Creator’s Favoritism

Achoo!

The moment Yeo Wook got out of Sung Kyung-min’s car, he sneezed.

“I’m… going to buy a car as soon as I become an adult.”

As he sniffled, his face showed a hint of determination. I nodded silently, conveying my appreciation for his hard work.

“See you later, Sun-woo.”

Yeo Wook and I parted ways in front of the dormitory. I briefly watched his retreating figure as he trudged toward the boys’ dorm.

For some reason, I felt a pang of sympathy. Although my first impression of him wasn’t great, it seemed we had bonded after going through hardship together.

As I sighed, my eyes fell upon my hands, stained with dried blood. A shower was my top priority.

After soaking my tired body in hot water that was almost scalding, it was nearly 8 PM when I emerged. That was when the cafeteria was closing.

“Damn, I haven’t even had dinner.”

I hurriedly threw on a sweatshirt without properly drying my hair. Of course, the main building with the cafeteria was a 15-minute run from the dorm.

—Whoa, it’s 8 o’clock! Li’l mas…

As I neared the cafeteria, my wristwatch kindly announced the hour. I fumbled with the buttons to turn off the melody.

‘Tito, let’s at least eat something for humanity’s sake.’

I walked dejectedly down the dark corridor in front of the cafeteria. The quiet interior made it clear that no one was there.

“Ah, Sun-woo…!”

Surprisingly, Hyun So-ra was waiting alone for me in the empty cafeteria. She waved as I entered, shouldering the door open since I lacked the energy to lift my arms.

“I was about to call you when you didn’t show up.”

On the tray in front of her sat a heap of rice, boiled pork, and vegetable wraps that seemed untouched. I was almost moved to tears with gratitude.

“I scooped up all the leftovers. Wook said you were in practical training until late. Thought you might be hungry.”

So-ra briefly glanced back toward the darkened kitchen. She whispered in a hushed voice.

“Actually, this pudding… it’s supposed to be for tomorrow’s breakfast, but I sneaked one. I figured it’s okay if I count it as eating mine in advance…”

“I love you, So-ra.”

I muttered with sincerity. So-ra smiled awkwardly, as if to say, ‘What kind of talk is that?’

Thanks to her, I found some strength to endure this crappy situation.

While I wolfed down the food, So-ra watched me with the eyes of a kind volunteer tending to a stray dog.

“Eat quickly. The seniors are waiting.”

“Huh?”

I mumbled with a mouthful of lettuce wrap pushed into one cheek.

* * *

I practically inhaled the food. Caught up in the ordeal of being trapped in the monster’s innards with Yeo Wook, I had completely forgotten about the promise to the second-year seniors.

So-ra and I ran toward the dormitory as if we were flying. I wanted to avoid giving the seniors, especially Jeong Changgyu, any reason to pick on me.

As I opened the door to the dormitory conference room in front of the supervisor’s office, I shouted, “I’m sorry I’m la—”

“Oh, you’re here?”

The one who greeted me with a smile was none other than Jeong Changgyu. Moreover, the atmosphere in the club room was unexpectedly cordial.

With our arrival, all the first-years except Kang Chagyeong were now present in the conference room.

‘The mood is surprisingly good?’

I looked around in bewilderment. I noticed Lee Chan-yu leaning against the wall with an indifferent expression, seemingly uninterested in the situation.

“Oh, where’s Kang Chagyeong?”

As I quietly approached her to ask, Lee Chan-yu replied without even looking at me.

“Hospital.”

She sure was talkative. It seemed better to give up on getting any further explanation from Lee Chan-yu.

At that moment, someone grabbed my arm. It was Pyo Eonsu in a white hoodie. He was holding a stack of paper slips, and I could glimpse the names of first-years written on them.

“We’ve already drawn the paired seniors while waiting for you guys. It’s not a special role, but your paired seniors will help you a lot with school life. This lasts until graduation, so you should get along well while respecting each other. Now that Sun-woo is here too, I’ll explain again.”

I waited for the announcement with a somewhat nervous feeling.

It would be nice to be paired with Pyo Eonsu, who seemed to have the best personality among the second-years. 

To be honest, anyone would be fine as long as it wasn’t Jeong Changgyu.

However, Pyo Eonsu’s next words instantly crushed that small hope.

“Chagyeong and Sun-woo’s paired senior is Changgyu. Sun-woo, make sure to let Chagyeong know later.”

Of all people, why him?

As I turned my head, my eyes met Jeong Changgyu, who was sprawled on the sofa with his arms crossed. As soon as our eyes met, he raised one corner of his mouth meaningfully. I instinctively put on a smile typical of service industry workers.

“And the paired senior for the rest of the girls is…”

“It’s me~”

A cheerful voice came from the corner sofa in the conference room. Lee Nagyeol, who had a small puppy on her lap, grinned when our eyes met.

It seemed necessary to properly assess her, as she was one of the few seniors. I mentally brought up Lee Nagyeol’s status window.

Lee Nagyeol’s puppy, which had been running around recklessly, now tugged at its owner’s uniform. Its movements closely resembled those of a real dog.

It was hard to believe that the puppy in front of me was manifested through an ability. Except for a slight bluish tinge to its fur, it looked like an ordinary white dog.

I wondered if I could touch it.

Curious, I approached the puppy. As if all the trauma from earlier in the day had healed, Nemo squeezed out of the loose pocket of my gym pants.

-Woof woof!

The puppy, which had been showing off its belly to Lee Nagyeol, started barking defensively as soon as I got closer.

To be precise, it was barking at the slime overflowing from my pocket.

However, Lee Nagyeol, who naturally grabbed the puppy by the scruff of its neck and set it aside, seemed more intrigued by my slime. I sat down next to her with Nemo resting on my palm.

“That’s really unique. Did you make it?” she asked.

“No, I didn’t make it… We just kind of… became friends.”

There was no way I could honestly say, “It’s an S-rank monster that no one knows about.” Lee Nagyeol narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and poked at the slime. 

Each time her finger pressed into Nemo’s body, it made a deflating sound.

“You can’t control it at will?”

“No. It just lives as it pleases.”

At my answer, Lee Nagyeol quietly called up her status window. While she thoroughly examined my status, I placed the slime on my index and middle fingers and wiggled them.

ᗒᗊᗕ

Nemo was ecstatic about the airplane game I had developed.

“Nemo-nemo’s nemo-nemo becomes subservient to you…?”

(T/N: I also don’t know why it’s like that. It’s what I got from the raws. Nemonemonemonemo)

Lee Nagyeol murmured the description of my additional skill with a serious face. She raised her head to look at me, her eyebrows twitching in incomprehension.

“This means you can control it at will, doesn’t it?”

I stared blankly at Lee Nagyeol, unsure of what she meant. Seemingly frustrated, she raised her voice.

“Being subservient means you can control it at will! The description of my skill is similar, isn’t it? .”

I carefully read the description of Lee Nagyeol’s unique skill, .

There were certainly similarities, but the slime had never moved according to my will—not even once.

“Don’t you know how to activate the skill?”

“It just… activates on its own…”

“What?”

Lee Nagyeol looked at me with an openly disdainful gaze. But really, I had never intentionally used the skill even once.

I mean, monsters are drawn to me even when I’m just standing still, so what am I supposed to do?

“Hey, come on! Even civilians know how to activate skills!”

Lee Nagyeol raised her voice loud enough for the entire conference room to hear. The attention of the students scattered around the room instantly focused on us.

“Sun-woo doesn’t know how to activate skills?”

“No way, how can she not know that?”

This is bad. Half of the second-years wore amused expressions, while the other half looked serious as they slowly approached us.

“You don’t even know how to activate skills? What have you been doing all this time? Don’t you dare go around saying you’re my paired junior, or I’ll kill you.”

Jeong Changgyu pounced like a piranha, seizing the opportunity. Lee Nagyeol shouted, shielding me with her left arm as I sat there with an exhausted expression, unable to retort.

“Hey! Stop bullying her!”

Turning to me, Lee Nagyeol spoke with utmost seriousness.

“Sun-woo, I’ll teach you how to activate skills. First, put your hands together.”

I clumsily mimicked her movement as she brought her hands together as if in prayer. Lee Nagyeol continued her explanation with a serious face.

“Then beg the system. Please… please activate my skill. If you beg like that, the skill will activate.”

Lee Nagyeol and Jeong Changgyu burst into laughter simultaneously. Even Hyun So-ra, in the back, was biting her lip, trying to hold back her laughter.

As my ears grew progressively hotter, only Pyo Eonsu intervened to stop them.

“That’s enough, everyone. Sun-woo, it’s usually difficult to use skills when you’ve just awakened. Try imagining what you want in your mind.”

Seeing my expression of complete incomprehension, Pyo Eonsu scratched his head, seemingly perplexed.

“Umm… Your unique skill is , right? Just think to yourself, ‘Activate .’ Don’t worry; it’ll activate automatically when you need it, once you get used to it.”

This senior isn’t teasing me too, is he?

As I scrutinized Pyo Eonsu’s innocent eyes with suspicion, I quietly tried reciting the skill in my mind.

[SYSTEM: activated.]

It works.

Pyo Eonsu smiled kindly as he saw my eyes widen. Lee Nagyeol patted my shoulder encouragingly and said,

“Try that one too. The skill you awakened on the day of the entrance ceremony.”

She was referring to . I wasn’t sure how to read it, but I decided to at least give it a try.

With furrowed brows in concentration, I focused on the name of the next skill.

[SYSTEM: Skill activation failed due to unmet conditions for .]

-Boing. 

A system message appeared, accompanied by a sound effect similar to a computer error.

The students watching intently behind me let out a collective sigh.

“Oh no.”

“Does this kid really have no abilities?”

“Well, she has the ability to not listen.”

=_=

As if understanding the self-deprecating remarks, Nemo looked quite displeased. It stretched its tiny arms, about the size of my thumbs, upward.

Nemo, who had been wearing a disgruntled expression, defiantly clapped its small arms together. A red flame emerged from the tiny gap, no bigger than a finger joint.

“Whoa. What’s this?”

I was startled. I had no idea Nemo had such a parlor trick.

“Ooh,” Lee Nagyeol exclaimed and clapped her hands.

“So it can do something?”

“It looks like it should melt, but it doesn’t.”

“That’s impressive.”

At the word “impressive,” Nemo shrugged its shoulders and created a slightly larger flame.

The flame Nemo produced was less powerful than a cheap lighter from a convenience store. Even though it was just a trivial ability, we were all fascinated and responded enthusiastically.

“…But is this actually useful?”

It was Jeong Changgyu who poured cold water on the situation. From his genuinely puzzled expression, it was clear that his question wasn’t meant to pick a fight. It was a sad truth.

The conference room, which had briefly livened up, fell silent as a mouse at his words.