life to acting like one. But the only things in the computer are pussycat videos; this makes no sense!"

	That's because the teachers aren't true Otakus. They simply aren't Otakus at all.

	I sighed and nearly sprawled on my bed.

	If I haven't hinted it yet, our current location was my own room once again. After the wasted efforts throughout today, we had dragged our tired bodies in here for an emergency meeting.

	Mom's reaction to Yeonji's third appearance in this house was... further description will be omitted. I really needed to do something about her before this situation got out of hand.

	Unlike me, who was sprawling from physical and mental exhaustion, Yeonji seemed to have the energy to go on. She gave me a dirty look and scrunched her nose, disappointed at my lack of will.

	"This is strange... what went wrong? My perfect plan is falling apart already. That Ha[X]hi person got her club room so easily! Why not me?!"

	What's the point of feeling competitive against a fictional character? And Haru[X] is a god, mind you; you can't compete with that.

	"Hmph, this isn't possible. There has to be some teacher so completely depraved that he secretly plays visual novels within school! I will find that person!"

	Yeonji declared like a little kid set out to find a legendary Po[X]mon. Considering our situation, a person like that indeed feel a lot like a legendary [X]kemon.

	I commented,

	"Even if we find an Otaku... The places we searched today were constantly packed with people. In a place where their co-workers and students are always around, not even an Otaku would do anything like that there."

	Seriously, playing a visual novel within the school office is already off the limits of being a 'closeted' Otaku.

	"Tsk. It's okay to watch pussycat videos, but being an Otaku isn't. I seriously don't understand this society! I don't know what to say."

	Yeonji rhythmically shook her head left and right like she was really baffled. It was slightly cute.

	Still, I was too embarrassed to resolve her misunderstanding with the pussycat videos.

	I carefully reassured her, as she was getting sulky:

	"Starting tomorrow, we should investigate the staff members that are in one of the more secluded departments. If we can find anything useful, it's probably there, I think."

	"Secluded department... the principal's office?"

	"Why are you still clinging to the principal's office?!"

	I know that you want to see some anime on an 82-inch television, but give up now!

	"Nyuu--t."

	With an objection to her unending ambition, Yeonji gave up and returned her focus to the computer screen. I swear, by the end of this, she would be able to remember the names of everyone in this school.

	"A secluded department... If we're talking about a secluded department... Ah, there's one."

	Inspiration struck her like lightning. I arose and checked my laptop monitor.

	"The infirmary."

	"It's actually pretty secluded!"

	I was shocked.

	"Hm... it might be unexpectedly great, that infirmary."

	"It's not great at all--!"

	I haven't ever seen anyone trying to use an infirmary as a club room, fiction or real life.

	But Yeonji spoke in her usual seriousness,

	"No, this is a very nice place. Infirmaries are normally in the less populated area in schools. There are also beds to use, so that's a frosting on the cake."

	"What do we do with beds in our club activities?"

	"I-if we get tired, we could lie down and sleep."

	A hesitant reply met with my question asked in confusion. Go sleep in your own room!

	"A-anyway--!"

	With her face strangely reddened, Yeonji raised her voice.

	"Anyone could act like an Otaku to the fullest in a lone place like the infirmary! Now that I look at her, the nurse physically looks like an Otaku."

	"Really?"

	I looked at the photo where the cursor laid, but there was only a good-looking woman in her late 20s or so; nothing about her seemed Otaku-like.

	"She's quite pretty..."

	I read through the entry with the header that was labeled: [Yu Youngseon(27), School Nurse, Home Room: Infirmary]. I was very impressed; she graduated from medical school at such a young age, and she began her work here already.

	This isn't some average high school; it's the Eunsung high school. Even as a school nurse here, it would be a great boon to her future career as a doctor. She was a total Mary Sue, with her great looks and being a young med school graduate.

	She had no chance of being an Otaku.

	"Hmph."

	Yeonji grunted in dissent at my doubtful manner.

	"Good looks my ass. Look at those black circles under her eyes, and those cloudy eyes like she's in permanent REM-sleep. Those are undoubtedly the side effects of playing visual novels late at night. I'm certain!"

	Yeonji made a blatant guess.

	In closer inspection, there was indeed a touch of black under the nurse's eyes in the photo, but it was unreasonable to denounce her as a visual novel addict with only that.

	--But even if I said that to her, it was obvious she would hear none of it, so I kept silent.

	And also,

	It occurred to me that I was sitting right beside a diligent yet cute little girl, who was quite unfortunately an Otaku.

	"Hmm--"

	I squinted to observe her in detail.

	On her glum face was a cute pout, skin so white that a poke might leave a mark, and her large, beady eyes.

	I had been forgetting it due to her unpleasant attitude, but on closer inspection she was still unarguably cute. I'm sure anyone else would say the same.

	I wonder how she became an Otaku.

	She really doesn't look like an Otaku, visually-- and now Yeonji noticed that I was staring.

	Opposing my squint, she cocked her eyes and shot a dirty look.

	"What is it all of a sudden, staring at me like a creep?"

	"N-no, it's nothing."

	If I chose the option to say 'No, I was just thinking you were really cute~', I wonder what would have happened. Maybe it could have set off a flag!

	"Hmph."

	Yeonji scoffed. I looked away, my head plagued with weird imaginations.

	Yeonji closed the windows on the screen with a violent flick of the mouse. She briefly had an expression on her face resembling the face of a cat that had accidentally feasted on a poisoned mouse.

	She said,

	"So, the infirmary has another advantage. It's easier for us to raid the room for clues, because students can freely visit it."

	Of course. I nodded in agreement.

	It was highly unnatural for us to frequently show up at a place like the school office, but the infirmary was officially a place for students to be. With a good excuse, we could visit and investigate the room without much difficulty.

	I would no longer have to hide from the teachers, or crawl between desks on all fours. Already, that was a highly motivational prospect.

	As I recovered my morale, Yeonji turned off the computer and spoke.

	"Alright, then we're set. By tomorrow, I'll have the details of our plan ready. Come out to the infirmary when the lunch break starts."

	"Wait, before having lunch?"

	"Of course."

	She explained,

	"Lunchtime is the most optimal time for us; even the nurse would have to leave to eat lunch. Anyway, I don't want to waste time eating. Right away after the bell rings after the fourth class! Immediately! Don't forget that you're going directly to the infirmary. If you're late, it's posthumous execution for you."

	"I'm not even dead yet..."

	I objected with my face planted on the bed. It looked like, tomorrow, I won't even get to have my lunch thanks to all the payless, menial work Yeonji will force on me.

	Listening to Mom say 'You're coming back tomorrow too, right?' as Yeonji prepared to leave, I silently prayed that the school nurse is an actual Otaku so that we may get a club room soon.

	* * *

	Lunchtime.

	Normally, as soon as the end-of-the-class bell rang, I would have sprinted towards the cafeteria in a swarm of students, like a bunch of Velociraptors hunting down a Brachiosaurus. Then I would have quickly gulped down my lunch, and then I would have been forced into a territorial dispute with the other classes for the school fields.

	But this day, such a normal daily routine was not permitted, as my soul is bound to a devil named Yeonji, and so I was walking towards the infirmary on an empty stomach.

	So hungry. Dammit all.

	Yeonji, who was the size of a pea but attached with a high-tech jet engine, may be completely fine with skipping a meal. However, over here was a growing boy in high school. My stomach began loudly complaining after four hours of suffering in class without any food inside. Even my sighs felt light with no food weighing me down.

	As I lurched towards the infirmary that was on the East side of the first floor, I imagined the kinds of scheme Yeonji could have drafted in the mean time.

	"..."

	Honestly, nothing came to my mind.

	From our first encounter, Yeonji always seemed to be fluttering around outside of my boundaries of understanding.

	Even during our face-to-face conversation, I could not at all read into what sorts of thoughts she may have been having.

	Whatever the case, it was apparent that I would again toil my life away, so I gave up pondering further.

	At the end of the hallway was Yeonji.

	"You're late! Penalty!"

	What the hell do you mean by 'penalty'?

	Ignoring Yeonji's spontaneous remark, I glanced at my wrist watch.

	It was barely 2 minutes since the start of our lunch break; it was stunning how quickly Yeonji arrived here. Don't run in the hallway, you.

	While I threw suspicion-filled glances at Yeonji's thin legs, she stuck her head out to look into the infirmary through an open window.

	"I can't really see if anyone's inside. You look too."

	I wondered how I'd help if she couldn't see, but I obliged nonetheless.

	Through the narrow opening of the tinted windows, I could only see various medicine bottles and common medical equipment. As she had said, it was hard to know who was inside.

	"I don't know, either."

	"Nyuu-ngh."

	Yeonji closed her eyes and became lost in thought. I had only known her for a few days, but from my experience thus far, she never failed to come up with some preposterous plans after making that pose.

	After some time tapping her elbows with her fingers while cross-armed, she reopened her eyes and commanded,

	"You should go in first. Pretend that you're sick."

	See.

	It was a sudden request, but I had predicted something like this would happen beforehand. Anyway, it was quite a normal plan for Yeonji.

	I sighed and asked,

	"I'm fine pretending to be sick... but what kind of sickness do I fake? I'd rather avoid being humiliated the moment I walk in."

	"Obviously, you just--."

	Yeonji's eyes briefly lay on my legs.

	...You weren't thinking about saying 'just break your legs a little', were you?

	It was quite a believable suggestion that Yeonji would actually do it. I flinched.

	Yeonji awkwardly cleared her throat and whispered,

	"Well... Just come closer for a moment."

	"Hey, hey, hey!!"

	You're not actually going to break my legs, right?! Right?!

	"Don't act like an idiot."

	Yeonji gave a disappointed glance.

	"How am I going to break a guy's legs without any weapons? Stop being stupid and get over here."

	It sounded like she was implying that she would have done it if she had a weapon.

	"Lean down."

	I hesitantly walked towards her like a kid getting his punishment- and in response, Yeonji sounded like she was ready to punish me.

	I leaned over to match her eye level.

	She's not going to throw punches at my eyes, is she? I guess it would be easy to walk in the infirmary if I had black eyes, but Mom would freak out once I get home! The scariest part about Yeonji was that she was the type of person who would to do such a thing without hesitation.

	Yeonji's small face closed into me, as I nervously waited for her.

	"...Close your eyes."

	"Huh?"

	The mood was turned upside-down.

	Yeonji's strangely reddened face had come even closer.

	To exaggerate slightly, it was a distance short enough for us to feel each other's breath. It was a distance that was close enough for me to see Yeonji's pink, wet lips mildly tremble in uneasiness.

	In this strange situation, Yeonji demanded that I close my eyes with a shaky voice. I had no clue what had just happened there.

	"Uh, you know...?"

	"I said, close your eyes!"

	Yeonji, with her rouge-tinted face, commanded me. Under her pressure, I closed my eyes, and felt a soft, pleasant touch on my forehead...

	...Forehead?

	Scrubscrubscrubscrubscrubscrubscrub----!

	"H-hot-!!"

	Fiery heat quickly spread on my forehead.

	When my senses returned, Yeonji's small palm was in the process of causing a fire on my forehead by inducing frictional energy.

	What's the meaning of this?!

	Scrubscrubscrubscrubscrubscrubscrubscrub--------!

	"Hey, hey! It hurts, it hurts! Sto-stop it!"

	How long are you gonna do this for?! It's like you're sanding off a gum off the floor!

	I screamed and pushed Yeonji away. Yeonji rubbed her hands together, and like a maestro about to perform her masterpiece, she said,

	"That should be enough. Right now, you're a boy who's struck with fever and dizziness, so you feel like resting on a bed."

	"Hey, come on..."

	I laid my hand on my forehead, and indeed it was hot like I was running a fever. If I cracked some eggs on my forehead, I could have some fried eggs.

	"What are you waiting for? That 'fake fever' buff lasts for only 5 minutes. Get in there quickly while you're visibly sick. I'll go in with you later."

	I wanted to raise an issue with many things, but this girl who casted the buff(?) did not seem to pay any attention.

	Yeonji disappeared after abandoning me in front of the entrance. I sighed, now alone.

	This is going to last 5 minutes? More like 10 minutes!

	Mustering up some courage gained after witnessing Yeonji's lips in such a close proximity, I slowly opened the infirmary door and walked in.

	...She said she was going to follow me in. How was she planning on doing that?

	* * *

	It was my first time seeing the interior of the infirmary, ever since I began high school.

	The first notable quality was that the room was humongous.

	Surely other middle-high schools have tiny rooms for infirmaries. Considering only the area that was visible to me, the infirmary was at least as big as my home classroom, and there were at least eight beds in sight.

	Each bed was not just a plain old bed seen commonly in an infirmary; they were modernized hospital beds that had the equipment to keep patients alive, if need be.

	Again, this school is seriously loaded.

	If Yeonji saw this, she would probably be bent on acquiring this place. With that thought, I stumbled deeper into the room.

	"Uh... is anyone here...?"

	Perhaps it was because of the guilt from faking my sickness; I sounded genuinely like a patient suffering from a fever. In the midst of my search for the nurse in this needlessly expansive room, I discovered something strange.

	"What is this?"

	Sitting between the entrance and the beds was a desk. There was a bulletin board resting on its surface, so I closed in to inspect it.

	Let's see, these things on top of the desk are... Are these medicines? And this sign, which was obviously constructed from the last year's calendar, says...

	[Self-service for light symptoms]

	Headache - White bottle (A), 1 dose 1 spoon

	Fever - White bottle (B), 1 dose 1 spoon

	Cold - White bottle (C), 1 dose 1 spoon + Cold syrup 1 dose 50mm

	Stomachache, diarrhea - Red bottle, 1 dose 1 spoon

	Period - Blue bottle, 1 dose 2 spoons

	Bruises, cuts - Orange ointment, appropriate amount + band-aid

	Serious problems such as broken bones, concussion are to be reported to the nurse next door ->

	P.S. Those who want to rest on the beds must get a note from your teacher before asking me.

	Yu Youngseon, Nurse

	"..."

	I don't know about her being an Otaku, but she's not even hiding how lazy she is!

	Awestruck at the sight of the infirmary's self-aid-service(?), I turned to look in the direction to which the arrow pointed, and discovered another door on the wall.

	I haven't ever seen an infirmary that was this huge. I guess I should go in.

	After taking deep, slow breaths, I slowly approached and knocked on the door.

	'Mmh, could you wait a moment~?'

	I was expecting the answer to be 'Come in~'. I stood there in silence, as if my question of '¿Cómo estás?' had failed to meet with '¿Bien, gracias, y tu?'.

	Whatever she was doing, it took a very long time before the door opened.

	"Sorry, I'm a little bit busy... So, where are you hurting?"

	The nurse left her room, positioning herself on exit so that the inside of the room was not visible as she moved out.

	Including the sleepy eyes, she was a beautiful lady as seen from yesterday's photo.

	She was pretty tall for a lady, only slightly shorter than I was. Her long hair was tied behind her head in a ponytail, and she had a white gown on that seemed to be slightly unfitting for her size.

	...Most notably, she had big breasts. Even with the large gown, they were amazingly visible.

	"...I wonder where he's hurt."

	When I did not answer her, a small frown surfaced on her relaxed face. I returned to my senses, alerted by her words.

	"Oh, my head is suddenly pounding, and I have a fever..."

	"Hmm."

	The nurse inspected me with her eyes. I did my best to look like I was in pain. The nurse spoke,

	"Well, I can check your temperature... can you stay still for a moment?"

	"Huh?"

	Before I formulated a proper response, the nurse's right hand covered my forehead. When her beautiful hand approached me, with well kempt fingernails and pleasant fragrance, my breath was taken away.

	"Ah--- hm, hm."

	The nurse laid her left hand on her own forehead, her right hand on mine, and nodded with her eyes closed.

	The way she calmly checked my body temperature seemed to make my heart beat dangerously fast.

	"...38.2 degrees Celsius, maybe. It's pretty high."

	After the nurse removed her hand and stepped back, my face was again reddened.

	It would not be so strange if that just raised my temperature by an extra 0.5 degrees. Anyway, you just used your hands, and you can measure temperature down to the first decimal digit?!

	The nurse went 'Hmm~' and stared at me, as I was bumbling in place. Then she spoke in a mildly annoyed tone.

	"After you take that medicine over there... rest on the bed for a bit and go back to class. Hey, did you get a note from your teacher?"

	"N-... no."

	My symptoms only surfaced just as I arrived at the infirmary; there was no way I'd have a teacher's note. As I was stammering in embarrassment, the nurse scratched her neck and waved her hand around and said,

	"I'm not supposed to do this... I guess I have no choice. You can stay until the end of lunch time. If you want to rest longer, then you have to come back with the teacher's note. ...Understand?"

	"Ah, I understand."

	Rather than sympathy, it seemed to be laziness that had convinced her. Sleepily blinking with her eyes that are laden with dark circles, she finished talking and returned to her room. I momentarily remained rooted in place.

	I wondered what all this meant.

	Yeonji was right in thinking that this she was suspicious, but it was hard to tell if it had anything to do with her being an Otaku.

	I tried to imagine what exactly she was doing in her room. I glared at the closed door, but without having some X-ray vision, it was a fruitless effort. I found it likely that there was some value in investigating that room.

	It felt awkward leaving at this point, so I was on standby until Yeonji followed me in. I swallowed the pill that the nurse had given me and rested on the bed.

	...Then the realization came that I probably didn't have to take that pill, but it was too late.

	Well, I was sure Yeonji would have given me more headaches in the future, so let's just call it a precautionary measure.

	Sometime later,

	After having struggled against sleepiness as I lay down on a bed, hidden behind white curtains, someone entered the infirmary with the sound of the front door opening.

	From the pitter-patter of a cat that I heard, it was most likely Yeonji. The footsteps neared my location and paused, presumably startled by that desk from before.

	"Hmph."

	Yeonji's onomatopoeia pierced through the curtains to reach me. Please quiet down indoors.

	She seemed dumbfounded by the 'self-aid service' on that bulletin board.

	Just like I had done, Yeonji must have discovered the other door that was pointed out by an arrow sign; her footsteps moved to that direction.

	Tap-tap - and the knocks echoed. There came voices from the door's direction, words muddled by the curtain's filtering.

	I had no way to know for sure, but I had a feeling that the words again were 'could you wait a moment~?' mostly because it took some time before the door was opened.

	Soon came the quiet chatting between the nurse and Yeonji. I still could not decipher their words, but I could assume it was the same deal as before.

	I wonder what sort of faked-illness-buff she applied on herself before coming here.

	As I thought to myself, I heard the door close. Then the footsteps came near, and Yeonji violently pushed the curtains aside.

	"What do you think you're doing, you idiot!"

	"Wha- Argh!"

	Yeonji performed the Flying Body Attack and crushed me under her small body. She wasn't heavy enough to weigh me down, but she managed to knock all the air out of my lungs.

	"What are you doing, sleeping in this place like an idiot?! We're at an important stage that might decide our club room's fate!"

	I wasn't sleeping! I was perfectly awake up until now!

	No words left my mouth, since I could hardly breathe. Instead, I hurriedly signaled towards the door to alert Yeonji, who was now sitting on top of me. She pouted and responded,

	"If you mean that woman, she went back into her room. I doubt she can hear us."

	Look at her, calling a member of the school 'that woman'. Yeonji was already seeing the nurse as an enemy to oppose and fight.

	After my lungs resumed its work, Yeonji slid off from my body and hopped down on an adjacent bed.

	"Something smells fishy!"

	Yeonji exclaimed like a detective who found a clue. I pulled myself up from the bed as I coughed.

	"Yes, if you mean that room."

	I agreed with her, since that had been my initial suspicion. Yeonji turned to the door beyond the curtains, glared with a hint of hate, and nodded.

	"Yes, this is undoubtedly an Otaku vibe. A rich, fermented Otaku vibe, at that... As I thought, this infirmary is a Clotaku's hidden den."

	Yeonji's pitch-black irises scoured left and right. A huge, evil grin emerged on her face.

	"Anyway, yeah, this place, it's a lot better than I originally thought. For a single person to use this room, it's unforgivable. I won't accept it. This kind of awesome room should be shared with all the poor people out there."

	"I guess we can use it, then."

	My mocking comment was perfectly ignored.

	"There's an air conditioner, and a heating system. Awesome, awesome. I especially like how there are eight beds."

	Yeonji repeatedly nodded while looking around, like a customer being dazzled by a real estate salesman. I could see from her glittering eyes and peach cheeks that she was very impressed by this place. But seriously, what's so important about the beds?!

	It was too early for her to act like she owned this room, but it was hard to control Yeonji while she was confident. I asked a question in an attempt to divert her confidence:

	"So, what excuse did you have for coming to the infirmary? Did you rub your own forehead?"

	"There's no way I'd do something as stupid as that."

	You did it to me, you jerk.

	Yeonji pompously giggled and answered proudly,

	"I said that I was having my period, and that the pain was killing me."

	"...Is that so."

	Such an inappropriate remark did not fit her cute face.

	"That's right. I put on some makeup in the washroom to look pale, too. When I recalled back to the time when I had appendicitis to simulate my pain, she easily believed me. Nya-ha-ha."

	I didn't understand a bulk of her words, but strangely I got progressively more embarrassed.

	"Well, however it went... That room is really suspicious, so what are we going to do about it?"

	"Ah, that's right."

	Elevated by the success of her masterful strategy(!), Yeonji remained on the embarrassing subject until I had to change the topic. She regained her focus, and after a moment of thinking,

	"Should we break down that door and barge in with a camera?"

	"It's not going to happen!"

	Maybe in fiction, doors break down with a couple of shoulder bashes, but not in real life. And what are we gonna do if there's nothing in the room after breaking in?

	"I-I know that, at least! That was a joke!"

	"I still can't tell when you're kidding or not..."

	I sighed. Yeonji made an expression like a cat that had been pulled by its whiskers while sleeping, then said,

	"For sure, we are going to have to go in that room and investigate."

	"That's true."

	"To do that, we will have to pull that woman out of that room somehow."

	"Stop saying 'that woman, that woman'. She's still a teacher."

	"Nyuu-t."

	I only commented out of basic manners, but Yeonji was hissing with her teeth clenched. What are you, a rattlesnake?

	"A-anyway! Now there are two routes. We should wait for that woman... hmph, wait for her to exit on her own, or one of us lures her outside."

	"...Let's just wait for her."

	It was obvious that 'one of us' was going to end up being me. I saw my impending doom and attempted to change its course, but Yeonji's demoralizing response came.

	"How long do we wait? We only have 15 minutes left in our break. How long do we wait for a woman who doesn't go out for lunch?"

	"Wouldn't she at least go to the washroom?"

	"She won't go with us being here."

	Yeonji pouted.

	Then we just have to wait every day-- was going to be my suggestion, but that could not work. Unless the nurse is an idiot, she would think it strange that there are people visiting the infirmary on a daily basis.

	But that meant we had to see an end to this within today. I asked Yeonji,

	"If we lure her outside, how long do we have to stall? Looking through a computer would take a long time."

	"I don't need much time. One minute, no, thirty seconds? I need at least thirty seconds."

	"That fast?"

	"It's 'cause I have this."

	Yeonji proudly stuck out her small chest and showed me a... camcorder.

	It was small and handy enough to fit right in Yeonji's small, childlike hands, and it looked like it could have cost a fortune to buy.

	Where were you hiding this sort of thing?!

	"Hehehe... This has a built-in timer, and a special accessory for sticking the camcorder on any surface. While that woman's gone, I can attach this in the room at the perfect location, then come back tomorrow sometime to get it back. It'll only leave a glue mark."

	It seemed like the camcorder was designed for nefarious purposes from the start. As Yeonji proudly caressed the camcorder, I asked once more,

	"So what are you going to do about luring her out? Do you have a plan?"

	"Nyuu-n-- About that..."

	Yeonj entered her strategizing meditation.

	I may have developed a habit of not thinking on my own and asking Yeonji to come up with everything, but that didn't matter at this point, because-

	"You should knock on that door and say, 'Help, my lower part of my body suddenly became swollen and it won't shrink back~ Am I going to die now? Please save me~'. After that woman leaves to call the police, we can install the camcorder."

	...-Because, for an everyday, normal mindset much like my own, there was no way I could come up with such insanity.

	"You should do that kind of crap!"

	"Impossible! I'm a girl."

	Were you going to do it if you were a guy?!

	Even as she was blackmailing me, there were still things that I would and wouldn't do. I glared at her, full of contempt and resolution.

	She seemed to be taken down a notch.

	"Okay, we don't have to go that far... Maybe you should ask her out on a walk in the park, saying that the weather is pretty nice. Or, ask her out for a coffee-milk date."

	"I'm not saying that!"

	In this day and age, not even preschoolers would be convinced. Yeonji's severely outdated social mannerism had left me at a loss for words.

	She had a strange expression on her face, and I could not tell if she found it amusing or sad that I declined.

	"...Ngh, fine. Then I'll lure her out, so you go in that room and install the camcorder."

	"Huh?"

	I expected that I would be the one to lure her out, so it was a surprise that she had volunteered for the job.

	As I gave a surprised look, Yeonji had a heavy, dark atmosphere around her, perhaps from her mood. She said dejectedly,

	"I have a failsafe plan that will 100% succeed if I use it... Well, I would prefer to not use it, but I have no choice."

	"Is-is that so..."

	I strangely felt sorry for her. Though, honestly, I was not confident that I could lure the nurse out on my own, so I decided to take the plan with the 100% chance of success.

	...It was most certainly not because I was afraid of getting ridiculed.

	Yeonji instructed me on the methods of attaching the camcorder, and various targets to cover. As Yeonji had said, the camcorder came with a timer feature (the recording starts after 30 minutes) so there was no need to do anything with the camcorder itself.

	It was a relief for me, since I could almost be considered a technophobe.

	"Alright, then I'll go out and lure that woman outside. When I cough, you must immediately enter that room and install the camcorder. Don't take too long."

	"Okay."

	Yeonji's hands were slightly wet when she handed over the camcorder. She was nervous, too.

	"Then... I'll be right back."

	"Okay... be safe."

	Yeonji bit her lips and headed towards the nurse's room. I held the camcorder in one hand with a heavy feeling of responsibility.

	...Thinking back to it, for a criminal duo about to cause a ruckus, that was quite a romantic exchange.

	### 005. Part 2

	Hello dear readers, here's the rest of chapter 4. And please remember that drugs are bad, m'kay?

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	Sometime after Yeonji left, I heard indistinct voices between Yeonji and the nurse. They were followed by sounds of the infirmary doors opening and closing.

	Then, a highly unnatural cough resounded. It was Yeonji's signal.

	Yeonji had successfully lured the nurse outside, however she did it. Already prepared to jump out, I hastily bolted out from behind the curtains. I dashed into the open room.

	A glance into the room showed nothing out of the ordinary, betraying our expectation that something major was to be found inside. There was a bookshelf against a wall, full of medical books and documents. Few couches crowded around a short coffee table in the center.

	There was nothing that was special or extraordinary in this room, disregarding maybe the mini-fridge in the corner. Nonetheless, something caught my attention.

	It was a computer.

	Attached to an 18-inch-or-so monitor, there was a perfectly ordinary desktop computer sitting on a desk with its screen facing away to the back wall.

	I checked the monitor; the computer was logged out. I needed the password to investigate further.

	...So, she had something to hide, after all.

	And thus, my priority target for surveillance became this computer. I quickly spied the surrounding area.

	To get a nice view of the monitor... there's... nowhere to put the camcorder!

	The desk was too close to a nearby wall so that only a single chair could fit in between. There was no optimal location to place my device. I momentarily panicked.

	Quickly, I pulled out a chair out from under the desk, and then I stood on it with my shoes off. I was racing against time, so I chose the immediately available option; I chose a place on the very top of the bookshelf, to the left of the computer. Fortunately, there were many cardboard boxes for electronics resting on the shelves, so I placed the camcorder in one of the inconspicuous crevices in between.

	The camcorder was only getting an elevated view of the monitor at an angle from above. However, I could not be too choosy, considering my situation at the time. I quickly pushed the chair back in and jumped back in my shoes to leave.

	... I felt like I was playing out a situation from some H-game that I played a while back. It was quite a confusing experience.

	Same day, after school,

	After the completion of the first stage of 'Operation: Capture the Infirmary', we retreated back to our temporary outpost (my room) to discuss our next move.

	...I completely gave up trying to stop Mom. I hoped to at least get some good information from the camcorder that I had installed.

	Yeonji's fourth appearance at my house had left me as serious as Yeonji about acquiring the clubroom, so we finally had a serious, joke-free meeting... but sadly, there was nothing to discuss.

	Well, really, after I installed that camcorder, any more work was only going to be more trouble. Without taking a trip to the infirmary tomorrow to retrieve that camcorder for our findings, there was nothing to talk about. The only thing we could maybe talk about was what we would do if there was nothing caught on the camera.

	Yeonji, who already proclaimed the title of Clotaku Club President for herself, commented on the subject,

	"Hmm? It'll be fine, probably. Tomorrow, we'll see everything that we need on film, for sure."

	I wish I knew where she was getting all this courage. I swear she has endorphins flowing in her body instead of blood.

	"Heh... Otakus know Otakus. The moment I saw her face, I knew that this girl was an irredeemable Otaku.

	I

	couldn't miss that opportunity

	."

	Said Yeonji, as the eminent leader of the Otaku social order. As an aside, I did not suspect the nurse to be an Otaku at all when I saw her. I'm an Otaku, too!

	It was only wasted effort to have a meeting between an unabashedly optimistic person and an unashamedly pessimistic person. As loathsome as it would be to crush the hopes of a person anticipating fortunes from a single lottery ticket, I left Yeonji in her own happy dreams.

	... And, if this was all she planned on doing, why did she even come over to my house? I grumbled under my breath at Yeonji, who was now excited like a little brat before Christmas.

	"By the way, this afternoon, how did you lure the nurse outside?"

	"...You really want to hear it?"

	"...No, I don't, sorry."

	Looks like we all made sacrifices on that day.

	* * *

	At the second day of Operation: Capture the Infirmary,

	Yeonji and I were waiting outside the infirmary like vultures waiting for fresh road kill. Again, it was our precious lunchtime; Yeonji's patience was as thin as the atmosphere of Mars, so it was no surprise that she wanted to see the contents of the camcorder as early as possible. As if trying to prove my thought correct, Yeonji's face shone brightly like the face of a farmer seeing his yearly harvest.

	...Why aren't you starving?!

	For two days straight, I had faced the travesty of having to miss the opportunity to have my lunch, but Yeonji was unfaltering. I protested that we should return after school, no, after at least having something to eat, but Yeonji looked at me like I was her bratty little brother (freakin' annoying) and said,

	"Hmph, and you call yourself a man. Sometime before, I fasted for two whole days and I was fine. I realized then that the saying, 'necessity has no law' is a complete lie."

	"...I bet you were just playing visual novels instead."

	Personally, I believe that the government should send people like her away on an exchange program to Somalia or someplace.

	While I vented my frustrations through imagining vengeance against Yeonji, she quietly spied inside the infirmary. Then she remarked in a focused tone,

	"The atmosphere is the same from yesterday. That woman, she must be hiding in that same room. Then, let's go in! I'll go in first this time."

	"Wait, you're really going in first?"

	Yeonji nodded,

	"If we go in the same order as before, she might get suspicious. At least I can make excuses about how it still hasn't ended for me."

	What hasn't ended, exactly?

	I did not believe that the matter was the order we went in, since we were already incredibly suspicious for having been here only yesterday.

	I was filled with doubts and worries, and yet Yeonji seemed completely relaxed like nothing could go wrong. Like an army general leading her troops from the forefront, Yeonji raised her fist and shouted,

	"Alright, let's go get our camcorder back! The mission is like yesterday; we group up at the beds behind the curtains, and I plan out a perfect lure. Then, we get back the camcorder and use the contents to discuss, I mean, threaten... Ni-hee-hee~!"

	Why did it have to go from 'discuss' to 'threaten'? It was also quite saddening, seeing her get overly gleeful about it.

	I thought about how I would calm Yeonji down if there were nothing on the camcorder, and saw Yeonji off.

	Wait, hold on.

	I asked a question that had suddenly popped into my head, just as Yeonji turned around to leave.

	"Hey, if you're going in first, what kind of excuse do I make up for going in with you?"

	"Use the trick from yesterday, you idiot. You can rub your own forehead or something."

	... I'm pretty sure she said 'there's no way I'd do something as stupid as that' before, and there she was, telling me to do just that.

	Moments later,

	After waiting for an appropriate length of time, I opened the infirmary door and took a step inside.

	Of course, the 'necessary duration' refers to the length of time required for my forehead to receive enough heat energy from frictional work. Rubbing my own forehead in a middle of a hallway was, subjectively and probably objectively, pretty damn stupid-looking. If anyone saw me, I could be blackmailed for a new reason.

	Hoping that I would never encounter the words 'I know what you did last infirmary visit', I went further inside the infirmary for the second time.

	Needless to say, nothing had changed inside, like the strong smell of the medicines unique to an infirmary, or the stupidly prominent 'self-aid-service' desk, or the needlessly abundant beds.

	Surely nothing had changed since yesterday.

	But what was this feeling that something wasn't right?

	I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there had to be some sort of a problem. Nevertheless, I knocked on the door to the back room as planned and called the nurse. It could have been problematic if my buff duration ran out while hesitating.

	"Yes, yes-."

	When I knocked, a sleepy voice called out from within, like a koala that stuffed itself with eucalyptus leaves.

	If she taught language in this school instead of being a nurse, she could very easily make an entire class fall into slumbers with only her voice.

	The door opened.

	"Okay, what kind of sickne-... Oh, my, it's you again~..."

	The nurse again covered the view inside her room upon exit. She formed a curious expression on her face.

	Okay, my description of 'curious expression' was only based off of the nurse raising her eyebrows very slightly, but anyway.

	"Yeah, I'm still sick from yesterday..."

	I quickly answered, as I noticed a feeling of suspicion was mixed into her glare. Honestly, if I really had headaches and high fever for two days straight, I'd just take a trip to a proper hospital.

	"...That's a big problem. Do you have any other symptoms?"

	The nurse asked with one hand supporting her chin.

	"Uhh, umm... No, not really."

	When I said I had a fever yesterday, she used her hand to take my temperature. Then, I wonder what she'd do if I were sick anywhere else?!

	-The thought made me briefly squirm, but I managed to form an answer in good time. I feared that Yeonji might have an amazing auditory sense, so that she could catch everything wrong that I may say.

	"Hmm... Is that so."

	Drawing small circles with her finger on her gently curved chin, the nurse added,

	"I guess a simple treatment wouldn't work... Wanna get an injection on your butt?"

	"Whaa-t?!"

	What are you saying?!

	I was in utter shock. The nurse narrowed her eyes and gently laughed.

	"...I'm kidding. I'm actually not that good with syringes. Here, take these pills and lie down for a bit. It should be more effective than the ones from yesterday."

	The nurse took out a bottle of medicine from one of her many pockets, and gave me two pills.

	"Uh..."

	"Here, water."

	And in another pocket, a small water bottle came out. That gown was surprisingly well-equipped.

	"...Thank you."

	The nurse fixed a gaze at me after handing over the water bottle, instead of going back inside the room. I had to swallow the pills.

	Thanks to Yeonji, I got to take so many drugs that I never needed to.

	"Good. Now, go over to that bed and lie down."

	The nurse smiled brightly as I awkwardly handed the water bottle back. It was a mature smile unlike Yeonji's, I'd say; it was pretty nice to look at.

	The nurse retreated to her room after I returned both bottles to her. I rushed over to the beds where Yeonji had planned to be.

	"ZZZ....."

	There lay a girl, short in stature, with jet-black hair.

	From my memory, this was the same girl who yelled at me just yesterday, 'What are you doing, sleeping in this place like an idiot?!'

	"Hey, hey, come on, Seo Yeonji, hey, get up!"

	"Nyuu-n..."

	Yeonji nodded off like a chick vigorously pecking at seeds. I lightly tapped on her cheeks, but her only replies were sleepy groans. I felt helpless for a moment.

	After much consideration, I pinched her baby-smooth cheek.

	"Oow! ...?"

	Yeonji jumped up in surprise and opened her eyes.

	She woke up, but her eyes were unfocused, unaware of her surroundings.

	"...Slurp."

	With a blank, sheepish face, she sucked a long drool back inside her mouth. Oh god.

	No matter how cute she is, disgusting things remained disgusting.

	While I discovered my new appreciation for the clear boundary between reality and imagination, Yeonji began waking up. She wiped her mouth with her sleeves and asked in a weak voice,

	"Nyuu-n-... S-so sleepy.... What time is it?"

	This isn't a sleepover!

	Yeonji groaned like she was suffering from a massive hangover. I looked at my wristwatch and answered her (20 minutes before the end of lunch). Yeonji wallowed around, saying 'Ngh, I have no time for this...'

	"What's wrong, are you really sick?"

	"I don't know... My head hurts like it's going to crack open. I got enough sleep, so why am I so sleepy...?"

	"Hey..."

	I couldn't understand how she became as frail as an old lady, when she was just fine earlier. On the one hand, I was dumbfounded, but on the other, I was worried; I supported her body up as she slumped back down into slumber.

	"Seriously, what's wrong with you? Did you eat some spoiled food?"

	"Nyuu... No... I haven't eaten anything yet. Other than taking those pills from that woman..."

	"Pills?"

	Maybe that was it. Of course, considering that her sickness wasn't real, it was very possible that she was suffering from the drug's side effects.

	"She gave me some weird-looking, yellow pills to take, two of them... I didn't need them, but I thought she'd get suspicious, so I took them... Nii-hee-hee! I told her I'm afraid of swallowing pills, so she ground them into a fiiine powdeeeerrrr..."

	Yeonji drawled as if she were demonstrating the Doppler effect, and then her head collided against my chest.

	"Wha- hey!"

	I quickly pulled her back up, but she was asleep already. She looked like she wouldn't wake up even if aliens abducted her away.

	"What the hell, seriously."

	I looked down at Yeonji, who was sleeping with her body resting against my chest. Then it occurred to me,

	--'She gave me some weird-looking, yellow pills to take, two of them...'

	Yeonji's last words. Two strange, yellow pills.

	Oh, crap, son of a-

	The moment I got the feeling that her description of the pills matched mine, my consciousness was severed, and I fell into a deep sleep beside Yeonji.

	* * *

	My head was pounding.

	It must have been karma working as usual, where some people have no care for others who suffer from an illness, only to end up suffering from the same illness later and realize 'well, I guess this illness is serious business~'.

	Although, I really think that the cause and the effect were way too close together this time.

	In accordance to Yeonji's comment, my head felt like it was exploding. It felt like some invisible, ghostly hands were reaching into my head to punch my brain around.

	--Disregarding the fact that the brain itself feels no pain.

	If I could have this kind of nonsensical discussion with myself, it meant that my consciousness must have mostly returned. I blinked and felt my eyes water up.

	The fluorescent light on the ceiling was extremely bright.

	"Ugh..."

	I tried to lift my hands to wipe my eyes, but my hands did not budge.

	"What the?"

	In confusion, I tried to lift my head to see what was going on, but that was equally futile. It felt like I had lost control of my entire body; pretty soon I found out that the only working parts of my body were my eyes and my tongue.

	Oh... crap.

	Headache struck again, unforgivable and unforgettable as the noise of a flying mosquito on a summer night. I did what I could to spot my surroundings.

	Hmm, okay. Some time ago, I entered this infirmary after Yeonji and took some weird drugs. Then, I panicked when Yeonji fell asleep, and then I ended up falling asleep too.

	...It was such a cliche progression. I could see how we ended up here.

	"Hey, Seo Yeonji, are you there?"

	I asked, still facing the ceiling. I felt the voice linger in my head instead of escaping my mouth, but it must have been heard by Yeonji nonetheless; she replied from somewhere to the side.

	"Yes, I'm here! Are you finally awake? You idiot!"

	Thanks for mocking me as soon I'm awake, you jerk.

	Yeonji's thin voice was subtly shaky. Of course she'd be scared. I was shaken up from this turmoil, so a little girl like Yeonji must be stricken with fear.

	It was up to me to remain calm. I cleared my throat and asked,

	"Well, okay... Are you at least feeling well?"

	"Feeling well?! I can't even move and the light is too freaking bright! If I get ahold of that woman I'll get my revenge I'll kill her kill kill KILL!"

	...It wasn't fear that she was shaking from; it was rage.

	Yeonji spouted her death threats in her girlish voice. I kept my mouth shut, intimidated, and then a lazy voice drifted to my ears.

	"Oh my... Both of you, you're awake already? I guess you guys are still pretty young; I thought it would take longer."

	"....Nyuu-t!"

	The voice belonged to the nurse. Yeonji began hissing like some bipedal unmanned anti-personnel war machine that detected an enemy life sign. Before Yeonji was enraged further, I quickly interjected.

	"Excuse me! What's going on here?"

	A relaxed giggle echoed in the room.

	" 'What's going on'? ...That's a vague question. You guys took my drugs and fell asleep, and you are both quietly resting on separate beds. Also, I'm between standing between you two, keeping watch. It's also one-twenty right now, but I convinced your homeroom teachers to let you stay, so don't worry. Be thankful!"

	The explanation was needlessly lengthy, and completely unhelpful in our situation.

	Reaching the limit to her patience, Yeonji exploded in a raging fit.

	"You sneaky, old fart! I knew you did something to the drugs!"

	"Old fart... that's harsh. That hurts my feelings, you know."

	Yeonji went 'ow, oww' from beside. She seemed to be getting her cheeks pinched like before. It wasn't all too pleasant to hear, so I interjected once more.

	"What did you give to us? Were they sleeping pills?"

	"Hmm... Don't know if I can call them that. I added in some pancuronium bromide, with maybe some thiopentone sodium mixed in."

	Muscle relaxants and general anesthetics, if I recall.

	"Wait, what? Aren't they used in lethal injections in the United States?"

	Yeonji squirmed. Ignorance is bliss, sometimes.

	"Yes, you're correct."

	The nurse spoke in a mocking tone, maintaining her relaxed voice.

	"Well, I diluted them to a safer concentration myself, so it won't be too harmful to your body. Hmm... it'll keep you conscious, but your entire body will be numb, for a bit. So, relax."

	That's not relaxing at all!

	Yet, Yeonji was relaxed already, as she resumed her angry shouts.

	"Nyuu-t! Why would you give that kind of drug to us?"

	"Hmm... No, even if you ask that way,"

	The nurse spoke, upset,

	"You two left this thing in my room. I thought I shouldn't let it slide, after seeing this.

	"?!"

	I didn't need to turn my head to know that Yeonji flinched. From her reaction, I could assume what the nurse was showing her.

	The camcorder had been found.

	As I had expected, a familiar, small camcorder entered my vision. A white, smooth hand played around with the device.

	"...I'm guessing you were the one who put that there, you big liar. I wonder what you were trying to film with this."

	"Ugh..."

	I was too embarrassed to answer.

	Feeling my face redden, I closed my eyes. The nurse put the camcorder away and continued,

	"From the start, I thought something was strange... There were two children coming to the infirmary at the same time, while they both were obviously faking their sickness."

	She was far more competent than I had believed. As I grieved for my wasted efforts thus far, the nurse's voice went on.

	"So I kept watch, and this girl was trying to lure me out of my room. She made some silly lies, but I pretended to fall for them and left the room. Then this device appeared in my room when I came back!"

	"S-silly lies-?!"

	Yeonji exclaimed in shock.

	"I can't believe it! That had to be the most perfect lure yesterday! Even Zhuge Liang's got nothing on it, and you saw through it?!"

	"Hmm... Yeah, about that."

	In a clearly embarrassed tone, the nurse explained,

	"There's a boy with us, so I won't explain it directly... That lie, it was a bit too obvious, I should say. I got embarrassed by proxy when I heard it, I should say. Please don't ever do that again, as a lady."

	"Nyuaaaaaaah--?!"

	And Yeonji received a moral lesson from a person who subdued two students by drugging them. What the hell did she do?!

	"Now..."

	Ignoring Yeonji's volcanic eruption of a scream, the nurse turned her attention to me. Her face was still relaxed and lazy-looking, but now it held a certain power to it. Emanating an irresistible beam of light from her half-open eyes, the nurse asked,

	"Why did you guys do this? Won't you explain it to the dear nurse?"

	I can't take this anymore.

	* * *

	In our state of complete paralysis, we had no choice but to confess our criminal motive(!) to the nurse.

	Now I understood what it would be like to be in the shoes of those captured leaders in grand strategy games, I thought, as Yeonji and I were interrogated by the nurse.

	From the fact that we are Otakus, that we wanted to form an Otaku club, that we had to go through drastic methods since normal ways wouldn't work, and that we ended up targetting the infirmary, we revealed it all.

	I never wanted to confess that we are Otakus, but Yeonji was shrieking every time I hesitated to answer (I wonder what was being done to her) so I had no other options.

	The nurse reacted as expected when we confessed that we would threaten her with a video proof of her being an Otaku.

	"...Hmm- well, I don't know. I usually don't say things like these... I really don't know what to say, no."

	"...Sorry."

	I apologized. At this point, there was really nothing else I could do.

	"I understand how much you want a club, but did you really have to blackmail others for it? There are things in the world that you should never do."

	"...I have no excuses."

	Every word from the nurse rang true. But Yeonji did not give up yet; every time I agreed with the nurse, she began whining, but she was suppressed immediately.

	I implored earnestly,

	"We won't ever do something like this again. Please forgive us just this time!"

	"Hmm, what should I do..."

	The nurse hesitated. I coughed loudly to pressure Yeonji into begging with me, but Yeonji only answered with a 'hmph' each time.

	Just as the infirmary filled up with our disturbing sound effects, the nurse asked with a hint of dissatisfaction,

	"Before that, I want to ask something..."

	"Sure! Ask away!"

	I became desperate. If our actions this day were notified to the school or to our parents, it was going to be a one-way trip to hell. And so I struggled to extend my life span, while Yeonji only grumbled. The nurse was silent, hesitating, and soon asked,

	"So... you guys, how did you find out that I'm an Otaku?"

	...

	""Huh?""

	We exclaimed in unison. With no regard for what I assume to be utter shock expressed on our faces, the nurse continued,

	"I really don't know. I always thought I covered my tracks well; I wonder what exactly I overlooked. Hmm... This is really problematic."

	The sound of her slippers dragging across the floor echoed. She was nervously pacing around the room.

	I asked,

	"Uh, um... So you are an Otaku...?"

	"Yep, that's right."

	It was a cool reply.

	"I was an Otaku since middle school... Even during my S.A.T, even during the graduation exam, there was never a moment when I took a break from doing Otaku things."

	Amazing.

	"Th-then, what you were doing in that room was..."

	"What do you think?"

	Her words carried a proud feeling somewhere.

	"The last few years, I focused on playing H-games. Right now, if you just enter the password for that computer, there will be a scene with a girl your age, moaning indecently. Fufufu..."

	"Pervert-----------!"

	Yeonji cried like a baby archaeopteryx breaking out of an egg.

	"Pervert! Pervert! Pervert! You perverted nurse! So you finally revealed your real nature! Repent for your sins in doing such things in this holy school! You lustfulpervertedlecherousbigbreasted woman!"

	Said the girl, who tried to make a club for Otakus in this holy school. Also, that thing she said, the fourth one isn't even an insult!

	"Really... You have a cute face, but your words aren't cute at all."

	The nurse talked like she was sighing at the same time.

	"Even if I play H-games, I don't enjoy them like other Otakus seem to do, so please refrain from saying things like 'pervert' or 'lustful'."

	"Wh-what are you talking about?"

	Yeonji asked. I had no clue, either. The nurse answered calmly,

	"Hmm, yes, when other Otakus play visual novels, they project themselves onto the protagonist, so they themselves feel like they were the ones dating the girls and such, right?"

	"...Well, sure."

	I agreed in spite of Yeonji's continued snarls. The nurse let out a brief laugh and continued,

	"But in my case... how should I say this? Maybe, I play it like I am a third-party observer to the story. As if I'm right beside the protagonist, watching over his actions, but unseen by the heroines... like a fairy, I guess."

	"What kind of role is that--?!"

	Why would you read first-person narratives if you want to do that?!

	"I don't know... I am a woman, and I'm also not a high school student, so I can't see myself as being either the protagonist or the heroines. So I watch over their relationship building from a third-person standpoint! Phew, really, such a juvenile love between boys and girls... It makes me feel young myself."

	"That's almost understandable, but there's something incredibly wrong about it!"

	"The choices that come up in visual novels are like my advice to the protagonist."

	"I didn't think the choices could be seen that way! But it still feels a bit off!"

	"Teenage pregnancy is a major problem, so I always choose 'do it outside' in the H-scenes."

	"Oh, what kind of nurse advises an ineffective prevention method like that?!"

	"It's still safer than doing it inside."

	The nurse answered, completely relaxed. Yeonji was also calming down in light of recent discoveries.

	"This isn't even funny... I never expected that she would be this into it."

	A moment after grumbling, Yeonji gasped in surprise and said,

	"Wait; that means this woman was an Otaku like I thought!"

	"...Can you not call me 'this woman'?"

	Yeonji squealed like a kitten stuck in a crevice behind a couch. She recovered only a second later, speaking in a reinvigorated voice,

	"Hmph! Don't get too cocky! You're already- Ow! Nyuu... We know that you're an Otaku! Hand over the infirmary! My words are backed with severe consequences!"

	"Hmm... I wonder why you think I'd listen to you."

	"Heh heh, it looks like you don't know what kind of situation you're in!"

	Said the girl who was completely paralyzed on a bed, defenseless.

	"Woman, you- Ow! - You confessed to us that you are an Otaku! If we spread around a rumor about your secret, what would happen? Your reputation would come crumbling down!"

	"It won't crumble down."

	The nurse casually replied as if she were teaching that 1 plus 1 equals 2.

	"The only reason you know I'm an Otaku is because you two are also Otakus. And even if you start a rumor, there's no actual evidence that I'm an Otaku. No one's going to believe such a weak rumor."

	"Nyuu-t--."

	That was the truth. The nurse added,

	"And the only proof, this camcorder, is in my hands. It's the proof for both the fact that I am an Otaku, and that you two invaded my privacy. If you spread a rumor about me, I'll report this to the police. Then neither the school, nor your parents, would be too proud, yes?"

	Oh, please, god, no.

	I could feel my bones rattle in fear. Yeonji was silent for a second, and asked in a curious tone,

	"...Wait. The proof that you're an Otaku? Did that camcorder actually record something?"

	"It did."

	Replied the nurse,

	"My plan was to undo whatever you did after you two left, but I just had to continue the game where I had left off. I only started searching in the room a couple of hours later, so there should be enough of me recorded."

	...She wasn't exactly a better person than either of us.

	"But, that doesn't matter. This camcorder is in my hands now. I can just delete everything that was captured. Should I delete it now?"

	"No way, woma-- Nyuuuuu---! Y-you can't delete that!"

	"Hmm?"

	The nurse became curious. Yeonji declared with confidence,

	"Because that's the evidence we'll hand over to the police when we spread the rumor!"

	"Hey, wait a sec..."

	What are you saying?! Disregarding my objection, Yeonji continued with much faith in her words.

	"But you yourself can't bring that to the police! Because if we get expelled as a result, it's going to become big news, and the contents of the camcorder might get released to the public!"

	"..."

	The nurse seemed faintly startled. Yeonji lowered her voice and whispered,

	" 'Hey, did you hear that? Some freshmen got expelled for hiding a camera in the infirmary!' 'Really? What did they try to film?' 'A friend told me that...' - Like that."

	That was quite plausible. As if to agree with Yeonji, the nurse remained silent. Yeonji continued excitedly,

	"Then, if that kind of rumor spread around, all the attention will go straight to the infirmary, and that wouldn't be so nice for some nurse who wants to live a quiet Otaku life, right?"

	Whoa, Yeonji, whoa.

	With every word said, she spoke with more power and confidence. It was true that the nurse, as a closeted Otaku, could not afford to let the incident get huge attention.

	By telling us that she is an Otaku, we were given a weapon to fight the one the nurse had against us.

	The nurse was silent for a long time, intimidated by Yeonji's argument. After the pause, she finally opened her mouth and spoke,

	"...You're right. Really, revealing that I am an Otaku was a mistake."

	"Fufufu.."

	Yeonji laughed maniacally.

	"Then, hurry up and give us the infirmary as our club-"

	"No, that's not it."

	The nurse cut Yeonji's words short.

	"Eh?"

	The nurse left the area, noisily dragging her slippers around, and shortly came back. In a strangely disturbing tone, she sneered,

	"I thought you'd give up if I scared you a little... Maybe it's because you're students of Eunsung? No, before that, it's probably because you found out I'm an Otaku like you two."

	"Wh-what are you talking about?"

	Reading the change in her tone, Yeonji stuttered. Like a chilling wind sweeping across a graveyard, the nurse whispered,

	"Let's try this. In this camcorder, there exists both the proof of your crime and my weakness. Then, let's exchange this camcorder for the photo of you two naked and hugging each other."

	""There aren't any photos like that----!!""

	We both shrieked at the same time.

	"Wh- what are you t-t-t-t-talking about?! Wh-why would there be a photo where I'm d-d-doing that kind of thing with th-this guy? Are you an idiot?!"

	"Y-yeah! What are you saying?!"

	We protested like a pair of baby birds crying for food. In contrast, the nurse's voice was so cold and evil that I could not believe it belonged to her.

	"Hmm? Ah... that's fine. That's because the photo is something I'll take right now."

	"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--! Somebody save me!"

	Confirming the digital camera that was in the nurse's outstretched hand, we shouted our hearts out.

	"Kyaa! Help me! Here! There's a pervert in the infirmary! A pervert who's about to violate students! Save me!"

	"Fire--! Help! There's a fire in the infirmary---!"

	Yeonji called for help with a small twist on the situation. I called for help, recalling that people are only willing to respond to 'Fire!' than anything else.

	Our screams echoed and filled the infirmary, but the nurse was relaxed, unwilling to stop us.

	"...Let me just add, I privately invested in the construction of this infirmary to make it 100% soundproof. No matter how much you scream, no one will hear you outside."

	"What were you planning to do in here with sound proofing?!"

	This nurse never failed to surprise us. Wait, it wasn't the time to be surprised by these things.

	"W-waaaaaaait! Just wait a sec! Listen to me!"

	"Okay, I'll listen to you. ...Until I finish preparing the camera. Hmm- it's been a long time since I used this, so I don't remember too well... Was this the zoom in button?"

	The camera made a sinister 'whirr' sound. As the nurse engrossed herself in figuring out the camera, Yeonji repeatedly howled for attention.

	"Just wait! Th-that is-- Right! You're a Clotaku just like us! It's probably more fun playing with us than being all alone in your room! Yeah!"

	Even to this point, Yeonji did not give up on the infirmary.

	"Well... Sorry, but I feel more comfortable being alone. And honestly, it's too much of a hassle."

	She was right, if a little crooked. Yeonji's shouts became louder and more desperate in response.

	"Waitwait! Think about it on a national scale! Our club will eventually become a pioneer for changing this society around! It'll be a beacon of light for all the oppressed Otakus in this country! Give me a chance to eliminate the need to be a Clotaku!"

	"Alright, I get it now."

	"D-did you really?"

	"Hmm? No, the camera's controls."

	"Nyuuuuuuuuuuu-t--?! We're both Otakus, more so closeted Otakus, so why can't you understand my plan? Don't you want a country where Otakus can live happily? Don't you want to be saved?!"

	What kind of society has perpetually happy Otakus? I wondered. Yeonji had some hopelessly huge ambitions contained in that small body.

	However,

	"Sorry, but I don't really want to be saved."

	As Yeonji laid out her sentiments like a new leader of a political party, the nurse shut her down with a single comment.

	"There is no country for Otakus, and there won't be in the future. ...I'm just fine with playing visual novels alone, hidden from other people. So, make your paradise in some other place."

	"Nyuu--! You traitor! Coward! Scheming adult! You stupidly huge-breasted woman!"

	And still Yeonji did not realize that the last part wasn't an insult. The nurse agreed composedly,

	"Yes, I'm an adult unlike you two. Adults are always like that, scheming and conservative. Wow, it must be nice being young, you two~."

	Separately from the argument that went on like a game of table tennis, the preparation for our ill-fated photo shoot seemed to be almost completed.

	As she calmly deflected Yeonji's desperate pleas and threats, the nurse checked the remaining memory space of the camera, and took a test photo with the battery level in mind. She was unnecessarily focused for something like this.

	"Now... Let's start taking everything off, shall we?"

	"Sssttoooooopppp--!"

	It was a humble tone, akin to 'let's go back home for tonight!'. Witnessing our impending doom become real, we once again screamed in unison.

	"Stop it! No, seriously! Really! This isn't good! It's too weird! It's not gonna work! This is too crazy! Stopitstopitstopit-!"

	"I want to stop here, too... but I can't really go back at this point. A saying goes, when you unsheathe a sword, you better cut something. Phew... Okay, you first!"

	"Why me--?!"

	"I never undressed a guy before. Well, it's my first time with school uniforms, but I'll do my best!"

	"When did you undress a girl before?! Hyaaaaaaaaaaahh-!"

	... What's happening?

	Yeonji made noises that could only be described as a death rattle. The noise was followed by unsettling squeals that felt like a tongue sliding around the roots of my nerves.

	Swish, rustle, whatever they sound like- the sound of clothes sliding off were mixed in with hysteric voices.

	"Nyaa-t... N-no... Th-that- you can't do this to me- Kyaa, no, time-out, where are you- eeek-..."

	"Oh my... So cute. It's so smooth and white, I want to touch it!"

	"You're touching it right nyaowwww--! Nyoo, nnnoooo! You're insane, hnh, th-this kind of, n-not yet... I'm not ready for thaaat--!"

	It felt like playing a visual novel with the monitor off.

	Ignoring the fact that the same was going to be done onto me later, it was a beautiful song in my ears.

	Oh... damn.

	Calm down, calm! It'll be fine if I just don't lid my flip! Wait no that's not it please calm down... There has to be a way to get out of this!

	My brain was at full throttle.

	Right now, I need to think of a way to... uh, stop that horrible thing from happening and avoid getting photographed, and also get this infirmary as our club room.

	...

	...Of course there isn't a way.

	In terms of Starcraft, I was at a point where all of my expansions were destroyed, and my final Command Center is on fire. There was no potential for a miraculous result like that!

	Even if such a potential existed, it was not too easy to think one up in this unsettling, disturbing environment. Even as I thought that, I could hear the indecent, lewd sounds from beside.

	"Your underwear's cute like a little kid's! I think you look good in it, though. Fufufu, fufu..."

	"Wh-who are you calling a kid... Hyaaaanh! S-seriously, stop it, I'm going to kill you... Ni-hiii~t..."

	Fun.

	Since I was incapable of blocking my ears, their voices flowed into my ears unrestricted. There could be no man out there who could keep focus in this situation.

	"Argh..."

	After a moment of torment, an idea hit me.

	It was neither a good plan nor a perfect strategy, and it was more of an impulse. However, there was no time to waste.

	There were vague hints for a correct action to take within our previous conversations. Before they escaped my grasp, I quickly intervened,

	"Please, wait!"

	"Hmm...?"

	The indecent noises came to a pause, and the nurse answered.

	"What is it? I'm almost done here... You just have to wait a little. Can you be patient and wait your turn?"

	Done with what, exactly?

	Pushing away the images that almost formed in my head, I quickly continued,

	"Didn't you say that you play visual novels to read about teenagers building relationships?"

	"...I did, but why?"

	The nurse asked back with a hint of suspicion.

	Hoping to end it all right in this turn, I closed my eyes and yelled,

	"Then we'll show you ourselves how teenagers date--!"

	Silence.

	The noises from the side came to a complete halt.

	The nurse, and Yeonji too, lost their words and everyone remained in silence.

	Several moments later,

	Conscious of the grave shift of the atmosphere in the room, I asked quietly,

	"M-maybe real relationships don't do anything for you...?"

	"...N, no, that's not it, but."

	The nurse asked, embarrassed,

	"Well, uh... Yes, when you say 'we', you mean, you and her?"

	"Yes!"

	"!#$%^&*?!"

	Yeonji screamed indecipherably, but I simply ignored her. Just shut up and watch!

	"We'll show you how real high school kids go out! You just have to pretend like you started a new visual novel!"

	"Oh, every day after school, in this room... you mean? Fufufu."

	Understanding my plan right away, she softly laughed as if to commend me.

	I did not intend to lie to her. She was always one step ahead of us, so a simple lie could not work. Then, the only way out was to make an offer that she could not refuse, even if she all that was involved in the deal.

	"That's right! Visual novels are just games in the end, and all characters are 18 and over! Don't you want to see real 17 year olds dating? It'll be a on a different dimension than all the generic visual novels out there!"

	I wasn't kidding. Real life is 3D, and visual novels are in 2D, so it was indeed on a different dimension.

	The basis for this otherworldy plan was formed on account of what the nurse had said about her mindset when playing visual novels. That is, she had expressed how she feels younger just by looking at young people have dates, and how she enjoys observing the characters in visual novels.

	And, from the dialogue with Yeonji,

	--... It must be nice being young, you two.

	--... Cute like a little kid's...

	I'm sure most Otakus would wish that exciting things from 2D would happen in real life, too. Fans of visual novels would likely dream about going out with a plethora of cute girls.

	Anyway, without being an Otaku whose mind is completely dominated with 2D world, it would not be so strange to wish for fantasies to materialize in real life.

	And what about the nurse?

	Although a visual novel fan, she was a strange type who would rather observe than participate in dating the heroines. Perhaps she wanted to see the same thing in real life, too; she seemed to be jealous of us, or, high school students. If I could use that as my foothold, I could lead myself out of this situation.

	Having made that conclusion, I made the suggestion, pretending that Yeonji and I were going out already.

	The nurse could now see that giving us the infirmary would not be 'full of hassles', but instead see it as 'installing a visual novel in real life'. She was more likely to consider our suggestion that way.

	And, truly, she was very interested already.

	If there were any problems with my plan, it would be...

	"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-what are you saying, you stupid idiot?! Who's dating who now?! D-don't say crap like that, you're out of your mind! Kill yourself right now! Stupid! Idiot! Bastard!"

	...It would be that I never consulted with Yeonji with this plan and I had to act alone.

	I sighed.

	Yeonji cursed at me with all her might, with a stuttering voice like a motor was stuck on her throat. As if she were making up for being unable to kick me, she called me all sorts of unspeakable names.

	She always seemed to be quick on the draw, yet she failed to get the hint for my plan. Sheesh.

	That was my plan to get us out of here, you idiot! You just need to act like you're my girlfriend just once, and we'll have our club room! How's she going to care about what we do after that when she's such a die-hard visual novel fan? Just go along with my plan!

	--Not that I could actually say any of that, so Yeonji continued her curses uninhibited.

	I'm so done.

	Until Yeonji choked and stopped her rap of curses, the nurse kept silent. I closed my eyes and felt my face become hotter. The nurse giggled from the side.

	"Phew... Ah, okay, hmm... Was that it? I see it now."

	"Wh-why are you laughing and staring like that?!"

	Yeonji recovered within three seconds and shouted back. I could assume that the nurse was facing Yeonji.

	"Hmm? No... Fufu, yes, I thought that being young must be nice."

	"Sh-shut up, you old woman! Act your age!"

	" 'N-not yet~ I'm not ready for that~' "

	"Nyaaaaa-t!!!"

	With the nurse's mimicry, Yeonji shut her mouth after a short scream. What was that, some sort of magic spell?

	The nurse laughed when Yeonji became silent. Several footsteps sounded from the side, and her face now loomed over me.

	"Alright."

	"Yes?"

	I did not know what she meant. She shrugged and answered,

	"...It sounds fun. I'll go with your suggestion."

	"Whoa?!"

	I did not think that she would accept it after Yeonji caused that much trouble for us; I embarrassingly blurted out an exclamation in surprise. The nurse had a smile of a mature, friendly smile.

	"I'll let you two use that room, too... so come over after school. Fufufu, good for you!"

	"Hm, hmph!"

	The last comment must have been directed at Yeonji, as she reacted to it. Regardless, she seemed to be quite happy; even her grunts sounded uplifted.

	"Now, say 'thank you, miss', will you?"

	"Tsk. I'll say thanks for now."

	When were you a Tsundere?

	The nurse was less demanding and more suggesting, so Yeonji willfully thanked her back. The nurse spoke, satisfied,

	"Thank your boyfriend, too. It's all thanks to him that everything went well, you know? Say 'thanks for helping me out'. Fufu..."

	"Wh-who helped who?!"

	Yeonji exploded like her entire body was propelling out of the bed.

	"H-he is more like my minion than anything else! It's natural for a member to protect his leader! If I thank him for something like this, he won't know his place!"

	Don't treat me like a dog, please. At least you could not say it when I'm right here, even if you really believe that.

	Okay, I already knew she believed it, but still.

	"Noo-way."

	Though I felt exhausted and disconnected, the nurse was still quite stout and resolute. Following a short snap of a finger and Yeonji's yelp, Yeonji spoke uninterestedly,

	"Hmph, tsk... W-well, you did well. Now that we have a club room, I mean. We're officially starting club activities tomorrow, so don't be late tomorrow! It's lethal injection for you, if you're late."

	"...Yes, ma'am."

	Her words contained more threats and thanks, but whatever. I answered unenergetically, and the nurse continued giggling at us for some reason.

	And so-- After an entire week of a tiring journey, we finally gained a club room.

	The infirmary wasn't such a normal place to be, and the room came at a price of a strange contract, but Yeonji was happy enough.

	More so than anything else, I was happy enough that Yeonji had no reason to ever come back to my place. Now, I never had to face Mom's piercing stares, or her interrogations about Yeonji. I could no longer take them, so this incident finished at a fortunate time.

	It's all good, it's all good.

	"By the way, how long does this drug last? I still can't move my body at all..."

	"Hmm... Yeah, it was the first time actually using that drug after making it, too. I honestly have no idea how long it lasts for."

	"Whaaat?!"

	"Normally, it lasts for one hour if you take one pill, so I gave you two... But the way drugs work, they don't have double strength just because you take double. Maybe four times, maybe six times."

	"...?!"

	"...Well, maybe you'll be okay if you sleep and wake up--."

	"When do we get back home?!"

	"You can always go back home tomorrow. Sometimes I sleep here after playing games, if the traffic is jammed."

	"We're still students--!"

	...It took four more hours before we could move again.

	We could not simply explain that we were both quietly resting in the infirmary together, so we decided to say that we were working on a project at each other's homes.

	...Quite naturally, my mom's stares became more painful to withstand.

	### 006. Chapter 5. Clotaku Inauguration

	A

	closet

	otaku with a political agenda

	!

	Yeonji 201

	2

	!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	The next day, after school,

	I headed towards our infirmary, which had finally become our club's meeting room.

	My only mission to secure a clubroom was completed; and now, I just felt like resting in the peace of my own room, which was also thankfully freed from those dreaded meetings... but I would be killed if I did not attend our club meeting today.

	I had a feeling that Yeonji would immediately invade my home, anyway, if I didn't show up.

	I reluctantly dragged myself to the first floor, trying to reassure myself with the fact that my mom would not be supplied with any more stories to spread. I entered the infirmary, checked that no one was inside, and approached the inner door.

	Knock, knock.

	"Who's there?!"

	Yeonji's voice called out from within; as I expected, she had arrived earlier.

	More importantly, it's not so polite to go 'who's there' in that tone! What if anyone else knocked on the door? She should really be more careful.

	"It's me." I answered bitterly.

	She replied, "Who's 'me'?! Say the password!"

	... Did we have a password? I pondered for a minute, but nothing came to my mind.

	"It's me, Kang Injin. Stop kidding around and open up, or I'll just go home alone."

	Click.

	To my surprise, the door opened. From the open door, a black-haired girl of small frame walked out. Yeonji was pouting, clearly not in a good mood.

	"Hey."

	"Tsk."

	I greeted her half-heartedly

	;

	s

	he responded with a disapproving expression. What's the problem now?

	After a moment of grumbling and pouting, Yeonji complained

	,

	"When I tell you to say the password, just say anything you can think of! A man's gotta have some imagination! You're no fun."

	I ignored her nonsensical complaints and walked into the inner room. Although the entire infirmary was now our clubroom, our only usable space was this location.

	Yeonji closed the door shut and followed me as I walked in.

	She remarked, "I really think we should make a password for this room. Let's make one."

	"A password, all of a sudden?"

	It was really quite sudden. Yeonji immediately replied as if she were waiting for me to ask.

	"It sounds like it could be fun. ...And we could stop any intruders from getting in."

	...It was pretty obvious that she had thought up the second part as an excuse just now.

	"Stop any intruders? Do we really have to do that, when you and I are the only ones who will come here? We could just figure it out from our voices."

	"You might catch the cold and lose your voice!"

	If you're sick enough that you'd lose your voice, it's probably better that you stay home!

	I remained in silence, though I had many retorts in mind. A lesson I had learned since meeting Yeonji is that the saying 'silence is golden' is true.

	"It's going to be fun for sure! We make a password that only Otakus would know. If I ask '*sune', you answer with 'Mi', and so on. Dumb, normal people wouldn't be able to answer, so they'd have to give up right away. Only the true Otakus get to enter the room! How is it?"

	I remained true to the proverbial saying as Yeonji gave her speech. If we were to actually use that password, I'll probably kill myself first.

	I asked,

	"What about the people who need to ask for permission to stay in the infirmary?"

	"They don't matter." Yeonji replied, as if nothing in the world truly mattered to her, "Anyway, let's set our password! This week's question and password will be 'a certain' and 'magical *****'. If you don't answer correctly, I'm not going to let you in here. Remember it!"

	It's going to change every week?!

	At the top of my throat were the words 'stop this crap right now', but I did my best to not betray the proverbial saying. However she interpreted my silence, Yeonji seemed pleased

	;

	I

	was finally able to put my

	backpack down and enter the room.

	"Hello, Miss Yu." I greeted the nurse. All this time,

	s

	he had been giving us a discomforting stare from behind the computer desk

	, giggling.

	"...Fufufu." The nurse nodded and smiled

	in response.

	As I wondered about the meaning behind that smile, Yeonji seated herself in a couch directly across the table. She seemed to have something to say.

	When I turned away from the nurse and gave her attention, Yeonji cleared her throat and began

	her l

	ittle

	speech.

	"Yesterday, we finally established the Clotaku Club."

	...All we did was acquire a room for the club, but considering how we were planning on doing this unlawfully, I guess we can say we 'established the club'.

	"So, what about it?"

	"What do you mean, 'what about it'? When groups are established, isn't it obvious that something must be done to raise the morale and cohesion amongst the members?"

	"Like, a party?"

	"No," Yeonji shook her head, "Well, that's good too... but I'm talking about an inaugural ball!"

	"Inaugural ball?"

	I still had no idea what she exactly wanted to do.

	"I'll summarize for you. I'll introduce the reason for this club's creation, the history of the members, the purpose behind the club, and the future goals and such. Then announce our loyalty to the club, and then we have a grand party where we can eat and drink."

	"Um, uh... Ah, okay."

	I wondered to whom she wanted to introduce our club, but I waited in silence. Answers reveal themselves to those who wait; the answers are always in your heart.

	"So, now, to celebrate our first club meeting... We'll have an inaugural ball with the three of us! Yaay--!"

	"...Yay."

	After that energetic announcement, Yeonji jumped off the couch. She turned around to face the nurse, who had a sour face, and I.

	She began, "First off, I'll speak about the purpose of our club. Attention, everyone!" As if it were her dream to say 'attention everyone', she continued energetically, "To start off, our first mission is to be Otakus!"

	As if I didn't know that!

	"After school, every day, we gather here to establish communication between us Clotakus, and we enjoy Otaku activities. That is the most important philosophy behind our club."

	"Maybe 'philosophy' is pushing it..."

	"Shut up!" Yeonji suddenly slammed down on a desk, causing an annoyed look to surface on the nurse's face. "It might sound unimportant, but this is a mission that explains what we are! By being an Otaku here, we get rid of any dark urges by expending all of it here. Our activities in the Clotaku Club will solidify our existence as Clotakus!"

	"Really?"

	"Of course. So, in here, you can do whatever you want! Acting like a 2nd year in middle school, being a lolicon, it's all okay! Saying 'uguu' or 'auu', or even '-desu' are all fine! Right, when we greet each other, let's use 'ohayo'!"

	"...I'll keep in mind."

	Stop looking at me like you're saying 'so try doing all of that now'! And, seriously, being a lolicon just can't be safe, not just as an Otaku, but as a human being.

	"And for our second mission!"

	Yeonji began. We had another mission?!

	"Yes, this is our ultimate goal, and the guiding principle that will decide what we need to do for the rest of our lifetime. Listen well."

	"Lifetime goal? That's a pretty huge scale."

	"Yes it is. Our second goal is... we will transform this country into a peaceful land where Otakus are not discriminated against!"

	"...That's not gonna happen in our lifetime!"

	I thought she had mentioned that to the nurse in an act of desperation. Apparently, she was serious.

	"It has been many decades since the Otaku culture spread from a country beyond the sea. Since then, a certain minority called the 'Otakus' appeared in our country. And, as we know, the society is not too accepting of them!"

	Yeonji looked around the room as she talked, as if to survey an imaginary crowd of several thousand people.

	"However, in the last few years, the term 'Otaku' spread around enough that the common folk use it. Also, although we have many Otakus in the higher social order, people's attitudes towards Otakus relaxed only by a tiny bit."

	Just a tiny bit?

	"Because a single level in the social order isn't enough to change an idea over an entire society..."

	Yeonji prepared herself,

	"If the ruling parties of this country were to all become Otakus, then the society's opinion will naturally turn around 180 degrees!"

	"You seriously think that's possible?!"

	Our republic, ran by Otakus?

	That's just too sil

	ly.

	Yeonji continued, completely unfazed

	;

	"What's so impossible about it? A prime minister in a neighboring country got a certain beautiful nickname after getting caught reading a manga. With only one guy like that, people would go 'what kind of loser is he?' But if all of the higher-ups were Otakus, people would instead go 'is that such a good thing? Maybe I should try it out, too!'"

	I had nothing to say to that. Her argument was ridiculous from the hypothesis, all the way to the conclusion.

	"Heh heh, once the two-thirds of our parliament gets filled wth Otakus, and then a bunch of Otaku-friendly legislation are written and passed, we're gonna end up with an Otakracy!"

	"Okay, seriously, I'm an Otaku too, but even I

	think that's

	just stupid

	!"

	"When it comes to Otaku laws, both the conservatives and the liberals would rise to pass legislation that favor the Otaku. It will be a textbook example of political landslide victory! The major parties might even merge together into the New Otaku Party."

	"That sounds like the start of the parliament's doom! A

	lso

	, how much of the

	population has to be Otakus so that th

	e Otaku

	party is the ruling party?!

	"

	"Oh, the population won't be really full of Otakus."

	"Then how did they get any votes for their power-?!"

	"Those Otakus were all Clotakus before then. Until the election was over and the first parliamentary meeting took place, no one could have known that they were Otakus."

	"What are they, some sort of Trojan virus?!"

	"If they just act like an average politician and get elected... Then we'll have an Otaku country, ran by Otakus, for Otakus!"

	"... The way that the politicians are

	forgetting

	the people who voted for them, it's not so different from what we have

	right now

	..."

	"Doujinshi Reading Act passed in the parliament. One-figma policy also passed. Every morning, each household will receive a translated doujin along with the newspaper. The citizens would be utterly shocked."

	"Don't do anything that'll make the citizens utterly shocked-!"

	The worst part was that the citizens would be made to read the doujins first, rather than their original work!

	"So, once we pass legislation like Television Anime Broadcast Time Standardization or National Otacare Law, South Korea's Otaku power level would pierce the heavens. Like Ota-Lagann

	!

	"

	"The value of Yen would end up piercing the heavens..."

	We'd pretty much be handing over our national treasury to our neighboring country.

	"Heh... Everything I had said so far is only a small part of my grand scheme. I'll tell you the rest of it when we have time. I'll make sure that you'll take part in my Otaku ruling party."

	"..."

	As it turned out, the founder of the Otaku party was going to be the girl in front of me. I was stupefied, seeing a glimpse of Yeonji's stupidly huge ambition.

	She puffed up and pompously concluded, "Thusly, the Clotaku Club's second mission was that thing I just said."

	"It's just a 'thing you said' to you..."

	It was difficult to imagine what her entire scheme could be like.

	"So-! In summary, first we promote Clotaku lifestyle, so that the society has a more relaxed attitude towards Otakus. At the same time, we improve our position in the society and become the upper class. Then, we use our influence to pollute the entire nation."

	She said 'pollute'. She actually said 'pollute'! At least Yeonji recognized that she was on the good guys' side.

	"Okay,

	even if I accept that you're

	making

	some sense

	, isn't that dream kind of too big for a small school club?"

	"Hmph, you gotta aim high to succeed! You can't survive this world with a pansy attitude like that!"

	Yeonji's vision of our society seemed to be

	a place

	where sanity is mercilessly unappreciated.

	"And I'm not an idiot; I'm not saying we're going to do everything in three years."

	"Well, yeah, even if three years pass, you don't have the rights to get elected into the parliament."

	"I-I knew that much!" yelled Yeonji, raising her eyebrows, "I'll spend my three years in this school to test out my plans in smaller scale! If you think about what's special about this school, you should be able to see how our club activities here can become a good foundation for my plan."

	"Something special about this school?"

	"It's the Eunsung high school. What else do I need to say?" Yeonji asserted, "South Korea's most powerful school for elites! It's a place where the country's brightest people are gathered. At least half the people from this school will end up having significant power in this nation. I'll guarantee you that."

	"Yeah, I guess..."

	All of the students here were recognized as geniuses, and they will graduate with the backing of Eunsung's name. They weren't likely going to grow up to be an average Joe, for sure

	;

	t

	he fundamental principle of this school was to raise the elites of

	our society.

	"So, I'm saying that I'm going to exercise the philosophy behind this school's existence. Before I graduate, I'll make sure everyone who graduates from here is an Otaku, before anyone even finds out."

	"What are you saying?!"

	If the school's administration were to hear of this, Yeonji would be kicked out of here before anyone even finds out.

	"Really, this is a serious strategy. As we seed in the Otaku mindset in the future politicians, we set the groundwork for electing an Otaku ruler. In other words, it's an Otaku lobbying scheme."

	Yeonji sounded like a spy trying to spread Communism throughout South Korea. Her eyes beamed as if to outwardly express her desire for revolution; it was almost scary.

	I wondered if the school had any idea that they had accepted a revolutionist this year. I started getting worried.

	"Wait... You didn't come to Eunsung just for that reason, have you?"

	"I-I don't know."

	Yeonji replied, turning around to face away from me. Why can't you say 'no'...?

	"W-well, anyway," said Yeonji, under my judging glare, "we're going to have many things to accomplish from now on. As the leader, I'll guide you in the right direction, so you just have to believe me and do what I say. Hm- okay, do you have anything to ask? I said everything I needed to."

	...And she totally forgot that she was going to do a speech about the members, and the history of this club or something. She was probably feeling too lazy to say the rest of it.

	After a while, I raised my hand. "I have one thing to ask..."

	"Alright, what is it~?" said Yeonji, like a teacher who was happy to hear a question from a student.

	"You keep saying 'Clotaku', 'Clotaku'... So, are we seriously sticking with that name? It's a bit..."

	...It sounds terrible.

	Before that, the entire nature of the club is outright explained in the name itself. If it's a club for closeted Otakus, shouldn't it at least try to hide everything in the name? We could call it a 'modern society research club' or something similar.

	"But we're the only ones who'd know about it!" replied Yeonji, in a frustrated tone, "The name of the club isn't important; it's what we do that's important. We don't even have this registered, so who cares if we call this 'Hentai research club' or 'adult video filming club' or whatever?"

	Such a terrifyingly inappropriate remark did not fit her cute face.

	"Even if we're the only ones saying it, isn't it the feel that's important? I think we can have a better name than 'Clotaku Club'."

	Only someone like Yeonji could be fine with 'our Clotaku Club'. A guy like me simply won't be okay with a title like 'Clotaku Club' defining who he is.

	"Sheesh, you're so persistent!" Yeonji pouted and exclaimed, "Fine, if you really want to, let's think up a better name. ...How's SOS Brigade?"

	"...What does it stand for?"

	"Seo Yeonji's Otaku Sentimentalizing Brigade."

	"That's a terrifying name!"

	It was terrifying in many different ways. And the name is a direct rip-off!

	"It's not a rip-off! It's a parody!"

	"...Is that so. Anyway, forget that name. I have a feeling we'll be in a world of copyright troubles."

	"Psh... Then how's the Otaku Neighbors Club? Established because we can't find Otakus around, we gather people who want to make Otaku friends..."

	"Why do you have to pick only the major titles to rip off?!"

	To start with, did she really have to refer to fictional works just to think up a club name? I sighed.

	Yeonji retorted in an annoyed voice. "Hmph, I told you, the name of the club isn't too important. If you really want a different name, come up with it later. For now, we'll just call it 'Clotaku Club' as a temporary thing. Once our club becomes official, we'll give it a name and assign positions in the club to the members."

	"Do we even have proper positions to speak of in this club?"

	"We have positions right now. I'm the leader, the nurse is the supervisor, and you're a member. Done." replied Yeonji, almost immediately.

	"That's stupid!"

	...Is it just me, or am I the only unimportant person in here?

	Yeonji narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Once we have more members in the club, we'll split this group into anime club, manga club, and light novel club, and I will become the big boss. By that time, we'd have registered this club and we would have risen to the top. You got that?"

	Yep. Basically, we're stuck with 'Clotaku Club' forever. Realizing this, I shut my eyes and gave up questioning her.

	Happy with the progression thus far, Yeonji giggled and declared, "Alright, then we're done with that topic... And so our inauguration ball ended in success! Yaay-!"

	"...Yay."

	Yeonji ended the meeting selfishly, much like how she started it. Somehow, she seemed to believe that we made progress. It was too silly to call it a meeting at all, but at least I found out the basics of Yeonji's plan.

	...In summary, she's a scary girl.

	Though I never expected that the big party after the meeting would ever happen, the nurse began, "Hey... is it over now? You can get some drinks from that fridge over there, if you want."

	"Pardon me?"

	"We're celebrating the success of the inaugural ball," the nurse smiled, her chin resting on her hand, "I only have cup noodles to eat, but I can at least serve drinks, right? Get me coffee, while you're at it."

	"Hmm? Ah, oh, uh, sure."

	I walked over to the fridge in the corner of the room and got the drinks. I thought I saw a bunch of blood packs in there, but I ignored it. It's the infirmary, so, I guess that's normal...?

	Yeonji grabbed the can of Sikhye without a moment's hesitation, and the nurse took the can of coffee. I returned to the couch and opened a can of cola.

	"Thanks for the drinks, Miss Yu."

	I took a sip from the can. Yeonji was already done with her drink, and she was struggling to get the last bits of the rice within the can. She's too childlike, sometimes.

	I continued sipping my cola as I thought about the lack of manners of teenagers these days. Yeonji was now hunting for the rice by shoving her finger inside the can. The nurse was drinking her coffee as she played something (probably a visual novel) on the computer.

	The room was quiet for a while, other than the occasional sound of mouse clicks from the nurse and weird grunts from Yeonji.

	"...By the way," I began, no longer able to withstand the silence, "What do we... exactly do from now on? The club activities, I mean."

	"Nyuu-n?" Yeonji stopped fiddling with the can and faced me. "What do you mean?"

	"Well, we have a club room, and we finished the inauguration or whatever, so shouldn't we start the club activities now? But what do we do?"

	"Just do whatever you do as an Otaku." Yeonji replied confidently, "The first mission of Clotaku Club is to be Otakus! I said that five minutes and twenty-three seconds ago, you idiot. Do whatever you want. As long as you're in here, have the time of your life. End of story."

	"...Is that it?"

	Even if you say 'time of your life'...

	I had no clue where I should start. I pulled out the PXP from my backpack and quietly started a game, while Yeonji threw out her can and pulled out a light novel.

	We continued this trend for the rest of the day, until we had to go back home.

	...It wasn't all that exciting.

	### 007. Chapter 6. Clotaku Activities, Day 2

	Just another ordinary day at the club room!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	The next day, after school,

	It was only one day after the 'inauguration' of our Clotaku Club -- I ended up calling it 'Clotaku Club' myself -- and we gathered at the infirmary to continue our club activities.

	In this newly created club, the unbounded enthusiasm generated by its members truly pierced the skies; the members' growing excitement physically heated up this small club room.

	The members were eager to serve, and the supervising teacher selflessly offered them guidance. The club president had made great use of her awe-inspiring leadership to induct the geniuses of Eunsung into the club.

	In a single day, the club's name became widely known in the school. Numerous Otakus emerged from hiding to apply for the club, crowding the infirmary, and the club was growing bigger by every passing second.

	Little did they know by then, Eunsung High School's students were the first to witness the great beginnings of a powerful wave that would sweep the country...

	... would be what Yeonji could only dream for.

	At that moment, our club members' activities were as follows:

	1. Seo Yeonji, reading a light novel while having a drink that she had raided from the fridge as soon as she had arrived. Not a single noise was heard from her since then, other than the occasional giggling.

	2. Yu Youngseon (supervisor), who had been seated at her computer ever since I entered this room, playing a visual novel; she hadn't moved an inch from her seat. It was quite unsettling how she was staring intently into the monitor as if she were lovingly caressing it.

	3. Me, who entered the club room, witnessed the above two, then thought it would be for the best to not disturb them, and began playing a game on my PXP. The atmosphere of this room was seriouslyveryamazinglyextremely bothersome.

	'... What the hell is going on here? It's like I'm having deja vu; I thought I'd already seen this scene play out before in my life...

	... And this is the exact same crap we did yesterday! We're even sitting precisely at the same places as before!'

	It almost felt like I had gotten in a time machine and went back to the previous day.

	'Th-this is strange... does this happen all the time in school clubs? There's no way.'

	My expectation for a club activity was something more cheerful and energetic, where I could get in touch with my teenage soul and mind. Even if that's asking for too much, I'm sure 'club activities' don't involve scattering around the room and not exchanging a single word for hours!

	The level of awkwardness I was feeling at the moment was akin to the level of an Otaku who had been forced into a blind date with a bunch of non-Otakus.

	It was a terribly, horridly awkward moment.

	With the atmosphere like that, I couldn't continue playing my PXP quietly. I halfheartedly mashed the buttons as I patiently waited for the two others to make a move.

	After thirty minutes of aimless mashing, Yeonji finally closed her novel. Oh, finally.

	"Phew--"

	Yeonji put the closed book in her bag as she sighed deeply. It must have been a decent read.

	"Niiiyyaaaa--"

	She slid off from the couch and began stretching, turning her upper body from side to side. Cracking and snapping sounds came from her waist. She sat in the same posture for an entire day, that was to be expected.

	After shaking her small body around for a while, she nodded to herself, satisfied. She looked like a kitten after a long yawn.

	"Hmm, hmm."

	Yeonji sat back down in her seat, stretching her neck. Then, right before my desperation-filled eyes, she scrounged around in her backpack, and produced the next novel to read--

	"Sttttttooooooppp iiiiiiiiiiiittttttttt--!!"

	I shouted with all my might.

	"Agh! Why'd you scream like that, all of a sudden?!"

	Yeonji briefly squirmed, and then angrily glared at me. She was honestly surprised, apparently. This time, however, I did not just stand idly.

	"Oh, come on! How can you people just do nothing all day?! It's been two whole hours since I got here, and everyone's been doing their own crap all this time! We went through so damn much to get this club, and what we're doing is exactly the same as what we normally do when we're by ourselves! I don't even remember why I'm here in the first place!"

	My pent-up emotions burst out as if I were casting the Five-Finger MeraOOOO. Yeonji was momentarily stunned by my outburst, but she quickly recovered and then nodded in agreement.

	"Nyu-n... ...You're right, I guess. Since we're all here, we might as well do something together."

	"Did I really have to shout to make you realize that?!"

	I thought I should shut up and let her continue, but...

	"Then, should we play a dating sim together?"

	"That's not a group activity--!!"

	...Of course, Yeonji just said something stupid again.

	"No no, even dating sims can be played as a group. People make co-op modes for that now, you know."

	"Co-op dating sim?!"

	That was the first I had ever heard of it! What even is that?

	"Yeah, it's in a 2D fighting game format."

	"What kind of dating sim plays out like a fighting game?!"

	"If you fight and take damage, you character's clothes rip off. Once one character's health gets depleted, the winner does all sorts of terrible things to the loser."

	"That's not a dating sim! There's none of the 'dating' in there!"

	What's worse is that you actually want to play that with a guy!

	"Hmph, if that's not good enough for you, there's always an MMO-style dating sim."

	"MMO dating sim?!"

	Even more new-age concepts entered the fray.

	"Yep. Like a normal MMORPG, you just make your account and character, and get right into playing it."

	"...I have a feeling that game will fail, since everyone will be male characters."

	"That's okay. In that game, the heroines are basically AI characters that spawn randomly across the world."

	"...Before we move on, it actually is about dating, right? You don't just hack and slash the heroines down, right?"

	"Of course not! You date them normally."

	"Well, that's surprisingly norm--"

	"When you enter the first village, a gentle-looking old man gives you a quest, like, 'go to the east of this village, win over 20 brunettes, and bring back their panties.' As you finish those quests, you level up and take on higher-level girls."

	"--Not normal at all!"

	That is a seriously messed up system. What kind of gentle-looking old man gives a screwed up quest like that, anyway?! And I don't even get how the 'combat' system works. What do you even do with the girls?

	"Oh, you just give them presents or say nice things to them."

	"That's just horribly-..."

	...People let that kind of thing in our country? Are our game publishers actually owned by monsters? It was almost impressive how twisted the game is.

	"And you can go on big raids, too, since some girls are impossible to beat with only one player... so you'd need at least a group of 20 people working on them at the same time to win them over."

	"...And I almost thought it might be a decent game..."

	It gave me a headache to imagine a huge group of male characters surrounding a single heroine to all court(!) with her at the same time.

	"While joining a party is primarily for those big raids, playing solo still gets frustrating when there are jerks around who steal your heroines at the very last moment. It's infuriating when that happens."

	"You can even get date-stolen..."

	I gave up thinking about the game seriously.

	"If that's not enough, you can always make other players look bad to make yourself look better to the heroines in comparison. Or you can quietly knock the heroines out with a baseball bat, so you can force a hospital scene, though you'd probably be doomed if you get found out."

	"That puts other open-world games to shame, huh."

	According to Yeonji, the game takes place in some lawless dystopian world.

	After my repeated visions of terror, I no longer had the energy to continue listening. Before I shut up entirely, I asked Yeonji a final question:

	"So, what is that game? Where's it from?"

	It seemed probable that the game may have been produced in this country, but at the same time, it seemed amazingly unlikely that such a game would be allowed in the first place. Though I have zero interest in gaming, if such a game existed, at least some of the websites I browse would have had something about it. A game that was close to its release, maybe?

	"Huh? You really believed it? Of course a game like that wouldn't exist. I just made it up."

	"Oh, screeeewwww yooouuu--!"

	I've been had.

	"Heh, even if South Korea is known for mass-producing all sorts of online games, what kind of brainless company would decide to make a game like that? I thought, 'what if I made a game myself?' And so I ended up with those ideas. Wasn't it pretty great?"

	I should have known from the steady stream of horrifying ideas that she had been spouting; she came prepared. Thanks to that, I felt pretty idiotic.

	Yeonji crossed her arms and mischievously grinned, obviously happy that I foolishly believed her.

	"Fufufu... Well, from your reaction, I can see that the ideas aren't completely unusable. While we probably can't make that game with our current technology, once I become a ruler of this country and our technology is at a good level... Nii-hee-hee-hee!"

	Yeonji laughed like a maniac. I learned at that moment that she wasn't just interested in ruining the South Korean government, but also our gaming industry.

	Since the scale of the game was indeed too huge, I stopped worrying about her plan. At least she wasn't likely going to suddenly give up on high school to become an indie game developer.

	...But honestly, if a game like that existed, I'd play it just so see what it would be like. As long as I don't end up getting involved in its production.

	After some more banter on similar topics, it was already time to go back home.

	At one point, the nurse also became engaged in our scholarly discussion about dating sims-- and after that was the end of our daily club activity.

	When I looked at my watch after our discussion, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly time had passed while I was engrossed in the conversation.

	Although the fact that we accomplished nothing important did not change...

	Somehow, I had more fun than I did yesterday.

	### 008. Part 1

	fanfare

	Lo,

	her royal subjects

	! Her Majesty makes her grand entrance to the series!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	Lunchtime.

	If it were any other day, it was the time to run to the cafeteria like a lemming sprinting 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 found myself walking towards the infirmary, feeling like I've chewed on a bug while eating.

	...Please excuse me if this situation sounds familiar.

	Really, if not for Seo Yeonji, why would I deny myself my own lunch break to take a trip to the infirmary on such a fine day? I'd have to be insane to go by my own will.

	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 know what I had in my hands at the time: a bunch of random crap that I've been moving with all my effort. There were consoles like the PX3, PX2, along with their various games, light novels and manga, animation DVDs, and even a few board games. They were items that could be summarized as 'Otaku goods' 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 from Yeonji this morning...

	Yes, a letter.

	The first thing I found after taking a seat at my desk in my homeroom was a letter-- written in a font that was all too familiar.

	She probably had a few envelopes left over from the last time.

	Just in case it's unclear why Yeonji was still using such a cumbersome way of messaging me, Yeonji and I still haven't exchanged our phone numbers. I see her every day anyway, and I always assumed she wasn't the type to text too often, so I never got around to asking for her number. Yeonji didn't seem to want mine, either, so that was how it was.

	The unfortunate side effect was that she had to communicate by mail, which brought back a few unpleasant memories of mine.

	In any case, the content of the letter with a picture of a chick was:

	"I brought all my Otaku goods that I've been hiding in my house. They're at the security office now, so bring them over to our club room at lunch. If you ever slack off, I'll have you executed by impalement."

	'Heh, I guess even Yeonji realized that we have nothing to do at the club. It's probably a manga or two that she brought, but damn it, lunch time again?! I better do it as quickly as possible, so I can enjoy my lunch for once.'

	...That was my naive, optimistic plan at the time. No one could have ever expected that Yeonji owned this much crap! When I entered the mentioned security office without a clue, the room resembled a storage room than anything else; a huge percentage of the room consisted of stacks of boxes at that moment.

	It had been thirty minutes since I began moving the first stack of the boxes, cheered on by the security guard who had been devastated by the sight of his office. And yet, the mountain of boxes did not decrease in size at all.

	...How the heck did she manage to bring everything to school in the morning, and why? Is she insane?

	Though, I did find it strange that the letter was in my desk by my very first class in the morning. She probably prepared everything extremely early in the morning.

	She has guts, I'll give her that. How could she leave the Otaku goods with the security guard so carelessly

	?

	I have no idea what he might have done if he saw what was in the boxes.

	'Crack! Bang!'

	"Oh- crap! Noo!"

	The bottom of the box exploded open within my hands.

	Stricken with panic, I hastily stopped its contents from falling out, renewing my surprise that the boxes were indeed filled with the PX console series and their various games.

	Seriously, Yeonji wanted to bring an entire PX3 to school? She's really bold.

	Anyway, she'd murder me instantly if I threw all of these away. I gathered the items back into the box and hugged the box as if it were a baby, and then I continued onwards to the infirmary...

	...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 throw away the box near the infirmary, and so I've been carrying only its contents.

	'This is seriously annoying

	!

	I never had the time to have my lunch, too.'

	Incidentally, Yeonji never specified that I needed to move everything before 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 should move everything after 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 infirmary with growing 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'm coming 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 unwelcoming face after she had learned that I was tasked with bringing 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 infirmary? Such unfortunate timing, too.

	'Well, she's not the type to spend a lot of time outside of her room, so she'd be back soon. I should get some rest on a bed in the mean time.'

	With that thought, I began finding a hiding spot for the items that I had practically threw down on the ground.

	But suddenly,

	'Knock knock'

	The most unfortunate noise echoed from the entrance of the infirmary.

	"Wha...?!"

	I reflexively turned around and saw a shadow looming on the opposite side of a translucent window. Add that fact up with the knocking from before... Was that a stranger 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 from Yeonji were in plain sight 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 immediately began hiding the Otaku goods as I let loose a loud scream. I need to hide them quickly!

	The looming shadow outside remained quiet, likely because no one answered the door. If I did not fully hide these cursed things in the mean time, my closeted Otaku life was going to 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 know who you are, but just wait! Just give an extra knock or two on the door- how impatient can you get?!'

	Before that thought began forming in my head, my body was springing to action.

	Faced with a life-threatening crisis, I instinctively jumped off the ground and leapt for a bed. I hugged the Otaku goods 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 a mantra to myself. Following that 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 not move towards the front door; instead, the noise was growing in intensity, approaching my direction.

	'Ah- oh, god, I'm so dead.'

	I hugged the items in my arms even tighter. If I were to show myself to a random stranger in this state...

	... Let's just say, it was a scene that I wouldn't even share it with another Otaku.

	With complete disregard to my train of thought, 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 the morning dew, yet it resounded with authority and power.

	The back of my head grew itchy; I could feel the owner of the voice fixing a 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 comment proved impossible, since my stressed heart and lungs 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."

	Something poked at my body from outside the blanket.

	Apparently, it was hoping for too much when I believed that I'd still look like I was sleeping after making so much noise; the voice that had called out was directed to someone who was wide awake.

	Aw, damn it all.

	I opened my eyes ever so slightly. In the narrow vision I had, I could see the finger that had apparently poked me.

	"...Ahem, cough, cough." I coughed awkwardly.

	There was promptly an annoyed response,

	"You are very clearly pretending to be asleep, and yet you persist at being ignorant of my presence? ...Are you intending to make a mockery out of me?!"

	--Oh.

	My body suddenly shook; I was struck with a mysterious, overwhelming feeling from the girl's speech. How should I describe it...? It was a familiar feeling, one that I was sure to have felt before in my life, yet impossible to comfortably withstand.

	Yes, to bluntly describe it--

	"Hmph, what do you think you are doing? If you received the honor of being addressed by me, you should at least have the manners to face me properly! It is regrettable that the only man here is an uncultured brute."

	...It was the feeling of proxy embarrassment. I cringed by bodily reflex, my throat began to itch, and I felt the ends of my fingers and toes roll inward. Dry, hacking coughs followed.

	I turned around with the motion of a robot.

	Standing in front of me was a lone girl.

	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 maturity to her face that was incomparable to an average high school student, and her shapely physique added up to a certain display of beauty.

	She stood, hands mounted on her thin, curved waist, looking down at me like a great 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 imposed a relaxed dress code (anything goes as long as you work hard) but dyeing your hair was strictly forbidden. So, what explains her golden hair?

	'Wait, no, maybe that's her natural hair! A foreign exchange student, or something inherited from an English parent? Wasn't that kind of character trait only found in games?'

	"Sigh-."

	As if to make light of my surprise, the girl elegantly brushed her golden hair aside with her smooth hands. In contrast, her face displayed anger.

	"How rude, expressing such surprise whilst beholding my visage! Have you lost your mind after gazing at my beauty? You should know your place, peasant."

	Uuuuugghhh...

	I shook once more at the creeping feeling flowing through the tips of my limbs.

	'I... I never thought I'd hear something like that in the 3D world!'

	Within the flood of pain so powerful that it could dismember me the moment I lose focus of myself, I realized a critical fact: whether she is a foreign 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 in my hands, her power would have overloaded it, causing it to explode.

	As said before, Otakus can easily recognize other Otakus.

	At that moment, the Otaku detector within me screamed uncontrollably, indicating that the girl in front of me was, without any need for further confirmation, a pure Otaku.

	My body tensed up and froze. I brought all of my attention to the Otaku goods 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 timidly, overwhelmed with a strong desire to get out of the situation. I talked in a very polite tone for some reason.

	From a quick glance in her direction, she was a first year student without a name

	tag 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 me so impolitely, you ignorant peasant!?'

	The girl smiled in satisfaction when I began to grovel.

	"At least you are wise for realizing your ignorance sooner. Hmph! I will forgive you. Let me ask one question; where is the supervisor of this room? I will allow you the honor of answering my question!"

	Someone, please, unfold my wound-up limbs. At this rate, I'm going to turn into a spiral galaxy!

	"I-I don't know. I think she might come back sometime soon-- probably..." I replied, sweating 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 she meant me or the nurse. Either way, my limbs were beginning to lose their functions. "...Regardless, what are you doing here?"

	Despite my silent prayers of 'Please leave if you're done asking questions!' the girl asked with a hint of suspicion. Why are humans such inconveniently curious creatures?

	"Huh? Oh, uh... I have a slight stomachache right now... I'm just resting 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 some time when I took notice of her bright 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 mound on the bed sheet, propped up by the Otaku goods.

	"...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 away while I'm still on the bed, would she?'

	"Cough. Cough."

	"Hmmm...~?"

	As I awkwardly faked my coughs with a growingly red face, I felt the fiery glare from the golden-haired girl attack my back.

	Before I had any chance to brainstorm my potential responses to her inevitable question of what was under the blanket, she had already opened her mouth to speak...

	"You--..."

	'Nooo--!'

	'Rattle- Rattle-'

	But then, the infirmary door began sliding open. Then entered the voice of Yu Yeongson, "Is... someone there?"

	'Oh, hell, that was too close.'

	It couldn't have been a better time. The nurse wandered over to us and, upon seeing the girl, greeted her with a tinge of tiredness, "Oh, my... So, it was you."

	"How are you, Miss Yu?"

	It seemed that the nurse knew the girl.

	The nurse's droning voice continued, "...I'm pretty sure I gave my answer for our talk from before. Do you have something else to tell me?"

	"I had been on the case myself, but I haven't made much progress. I came here to ask you if you might reconsider."

	"Reconsider..." replied the nurse, sounding uncomfortable, "Well, okay... Then, should we talk? Let's go 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 from her glare that she was still suspicious of me.

	"Then, let's go inside. ...Hey, it's almost the end of lunch! You should also get 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 room, I placed the Otaku goods under the bed and escaped the infirmary. She would take care of the stuff there later.

	I amazed myself with how nervous I had become. Sweat covered my entire back. I couldn't imagine what terrible things might have happened if the nurse did not appear at that moment.

	...Still, I wonder what was up with that girl.

	Reminded of the terrible, judging stare that had bombarded my back side, I suddenly began fearing for my future.

	* * *

	Later that day, after school,

	After successfully moving all the remaining boxes, encouraged by Yeonji's unending rage, I fell down on the club room floor in total exhaustion, groaning, "I... I did it-..."

	I reaffirm that a normal human mind can't possibly comprehend Yeonji's behavior.

	Wasting no time, Yeonji began screaming at me like a slaver cracking her whip.

	"Wha-?"

	"Don't go 'wha-'! If you're done moving them, then open them and organize everything that's inside! Hmm-- Hey, nurse! Can I put my manga and light novels on those shelves? You won't need to keep those medical books in a club room, anyway, right?"

	"Mmh, sure!" The nurse replied, bearing a grimace. Though it'd be rude to say this, I'm sure her future children would grow up to be spoiled brats.

	Yeonji frantically ripped open the boxes as I gave a worried glance. After some time, she turned around to shout, "Alright! Take out all those weird, thick books from those shelves and replace them with these! What are you doing, get over here!"

	"...You're talking to me...?"

	This wouldn't have happened if Yeonji organized the books instead of reading light novels as I was moving those boxes. Plus, I was extremely tired; thanks to a certain someone, I was starving and overworked over my only lunch break.

	"No whining!" Yeonji snuffed out my complaints with a single command. "A man's gotta have dedication and tenacity! Can you really call yourself a man after getting tired from carrying a box or two? If you don't have any strength, I'll transfer mine over."

	"Aaargh!"

	She jumped out of her shoes and began harshly kneading my sides with her feet. What the hell?

	"Ow! Hey, hey, hey! It hurts! How could you step on a person like that?! Stop it, now!"

	I screamed in pain and surprise at the sudden ambush. In response, writhing around in pain on the couch.

	Yeonji's pink lips distorted into a smile, then she put extra strength to her feet and replied, "Why? My daddy asks me to push harder when I knead on his back like this."

	"That's a completely different scenario!"

	So don't make that face that says 'Why don't you ask me to step on you harder, too?'!

	Though, rather than the pain inflicted on my sides, the fact that I could see underneath Yeonji's skirt was more unsettling.

	Whether or not she knew, she teased me in an uplifted tone, "Hmph, blushing from getting stepped on by a lady like that-- Are you actually happy about it? Be honest."

	"Are you insane?! That's not true at all!"

	"Wh-what's the reason for it to be completely untrue?!"

	My immediate response was met with Yeonji's temper. Would you rather have me be a pervert who gets happy from getting stepped on by a girl?!

	"Now, now, don't fight..."

	Stopping the stalemated battle between the energetic Yeonji and I, the nurse's face bore a disturbing smile like she had seen the world's greatest S&M-themed visual novel.

	"Since Injin here looks too tired today, why don't we stop here... and clean up the rest tomorrow. I'll help you then, too," said the nurse, keeping her smile up while talking to the very same girl who called her medical journals as 'weird thick books'. That's how adults are different from kids, I suppose.

	"Hmph!" grunted Yeonji, looking very displeased in contrast to my awestruck gaze for the nurse. "Then, we'll do the rest tomorrow. Let's relax for now."

	"You've been relaxing all this time, you jerk."

	Ignoring my condemnation, Yeonji hopped away on one leg to retrieve her shoe that had been thrown away.

	After watching Yeonji with a playful smile, the nurse spoke, "...Injin?"

	"Yes?"

	"Get yourself a drink from the refrigerator."

	"...Okay."

	...I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I took her offer nonetheless.

	* * *

	After the raging war between Yeonji and I,

	Having enjoyed a moment of relaxation with a drink from the refrigerator, I had a chance to ask the nurse, "By the way, who was that girl who came here during lunch?"

	I had almost forgotten about it when I was too busy moving the boxes. I remembered the terrible ordeals I suffered because of the golden-haired girl almost finding out about the Otaku goods.

	At that time, the only thought racing through my head was that I should escape from the infirmary. In retrospect, however, the nurse and the girl obviously knew each other, so I became curious of the girl'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 my only break time by Yeonji's tantrums. "Yeah, I met this girl while I was moving the boxes earlier..."

	I didn't feel like explaining in detail, so I gave a summary: golden hair, blue eyes, first year student, and embarrassing tone of speech.

	I hoped that Yeonji would not become overly interested if I gave her fewer details. However, her actual reaction was completely unexpected.

	"It's the Pubtaku Queen..." muttered Yeonji, making a face like she had a glop 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 culmination of all Otakus of Eunsung. 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 meant. Moving away from Yeonji's grumblings, I turned to the nurse for clarification.

	"That girl... her name is Eun Yerin--," began the nurse, "And she's easily described as a 'Publicized Otaku' (Pubtaku). She's been famous since middle school; a rumor goes, she brings a maid and a butler with her to school every day..."

	"A maid and a butler?!"

	They exist in real life?!

	"Hmph! That's not the worst part. I heard she brings 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 jumped between a non-fictional biography and a fantasy novel. At that level, it may as well have been a horror story.

	"Can... can she really do all that?"

	I meant to ask if the school was allowing all of that to happen. Yeonji misunderstood, baring her teeth and opening her eyes widely.

	She delivered a furious tirade, "Of course she can't! That kind of thing will kill the image of Otakus and interfere with the mission of the Clotaku Club! Do you know how much effort I put into repairing the 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 we were 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 and mumbling, Yeonji spoke again, "I'm not saying that 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."

	"Really? I couldn't tell at all myself."

	Without emanating the Otaku aura like that Yerin girl did, anyway.

	Yeonji explained, crossing her arms, "You can look out for them during the national history class. Kids who laugh at the 1920's 'Doujinshi' of the writer's society, those who giggle at 'Great scholar

	[1]

	' Yulgok Yi I, those who chuckle at the Korean prophecy of 'the Eighteen's Succession to the Throne

	[2]

	', they're all Otakus. I guarantee it."

	I was again amazed that she was extremely knowledgeable in Korean History... Though, the last joke wasn't really relevant.

	"However!" shouted Yeonji, flaunting her Otaku detection methods(?), "That girl doesn't stop there! If other Pubtakus are a threat, then she's a global emergency! I appreciate our Otaku culture just the same, but disrespecting coexistence with others and damaging the image of Otakus over a sense of superiority is unacceptable. She might think it's fine to do everything she does, but it's outright crazy to everyone else."

	"Nngh..."

	I groaned. Otaku's sense of superiority... it was a real thing. It's best explained as the behavior of Otakus where they are overly engrossed in the Japanese subculture, so much that they believe that other cultures are inferior. Of course, such behavior was directly opposing the meaning of being a Clotaku.

	"I also heard that she forces classmates to cosplay, or even force them to read visual novels until they appreciate it. The school's staff is quiet about it, too, so no words got out. But surely, this is going to be headline news someday."

	"Holy... seriously?"

	She was indeed insane. At that level, her misdeeds were on a completely different dimension compared to something like 'Hey, try this book out, it's pretty good!'.

	Only when we call it they are 'visual novels'. In the eyes of the common folk, they were usually seen as 'porn'. To force non-Otaku classmates to play such games was to plummet any tolerance this school had for the Otakus.

	And one more thing,

	"That Eun Yerin girl... who exactly is she? How can the school be quiet about her? Wouldn't she be expelled right away?"

	It was a question lingering in my mind before, and so I asked. How could Eun Yerin get away with such behavior?

	Though our school may not have strict rules, anything that would affect the academic pursuit of its students was absolutely forbidden.

	Undoubtedly, forcing students to read visual novels or do cosplays would ruin a studying environment, so the school must have done something by now. Why did the school leave the girl alone?

	Yeonji answered, pouting and sticking her lips out like a woodpecker.

	"Why? Because her grandfather is the CEO of the Eunsung Corporation."

	"... Really?!"

	I was astonished.

	"No, really. Her father is the chairman of Eunsung Electronics, and his brother is the director of this school. Everyone, including the principal, reports to her family. No one can stop the girl from doing whatever she likes. How can they?"

	"Wow..." I exclaimed.

	The surprise did not come from knowing that the granddaughter of the CEO attended this same school, but because such a person is an Otaku.

	I mean, really, it's not like skilled, smart, or rich people can't be Otakus, but it's still a big surprise that the granddaughter of the man who owns the nation's largest mega-corporation is an Otaku-- as if she was a fictional character from a game.

	I felt my mind blank while trying taking in this new information that was as unrealistic as winning the lottery.

	"If that's true... I guess the school can't do much."

	If there was one way for us to do anything, it could be the 'I'm gonna tell your grandfather!' But even that wasn't simple. Listening to her history, Eun Yerin's Otaku power level was clearly beyond repair, and all of the school's staff who let her act that way would incur the wrath of Eunsung.

	Another possibility was that, considering the degree of Yerin's maliciousness (if those terrifying stories were true) then that behavior might be of something from her entire family.

	Either way, the issue was too volatile to solve from our level.

	"Oh, wow, all of this is a huge surprise. I haven't heard of anything more shocking this year... How come I never found out about this before?"

	"Maybe your home room is too far away. Her coverage wasn't all that big, area-wise."

	That made sense. There were a lot of classrooms back at the middle school, too. If my home classroom was indeed too far away, it wasn't strange for someone like me, a transfer student in the final year of middle school, to have never heard of her.

	"...Hmm."

	Eunsung Corporation's future inheritor... It was a position that could be called the royal blood of the 21st century. The way she spoke did not seem so strange anymore after learning about her identity.

	--'Have you lost your mind after gazing at my beauty? You should know your place, peasant.'

	... ...Okay, never mind! My limbs are still tingly thinking about that. She's insane, no question.

	My body shook when I remembered the events during lunch. While I was still recovering from the thought, Yeonji began to speak with a conflicted expression.

	"Hmph, it'll only make you feel bad if you keep talking about her. So, let's play a game of Word Chain

	[3]

	."

	"...Word Chain, suddenly?"

	"Otaku Word Chain."

	"Otaku Word Chain?!"

	That was the first time I heard of it!

	"Otaku Word Chain is... as the name says, you're only allowed to use words that are from the Otaku culture. The rules are the same as the original game, but you can always add house rules." The nurse replied kindly from her seat. Wait, she knows what the game is, too?!

	"Hmph, the Otaku Word Chain game is already an established past time of the Otakus. When you see two Otakus meet, you can often find them playing the game... as often as you'd see Hailey's Comet."

	"That's once every seventy-six years-! No one's playing it, then!"

	"In addition, it's said that the Otaku Word Chain was conceived in the fourth or fifth century."

	"That's the age of Geunchogo of Baekje!"

	"That time was when the Seven-Branched Sword was given to Japan as a gift. No doubt, the Japanese Otaku culture drifted to Korea with that. It was an exchange of cultures."

	"Korea clearly lost out on that exchange!"

	"Alright, so the main rules of the Otaku Word Chain are..."

	She began the game as she pleased, my pleas unheard. As I struggled to follow Yeonji's pace in the conversation, she energetically began her exposition.

	"There is only one premise! Use Otaku words to play the Word Chain. Other than that, if you use an unrelated word, you have to explain why it might be related. If you can't do so, or the explanation isn't good enough, then you lose."

	"Sounds like public humiliation..."

	My face reddened, imagining myself saying 'Oh, the reason why this word is an Otaku word is...'. No, definitely not red because I'm excited.

	"And depending on where you are, there may be rules like '2 to 5 syllables only', 'multiple-of-eighteen-sexual-term', and so on! However, the most widely used rule is the 'unique subject pool' rule."

	"I'm extremely bothered by that 'multiple-of-eighteen' rule!"

	Where and why would people use that sort of rule?! Yeonji, however, coolly ignored my objection and continued, "To explain this 'unique subject pool' rule, whenever a word gets mentioned, if that word belongs to a particular work, then no word from that same work can get used. For example, if someone was to mention 'Ha[][]hi', then whatever happens, no one can mention any work from 'Melancholy-stricken Suzumiya Ha[][]hi-san.' No Na[][]to, no Mi[][]ru."

	"That's a pretty tough rule..."

	With that rule, the available pool of words would dramatically decrease with each turn. In addition, you would have to focus on the mistakes of other players, so the game demanded great concentration and care.

	"Well, as a variation, there's the 'extended unique pool' rule where you can't use the names of the related animation company or their other anime, and the 'hyper-extended unique pool' rule where you can't use the voice actors or the original author's other works, but those rules are reserved for the real pros... and so we stick with the unique pool rule."

	"...Ahh, okay."

	The world of Otaku was still mostly shrouded in mystery.

	"Then let's start right now! Give me a word!"

	Just as I began to nod from her explanation, she urged me to begin the game. Yeonji's eyes were beaming with competitive spirit, and so I gave in and started the game by giving the first name I could remember.

	"Uh... Fate/[][]'s 'Lancer'?"

	"Certain Magical [][]dex!"

	...She just eliminated a dozen words that I could have used!

	With the 'unique subject' rule in place, I could not use any more words from that franchise. I kept that in mind and continued.

	"Excel []ga."

	"Ga-[][] Zero!"

	"Ofuro."

	"Urobu[][] Gen!"

	"Gen... Gendou. Do I have to say the full name of the character every time?"

	"No, you don't have to. But, which Gendou are you talking about? If the name is common, you gotta mention what the character is from."

	"...Evan[]lion's Ika[] Gendou."

	"Alright. Hmm... Do-... Do-... Dojikko."

	"Kouga [][]pou Chou Basilisk-."

	Like so, we continued to exchange various names and terminologies. The game was pretty easy near the beginning, but it became progressively difficult as the number of usable words decreased.

	Yeonji, that jerk, kept using words from the largest franchises, so I found myself spending a very long time each turn to find a word.

	"Heh, did I just hear someone saying that he's quitting? Give me a term that starts with 'Sh-'!"

	Shut up, seriously.

	"Sh- ... sh-... Hmm..."

	It was not easy finding the right word; whenever I got close to finding one, it was from a franchise that had already been mentioned. Not only that, I began to forget which franchises were already mentioned and removed from the game... My head began to hurt.

	"...'Sister complex'

	[4]

	."

	Those words should have been my brilliant comeback, yet I felt dreary saying them. Am I really reduced to using these kinds of words?

	I sighed in relief for managing to survive another turn. Unfortunately, Yeonji had an evil grin slowly forming on her face.

	"Fufufu, you ended with a '-ssu' for the first time in this game!"

	"Wh- what's the deal...?"

	I felt an escalating sense of foreboding.

	"Fufufu-- digging your own grave like that. I will take your worthless life! Eat this, 'Ssuro-giganteni-paraskulssu---!'

	"..."

	What the hell was that? That doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard in my life! ...But what's the big deal, when I can counter it with another term that starts with 'ssu'?

	"Okay, uh... Ssu--..."

	"You're wasting your time thinking! The game's already over. I won!"

	"...Huh?"

	What are you talking about?!

	To my confusion, Yeonji had already struck a victory pose and smiled excitedly. She made the most childish expression I have ever seen and laughed, "Nyu-hee-hee! Sorry, but the last title I said is the Otaku Word Chain's game finisher. Whenever that name is mentioned in a game, the game is done right there."

	"What kind of rule is that?!" I objected immediately.

	Yeonji replied with the most punchable face,"It's this rule right here! 'Ssuro-Giganteni-Paraskulssu' is the name of the last boss from an amazingly obscure game called 'Ssuro-gigan Last Vampire.' In the setting, the full name is 'Ssuro-Giganteni-Paraskulssu-[][][]()()()()'!"

	Yeonji showed me a paper containing various, indecipherable symbols.

	"In the setting, the final six letters of the name are actually written in the language of the demons. No humans can say or hear that part! So, if you say that name, then you automatically win!"

	"Aren't you a human, too--?!"

	Top story: Earlier today, Miss Seo Yeonji (age 17) proclaimed that she is able to speak the language of the demons. In the wake of this new development, her comment was the following: "Heh, how rude! I clearly said the '[][][]()()()' at the end of the word. Of course, a human wouldn't be able to hear it... how unfortunate."

	"You're a huumaaan tooooo---!"

	Even if I have no evidence to disprove that she's a demon!

	"So, anyway, it looks like it's my victory! Fufufu, looks like you've reached the limits of your small potential."

	"Don't get cocky over winning against a beginner-!"

	This is one defeat I will never accept, Seo Yeonji! Just you wait.

	I ground my teeth in spite.

	The nurse gave us the look of a shepard watching sheep play on a meadow. Then she gave an advice, "That's alright, Injin. Next time, don't say anything that ends with 'ssu-'!"

	"That word, you knew about it too?!"

	Am I the only one who hasn't heard of it?!

	"It's pretty famous, you know. For being the Otaku Word Chain's undefeated move."

	Didn't someone mention that Ssuro-whatever is an extremely obscure game...? The developers would probably be sad about their game being famous in an unintended way.

	As I began to feel sympathetic for the developers of the 'Ssuro-gigan Last Vampire', the nurse continued to speak in her relaxed way.

	"Well... It's normally in a chat room or a blog where they play the Otaku Word Chain, so no one can do anything when you write '[][][]()()()'. Eventually, it got remembered as the uncontested victory word, so people started to use it outside of writing, too. You should remember that."

	"Ugh...."

	That 'Ssuro-', uh... whatever it was, from what the nurse said, it seemed to be the real deal amongst the Otaku Word Chain player base rather than one of Yeonji's random shenanigans.

	I'd bet that it was discovered solely for the sake of having an invincible move.

	There was only one defense: don't end the turn with something that ends with 'ssu-'.

	No need to think about anything else, you just had to use it and win. It was more of a fun trivia for the game than a cheat, so it was something you couldn't question and go 'Why does this even exist?!' ...But why not tell me about that secret move beforehand, instead of saying useless jabber like the 'multiple-of-eighteen' rule and other crap?

	I sighed, unable to object. A real man should never complain about the world being unfair to him, but instead he should contain the anger and vow for revenge.

	While I quietly made plans to start learning Otaku-related terms as soon as I get home, Yeonji jeered, "Now then, since you lost this time, buy me some topokki!"

	"How can you treat a beginner like this?!"

	And so, the day at the club ended in tragedy and learning an incredibly odd party game.

	As an aside, Yeonji seemed to be giving me strange looks on our way out...

	...Probably nothing, though.

	1.

	Hanja/Kanji for 'great scholar' is spoken the same way as a term for 'large breasts' that is most likely derived from the Otaku culture.

	↩

	2.

	Hanja/Kanji for a segment of the full word is spoken the same way as 'masturbation'.

	↩

	3.

	The Korean language has each letter separated syllable-wise; this causes the word chain to be based on the ending syllable of each word.

	See also the

	Japanese variant called

	Shiritori

	.

	↩

	4.

	'Shisuta Compuleksu'.

	↩

	### 009. Part 2

	Oh those glorious thighs! I think I may have a new fetish now.

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	The next

	day,

	My classes

	had ended earlier, thanks to the shorter schedule on Tuesdays. I had been

	mucking about uselessly in the meantime, wondering to myself if there would be

	any consequences from Yeonji if I attended the club later than usual.

	'There's

	going to be an intramural soccer game with Class 3 today... Maybe it's not too

	late to join.'

	Back when

	the news of the soccer match was going around, I was still busy running

	errands for Yeonji. To this moment, I regret that I hastily declined the offer to join

	the match because I wasn't sure if I would have any free time today. Adding

	salt to that wound, most of my free time had been wasted hanging around with

	Yeonji rather than it being spent on any of my hobbies.

	If I don't

	occasionally hang out with my classmates -- playing sports or going to karaoke

	with them or whatever -- I would forever bear the label of being the most

	boring guy in the class. Then they would reach the next natural question and

	go, 'Hey, what does that guy do in his free time?' And then my quiet life would

	be in danger.

	...On that

	note, how does Yeonji act outside of the club? Being a Clotaku isn't simply

	about not letting others take notice of your hobbies; it's more about

	presenting yourself as someone who doesn't have those hobbies in the first

	place. To understand and perfectly blend in with those outside of the Otaku

	culture is the main goal of being a Clotaku.

	...But it

	doesn't exactly make me proud that I believe something like that. Nevertheless,

	it led me to ponder about how Yeonji was doing in her class; the way she

	regularly talks like an Otaku, it's hard to not worry about her daily school

	life.

	Now I'm

	getting really curious, I thought. Hopefully I'll have a chance to find out in

	the future, though she never told me her class number before.

	...

	Somehow,

	deciding whether or not I should join the soccer match led to thinking about

	Yeonji. I emptied my mind with a violent shake of my head, and refocused on

	deciding my next destination between the club and the playing field.

	One hour

	couldn't hurt, I decided. Someone else could take over my spot if I had to

	leave. Even Yeonji shouldn't get too mad at an hour's delay. I'd always been

	thinking that I haven't been getting enough exercise lately, too.

	With that

	decision, I turned around and began walking--

	Bump

	--into

	somebody.

	"Ah,

	s-sorry, are you alright?" I apologized. I had carelessly collided into

	someone while my mind was at a blank state. I hadn't heard her approach at all;

	I must have been completely out of it at the time.

	"...I

	am fine."

	That

	'someone' was an unfamiliar girl, with immaculately straightened, red-tinted

	brown hair that was almost touching her shoulders, and her olive-brown eyes

	complemented by her noticeably long eyelashes. She was not particularly tall,

	but enough to be slightly intimidating.

	There was

	a certain, stern atmosphere to her, as if I could relax and go to her for any

	problems I might have in life, despite being the opposite gender as I. She was

	a strange girl.

	On her

	chest below her emotionless face was a white name card-- which meant she was a

	third year student in this school.

	'Aw, crap,

	she's an upperclassman!'

	The

	magnitude of my sorry feeling doubled at that instant.

	"S-sorry,

	Sunbae

	[1]

	. I wasn't paying attention and--."

	"...I

	am fine," she repeated, her tone resembling a robot's. I was in pain from

	that collision myself, yet her voice showed no sign of surprise. "I tend

	to walk without making any sound. It is not your fault, Mister Injin."

	...Mister

	Injin...?

	Weird

	honorific aside, she called me by my name just there, right?

	"Do

	you... know me?"

	"..."

	Her only

	reply was a silent stare. An awkward moment passed, leaving me in confusion.

	"...How

	complicated," she muttered.

	What's so

	complicated? If she was referring to the situation she'd created, then sure, it

	was complicated.

	Silence

	proceeded again, with Sunbae looking like she was attempting to solve the

	world's greatest mystery. I twiddled my thumbs and stood around for the lack of

	better things to do.

	"...I

	understand. Mister Injin, if you do not mind, can you turn around for a

	moment?"

	"...Huh?"

	I was

	taken aback at that request. I wasn't sure how I'd respond.

	"It

	is important for you, too. I beg of you."

	"Y-you

	don't have to beg... L-like this?"

	I had no

	idea why she had asked me to turn around, but I also wasn't too sure about

	saying "no" to a sunbae who was that insistent. It wasn't exactly

	difficult to do, anyway.

	I turned

	around and faced away from Sunbae. Then,

	"Thank

	you. Now..."

	POW!

	"Hurkgh..."

	An

	unexpected, brutish force struck down the back of my neck as soon as I turned

	around.

	Oh... What

	would be the best way to put it? I'd say... the closest description would be an

	extremely dull guillotine blade that made an attempt to slice through the skin

	of my neck.

	With the

	aforementioned force registered to my neck, I squeaked out a constricted cry of

	pain.

	"Ow...

	Nnng... ...?"

	Frightened,

	I sluggishly turned my body around. There was the sunbae, holding up a blunt

	blade that was the side of her hand.

	"...How

	complicated."

	"W-wait..."

	POW!

	"AARGH!"

	Another

	merciless chop cut through the air, digging into the side of my neck that was

	exposed from turning around. I felt like I could die.

	"Wh-why...

	ACK!"

	"...How

	complicated. I am terribly sorry."

	"N-no,

	what are you... Waagh..."

	"...Quite

	complicated."

	What's so

	complicated?!

	My

	consciousness finally began to fade out in pain, my questions still echoing in

	my head.

	...

	How long

	was I out?

	Just as I

	felt my mind return, my drowsiness was immediately chased away by a relentless

	flood of pain in my neck.

	"Ow..."

	The pain

	was exponentially worse than waking up in the morning after having slept with

	my neck twisted one way. Even the simple act of breathing sent a periodic,

	tidal wave of pain down the back of my neck. Attempting to turn my neck was

	considerably, unimaginably worse.

	My hand

	jumped and reached for my neck in response, but the effort was fruitless as my

	hands were tightly held behind my back.

	Out of the

	corners of my eyes, I could see duct tape plastered over my four limbs,

	constricting me to a wooden chair... Basically, I looked like I was in the most

	generic hostage scene ever.

	...How did

	this happen? I've never had the displeasure of getting knocked out in my life, but

	lately, every single day had been giving me a reason to lose consciousness.

	The first

	time was when the nurse gave me that drug, of course; back then, I'd felt like

	I was in the most life-threatening situation that I could possibly be in. I

	hoped for my life that this situation wasn't the same deal, if not worse.

	I dug

	through my memory to find any evidence that might help me understand how I got

	here, but there was none to be found. Not a big surprise, though, considering

	how my very last memory involved a stranger beating me up out of the blue.

	'What is

	this place?'

	I glanced

	around the area, so quickly that I could hear my eyes roll in their sockets. I

	couldn't move my neck without feeling like it would snap off, so my eyes had to

	take on the full workload of looking around.

	The first

	thing I saw was... a colossal display cabinet, lined with anime PVC figures on

	every row.

	"..."

	...'Wait,

	what? I don't remember seeing any figures in the boxes that Yeonji brought

	over. But there's no other place in this school where I'd be seeing something

	like this, so maybe... Yeonji already expected that I'd be slacking off, so she

	hired a senior student? ...No way.

	So, where

	am I? Not my school? It looks like some sort of a classroom, but I don't recall

	there being a classroom like this in Eunsung!'

	Then I

	caught a voice, slipping through my panicked mind, coming from a direction that

	I couldn't see.

	"...is

	the end of it," said a familiar voice, "I finally completed this

	route. To bring tears to my eyes like this-- this is the most brilliant game I

	have ever played. The music that played during the ending... it was quite

	moving. Sniff."

	Another

	voice, just as familiar, agreed with the first, "Yes, the company made a

	fine choice in hiring this music director. The way there was appropriate music

	for every situation, combined with high quality art, it has a fantastic overall

	presentation."

	"Hm...

	It was indeed a wise decision to take your advice to play this game! I believe

	I will continue seeking your advice in the future."

	"...I

	am honored, Madame."

	Their

	surreal dialogue continued for a fair length of time, then it stopped abruptly,

	followed with a sniffle.

	"In

	any case, is that peasant still deep in slumber?"

	"...Yes.

	I believe I have overdone it. As I've found, it is not all too easy to knock a

	man out by simple physical trauma to his neck. I believe I took thirteen tries

	to succeed."

	With that

	kind of monstrous strength, I'm sure it doesn't matter where you hit thirteen

	times, I'd be knocked out anyway! And when you said something was 'difficult',

	you were talking about knocking me out?!

	I was then

	sure enough that one of the two was the sunbae who had knocked me out. Their

	dialogue continued.

	"No

	matter. However, I am not pleased that I have to wait because of your mistake.

	Could you bring him here in a more delicate way next time?"

	"...Did

	you not instruct me to 'knock him out and bring him here', Madame?"

	"I am

	quite sure that I had said 'bring him here even if it means knocking him

	out'... I never meant for you to bring him unconscious at all costs. You seem

	to do this every now and then."

	"...I

	apologize, Madame."

	"Darjeeling

	tea, Madame."

	Followed

	by sunbae's extremely unapologetic voice was another voice that I hadn't heard

	before. It was hard to tell by voice if it was a boy or a girl.

	"Thank

	you. Miss Sukyong, Mister Yujin, would you care to join me for tea?"

	"...It

	will be my honor."

	"Thank

	you, Madame."

	Their

	conversation promptly stopped with their polite replies. Then I heard the

	trickling of a small stream of water, twice or so.

	I wasn't

	sure if it was a good thing that their conversation ended early. I felt my

	entire body shrivel up from their dialogue, so much that I could feel my limbs

	slip out of the tapes that held me to this chair.

	In time, I

	felt my imploded limbs re-expand to their original size. I returned to being

	terribly confused as to what my next move should be. My confusion was cut

	short, however, by the voice of that 'Madame'.

	"Good.

	That is just the right temperature. It is just hot enough to make that peasant

	squeal and snap awake, no matter how incompetent he is at being awake. Miss Sukyong,

	why don't you try it out, now that you've mentioned it?"

	...What's

	happening, now?

	I was

	stricken with surprise. I could feel someone getting up and coming closer to

	me. Unable to contain myself, I quickly yelled, "W-wait! Stop it! I'm

	awake!"

	"...Madame,

	he says he is awake."

	"He

	may be talking in his sleep. It should be fine to pour it on him anyway. What's

	your thought, Miss Sukyong?"

	"Wait,

	that's not fine at all!"

	Ask me

	that question, not the person who's doing the pouring!

	My neck

	began hurting again, thanks to my previous outbursts. My face contorted and

	wrinkled up from the pain.

	In front

	of me, a familiar, blond-haired girl stood, looking down on me. She sneered,

	"Hmph, how do you feel, Kang... ... What was his name?"

	"...Kang

	Injin, Madame."

	"Yes,

	Kang Injin. Phew-- It is not easy keeping track of some peasant's name."

	...Did she

	forget her pills today or something? She was mildly annoying before, but now

	she was just pissing me off.

	"You...

	You're Eun Yerin, right?"

	The

	blonde-haired one out of the comedy duo was, without a doubt, the same girl I

	had met yesterday; the same girl who was also the granddaughter of the C.E.O of

	Eunsung Corporations, as I've found out from Yeonji. Asking that single

	question to her took a great deal of effort, having to overcome my fear for

	Eunsung.

	"To

	speak of my noble name with a lowly peasant's mouth... Do you wish to

	die?" threatened Yerin, glaring down with her bright, blue eyes.

	"...Not

	at all."

	'At this

	rate, there's going to be a civilian casualty for every class attendance

	checks,' I mumbled to myself, venting my frustrations.

	Yerin

	further continued her arrogant lecture, "Hmph, I will forgive you this

	time. In the future, refer to me as 'Lady Yerin', or 'Madame', or 'Mistress

	Yerin' or 'mistress'. 'Mistress Yerin' is too lengthy, on second thought."

	She

	couldn't bother to make it easy to call her damn name.

	Leaving me

	helplessly distraught, Yerin calmly brushed her golden hair over with her hand.

	"Miss

	Sukyong, bring the chair over."

	A big...

	an unnecessarily big chair was placed in front of me, on which Eun Yerin sat

	like a single feather floating gently down. Two more people appeared and stood

	around the chair as if to guard her.

	"Wha-!"

	Noticing

	who the two were, I sharply inhaled. One of the two people who stood next to

	Yerin was indeed the same third-year sunbae from before, but-- how should I say

	this-- her overall image looked vastly different than before, as if I were

	looking at an alteration, no, a mockery of the original.

	Simply

	said, she was in a French maid outfit.

	On her

	head was a white, frilly headband, her black dress padded around her shoulders,

	its front obscured by a frilly apron-- all details that made her outfit an

	unmistakeable maid outfit. Her shoulder-length hair was tied back into a

	ponytail, and even her leather boots were strangely but perfectly complementing

	sunbae's looks.

	Seeing a

	maid-- I mean, seeing a girl in a maid's outfit is already quite the

	experience, but seeing it here in South Korea, in a school in the middle of

	Seoul?

	And beside

	her was a... boy... in a butler's outfit. Contrasting the maid with an

	emotionless face, he -- or she, whichever was the person -- was smiling

	brightly in an outfit resembling a tuxedo.

	If he's a

	boy, he could be called a Bishonen. If she's a girl, she could be called a

	Bishojo. Either way, the ambiguity made me slightly uncomfortable.

	An

	emotionless maid and a cheerful butler.

	With two

	art show display escapees by her side, Eun Yerin sat with her legs crossed,

	staring. My focus helplessly wavered at the sight of her plump, white thighs

	moving about.

	Yerin

	began speaking in (futile attempts to make) an elegant, dramatic tone, "I

	am sure you have much to ask."

	"Uh...

	yeah."

	My

	starting question was about this blatant kidnapping happening in this

	law-fearing land. Why not let me talk without having to do all this?

	"No,

	that won't do. You're my important witness. I cannot let you go that

	easily," mocked Yerin. What am I a witness for? The number of questions I

	wanted to ask grew exponentially every second. "Firstly... right. Do you

	not want to know what this place is? I am sure you are curious what this place

	is, after being brought here in such a manner."

	At least

	she wasn't utterly oblivious of the fact that I was brought here by force.

	Since she seemed eager to be asked that question, I complied. "Okay, where

	is this place?"

	"Fufufu-,

	good question. This is my 'Moe Research Club', also known as 'MoeRe!'"

	...Wow.

	Even if you

	sound so proud of yourself when you say that, I can't really share that

	sentiment when the name of the club is the most mind-numbing, embarrassing name

	ever.

	I remember

	Yeonji saying that she had 'some weird club' back when she described Yerin, so

	I suppose that was the Moe Research Club. What the hell do they 'research'

	around here?!

	Clearly

	not minding my pained grunts from my limbs curling inward once more, Yerin

	looked around the room, the 'MoeRe', with nostalgic eyes.

	"Phew...

	Yes, MoeRe, the club that I have created and managed ever since the start of

	middle school... Looking back, I had many memories with this club. I was very

	happy when this club was officially recognized and given this club room."

	Wait, they

	let this club become official? With this name?!

	"Well,

	I do very much regret that our club's name could not be on the school's

	website, all because of the principal kneeling down and begging me to not do

	so. However, I have no doubts that I lived my life to the fullest in the past

	three years."

	...This is

	my first time feeling sorry for the principal.

	And,

	judging from what she had said, it seemed that I was in Eunsung Middle School.

	I did have a feeling that the buildings seemed familiar yet new at the same

	time.

	"However,"

	muttered Yerin, looking teary-eyed, "Even I cannot continue using a middle

	school classroom, when I am a high school student now. Unfortunately, this is

	no longer a place we can use."

	"...You're

	using it just fine, if you ask me."

	Used for

	torture and kidnapping of a high school student, I must add.

	"B-be

	quiet! Hmph. We are already in the process of transitioning our MoeRe to the

	high school. Until then, this room can remain as it is!" roared Yerin,

	raising her eyebrows. Really, she thinks the world revolves around her.

	"Nonetheless, I brought you here to demand 'that' from you!"

	"What

	do you mean, 'that'?" I asked, confused.

	Yerin cast

	a cold, disapproving glance with her blue eyes. She shouted, "I have

	already told you, we are moving our old club to a new place within the high

	school! You ignorant peasant!"

	"What

	about it...?"

	I don't

	care if you find a room or rob it from someone, I'm quite sure someone like you

	could take the principal's room like Yeonji wanted to! Have fun with that

	82-inch flat-screen television or something. Why is this 'MoeRe' stuff related

	to me at all?

	Yerin

	answered shakily, "Because... The room I wanted as my new club room was

	the infirmary!"

	"Tsk..."

	I felt my

	heart sink. You mean, Yeonji wasn't the only crazy one who thinks the infirmary

	is an amazing place for a club?!

	"I

	have already seen the little back room in the infirmary. Its size is not to my

	liking, but that can be forgiven."

	Forgive

	who, now?

	In the

	midst of indulging in her own words, Yerin suddenly furrowed her brows.

	"But

	there is a problem! The owner of the infirmary, that nurse, would not accept my

	official request to use the room! I clearly followed correct procedures, forms,

	and rules!"

	It sounded

	like she handed in her request right after our Clotaku Club was established.

	Although, considering that lazy nurse, it wouldn't be a surprise if she denied

	it regardless of the order.

	As I

	nodded to myself in silence, Yerin continued wailing, "The only reason she

	gave me was that 'the room is in use by someone else'... How dare she deny me

	so without giving me a proper reason! This cannot stand!"

	The nurse

	was probably troubled, too. She couldn't exactly tell her 'this room is owned

	by the Clotaku Club'.

	...Oh.

	Then, the reason she kidnapped me is... because she found out about the Clotaku

	Club?!

	Sweat

	began to drop from my forehead.

	I was

	dealing with someone who isn't afraid to knock out and kidnap someone who she

	had met for less than a day. It should be an easy task for her to ask around in

	the mean time and find out everything about the Clotaku Club. Not to mention

	how suspicious she became the last time we've met.

	B-but

	what's the point of kidnapping me, then? What is she going to get out of

	interrogating me?

	Seeing the

	nervous expression on my face, Yerin mocked, "Heh... It seems you now

	realize why you are here. Yes, it was my second time requesting the nurse when

	I met you there."

	"Oh

	no..."

	My heart

	began racing.

	"Yesterday,

	you were most certainly hiding something underneath the bed sheet. As if... it

	was something that you absolutely could not show me."

	I knew I

	had been found out! Damn, I looked way too obvious, didn't I?

	My face

	reddened in embarrassment, causing Yerin to gain more confidence in her words.

	"And

	after school, Miss Sukyong reported in that you walked out of the infirmary

	with a little girl. Fufu, you never thought you were being watched, yes?"

	"Erk!"

	Was that

	why I had a strange feeling on my back when I went home?

	Every word

	that Yerin spoke pushed me closer to the edge of a cliff. Sweat dripped down my

	face rapidly.

	Yerin

	continued, now in a more serious tone, "You were hiding something when we

	first met. Then there was a little girl accompanying you out of the infirmary,

	and then the fact that the nurse would not hand over the room... With these

	three facts, I have reached a single conclusion!"

	"Gulp..."

	Sh-she's

	surprisingly smart! I can't believe she managed to figure out the existence of

	our club from just that... I guess she's still a student of Eunsung, even if

	she's a bit crazy!

	This was

	to be expected of Eunsung Corporation's--

	"Yes,

	Kang Injin! I know that you are using the infirmary as a place for indecent,

	sexual relationships!"

	--

	complete idiot.

	"Whaaat

	thee heeelll aaarree youu saaaayiiiing---?!!"

	I screamed

	with all my might in the face of a complete logical failure. Yerin briefly

	looked bewildered by my outburst, but quickly regained her composure.

	"You

	are denying it? Do not think you can lie your way out of this one. Yesterday,

	was it not the naked body of that little girl in the bed with you?"

	"You

	jumped the gun so far, I don't even know what to say to that!"

	Even if

	she's right about Yeonji being small enough! All I was hiding was just a bunch

	of Otaku goodies! Problem is, I can't say that, either!

	With my

	brain unable to form another word, I remained quiet. Yerin shot a contemptuous glare in response.

	"Hmph... You appear to have been dumbfounded by my perfect logic! I was

	suspicious since you were breathing like a beast on that bed... but to think

	you were actually committing such lewd misdeeds!"

	Breathing like a beast?! I was just scared that I'd be found out that I'm an Otaku!

	"I do not know what kind of relationship you have with the nurse, but I will not allow you to continue using the infirmary for such dirty, indecent acts! If you do not leave the infirmary and hand over the club room, I will report your actions to the school board."

	A bloodbath would be inevitable if I don't hand the club room over... seemed to

	be the gist.

	Whether or

	not I've ever done anything lewd with Yeonji, the severity of this situation

	was going to get amazingly complex if she were to report us to the student

	council. On top of that, as a relative to the director of this school, she

	could easily blame us for anything she could think of.

	From what

	she said, she must have been firmly believing that Yeonji and I were all this

	and that. To dissolve that nonsense...

	...I'd

	have to reveal the Clotaku Club to her--! My thought process did a 360' and

	ended up straight back in the original problem. The misunderstanding kept the

	secret of the Clotaku Club, but to reveal the Clotaku Club was the only way to

	stop the misunderstanding.

	Oh, god

	damn it all to hell, and whatnot.

	I felt

	miserable knowing that there wasn't a single good option that could get me out.

	Noticing my sorry state, Yerin became extra confident.

	"Now,

	do it! Give your personal agreement to give up the infirmary, in writing! Then

	I will forgive you just this once!"

	I'll go

	ahead and use the 'Ask the Audience' lifeline... What, I don't have any

	lifelines left? W-wait, I can't make this decision on my own! It's not going to

	make any difference if I say that you can have the room, Yeonji isn't even

	going to flinch at that! She'd just murder everyone in this room before she

	says yes herself!

	It would

	have been nice to use Yeonji's hot-headed way of negotiating, but nothing in

	the world is there for you when you need it. I was about to call Yeonji to

	discuss my next move.

	...Except

	that I don't know her number.

	"Hmph!

	Your secrets have been revealed to me, and you still believe you have a chance?

	Miss Sukyong, call the student council immediately."

	"...Yes,

	Madame."

	Sunbae, in

	her maid outfit, pulled out a phone. Wow, that's the newest smartphone

	from--... I mean, wait! Stop! What are you doing?

	"Heh,

	if you want her to stop, I'm sure you have something to tell us first!"

	"Just

	ssstttttooooooppp-!! I'll explain everything!"

	I ended up

	explaining everything.

	* * *

	Soon,

	After

	giving up and telling her about the existence of Clotaku Club, Yerin became

	furious.

	"I

	cannot believe it! This is a challenge to our name!"

	It's not.

	"Our

	three-year-old tradition called 'MoeRe' is still alive and well, and these

	impudent peasants create their own club? And they called it 'Clotaku Club'?

	This is an obvious attack on my honor!"

	It's

	really not, I'm telling you! Do you really think we're so bored that all we do

	for fun is try to bring you down?!

	Sadly,

	because Yerin was having her fit of rage, my words remained echoing within my

	head. Yerin chewed on her pink lips in anger as if to rip them out.

	"'Clotaku

	Club', where closeted Otakus meet...? Absolute nonsense! Doing such things

	while I am still in this school... I... I will destroy that puny club!"

	Aw, man...

	did it really come down to this?

	Yerin

	continued her drama-filled tirade, her arms spread out and raised like a

	prophet giving a sermon. She was visibly full of energy, as if every strand of

	her wavy, golden hair was coursing with vigorous spirit. Though unfortunately,

	that energy was pointed directly at our club.

	Also, how

	did she plan on destroying the club? Was she going to make the principal give

	some special order, like 'ur all banned, kthxbai'?

	"What

	do you take me for? I do not condone such dirty tactics!" replied Yerin to

	my question, her feelings hurt. "This school is not big enough for the two

	of our clubs! You dared to make yourselves the Otaku club of Eunsung High

	School, so is it not our duty to prove whose club deserves to stay? Through the

	powers of MoeRe and mine!"

	...So what

	were they doing then? I still had no clue what they were asking for.

	"Of

	course, this calls for..."

	"An

	Otaku showdown!"

	The doors

	to the Moe Research Club burst open.

	Continuing

	Yerin's words with extreme volume, a tiny shadow emerged into the room through

	the open doors.

	"...Seo

	Yeonji?"

	I was

	stunned.

	I mean,

	yeah, I could have been in a far more terrible spot if Yeonji hadn't joined,

	but I was still surprised that she showed up here at all. But you could have

	picked a better time to enter, you know!

	"H-hey,

	how did you get here?"

	"By

	your scent... but seriously," joked Yeonji, after I asked her what Yerin

	and co. should have, "You took such a long time to get to the club, so I

	asked around, and I heard there was some boy getting dragged to the middle

	school by a girl. Considering what we talked about yesterday, I thought you

	would be here; just about everyone who's been to the middle school knows about

	this club."

	So I've

	been dragged around the floor, huh...

	"Anyway,"

	said Yeonji, facing away from my scrunched-up face and looking at Yerin,

	"If you want to talk about our Clotaku Club, you talk to me, buddy. The

	president of the club is me, Seo Yeonji! You got something to say to me?!"

	"You?

	The president of Clotaku Club?"

	Yerin

	cocked her eyes, unwilling to believe her. She probably thought I was the head

	of the club, seeing how Yeonji doesn't look like the head type of a person.

	"Hmph...

	what a bad joke. The reckless leader of the Clotaku Club who dares to oppose me

	is a little girl, who's as tall as my thumb! Your name was... Seo Umji

	[2]

	?"

	"It's

	Seo Yeonji!" shouted Yeonji.

	Yerin

	brushed her golden hair aside and said, "A peasant's name is not

	important. ...Nevertheless, it seems I will have to teach you who owns the

	superior Otaku club."

	"Hmph,

	likewise!"

	...Please

	don't teach anything like that to each other.

	The two

	angrily glared at each other, their heads angled appropriately to compensate

	for their massive difference in height. Their glares met, one from eyes as blue

	as a clear lake, and the other from crystal, jet black eyes.

	Yeonji

	muttered, looking like a cat with her fur puffed out, "Even before today,

	I always knew I would have to confront you sooner or later. It was inevitable

	anyway, so I'm going to take you down here and now!"

	"You're

	as pitiful as a tiny chick that just burst out of its egg... But lions do their

	very best even when hunting a fragile rabbit. Sorry, but I will do my best to

	crush you!"

	Hey, hey,

	hey...

	"You

	two keep talking about bringing each other down... What are you two planning on

	doing?"

	""We'll

	have an Otaku showdown!""

	The two

	answered at the same time. A moment passed with the two scowling at each other.

	"Between

	our Clotaku Club and MoeRe, we'll see which club has the higher power

	level!"

	"This

	is Eunsung, South Korea's greatest school! Any Otaku club that belongs to this

	school must have the land's greatest power level! After we decide whose club is

	the better one, the loser forfeits their life to the winner!"

	...Do you

	guys usually bet your life over something as trivial as this?

	I looked

	to the ceiling and sighed, my body still firmly tied down onto a chair.

	Ignoring

	the two's exchange of hate-filled glares, I asked unenergetically, "About

	that 'Otaku showdown', how are you two going to compete at all?"

	Yeonji and

	Yerin both answered at the same time again,

	""Obviously,

	it's the Otaku Word Chain!""

	Huh,

	they're surprisingly well coordinated.

	1. 'Sunbae': Identical usage to 'senpai' in this situation; the word is used to refer to an upperclassman here.

	←

	2. 'Umji' means 'thumb' in Korean.

	←

	### 010. Chapter 8. A Sunday Afternoon

	My goodness, lad, that is no way to treat a maiden and her delicate heart! Sigh, dense protagonists...

	Anyhow, a round of applause to Narane for the immaculate translation and MadTix for the excellent edit! This series will also have a compilation in the near future, so please look forward to it!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	Today's a sunny and bright Sunday.

	Okay, sunny or not, the weather wouldn't matter a bit to an 'indoors-type' guy like me. But, if I were to take a quick glance out the window whenever, I'd prefer if there was a ray of sunlight than a dark, cloudy mess. Humans are photosynthetic creatures, didn't you know?

	The problem was that I wasn't particularly feeling great, in spite of the amazing weather.

	I sighed.

	I wasn't feeling down because I was stuck in my room on a beautiful weekend, being watched by my dad as I study-- ...oh, nevermind, that actually is a good reason to be down-- but it was mostly due to the events of yesterday.

	Yes, that incident that quickly went downhill.

	* * *

	""It's the Otaku Word Chain!"" said Yeonji and Yerin in unison, who then resumed exchanging their menacing glares.

	"Hah! To choose the Otaku Word Chain, you appear to be quite confident! But I will soon show you that your confidence was mere recklessness!"

	"Hmph, just don't be asking me later if we can compete with something else! So, are you bringing those two behind you to make a team of three?" asked Yeonji, pointing at the maid and the butler.

	Yerin nodded, "That is correct. But there are only two of you; if you ask nicely, I may scale down my team!"

	"Heh! Don't bother, we already have three! We now have three against three playing. Any objections?"

	When did we have three people?! Yeonji, you're not thinking about forcing the nurse into this game, are you?

	Yeonji and Yerin began discussing the conditions and rules of the game, unimpeded due to silence from everyone else. There wasn't a clean entry for interjections when two of the world's greatest egoists were butting their heads together here.

	"The only rule in effect will be the 'unique subject pool' rule! It's fine this way, right?"

	"Quite the standard play. Yes, I will accept-- The contest would end too quickly if we use rules that are too complex for lowly peasants, after all!"

	"Nyuuuu-t!"

	"Hmph!"

	I'm surprised you two haven't damaged your eyes yet from glaring at each other all day...

	Yeonji broke out of her duel of glares. "Hm. I think we're done setting the rules. How about we start talking about the stakes of this match?"

	"Oh, it isn't much; once I win the match, you put an end to your silly little 'Clotaku Club' and take leave from the infirmary. Then our Moe Research Club will rightfully take place."

	Her bet was as predicted. Yeonji nodded and agreed, "Yeah, I'll accept. And what if you lose?"

	"Hah, surely that will never happen! It is utterly unnecessary to prepare for something that won't happen in the future."

	"Nyuuuuu-t!" scowled Yeonji, gritting her teeth. Yerin grinned mischievously as she watched Yeonji wallow in anguish.

	"Hmm... If you really need a false hope to grip onto, I will give you one," said Yerin, brushing her golden hair aside, "In the off chance that we lose, we will do anything that you ask of us. So, tell me your conditions."

	"Anything we want, huh...?" repeated Yeonji, a dark, evil aura quickly forming around her. Her voice became unnervingly sinister, befitting a demonic echo from the depths of hell. "Is that so... If we win, how about we strip you down and tie you to the school's front gate?"

	"Hah, that's fine by-... What?!"

	Yeonji continued her maddened babbling, "Strip you down to the last thread of your clothes... Tied down under a banner that says '100 Won per turn'... Ka-haha, you dirty pig!"

	"Stop it! What kind of twisted things are you imagining right now?! What do you mean by '100 won per turn'?!"

	"Loose like a used-up rag... All sticky... Dripping..."

	"What are you saying?! What is with those uncomfortable descriptions?! Stop it, stop it right now!"

	"Well... Okay, I think that'll do for our victory condition."

	"I will not accept! Think of something else! Anything else! You could get rid of MoeRe when you win!"

	"What?! That kind of crap won't satisfy my newfound inner sadist!"

	"H-how can you refer to our MoeRe as 'that kind of crap'?!" cried Yerin, jolting in surprise.

	It seemed that Yeonji had discovered something dangerous and twisted within herself. "Yeah... If we win, you should wear a sign that says 'I am an Otaku. I await the nation's judgment' and go around the school with it! Of course, this is while you're still naked."

	"Why do you keep going back to that?!"

	"And once you're done with that, go straight to the gallows."

	"After all that humiliation, I'll be executed?! How can you be so insensitive of human life?! Shut up!"

	"Fufufu... Ka-hahaha..."

	"Kyaaaa-! S-stop laughing like that! You're weird! ...H-hey you, that peasant over there! Do something about this rabid hamster!"

	"...Uh, I'm kind of tied up to a chair over here."

	Chaos ensued. After a whole lot of things happening in between then and now, it was decided that the winner of the Otaku Word Chain game gets to scrap the loser's club.

	* * *

	--And that's the full story of what happened yesterday. Now it's easier to understand why I'm feeling so down, right?

	In a blink of an eye, I'd been assaulted and kidnapped in the middle of a nice day, and now, all the effort I've poured into starting the Clotaku Club was about to go to waste. Yeonji already mentioned before that 'something like this will happen on its own', but I couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that this chain of events was started entirely by me.

	When we lose the competition tomorrow, will it really be the end of Clotaku Club?

	I wanted to believe that everything that had happened so far was a great prank, but Yeonji and Yerin looked like they were very far from joking around. They even signed a binding contract that turned this game into a legal obligation, so there was no way to back out of it now.

	It was almost as if our club was a Hardcore Mode character-- or, more appropriately, a Hardcore Club, I guess?

	They took the contract one step further and added a silly clause that prevented either side from making another club. There could only be one.

	Yeonji aside, what made Yerin think it was a good idea to accept this silly duel? Compared to the week-old Clotaku Club, her MoeRe seems to have a history that goes back to her middle school years. It was obvious how attached she is to her club, but Yerin accepted Yeonji's declaration of war without a moment's hesitation.

	Seriously, what the hell is everyone thinking?

	I shook my head. It didn't matter if I understood them or not, the duel was going to happen regardless. There was no need to worry my little head over it.

	I suppose I should still try my best in the match tomorrow. However, whether we win or lose, if it happens, then it happens. I had no will or reason to be so eager about putting an end to Yerin's club, so I wasn't going to waste my time practicing for the match.

	...If practicing would help me pay back all the trouble Yeonji caused in my life recently, then maybe I would.

	"...I guess I'll study." I diverted my train of thought. There were probably better things to worry about in my life, especially on a nice Sunday morning.

	In times like these, it's best to fill my head with other thoughts. Filling up my head with memorization-heavy courses should clear my head. Korean history or modern history should do nicely.

	You might think, "Why is this guy suddenly thinking about studying?" But don't forget that I'm still a student at Eunsung. It might seem that all I really do in school is hang around with Yeonji, but I've always been studying to maintain a decent grade.

	When do you ever see anime characters study, other than in one or two episodes? They're all studying when they're not on screen, of course; even if some high school girls who do nothing but eat cake all day get admitted into Ivy League universities, it wouldn't be a strange thing in the context of anime.

	"...Damn."

	Wait, they were studying when off screen?! What a convenient excuse! My life would be so much simpler that way, if I could go to sleep and know everything when I wake up again.

	No big surprise that there's a saying that girls in anime never go to washrooms, or pick their nose, or whatever else. They're humans, too, so they'd do everything they need to do as human beings when they're off screen. Yeonji, for example, spends most of her time having drinks from the club's fridge, so she takes very frequent trips to the washroom-- ...moving on.

	So, without being a fictional character, studying is still a big part of my daily life.

	Feeling dreadful from the harshness of reality, I pulled out my textbooks from my bag--

	--And then I was interrupted by the doorbell.

	Every damn time I try to start studying, something like this happens. Oh well, though, life finds its way to be cruel sometimes, sort of like how your parents yell at you to stop being lazy only when you start doing something useful.

	Sad life.

	I lurched toward the door phone, grumbling all the way. I turned on the camera at the front door, but no one was in sight.

	I picked up the door phone and asked if someone was there. "Hello?"

	...But there was no reply. Did someone ring the door by mistake?

	Just as I was about to turn around and leave,

	The doorbell rang again. What the?

	The camera still showed no signs of anyone being outside. Confused, I walked to the front door and opened it.

	"Is anyone th--"

	As soon as the door opened, a small hand abruptly reached through the opening, grabbing my arm.

	"Bwaargh!"

	What the hell?!

	"...It's me."

	The mysterious intruder who appeared with nothing but a grumpy voice was... Yeonji. No wonder I couldn't see her from the door's camera!

	"S-S-S-S-Seo Yeonji?!"

	I was surprised, not just from being reminded of how tiny she is. Yeonji came to my house, not on a weekday, but on a Sunday!

	Why is this so shocking? Because my dad is in the house, since he doesn't have work on Sundays! He's such a conservative old man, as if he came straight from the Chosun era. If he saw that I brought a girl into this house, nothing good can come out of that.

	"What's the issue here? You're looking like you don't want me here," Yeonji moped, casting a disappointed glance out of the corner of her eyes. I had to focus on getting out of this situation first.

	"Huh? Oh, uh... You're mistaken. S-so, what's happening?"

	I almost added at the end, 'Why aren't you home on a Sunday?'.

	Yeonji replied cheerfully, straightening up, "It's Sunday! I'm not going to waste it being stuck inside my room. Let's go for a walk!"

	...When did I become your dog? You're going to take me out for a walk because you feel like it, is that it?

	I was about to start studying, anyway. Unless she wants to see me get kicked out of Eunsung and transfer to a different school, she should leave me be.

	"Hmph, why study now? Okay, then we'll study together at your house."

	"?!?!?!"

	Yeonji continued, grinning like a villain, "I was going to go over tomorrow's match with you, but... if you want to study, then we'll just have to study together. My marks are better than yours, so I'll teach you. Can I come in? Mrs. Kang, it's Yeonji~!"

	"W-wait! I'll change and go out right now!"

	I can never deal with her.

	* * *

	And so, I somehow ended up walking around with Yeonji on a Sunday morning.

	Going over tomorrow's match, huh? I guess she was getting nervous about it, too. Though, it would be stranger if she didn't care at all that our hard-earned club was in danger.

	"Ah, what a nice day~! On a day like this, you really have to enjoy the sun!"

	...But this girl, it had been thirty minutes since we had left my house, and there was not a single mention of the match. Instead, she was acting completely out of her Otaku character.

	Also, that smiling, happy face... it had absolutely no trace of nervousness.

	Something felt wrong.

	Whenever Yeonji felt either very content or very angry, something weird happened in my life. I began shaking from the ominous feeling. It didn't help that I wasn't dressed up to deal with this chilly wind of April.

	"A-hem!"

	Yeonji stopped leading the way and tried to attract my attention. What is it now?

	She turned around with an exaggerated movement and put her hands on her waist as if to show off. Both of us fell silent for a while.

	"Nya-hem... Um... Hey, Kang Injin, don't I look different today?" asked Yeonji, sounding hopeful.

	"Erk... Different?"

	Did she... change her hairstyle? Unfortunately for her, I know absolutely nothing about hairstyles. I remember back then, when my mom got her hair permed and I didn't notice it at all-

	"Not my hair! My clothes! Clothes!"

	Yeonji shouted angrily, waving her fist at me. Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess it was my first time seeing her without the school uniform on. So, uh...

	On her hair was a strange ribbon, her pale shoulders and neck exposed above her off-the-shoulder sweater, then a short, checkered skirt below that, and then finished off with striped stockings covered by platformed shoes.

	I inspected Yeonji all around, while her eyes sparkled brightly in eagerness for my response. I smiled forcefully and commented,

	"You're not in your school uniform today!"

	"That's it?!" screamed Yeonji, filled with despair. "Nyuuuu-t! Seriously? Is that really it? Isn't there anything else you can say?"

	Say what else? I had no idea what she wanted me to say. Then... Oh, here's one.

	"Uh... You look a little taller?"

	"Nyaaaaaaaaahh--!"

	...I guess not.

	After squawking like a dying rooster, Yeonji dropped her head and sighed, dejected.

	Low, droning groans escaped her lips like the cries of deep sea fish from the bottom of the Mariana Trench. "Nyuu... I knew this would happen. I never expected anything from an Otaku who has zero interest in 3D women, but loves those boring 2D girls who wear the same thing every single day... Why did I waste so much time in front of the mirror so early in the morning...?"

	"Hey, hey, hey," I interrupted, having interpreted some of her words as insults.

	Yeonji raised her head back up, bearing a mysteriously serene expression; her image was that of a smiling Buddha sitting under a linden tree.

	"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter now, so go buy me some chicken kebabs."

	"How can you say that like it's a natural thing for me to do?!"

	It was a good thing that I brought my wallet in case of emergencies like these.

	"...Hee hee."

	Her energy returned in the very moment she took a bite out of the skewered chicken. She stuffed her face full like a squirrel, and pointed at an empty bench with her free hand.

	"Let'sh munch shtey here munch fer a momenh," she mumbled, her mouth full. I couldn't understand a single word she had said, but she likely wanted to rest on that bench for a bit. I dusted the seat off with my hand and sat with Yeonji.

	Hm... the weather's pretty nice.

	I looked towards the sky and saw an endless sea of blue, devoid of any clouds. It was like the skies I'd see in generic anime openings.

	...It saddens me that the only poetic comparison that I can think of involves anime.

	By the time I looked at Yeonji again, she was already down to the last chicken skewer. She sure eats quickly for someone with such a small frame.

	"...Yuu don munch geh any." She sneered, noticing that I had been staring at her. What a greedy girl.

	In the end, she ate everything by herself, down to the last bits of the sauce that got on her fingers. I really was expecting her to share at least one of the skewers. Holy...

	Her mouth was almost covered with sauce, which soon disappeared like the rest of the food when she wiped her mouth with her fingers and then sucked the sauce out of them.

	I was just about to consider wiping her mouth for her, too. She doesn't realize how this scene is supposed to work out!

	"Here, throw this out," demanded Yeonji, passing over the bare wooden skewer. I briefly contemplated on salvaging the last remaining bits of chicken on it, but quickly decided against it.

	After throwing the skewer away in the nearest garbage can, I came back to find Yeonji looking up to the sky like I was doing before.

	"What are you doing?"

	"Nyuu-... I was just thinking, today's sky really looks like an anime opening."

	...You thought about that too? We're completely hopeless.

	We sat down together and stared at the cloudless sky in relaxing silence... but however poetic that might sound, that's incredibly boring, so I started a conversation with Yeonji instead.

	"Hey, can I ask you something?"

	"No, you can't."

	Wow.

	I glared at her menacingly, but she failed to take notice. With her sight still fixated at the sky, she explained, "It's because I already know. You were going to ask why I decided to have a match with them, right?"

	"Erk."

	S-she's pretty good.

	"I told you already, this is something that would happen eventually." said Yeonji, pouting. "And I don't like her, either. I thought I'd use this chance to put her out of her misery."

	"You know, it could be the end for us, instead." I replied. I felt that she needed to be reminded that the match was significant for us, too.

	"Of course, when you kill, you also have to prepare to be killed. If I want to destroy her club, I have to risk my own." Yeonji emphasized.

	"You... really want to go that far to stop MoeRe or whatever?"

	"Yes." replied Yeonji, not even giving a hundredth of a second of thought. "Her group is evil. For all the Otakus trying to survive in this country, and for the new Otaku world I'm trying to make, it's evil. So I'm going to demolish it. I'll remove all traces of it from our school." Yeonji stated boldly, her tone resembling the response of Cold War-era American citizens who were asked about their feeling towards Communism.

	If they're evil, are you saying you're on the side of good?! 'Dear Lord, forgive the anime figures up my sleeves'

	[1]

	, is that it?!

	"Whether or not I'm the Mysterious Otaku doesn't matter; they're still evil. As long as they stand in my way, I'll never accomplish my dream. Hmph, whoever tries to stop me will be sliced and quartered."

	Such a terrifyingly inappropriate remark did not fit her cute face.

	By her standards, it seemed like 'whoever tries to stop her = absolute evil'. For someone who's still in high school, she was well on her way to starting a coup d'état.

	Speaking of Yeonji's 'dream'...

	I haven't been keeping it in my mind thus far, but what Yeonji declared back then-- that she was reshaping this country to a place where Otakus aren't looked down upon-- she was clearly serious about making it happen.

	If she were to achieve that dream, history books in the future would say that tomorrow's match is 'both her first great challenge and her chance to embark upon the world of politics'.

	...Just thinking about that makes my every muscle twitch. I could never keep a straight face when thinking about her goal. What caused her to set such a silly goal? If you keep your Otaku life in secret and let everything be, isn't that enough? Why try to change an entire country?

	"...Hmph."

	Yeonji muttered to herself in search of a reply. Her quivering pink lips soon unsealed, having found her desired words:

	"The reason for this goal is...-"

	"Oh, hello, Mister Injin. How are you?"

	Interrupting Yeonji was the voice of an expressionless woman, who happened to be Yerin's maid from yesterday-- Sukyong-sunbae.

	* * *

	"Erk- uh... S-Sukyong-sunbae?"

	"...Yes, that is I. This may be late, but I must formally introduce myself. I am Sul Sukyong."

	Her sudden appearance left us in disarray. Not mindful of our state, Sukyong-sunbae held the ends of her skirt and curtseyed.

	She was wearing neither a maid outfit nor the school uniform, but simple, normal clothes. Defying her casual looks, she could not contain her cold, stern aura from making me curiously uncomfortable.

	"And, please feel free to call me Sukyong. You do not have to be polite, sir."

	"B-but it's..."

	...It's precisely that attitude that's forcing me to speak politely, you know.

	Sukyong-sunbae turned around to speak to Yeonji, preceded by another polite bow.

	"We have also met before. Is your name 'Seo Umji', perchance?"

	"It's Seo Yeonji!" screamed Yeonji.

	Sukyong-sunbae clenched her hands in front of her and apologized. "I am sorry. Madame remembers you by 'Seo Umji', so I may have been influenced by her. I will be more careful in the future."

	"Nyuu-..." groaned Yeonji. She couldn't be happy that someone from Yerin's group was here, especially after a discussion where she wished for the end of all things that had to do with Yerin.

	I moved in Yeonji's way after interpreting Yeonji's predatory glare as danger signals.

	"By the way, what are you doing here? Is Yerin nearby?" I asked, out of fear that she might really be nearby, in which case I was planning to bolt away in the other direction.

	Sukyong-sunbae shook her head. "...No. I only work for six days a week, part time. Madame is at her mansion. I am taking a walk outside to enjoy this sun."

	"...Is that so."

	What happened to Otakus being shut-ins today?! I sighed.

	Sukyong-sunbae narrowed her eyes in contemplation. "That is my reason. What about you, sir and madam? Are you two on a date?"

	"No," I denied immediately, afraid of there being a similar misunderstanding to the one Yerin had yesterday. Is it really strange for a boy and a girl to be together without being on a date?

	"Nyuu--..."

	Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Yeonji crying like a kitten with a stomachache.

	Sukyong-sunbae stared at us quietly, inspecting my honest-to-god smile and Yeonji. A moment later, she resumed, bearing a blank expression that was curiously different than before. "...Yes, I see. I understand. Then, may I join you two?"

	""Wha-?"" Yeonji and I simultaneously responded.

	"I asked if I may join you two," repeated Sukyong-sunbae, maintaining an unyieldingly void face that was impossible to decipher, "If you are not on a date, then I am not interrupting anything by joining, yes?"

	"Uh, I guess not, but..."

	"...If not, are you heading to a place I should not join? Say, a love hotel?"

	"W-what are you saying?! Of course not!"

	"Then, please excuse me."

	Sukyong-sunbae marched towards us, placing herself directly between Yeonji and I. And so, it was quickly decided that Sukyong-sunbae was joining us for a walk.

	"Nyyuuuuuuunnnnnn----gggghhh!"

	Yeonji gritted her teeth like she had a grudge against her enamels, but there was nothing I could do about this situation. Our walk continued, now in a strange combination of me + Yeonji + Sukyong-sunbae.

	After Sukyong-sunbae joined us, the atmosphere grew... fairly awkward.

	It wasn't only because of Yeonji's negative disposition towards anyone affiliated with Yerin; my only memories of Sukyong-sunbae involved repeated, painful blows to my neck. On top of that, as her blank face suggests, she was a woman of few words. Having an engaging conversation proved difficult with our group.

	The way she stood between Yeonji and I, she felt like a personification of the Berlin Wall.

	"Grrrr..."

	To make matters worse, Yeonji was getting angrier by the second. I had to speak up quickly and dissolve any negative feelings in this group.

	I hesitated for a few moments, and finally worked up the courage to speak: "By the way, Sukyong-sunbae... Why are you still talking that way?"

	"...Pardon me, Mister Injin?"

	That! Exactly that!

	"I mean, you know, talking to us politely like I'm your boss, or, speaking like a maid."

	I couldn't really describe it in any other way than 'maid-like'. The 'Madame' isn't here with her, so why is she still talking like she's at her job?

	After tilting her head around like a puppy in deep thought, Sukyong-sunbae replied, "You misunderstand. I always speak like this."

	"You're kidding!" It's shocking enough to hear someone talk like a maid in this country, so how am I supposed to react if it was never an act?!

	Sukyong-sunbae continued nonchalantly, "To tell the truth, my lady's way of speaking is an act. She is fully aware of how she speaks to others."

	"Of course! It would be scarier if she wasn't aware!"

	"She speaks in a tone more befitting her age when she becomes panicked or when she's alone... and I find that cute. If you ever get the chance to hear it, please do so, Mister Injin."

	"I don't need to know that! Wait, why are you revealing sensitive information about your own boss?!"

	"However, I am not acting."

	Sukyong-sunbae paused in her track, standing still. We turned around, as she lagged behind by a single step by pausing.

	"This has always been my way of speech, Mister Injin. Ten years before, perhaps fifteen, I have always been taught and grew up to speak this way."

	"Why...?"

	"There were three children," said Sukyong-sunbae nonchalantly, "The eldest sister, far older than the other two, and then a little sister and brother. The eldest was an Otaku; perhaps the world's most powerful one."

	Oh hell, I don't even want to know what that means.

	"She was as bad as... hm. Let's say, she wanted to raise her siblings into character archetypes she enjoyed as soon as they were able to speak. Is that clearer, Mister Injin?"

	"...!" I gasped.

	"It is as you imagine." Sukyong-sunbae nodded quietly. "The little sister was raised to be an emotionless and expressionless combat-maid, and the little brother was made to be a butler with a permanent, honest smile on his face. The children were raised very closely to the liking of the eldest, and came to resemble characters from animations."

	"Nyuu-..."

	Yeonji gripped on my shirt tightly. We stared at her, our eyes no doubt filled with disbelief and terror.

	"You might not believe me, but I am telling the truth." Her robotic narration continued. "It was fairly easy to learn how to talk in this manner, but I was not sure how to fulfill the 'combat' duty. I learned Tae-Kwon-Do and Taekkyeon; now I am capable of kicking a man's face whilst standing perfectly upright. Would you like me to demonstrate, sir and madam?"

	We remained silent. Yeonji's grip of my shirt doubled in strength.

	"...And so, we were raised this way," said Sukyong-sunbae, following a momentary pause. Without a slight change in tone or emotion, she continued, "And one day, my sister went bankrupt. She had a lot of debt to her name. She had a decent job, but her salary could not cover the debt. I should have said something when she was on a buying spree while our country's exchange rate was weak..."

	...She went bankrupt from buying too many imported Otaku goods?! She's crazy! The terror intensified even further.

	Sukyong-sunbae's voice carried no signs of disturbance. "...She escaped out of the country, leaving us to fend for ourselves. The only thing we learned from her was how to live a life of servitude, and thus we were almost forced to do all manner of things to survive..."

	...What are these 'all manner of things'? This isn't something that little kids shouldn't hear, I hope.

	"Then, we were saved by Lady Yerin."

	"Ack!" Yeonji flinched, squeaking like a kitten falling off furniture.

	"...Our family and the Eunsung group had a connection. After hearing about our situation, she kindly repaid our debts and hired us. It is thanks to her that we are attending Eunsung at this time."

	"R-really..."

	I've believed that she was some psychotic, rich girl who extorted her poor fellow classmates with the promise of money. I was embarrassed.

	"Nyuu-..."

	Yeonji's face became reddened. She must have been thinking the same. However, her expression quickly became cold when she began speaking again. "H-hmph! Beautiful story. So, what are you trying to say? Are you saying that you people have such a heartwarming relationship, so I should go easy on you guys tomorrow? I'll say it now, I'm winning that match."

	...Come on. Can't you put a little more effort into reading the mood?

	To my surprise, Sukyong-sunbae was unwavering at Yeonji's remark. She replied quietly, "...That is not what I want, but... You hate our mistress because she is the Pubtaku Queen, yes?"

	Yeonji flinched. She frowned and replied angrily, "That's right. I don't hate her just because I'm on the other spectrum of Otaku. She simply went too far! Crossed the line! I won't stand for the image of Otakus going to hell thanks to her!"

	"...About that," Sukyong-sunbae interrupted softly, "The reason she became what she is now was entirely our fault."

	"What-?!"

	I lost count of how many times Yeonji was taken by surprise today.

	Sukyong-sunbae explained further, her tone faintly distant and nostalgic. "...That is right. The first time she embarked on the path to becoming an Otaku was around the time she was in fifth grade."

	"That's too young--!" Yerin was an Otaku prodigy herself.

	"...At that time, she was raised with the label of being the granddaughter of Eunsung Group's CEO. She had high expectations and jealousy from those who surround her, but unfortunately she was never the sharpest tool in the shed-- to put it bluntly, she displayed below-average intelligence."

	Below average? Considering how she acted yesterday, it was difficult to imagine that to be true. Though, I guess she acted like an idiot at times.

	"She judged the position she was in as the child of the Eunsung Group, and compared that to her academic abilities, and... she must have been quite depressed. It was that time, when one of the employees at the mansion brought a DVD to boost her confidence, titled 'Is Maria-Sama Watching Over Us?!'..."

	"Why?!"

	What does that have to do with boosting confidence?! Even if that's a great series... but, still!

	Sukyong-sunbae answered calmly, "'Is Maria-Sama Watching Over Us?!' is truly the masterpiece among shows about being a proper lady. Through the animation, Madame was able to understand what it means to live the high-society life, and she began her life anew."

	That sounds like some terrible sales pitch for a lucky charm. 'With this charm, our client Mister A had all of his problems solved in a single day, and he started a new life!'

	"...And around this time, she began to act as the 'proud and haughty, yet intelligent and noble lady' archetype."

	"I really hoped that wouldn't be the case..."

	What kind of employee managed to convert the employer into an Otaku? Scary.

	"Lo and behold, the employee was my big sister all along."

	"She caused all of this by herself?!" Not only did she change the lives of her siblings, she exacted the same upon her mistress! Is she some sort of a supervillain? Her 'decent job' was working at the Eunsung mansion?!

	"...However, Madame was initially a closeted Otaku. She never flaunted her hobbies outside of her room." That was the most unbelievable part of her entire story. She continued, "The time she began her path as the Pubtaku Queen was... yes, right after my big sister escaped from the country, and Madame saved us and admitted us into Eunsung Middle School."

	"That's not a long time at all!"

	If she was telling the truth, she became the Queen within merely three years. The horror behind this story was surely unending.

	Very briefly, a note of apprehension entered and exited Sukyong-sunbae's blank face. "...Yes. Ultimately, she started on her path precisely because of what happened when we were admitted into the middle school."

	"...?"

	"Two children were admitted into the school, not by passing the tough entrance exams, but purely through the sheer power of the Eunsung family. They also talked in a manner that was completely foreign to other schoolchildren."

	Sukyong-sunbae continued as if she was reading a textbook, "At that time, we were likely the most alien things the school had yet to see. We never had proper education prior to that date, either, so it was impossible for us to get along with other children. We acted differently, and we were Otakus. Soon, we were outcast and became a target for bullying."

	It didn't matter at all that Eunsung had the more intelligent children of our population; bullying still happened. One could even say that they may be capable of bullying even better by applying their intelligence.

	"Saving us from being bullied was, again, our mistress." Sukyong-sunbae shook her head, a hint of sadness entering her voice. "She was... too young to know any better. She confronted the bullies and defended us, asking what's wrong with being an Otaku."

	"..."

	Yeonji's hand quivered, shaking my shirt with it. Or, maybe I was the one shaking instead.

	"She used her power to create the Moe Research Club, watched anime in the middle of class, wore a wig and tinted contact lenses, and forced classmates to cosplay... I do not agree that what she did was right. She might already know that her actions were poisonous. Nevertheless, that was the root of her evils; thanks to us. And we have crossed the point that we cannot go back."

	I knew there was something wrong with her hair and her eyes. I sighed. Sukyong-sunbae firmly shut her mouth as if she felt a bitter aftertaste.

	"...The reason I wanted to say this... isn't because I wanted to gain your sympathy before the match. Rather, I wanted you two to win tomorrow."

	"Wha-."

	Taken by surprise once more, we exclaimed. "Then... you want the Moe Research Club gone?"

	"Yes," she nodded. "The club is... the symbol for the kindness and mercy that our lady showed us, but my brother and I do not want her to build any more bad reputation to her name."

	Her emotionless face returned, and her voice rang honest and true.

	"The club is the result of her three years of effort. We couldn't end it by our hands. No one else could have ever thought about ending it. I am very delighted that there is finally a chance for an end." For a moment, she looked as if she was sighing in relief. "...Perhaps the whole reason she bet her club on this match is also because she wanted someone else to end her current lifestyle."

	"..."

	We could not find a proper response back. A moment later, Yeonji spoke, still holding onto my sleeves. "Then, what, you're going to work with us and throw the game on purpose?"

	"No, not at all."

	"No?!"

	There was no end to the twists.

	Sukyong-sunbae hastily replied to dissolve our confusion. "...I am but a maid. If my mistress gives me an order, then I have to perform it regardless of my personal beliefs-- that is how I was raised. And so she had spoken, 'We will show those peasants what for, and make them both kneel before me! I will make that tiny girl weep and lick my boots!' and so on."

	"..."

	...It didn't sound like she wants her lifestyle to end.

	Hearing Yerin's confident declaration of war, Yeonji scowled, her eyes burning with a predatory light. Sukyong-sunbae glanced at her. "And so, I will not be holding back in any way tomorrow. Whatever my own desires may be, I must still do my very best to bring our Moe Research Club to victory."

	"...Man."

	What am I supposed to do differently, then?

	Yeonji must have been thinking the same. Noticing the expressions on our face that I assume were the same, Sukyong-sunbae assured us calmly. "...Despite that, I wanted you to know this."

	"..."

	"Please win against us, however much effort we will put into winning, and allow our lady to drop her façade. This is all I can say for now."

	"Nyuu--." groaned Yeonji, quietly.

	Sukyong-sunbae bowed. "...Whoever wins the match tomorrow, I believe there cannot be another chance for me to tell you of this. So, please forgive me for my rudeness. Oh, and one more thing--." She paused just as she was about to turn around and leave. "--I would like to add, thanks to my big sister's 'education', I am very knowledgeable of the Otaku culture. As far as the Word Chain game goes, I am confident that I will fare very well against any opponent. Also..."

	At that moment, Sukyong-sunbae's blank, expressionless eyes lit up pleasantly, as if to smile at Yeonji with her eyes.

	"Miss Yeonji, I absolutely love what you are wearing today."

	* * *

	After Sukyong-sunbae had left,

	We sat down on the next bench we could find, and spaced out in silence. There were many people around the park; I looked around aimlessly, seeing women play badminton and kids riding around on their tricycles.

	I muttered to myself, "...That story, I wonder if it's real."

	Sukyong-sunbae's story was, honestly, too ridiculous to be true. However, her expression was serious and her voice rang true; but, even then, why tell us anything at all?

	Was it because she didn't want to keep that secret from us? Or, was it simply a ploy to distract us from focusing on winning the match?

	Yeonji answered my thoughts, her eyes still unfocused and staring at nothing in particular. "I think she was telling the truth, probably."

	"....Really?"

	How unlike her. I thought she would be stubborn and say something like 'Of course it's a trick from them! I'm not going to fall for that!'

	"Heh," Yeonji scoffed, "I did find it strange, too. That butler-brother guy, he was in a neighboring class back in middle school. Everyone thought he was a strange person, something about his constant smile bothering people."

	I couldn't disagree, since I thought he was pretty strange, too.

	"A brother and a sister who grew up to an Otaku's expectations, and a girl who tried to defend them by becoming an Otaku herself... That's just gross. Just hearing about it makes me cringe." Yeonji grumbled.

	"I'm pretty sure you don't get to mock that, when you're trying to create a land of Otakus yourself."

	"Hmph, that's not the issue here..." Yeonji pouted, and nervously swung her legs underneath the bench from side to side. After a moment of wasting energy with her legs, Yeonji started another conversation. "You know, back then..."

	"Hmm?"

	"Before the weird maid girl showed up..."

	Unfortunately for Sukyong-sunbae, Yeonji had now profiled her as the 'weird maid girl'. You're like this to the nurse, too! Can't you watch yourself a little more when dealing with older people?

	Ignoring my judgmental glare, Yeonji continued. "You asked me how I came up with the goal I mentioned."

	"Hmm... Yeah, I did." As I remember, it was interrupted thanks to Sukyong-sunbae's sudden appearance. "What about it?"

	"It was maybe July of last year... Do you remember the 'War of Otaku Power Levels'?"

	"...Um, yes."

	The War of Otaku Power Levels.

	It all began in the anime board of the country's largest online community, 'DDInside'

	[2]

	. One user uploaded a video of himself cosplaying in the streets of Seoul, and it soon gathered the attention of many, receiving hateful comments like 'This is an embarrassment', or 'Don't do that in public', and then came the defense from the Otakus who were against being closeted.

	Within hours, the argument spread to every other major Korean websites, dividing the communities into two opposing sides of the discussion; the groups that labeled themselves 'Clotaku' and 'Pubtaku'. The incident grew uncontrollably large, so much that every single Otaku in the country would have heard of it by now.

	...In other words, it was the most embarrassing, cringe-worthy time period in Korean history.

	Just to add, the Clotaku group seemed to be on the losing side that time. To support their own claim, the Pubtakus created and uploaded numerous videos of themselves cosplaying or acting out scenes from the anime in public, and there was no stopping them. The Clotaku side could not find an effective way to denounce their actions, and so the 'war' ended the way it began; awkwardly.

	...Ultimately, the war only made the image of Otakus worse off in the country.

	God damn, why did I even remind myself?

	As I beat myself up to be rid of my memory of the incident, Yeonji continued. "I was part of the Clotaku group when that happened. Phew... I can't count how many opponents I've cut down with my keyboard."

	...A keyboard warrior, huh? Well, I guess it suits your usual image.

	Yeonji made a solemn expression like a general leading an army to a battle. "However, the battle was against us. There were many Otakus pretending online that they had an ounce of courage to display their interests in public, when in reality, they'd rather run away and hide. Plus, I could never find a good way to retort when they ask me why I should be embarrassed of something that I truly enjoy in life."

	She briefly looked like she could use a long beard to scratch to aid her thought. "Worst of all, there weren't many amongst the Clotaku group who were willing to actively resist the Pubtaku. By definition we're supposed to be secretive and quiet, so how many of the Clotaku, do you think, were willing to lead the argument?"

	"Yeah..."

	Yeonji was special for having a twisted goal behind being a Clotaku.

	"The only argument we had was to show the ridicule and hate we get from others... like, we needed to tell real life experience of people who were bullied. However, there wasn't anyone who would reveal such a story. At least on the Internet, no one wants to reveal that they're weak."

	"...!"

	"However,"

	I winced.

	"There was one Clotaku who did. One guy."

	Cold sweat dripped from my forehead. I nervously shot a quick glance at her; Yeonji's face had yet to change from her solemn expression.

	"So he told a story about his time in middle school, when he was bullied by his schoolmates for hanging around with a Pubtaku friend..."

	"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgghh!"

	I screamed involuntarily.

	"Whoa! What's wrong with you?!" exclaimed Yeonji, rebalancing herself after almost falling off the bench in surprise. Sweat continued to drop in volumes from my face.

	"N-n-n-nothing! I was sitting for so long, my back was hurting, or something."

	"How much did it hurt that you had to scream for your life?! That was most definitely a scream coming from snapping your spine off!"

	...How do you know how people scream when they snap their spine?

	Yeonji clamored on for a while, upset by my outburst, but the situation safely passed with a few quick excuses. Yeonji resumed, now eyeing me suspiciously. "It was the classic, heartwarming tale of 'I couldn't leave my friend be, since we were best friends since we were young'. However the bullying began, I was thoroughly impressed by his fresh tale of school bullies. So, I saved the text and linked it to every website I went to."

	"Dooooon't doooooooo thaaaaaaaaat!!"

	I knew it! I knew something was wrong! I deleted that post a minute after I uploaded it because I got too embarrassed, and you just went ahead and spread it all over the Internet?! My darkest past is just an impressive story to you?!

	...But I would die of embarrassment if I said that to her. I screamed internally, my body flailing about and steaming. Yeonji looked at me like I had gone mad.

	"...Why not? I'm sure OP himself would have wanted to spread the tear-jerking tale. And really, I got a lot of responses from other websites, and most people sympathized with him, such as 'lmao what a poor bastard LOLOLOL'."

	"They're mocking him however you see it-! There isn't a single bit of sympathy in that comment!"

	"Well, don't forget that DDInside is full of Tsunderes. They probably wrote that in the comments, but silently cried by their lonesome. Tsk tsk, they're not honest people."

	"That's pretty terrible in its own way!"

	At this rate, I'll be the one who's silently crying by my lonesome! Yeonji sighed, as tears almost welled up from my eyes.

	"Well, despite my best efforts, the war went in the favor of the Pubtaku..."

	"And the only person who suffered was that writer!"

	"His noble sacrifice will always be in our hearts."

	"No one died yet! Don't kill off people like that!"

	"And that was my reason for starting that goal."

	Yeonji concluded, ignoring my objections. "There was only one man back then who dared to reveal his tragic past, but I am sure there are many more who suffered like him in our world. I know that a lot of them have a good reason be disliked, but I confidently doubt every Otaku is like that. I want to save those people. Because..." Yeonji stammered, hesitant. "Because, that's what I thought I had to do when I read his story."

	"..."

	Yeonji firmly closed her mouth, silent. I could not say anything.

	I wanted to tell her that she was utterly ridiculous for having the idea of becoming a modern day savior, but my own embarrassment prevented me from talking further.

	...Did she realize that I was the wrote one wrote that post?

	Yeonji's expression was overly nonchalant for that to be true. Not that she could have figured out that it was me, when I had posted anonymously.

	I wanted to ask her if she knew.

	"Hey..."

	"I'm going home." As soon as I opened my mouth, her small body bounced off the bench. "It's almost lunchtime, so I'm going to eat at home. I'm hungry."

	"... Is that so?"

	Where did the chicken skewers from before go? Noticing my upset glare, Yeonji posed with her hands on her hips and grumbled, "What, you got a problem? If you want me to stay with you, you pay for lunch. Conveniently, there's a restaurant right there."

	"I'm not going to pay for you!"

	My wallet isn't bottomless, you know! I shot down her demand, and Yeonji scoffed in response. "Hmph, how greedy! Anyway, you don't get to study today! Just memorize words you can use tomorrow! If you play poorly tomorrow, I'm going to throw you in an iron maiden. Do your best!"

	"Hey, hey, hey..."

	Before I could say 'please have mercy', Yeonji was already far, far away. She looked perilously close to falling down and hurting herself by running in those platformed shoes, but she disappeared without an incident.

	"And she left..."

	I stared at the direction Yeonji left, spacing out.

	I sighed. I was disappointed that I could not ask, but I was thankful that I did not ask.

	If I managed to ask her, what would she say?

	"..."

	I stood alone, looking at the cloudless blue sky above me.

	I started walking back home. Like Yeonji said, at least I shouldn't be embarrassing myself by playing poorly.

	______________________________________________________________________

	Reference

	1. Reference to Kaitou Saint Tail. There are many variations of this line in different English translations, so the reference may be hard to notice.

	2. Reference to 'DCInside'. It is essentially the 2ch/4chan/Reddit of Korea.

	### 011. Chapter 9. Otaku Word Chain

	Dear readers, this is the culmination the first volume was building up to. The Epic Otaku Battle of History with a message for us across the world who enjoy what we love. I earnestly hope you will

	find personal significance from the message within, and deem it relatable to yourself, and show appreciation to what it may mean to you.

	TL;DR. Epic chapter INCOMING!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	On the following Monday,

	As if to celebrate the lifting curtains of the upcoming-- uh... the upcoming Otaku Word Chain game between our Clotaku Club and MoeRe, the entire school was in a state of unrest.

	...That was a joke.

	Aside from the sickly patients of the Monday disease, the school was lively as always. It would be a stranger sight, if not a severe issue of our school, if these bright, young teenagers were emotionally affected by some word game happening in a club.

	Amidst this school full of energy, I was alone, tense and afraid. My final class of the day had past, and it was my time to go down to the infirmary and begin the match.

	I felt like I was walking into an exam room to take the National Scholastic Ability Test-- the ones on June and September, especially. They're the worst, I heard. I couldn't concentrate-- I couldn't settle down. Every step I took toward the infirmary felt heavy and bothersome. But I couldn't back off now; running was no longer an option.

	--And I've always known that, but it was good to remind myself. I approached the infirmary's inner door, and entered the room...

	"Oh, my... welcome."

	...Then I found the room devoid of people, save for Miss Yu

	Youngseon. For once, she was not sitting in front of the computer, but instead on the couch, staring at an object on the table in front.

	The object was.... a cup of noodles?

	"Are you having cup ramen?"

	"Yep. Want some?"

	"No thanks." I only asked because cup ramen doesn't really fit someone like you!

	She did not bother insisting further, instead electing to rub her sleepy eyes. "Oh, I'm so sleepy... I didn't get any sleep yesterday! I used to be perfectly fine with skipping two days worth of sleep, and now, I can't even stay up for one day since I'm over twenty-five..."

	...I could not find a kind, appropriate remark, so I chose to remain quiet.

	Moments passed by as the nurse griped about her long-gone youth, then she suddenly turned her attention to me. "...By the way, did you study for your test?"

	It's a match, not a test! I replied neutrally, "Oh, uh, sure, somewhat." It was a little embarrassing to proudly proclaim that I had been spending any amount of time memorizing Otaku vocabulary.

	The nurse flashed a smile, accentuating the noticeably darker circles beneath her eyes. "'Somewhat', is it...? I'm jealous, I haven't studied much at all. I'm worried! What should I do...?"

	"There's always someone like you in every class!" There's always at least one of those kids in class who cry about not studying enough on the day of exams! And, just as I had feared, you're the third member of our team!

	"I felt like I was in school again, having to actually study and learn something... I was pretty excited."

	"You spent all night trying to memorize words?!"

	"You don't memorize words... you understand them."

	That just sounds like a line straight out of a shoddy study guide! I looked at her in disbelief, but the nurse paid no heed.

	She slowly lifted her arms, moving as though she was sleepwalking, and mixed the dry noodles with the soup in her ramen cup. "Ah... so fragrant. This beautiful smell-- I think I'm in heaven."

	"...Miss Yu, are you going to be okay?"

	Those are cup noodles, right? Not drugs?

	"Hmm? ...I don't know what you're saying~. I'm always like th-- Chomp, slurp, slurp."

	"Can you please eat more gently?!"

	She's supposed to be a respected nurse! And a beautiful lady! And she's making the soup fly everywhere and leaving stains on her clothes!

	"I'mreallyslurphungryglugrightsipnow, so-"

	"Don't bother talking! You don't have to reply, so keep eating quietly! Please!"

	It's even scarier how your face remains serene and sleepy, while the rest of your body is aggressively attacking those noodles! And Yeonji, too! Why do girls around me always end up eating like a pig?! I don't expect anyone to handle every grain of rice with care, but this is just too much!

	I patiently waited. The nurse finished the noodles, drank the remaining soup, and then marked the end of the meal with a relieved sigh, signaling a full stomach. Fortunately, she had no further chance to ruin her image.

	"Phew... I can feel my energy come back. Oop, I feel a belch coming up."

	"Please, please don't..."

	The nurse giggled. She snapped the wooden chopsticks in half, put them in the now-empty cup of noodles, and then threw them away in a garbage bag.

	"...You look very nervous," she commented.

	"Pardon?"

	She grabbed an empty can that had been thrown on the ground by Yeonji yesterday, placing it into the bag with the rest of the garbage. She turned around, "I'm sure it's about the match today... your legs are shaking hard."

	"Ah, oh. I see." I must have been shaking without noticing. I became overly aware of my legs, taking manual control over every muscle so that my instincts could not.

	The nurse smiled soothingly. "Why is that...? Does it bother you that, whoever wins, someone's club will be gone?"

	"Ack." I gave a look asking 'How did you know?'

	She laughed. "Hah, kids always give away what they're thinking through their facial expressions. ...And I like that."

	Are all adults capable of reading our minds, then? It's true, though, that I can never tell what she's thinking. Not in the 'I don't know what the hell you're thinking' way, I mean.

	"..."

	'Bother me', huh?

	It was more accurate to say that I was being indecisive. Yeonji would be furious if she knew, but... I still hadn't a particular reason to win the match and put an end to MoeRe. Why not? I couldn't answer. It was likely related to the classic question of 'do I really have to?'

	A match about putting the lives of school clubs on the line sounds awfully like... something straight out of an anime. This story doesn't belong in my life.

	"Well, I'm a closeted Otaku, too." said the nurse, interrupting my soundless sulk. "But I have nothing against people who aren't closeted, either. I don't really care what happens today, but I am still going to try my best."

	Fortunately, she had the same mindset that I had about this match. Really, what kind of loser would take this Super Idiot Wars EX seriously? Oh... wait, that's just about everyone else.

	...Out of the six people involved in this match, less than half the people are sane? What a cruel world!

	"...Although I feel this way, you shouldn't have the same attitude, Injin."

	"Why not?!"

	--And the nurse turned her back on me! This was my only chance to connect with someone who was being sane for once! And, what's worse, my thought got read again! Is it really that easy to tell what I'm thinking? My hands sprang up instinctively in an attempt to hide my face.

	The nurse explained. "Of course it's because Yeonji--... No, forget that, I said nothing. It's because Yerin...."

	"I heard you just now! How sleepy do you have to be to confuse those two?!"

	"...Tee-hee!"

	"Don't act all cutesy! You're an adult, for cripes' sake!"

	"A-acting cutesy...?" She briefly looked as though she was crying. "Hmph... Injin, you watch yourself when you're alone. Anyway, about Yerin--"

	"You just threatened me! In a voice full of contempt!"

	"Stop being too damn loud...! Anyway! I've known Yerin since her middle school years."

	"H-how do you know her?"

	"She got in a huge fight in the first week of class, then she was sent to the infirmary. That was when I met her."

	The nurse sat relaxed, and began recollecting the tale. "I suppose no one was crazy enough to try and hurt the Eunsung CEO's only granddaughter, so she was punching, kicking, and screaming all by herself. She got scratched and bruised everywhere in the process, and she lost her voice; she caused a pretty big trouble for the school. I had a little connection with Eunsung, so I did something like a one-on-one counseling session with her. I'm sure she forgot about it now, though."

	"Hm..."

	She got in a fight at the start of her middle school year? This sounds familiar...

	"...She fought because--" The nurse looked like she would rather be somewhere else. "'She was bullying a classmate just because he's an Otaku!' was the reason."

	--'She confronted the bullies and defended us, asking what's wrong with being an Otaku.'

	...Damn it, I should have known.

	I frowned, remembering the unpleasant past of Sukyong-sunbae and Yerin.

	The nurse merely shrugged and continued, "It was around that time when she started to... change. I never had the chance to meet her afterward, but I've always heard of her amazing exploits through rumors. I knew the rumors were real, because..." She murmured quietly, as if she had no audience. "Because she had that look on her face."

	"..."

	I did not reply. The nurse sat, her eyes distant and unfocused, and then added to her quiet mutter, "Well... I didn't think she'd ruin herself this much, though."

	"You never expected her to go this far, did you?!" And you just said she 'ruined herself'! We're all Otakus here, don't be so harsh!

	"That girl... She needs to be stopped. Even if it means busting her legs into pieces."

	"Why so brutal?!"

	"She'll go to waste otherwise." The nurse shrugged. "Yerin is... honestly said, she has great potential. She is capable of directing her own life, and she is kind-hearted enough to endure being a villain for over three years just to help her friends. I think it's a miracle that someone like her is a part of Eunsung's family."

	A sudden sense of sadness entered my mind for the fact that being an Otaku was the origin of Yerin's problems.

	"We can't let the brilliant granddaughter of Eunsung family cut herself off from society forever. We don't have to stop her from being an Otaku altogether; we just have to put her at a level where she is on friendly terms with everyone again. As a licensed teacher, that's all I can wish for. It's possible that Yerin herself wanted someone to stop her."

	"Do you think so?"

	Sukyong-sunbae had said the same, but I could not share the thought that the overwhelmingly prideful, haughty blonde princess would want her lifestyle to end.

	In contrast to my lackluster response, the nurse appeared to have great confidence that she was right. "So... You should win the match with Yeonji's help, then try to convince Yerin to change her life somehow. Good luck!"

	"Don't talk like you're not involved!"

	She did say she didn't care who won the match. Just now, however, she sounded like she was siding with us...

	"Because Yeonji--..." The nurse began, bearing a grim expression that read 'I don't want to be here', but her reply was cut short by the entrance of Yeonji and the three members of 'MoeRe'.

	"I apologize that we are late. I was merely exchanging... unpleasantries with Miss Umji. She was being quite the persistent little peasant."

	"It's Seo Yeonji!"

	Yeonji and Yerin fought the moment they had entered the room. They appeared almost supernaturally calm otherwise, although their clubs were in the danger of being erased from existence.

	They continued their violent, verbal combat; I must have missed the news when they announced that they were holding a martial arts tournament instead. The nurse finally broke her composure, her usually smooth face wrinkled from frowning, and gestured the two angrily. "Stop! ...You're acting like little kids. Stop fighting and sit down."

	"You are right. It should be my responsibility, as an adult, to be mature and argue no longer with Miss Umji-- a kid, both in body and mind."

	"It's Seo Yeonji! Wait, who's a kid?! You empty-headed blondie!"

	"Wh-what did you say? I will not let your insult pass! Miss Sukyong, punish that little kid!"

	"Hmph, if you're so confident, why don't you fight me yourself?"

	"As you wish! Mister Yujin, bring me my blade!"

	"...Please sit down, both of you."

	The nurse and I sighed deeply in unison.

	* * *

	Soon,

	After resolving the conflict, it took a... very long time for the members of the match to gather around.

	On one couch sat the nurse and I, already looking exhausted before the match had begun, and Yeonji, whose energy seemed to be tapped from mysterious sources.

	On the opposing couch was the butler, the maid, and the golden-haired girl. The three people, sitting together, painted a picture far more surreal than a masterpiece by Salvador Dali.

	The combined picture was, exaggerating a little, a little short of complete disarray.

	"Let us remind ourselves the rules of the match." said Yerin, radiating with energy comparable to Yeonji, and held up a print. "The match is the Otaku Word Chain, using the 'unique subject pool' rule. The match will be three-on-three, and team members are forbidden from communicating with each other during the match. It will be a Team Deathmatch, where we play until all members of a team are eliminated. Is that correct?"

	"That's right." Yeonji nodded.

	"The losers must dismiss their club, and take leave from the infirmary for the winner to freely use... Is that also correct?"

	"That's right."

	"Good. Then, we'll begin the match!"

	"--Before that." As Yerin put the printed rule sheet away and prepared herself for the match, Yeonji halted her. "I want to make a small change to the rules, if you don't mind."

	"...Changing the rules, at this stage?"

	"It won't be a disadvantage to you."

	"Hmph, then I will listen."

	Yeonji cleared her throat loudly, and then stated her proposition. "I want to increase the time per turn to a minute."

	"An entire minute?"

	Normally, you need to give a valid word within fifteen seconds since the start of your turn. Yeonji had just asked if she could multiply that by four. Really, even when considering that the Otaku Word Chain game is far more difficult than a normal word chain game, one minute sounded like an incredibly long time. Why did Yeonji ask for a rule change without telling me about her plans beforehand?

	Yerin looked briefly confused. Then, after presumably deciding that the change of rules would not impact her team's performance, she agreed, followed by a mocking grin, "Ha! Is that your attempt at remedying your miniscule knowledge? Very well, I will be merciful. Miss Sukyong!"

	When Yerin raised her hands and called her, the maid beside her-... Sukyong-sunbae pulled out an object from her front pocket. It resembled a small clock, with a digital display showing '00.00'.

	"...This is a digital timer. It is the same one that people use for speed chess." said Sukyong-sunbae, seeming completely oblivious to the fact that we had met on the day before. "After setting the starting duration, it counts down like a timer and will ring when the countdown reaches zero. If you press the button here, it will reset to the original time. Please press this as soon as you say a valid word, and pass it to the next player."

	Sukyong-sunbae opened the back of the timer and put her fingers into the device, manipulating it. The timer's digital panel then read '60.00'.

	The intensity of the situation quickly rose; I realized that my hands were moist from sweating. I straightened my posture and sat properly in preparation for the match-- though, in hindsight, that was completely unnecessary.

	Yerin passed the timer to Yeonji, who was the first player in our rotation. She did a cursory glance around the room and shortly announced,

	"Right, then! We will begin the match!"

	* * *

	The dreaded Otaku Word Chain game that I had feared for the past few days was... quite generic, other than the presence of a digital timer.

	Yeonji's answers were usually from huge franchises, which eliminated a countless number of possible answers every turn. Some others did the opposite, choosing to use obscure titles that eliminated very little. Both teams were comfortably leading the game, at least at this stage. Remarkably, Sukyong-sunbae always managed to conjure up a valid answer without a second of thought; I realized that Sukyong-sunbae had not exaggerated about her skills yesterday.

	"...'Saya's Music.' Next turn, please."

	"...'Mayo Chicken.' Next turn, please."

	"...'Mahou Shounen Matsuri*Magica.' Next turn, please."

	I was relieved that the nurse's turn came after Sukyong-sunbae, not mine. Her overwhelming speed would have left me pressured and speechless every time.

	Our order of turns was like this: Yeonji -> Yerin -> Me -> Sukyong-sunbae -> Nurse -> The butler -> Yeonji ... and this rotation was going to continue until the end of the game.

	Yeonji knew that the order of turns would be a big factor in changing the outcome of this game, but without knowing the skill levels of the enemy, there was never a chance for us to strategically plan our turns. Instead, we randomized the order; fortunately, Yeonji was perfectly content having to bombard Yerin with answers that left little room for follow-ups.

	After almost thirty seconds of silence, Yerin safely passed her turn with an answer: "...'My Distant Relative's Neighbor Totoro'. Next person!" As I thought, the match was becoming exceedingly difficult as time went on, now that the list of available words had become extremely short.

	"Um... Uh, Ro-... 'Robot Takkyeon V'? Next turn!" I answered.

	"...'Venusaur'. Next turn, please."

	...But this maid-sunbae appeared totally unaffected by the smaller pool of answers. Wait, no one used anything from Po[][]mon before? How many words did she just eliminate with that answer?!

	Every answer from Sukyong-sunbae was unpredictable, her subjects having no trend in generation or genre. If not for the nurse, who seemed to know every obscure visual novel title out there, we would have lost long before.

	On top of that, no matter how much progress we've made into the match, she maintained her unnatural speed. If there ever was a ruling queen of the Otakus, she'd definitely be one. I began to question if Sukyong-sunbae was serious about wanting us to win; perhaps she was planning to confuse us before the match, after all.

	No one had made a mistake yet, but our loss was easily predictable with the pace Sukyong-sunbae played. Even if the other two people were to fail and drop out of the game, it was meaningless if we couldn't beat Sukyong-sunbae.

	There was... only one way to win, then-- The unbeatable move of the Otaku Word chain, the final boss of an obscure game called 'Ssuro-Gigan: The Last Vampire', the ridiculously long-winded 'Ssuro-Giganteni-Paraskulssu-[][][]()()()()'!

	...I still wonder what kind of idiot came up with that name, but it was nonetheless a name that was stuck in my head since my first loss against Yeonji. I had to look it up in Maver

	[1]

	afterward, too, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

	As my research had found, it was a game-breaking answer that guaranteed victory when used, which somehow remained legal in the official game rules. It basically was the Excalibur of the Otaku Word Chain.

	Using that answer was not going to be easy; it would only work if someone were to slip up and use an answer that ended with '-ssu'. But there was not a single opportunity yet; clearly, everyone in the game was knowingly avoiding it.

	Patience. Someone was bound to slip up eventually. Late into the game... much later in the game, there's always someone who makes a silly, game-ending mistake! Until then... oh, until then--

	"...'Futari wa Pedicure'. Next turn!' answered the other maid--... I mean, the butler, after a long silence since starting his turn. It became quickly apparent that he was the weakest player in this match, but he had held his ground thus far. His strange expression, which combined his permanent smile and his state of deep perplexion, somehow seemed to gnaw at my nerves.

	The next person in turn was... Seo Yeonji. She observed the timer that had begun counting down from sixty seconds, and she spoke--

	"I got some things to say to you, Eun Yerin."

	--directly to Eun Yerin.

	"...?!"

	A look of surprise surfaced visibly on everyone's faces; confusion crossed Yerin's face, as if she had just seen a polar bear in the South Pole. "...What are you doing? The only words that should come out of your mouth should be a name that starts with a 'Ure-' sound. Do you mean to forfeit this game?"

	"You know, you've been making weird noises like 'Ugh!' or 'Argh!' before giving a valid answer." Yeonji replied immediately without batting an eye. "Only the members of the same team can't talk to each other, remember? Whatever else I do meanwhile, I just have to give a valid word that starts with 'Ure-', right?"

	She continued, "Listen, Korea's view on the Otaku culture is pretty terrible right now. It's all thanks to the media trying to exaggerate and make news, or some Otakus doing stupid things; like the time when a guy brought a real weapon to 'Seoul Comic Mart' convention as a part of his cosplay, or people who publically wear Kimonos on our national holidays. Don't you agree? 'Eureka Ten'!"

	Making the end of her minute-long speech, done in a single breath, she gave an answer and passed the timer to Yerin with a couple seconds to spare. That was too close.

	"What-..." Yerin became speechless, but soon recovered when the timer in her grasp came to her attention. "You... Are you saying I am acting like them? 'Tenshi Muyo'! Next turn!"

	Movement lingered in Yerin's lips as if she had unspoken words remaining. She did not speak further; rather than wasting any energy dealing with Yeonji's sudden outburst, she seemed to be quietly determining if this was another one of Yeonji's deceptions. It was probably a wise move; I had no idea what she was trying to do, either.

	Under the collective, trained gaze from the others in the room, Yeonji let loose a furious torrent of words as soon as the timer made its way back to her. "Aren't you, though? You 'recommended' a bunch of porn games to your classmates, and you forced them to do all sorts terrible of things! That's just going too far beyond the line. Do you even know why we keep our hobbies to ourselves? 'Mental Magica'."

	"They weren't porn games! They were visual novels! They were for all ages!" Yerin replied, making a defense that was far too often told by Otakus. She became flustered at Yeonji's blunt choice of words, but she remained reasonably calm. "Keeping everything to yourselves? Hah, don't make me laugh! Peasants like you are merely cowards who cannot be prideful of your hobbies! Why do you feel ashamed about being an Otaku? Your meek attitudes are ruining the image of Otakus, not us! 'Ika Musuko'!"

	The timer rotated back once more.

	"We're the ones doing it? That's the biggest joke yet. How are Clotakus supposed to worsen anything, when we're completely unnoticed to others? You people are the only ones affecting anything, and that's a fact. You asked why can't we be proud of ourselves? Have you seen what's going on in Korea right now? The moment you carry the 'Otaku' label, you're going to suffer for it forever. You could be bullied by anyone who knows of it. And you're telling me to be more open about being an Otaku? 'Densha Onna'!"

	"Suffer for having a label? And get bullied for it? Would there be a reason to get bullied if you are sociable, and have other positive qualities to offset it? To me, you are making an excuse to cover your ineptitude in maintaining a social life. Look at me, I have been open about being an Otaku for the past three years; have I ever been bullied even once? 'Natsume's Book of Enemies'!."

	Another rotation.

	"Ha-ha, you're getting everything wrong! You were never bullied, all because you're from the damn Eunsung family. You got your money, your power, and your looks from them. Who in their right mind would try to harm you? And what about all the other Otakus who have none of the things that you have? Are you sure they, in their position, can do the same things that you're doing? Don't flatter yourself. 'Kamisama no Notechou'."

	"Hmph."

	Yerin's blue eyes glittered. She was beginning to understand what Yeonji was trying to do.

	Is this supposed to be... BBC's 60 Seconds? Whenever it was their turn, they got to argue however they wanted in the sixty seconds that they were given, as long as they gave a valid answer at the end. They effectively created a match of their own within the Word Chain game, held between only Yeonji and Yerin.

	Yeonji had some thoughtful, well-structured arguments for herself, as if she had prepared it beforehand-- she probably did, actually-- but the bigger surprise was that Yerin hadn't faltered yet under Yeonji's relentless verbal assaults.

	"You must understand... I have never once believed that having wealth or power has any matter in being an Otaku. Even if I were a humble peasant, I would choose to continue this lifestyle. I never doubted that this was the right path." stated Yerin, clasping her hands on her chest for emphasis. "A lowly peasant like you would not understand why I have gotten on this path. You have no idea what Miss Sukyong, Mister Yujin, and I have went through in these past years. I would like you to stay quiet when you have no clue what you are talking about. 'Chobits'."

	"...Nyu." squeaked Yeonji, breaking her confident, upright posture, distraught by Yerin's powerful discourse.

	Since Yeonji was the type to enjoy arguing over the Internet all day, she likely started the argument with great confidence that she would win. But Yerin's rebuttals struck at Yeonji's arguments in unconventional ways-- rather than pure logic, her arguments stemmed from her firm resolution in the past, from the time when she saved Sukyong-sunbae and her brother from being bullied. It was also how the MoeRe came to be, as Sukyong-sunbae had mentioned.

	Eun Yerin had chosen to openly embrace the stigma to help her friends.

	Her path as a 'Pubtaku' began with full justification of her cause-- and three years had gone by without a chance for anyone to point out her wrongdoings.

	And, even now, everything she had done up to this day might still be justified in her mind.

	She believed that she was on the side of good, her actions correct and just; her past told her so. She let that belief guide her life, a belief that was deep-seated, like an aged tree spreading its roots on her mind; nothing that Yeonji or I could do could change her now.

	"..."

	What's gotten into Yeonji, anyway? No matter how interesting this argument had become, it was entirely separate from the match itself. Even if Yeonji won her little debate, it would make no difference if Yerin's team had won the Word Chain game.

	And there was the possibility that Yerin could have ignored her outright. Why did Yeonji start the debate without telling me about it beforehand?

	I looked at her out of curiosity. Yeonji appeared suppressed by Yerin's last rebuttal, and strangely, she seemed to be throwing quick glances in my direction every now and then. But, before I could ponder the question of 'What does she want?' The match was already taking a turn for the worse;

	"...'Tatami Universe'. Next turn, please."

	"...'A Rooster into the Wild'. Next turn, please."

	"...'Occult University'. Next turn, please."

	While the two girls' exchange spiraled out of control, MoeRe's Ace, Sukyong-sunbae, asserted her dominance over the actual Word Chain game, bombarding our team with quick answers.

	"...'All the prisoners in this prison are beautiful ladies, so my life as a warden is in danger!' ...Next turn."

	Even the nurse was starting to take a very long time with her answers, and yet the timer never seemed to stay in Sukyong-sunbae's hands for longer than a second. This was getting dangerous.

	...What the heck is up with that title, anyway? It was amazing how the nurse still had names to pull from her repertoire of ridiculously obscure visual novels, but disregarding that--

	"Stop acting like you're better than us. Aren't you just saying that because you've never been bullied before? You're not in any position to judge us, when we have to face all kinds of crap for being an Otaku! 'Ibara no Jou'!"

	"If you are afraid of being ousted, you should be confident about who you are, instead. When an Otaku gets negatively viewed, that is only because they are small in numbers! If you were to stop being cowards and band up publically, you would not be bullied in the first place. Is it not ultimately you people who are ruining the Otaku's place in this country? 'OreOto'!"

	Their fight didn't seem like it was going to end anytime soon.

	Yeonji's jabs against Yerin were as fierce as Sukyong-sunbae's answers in the Word Chain, but Yerin had always found a way to settle their debate back to its starting point.

	"Nyu--"

	Yeonji became increasingly tired, her attempt at an argument making no progress. Heavy breaths escaped from between her lips.

	"--Uuu."

	Again, she shot a glance at me.

	Her glance was full of despair, like the eyes of a kitten stuck up on a tree with no way back down. She... looked like those times after school, whenever she wanted something to eat, at the cost of my wallet's life.

	...She wanted my help, huh?

	I mean, it was natural that I should have done something there, since Yeonji and the nurse carried the game this far. But what did I have that can help our game? As for helping in the Word Chain itself, it was flat-out impossible for me to do something about Sukyong-sunbae, who was radiating a powerful Otaku aura by just sitting there. Nuh-uh.

	Then the only option I had was helping Yeonji win against Yerin in their debate, even though I still had no idea what kind of help that would ultimately be.

	...And, Yeonji, the (self-proclaimed) famed keyboard warrior, needed help from a civilian? Overlooking the clear violation of the Geneva Agreements, I still had nothing to say that could help Yeonji...

	...

	...Except for that one thing.

	Yeonji clearly said it yesterday. 'The only way we can have equal footing against the Pubtaku is to show how the Otakus are targeted in our society'.

	Like the time when I had posted those large walls of text, filled with my shame, followed by Yeonji quickly nabbing it and posting it everywhere...

	Was Yeonji expecting me to do that again, and here?

	And does that mean... she knew that I was the one who posted it all along?!

	"Oh, man..."

	My face began burning red. I felt my stomach acid climbing up my throat. Yes, it was true that my tragic experience had a good chance in shaking up Yerin's baseless belief, but...

	...It's waaayy tooo embaaarrassinnnggg--!

	How could I not be embarrassed at that idea? I was essentially going to be telling her 'Hey, I was quite the loser once!'. No one could do that!

	And what did I have to gain if I won the debate for Yeonji? Their debate had no effect on the outcome of the match. What was my incentive for coming out with an uncomfortable story in front of these girls? It wasn't going to happen, no way. It was too bad for Yeonji if she was expecting me to use that story since the beginning, but I had a line that I was not willing to cross.

	I carefully evaded Yeonji's glances, suppressing the subconscious reminiscence of my embarrassing past. But Yerin was speaking again.

	"Like I have said before, you only hide yourself because you are weak and cowardly. If you are assuming that you are finding trouble solely for being an Otaku, without realizing your own faults, you are everything that is wrong with this society."

	Ow.

	Yerin's words became a thorn that pricked at my past.

	"If you know of anyone who had been bullied solely because of the Otaku label, and isn't a social reject otherwise, then tell me. Of course, you could not know of someone who does not exist!"

	More words damaged my psyche before the previous wounds could heal.

	"Those worthless people who can't take care of their own body, and end up being morbidly overweight or terrifyingly bony... Really, it shames me that they are Otakus like I am. Why should I care that those lowly peasants are having a difficult time? 'Yoshinaga-San Chi no Goburin'."

	"...Erk."

	Hearing Yerin's pompous speech, I felt something crawl around my throat, itching to get out. And then, when Yerin casually passed over the timer with a victorious, remorseless smile--

	"...You're wrong."

	The words escaped my mouth on their own before I could control myself.

	"...?"

	Surprised by my entrance into the argument, Yerin glared, her long eyelashes batting. I did not have the time to mind her glares; I had to speak up now.

	"How the hell do you explain Sukyong-sunbae, or that guy?" said I, forming the thoughts deep within my heart into a voice.

	"...What do you mean...?"

	"If you think no one gets any trouble for just being an Otaku, then how do you explain those two? Are you saying they're worthless social rejects, too? 'Rean's Feathers'."

	"!"

	Yerin's mouth shut close, drawing a horizontal line between her lips. She fixed a glare with a clear hostility; she must have understood my intentions.

	"Miss Sukyong and Mister Yujin... never received proper education when they were young, so to be honest, they never had the academic abilities to enter Eunsung normally. There may have been some immature students who hated them for that fact, but they had used the Otaku label as an excuse to bully them. If anyone is at fault, it was mine for trying to keep them in the school with me."

	"...Is that so?"

	They were bullied not because they were Otakus, but because they lacked proper education, which shouldn't affect how sociable or likeable they are...?

	"Of course! Do you really believe that, in this day and age, people would be bullied for what they enjoy? What are you trying to say?" replied Yerin, brushing her golden hair back, a hint of anger embedded in her movement.

	...Alright, I got it.

	Why Yeonji led the match into this direction, and why Yeonji wanted my help-- I understood now, and realized what I had to do. The reason Yeonji entered this silly match had nothing to do with ending their club in the first place-- that wouldn't affect how Yerin lived her life afterward. No, the true reason was to end her life of the 'Pubtaku Queen' altogether.

	If we'd win the match and the MoeRe is demolished, that would be the end of it. Even if they couldn't make another club, that was going to be the end of the story. Yerin's belief was rooted in too deeply that the club going away would do nothing to prevent her from being a general pain in the ass to this school.

	And so, the time limit was extended to an entire minute. With the extension, Yeonji had given us a chance to enter a long-winded debate to tell Yerin what she had wrought upon this school.

	...And then, she asked for my help. The final strike to Yerin's belief, the 'real-life experience' that told the tragic tale of what it means to have the Otaku label here in South Korea, was requested by Yeonji.

	"..."

	That was to be expected from Yeonji, a brilliant mind even among Eunsung. I could almost praise her ability to strategize everything at every turn, but I earnestly wished that she would explain things beforehand; I could have taken longer to come to this realization.

	Yes... Surely, if I made this blonde idiot come to her senses, no one would mind how embarrassing my story is...!

	I made a decision.

	"...Hear me out, Eun Yerin." I began, under an unnerving glare from Yerin, and hopeful, nervous glances from Yeonji. Talking to no particular audience, I told my tale,

	"...It happened back in middle school..."

	* * *

	It happened back in middle school.

	As Yeonji had mentioned in her story, I had a time when I was bullied for hanging around with an Otaku friend.

	We had been the best of friends since we were in elementary school; it wasn't a relationship that I was willing to drop for a mere difference in hobbies.

	"I've always been proud for having a friend like that."

	Good looks, great marks, and monstrous athletic abilities-- Until the second year of middle school, no other descriptions were more suited for my friend. Always popular with the girls, too.

	And then, the 'Otaku' label stuck. Complemented by such an outgoing, nothing-to-fear-attitude, everyone in the school quickly knew about my friend's new hobby.

	...That could not end well.

	I was the only friend left who was willing to continue our friendly relationship, and then I was influenced to become an Otaku myself. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't felt sorry for a good friend who quickly lost everyone who used to be called friends.

	And the other reason why I stuck around was--

	"...Becoming an Otaku didn't change anything."

	Becoming an Otaku did not mean there needed to be a change in personality or attitude. Our lives remained as they were, other than how we talked, or thought-- the felt difference was basically going from saying things like 'Wow, I really like your new headband!' to 'Whoa, that's the same headband that Chinami-chan had! Moe!'.

	After I had sufficiently delved into the Otaku culture to maintain our relationship, no one else in the school was able to understand half the things we were saying-... and ultimately, I gained the Otaku label myself.

	...I have no excuse for what had happened. It was that time when I was crossing the line into becoming a full-fledged Otaku-- maybe within the 'Half-Otaku'(?) zone. Regardless of however I became lumped into that group, the unfamiliarity came from the bullying that began around us.

	Why?

	They never did that before. I was a good student, always aiming to be the top of the school at all times, and I knew that I was fairly respected and liked. Not even those 'bad kids' of the school crossed my path, and there I was, curiously becoming the target of bullying. Yet, I was still the top of the school, even after the Otaku label was acquired.

	I had thought that, maybe, it was entirely the label's doing that my life had changed.

	In hindsight, the actual reason should have been obvious--

	"To actually flaunt that we're Otakus, to the point of advertising the fact-- that's what ruined everything."

	--Every break that we had, we were sitting in the corner of the class, watching anime by ourselves.

	--During gym classes, we made excuses to sit on the side bench while we read manga or light novels.

	--When we talked, we discussed topics that no one else could understand, and what others talked about was just as big of a mystery to us.

	If humans are social animals, then we lacked the trait to be human. We were different, so we were outcast, and then we were bullied.

	Being a top student or being an athletic superstar had no significance if we weren't sociable in the first place. They were irrelevant traits. The only defining factor that changed our lives was the way we blatantly exhibited how different we were from others.

	"It wouldn't have been a problem if we kept everything to ourselves, but at the time, the thought never crossed me. That was what being a 'Pubtaku' led to, and it's the path you're on right now. 'Dream Drinker Merry'."

	I passed the timer to Sukyong-sunbae, feeling my mouth and my throat getting drier every second-- then the timer returned.

	"I'm... I'm not hiding because I enjoy acting like a coward. If I weren't an Otaku, and if I were instead a part of some other minority, I would still be a target of negative attention if I tried too hard to get accepted for it."

	"...!"

	"Did you say that all Otakus of this country should come out of hiding and group up? That's a huge mistake... How many of us do you think there are in all of Korea?"

	Yerin flinched, a flash of discomfort crossing her face. She frowned with a flicker of confusion, and then answered, "...A-about... twenty million, including North Korea?"

	"Twenty million?!"

	That's way too many! Korea would be the land of Otakus at that level! Yeonji was wasting her time all along with her 'Otaku world' plan!

	And why would you add North Korea into the equation? Other than Kim XXXX-Nam

	[2]

	, is there a single Otaku in that country?! I deeply sighed, so much that I worried for the safety of my lungs.

	"I should tell you, if we had every Otaku in Japan come over to South Korea, we would still be the minority of the population. We're never going to have any voice in this country."

	"Th-that can't be..." muttered Yerin, bearing a look of shock. I began to suspect that Yerin had been thinking that Japan was full of Otakus. ...Japan, the Land of Otakus? Sounds terrifying.

	Realizing how terribly deep she was into her fantasy, I continued. "Being a Clotaku is a natural defense to survive in this country. It means to be able to easily make friends with everyone you meet, and every Otaku should learn to be one."

	It was the final realization I had before sending my best friend off to a different school. My friend's final words of regret were the catalyst: 'If I had thought about being on friendly terms with everyone earlier, I might not have to transfer to a different school...'

	Looking back, for the two years I've spent in my middle school, I haven't made any other friends. If there was ever a reunion, I would have no reason to go. I've always reassured myself that I don't need any friends as long as I have my best friend with me, but it did not take a while to regret that decision.

	"Ugh... Sh-shut up!" screamed Yerin, breaking out of the shock that had kept her mouth sealed. She tightly gripped onto her timer as if to break it, and angrily continued, "We are not like you weak-willed peasants! We have no need for relationships with commoners. Such minor inconvenience can be excused through Eunsung's power! With Miss Sukyong and Mister Yujin by my side, we'll forever continue to live this way! 'Chi no Togainu'!"

	"...Ugh."

	What a scary thing to say.

	She was well beyond the domain of 'speaking nonsense', and crossed over into the territory of 'indecipherable'. Her argument became increasingly baseless, and it seemed that she had forgotten the part where she had mentioned that having power has nothing to do with her lifestyle. Well, there's nothing wrong with planning around what you have-- However,

	"But what if your family's company suddenly went bankrupt?"

	"What are you talking about?!" yelled Yerin, forgetting to maintain her ladylike posture and tone. She grew pale, which was unsightly due to her already pale skin.

	"Or, what if, you pass away before your two friends? How are they going to survive this world without your help?"

	"...Nngh."

	I then came to a grave realization that I had given away how much I knew of their secret, but Yerin was not at a state where she could mind the odd peculiarity.

	"So, Eun Yerin, I am telling you..."

	The show was now reaching its climax. I needed to say something that would end everything here.

	Just like her, I became an Otaku to be able to stay with a beloved friend. I could talk to her confidently, knowing that our levels were equal.

	"You are... making a huge mistake, 'Because I Don't Like You at All, Onee-San'!"

	"...!"

	...The timer was running out, so I had to add my answer at the end of that sentence. Unfortunately, the drama was completely demolished by the absurdity of the combined sentence. But anyway...

	I wonder, for the three years that she acted her villainous role, if there was a single person who had told her that she was doing the wrong thing.

	Yerin's face contorted. Her head dropped down like a lifeless doll, bearing a pained expression as if poison was coursing through her body.

	"Kuh-- Ugh... Nngh..."

	She rapidly looked left and right, panicking like a little animal that realized that the ship was about to sink. Her lips repeatedly opened and closed back, but no further words were heard.

	"'Mayoi Wanko Overrun'!"

	"Huh?!"

	Before Yerin could recover and form a proper response, the timer quickly returned, much to her chagrin. Yeonji wasn't the one to pass up the opportunity to kick Yerin while she was down; she began giving her answers at a pace that closely followed Sukyong-sunbae's speed.

	The timer was ticking down.

	"Oh... Oh, no..."

	Yerin looked distraught and pale; she was staring at the timer in her hands, unable to form an answer for neither the game nor myself.

	Her values that she held onto for the last three years were crumbling, along with her concentration for the game. She blankly stared at the timer, while nervously biting her lips.

	But she was only given a minute.

	Hurried by the rapidly changing symbols on the digital display, her lips slowly opened to make way for an answer...

	"...Ru- 'Run, Nerossu'... ... ...?!"

	"!"

	Her lifeless voice shifted into a scream at the last syllable; she must have realized her mistake before the final syllable had left her mouth. I didn't need to see her widened, wavering eyes, or her face turning a sick shade of purple, to take notice of her trouble.

	'Run, Nerossu' was an interesting title; the name ended with the syllable 'Ssu-'.

	It was a critical mistake, one that would bring out the unbeatable answer in the very next turn, resulting in their guaranteed loss. The room's atmosphere froze, a cold feeling of tension cooling down the heat from the previous debate. It caused a silent disturbance in the room that was so powerful, I could almost see its physical manifestation. Everyone in the room surely realized the importance of her mistake.

	Eun Yerin did not want to give up her club for nothing; this mistake could not have been made normally. She needed more time to recover from my last message to her.

	"Ugh...!" groaned Yerin, closing her eyes tightly. It was too late for her to say that she meant to say a different answer, and even if she could, her pride would not allow her to make such an excuse.

	With a defeated look, she tiredly passed the timer into my hands.

	"..."

	I breathed deeply and received the timer. It felt far heavier than I last remembered.

	Alright.

	I had the opportunity to say the unbeatable answer, knocking Sukyong-sunbae out of the match, and thus guaranteeing our victory. With their ace player gone, we had the advantage of numbers, and there was no way we were going to lose.

	I took my time.

	I looked at Yerin first.

	"...Ngh-."

	She was paler than before, her teeth clenched in anguish. Her gripped fists rested rigidly on her knees, and her eyes, a hateful spiral of blue, were pointed towards me. She seemed to have embraced the fact that she was going to lose the match, but her face told that she was not yet ready to give up. Though she may have lost the argument, she was not giving up the word chain game; she was convinced that she was not yet... 'lost'.

	That was to be expected.

	She held onto her belief for the last three years. Thirty minutes of effort should not be enough to change her life forever. Though we may have won the game, our goal of ending Yerin's lifestyle as the 'Pubtaku Queen' would be forever lost.

	"..."

	Then...

	I looked at the nurse and Yeonji, sitting by my sides.

	I noticed that they did not have much time, that they could not continue if the match dragged on. I prayed for them to hang on a little longer. After all, I had a few more things to say to Yerin.

	I looked at the timer; I hadn't much time.

	I began uttering the magic answer that would end this match--

	"Ssuro-..."

	______________________________________________________________________

	Reference

	1.

	Reference to 'Naver', a famous Korean search engine/news website.

	←

	2.

	Kim Jong-Nam, the oldest son of the late Kim Jong-Il, who was famous for using a fake passport to visit Disneyland in Japan. There were unconfirmed rumors that he frequently visited Akihabara.

	←

	### 012. Chapter 10. Epilogue

	Hooray! Congratulations to

	Narane

	and

	MadTix

	for finishing the first volume of Clotaku Club! I hope the readers had a great time with the series. The compilation will begin tomorrow for those waiting for the PDF.

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	A few days after the match between the Moe Research Club and the

	Clotaku Club,

	Today was the same as any other day, spending our free time after

	school in the little room within the school's infirmary that we called 'our

	club', doing whatever we could excuse as 'club activities'.

	...But really, we weren't doing any more than what we'd usually do when

	we're not together. On the other side of the room was Yeonji, hogging the big

	couch by herself, rolling around and reading a light novel. The nurse was

	playing visual novels on her computer, as usual-- maybe a week before, she was

	at least mindful of our presence enough to wear headphones, but now, her

	laziness surpassed that point and we had to endure every single indecent sound

	effect coming from her computer.

	...This place couldn't be any more nerdy.

	Having observed the two maintain the status quo of the club, I returned

	my attention to the PXP in my hands. Any effort to change this dreadful

	atmosphere was a waste; only Yeonji could make progress in this club by

	dropping her light novel and starting off with an 'Alright, let's do

	something!'

	Whatever went on in Yeonji's head, she always had an explosion of

	terrifying creativity whenever she'd finish reading a light novel, which always

	led to suggestions for new club activities that were obviously going to end in

	tragedies.

	Thus the final sum of our 'club activities' boiled down to Yeonji

	thinking up crazy new ideas, and me stopping them from happening each time.

	...This isn't a healthy lifestyle.

	Anyway, as demonstrated by our continued club activities, it should be

	obvious that our match from several days back resulted in our victory.

	To tell the truth, it wasn't thanks to the 'magic answer'; in the final

	moments of that heated debate, my answer ended up not being the

	'Ssuro-Giganteni-Paraskulssu-- [][][]()()()', but instead 'Ssuro-Gigan the Last

	Vampire'. In other words, I used the name of the game instead, thus disabling

	the magic answer for the rest of the game.

	I followed up with more arguments with Yerin, who was then not in any

	shape to continue the game. I hounded her until she gave the game up on her

	own, forfeiting her team from the match.

	It was my first time winning a serious debate by myself-- against a

	girl, especially.

	...Well, I suppose Yeonji helped out by joining in the hounding, akin

	to a vulture swooping down on a corpse. Her final blow to our debate was when

	she brought up that Yerin was a Clotaku, too, though limited to her own

	bedroom.

	As Yeonji had discovered, Yerin's blonde hair was due to a wig, and

	Sukyong-sunbae and her brother worked six days a week. These two facts,

	together, somehow meant that Sunday was left free for Yerin to drop her

	ladylike act, thus exposing her 'normal' self...

	...Which was completely nuts, even for Yeonji, so I became pretty sure

	that Yeonji had already infiltrated the Eunsung mansion last Sunday.

	Yerin became completely broken after the match, since all of her

	deepest secrets were exposed, and we had shown her how wrong her beliefs were.

	She was bawling her heart out and she even forgot to maintain her ladylike act;

	it wasn't easy comforting her until she'd stop crying.

	Even Sukyong-sunbae gave a condescending look that read 'I told you to

	win the match, not to completely crush her'.

	In summary, Yerin lost the will to continue the match after our debate,

	and so we were able to keep our club alive.

	After that match, she had begun changing her attitude, as mentioned by

	the nurse as an off-handed remark. One time, she attended her class without her

	wig, and no one was able to recognize her. Huh.

	Yerin's regular harassment of her classmates had stopped, too, since

	she was no longer the Pubtaku Queen. With that taken care of, the principal was

	crying tears of joy for having narrowly dodged the wrath of Eunsung.

	There was a good ending for everyone.

	Changing the topic-- after our match, Yeonji was surprisingly kind

	enough to give me words of praise. I know I deserved it, though: I risked being

	embarrassed to death by doing what I did back then, so it was natural that I

	received praise from her. It was my plan to follow up with a demand that she

	should be the one buying me lunch for once... but what she had said next caught

	me off-guard.

	"But seriously, I was so surprised when you gave your

	speech!"

	"...Surprised? Why? Back in that debate, weren't you constantly

	looking at me like you needed me to help? Why's it surprising that I stepped

	in?"

	"Nyuu--gh." Yeonji groaned, her face reddening. She violently

	threw her arms around in front of her, as if that would hide her red face. She

	stammered, "Wh-what are you talking about? I wasn't doing that! Don't be

	stupid! Who'd look at you? How disgusting! Weren't you the one who was too busy

	looking at me to think about the match?"

	"What kind of nonsense is that?!"

	As expected of Seo Yeonji, she was beyond the concept of merely

	disagreeing with my words; she moved right into blaming everything on me. Her

	aptitude in redirecting blame was scarily amazing.

	She did not seem to want to admit that she was looking at me during the

	match (Why? What's the problem with that?!). She coughed, which was obviously

	faked, and continued, "Ahem. A-anyway, I'll admit you did a good job

	today. All good deeds must be rewarded, even if it's by an idiot who doesn't

	have anything better to do than stare at the club president."

	"...Were you trying to praise me, or make fun of me?"

	And if you want to reward me, give me something tangible! After all the

	lunches and snacks you ripped off of me, you expect some words to make up for

	it? Dream on, Yeonji.

	"I was especially amazed how you used the story I told you

	yesterday, as if you were the one who wrote it! I couldn't believe it was

	something you thought up. Your act was perfect! Ten out of ten!"

	The strangeness of her words struck me, interrupting my relaxing moment

	of thinking various insults to say to Yeonji. Wait... what did she just say?

	"...As if I were the one who wrote it?"

	"Yeah!" Yeonji grinned widely and nodded, "I almost

	believed that you'd been bullied before! Maybe it's because of the way you

	look? No one would believe me if I had said that story instead. You find your

	way to make yourself useful in unexpected situations, you know that?"

	"No, no, no, no, no... Wait, just hold on for a moment..."

	Panic struck, and I began stammering incoherently to myself.

	There was probably some slander somewhere in her words, but ignoring

	that-- what did she just say? She was talking about... my story that I told

	Yerin, right? I thought Yeonji was pressuring me into revealing my story to

	Yerin, and... she thought I was acting? That it seemed real? What?

	"Okay, uh... Let me ask you something, just in case."

	"Hmm? What?"

	"That post you told me about yesterday... Do you know who wrote

	it?"

	"Nah."

	"No?!"

	You didn't know?!

	Blood rushed to my head and my neck stiffened. Yeonji looked at me

	curiously, as if I were the odd one in this conversation.

	"I'm not a reaper from Death N***! How am I supposed to tell who

	wrote what on the Internet? And the post got deleted too quickly, I never had

	the chance to check his IP. I only had enough time to save the content."

	Yeonji cursed under her breath as she audibly regretted that she never

	had the chance to track the writer down. Was she saying that she wanted to

	track me down with my IP alone?! Such hellish words did not fit her cute face.

	"...Aw, really..."

	Life fled from my body after Yeonji's twist on the events. ...Though,

	while it turned out that the embarrassing show I've put on yesterday was

	entirely my fault, I was relieved that Yeonji was still in the dark about my

	tragic past.

	"... was gonna ... keep it ... my own."

	"What?"

	"...Nothing." Yeonji replied back in whispers. I thought I

	had heard her grumble about something quietly. That's not polite, Yeonji.

	"Nyuu-n..." She groaned. And, a moment later, she bounced up

	with her eyes shining brightly, "Wait, I almost forgot! I was going to

	punish you for something, too!"

	"Wha-?!"

	Out of instinct, my body jumped back away from Yeonji, who was now

	bearing an evil grin. Yeonji quickly paced forward to match my movement, pointing

	at me rudely.

	"Back when the blonde idiot made a mistake, why didn't you boot

	that maid out of the game with the magic answer? Do you realize how difficult

	it was for me?!"

	"I, uh..."

	Yeonji's pointed finger repeatedly prodded my chest, digging through

	the shirt.

	"W-wait, if you're talking about that, uh, it's that, just, I

	thought we shouldn't stop at ending Yerin's club, but go further and stop her

	from being the Pubtaku Queen entirely! Wasn't that the reason you increased the

	time limit in the first place? No?"

	"What the hell are you talking about?" She crushed my great

	excuses with a single reply, "I increased the time limit as an excuse to

	argue with her, but I never told you to waste a great opportunity to win! We're

	lucky that she quit the game on her own, 'cause we would have died to that maid

	otherwise! This is a severe crime, fitting of capital punishment!"

	"...Sure."

	It seemed to be Yeonji's code that good deeds must be rewarded with

	simple praises, while crimes should be punished with immediate execution. I

	should really be thankful that she didn't write our laws.

	I did my best to escape her by reassuring her that we'd won regardless,

	but changing her mind was fruitless... as usual. She hassled me all the way

	back home, not wasting a single moment to demand that I buy snacks for her at

	every turn. By the time we had to part ways, she insisted that we exchange our

	phone numbers, likely to bother me further.

	...I still get chills from thinking of her wide grin after she got my

	number.

	In the end, after everything that had happened to us, we were able to

	continue our daily lives at the Clotaku Club.

	Except for one thing.

	"Alright, now..."

	Yeonji closed her light novel with a loud clap. She began to awkwardly

	wriggle away from the couch that she'd been laying on, resembling a cat that

	got stuck in a mousetrap while trying to get the mouse out.

	"We'll start by discussing our club activities for today,"

	spoke Yeonji, bearing a displeased look.

	That was new.

	She sounded as if we always start our day in the club with discussions,

	but we had never done that before. I was quiet about it, however, since this

	seemed like a dangerous moment to raise objections.

	"Our topic of discussion today is--"

	Yeonji crossed her arms and sat upright on the couch, delaying her next

	words with several different annoyed expressions, and then finally continued,

	"Why the hell are they in our club?!" She screamed, pointing

	angrily.

	On the receiving end of Yeonji's pointed finger was a certain blonde

	girl, watching anime on a humongous wall-mounted flat-screen television... and

	her two servants.

	Simply put, Yerin and her maid and the butler were watching anime on an

	82-inch television.

	"I don't understand this! I won't accept this! I was wondering why

	this room was smelling like sore losers, and here they are! What did you

	do?!"

	...Sorry, it was my fault. How could I not open the door? There were a

	bunch of adults wanting to be let in so they could install a brand new

	television in here!

	"I can't believe this! You opened the door for a stupid

	television! This week's secret code was 'A Certain' to 'Scientific Pulse

	Rifle'! Why didn't you ask for the password?"

	"...Stop with the passwords already." I'd rather die than

	face the embarrassment of saying 'Say the password if you want in!' to a bunch

	of strangers. "Wait, why are you yelling at me? You were really happy when

	you saw the television, too! You were even dancing around with your hands in the

	air!"

	"Wh-who danced around?!" Yeonji hopped up and down angrily,

	shouting. "I'm okay with the television, but I'm definitely not okay with

	those three! Nyuu-- ...Is this what they mean by 'bundling' in marketing

	schemes, where they sneak in stuff that don't sell well with the popular

	merchandise?"

	"They were the ones who bought the television for us."

	"Nyuu-rgh! Those filthy bourgeois pigs! Fascists! Enemy of the

	laborers! Burn them!"

	Yeonji, once again, displayed her great talent of switching blame.

	"Hmph... Could you please quiet down, if you don't mind?"

	Yerin interrupted us as she paused the show, just as I was about to stop Yeonji

	myself. Yerin turned around and continued, "If you weren't trying your

	best to resemble a cat in heat, I may be able peacefully enjoy this show! If

	you have an ounce of manner in you, could you please shut your mouth for once,

	Miss Seo Umji?"

	"It's Seo Yeonji!" screamed Yeonji, "Why are you

	watching anime in here, anyway?! This is the Clotaku Club, and I am its

	president! If you want to stay here, then you'll need my written consent! Get

	out, but leave the television behind!"

	She was blatantly honest about her desires.

	Yerin sat back and relaxed in response, amusedly watching Yeonji flail

	her arms around angrily. "Oh, my... I did not know that. Then, the two

	other members of this club also received your written consent, yes?"

	"Th-they're the members of this club! They don't need it!"

	"Is that so? Then, we shall join this club."

	"It's not as simple as 'joining this club'--!"

	"Then we will instead become members of this club."

	"That's the same thing!"

	"...Tell me, what sort of qualifications do I need to become the

	president? When will be the next election?"

	"You're looking to take over my spot already?! I'm not giving it

	to you!"

	Yeonji slumped over with that last shout, having expended all the

	energy that was stored in her miniscule body.

	Yerin smirked and brushed her golden hair around. She explained,

	"Did you not explain that your club is for the closeted Otaku of this

	school? Then, there should be no issues if I join, I believe."

	"...A Clotaku? You?" croaked Yeonji, lifting her head in

	surprise.

	Yerin nodded slowly and gracefully. "Of course. My 'MoeRe' met its

	end after our clash... and I wish to learn how to start a peaceful, social life

	with the peasants of this school. Thus, I will no longer be a Pubtaku."

	"But that doesn't make you a Clotaku!"

	"Of course it does." Yerin replied immediately as if she had

	prepared herself for this line of conversation. "I have no other place

	where I may practice my hobbies, so the Clotaku Club will have to do. An Otaku

	only in the Clotaku Club-- quite clearly, that makes me a Clotaku!"

	"Nyuu---gh!" squirmed Yeonji, gritting her teeth.

	After smirking in satisfaction, Yerin turned to me to give a pleasant

	smile, "You told me that every Otaku needs to learn how to get along with

	non-Otaku people, yes? I have made an appearance here as an acceptance of your

	advice. You should feel honored."

	"I don't even-..." I don't really care about honor-- just

	don't make it sound like I was the one who brought you people in here! See,

	Yeonji is now glaring at me like she's looking at a traitor!

	I did my best to face away and avoid eye contact with Yerin and her

	gang. Perhaps to recognize my effort, Yeonji decided that taking care of an

	outsider was more important than dealing with the traitor.

	"A-anyway, you can't stay here! I'm going to look like an Otaku

	too if you hang around with us! I don't want that, ever!"

	It was a harsh comment, considering that all of us were Otaku.

	Unsurprisingly, Yerin looked distraught and her continued smile became

	obviously forced. She groaned, "Kuh-... Ugh... D-do not worry a single

	bit, you insolent peasant! You will be invisible to me outside of this club!

	You are overstating your position if you think you can be at my level!"

	"...Didn't you say you were giving up on acting like you're a

	queen?" I sighed. It must have been a false rumor that she was showing up

	to her class without her wig or her colored contacts; I feared that she might

	have gotten worse.

	Yerin scoffed at my question. "I will only act in here. I am

	controlling myself more in my classes; I do not need help from you. You should

	not underestimate my ability for self-control."

	She seemed to be saying that she'd keep all of her urges and emotions

	within her, and then let them out all at once while in this club. ...She was

	living a tiring life.

	"Well... That sounds okay, right? If we're only going to meet here

	after school for club activities, I don't think we'd have any problems." I

	suggested, tired of the continued bickerings between Yerin and Yeonji. Not only

	would it take further time and effort to kick Yerin out of the club, the gigantic

	television would also have to go, which appealed to neither my greed nor my

	laziness.

	"What did you just say?!"

	...But Yeonji did not seem to share my thought. She screamed as soon as

	I sided with Yerin, and she began shouting and blabbering without giving me a

	chance to explain further.

	And then the nurse joined in. "...I agree with what Injin

	said--."

	"Nyuu-t?! Wh-why do you say that?!"

	"It sounds like it could be fun, you know?"

	What sounds like it could be fun? The nurse had the face of a laughing

	theatre mask, ever since we had begun talking.

	With the nurse's vote on Yerin staying, Yeonji became greatly saddened,

	and Yerin was now loudly laughing in contrast. "Fufufu... In the very

	least, the nurse and that pathetic peasant are wiser. Now, answer the opinions

	of your valued members, little girl! You should be honored that I am joining

	your stupid club! Be thankful!"

	"Nyuu-gh!"

	Yeonji quivered in anguish at the rate of 400Hz, but she soon calmed

	down after progressively looking at Yerin, then me, and then the television.

	She seemed to have made a decision. "Phew... Well, whatever. I'm sure

	it'll be fine... Hmph, I really hate to say this, but I will let you stay in

	this club as an act of kindness."

	"Why, thank you! As long as I am here, there will only be victory

	for this club! Look forward to what I will bring forth from this day on."

	proclaimed Yerin, proudly jutting forward.

	Yeonji said nothing in response for a moment. She soon perked up after

	finding a better reply; "Heh, alright. By the way, I'm going to be

	collecting five hundred million Won every semester for club activities, so

	don't forget to bring it tomorrow!"

	"Hah! That sort of money is spare change to m-- ...Wait, did you

	just say five hundred million?!"

	"Every member in the club will pay for it, so it's only fair.

	There's only execution waiting for those who don't pay up! Of course, I'm

	paying too."

	"What are you going to do for club activities with two and a half

	billion Won?! Are you trying to set up a publishing company?!"

	"Huh? Oh, no, I'm only collecting five hundred million and

	twenty-four thousand Won in total."

	"I'll be contributing almost all of it by myself! Everyone else is

	giving only twenty-four thousand?! Where is this imbalance coming from?!"

	"Dear Customer, our policy has changed as of today, and we hereby

	collect fees based on your yearly income-"

	"Progressive tax?! Do you really think I have any personal

	earnings?! Shut up!"

	"Gee, why don't you just leave the club if that's a problem?"

	"W-wait, something feels different about you again! I swear you

	were like this before..."

	"Kukuku... Heh heh heh...."

	"Kyaaaa--! D-don't come any closer! W-wait, you, that peasant over

	there, why aren't you putting a leash on this dangerous beast? Kyaa--!"

	...And so,

	After accepting three new members out of nowhere, our club grew to

	house five student members.

	We now had enough people to meet the requirements of starting an

	official school club, and with Eun Yerin by our side, we could do it any time

	we wanted to.

	If we really, really wanted to, we could also take over the principal's

	office like Yeonji mentioned (though it would feel like the end of the world

	for the principal, who's now currently sighing in relief that Yerin was no

	longer a job-threatening crisis for him).

	I don't really think Yeonji wanted it at this point, though.

	Even without a request to make this club official, we had a club room,

	a supervising teacher, a huge source of funding, and basically everything that

	we ever needed. We achieved the Otaku Paradise; what more could we ask for?

	And most importantly...

	Our club is the club for the closeted Otakus -- we are the Clotaku

	Club.

	## 02. Volume 2

	### 001. Chapter 0. Prologue

	Please set your Codec frequency to 140.66

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Temporary Editor: Foodpenguin

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	Hey, this might sound like a strange question, but...

	Let's say, after school, if you saw a guy bolting out of the class without a single 'goodbye' exchanged with any of his classmates, what would you think of him?

	If you saw him trying to slip out of others' sight with much difficulty, ineffectively pretending like he had some important business by himself, what then?

	What if he snuck around the halls on his tippy-toes? And what if he hid inside the infirmary without a single sign of injury or disease?

	Pick an appropriate quote from below:

	1) Right now, your job is to stop Metal G**r!

	2) [HDCAM]_afterschool_amateurs_in_school_infirmary__XViD-CC.avi

	3) Hag*nai: I Don't Have Many Friends

	The third answer? Right, that would be the closest response; you'd go, 'Wow, what kind of loser is that, choosing to be alone after school? I bet he doesn't have any friends!'

	Unfortunately, our world has very little to do with stealth-adventure games, or visual novels with cute girls to conquer, and so the realistic response is to label the guy as a sociopath who avoids, and gets avoided by, his classmates.

	He disappears after school before anyone notices! He's careful to not meet anyone who'd recognize him! He runs off to the infirmary so he doesn't have to be in class!

	No matter how you see it, this kid can only be described by the word 'loser'.

	Only a few months ago, that kid was me.

	But those days were long past; I began a new life at my new school with a new attitude. I would go insane if I were to experience those old times again.

	Having to avoid contact with my classmates, or hiding away at the infirmary just to get away from people-- those terrible memories from the final years at my old middle school had begun to fade away, ever since my transfer to the ever-famous Eunsung Middle School. Now, as a student of Eunsung High School, I had almost forgotten that I had ever been involved in such unfortunate times.

	There was no one in this school who would remember me by my old, pitiful self, and my peaceful life at Eunsung would surely continue forever-...

	...Or so I had foolishly believed.

	It all began in that one ordinary day...

	### 002. Part 1

	A Wild CUTE HAMSTER appeared!

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Temporary Editor: Foodpenguin

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	After school,

	I was on my way to the school's infirmary, as usual.

	'As usual' were the key words. It might sound strange, but my average day at that point consisted of taking daily trips to the infirmary, and it wasn't because of some chronic disease conveniently emerging. It was my duty. At the end of each day, I had to sneak past my relationship-starved classmates looking for company, and then weave into the sparsely populated routes to avoid attention, eventually reaching the infirmary.

	Having done that for the last many days, I felt like I'd become some sort of a superhero who protects the school from the shadows.

	Why did I do this? It was because there was a certain place-- no, more accurately, there was a certain girl always waiting for me at the infirmary after school.

	What was this 'certain place', and who was this 'certain girl'? If I broke my habit of visiting the infirmary in a timely fashion, then this certain girl would be after my life like a vengeful spirit-- and if this certain place wasn't approached in a stealthy manner, I would end up discovering a whole new world of problems and pain.

	The girl had my phone number, knew my address, and was constantly ready to come after me. If I, on our next meeting, didn't want to see her glowing like a malfunctioning microwave that's about to explode on me, I had to maintain my daily schedule at that point.

	"...Aw, man."

	Now that I think about it, this is just a repeat of my middle school days! After all that effort of avoiding it, I brought back my old lifestyle! Only a week ago, I would have been laughing at the prospect that I'd be living this way again! If it weren't for that girl...

	I mumbled, cursing the girl who brought me to this disastrous state of my life.

	I stopped, having found myself in front of the infirmary, and then I looked around to make sure that no one was watching.

	CreakcreakBANG!

	What kind of onomatopoeia is that? Why, it's the sound of a door opening, then a person entering, and then the door closing, all in a single, swift motion!

	"Phew-." I sighed in relief, having successfully made a stealthy entrance like a trickle of rainwater leaking in. But it wasn't the time for me to relax; thanks to this school receiving more funding than they can handle, the infirmary alone contained eight king-sized beds with fancy dividing screens between them. I had to make sure that there were no potential witnesses resting on those beds; I walked around the infirmary on tiptoes to systematically inspect every area, looking past each screen's obscuration.

	Alright, let's see if there's anyone crazy enough to be hiding at the infirmary this late... Nope. Okay... no witnesses today, either.

	With a liberating, fuzzy feeling in my head that was either relief or extreme lethargy, I dragged myself to another door within the infirmary.

	Click

	Upon lifting the cover to the door locking mechanism, a keypad revealed itself. While a normal person would ask why an infirmary would require such security measures, the greater twist was that the keypad was, in fact, fake. The real security system was the inconspicuous mic that was attached next to the keypad.

	One, two--

	"...Moe, moe... Kyun."

	Pi-ro-ri--!

	With a loud click, the door was unlocked.

	...

	...Pretty cool, huh? I hate my life.

	I- I know, it's embarrassing for me, too! Stop looking at me like that, it's not what you think! This password wasn't my idea at all! If anything, I stopped her from deciding on a password that was far worse than this one!

	"...Ugh."

	It's not like I enjoy saying something like 'moe-moe-kyun' by myself! It's the just how this door is designed to open! What do you want me to do? I'm serious...

	I fell to the ground into a brace position, feeling my face get hot in embarrassment.

	After recovering, I noticed an uncomfortable lack of sounds from within the room. It seemed that I was the first one there. Oftentimes, at least the nurse would be camping within, but she had been unusually absent ever since the voice-locking mechanism was installed; it suggested that she came to this room solely to prevent strangers from breaking and entering.

	Unfortunately for me, that means I'll likely end up being alone with that girl...

	With that thought, I turned the door handle and pushed, and on the other side--

	There was a girl who I had never seen before.

	"...?!"

	A girl who I had never seen before.

	Beneath her long, raised eyelashes and past her round glasses were her wide, staring eyes, and her mouth was slightly dropped open to complete her surprised expression. She had short, brown hair that barely touched her tense, quivering shoulders, and her legs were shaking just the same. Altogether, she resembled a small animal; maybe a surprised squirrel, or a hamster, maybe, some cute animal that would fit in a single palm-

	There was such a girl, standing in front of me, who I had never seen before.

	"...Huh?"

	My mind blanked as if my brain were hit by a bolt of lightning. I didn't think it was possible to be so surprised that I could neither think nor move.

	I wasn't surprised because I'd previously expected the room to be empty. And the fact that she was pretty cute had even less to do with my surprise.

	The important part was that she was a complete stranger.

	...Who is this girl?

	If I were to describe a single person who I'd never seen, heard, or known about before, a person who was absolutely nowhere within the deepest parts of my memory, I would have named this girl, who was standing in front of me. I couldn't muster up a single 'Huh, wait, maybe I did meet someone who looks like her before'. It was most definitely the first time that I met her.

	...And so, only one question naturally came to my mind-

	In our Clotaku Club, the secret club of the closeted Otakus, why was there a girl that I, a member of the club, couldn't recognize?

	"...Uh..."

	"...Ah..."

	In this land, the Otaku paradise, where every corner was filled with anime figures, manga, light novels, and game packages, I was faced with a mysterious stranger-

	And I, Kang Injin, a freshman of Eunsung High School, Class 7-1, could only think of a single word-- 'doomed'.

	* * *

	"...So, what happened?"

	Thirty minutes later,

	A tiny, black-haired girl sat cross-legged on a couch opposing mine, conducting an interrogation.

	"She ran away." I answered honestly.

	"...Be more descriptive, using the Five W's."

	"A stranger was in the room a while ago, then I found her, and then she ran away screaming. ...What do I say for 'why'?"

	"You idiot--!" With a loud 'bang!' her tiny fist struck the cupboard that stood between our couches. She abandoned her brief, calm attitude, launching herself up from the couch. "I can't believe this guy! What kind of a man can't even chase down a little girl? What were you thinking?"

	"...Wait, no, uh, you know..."

	I was going to stop her from running away, but she was a lot faster than she initially appeared. By the time I came back to my senses and ran out of the infirmary, she was already disappearing down the hallway! I couldn't chase her down when she had that big of a head start, more so because the room's door was left wide open. What was I supposed to do?!

	"Shut up! You stupid, idiotic fool! You ham-fisted, shrimpy fruit!"

	"...Sorry." It seemed that my attempts at explaining myself were futile; Yeonji's only responses were insults that were, in retrospect, appetizing. I apologized before she did actual damage to the cupboard from her repeated punches.

	I'd known, however, that her anger wasn't baseless. I should have tried to prevent her from escaping, regardless of whether or not I knew I could do it. Considering the meaning of our club's existence, I had potentially brought ruin for all of us.

	"Humph!" She scoffed in her patented, contempt-filled way. She calmed down, ceasing her violent abuse to the cupboard, and leapt back on her couch into a sprawl.

	...If it's not too late for introductions, her name is Seo Yeonji, the (self-proclaimed) president of this club-- the club for the closeted Otaku, the Clotaku Club. Our club was otherwise ordinary; we didn't have any aliens or time travelers, nor did we go hunt monsters during the Da** Hour. It was a regular club created by some hobbyists who wanted to keep their business to themselves.

	If I must explain what made our club different, maybe the fact that we basically broke every rule in the school to start our club?

	We honestly had no say in that matter; our school was the Eunsung High School, a school for the nation's elites. They had no money to spare for a bunch of Otakus looking to find a place to waste time. We had no choice but to forego the school's rules and leave our club unregistered and unofficial.

	...But that wasn't an issue for us, because-

	Q: If you had the chance to steal a million dollars from a stranger and get away with it, would you do it?

	A: Oh, of course, definitely!

	--And that would be Yeonji answering. Even if we were at a school with a laissez-faire attitude to its students, our club's unlawful history would remain the same under Yeonji's presidency.

	From the school's perspective, our club was now nowhere within the protection of its rules. We were technically criminals in this system. And then, in this illegally-created club made for hiding the lives of closeted Otakus, a stranger had entered, witnessing the extent of our criminality!

	...That was our situation.

	Crap.

	Yeonji had all the reasons to be furious, and I hadn't a single excuse to explain myself.

	This room was stocked full of Otaku goods, as if they were laid out for display. I couldn't imagine what business that girl had in here, but a single glance around the room should have been enough to form numerous, dangerous ideas about the club.

	"...Oh no."

	A terrible, dark thought spun in my head; by the next day, everyone around me would be saying 'Hey, did you hear about that creepy room at the infirmary?'

	Yeonji was distraught, her eyes shifting left and right in rhythm. "This is a big, big issue... An intruder? This can't possibly end well for us! Maybe the student council sent a spy after us, after finding out about my plan to conquer this school!"

	"...I really doubt that." If the student council knew, I'm sure they'd send a demolition crew instead of a spy. Also... "Plan to conquer this school? You're still sticking with that?"

	"I'll never give up! I'm just getting started!"

	"...Sounds the last panel in a sports manga."

	Just getting started, huh? Truthfully, we hadn't accomplished much in the last many days. Since our glorious establishment of the club, all we managed to do was sit around and play games every day.

	"...Nyuu-t." Yeonji grumbled, unable to face the uncomfortable truth. I didn't press on, since I had enough faults of my own at the time.

	Her 'plan to conquer this school' was, as Yeonji claimed, the first step in achieving the second end-game goal of our club-- to transform our society into one that won't look down on the Otaku.

	Improving the public's opinion of us was, of course, completely contradictory to our existence as closeted Otakus, missing the point by maybe a billion parsecs. Yeonji's counter-explanation was as follows:

	1. I don't like how the people of this country treat the Otaku!

	2. I'm sure that the Pubtaku (Otakus who aren't afraid to publicly show off their hobbies) are scaring off the non-Otaku people! Those bastards.

	3. Then, all Otakus must hide their power levels, which will reduce the general public's aversion to them, so we can infiltrate the ranks of the ruling classes of this nation!

	4. And then, once the Otakus fully dominate the government, we can convert the entire nation to the Otaku culture and get rid of their negative thoughts about us! We'd have a real Otaku nation! Yay!

	...Finally, since the Eunsung High School was responsible for the upbringing of this nation's elites, converting this school to the Otaku group was our first step-- and that summarizes Yeonji's takeover plan.

	...What a scary thought. The summary alone puts any Resident E**l plot to shame.

	I'm sure that I've said all I needed to explain what kind of monster Yeonji was, and how every element of the Clotaku Club was grounded in evil. Considering how serious she was about her plan, she must have been quite terrified of our club being found out.

	It did not take long for Yeonji to break out of her nervous silence, and explode with the fury of a kitten whose paws were fondled with for too long. "Argh--! I don't even know anymore! Who the hell was that? Wait, actually, didn't we install a new door lock few days ago?! How did she get in without the password? Hey, dumb blonde, why don't you do your duty as the treasurer and shed some light on this?"

	Yeonji stopped flailing her arms around and began glaring. The glare wasn't directed at me for once, but on a different person who belonged to this club.

	"...Hmph."

	In response to Yeonji's mocking shout, the 'dumb blonde' turned her attention away from the 82-inch screen that displayed an animation. She dramatically placed her palm on her face with a long sigh, glancing at Yeonji with cold, blue eyes.

	"I believe I have told you, several times, not to address me by that derogatory term, little miss. How many times must I repeat myself until you cease your rude mannerisms, Miss Seo Umji?"

	"It's Seo Yeonji!"

	The blue-eyed girl scoffed, shrugging off Yeonji's shout, while gently and calmly brushing her golden hair. She replied, "Yes, I personally saw through the process of installing a new door lock. Did you finally find the manners to thank me for my kind efforts?"

	"You want me to thank you? After a stranger broke through the crappy lock? Are you sure that thing isn't broken?!"

	"Broken? It's a product of our Eunsung Electronics! The quality of the hardware cannot be at fault-- you should be more careful with your words."

	"Then how do you explain the intruder?!" screamed Yeonji, violently thrusting her finger at me. Hey... it's rude to point at people in their faces, you know?

	"Hmph, why must I explain for a stupid peasant? Perhaps his mind is heavily corrupted with such-and-such, that he saw an illusion of a cute girl, alone and defenseless in this isolated room."

	"What are you saying?!"

	I think I was happier with only one rude girl around.

	The golden-haired girl glared at me, frowning and squinting like I was a disgusting insect. "Hmph, it was obvious from the beginning. It is much more probable that you are a deluded sociopath who cannot tell apart reality and imagination, rather than to believe that my Eunsung Electronics would release a faulty product."

	"That's a really unhealthy level of pride in your family's business, you know that?!"

	I'm a completely normal, well-adjusted guy, thank you very much! And she's the one to talk of basking in delusion, when she had been watching an anime filled with a harem of unrealistically cute girls just a second ago!

	"...Sh-shut up! Admit that you've merely deluded yourself. Would that not resolve this conflict with haste?"

	"But I'd end up as the crazy one! Even if I sacrifice myself and plead insanity, it still won't solve our actual problem-!"

	Yes, yes, I really hope that what I saw was a ghost, too, but running away from reality isn't going to help us!

	"...Hmph!" The golden-haired girl pouted, her gaze still trained on me.

	...I suppose I should introduce her, too. Her name is Eun Yerin, the granddaughter of the CEO of the nation's largest corporation, the Eunsung Corporation. Simply put, her upbringing was done through a cheat code.

	Her presence in our club unfortunately meant that she was also an irredeemable Otaku. She picked up her strange way of speech from some well-known anime that involved high-class girls, which ended up in the mess that we've seen so far.

	She used to be the notorious 'Pubtaku Queen' and the president of the 'Moe Research Club', a club that began all the way back in her middle school years. The club had come to an end after a certain grudge match that occurred between it and the Clotaku Club. After an unexpected merger of the two clubs, she had come to embrace her fate as the treasurer of our club.

	Yerin's position was the result of what could be interpreted as Yeonji's rare kindness, seeing how that allowed Yerin to stay in our club after our dispute. Though this decision was based upon the presumption that Yerin 'probably had a lot of money from Eunsung Electronics selling off so many smartphones', and that she should 'use some of that money to help out the team', Yerin did not seem to particularly mind having to pay up for the club on a frequent basis.

	Even the new voice-locking mechanism that we recently installed was done through Yerin's donation, after Yeonji's endless bickering that we needed an amazing security measure for the door to the club (Yeonji's initial plan was to have a mechanism that involved a fingerprint scanner, then a retinal scanner, and then a mic that required singing an anime opening from start to finish-- but we decided against it due to monetary and technological reasons. Thankfully).

	However, the security system failed, and an intruder had made it inside. We had a mystery on our hands.

	"Why must we be afraid of the intruder? Under my kind protection, the lowly peasants of this school are powerless against us! If an ungrateful peasant dares to start a rumor at our expense, then they shall face the swift hammer of justice. Isn't that so, Miss Sukyong? Mister Yujin?" Yerin smiled reassuringly. She seemed to be blissfully unaware that she was behaving less like a treasurer and more like an agent of the Korea Communications Commission-- the censorship agency.

	And...

	"Yes, of course, madame. Once we activate the hidden mic installed in every classroom, we should be able to track down the source of any rumors. There should be no problem."

	"...As you said. We will take action as soon as we have a lead. Have no fear, madame."

	...The ever-smiling butler and the ever-expressionless maid replied.

	They stood closely beside Yerin, ready to take her orders like obedient servants. The robot-faced girl in a maid uniform was Sul Sukyong-sunbae, and the feminine boy in a butler's outfit was Sul Yujin. They had also become members of our club following the merger, but their status as hirelings was unaffected; their jobs were more like their life's purpose at that point.

	Even when considering that every member of the Clotaku Club had personalities that treaded on the fine boundary between 2D and 3D, the Sul family was decisively the weirdest of us all. While Yerin's high-class act was immediately obvious to any listeners, the two servants were, quite scarily, perfectly natural in their roles.

	"Nyuu-n..." Yeonji groaned, biting her lips, when the trio asserted their control over our situation. Though she might not have cared for Yerin's confidence, she was likely convinced by the two servants' reassurance.

	The merger hadn't been more than a couple of days ago, but it was enough time for the two to showcase how superhumanly reliable they were. I didn't need their explanations to share their confidence; they were dead serious with every word that they said, and so their promises became extremely credible. For Yeonji, a girl without a single worry in life otherwise, she was then, probably, perfectly content.

	"But... Hey, what do you think about this, Nurse?" Yeonji asked, turning around, and her voice had already shifted back to a calmer tone.

	Our attention then moved onto the nurse, the original owner of this infirmary, and now the supervising teacher of the Clotaku Club, Miss Yu Youngseon. She was also a glamorous beauty in her late twenties, and so it seemed that she had the makings of an ideal woman -- a respected job, and a more respectable body -- ...But she was also a visual novel addict.

	Calling her an 'addict' wasn't a hyperbole; after all, the only reason that we were allowed to use this room was because I had suggested that we'd show her a playthrough of an interesting visual novel: our lives in this high school. Even as we spoke to her, she was visibly and audibly sleepy, presumably from reading visual novels overnight.

	"Oh

	, I don't

	know..." The nurse replied, breaking her attention away from the visual novel that played on her computer. The speakers were on, blasting out the game's uncomfortably lewd noises that weaved between the nurse's slow, droning voice. "Well...

	I don't think it's a problem

	either. If Yerin says we should be fine, aren't we? ... Fufu.

	"

	...Thanks for your input, I guess! Though it was hard to hear, it seemed that the nurse wasn't worrying too much, either. Arguably, she would suffer the direst consequences if she were revealed to be the one responsible for allowing us to use her room; her status as an adult and an employee would compound the issue that we would share. Thus, it meant a lot that she was completely relaxed. Perhaps she also had a great level of trust in the Suls.

	"Phew." I deeply sighed in relief, assured by the nurse's confidence. She might look a little slow, usually, but it would be a mistake to overlook the fact that she had once completely crushed Yeonji's devious plot that was targeted at her. If she says everything will be fine, then it must be.

	"Fine, if the nurse says so too, then... well, okay." said Yeonji meekly, in a feeble attempt to hide the fact that she had calmed down a long ago. "Then we'll end the discussion here. If anyone catches her, bring her to me alive! I'll tear her limbs apart and hang them on the front door as an example to all!"

	Such terrifying words did not fit her cute face. When did you become one of Ali Baba's Forty Thieves? I don't know if I'd be too fond of a murder being included in our story.

	""Yes, Miss Yeonji. We will see to it.""

	And what are you two doing, obeying her?! Please don't feed Yeonji with ideas!

	Encouraged by the the maid and the butler, Yeonji leapt up from the couch in an arc with a mighty, bellowing, "Alrighty, then!" and began,

	"Let's play the Sangkam's Game!"

	...She relaxed a bit too much.

	* * *

	"...Sangkam's game?" I asked.

	[1]

	Yeonji had a nasty habit of bringing strange toys or ridiculous ideas, and she never failed to make everyone's life miserable with them. Naturally, my duty in the club quickly became the periodic sealing of the devil within the vessel known as Yeonji, so that it would not grow uncontrollably and unleash itself upon us.

	And so, it was my job to ask what the nature of this "Sangkam's Game" was. I actually asked out of fear, not because I was just curious.

	"I thought about it after reading a book yesterday!" Yeonji stuck her (flat) chest out proudly. "In short, we start by drawing names from a hat. The person who gets the 'Sangkam' gets to boss people around."

	"...Huh."

	That sounds origina-- Wait, that's just the King's Game! It doesn't sound any different from the King's Game that you'd see in anime! It's a pretty popular party game in the country, too, though it's probably better known by its variations.

	I almost thought she came up with another one of her tiresome plays, but it turned out to be a very uninspired-but-thankfully-harmless game. I should have expected it from her, considering how she shamelessly took most of the ideas from random anime or light novels.

	"Hah, you think it's just another King's Game? Think again, this is the amazing Sangkam's Game! It's completely different! Much like the difference between a peasant's life in the Koryeo period and the Chosun period!"

	"...Alright."

	She added an extra adjective into the Sangkam's Game, but that was far from enough to distinguish itself from the King's Game. She hadn't explained much.

	"Fine, I'll explain it!"

	She hurried over to her backpack and retrieved a small plastic bag with strips of paper filling the inside, each of them folded in half, and a small stack of cardboard.

	"What is that?"

	"It's for drawing names for the game."

	"Yeah, I got that, but-"

	There were far too many strips of paper in the plastic bag-- I could see at least fifty, sixty pieces in there. Why would she need so many names for the King's Game? Wouldn't we just need a single piece with 'King' on it, with enough blanks to match the player count? Even if every member participated over multiple games, we would never need that many draws.

	Yeonji scoffed when I voiced my thoughts to her. "Heh, I told you it's different from the King's Game! See, look at this!"

	Yeonji drew a piece of paper, which looked like it was hastily cut to its size. She unfolded it, revealing a writing that was done in her round, flowy font.

	Job title: 'Guard'

	Description: Something like a policeman by today's standards

	Duty: Arrest criminals, maintain peace

	Social level: Usually the lowest of the ladder, but allowed to arrest higher-ups if they are criminals

	Special ability: Would it be ORA ORA?

	[2]

	Tie up a criminal with ropes while shouting "You are under arrest!"

	... W h a t.

	I felt my brain cells evaporate after reading.

	...Why did she make this so complicated? A normal King's Game would involve draws with a single number on it each. What the hell is this?

	"Fue-heh-heh... And that's the most amazing feature of this game! I call it: the 'Job System'!"

	"...Job system?"

	It could only get worse from there.

	"Yes, a job. Or, the person's place in the social ladder." Yeonji explained, "Even the people who don't get the King's position must draw from the bag, so that they have a job of their own. Not only do they have to obey the King, they also have to act out their own, given roles! Like a historical reenactment!"

	"...Huh."

	It seemed that what she really wanted to do was a role-playing game, mixed in with the King's Game so that every player could affect the progression. It wasn't so unexpected in retrospect, since her favorite subject in school is national history.

	But wait, isn't it still mostly the King's Game, other than a little roleplaying thrown in? ...but then I stopped myself from asking the question, since it couldn't end well for me if I did.

	"So, everyone understands what the game is about, right? Okay, let's begin!"

	"W-wait!" I halted Yeonji, carrying out my duty in the club. If I let her go freely, there was no telling what kind of tragedies could be brought upon this club.

	"Oh, what do you want now? If you're going to complain, save it for later! Trust me, once we actually get the rhythm going, you'll feel great, too!"

	"I, uh... You know-..."

	Her words struck me as something that an old pervert would say to a little girl. ...Disregarding the thought, I began thinking of a way to stop Yeonji from forcing everyone into her game.

	She called it the "amazing Sangkam's Game", but it was essentially the King's Game. I did not like it. I wanted to avoid it as much as possible. There were plenty of other embarrassing party games, but the King's Game had the biggest potential to turn out to be the worst event in anyone's lives.

	Right, let's say, Yeonji became the King. I couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of terrible orders would be given out by Yeonji. A quick exercise in probability showed me that I wasn't likely to become the King, and that meant that I was completely screwed if I entered the game. I might as well play a game of Russian Roulette with five bullets in the chamber.

	With that conclusion, I began, "...Ahem. Hey, Miss President?"

	"Hmm? What is it?" replied Yeonji as she smiled. She appeared to be quite happy that I called her 'Miss President'. What a transparent girl.

	My mind raced to think of a plausible excuse. I felt my brain boil up from the temporary overclocking. "...Okay, how is this going towards the club's second objective?"

	"Huh? The second objective?" Yeonji's face briefly froze in confusion.

	I dove in for the kill. "Don't you remember? The second objective of the Clotaku Club... What was it, 'Let's make a nation of Otakus!', or something? I thought we should start doing something about that. As a club. So we shouldn't be playing around like this, right?"

	I was confident that I said the right thing.

	Like I explained before, Yeonji's master plan was to spread the Otaku infection across the entire school, and then eventually spread the disease to the rest our society, turning this nation into an Otaku paradise... though she didn't make any real progress in it. She never tried to.

	Thus, by reminding her that her "Sangkam's Game" has no benefit to our club's goal, she could stop herself! As much as she liked to annoy us with her constant mentions of the club's goals, she wouldn't want to be a hypocrite by continuing her game!

	--That was the thought that zoomed through my head, as I planned for my escape a second ago. It was perfect. Even Yeonji's persistence couldn't save her from my flawless logic!

	"Heh heh heh."

	--That would have been the thought that zoomed through my head, if not for Yeonji's quick intervention.

	"Of course it helps us! Did you really think that I didn't account for our goals?"

	"...What?" Seriously?! Her game was a direct ripoff of an existing idea, with extra features thrown in to hide the lack of originality. How could she turn this into a plan that helps us conquer this nation?

	"Hah... Think about it, you idiot. This game isn't some random waste of time." Yeonji replied, "Even in this prototype version of the game, I already added over sixty-seven different classes into the job system. If we put our time and effort into this game, we will get a good understanding of how our society worked back in the Chosun period."

	"...We will?"

	"Of course we will! Ultimately, this game is both educational and fun, and it can teach its players about how our country's modern society came to be!"

	"Uh... Huh."

	"Because it's very educational, and because our country is full of nerdy try-hards, the game will spread around the nation like a wildfire! Soon, every man and woman of this country will be playing the Sangkam's Game."

	"I... don't think that's how it works."

	I thought she was making some sense in the beginning... but her explanation made a wrong turn at some point, and now it became forever lost in the Mariana Trench.

	"Why not? 'As our nation faces tragedies such as the land disputes, and the lack of respect for the country in our younger generations, our new game will aid in bringing this nation together through a lesson in history!' If we add some blurb like this, any overzealous parents will fall before my plan. History novels are selling well these days, aren't they?"

	"Y-yeah, but..."

	"While that's going on, we'll encourage online communities from the back end, by making a good review here and there. Eventually, everyone in the country will be dying to play the game."

	"I... have no idea how you went from 'increase in popularity' to 'total addiction'."

	" 'Another Sangkam's Game addict takes his own life!' 'Teenager executed in an overly serious round of the Sangkam's Game!' 'Sangkam's Game: Has it gone too far?' ..."

	"That's extremely far from being beneficial! In fact, we're seeing more harmful side effects than good!"

	" 'P-please-- I can't pay that much, this is all I have! Please let me play 'the game' one more time! It's been three days since I last played it-- I'm going to die if I don't play it!"

	"We don't need a new backstreet drug in this country, thank you very much!"

	...Did she not realize that she was talking about a game that we were going to play together?

	"And so... Once the nation becomes more familiar with the game, they'd start being more accepting of King's Games depicted in anime or manga. And then, it will be easier for the Otaku rank to merge into the common folk. We'd already be on our road to making the Otaku nation!"

	"How does that work?! How would that work?!"

	I thought she was finally coming up with a deep meaning behind her play, and she blows it all away with an insane troll logic! I wanted to argue, but I couldn't figure out where I should even begin to point out her errors-- as if her main defense was to have too many glaring flaws, so that her opponents couldn't decide on how they should approach the argument.

	Yeonji's ability to make up random nonsense was beyond superhuman. Simply brilliant. If she were born in ancient Greece, I'm sure that she would have been great friends with sophists like Gorgias and Protagoras.

	Yeonji scoffed at my lack of response, glaring mockingly at me. "Hmph! We'll have to try it out before we can judge, no? I put my heart and my soul into making this game, so you better devote your whole body to it! If you don't, I'm going to tie you to a cross and stab you with a spear."

	"Jesus..."

	Why have you forsaken me, God?

	I hung my head, dejected. My efforts to prevent Yeonji's plan had become fruitless, and it seemed to be my destiny to accept my terrible demise by joining in Yeonji's plans. I raised my arms and announced my surrender.

	Yeonji giggled, with an annoying 'Hee-hee!', and said, "Alright then, let's begin!"

	______________________________________________________________________

	Reference

	1.

	"Sangkam" refers to a South Korean monarch from the Chosun era.

	←

	2.

	Steins;Gate, Future Gadget #3. The word 'Ora' is also old Korean for ropes that are used to arrest criminals. "Ora Ora" is also a reference to Jojo's Bizarre Adventure series.

	←

	### 003. Part 2

	When you play a game of thrones you win or you die from moe.

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix, Foodpenguin

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	"...So, how do we play this... 'Sangkam's Game'?" I asked

	Yeonji, who now had a huge grin on her face. She looked like a ratty politician

	who managed to pass a bill without gathering the attention of the public.

	"I already explained everything a minute ago, you idiot! Start by

	drawing from the plastic bag-- eh, that sounds a little boring, though. Hey,

	you, the butler next to the dumb blonde!"

	"Yes, what do you need?" answered Yujin, politely as always.

	Yeonji continued, acting bossy like a rude CEO of a megacorporation

	talking to the chief of an assimilated company. "You're good at making

	things, right? Here, take the cardboard and make a box out of it, so we have

	something nicer to draw from. Make it about..." Yeonji made a box shape

	with her hands, "...this big."

	"I understand. Please wait." replied the butler, nodding

	vigorously and maintaining his permanent smile.

	I refused to believe that he actually enjoyed being bossed around by

	Yeonji without a good reason. Though he was a butler, he was also a freshman of

	Eunsung High School like us, and also Yeonji's classmate. Yet, he didn't show a

	single sign of reluctance.

	"...Ugh."

	And watching the scene from afar was Eun Yerin, who probably shared my

	thought. She couldn't be happy that Yeonji was in full command of her own

	butler, but she couldn't do anything about it.

	In the first week that Yeonji began bossing her servants around, Yerin

	rightfully objected. But in the following tantrums by Yeonji, combined with her

	inane, trollish logic, the argument ended with the conclusion that the club

	president should hold a certain power over the club's members (i.e. ruthless

	oppression). Yeonji now had infinite power while within the club room, like a

	Reali*y Marble, or whatever -- Yeonji was free to boss the two servants around

	as Yerin did.

	Yujin also happened to be the easier of the two to pick on, so Yeonji's

	attitude towards him grew worse by the day. It couldn't have been too long

	until Yeonji began paying him to go out and buy snacks for her every day

	[1]

	.

	The butler probably didn't know that he was being targeted by Yeonji, either.

	He looked so weak and defenseless to me at that moment, watching him pick up a

	pair of scissors to follow Yeonji's orders.

	I tried to pitch in. "Hey... do you need help with that? It's

	probably easier if we both..."

	"I appreciate your concern, but... here, I've finished."

	"Already?!"

	"Yes, of course."

	It was only a moment ago that he made a cut or two into the cardboard,

	and quite suddenly he had a neatly made box in his hands. It looked like it was

	factory-made, forming a perfect cuboid with a perfectly sized slit on the top

	for drawing its contents. ...And he did all of this in a few seconds?! It was

	an understatement to say that he was quite the handyman.

	He smiled and giggled, noticing my dropped jaw. "...Eheh~."

	I flinched in reaction. He was unnaturally cutesy for a boy.

	"Hey, it's done! Give it to me." Yeonji snatched the box out

	of my hands like a monkey stealing food from an onlooker. Without a single word

	of thanks to the butler, she excitedly filled the box with the job cards. She

	thrust the box in front of me. "Alright, you're the first one to draw a

	card!"

	I looked inside the box. There were only six of those cards. I asked,

	"Why are we only using these six? You have a whole bunch more."

	"Don't be stupid, we're using the rest of them later." She

	explained.

	Since the game needed a King, we couldn't use all sixty-seven cards;

	there was a high chance that the King would not be picked. Instead, we could

	use one king-labeled card, while randomly picking the remaining cards to match

	the number of remaining players. Since the remaining jobs are randomly picked,

	we also had a big variety of jobs, so no playthrough was the same as another.

	There were many fun, attractive jobs other than the King, so the replayability

	was infinitely high! Yay!

	--That was what Yeonji tried to say to us, but I still had doubts about

	the game. I had to play it myself before I could have a solid opinion about

	it... Alright, then--

	"Okay, I picked a card."

	Just as I was about to unfold and read the card, Yeonji intervened.

	"Don't look at it yet! We're going to look at it together. If you look at

	it now, I'm sentencing you to death by the wheel."

	She seemed to be expecting a dramatic reveal later.

	"The rest of you, draw a card! Quick, quick!" Yeonji brought

	the box in front of Yerin and her group.

	Yerin had the face of an unwilling passerby who was being forced to

	participate in a survey. "What is the meaning of this? .. Are you

	expecting me to partake in this crude child's play?"

	"Wha-t? You can whine when we're done with the game!" Yeonji's voice shifted into a mocking, squeaky tone-- probably thinking to herself 'I hope I sound

	intimidating.' "Why, are you admitting that you don't know enough about

	national history to play this game? Or maybe you're just afraid that you won't

	pick the King! Either way, that's just sad. How can you face the world after

	school when you're so weak-willed? Heh, you're all show and no substance like

	pyrite! Get out of here, and don't leave a single quark behind!"

	"...What a crude, trashy insult. I can feel my ears rotting from

	hearing any of it." Yerin mocked. She brushed her golden hair around her

	ears as if she were trying to get Yeonji's words off of them. "Who do you

	think you are talking to? Knowledge or luck, there is nothing that I lack. If

	you truly wish to lick my boots after I become the King... hmph! Why don't you

	request it in a more pleasant tone?"

	"Whatever you say! Anyway, pick one, dumb blonde!"

	"Kyaaa-!"

	Yeonji had already grown tired of taunting Yerin. She resorted to

	physically harassing Yerin by rudely pushing the box into her face.

	Yerin yelped and slapped the box away from her face. She screamed,

	"What do you think you're doing?! You rude peasant!"

	"Your anime is boring! Play my game instead!"

	"You don't sound like you're making a request at all!"

	"It's not a request. It's a demand."

	At least Yeonji was honest.

	"I refuse, so go play with that peasant over there, along with the

	other two! Really, do I look like I am bored enough to play along with some

	little kid who has nothing better to do?"

	"You do look bored, you dumb blonde. You've been watching anime

	all day! Don't be a loner and play with the rest of us--! It's more fun with

	more people--!"

	"I told you, I am not a 'dumb --'... argh, fine! You win!"

	Yerin gave into Yeonji's tantrum. She aggressively turned off the huge

	television, and then glared at Yeonji with flames dancing in her eyes. "If

	you say so! If you really want to serve me when I am the King! I'll do as you

	wish! I can't wait to see the look on your face when that happens!"

	"Heh, worry about your own neck! The King's mine!"

	"Ee-gh!"

	"Nyuu--t!"

	They seemed to be having fun getting in character before the game

	began. Yerin picked a job card from the box while maintaining the staring

	contest with Yeonji.

	With their 'lady' in the game, Sukyong-sunbae and Yujin joined without

	further comments, increasing the player count to five. In addition--

	"Alright, let's have the nurse join, too!" Yeonji pulled out

	the last untouched card remaining in the box and ran towards the nurse, who was

	concentrating on playing her visual novel.

	Dragging the nurse into her game, too? What a player.

	"... ...Oh, you want me to play?"

	"Yeah! I'm sure it'll be fun! I guarantee it!" nodded Yeonji.

	The nurse clearly didn't feel like joining-- I could almost see 'I

	don't wanna' written on her face. It was also Yeonji's fault for being someone

	who throws around the word 'guarantee' in the most untrustable way.

	"I'm a little bu〈Haa-ahn~-〉sy here... Can I join later? 〈Ahh~-hnn~〉" The nurse refused in her usual, droning tone, with some

	extra noise added from her game.

	Yeonji, obviously, did not back out. "But you're playing a porn

	game over there! My game is a lot more fun than that! Let's play!"

	"...Hey. It's not a 'porn game', it's a visual novel."

	Despite her insistence, dirty noises continued to flow out from her

	computer's speakers.

	"...Oh, I guess it can't be helped." The nurse soon gave up

	too, having decided that she couldn't enjoy her game with Yeonji being a

	nuisance next to her. The speakers turned off with a loud pop, and the nurse

	slowly rose from her seat like a snail lazily twisting its body. "I'll use

	it as an excuse to rest my eyes... and enjoy a little play time with Yeonji!

	...I already finished the bad end for the main heroine, anyway."

	The nurse mumbled to herself. Her voice was pleasant like a tired, older

	sister taking care of her little siblings, but the actual words that came out

	of her mouth were... horrifying.

	And so, every last member of the Clotaku Club joined the game.

	After the nurse took the final card, Yeonji looked around the room and

	took on an energetic tone. "Alright! Everyone got one, right? You can

	unfold it now!"

	Following a short sound of rustling papers, the participants revealed

	their jobs one by one.

	"...Oh my, what is this? The court herbalist?" The nurse was

	the first one to discover her assigned job. The content of her card was:

	Job title: 〈Court Herbalist〉

	Description: Modern equivalent is the President's personal doctor

	Duty: Present health foods to the King, massage the King, make sure

	that the King is healthy at all costs

	Social level: Only takes orders from other doctors of the court, or the

	King

	Special ability: The Old Poison Craftsman

	[2]

	-- When others ingest

	your creations, you may declare that they are killed by poisoning.

	"...This job exists to please the King, huh..."

	The job was coincidentally similar to the nurse's real job, but the job

	description somehow managed to make a prestigious practitioner of medicine

	sound like a lowly servant.

	And, wait, I thought the players only receive orders from the King!

	What's with the redundancy in the social level?

	I could feel doom knocking on the door already.

	The Suls soon revealed their own jobs.

	"...A courtesan

	[3]

	. Mister Yujin, what about you?"

	"I'm a courtier!"

	Job Title: 〈Courtier/Courtesan 〉

	Description: Something like a desk jockey who works at the government

	Duty: Whatever they're told to do

	Social level: The bottom of the social chain; they must do whatever

	others tell them to do

	Special ability: Oh, master, you can't! -- Convert upper-ranked

	people to your side by the power of seduction. If the King finds out, you may

	be killed.

	"Balance-breaking jobs already--?!"

	Yeonji said she would increase the interaction from non-Kings... and

	this is what she meant?! It makes me not want to play the game anymore! What

	are you supposed to do about this?!

	"...I do not care for it. Please, order me around as you

	please."

	"Me too! I'll do whatever you need!"

	"See, the jobs are fine!" Yeonji butted in.

	"Obviously, it's because those two picked the job! If someone else

	picked it, they'd abuse the ability right away! And Yujin, shouldn't you be

	complaining about that ability?! It's a little unsettling on my part!"

	"Oh, shut up! Read your own card, already!"

	"After the jobs that I've seen so far, I don't want to!" And

	you didn't even open your own yet, Yeonji!

	While Yeonji and I were having a squabble, Yerin read her own card.

	"My job is... the chief councillor.

	[4]

	"

	Job title: 〈Chief Councillor 〉

	Description: Like a prime minister

	Duty: Acts as a king's consultant for national decisions, and looks

	after all bills that are passed to the court

	Social level: Defers only to the King; has the command of everyone else

	Special ability: Triple Fusion Council -- When two other state

	councillors agree to your decision, make a single order that

	everyone--including the King--must follow.

	"Hmph... Only the King is above me, yes? Though I may not be the

	King, this will do." Yerin smiled, accepting her position.

	It was indeed a good position. Being able to command everyone other

	than the King was almost as good as being the King itself. I thought that there

	would be nothing but strange, unreasonable jobs, but it seemed that Yeonji put

	more effort into the balance of this game than I had imagined.

	"..."

	But the 'King' card still has not yet shown itself. Either Yeonji or I

	had the King's position, so then...

	"..."

	I quickly glanced to my side. Then I accidentally met eyes with Yeonji.

	She seemed to be thinking what I was thinking, since she had the eyes of a

	prince entering a succession war.

	I didn't want the throne in particular, but at the same time, I felt

	reluctant to hand it over to Yeonji. I had to set a normal, calm example for

	the rest of the games to follow. If Yeonji took over the first game, then the

	rest of the game was surely going to hell.

	Despite my wish, my fate was entirely dependent on the cards that were

	in our hands. I breathed in deeply, unfolded the card in my hands, and read the

	content. I read the job title...

	〈The Throne〉

	"... ...The throne itself?!?!?!"

	This isn't a job! It’s not even human!

	Meanwhile, Yeonji read my card from behind on her tippy-toes. She began

	dancing around while singing, "Yay, I'm the King!"

	I immediately grabbed her shoulder to interrogate her. "Hey, what

	is this?! What do you mean I'm the throne?!"

	"Humph! How dare you treat your King in such a manner!"

	"Why would a damn chair care about that?!"

	What is a throne? It's the chair that the King sits on! That's the

	throne, right?! There aren't even any other descriptions on the thing, it just

	says 'The Throne'! What am I supposed to do?!

	"Do what? Just be a chair, and make your king comfortable!"

	"That's even more confusing!"

	Yeonji completely ignored my outburst. She turned around to face the

	crowd and announced, "Alright, so I'm the King for the first round! No one

	has any problems, right?"

	"Yes, yes~."

	"...I have no objections."

	"Congratulations to you, Miss Yeonji!"

	"Erk... I am quite disturbed that I have to treat you as my King,

	but I have no choice. I will do my fullest to properly perform any job that I

	may have."

	"..."

	...I'm not complaining about Yeonji being the King. I'm more worried

	about the fact that I'm a chair.

	The nurse giggled softly like she found the scene interesting. Even

	Yerin didn't complain any further about the matter. I had no room to voice my

	objections at that point.

	"...Ni-hee-hee! Okay, then--." After confirming that there

	were no objections, Yeonji put on a very disturbing, evil grin. She first

	pointed at me and urged, "Okay, first! Throne! Get up!"

	"...Okay."

	This was the first time that I'd seen someone order a chair to stand

	up, but I was too tired to point that out. I stood, having given up.

	Yeonji looked around. She pointed at the center of the room-- at the

	couch that was probably the most fitting for a leader in here. "Sit

	here!"

	"Ah, uh, okay."

	I felt like I'd become a dog, not a throne. I wasn't sure why she

	wanted me to move. I grumbled to myself and sat down on the couch.

	I made myself comfortable on the couch, though feeling conflicted about

	the game. I was about to complain to Yeonji, but--

	"--Cha."

	"?!"

	Before I could open my mouth, Yeonji ran over, hopped, and sat on my

	knees.

	"K-argh!"

	A strange scream left my mouth, like a deer that got shot by an air

	gun. As Yeonji invaded the top of my legs with her buttocks, a fruity smell

	splashed out and broke my train of thought. It did not help that I could feel

	her smooth skin resting on my legs.

	"Y-y-y-y-you... Wh-what are you doing?"

	"Succeeding you, Throne." replied Yeonji. Not even a hint of embarrassment.

	She pushed even further, laying back her upper body onto my chest.

	"Erk!"

	And then, it almost looked like I was hugging her from behind... and

	the top of her head was directly beneath my chin. The fruity smell intensified,

	and the occasional contact with her hair tickled my chin. I couldn't focus.

	"Nyuu-t."

	After some time, Yeonji made another weird sound and jumped off. She

	was like a cat that moved away after realizing that a shade drew over her

	bed... but, more importantly--

	"What..."

	Embarrassingly, I became slightly disappointed at the distancing fruity

	smell. Still, I was able to focus enough to understand what had just happened.

	"Wh-wh-what are you doing?!"

	"Hmm... some~~~thing just didn't feel quite right, there. Hold

	on."

	I felt my face turning red. But Yeonji paid no attention to me; she was

	lost in her own world, tilting her head left and right to think.

	After some time, she snapped her fingers and exclaimed, "I got it!

	Spread your legs, Throne!"

	"Wha--t?!"

	What are you doing, telling a chair to open its legs up?! I don't

	understand anything that's happening anymore! Am I dreaming? I'm dreaming,

	right?!

	"You talk too much for a chair! Open up already!"

	"Ugh..."

	If you don't want me to talk, then don't talk to me in the first place!

	Yeonji's tyranny was so overwhelming, not even a lowly chair was immune

	to it. I adjusted my position, putting a bigger distance between my knees. It

	was just the right pose to be catching some nasty looks if I were to do this on

	a subway.

	In the midst of my growing panic for Yeonji, she hopped backwards in

	the air once more, landing between my legs.

	"?!"

	Again?!

	After the second sneak attack, I became speechless like one of the

	Apostles that remained in silence. Even worse, her butt now dug in between my

	legs. She kept moving deeper in, trying to find some extra space for her

	thighs.

	"Alright, yeah! This is much better than before. This is

	fine!" said Yeonji. She was only satisfied after pushing in as far as she

	could-- enough for her to lay her upper body on my chest again. She placed her

	arms on the armrests and commanded, "Throne! Hands!"

	"...Huh? Wh-what?"

	I couldn't react in time, since my mind was already blown off the

	current space-time.

	Annoyed, Yeonji slammed down on the armrests and explained, "I

	don't have enough space to sit here, so I might fall off! So, hold onto me so

	that doesn't happen! Like those safety guards on roller coasters!"

	"Ah, ahah, ... Hmm."

	...If you're worried about falling off, just don't sit here!

	Everything about her confused me at that point, but at least I could do

	that for her. She raised her arms up high, and I wrapped my arms around her

	lower belly as if I were hugging her from behind.

	"I-is this fine?"

	"Harder! Hard enough so I don't fall off. If I fall down, I'll

	have you beheaded, okay? Thrones that can't keep the King seated don't deserve

	to live!"

	...Do you see lines of death or something? Beheading a chair?

	I didn't want the honors of being the first casualty under Yeonji's

	rule, so I hugged her tightly. Enough to hold her down even if she struggled to

	get free.

	"Okay, how's that?"

	"Th-.. That's fine. That's good enough-..." Yeonji's voiced

	was reduced to a murmur. I was probably holding onto her a bit too tightly and

	made it harder for her to breathe. Even her ears were slowly turning red.

	"..."

	...Is this what being a throne is supposed to be like?

	I felt more like a tiger skin draped over a throne rather than the

	throne itself.

	Also, while I did not put too much thought into it when I first did

	it-- the situation became increasingly awkward as I gained a better

	understanding of the moment. Yeonji was sitting on me with her body plastered

	on my chest, and I was hugging her from behind with both of my arms.

	...I was reminded again how tiny she was.

	She was almost weightless on my chest, and her body was smooth like a

	cloud of cotton candy. Despite the layer of clothing inbetween, my arms could

	feel her plump belly underneath them. It was unbelievable how different she

	felt from my own body, considering how we were both human beings.

	Speaking of plumpness, the plumpest part of her body was, of course,

	her butt that dug between my legs -- as if her tailbone was nonexistent,

	something soft and cushiony pushed against my body...

	...Hey, being a throne isn't all that bad! It's better than I thought!

	Actually, isn't this a favorable exchange for me all around? Can I do this all

	day?

	"...Nyuu-hee-."

	The continued contact from an unknown, soft object spun my mind in

	circles. And then, in my ears--

	"Ku... Kukuku... Nyu-hehehehehehahahehehehaha-haa! Hm--hah,

	hahahaha! Kakaka--!"

	...A devilish laughter echoed from between the gates of hell.

	"?!"

	Spooky! What kind of laugh was that?! That woke me up good!

	Yeonji was so happy that she began twisting her body around in

	uncontrollable laughter. It was my first time seeing someone honestly laugh

	with 'kukuku'. She was probably happy that she got to be the King, but why did

	her laughter sound like the announcement of the start of her tyranny?

	Thanks to that, the pleasant feeling from before had disappeared. At

	least the weird feeling was gone, so that was a good thing, maybe.

	"Whew--. A-alright, then!" Yeonji calmed down and ceased her

	laughter. She sat back on me, looked around the room, and spoke in a booming

	voice befitting a king. "Welcome to the palace of Clotaku Nation,

	stranger. I am the learned King Yeonji, who looks after her great people."

	"...Clotaku Nation...."

	She wouldn't even put any effort into naming a nation.

	King Yeonji cleared her throat to speak louder. "Nya-hem. Who will

	answer my command?"

	""...Yes, what is your wish, my lord?""

	Sukyong-sunbae and Yujin acted in their roles and answered her, bowing

	politely.

	King Yeonji sat crooked and continued, "I must hold a great feast

	to celebrate my succession to the throne. Bring the foodstuffs from the

	fridge!"

	""...We will do as you command.""

	They confirmed with the nurse, who nodded at them very reluctantly, and

	brought various drinks from the club's fridge. Despite what King Yeonji wanted,

	there were only drinks in the fridge. And they all belonged to the nurse.

	But, of course, Yeonji did not mind either of those facts. After the

	two distributed the drinks among the players, she whined, "What, why is it

	just cola? Don't we have anything else? Where's the Sikhye, or aloe

	drinks?"

	Seriously, just drink what you got!

	Sukyong-sunbae replied after putting down a can of cola in front of the

	nurse. "...There were only colas in the fridge. ...There were also some

	packs of blood, though. Would you like them instead?"

	"What do you think I am, a vampire?!"

	She may have not been a vampire, but she was nonetheless very good at

	leeching off of others. Ignoring the nurse, whose groans went unnoticed

	("Oh, my, kids, blood is expensive, you can't drink those..."),

	Yeonji continued to whine.

	"Psh. I guess I can't do anything about that. I'll just drink

	this. Okay, now-- celebrate with me my succession to the throne, and drink and

	eat to your heart's content! Cheers!"

	"....Cheers~-." "....Cheers." "Cheers-!"

	"Hmph, cheers."

	"..."

	Everyone played along with her surprisingly well. Why's everyone so

	nice?

	The members of the Clotaku Club raised their glasses(?) to toast to

	King Yeonji's new rule. I was obviously excluded from this moment of happiness,

	considering that I was just a chair. My only job was hugging Yeonji. It seemed

	that the chair was exempt from the King's kindness. How unfair!

	"Kuah!" exclaimed Yeonji, shivering after taking a swig from

	her can of cola. "Eugh-- I hate this feeling that I get from carbonated

	drinks. Sikhye, I want sikhye..."

	Yeonji alternated between whining and sipping, as if she were drinking

	something extremely hot. She turned around to look at me for once, bearing a

	nasty, mean grin. "You want some? You don't get any."

	"...Do you want to be the first king to get dethroned by the

	throne?"

	"Fu-fu. If you promise to be nicer to me afterward, I might let

	you have a little drink."

	"What, but you don't even like cola anyway--..."

	She tried to make it sound like it was some extremely generous act. And

	yet she emphasized on letting me have a 'little' drink if I promised. What a

	greedy little girl.

	"Hmph, nevermind if you don't want it. Ugh..." Yeonji

	frowned, apparently displeased that I refused. She drank the rest of the cola

	in a single breath, as if to show it off. Then she had a pained look from the

	resulting accumulation of gas.

	"Nngh-- hmm?" After a moment of twisting around, Yeonji

	noticed something weird. "...Wait, why aren't you drinking any cola?"

	The source of Yeonji's confusion was... Eun Yerin, who sat with her

	white legs crossed, bearing an awkward expression. While everyone else sipped

	on their cola, her can was sitting in front of her, unopened.

	"I do apologize, but I swore off these types of drinks."

	Yerin responded to Yeonji's suspicion-filled glares. "Carbonated drinks...

	I'd sooner drink a bottle of poison to end my life quickly, rather than to

	slowly degrade my body over time with these harmful substances. I suggest that

	you stop drinking them yourself if you want to grow any taller, Miss Seo

	Umji."

	"..."

	And the chief councillor dropped the bomb in the King's presence.

	I thought she promised to act in character! What's with the sudden

	outburst?! Look at what you’ve done, Yeonji's already started charging up her

	rage meter!

	"What did you just say to your King?! You poor, miserable

	wretch!" Yeonji admirably stayed true to her role in her fury. She almost

	burst out of her seat, but my safety net held her down in her seat.

	She resorted to swinging her arms around wildly while shouting angrily.

	"Guards! Where are the guards?"

	""Yes, my lord. What is your command?""

	"Send the chief councillor into exile, effective

	immediately!"

	"Hmph, don't make me laugh!" objected Yerin, irritated by

	Yeonji's decision. "You may be the King, but you are not allowed to punish

	your subjects out of emotion! Only tyrants send people into exile for giving

	righteous advice!"

	"Silence, you traitor!" Yeonj’s label for Yerin seemed to have

	transformed from 'chief councillor' to 'traitor' already. She shifted back into

	her playful, mocking tone to rival Yerin’s sharp tongue. "What's with you,

	anyway? What kind of citizen of the Clotaku Nation has blonde hair?! You must

	be a spy sent from a foreign country!"

	"Wh-what kind of logic is that?!" panicked Yerin, astonished

	by Yeonji's nonsense remark.

	...If looking foreign is a problem, what about the other two? One's in

	a maid's outfit and the other's in a butler's uniform! Clearly, this nation

	went to hell before it even began.

	"Silence! I will not have your excuses!" shouted Yeonji,

	using Yerin's confusion as an opportunity to raise her game. She pointed at a

	corner of the room and declared, "What are you waiting for? Get that

	filthy spy out of here! Deprive her from all water and food while she is in

	exile!"

	"..."

	It was a very mean thing to say, but it took ten seconds to send her

	into exile and there were no other issues. Yerin was shortly sent into exile

	next to the fridge, restrained from both sides by the Suls.

	Yeonji stared at them coldly for a while, and followed upon her

	previous declaration. "While she's in exile next to the fridge, I want her

	executed through poison."

	"You're killing her?!"

	She was ready to end the entire country in a single blink of an eye. It

	was to be expected of Yeonji's rule, but her speed was nonetheless daunting.

	"Fufufu... The exile was a ruse all along!"

	"A ruse?!"

	"Yeah. By the time she's thinking 'Phew, at least I have my

	life!', the poison comes in, and she'll be feeling true despair!"

	"That's too mean! You're an evil tyrant!"

	"Fufufufufuehehehehehehe." laughed Yeonji, apparently taking

	my accusation as a compliment. She moved onto pestering the nurse, who looked

	like she'd rather be somewhere far away. "Don't waste your time! Make the

	poison for the chief councillor immediately!"

	"...That’s the herbalist’s job...? Alright, how should I make the

	poison? I do have a little potassium cyanide."

	"What. Potassium cyanide? You have cyanide with you?"

	Yeonji pondered to herself for a moment. And then she came up with an

	idea, "Hey, nurse, there was a coffee brewer in this room, right?"

	"Hmm? ...Of course~ But I get too lazy and end up buying canned

	coffee instead. What about it?"

	"Fufufu, we can use these, then!"

	In Yeonji's hand was her can of cola, along with the extra cans sitting

	on the table.

	"W-wait, are you serious?"

	"Yep! Let's boil the cola and use it as our poison."

	Holy crap.

	Well, okay, I heard that historical shows often use flat cola to

	simulate poison, but making a perfectly fine drink flat by boiling it? What an

	idea.

	What's worse, Yeonji was likely exploiting Yerin's hatred for colas.

	She probably wanted to enjoy Yerin breaking out of her high-class act and

	suffering from being forced to drink flat, warm cola.

	...And in retrospect, weren't the colas supposed to represent the food

	used for celebrating? We were all drinking poison from the start?

	"Oh, my, I wonder if that's okay... Well, I don't use it for

	anything else anyway, so let's try it."

	Before I could finish my thought, the nurse began pouring the remaining

	colas into the coffee pot to boil them. I don't feel that it's appropriate to

	play along with Yeonji's evil ideas just because they're fun to you...

	The cola soon boiled and bubbled, covering the room with a concentrated

	cloud of carbon dioxide and flavoring. She grabbed the nearest cup she found

	and poured the warm cola into it.

	...Wait, I remember that brewer being used to make Yerin's tea

	earlier... Also, as far as I could tell, the brewer costs as much as the

	tuition fee for a respectable university! What a waste!

	Yerin's face turned pure white. She looked ready to pass out anytime.

	"Alright, done~ Have at her, now."

	In complete disregard for Yerin, the nurse handed over the foggy, misty

	cola to Yujin. She acted like a doctor at a clinic prescribing a cold medicine.

	"My lady, please drink this. It's the poison from the King."

	He presented the cup that was filled to the brim with the poison.

	Yerin looked accepting of her fate at that point, glaring at the

	presentee with a determined expression. "Yujin... I would have never

	imagined that it would be you. Is this also a twisted plot of the King?"

	"My lady... I wish you good luck in your next life, perhaps as the

	new King."

	"My thanks. Even when I am gone, please live your life to the

	fullest with Miss Sukyong."

	"..."

	I couldn't tell if they were staying true to their act, or if they were

	serious.

	Then Yeonji butted in and ruined the moment as usual. "What are

	you waiting for, you filthy traitor? Show your thanks to the poison, and bow

	down to your King!"

	"...Bow down? Here?" Yerin panicked again.

	As seen countless times in the history channel, it was customary to bow down

	to the direction of the King, or the palace, before drinking the poison. Yet,

	our current era was not the Chosun era, and bowing down must have been extra

	shameful for her.

	But King Yeonji showed no mercy.

	"Hmph! Of course! Show your appreciation for the king like I wrote

	it down here, and bow down!" Yeonji passed a small note to the courtesan,

	who then passed it to the traitor.

	Yerin read the note. Shortly after, all color drained off of her face

	once more. "I-is this...?!"

	"Fufufu! You're not going to refuse, are you?" Whatever she

	wrote, Yeonji became increasingly haughty. "You told me that you would

	perform your job to your fullest! So, are you going to read it, or are you too

	embarrassed to say it?"

	"Agh!" Yerin groaned in anguish. Whatever was in the notes

	was probably horrible, but Yerin's pride prevented her from backing out, which

	ultimately worked in Yeonji's favor. "Kuh... Hm-hmph! Who do you think I

	am? Phew- I-if you really want it, I will read it!"

	"Yes, yes. Read it out loud! With emotion!"

	Yerin slowly knelt down in front of Yeonji. She shook slightly but

	visibly and pleaded, "Th-thank you for... ugh... bestowing the King's...

	black, sticky liquid upon this... filthy, dirty traitor! I am extremely

	grateful... eugh-- please, please, let me drink the King's hot

	p-poison..."

	"..."

	Shivering from great embarrassment, the former chief councillor managed

	to squeeze out the remaining lines.

	...What a humiliation.

	"Hah! You dirty, dirty sow. The look's really fitting on a pig

	like you!"

	"Nngh... Th-thank you for the compliment..."

	"I can't believe how shameless you are, asking for something like

	that. Do you really want to drink my poison?"

	"Y-yesh... Please, fill this dirty, filthy prisoner up with your

	hot poishonn..." lisped Yerin, unable to speak properly in humiliation.

	How much writing was in that note, anyway? When does it all end?

	"Hmph... You dirty girl. Then drink! Thank me for every last drop,

	and drink it all!"

	"Aaagh!"

	And with the decree of the King, Yerin raised her red, ghostly head.

	She grasped the cup with her shaking hands, then chugged. She drank to the

	bottom of the cup.

	She reached the limits of her patience. She furiously jumped out of her

	seat and cried, "There, I drank it! Are you happy now?! If you had your

	fun, stop this terrible game!"

	"...Wah? What are you talking about?" replied Yeonji,

	sounding almost innocent. My nerves momentarily jolted, foretelling a nasty

	turn of events.

	Yerin, however, seemed to have dulled senses in her anguish. "But

	I bowed down and finished drinking the poison-"

	"But you didn't die."

	"-So let's stop... what?" Yerin froze.

	Yeonji sat lazily and continued, "You drank the poison. You didn't

	die. This can only end if the traitor dies from the poison. What kind of a

	human being remains perfectly fine after drinking a cup of poison?

	Interesting~"

	"No, no, wait..." Yerin stumbled backwards, having realized

	Yeonji's intentions.

	Yeonji attempted to sound apathetic, suppressing an explosion of evil

	laughter. "Looks like we need more poison! Guards!"

	"W-wait! I can't drink any more--" ""Yes, my

	lord.""

	"Feed more poison to the traitor! If the traitor refuses, hold her

	down and force her to drink it!"

	"W-wait! What are you... No, stop! Miss Sukyong, what are you

	doing? D-don't come any closer!"

	"...I apologize, but it is the order of the king."

	"Kyaa--! No, stop, no! I don't want to!"

	"...I will hold the lady down. Yujin, please pour the thing in her

	mouth." "Yes, of course."

	"Kyaaaaa----aaarghrghglugglugglug--."

	* * *

	...A moment later,

	"She's dead."

	Thanks to her inability to read the atmosphere and avoid Yeonji's

	anger, one golden-haired girl lay stiffly on the couch, recovering from the

	terrible torture. Maybe even three girls

	・

	worth-- she was almost triple in

	size, her belly comically rising up and down with every breath. If not for that

	belly, I would have been certain that I was looking at a corpse.

	"Hngh, hahngh... no, I can't, I can't drink any more... my stomach

	will explode if I drink any more..."

	Yerin had been muttering to herself, her eyes unfocused. That was

	perfectly understandable, however, considering how she was forced to drink

	almost two liters of cola in a short span of time.

	King Yeonji kept urging her to drink more poison, since she 'drank

	poison but wouldn't die'. Yerin ended up drinking about fifty more cups' worth.

	If we hadn't run out of cola, we might have ended up with a real corpse; cause

	of death: fake poison.

	"I told you several times, you should have pretended to

	die..."

	"Eurgh--." Yerin turned around in agony. "How could

	you--! Are you suggesting that I, of all people, should use a method used by

	weak animals to avoid their predators? That is utter nonsen-... argh..."

	"Utter nonsense? Your own logic is utter nonsense!"

	Yeonji was reckless. Like Phaethon riding the sun chariot. It was

	absolutely stupid for Yerin to get into a game of chicken with her. She was

	either incredibly brave or outrageously stupid.

	"Hmph...! --ergh."

	Yerin scoffed away my accusations, only to feel the returning wave of

	pain. She still hadn't shown a sign of recovery.

	Moreover, the Sangkam's Game had not yet ended. After Yerin's fantastic

	display of drinking fifty cups of poison and surviving (and because we ran out

	of poison), the first round was declared finished-- but once the Suls return

	with more poison, the game was to continue.

	...What's the purpose of the poison for the second round? Yeonji never

	failed to scare me with every little thing that she did.

	"Anyway, I think it's best if you could lie down and take it easy.

	I'll tell Yeonji..."

	"Ugh... who are you to force me out of the game?!"

	"Please, you have to think about the baby, lady."

	"What baby?! My stomach is like this from the cola! You disgusting

	peasant! Do you want to die?!"

	"...I'm sorry."

	I thought it was a pretty good joke myself.

	Yerin appeared to have made a full recovery of her rage meter, thanks

	to our exchange. Once the Suls returned with the new bottles of cola, Yerin

	agonizingly stood up.

	"Eurgh... must pick... the next card... Miss Seo Umji, I hope you

	are ready to take on the rage of the new King... Heh, I wonder where the cola

	will fit in that tiny body of yours! ...hurkgh."

	Yerin made a slow gait towards the box like a rotting zombie.

	Seeing a fine young lady fueled entirely by rage-... I sighed.

	...And so, to summarize the second out of the Sangkam's Game,

	Fortunately, Yerin did end up taking the role of the King. Heaven

	itself must have been impressed by Yerin's unending fury-- I mean,

	perseverance. When Yerin revealed her card, the magical label of 'King' was

	indeed on it. Yerin was quite happy in the beginning, and she was ready to

	unleash a world of pain upon Yeonji, but...

	Yeonji's job was the army general.

	Job title: 〈Army General〉

	Description: Similar to a five-star General

	Duty: Defend the King, or if the King is a tyrant, start a coup

	Social level: Has the command of all people below the three

	councillors. During a coup, do not follow the orders of any upper-ranks

	Special ability: You filthy traitors! -- Can duel the King in a

	one-on-one battle for the throne. Other players may not join the duel. Do

	whatever works as a duel

	...Yeonji wasn't going down easily.

	As soon as it was revealed that Yerin was the new King, Yeonji

	immediately declared war and swept the palace in a blitzkrieg. Yerin was unable

	to retaliate due to her injuries that she suffered from the tyranny of the

	previous ruler, and so she was dethroned almost immediately. Again, she

	suffered the fate of exile -> execution by poison.

	The promised educational value of the Sangkam's Game was thrown out the

	window. The only thing left in the game was the bloody battle for the throne

	between the two girls... and the fate of the entire nation faltered dangerously

	with each succession to the throne. Strangely, no one else got to be the King

	for several rounds-- and only by the end, I became the King.

	...The only decree I gave as the new King was 'Let's just end this

	game, please?' It was almost a plea rather than a decree, but... I was just

	happy that I could go home.

	______________________________________________________________________

	Notes:

	1.

	Forcing someone to go on a trip to buy something for you (often by paying them less than what it actually costs) is an iconic example of bullying in Korean schools. A downplayed version of the concept that is used often in Korean LNs is the 'Bread Shuttle', which gets its name from the Protoss Shuttle from Starcraft; i.e. it refers to someone who is frequently made to buy bread for others.

	←

	2.

	Phonetically identical to "The Old Jar Craftsman", an old Korean film from 1969.

	←

	3.

	Not in THAT sense!

	←

	4.

	←

	### 004. Chapter 2. The Melancholy of Original Yerin

	Maid in Korea.

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix, Foodpenguin

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	The day

	after the tragic end and the permanent destruction of the Sangkam's Game,

	The time was

	five minutes before lunch.

	If you've

	ever experienced school lunch programs, you might know the importance of this

	time. It's the most magical, wonderful time of any weekday. It can keep the

	sleepiest kids awake, silence the chattiest brats, close the books of die-hard

	nerds—

	Such was the

	miracle of the time known as 'the five minutes before lunch'.

	That day was

	no exception.

	"...Is

	it already time? Then we'll end the lecture here—"

	RUMBLE

	RUMBLE RUMBLE

	Before the

	teacher's eyes left his wristwatch, every student had already brought their

	legs out from underneath their desks. Their lower bodies faced towards the

	nearest exit, their legs tensing up like arrows being pulled back with taut bow

	strings.

	"— And

	make sure that you review everything in chapter five. Ehh... Okay. Class

	rep?"

	"Yes

	sir. Stand! Atten-tion! Bow!"

	""Thank

	you for the day!""

	RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!

	The class

	rep's end-of-the-day farewell marked the beginning of a wild race between forty

	hungry beasts. Other classes had also ended in time for lunch, and the hallways

	quickly filled up with deafening footsteps of migrating students.

	"Hey,

	hey, hurry it up! Class Three will be here anytime soon!"

	"Augh!

	They always end English classes way too early! Run, run!"

	With a

	little imagination, that could have been a reenactment of the mass migration of

	Germanic peoples into Rome. Or maybe a large pack of wildebeests avoiding the

	dry season of the Serengeti. This grand scene repeated in the hallways every

	single day, but I could never get over it.

	Almost two

	thousand boys and girls had to traverse the same halls at the same time. The

	school building itself seemed to quake in an effort to accommodate these

	students. At the end of the stampede was only an endless sea of people lining

	up for the stalls at the cafeteria.

	People

	shoved and fought to get ahead, and there were often people cutting in line

	shamelessly. I was beginning to wonder if South Korea had been reduced to a

	starving, third-world country before I realized.

	I still

	remember the day when the last English teacher (Canadian— nice lady, too) saw

	our lunchtime spectacle and exclaimed, "

	So

	incredible! It's like Jurassic Park!

	"

	Why did

	people risk their lives to get ahead? So they could get to the cafeteria faster

	and finish their food early. Why did they need to finish early? Because any

	time before the next class was free. Finishing five minutes early meant that

	the gym had more unoccupied space. Finishing ten minutes early left ten minutes

	to play a round. It was a natural conclusion.

	For high

	school students who spend at least half of their day in school, saving five,

	ten minutes meant a lot. It was no different for a prestigious school like

	Eunsung High School.

	...Which

	explains why I was a part of the crowd.

	"Seriously,

	that piece of shit English class! He promised that the class would end early

	today, and look what happened!"

	"We

	would have been out early if that idiot Minchul didn't completely screw up

	reading and writing at the last moment!"

	"Hey,

	Injin, what's today's menu again? What was it, homemade Tonkatsu? Holy f—, I

	bet there's a huge line at the cafeteria already! Why did the fourth period

	English class have to be on time today?! God damn!"

	...Many

	people may have had fantasies about how elegant students are at elite private

	schools. But kids will always be kids, and the spoken language won't change

	just because we're in a different school. So, I hope you wouldn't be off-put by

	any of our remarks—son of a bitch!

	...I

	couldn't help but curse when I made it to the cafeteria. Despite my efforts to

	sprint here as quickly as I could, the line at the cafeteria was already

	resembling a scene in front of a soup kitchen during the Great Depression.

	Seriously,

	did they suddenly learn how to teleport around the school? I'll miss my soccer

	match at this rate!

	I had never

	sprinted so quickly since my last physical performance exam. My legs were

	powered up with fury and nervousness that I might miss my free time, and I

	burst forward, looking straight at the end of the line.

	That might

	also explain why I was completely blind to the next thing that happened.

	CREAK!

	"Gwaurhgh?!"

	I

	momentarily thought that I was being attacked by Steven Seagal. Shortly after a

	piercing shockwave pulsed up the back of my neck, I felt my body descend like a

	feather.

	And then—

	That was it.

	That was the

	last thing that I felt while my mind was still sane. I couldn't really tell

	what was happening next. I felt my feet kick about in the air, heavy pressure

	up my neck, various images flashing past with blinding speed, piercing whistles

	looping in my ears like I was riding a roller coaster...

	"Auwah-awurhaugkahrghh—!"

	A terrible

	gurgle left my mouth instead of a proper scream. I couldn't even breathe...

	properly...

	...This

	is... serious! I'd... die at... this rate! I can't...

	Is... is

	that a... light... on the other side—?

	"...This

	place appears suitable."

	CRASH!

	"Hwah—

	Cough!— Agh... —Cough!"

	I was a

	second away from dying.

	I was almost

	ready to give up all hopes of survival, but then the grip around my neck had

	loosened up.

	"Cough...

	*Cough..." I fell on the ground and wheezed. I felt my consciousness

	returning as I got my body circulating blood again.

	...What was

	that?! I couldn't really tell what was happening, but I could swear my body was

	fluttering around the air like a flag...

	"...Mister

	Injin, I recommend that you get up from that dirty floor."

	"Kwuahruhgh!"

	...Like it

	happened at that moment.

	My body shot

	upwards immediately when my neck was pressured again. Then, a familiar face

	came into my sight.

	"Cough...

	Su-... Sukyong-sunbae...? Cough!"

	An

	emotionless, frozen face. Reddish brown hair that almost reached her shoulders.

	A stout stature that conveyed a feeling of confidence. She was wearing the

	school's uniform, but only one person in the school fit the first three

	descriptions, anyway. Even though my head spun violently, I could still easily

	tell that it was Sukyong-sunbae.

	...Wait.

	"Cough!

	Sunbae... where... is this place?"

	"It is

	the forest behind the school's memorial."

	"Memooriaaaaaal—?!"

	I froze.

	Of course

	the air suddenly became a lot fresher! But wait, the memorial is on the

	opposite side of the school from the cafeteria! How'd I get here?!

	"It is

	too early to be surprised." Sukyong-sunbae spoke calmly as always, as if

	to contrast my utter shock. "...Though I may have used only one hand to

	carry you, Mister Injin, I could easily cover this distance by simply

	running... This should not be of surprise."

	"And

	the answer was with me the whole time!"

	She talked

	like she'd done something great, and thanks to that, I realized what had

	happened to me. Wait, should that be obvious, since we were the only ones

	there? I couldn't help but scream at these realizations.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	tried to calm me down. "...Please, do not worry. We were not seen on our

	way here. There should be no one in the school who knows that we are

	here."

	"That's

	even more worrying!" What was she going to do that needed privacy?! Also,

	how'd she manage to carry me by my neck and not be seen?!

	"...I

	assure you, people would have thought that I was a harmless mother cat carrying

	her kitten."

	"What

	does that mean?! Cats?!" I became even more worried.

	"...When

	cats carry their kittens, they grip their scruffs by their teeth. The way I

	held your nape most likely appeared to be the same."

	"Wh-what

	kind of crap is that—?!" That's the only reason behind my near-death

	experience?!

	The scarier

	part was that she didn't sound like she was kidding. That was to be expected of

	the highest-level otaku of the Clotaku Club, though; despite her appearance,

	her thought process was simply alien.

	"...Please

	keep in mind next time; it is Maid's Trick Number Twenty-Two, 'Acting Like a

	Cat'."

	"Don't

	pretend like you succeeded! And what the hell is a Maid Trick?! How are there

	are least twenty-two of them?!"

	"...The

	author's note says that there will be at least a hundred and eight."

	"Author's

	note?! Did you just say that?!"

	One hundred

	and eight?! What's the point of all that?! No wonder the last trick didn't even

	seem complete!

	My head

	spun. I simultaneously thought of a million ways to try and correct her. My

	ability to reason went kaput, much like the thought process of a cat that was

	stuck in a catnip bush.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	began to change the subject with an "Anyway—" before I could think of

	a response. "...I only wanted to say that my 'AcCat' is absolutely

	perfect."

	"Uh,

	no, there wasn't a single thing in our conversation that suggested that!"

	And stop using contractions on things that you just introduced! I almost missed

	what that meant!

	Sukyong-sunbae

	appeared to be confused by my outburst. "...And yet, I had felt like I had

	become a mother cat entirely."

	"It's

	absolutely perfect only in your world, huh?"

	"...Please,

	try to recall more clearly. I bet that you've felt like you had become a baby

	kitten, at least for a split second."

	"I felt

	like I had become the victim of a public hanging!" It was like being a

	part of an experiment to prove that the scariest drop is eleven meters for

	average humans.

	Regardless,

	those Maid Tricks are apparently unsuited for stealthy maneuvers.

	Sighs

	escaped my mouth, probably from all the mental exertion caused by this

	conversation. I never had the chance to talk with her for too long, so it was

	only then that I realized she was as stubborn as Yeonji. Everything that I said

	merely glanced off of her impenetrable, emotionless face.

	"...Well,

	fine-... oh, gosh!" I had a disheartening realization that I could have

	been spending my precious time in the cafeteria. "S-so, what is it? Why

	did you bring me here?" Right, that was the most important issue; why

	snatch me in the middle of a lunch break to bring me to a secluded, secret

	area? Whatever was the reason, I didn't want to waste any more of my only break

	of the day.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	replied, her posture looking like a moe personification of emotionlessness

	itself. "...There is one thing that I must show you."

	"Sh-show

	me something?"

	My heart

	briefly sunk. What could be so important that it had to interrupt a man's

	break? I couldn't think of a single good answer. I examined Sunbae's face in

	search of a hint, but of course, her solid face told nothing at all.

	I felt my

	stomach get emptier with each moment. I broke the silence. "Th-then...

	whatever it is, show me, quickly!"

	"...I

	will." She nodded. She suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling

	me as she began striding away.

	...Huh?

	"H-hey,

	uh... S-Sunbae?"

	"...What

	do you need?"

	"Weren't

	you going to show me something? I kinda want to quickly see it and then go

	eat..."

	"...We

	are going there right now, to show you."

	"Go...

	where?"

	Perhaps

	because of the atmosphere, Sukyong-sundae's grip felt a little firmer than

	before. She answered, "...You cannot see it from here. What you need to

	see is within the school building. We must get to the fourth floor."

	...Inside

	the school? Fourth floor?

	...So, after

	sprinting down four floors to get to the cafeteria, wasting my life's worth of

	energy, we had to go back up?! Why, god?!

	"...Do

	you need me to carry you?"

	"You

	think I'm sad because I can't walk up the stairs?!"

	"...Do

	you need me to carry you like a motherly cat?"

	"How

	long are you going to stick with that concept?! Actually, wait, stop, hold it!

	Let go of me so we can talk! Please? My wrist! It hurts, I'm serious!"

	"...Is

	that so? Then, instead of the wrist..."

	"My

	neeeecccckkk—?!"

	... At that

	point, I mostly gave up trying to have my lunch break.

	* * *

	And so,

	Sukyong-sunbae popped out of nowhere while I was on my way to have a relaxing

	meal at the cafeteria, then I was dragged all the way back to the fourth floor,

	looking like a sad little kitten. End of summary.

	...Oh, god

	damn.

	Why is it

	always my lunch break? Back then, Yeonji, too, just had to pick this time for

	reasons I don't understand. There's a saying that not even a dog should be

	bothered while it's eating, so am I supposed to be lower than a dog?

	Something's screwed up here.

	"...Ugh."

	At that

	point, the cafeteria probably had a queue that was longer than Hell's. I

	decided that I'd save more time if I listened to Sukyong-sunbae first, then

	went to buy something from the store later.

	"...So,

	what are you trying to show me?" I asked, carrying a hint of sorrow in my

	voice. It had unfortunately become a habit as of late.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	was in a different year, so I didn't have the chance to talk to her very often.

	Back in the club, she never was all that chatty, either. It was natural for me

	to be curious about why she went to great lengths to show me something.

	...And if

	she revealed that it was nothing important, I was ready to break down at that

	very spot. I would have just clung onto her and cried on her chest. With her

	skirt as my tissue.

	"...Here

	it is." Sukyong-sunbae suddenly stopped moving, interrupting my manly

	resolve.

	...Class One

	of the first year students. It was around a corner plus a fair distance from my

	own class, so it wasn't very often that I passed by this area.

	"It would

	be problematic if we are found. Please be careful when you watch."

	...Were we

	doing something illegal?

	Her short

	remark intensified my anxiety. Regardless, I peered into the class from a small

	opening on the door.

	The class

	was mostly vacant, since we were in the middle of a lunch break. A few chairs

	were occupied with girls who brought their own lunch.

	While

	Eunsung provided the school with cheap, affordable lunch for its students, the

	process of acquiring the food was demonstrably terrible. So, for students who

	disliked being involved in the chaos, or for those with kind, loving parents,

	they brought in their own lunch. There wasn't a rule that restricted students

	to eat at the cafeteria, so there were a few students like those girls in every

	class.

	...I'm

	jealous! I wish my mom took the time to pack a lunch! I'd have so much time if

	I could finish eating as soon as the lunch break starts!

	"...Ugh."

	But of

	course, luxuries like that would never be allowed in my life. I groaned, having

	predicted the obvious outcome if I were to ask my mom.

	Then, a

	strange sight came into my view.

	"...Huh?"

	One girl was

	at her desk, having her lunch.

	She was

	sitting away from the rest of the girls chatting amongst themselves. She was

	awkwardly standing out, and I couldn't stop looking at her.

	...Where had

	I seen her? Her face seemed extremely familiar. Yet, this class was a foreign

	ground to me; it was unlikely that I'd know anyone. But there was something

	about her that my memory could recall.

	Her body was

	curled up in her seat like she was trying to make herself look small. She had

	short, brown hair, with her face adorned with large, round glasses, and

	underneath were her bright, glistening eyes that made her resemble a tiny,

	defenseless animal.

	It was definitely

	the same girl from yesterday!

	It was that

	girl who stood around the club like it was her own room, and ran away screaming

	when I confronted her! I finally found her!

	"She-...

	Ufgh! Oofph!"

	But before I

	could barge in, my mouth was covered up by Sukyong-sunbae's hands. She wrapped

	her arm around my head, pressing down from behind.

	"...Please

	be calm, Mister Injin. There are other students in that room. It is not wise to

	create a scene."

	"...Oh..."

	...right.

	There were

	other people eating lunch in there. I would have been charging through the

	class, screaming, but that would have attracted a great deal of attention on

	us. That was a stupid idea, considering the fact that she needed to be silenced

	before she could reveal the existence of the Clotaku Club. It was necessary to

	confront her quietly.

	The worst

	thing I could do was go in and scream "How the hell did you find the

	Clotaku Club?!"

	I winked in

	acknowledgement. Sukyong-sunbae released me, and I continued my reconnaissance.

	There was no need to get excited, since I found where she was. I could simply

	take my time to learn what she might do with the knowledge.

	...Class

	One, Year One. The answer was hiding in plain sight all along. It was just

	yesterday that I got beaten up by Yeonji for not even remembering the color of

	the girl's name tag. I would have never guessed that she was in the same year

	as us.

	And now that

	I had found her, I couldn't let her escape again. She was trespassing in our

	territory, an area restricted from entry by common folk. To ensure the safety

	of our Clotaku Club, and to preserve my peaceful life as an otaku, I needed to

	bring her to justice.

	"...But-..."

	She looked a

	little depressed.

	At a glance,

	she didn't seem any different since yesterday, but I eventually noticed a

	subtle gloom on her face.

	It then came

	to my attention that she had the window seat at the back of the class. In any

	anime about high schools, this was the 'protagonist seat', but in reality it

	was also the area where the garbage bin and other cleaning tools belonged. It

	was undoubtedly the most disgusting area in the class, yet the girl quietly sat

	there, having her lunch.

	Maybe a

	couple meters away from her, the other girls were joking around and laughing.

	Yet the girl sat alone, with a gloomy cloud draped over her head. The other

	girls left her as she was, having fun by themselves.

	Perhaps she

	was getting bullied.

	There

	definitely was something unnatural about the scene within the class. I looked

	back at Sukyong-sunbae to confirm—

	"...Let

	us leave now." But she spoke first, her face stony as always, pulling my

	wrist away once more.

	"...Who

	is that girl?"

	Only after I

	strangely found myself on the rooftop again, I had made up my mind to ask her.

	Was she the girl that Sukyong-sunbae wanted to show me? Why did she look like

	she was an outcast of the class?

	More

	questions continued to spring up in my mind, but Sukyong-sunbae changed the

	topic on me. "...Mister Injin, are you perhaps slightly peckish?"

	"Well,

	I'm... starving by now."

	It hadn't been

	too long since the beginning of the lunch break, but my energy was further

	emptied by the last few events with Sukyong-sunbae.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	nodded. "...I see. Then, I will share my lunch."

	"Whoa,

	you packed lunch?" I jumped. I was ready to give up any notion that I'd

	have any food today. Lucky!

	"...Yes,

	I have. I realized that our business would disrupt your lunch schedule, so I

	prepared it beforehand. Please, accept."

	"Wow..."

	That's to be

	expected of Sukyong-sunbae! She'd always be incredibly caring at times when

	Yeonji would do the exact opposite! That's incredibly mature of her! I might

	fall in love!

	"I-if

	you insist, I'll accept with gratitude. ...So, where is it?"

	She picked

	up a strange box that was left beside the rooftop access. "...Here it is.

	I had hidden it here since this morning." It was a large, insulated lunch

	box.

	Was that why

	we went back to the rooftop? And the rooftop is off limits to students anyway,

	but why hide anything here in particular?

	"...While

	I'm at it, I believe it would be nicer if we could eat together here."

	"At the

	rooftop?!"

	I hadn't

	thought of that answer. I mean, having lunch together at the rooftop was an

	extremely anime-like situation, but how did she get here without a key?

	"...I

	have a key here."

	"Did

	you just pull that key out of your pocket like it's yours?!" And she did,

	as naturally as the act of breathing. How did she get that?! That key shouldn't

	be in the hands of a student!

	"...Please,

	do not fear. No one has found out yet."

	"Putting

	it in a good way won't make it any less of a crime!"

	"...Maid

	Trick, Number Twelve— 'Be confident with your lies, and no one will suspect a

	thing'."

	"Wah-!

	I can already tell what you might have done to get that key! And that doesn't

	even sound like a proper name!"

	She was

	always so full of surprises. She seems to have a knack for committing crimes

	without a hint of remorse, so maybe she could be Yeonji's good friend after

	all.

	"...It

	will be fine. I will return it where it belongs soon. Anyhow..." She froze

	up in the midst of her Yeonji-like speech, and stared at the key that was now

	lodged into the keyhole of the rooftop access. She calmly explained, "...I

	apologize. I believe I took the wrong key."

	"If

	you're gonna do something evil, at least do it right-!"

	Unexpectedly,

	her last hidden trait was revealed to be clumsiness.

	"...It

	looks like I had accidentally taken the key to the gym storeroom instead. Shall

	we lunch there?"

	"No

	way-!" It's dark, moldy, and full of dust in there! I'd rather starve!

	"...Is

	that so? Then, we will continue with our original plan."

	"H-how?"

	Was she planning on sneaking back inside the building to steal the right key?

	Sukyong-sunbae

	stood in silence, while I stared at her, half worried and half terrified.

	Suddenly, her eyes widened as if in surprise. "...Oh? Is that a catgirl

	maid behind you, Mister Injin?"

	"Where?!"

	My body was already turning before she had finished speaking.

	Before I

	could process the full meaning of her words, I found myself looking away from

	her. And, before I could fully turn—

	CRASH-!

	A tremendous

	noise exploded behind my back. The sound violently drummed within my ears. I

	turned around again in reaction.

	Behind me,

	Sukyong-sunbae stood in the exact same pose and face as before... and the door

	to the rooftop, which looked like it had been torn apart by a gigantic

	cannonball.

	"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaarhgh-!"

	An uncontrollable girlish scream left my mouth.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	stared blankly forward, as if she had just witnessed the chemical reaction

	between H2O and H2O. "...Please be quiet, Mister Injin. If you scream that

	loudly, people will become curious."

	"But!

	The door! The roof door! How?! You did it, right? It's your doing again, isn't

	it?!"

	"............I fear I do not have an answer to that."

	"That

	was an amazingly delayed reaction-!"

	It had to be

	her! I mean, who else here could have done such a thing?! What made her think

	it was a good idea to break apart a door? No, wait, I mean— how?!"

	"...Though

	I admit that I turned away your attention with Maid Trick Number Thirteen,

	'Hey, what's that behind you?'..."

	"That

	was a trick too?!"

	It was,

	admittedly, the most effective trick thus far. She actually looked surprised

	for once, so how could I not get curious?

	"...I

	do not know what happened in the mean time. Perhaps the door broke down on its

	own due to its age."

	"Well,

	sure, but that doesn't really explain that fresh footprint on the door!"

	On closer

	inspection, the door was at least six centimeters thick, and made of solid

	metal. It barely remained standing, scrunched up like a paper ball, pitifully

	hanging by its hinges. The lock had completely broken off, and the general area

	looked as if someone had thrown a grenade where I stood.

	...A human

	being did all this?!

	"...Maid

	Trick Number Fifteen, 'Roundhou—'... Let us enter, Mister Injin."

	"You

	were about to say 'roundhouse kick', weren't you?!"

	"...You

	cannot judge before I finish my sentence."

	...No, I'm

	sure the original saying goes 'you can't judge it before you understand it'.

	She went

	through the door without me, escaping the topic. I sighed, and passed through

	the crumpled metal door to follow her out.

	* * *

	It was my

	first time since the start of high school— no, actually, my first time ever

	being on any school's rooftop. It was quite a hollow experience; the only

	notable things were a bunch of ventilation shafts, a huge water tank, and...

	and... really nothing else. I almost loudly complained "That's it?!"

	And yet

	Sukyong-sunbae insisted that we eat in this deserted, creepy place.

	"...Mister Injin, please sit over here." She was already fully

	prepared to start eating. Though, 'preparing' mostly involved finding a good

	place to put down a mat and sit down.

	"Ah,

	um... Okay, then, excuse me."

	I took my

	shoes off and sat on the mat. It was the middle of May, and yet the creeping

	cold from the ground pierced straight through the mat. ...On top of that, there

	was a strong wind slapping down on us, probably because of the height... It

	simply wasn't a good place to have a relaxing break.

	"...Then,

	please excuse me too."

	But, of

	course, life is never as nice as fiction. While I sat depressed at the jarring

	difference between manga and reality, Sukyong-sunbae quietly sat in front of

	me. Kneeling, for some reason. Her black stocking-clad thighs were pressed and

	squeezed slightly out from underneath her skirt, and so my eyes began jumping

	back and forth.

	...Also...

	"Hey,

	uh, Sunbae?"

	"...What

	is it?"

	"Aren't

	we a little too close to each other? It's a little difficult to eat this

	way..."

	It wasn't

	that we sat too close together on purpose, but rather, the mat was too small

	for two people. I was sitting as close as I could toward the edge of the mat,

	and yet our knees still met. Not only did we not have enough space to eat, I

	felt like I was sitting dangerously close to her... is that really fine?

	"...That

	is not a problem." Sukyong-sunbae placed her lunch box on her lap.

	"...Please think of my lap as a table. It may be uncomfortable, but please

	bear with it for now."

	"Oh,

	no, you don't have to..."

	It'd look

	like I was torturing her, using her as a table for that heavy, humongous lunch

	box.

	"...Then,

	I will compromise and sit outside of the mat..."

	"...No,

	please, let me use your lap."

	Was she

	trying to make me look like a terrible person on purpose?! Sukyong-sunbae would

	seriously sit on the cold cement floor if I had let her. I sat there

	dumbfounded, staring blankly at Sukyong-sunbae as she opened the box on her

	lap.

	"...Open."

	And the box opened. And, inside—

	"...Whoa."

	It was the

	most luxurious box of lunch that I'd ever seen. I thought Sukyong-sunbae might

	have brought a plain but efficient lunch, but that was definitely not the case.

	The box was filled with intentionally arranged food, and it looked absolutely

	delicious. It wasn't just a staple lunch like vienna sausage or inari sushi,

	but some high-class looking stuff that I'd never had before. I stared at her,

	now with the look of a hero who found Excalibur in a breakable pot within a

	villager's home.

	"...Here

	is a tomato salad with mozzarella cheese, and the main dish is wine-boiled

	shrimp with herb-crusted flounder... And roasted veal chop with applejack

	sauce. Would you also like some pudding for dessert?"

	"Tha-that's

	fine, but..." I was more curious if it's okay that I ate it at all. She

	wasn't going to make me pay for it later, right?

	"...Of

	course not. Please, have some."

	I finally

	gave into the pitiful cries of my stomach and reached for a shrimp with my

	fork.

	And— Hmm—

	Oho, this taste is...

	美呋

	[GREAT

	FLAVOR]

	"It's...

	it's amazing!"

	It wasn't

	just pretty from the outside. I wasn't good at pretending like I'm a cooking

	show judge to make observations like "the shrimp danced on my tongue"

	or "I could visualize the hard working fishermen," but nevertheless,

	it was amazing. Honestly.

	"...How

	is it?"

	"It's

	re-really good..." I couldn't help but stutter. My mouth was too occupied

	trying to taste the shrimp.

	It wasn't

	just the shrimp that was tasty. Everything from that lunch was absolutely

	fantastic, like it was freshly prepared a second before. I could easily see how

	much skill and effort was put into making these, and it was a shame that I was

	eating them on a windy, dirty rooftop.

	When did

	Sukyong-sunbae cook this well? Amazing.

	"That

	is a relief," said Sukyong-sunbae, while I continued shoving the rest of

	the food in my mouth. "...I am sure that my little brother will be happy

	to hear that."

	"Sul

	Yujin?! He made this—?!" I thought you made it!

	I almost

	poked through the box with my fork in surprise.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	nodded. "...He has. I had mentioned that the lunch is for Mister Injin,

	and he immediately put on an apron and sang a happy song, while—"

	"Gwah—?!

	Stop it right there! You don't have to say any more than that!"

	My mind

	flashed an image of him cooking and singing with that ever-joyous smile on his

	face. It was quite disturbing that the image suited him too well.

	"...I

	am sure that he will be most pleased if you were to tell him 'You're going to

	become a fine wife when you grow up, Yujin!'"

	"Stop

	trying to convince me to set an event flag on your little brother—!"

	And it just

	doesn't feel right for a boy to be happy with that compliment. I'll have to

	remind myself to be cautious around him later...

	Sukyong-sunbae

	interrupted my future planning. "...I am not proud to admit, but... Unlike

	my brother, I am terrible at cooking."

	"You're

	more full of surprises that I thought!" As a maid, too! You had to ask

	your little brother to cook for you?!

	"Furthermore,

	I am absolutely terrible at everything related to housekeeping."

	"You

	don't even qualify as a maid at that point!"

	"...Few

	days ago, I had nearly forgotten how to wash my hair. Now, my brother is also

	taking care of that duty."

	"You

	should at least qualify as a normal human being first—!"

	Again, I

	couldn't tell if any of her words were jokes or truths.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	replied stoically, not mindful of my outburst. "I am specialized in

	combat, so it is quite natural that my housekeeping skills are

	lackluster."

	"Combat

	specialization?! What are you, an android?!"

	"...Eighty

	years remaining on my life timer."

	"Ma**rooooooooooo—!"

	What's next,

	dirty thoughts are bad?! And you're being way too greedy if you think you have

	eighty years left to live!

	"...Mister

	Injin, your food is getting cold. Please, eat as you talk."

	"I

	can't focus on eating thanks to you!"

	"I

	already had my lunch since the end of the third class, so you do not need to

	mind me..."

	"I'm a

	lot more distracted by the way you're acting—!"

	As it turned

	out, there was nothing romantic or dreamy about my first rooftop lunch break

	with a girl.

	A moment

	later,

	"...Mister

	Injin. Before we leave, could you take a look at this?"

	Before I

	could finish eating the pudding, Sukyong-sunbae pulled out a strange, cylindrical

	object.

	"What

	is this, Sunbae?"

	There was a

	lot of food in the lunch box, and I couldn't possibly have more. It would have

	been very troublesome if she had more food...

	Sukyong-sunbae

	brought the object closer and replied, "...It is a telescope."

	"..."

	"...It

	is a magical item that allows you to see from great distances."

	"Uh,

	yeah, I know that."

	What I

	didn't know was why she insisted on showing me a telescope after a meal.

	Sukyong-sunbae

	stood without a reply. She walked over to the fenced area near the edge of the

	rooftop, looked around, and nodded. "...This is the most optimal location.

	Mister Injin, if you will."

	"Uh,

	okay."

	Curious, I

	got up and followed her right away. She handed over the telescope as I got near

	the fence.

	"...Could

	you look over there?"

	There? I

	looked into the telescope. With Sukyong-sunbae's instructions, I lowered the

	angle until I could see the inside of one class through a window.

	The school's

	main hall was shaped like a '['. Thus, since there were two ends that stuck out

	from both ends, the classes located in the inner parts had windows that faced

	the other classes on the opposite end.

	But...

	considering where I stood, what class was I looking at? It looked incredibly

	familiar, though it was definitely not my own.

	"...Ah."

	Right. It

	was the first class of the first years, which we've visited before. I

	recognized a girl in there, who was one of the girls who stayed in class to eat

	and chat.

	Then— that

	other girl must have been in there.

	"Found

	her."

	In the

	corner of the class, same place as before, I found the sad girl who sat quietly

	by herself. She looked strangely lonely during lunchtime, and I was curious how

	she was doing...

	Her

	situation didn't get any better. The class was back to full since our lunch

	break was almost over, and yet the girl was still alone, sitting without a

	word. There were more people coming back from their break, and not a single one

	talked to her. Her isolation became more evident, now that the class around her

	became noisier and busier.

	She was all

	alone, meekly staring at the desk in front of her. Her eyes left the desk only

	to nervously peek to her sides. No one gave her the slightest attention, like

	she didn't exist, or like she was purposefully left out. It was more understandable

	before when there were only small groups, but to see it happening when

	everyone's back in class...

	It was

	bullying. There was no doubt about it.

	...That's

	too cruel...!

	I didn't

	know her story, but I could still share her sentiment. Back in my middle

	school, I had suffered a similar fate. It was natural for me to be furious and

	pity her situation.

	"...Have

	you seen enough?"

	I would have

	felt sick if I had watched any further. I couldn't bear to continue. I put the

	telescope down and asked, "Seriously, who is that? That girl, over

	there?"

	Clearly,

	Sukyong-sunbae wanted me to see her. At first, I thought she may have been

	reporting to me after finding the profile of the intruder... but that no longer

	seemed to be the case.

	But then—

	who is that girl?

	It was

	apparent that Sukyong-sunbae personally knew the girl. Sukyong-sunbae could not

	have tracked the 'intruder' down within a day, considering my faulty

	description about her. Then, there must be some relationship between

	Sukyong-sunbae and that girl.

	Moreover,

	the most probable conclusion was that the girl was in the club because

	Sukyong-sunbae was involved. But—

	"...It

	is my lady."

	"...Huh?"

	I couldn't

	speak any further.

	Her lady?

	Who?

	"Wait,

	th-then, that girl over there..."

	"That

	girl, over there." Sukyong-sunbae repeated, her voice like a hammer

	slamming down the final nail in the coffin. "...She is my mistress, and

	also the lady whom you are most familiar with, the treasurer of our Clotaku

	Club, the granddaughter of the Eunsung Group."

	...Incredible

	### 005. Part 1

	This chapter reminds me of Tecmo World Cup 98... Damn, I miss the good old arcade.

	Translator: Narane

	Editor: MadTix

	Please enjoy~

	____________________

	After school,

	In spite of the great tragedies from yesterday, such

	as the intrusion into our club and the Sangkam's Game, the members of the

	Clotaku Club faithfully continued their daily activities.

	Though it's really nothing but nesting in one spot

	while wasting away with their usual otaku stuff.

	The nurse was fixated on her computer, playing a

	visual novel.

	Yeonji laid flat on her belly on the couch while

	reading a light novel.

	Yerin and co. watched an anime from their 82-inch

	television.

	Just like that, our club refused to change and

	remained pure as gold... but I couldn't share their attitude this time.

	"..."

	I pretended to play games on my PXP, while

	occasionally sneaking a glance at Yerin. To any outside observers, I might have

	looked pretty strange and pathetic, but I had a really good reason for being

	extremely mindful of her.

	I mean, seriously, how was I supposed to act after

	hearing... that?

	I looked at her again. She held a cup of black tea

	in one hand, stroked her golden hair back in a truly ladylike manner, all the

	while watching an anime. She sat arrogantly, her legs crossed and eyes

	glittering in bright blue. She looked and acted like a typical ojou character--

	she was like a condensed ball of hubris and pompousness.

	There was no way that she was the same girl from the

	day before. How could I possibly be calm?

	From the many glances that I snuck on her, I

	couldn't see any sign of her being that timid, quiet girl. Surprisingly, I would

	have rather believed that Sukyong-sunbae was joking about it.

	"...Hmph."

	Looking at Sukyong-sunbae, who stood behind Yerin

	like a statue, I recalled the things she had told me during the lunch break.

	"...S-so, that girl I saw before--... it’s the

	girl, sitting there?" Fragmented pieces of my question barely made it out

	of my broken brain.

	It was a tiresome repeat of my previous question to

	her, but Sukyong-sunbae answered nonetheless. "...Yes. She is the same

	person that you have in mind. She is indeed Lady Yerin."

	She left no room for doubt or misunderstanding with

	that answer. I fell into silence and returned my eye to the telescope.

	The short-haired girl was still there, hanging her

	head low like someone who's been fired from her dream job. Her features,

	attitudes-- there was absolutely nothing that reminded me of that golden-haired

	lady, Eun Yerin.

	Unmindful of the disbelieving, shocked face that I

	probably had, Sukyong-sunbae explained calmly. "...I believe you already

	know of Lady Yerin's school life before she had met Miss Yeonji, and you,

	Mister Injin."

	"Of course-..." Of course I knew. It

	wasn't exactly easy to forget.

	That's right. Like I explained before, Yerin wasn't

	a Clotaku before, but rather a Pubtaku, or, an otaku who is aggressively open

	with otaku activities. Ever since her middle school days, she had done all

	kinds of atrocities, leading to her becoming the symbol of fear known as the

	Pubtaku Queen.

	That was the true Eun Yerin.

	Yet now, those days had long since been stopped by

	another girl who believes that the world can be owned by the otaku who remain

	in secret until they grow in power. After an eventful match between her and the

	Clotaku Club, Yerin agreed to reflect on her past and cease her ways.

	At the time, I believed that outcome was the best

	possible conclusion for Yeonji and the entire school... but the problem never

	ended, it seemed.

	"...After that day, my lady kept her promise

	and attended her classes without her wig and the colored contacts..."

	Sukyong-sunbae added, while I fell deep in thought.

	Right, it was a wig. Yerin's ladylike act looked

	very appropriate with her flowy, golden hair and her eyes like a blue lake, yet

	they were ultimately a part of the act. While she restricted her act to our

	club room now, her previous self as the Pubtaku Queen was permanently in this

	form. It should truly be a legend among the otaku.

	Anyway, the first thing she had done to keep her

	promise with us was taking off her wig and her contacts when outside of the

	club. This I knew, because the nurse had explained this the other day. So, I

	should not have been surprised by the recent discoveries, but...

	Sukyong-sunbae stopped her quiet mutters and

	regained her concise voice. "...Unfortunately, my lady's behavior changes

	when she takes her wig off."

	"...What?" What did she mean by that?

	Sukyong-sunbae continued, her expression aptly

	describable with the color of metallic silver. "...I meant it literally,

	I'm afraid. Perhaps-- instead of 'changing behavior', it would be more

	appropriate to say that she 'returns to her original behavior'."

	The... original behavior?

	--Ah.

	After repeating her words in my head, a realization

	crossed my mind.

	"...It is so." She nodded, "...The original

	purpose of her idea of 'blonde, blue-eyed, pompous nobility' was a role model

	taken by Lady Yerin back when she was disheartened by her disappointing

	prospect for her future. In other words, the weak, unconfident Lady Yerin is

	the Lady before taking on an alter ego."

	"...Right, that reminds me." I remembered

	what Sukyong-sunbae had told me about Yerin's past. I didn't think about

	interpreting it that way. Still, I wasn't fully convinced that was the entire

	reason. "But that... doesn't sound right to me. You told me before that

	she began wearing the disguise more than many years ago..."

	That is, Eun Yerin wasn't acting as her alter ego

	for a short period of time. Over the last many years, she lived her new life

	without ever returning to her original personality. Why was it that taking off

	her wig was all that took to force her old self on her?

	--But Sukyong-sunbae had a quick reply. "...Of

	course, even my lady has to hide her hobbies around her family."

	"Oh." Right, even the Pubtaku Queen had to

	hide herself when she was at her home. Come to think of it, that was one of the

	critical points used in the argument that put a stop to Yerin's embarrassing

	act.

	"...For a very long time, she lived as a closet

	otaku at her home, and as her alter ego at her school. Perhaps her two lives

	were the main cause for her different personalities."

	So, her brain tells her to be quiet when her wig is

	off, and be unbearably arrogant when it's on? ...Isn't that a serious case of

	multiple personality disorder?

	I wasn't sure what to think of that. I felt myself

	mentally fall apart like I've been a victim of Gestaltzerfall

	[1]

	.

	Sukyong-sunbae spaced out, her eyes without the

	usual brightness. "...I can only imagine what the true reason may be. It

	is, however, a fact that my lady regains her weak personality without her

	wig."

	"...Okay, I understand."

	She continued, "...And that is where our

	problem begins. After my lady returned to her class without her wig, the

	bullying began."

	"But that's..."

	I had to believe it because I already saw what had

	been happening to her, given that girl was indeed Eun Yerin. Still... how could

	anyone be bold enough to bully an Eunsung family member? Did everyone simultaneously

	forget the meaning of fear?

	"...She had always been alone in her

	class."

	Sukyong-sunbae gave me a quick summary. Her

	classmates were initially happy enough to see Yerin without her obnoxious

	attitude, but their resentment towards her began overtaking them when they had

	realized that her true personality is timid and cowardly. After a long time of

	embarrassment and suffering under Yerin's rule, her new doormat persona allowed

	her classmates to take revenge, intentionally or not.

	They did not need to lay a finger on her. She only

	needed to see that she was not welcome there.

	The old Eun Yerin would have quelled this movement

	by abusing her status in the Eunsung Group. But the new Yerin was a fragile

	little girl who would be emotionally damaged by such a juvenile act of

	bullying.

	"...To my shame, this incident was a recent

	news to me and so I could not gain much information. I have at least reached

	the conclusion that the problem is becoming worse by the day."

	Sukyong-sunbae explained that the level of

	harassment became bolder over time. Initially, the students were hesitant to try

	anything on her, but they became increasingly relaxed due to Yerin's complete

	inaction. At this rate, Sukyong-sunbae remarked, there was no telling what they

	might think to do to her next.

	"...Even for students of Eunsung, they still

	have the mentality of high school students. They appear to be acting on their

	emotion without considering their consequences. A little push could drive them

	over the edge and cause great harm to the entire school. We cannot let this

	be."

	"Y-you're right."

	Whatever their reasons, if the word got out that the

	granddaughter of Eunsung CEO was getting bullied at school, the entire Eunsung

	Group would be up in flames about it. Her class, no, the entire school might

	suddenly disappear in the next day.

	This sudden realization hit me like a brick to my

	head. Using all of my might to stop my shaking body, I asked, "B-but

	then... what's the reason for telling me this? Why me, of all people?"

	At first, I was listening simply because she was

	telling me the story. And then I realized that it was an awfully serious

	business where the entire school could be demolished at any time. In that case,

	why not ask Yerin's homeroom teacher, or maybe the principal, to come up with a

	peaceful solution? I had no clue why she had to go through the effort of

	finding me and dragging me here to tell me these things.

	Did she want me to ask around for help myself...? I

	suppose it makes more sense that a third year student like Sukyong-sunbae is

	staying away from a first years' problem... maybe? That doesn't sound right.

	"Please, I beg of you."

	And in the next moment,

	As I stood there, confused and winded,

	Sukyong-sunbae made a request in her clearest voice.

	"...Mister Injin, please help our Lady

	Yerin."

	...Me?

	* * *

	"... ...Ugh."

	I thought that I might have a disease that makes me

	sigh a lot.

	Soon after those last words, the school bell marked

	the end of my break and I had to rush back to my classroom. I wasn't able to

	get any explanations on why and how I should help Yerin.

	--Mister Injin, please help our Lady Yerin.

	Sukyong-sunbae asked me as if there wasn't anyone

	else in school who could help her, but... I personally did not believe that I

	had what it takes to take care of a sensitive issue like group bullying.

	And that meek, short-haired girl turned out to be

	the girl sitting over there. That was the tougher thing to believe at the

	moment.

	Maybe everything so far had been an elaborate joke.

	But if it were, it was completely tasteless and unfunny. And considering that

	it was Sukyong-sunbae, who was Yerin's most loyal servant, I couldn't imagine

	her joking around at her mistress's expense.

	That meant that she was telling the whole truth.

	Then, what was she expecting me to do to help her? How tiring!

	I tried my best to come up with a solution, despite

	the lack of answers. I felt my thoughts scatter up and fog around my head,

	circling around without a clear shape.

	"...Psh."

	I gave up.

	I wasn't going to worry about a problem that I don't

	fully understand. I stopped trying to guess my way around it and ended my

	thoughts about it altogether.

	But then a shrill voice pierced the air.

	"Hey you, the peasant over there!"

	"Huh?"

	I snapped back to reality in surprise. Yerin had

	paused her show and glared at me with her cold, blue eyes.

	I realized what I had done. I must have been staring

	in Yerin's direction when I spaced out, which she noticed then... oops.

	As expected, her next words were full of thorns.

	"...You're staring at me, sighing, and frowning... what is your problem?

	If you have an issue with me, then tell me about it! If you don't, then avert

	your dirty gaze immediately! You are the most unpleasant man."

	"..."

	I was completely caught out. And she had noticed me

	some time ago, too-- how was that possible, when she was facing away from me

	until a few moments ago?

	"I am quite sensitive to any onlookers. When a

	brutish wolf like you looks at me, I can feel my skin crawl and sting. Have you

	any idea how much that distracts me from my anime backlog viewing

	session?"

	Sensitive? That's a superpower at that level! I

	couldn't tell if she were gifted or cursed by it. Regardless, I was apparently

	a nuisance to her, so I quickly apologized. "Um... you see, I…

	sorry."

	I didn't want to get Yerin angry by talking back to

	her. What was I going to do, be honest and say that I'd been thinking about how

	she acted during the lunch break?

	"...What a greedy, dirty look... hmph. I will

	generously forgive you for losing your head over my perfect beauty, but I will

	surely remove both of your eyes next time. Understand?"

	"...Yes, ma'am."

	Such scary words did not fit her glamorous face.

	...What did she say she was forgiving me for, again?

	Before any retorts inside me could escape my lips,

	Yerin turned around with a 'Hmph!' and resumed her show. At least I was able to

	get by without making our day any worse.

	"...Phew."

	And there you have it-- the Eun Yerin that I knew.

	She was the type of person to threaten to pull the

	eyes out of anyone who dares to look at her for too long. She was like a poison

	dart frog-- pretty and colorful, but toxic and dangerous in reality. To think

	that she becomes that timid little girl who can barely speak, just by taking

	off her wig and her contact lenses-- I couldn't believe it at all, no matter

	how many times I reconsider it.

	I glared at her once more, full of great disbelief,

	to find any visual similarities between Eun Yerin and the timid short-haired

	girl, but--

	"Yeonji Impaaaact--!"

	"Gwaaahhrgh!"

	A blunt force suddenly struck my side.

	Before I had noticed, Yeonji had stopped reading her

	novel, snuck to the side of the couch where I sat, and leapt at me with full

	force. Her small frame meant that she usually deals less damage than she

	intends, but it still hurts like hell when she uses her entire body.

	"...Hey, you jackass... what do you think...

	you're doing?!"

	"Who are you to ask that, hmm~?" Yeonji

	climbed on top of my shoulders as I writhed in pain and tapped my head with her

	palms. "How could you spend your precious club time staring at that idiot

	blonde? You must have a lot of time to waste! Why don't you spend some of that

	time working for the club? You stupid, dumb idiot!"

	"No, ... eughkrh."

	Before I could even say 'no wait', Yeonji's

	stocking-clad legs wrapped around my neck tightly and garbled my words into

	unintelligible grunts.

	… Yeonji had been using all sorts of new techniques

	to torture me ever since she realized that pure physical force wasn't doing too

	well for her. Not only was she a natural-born sadist, she was working hard to

	improve herself as one. I was terrified.

	"S-stop... I, I can't breathe! I'll do

	anything, so stop it!"

	"Anything? You just said you'd do anything,

	right?"

	"N-no... not anything, but whatever I can do

	for the club..."

	Even with my life on the line, there was more risk

	in promising Yeonji to do 'anything' for her. Yeonji grumbled in disapproval

	and fidgeted before getting off of me.

	And she still had the gall to say, "Then play a

	game with me!"

	"...Game..." Her suggestion was just as

	wasteful as staring at Yerin... I guess? It was out of nowhere, regardless.

	"...Hey, didn't you tell me to try to do something good for the club? What

	do you mean, play a game?"

	"Hmph. Don't be so quick to look down on it!

	You'll know when you see my game."

	Yeonji dug through her backpack. Soon, she had a

	game package in her hands-- a game for PX3, titled 'Winning Twelve 2012'.

	"Winning?!"

	I was shouting before I realized it myself,

	surprised by Yeonji's unexpected game. That game was the famous Winning

	Twelve-- usually shortened as the 'Winning' series-- a widely known soccer

	game. It was such a great hit that it had undisputably become a national game.

	The game had teams from every country with hundreds of professional teams from

	them, allowing you to play as players from real life. The title was given as

	such so that the player can act as the 'spiritual twelfth player of the team',

	or something like that.

	Anyway, it struck me as strange that Yeonji demanded

	that we play a sports game. I mean, are girls usually that interested in sports

	to play a sports game? Not only that, Yeonji was an otaku, so her demand felt

	very weird.

	And so I asked. "A Winning game... do you

	really like soccer?"

	"Yep."

	How unexpected!

	"I've been watching 'Plasma Eleven' all night

	yesterday! I've been liking soccer ever since then."

	"Oh, come on!"

	Such miserable words did not fit her cute face.

	To add, 'Plasma Eleven' is an animation series about

	soccer. For reasons I couldn't tell, there was a huge female fanbase behind it.

	Still, the idea of 'soccer' in that show involved flaming kicks, teleporting

	around the field, and all kinds of superhuman maneuvers, so I wasn't sure how much

	I could trust Yeonji to like the real life soccer.

	As I stared at her in disbelief, Yeonji coughed and

	began explaining herself. "Nya-hem. What's important is that we can

	further our goals of the Clotaku Club by playing this game."

	"What did you just say...?"

	Winning Twelve helps otakus infiltrate our society

	somehow? That got me curious.

	"Fufu, it's trivial. I quickly investigated

	yesterday, and it turns out that this Winning game is strangely popular in this

	country! I even heard that it's one of those games that can impress your

	superiors in the military if you're good at it."

	"Well, I guess so."

	Winning was so popular that our internet cafes were

	more or less Winning cafes. I, too, often played Winning when my friends pulled

	me into their gaming sessions. But, how did that help us at all?

	Yeonji confidently answered. "So, Winning is a

	game title that's very familiar to all the normies in our country. So, if we

	play this game now, we'll be able to understand the normies' mindset, and then

	we'll be able to use it as a way to get closer to them!"

	"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!"

	Right as I expected, her reasoning quickly went

	nowhere. Using our game knowledge to get along with normies was… okay, sure,

	let’s say that’s completely fine. It’s better than going to an internet cafe

	with friends only to end up not playing anything well. But how does that let us

	understand the mindset of normies?

	Yeonji shoved the game package closer to my face.

	“That’s what I’m trying to find out! Quit your bickering and start playing!”

	“...Ugh.”

	Nope. As far as I knew of that game, there was no exploration

	into the minds of normies in Winning. But attempting to control Yeonji in the

	middle of her inextinguishable whim was more difficult than stopping an army of

	millions with a single blade. I reluctantly nodded at her.

	With my agreement, Yeonji became even more overjoyed

	and shouted at Yerin, “Hey, idiot blondie, get off of my television! We’re

	using the PX.”

	“...”

	Please be a little nicer when you’re asking people

	of things! I’m cringing and I’m not even involved in the conversation!

	Unsurprisingly, Yerin did not appear to be too fond

	of Yeonji’s mugger-like demand. “...What do you expect to gain by being rude

	with your requests? If you must deny me of my anime to use the television,

	should you not do so with the appropriate manners?”

	“Huh? Who cares about manners? Go talk about your

	stupid manners somewhere else!”

	“Kyaa--?!”

	With a rude comment that should not belong to a

	girl’s mouth at all, Yeonji charged forward headfirst, butting into Yerin as

	she had done to me before. I suppose that was exactly what the old idiom, “the

	fist is faster than words” meant. I had complicated feelings as I watched

	Yeonji boldly use violence as her earliest solution to any problems.

	“Yeonji Drill Breaker----!”

	“Kyaa-! Wh-what do you think you’re doing, you peasant?!

	Get away from me in this instant! If you keep touching me there…”

	“Touch where, hmm? I can’t listen to you if I can’t

	understand you! Gimme the television, I want the tele--”

	“Argh, fine! Okay! I understand, so please, get off

	of me!”

	Yerin quickly caved into Yeonji’s demands after she

	shamelessly buried her head in Yerin’s breasts and wriggled around. Yerin

	screamed and ran away from Yeonji and turned the anime off.

	Yerin was usually quite confident when dealing with

	anyone else (me, for example), but she strangely couldn’t deal with Yeonji.

	Maybe she was weak against pure, relentless assault that Yeonji constantly did

	upon others. Her act was being a high-class lady, after all.

	I sighed for Yerin in sympathy as she migrated to

	the couch to escape Yeonji’s oppression. I asked, “Hey, if it’s not too much

	trouble, why not play the PX with Yeonji? I can sit out, no problem.”

	“Hmph! I decline!” She declined without a second

	thought. “A game about soccer? Why would I desire to be a part of such a

	brutish sport, even in a virtual world? Pff… you peasants can enjoy your game

	by yourselves.”

	Says the person who got scared away by a peasant.

	Yerin had already recovered and continued her high-class act.

	I only asked her because I was sorry for stealing

	her television (20%) and because I was afraid of having to play Winning with

	Yeonji (80%). I had no choice since Yerin didn’t want to play.

	...That aside, calling soccer a “brutish sport”

	wasn’t very nice. I was, after all, a Korean high school boy. Whether it was

	soccer, or a game about soccer, I had to like it. I couldn’t help but to feel

	offended by such a blatant bashing of my favorite sport.

	I felt that I now had the responsibility of showing

	her the true art of soccer. With that thought, I grabbed a controller and began

	a game of Winning Twelve with Yeonji…

	“

	Eightfold

	tackling formation--------------!

	[2]

	”

	…

	...What a brutish sport.

	In five minutes since the beginning of a match, I

	had to agree with Yerin that the game of soccer was nothing but barbaric

	savagery that had no equals in the world of sports. Back when Yeonji and I had

	just sat down, I had a moment of peace, teaching Yeonji how to control the

	players and how Winning is played-- but I really should have known what would

	have happened next. She only asked a couple of questions-- “How do I shoot?

	What about a sliding tackle? Sprinting? Player switching?” And she dove straight

	into a match.

	I naturally chose our country-- the national team of

	South Korea.

	And Yeonji’s choice was the English Premier League

	team, Manchester United-- usually shortened to Man U. In terms of the in-game

	statistics, it was a team that was on a completely different level than the

	South Korean team. Yeonji insisted before the game, “I’m going to pick a good

	team! You pick something worse!”

	I was still confident at that point that I was going

	to win. My opponent was a complete newbie. The abilities of the player were far

	more important than the numbers put into the player stats, so I was sure that

	Yeonji wasn’t going to beat me just by picking a better team.

	However--

	I should have known how she was going to play the

	game while knowing nothing but ‘shoot’, ‘sliding tackle’, ‘sprint’, and ‘player

	switch’.

	“Diiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee---!”

	Crack!

	[Uwwwaarggghhh--!]

	With a battle cry that most definitely did not

	belong in a game of soccer, Yeonji made her character do a sliding tackle at my

	own character. He screamed and rolled on the virtual ground. I could almost

	feel his pain-- he let out such a pained, terrified scream.

	His name was Park Jaesung

	[3]

	, a player of our

	national soccer team. The other player, explaining that his sliding tackle was

	an accident to the referee, was also Park Jaesung, wearing the Manchester

	United uniform. I suppose the game allowed duplicate players to exist when two

	teams with the same player face each other...

	Yeonji was very pleased with the result. “Alright, I

	defeated him!”

	“‘Defeated’ him?! What are you, crazy?!”

	This isn’t a fighting game! Stop attacking my

	players!

	“But, that guy-- doesn’t he look exactly like one of

	my team’s players? I can’t leave that alone! I have to kill him.”

	“Don’t kill people just because they look the

	same--! This has nothing to do with doppelgangers!”

	I knew there was something going on when she kept on

	throwing tackles at my player, even when the positions weren’t appropriate!

	Yeonji made an evil grin and chuckled quietly.

	“Fufufu, it’s a really nice feeling, destroying someone with another who looks

	exactly like him! I think I can understand how evil overlords feel when they

	pit heroes against each other in a colosseum.”

	“...What a nasty thing to enjoy.”

	In her case, it wasn’t just about understanding evil

	overlords-- she was almost an evil overlord herself. If she were born during

	the Spring and Autumn period of China, she would have been the one to prove

	that humans are inherently evil.

	After a brief moment of rest, the match resumed as

	the referee blew his whistle. Park Jaesung of my team was replaced due to his

	leg injury, and Yeonji’s Park Jaesung received a red card and left the match.

	Tragically, all Park Jaesungs were eliminated from the game.

	“Hey, what’s the deal? Why is he getting kicked out?

	What a stupid referee, kicking people out for petty reasons!” Yeonji shouted at

	the virtual referee.

	...Petty reasons? Is there even a bigger reason than

	tackling hard enough to break someone’s legs? I mean, is it even possible to

	commit a greater harm in this game?

	“Nyuu- That’s strange, this never happened in Plasma

	Eleven.... Hmph, whatever! I can win perfectly fine with ten players. I never

	needed Park Jaesung in the beginning.”

	“...You. Apologize to him after this game.”

	I really had to show her what it truly meant to play

	a game of soccer. I felt bad that I was blatantly attacked at the start of the

	game.

	From the free kick that began at the halfway line, I

	committed all of my players to the offense. I did a short-range kick, and

	passed, and passed, and passed...

	“Uhah! Whoa-! Nnngh! Oorah! Kyaa---!”

	Yeonji grunted and shouted incessantly as she sent

	multiple dangerous tackles towards my players. My players expertly dodged and

	weaved between Yeonji’s players with short passes. From the noises she made, it

	probably was impossible to tell if she were playing Winning or some random

	shooter game.

	I advanced the ball towards Yeonji’s goal, dodging

	her pitifully predictable tackles, and finally reached her team’s penalty area.

	Two players on defense were in the way, but they were still controlled by

	Yeonji. I predicted the obvious tackles coming my way and swerved to the side

	for the game-winning pass, but--

	“Nngh… Niyaa… Kyaaa------!”

	With Yeonji’s battle cry(!), players of Manchester

	United simultaneously threw tackles from all directions.

	“?!”

	Yeonji had quickly spammed the ‘player switch’

	button and the ‘sliding tackle’ button, causing every single player of

	Manchester United to slide in the rough direction of my players. The covering

	fire of tackles managed to take out two innocent midfielders who were nowhere

	near the ball.

	Seeing one of her players receive a warning from the

	referee, Yeonji sighed in relief and wiped a drop of sweat off of her forehead.

	“Alright! I managed cut the opponent’s offense short!”

	“The only thing you cut short is my team’s

	health---!”

	What happened to sportsmanship?! Who attacks players

	without the ball like that? What an outrageous play!

	“But I was going to be down a goal if I didn’t do

	that!”

	“If you don’t think you can defend on your own, then

	trust the goalkeeper!”

	“Hmph. How can you tell me to trust some dumb AI to

	save the game? ...Anyway, I managed to stop the goal with just a yellow card,

	so it went well for me, right?”

	“Wow....”

	Her team was fortunate that they were only in a

	game. If it were real life, they all would have been barred from playing a

	professional match ever again by every single soccer and football association.

	I was almost angry at how she treated this game.

	Yeonji, meanwhile, casually asked, “That aside, that

	was pretty awesome. ...Yeah, that’s exactly the Eightfold Tackles tactic that I

	was looking for. How does that sound?”

	“...When you say ‘tactic’, if you mean ‘cheating’,

	sure…”

	And please, don’t ask for my agreement for stupid

	things like that! Also, your naming sense sucks as always!

	--Of course, I couldn’t actually say any of this.

	Yeonji was left free to smile and giggle.

	I continued the game with Yeonji, afraid of the sure

	future of my players that was most definitely going to involve things breaking,

	fracturing, and ripping apart…

	______________________________________________________________________

	Reference

	1.

	A psychological phenomenon where delays in recognition are observed when a kanji character is stared at for a while. [Wiki]

	←

	2.

	Parody of

	Zhuge Liang’s

	“Eightfold Maze”, or the “Stone Sentinel Maze”.

	←

	3.

	Park Jisung

	in

	real life.

	←