NOVEL NEXT Chapter 818
<818 – The Power of the Student Council (1)>
Jezel’s election was quite a relief for Oknodie’s close associates.
If Jezel weren’t a frequently delegating employer, Jiang might have ended up facing him one night, demanding resignation or death with a dagger in hand.
Oblivious to such circumstances, Jezel found herself giving a victory speech.
“It’s truly an honor to greet you all for the first time as Student Council President. Standing here is a great honor, but it also comes with heavy responsibilities. We can’t overlook the story of the homunculi, who have long been subjects of experiments.”
First, Jezel explained the plight of the homunculi to herself and the lower class students, who didn’t know their identity or role.
“The homunculi have long been used in the Gift Academy’s human experiments. No one genuinely worried about the short-lived, personality-less, immature homunculus newborns.”
Indeed, right after her election, Jezel was shocked to learn about the homunculi.
Gasp! “The exam contents we faced during midterms, finals, and pop quizzes, the homunculi were experiencing it bare-bodied?!”
In some ways, she felt sheer terror.
What if the order had been a little different?
What if the homunculi underwent the same tests, not just as subjects but were ‘reproducing’ based on our submitted answers, accumulating data?
If the outcome was that a homunculus survived because of the right answer, while those that died were deemed wrong…
“We can’t help but think of such ominous possibilities, that our wrong answers directly correlate to the deaths of some poor homunculus!”
Students were engulfed in shock.
“Oh my goodness!”
“No way!”
“W-What?! How many homunculi have I potentially killed up to now?”
“Oh no. Am I a homunculus serial killer?!”
“Then, I’m a mass murderer!”
No student could escape the guilt of contributing to the deaths of countless lives unknowingly. Even the inhumanly malicious students felt rage knowing that others were paying for their incompetence.
“Homunculi should be grateful to me.”
“Jiang, what are you talking about?”
“I’ve always been smart and had good grades, so I’m sure many homunculi survived because of me.”
“…”
Of course, there were also unique students, like Jiang, who believed that homunculi owed them their lives, contrary to the guilt!
“This is an opportunity. A chance to pressure the academy that has harassed Oknodie, facing them equally with the authority of the Student Council.”
Jezel began to garner support from students who felt guilty, except for the strong-minded Jiang, and started condemning the academy through their voices.
“The pain we fear must not be repeated for the Short-lived homunculi! They possess intellect and will endure pain longer, and above all, we all know this now.”
“Right!”
“Our Dark Trading Company club supports our Student Council President!”
“Our Thieves Club supports the Student Council President!”
“Our class 982 New Students Revival Club also supports the Student Council President!”
“The Jigoku Pirate Group agrees too.”
“The Hector Retainers agree as well.”
“The Camela Group agrees~”
“The Princess Escort Squad will also agree!”
“The Seoguyeon Coalition agrees.”
Endless proclamations of support from students!
Jezel, riding the momentum, began creating a list of sympathizers to submit to the professors.
Many declared their support, whether as a club, informal group, or as individuals.
Of course, over 380,000 long-lived homunculi also unanimously agreed.
However, Jezel’s expression wasn’t bright.
‘Why? The votes from the seniors are not gathering at all.’
The fourth years, except for Seoguyeon, were nearly extinct, and the third years, including Mandela Castera and the Four Kings of Class 980, were completely unresponsive.
‘Do they know something we don’t?’
Jezel’s ambitious plan was to gather a team to investigate the unjust treatment of the homunculi and document the details, demanding proper compensation to use it for the welfare fund for the homunculi.
After stepping into the role of Student Council President, the seniors, who had previously been tense with anticipation, finally began to move.
“Ahh~~ Hahaha~~! To surpass even me, Mandela Castera, and take the position of Student Council President? Jezel of the Dark Trading Company is quite impressive!”
Mandela Castera, the strongest among Class 980 and the leading candidate vying with Oknodie for the top spot, approached Jezel, hiding from people’s sight—thinking such a raucous laugh wouldn’t be noticed—secretly.
“Thank you. I’m very aware of my shortcomings. Especially regarding the disclosure about the homunculi. It seems you seniors know something.”
“Actually, I came to offer you some advice regarding that! Bowing down to the kindness of yours truly, Mandela Castera, is not a shameful act!”
“Haha. Then I’ll seek your wisdom. What issue do the seniors know that I do not?”
Despite her cheerful laughter, Mandela cautiously deployed barriers while keeping a tense lookout at the windows, walls, and ceiling.
Seeing someone of her caliber acting so cautiously made Jezel anxious too.
“The assumption that homunculi directly execute students’ exam results is ‘correct’!”
“Is the most undesirable reality finally upon us? That such inhumane acts have actually been occurring…”
“And this secret is something that all students inevitably learn when they become ‘fourth years’! I learned this information early thanks to my close friendship with Senior Velvet, and a few others as well!”
“Why haven’t the seniors revealed this secret or condemned it?”
“Well… It’s because there are seniors who agree that the homunculus practical system can effectively raise scores due to ‘luck’!”
Luck.
Sometimes, Oknodie would talk endlessly about luck; as Jezel, who saw the revenue of the Dark Trading Company soar thanks to probability-based random gacha, she couldn’t ignore such words.
“Could you elaborate a bit more?”
“Luck… if I say it precisely, even if the homunculus attempted an inaccessible input value due to student errors, if they overcame the same trials and crises through their efforts, that problem would be treated as a ‘partial correct answer’! Essentially, they score due to sheer luck!”
“Wait, you’re saying that seniors are supporting the existence of the homunculus system just for that luck?”
The implicit support for homunculus experiments among the fourth years.
This was terrible news, indicating that the strongest class in the academy was siding with the faculty rather than the student council.
“Moreover, the magic department is fond of being able to examine how the input answers went wrong by observing homunculi’s injuries or dissecting cadavers for further details!”
“Dissection of cadavers?!”
“Besides, there are many students who harbor no guilt and just want to torment them, believing that homunculi are essentially garbage that deserves what they’re getting! There aren’t madmen ruining their lives by bullying just because their scores dropped, but the public sentiment isn’t good!”
Once students reach the fourth year, they all learn the truth about the homunculi and rationalize that their projection is deserving of punishment.
“Those upperclassmen won’t take the disappearance of useful homunculi lightly! Jezel, there might be personal retaliation, so always be cautious!”
Mandela Castera’s concerns soon turned into reality.
“Jezel, Student Council President. May I borrow you for a moment?”
“Senior Burte Glass…?”
Burte Glass.
Having missed the timing to support the homunculus declaration and flopped out of the Student Council President race, he came back this time representing the supporters of the fourth years.
“Revive the homunculus experiment system.”
“Senior, what did you just say?”
“Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying to use the long-lived ones that have already gained long lives in experiments.”
“So you’re saying to create a new short-lived model?”
“That’s correct. Reintroduce the short-lived homunculus system, which serves as our academy’s
If they were to create a new short-lived homunculus, the long-lived ones who have just gained new lives wouldn’t have their lives and rights threatened, while the short-lived ones could enjoy their rights, and the fourth years would receive experimental short-lives.
But what about the anxiety and fear the long-lived homunculi would feel watching this unfold?
Having approached the Gift Academy empathically, thinking of Oknodie, who received near abusive elite assassin training, Jezel wouldn’t accept a future filled with fear for the short-lived homunculi just starting their new lives.
“If I were to say I can’t accept that proposal, what would you think, Senior?”
“I’m sure it would be worrying—of a future where you and many around you might get hurt.”
“Is that a threat?”
“I was merely reminding you that fourth-year students would do anything to increase their graduation success rates.”
“…I understand your concerns. I’ll take some time to think this over.”
Sending Burte Glass away, Jezel leaned her head back on her chair, letting out a sigh.
Clonk!
The ceiling hatch opened, and Jiang poked his head like an owl hunting for prey.
“Should I kill him?”
“He’s a powerhouse among the four-year kings. Please, bear with it. Just the thought of making the fourth years into enemies makes my hands shake, let alone escalating things further.”
“So, what will you do? He seems like he doesn’t intend to back down.”
“To me, it looks like he came just to notify me. It’s too much of a burden for me. I can only throw this bomb back to the one who tossed it at me.”
Jezel said.
“Call Oknodie. Right now.”
“What if he runs away?”
“Just tell him I’ll stick him in the vice-presidential seat.”
The best way to torment an unwilling worker is to throw responsibilities and obligations at them.
“Even if you give him the work, it won’t be useful if he doesn’t do it.”
“In that case, we can both share the blame for dereliction of duty and get locked up in the Great Prison of the Academy together.”
“…That’s ruthless.”
It took exactly 10 minutes for the kid, who was rarely seen, to appear on his own, terrified.