I Become a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 22

"Damn it!"

The attention of those around began to focus on us because of the freshman causing a ruckus in the sparring ground.

I had planned to use this opportunity to elevate our club's standing since a freshman who didn't know their place had issued a 'challenge', but...

'Dangerous.'

Yes, it was truly a dangerous situation.

I never imagined that the kid would fight so well against our club members.

Isn't he just a freshman?! A new freshman who just joined? Yet, where did such an unbelievable guy come from?

[If you don't want to be humiliated, come in right now, you bastard.]

His voice echoed from the speakers connected to the sparring ground.

Anyone who heard it would know it was a direct attack on our 'Fund Investment Club'.

'He's openly provoking us!'

There's no doubt that the guy is challenging us to a mud fight right now.

How, how did it come to this?

The plan to take down the 'International Trade Club' was perfect.

We bribed those recruited from the International Trade Club to make them attack us first, so we could secure our image and justification, and then counterattack using our prepped members! After that, we would subordinate the 'International Trade Club' under us and use our funds to monopolize the academy's distribution!

If everything went according to plan, the future of our club would be smooth sailing.

But.

That bastard, that freshman was the problem.

What? He's the owner of the 'International Trade Club'? And he even gathered a crowd of spectators?

This is exactly like us falling into our own trap!

Moreover.

"Wow, even though we're a non-combat club, to lose to a first-year student?"

"The Fund Investment Club is done for this year in terms of recruiting freshmen."

"There's a lot of entertaining sights today, isn't there?"

Today was supposed to be the day we persuade other clubs.

'Damn it, why are you looking at me with those eyes! Don't look at me like that!'

The meaning of those gazes was all too clear.

'Huh? Aren't they just nothing special? If it's this level, we could give it a try, right?' The eyes were filled with greed and mockery.

At this rate, we'll be the ones who end up losing limbs before the 'International Trade Club' even matters.

For now, turning the atmosphere around is the priority.

Casually pretending to brush my hair back, I wiped away my sweat and forced a smile.

For now, I tried to keep a nonchalant face──

"──Is the senior the president of the 'Fund Investment Club'?"

"Hmm?"

Turning around at the voice calling me, I saw a guy with a stern expression wearing glasses.

Judging by the color of his name tag... he's a first-year.

"What does a first-year want? Sorry, but we're not recruiting freshmen right now."

"...No, it's not that. Our president inside told me to give this to you."

"What?"

The guy with glasses said that and handed me an envelope.

"And he said if you don't come into the sparring ground right away, he'll show this to everyone here."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I've relayed everything the president told me to. Then, I'll be going."

"What? Wait!"

After saying what he had to say, the guy turned around and walked away.

Feeling puzzled about his identity, I opened the envelope and a piece of paper revealed itself.

"Huh?"

As soon as I checked the contents, I immediately closed the envelope.

Wait, why is this here?

"President? Why, why are you suddenly like this?"

"..."

"What the hell did that guy give you?"

Even though the other club members were chattering, I couldn't hear a thing.

How could I explain that what was inside the envelope was evidence that we had been embezzling investors' money bit by bit? Why, why is this here...

At that moment, everything clicked into place in my head.

Why had so many students gathered at this sparring ground?

Why did the guy who just handed me the ledger call the freshman inside the president?

Why was that guy looking at us so leisurely right now?

"He's messing with us...! That damn rookie!"

The guy had planned this from the start.

To create a situation where our corruption could be exposed in front of everyone.

A situation where we had no choice but to attack him!

But it's not over yet. His move was just a check, not a checkmate.

First, we need to counter this check.

"...Instructor. Can the entire 'Fund Investment Club' go in now?"

"Now? Well... since the 'challenge' was directed at your club, there's no issue according to the school rules."

We have to shut him up, no matter the means or methods.

* * *

...That's what they must be thinking.

Those who don't understand chess won't realize they're finished until the checkmate is declared, and they looked exactly like that.

Just by looking at their murderous expressions.

Are those the faces of aspiring heroes or villains?

But it wasn't something I could comment on. After all, such behavior was a result of the academy system festering to its limits.

That's why such a scenario came about.

As they entered, a red aura began to envelop their bodies. [Bloodline: Calione] had started to react, recognizing all the intruders in the sparring room as enemies.

A different level of excitement from before. To not get intoxicated by this ecstasy, I steadied my breath and glared at the guys who were charging at me.

Spear, axe, gauntlet, sword.

They were charging at me with various unique armaments, prepared to die.

But.

"You're too late."

If you were going to attack, you should have done it before my skills reached their peak.

An axe swinging down towards my shoulder.

Judging that such an attack wouldn't cause significant damage, I took the hit and charged at the guy.

A one-point breakthrough to break through the encirclement.

Despite swinging his axe, the guy was shocked by my charge, but my fist was already about to intimately connect with his face.

Bang───!

With a violent sound, the guy's body flew back as if hit by a bomb. At the same time, I spun around for a backspin blow.

The guy standing behind raised his guard in surprise, but with a solid 'thud!', my fist broke through his guard and connected with his jaw.

At the same time, he collapsed to the ground as if he had been hit with a sleeping pill.

"Damn bastards! Don't try to block, dodge!"

"How the hell are we supposed to dodge that kind of attack! Damn it, he's taking hits while hitting us!"

Just as the guy shouting in frustration said, there was no exchange rate to begin with.

While their attacks only tickled or mildly hurt, my attacks were close to fatal with each hit.

"Don't fight, you bastards! It's a 'challenge'! If we lose, we have to sign a consent form to those clueless bastards!"

The president, who seemed reluctant to give away something akin to a guarantee, was shouting at the mercenaries with anger.

"Everyone back! We're going with ranged attacks from the back!"

"Protect the magicians and the archers!"

At the mercenary leader's order, the guys who had retreated began to reorganize their formation.

Then, four members emerged as the front line opened up.

Judging by what they were holding, there were two archers and one magician.

Are they planning to weaken my health with ranged attacks first and then go for another round?

I look at the guys in front of me, thinking it's a very textbook method.

"Fire!"

As soon as the command was given, arrows and fireballs started flying towards me from those guys.

The mercenary leader's order was not wrong. Rather, it was commendable that he came up with such a textbook method in this situation.

However, such textbook methods only work within the bounds of common sense.

Ignoring the arrows that reached me first, trusting in my body's durability, I stretched out my right hand to grab and burst the fireballs.

As a result, the magic exploded and disappeared, causing a tremendous wind.

Due to the aftermath, the other arrows lost their way and flew off in strange directions.

"You... burst magic with your bare hands without any injury?"

The mercenary leader stared at me in disbelief, as if he had seen something unimaginable.

It was possible because of the [Midas's Gloves] on my hands, but there was no way he would know that.

"Since I've given you one turn, it's my turn now."

It was when I stepped forward, tilting my body's axis.

"Front line! Block himmmmm!!"

The guys in front of me huddled together and extended their weapons to block me, moving like a phalanx against cavalry.

But their opponent was not just any cavalry.

I leaped up with all my might in front of them.

"Huh?"

It was too late for them to stand there dumbfounded.

I fell towards the ground, aiming a Rolling Thunder Kick at the president, who was being protected by the mercenaries and other club members.

The kick, which increased its force using gravity and centrifugal force, struck the president's crown.

Boom!

"Ugh!"

The sound from the president's head was so loud that it made me wonder if it was really coming from his head, as he collapsed to the ground.

After confirming that he had completely lost consciousness, I looked around and opened my mouth.

"The client you were supposed to protect has fallen. What are you going to do?"

Then, the mercenary leader appeared, pushing through the crowd.

"......You stand there dumbfounded even when the enemy charges? What an idiot."

The guy clicked his tongue as he looked at the president lying on the ground and then turned away.

"Our 'Fortune Soldier Club' is done here. With the client in that state, there's nothing more we can do."

The guy slowly walked towards the entrance of the sparring ground. Seeing this, the other mercenaries also tried to follow, but───

"What nonsense are you talking about, senior?"

The guys stopped when they heard my voice.

"What?"

The mercenary leader turned his head to look at me. I smirked at him and said,

"I was just asking whether you'd take the hit or resist while taking it."

I intended to settle everything.

"......This damn bastard."

The guy grimaced at my words.

I beckoned to the guy who was gripping the handle of his unique armament even tighter.

"It's almost lunchtime, so let's finish this quickly."

I was starting to get hungry.

* * *

"How can someone take down that many people without even breaking a sweat?"

Jinwoo, who was about to hand me a towel as I stepped out of the sparring ground, looked dumbfounded.

"That's how administrative clubs usually are, right? You could have done it too."

"Huh? I don't think so. And aren't those guys lying there mercenaries?"

Jinwoo shivered as he looked at the guys lying in the sparring room.

"Judging by their skills, they must have been mercenaries who moved cheaply. They probably thought they didn't need to spend much money to deal with me."

"......So they completely misjudged their opponent?"

"Yeah, exactly."

I looked past Jinwoo at the male instructor standing at the counter of the sparring ground.

"I think I won the challenge. Can I get the Gold Club consent form?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. They left it with me before entering the sparring ground. Here, take it."

"Thank you."

By receiving the Gold Club consent form from the male instructor, I fulfilled all the conditions Ji Soohyun had set.

"Instructor, with this, I've met all the conditions you mentioned. Can I ask for the next step?"

"Ha, you crazy bastard. I didn't think you'd actually pull it off."

Ji Soohyun, who took the consent forms I handed over, fluttered them and smiled.

"Alright, since you kept your promise, I should keep mine too. I'll go and negotiate with the student council. You just go and have lunch."

Ji Soohyun left the sparring room, fanning herself with the precious consent forms.

As I watched her leave, I felt a sense of relief that it was finally over──

──Vrrrr ──Vrrrr.

The phone in my pocket started vibrating intensely.

"......What's this?"

[Hidden Quest Complete!]

[Overnight Club]

[You have successfully established a club in just one day, a first in the academy's history. This achievement will be recorded in the academy's history forever.]

[Reward: Smart Lens]

"As expected, there's a hidden quest for such an event. But, Smart Lens?"

At the same time, I felt a cold pain as if I had put cleaning solution in my eyes.

I closed my eyes tightly and endured the pain for about 10 seconds.

When the stinging in my corneas seemed to subside, I opened my eyes to see a new landscape before me.

[(NEW) Main Story Open!]

[You have stirred up a new wind in the academy! By establishing a new club, you have written your own new history! Lead your club to success and upgrade to a Silver Club!]

[Achievement Condition: Complete 5 club requests!]

[Number of Requests Completed: 0 / 5]

[※The reward may vary depending on the result.]

"Boss? Are you okay?"

"......It's nothing."

Like entering a VR game, notification windows that were only visible on my smartphone were now floating translucently in the air.

Various interface windows and numbers were visible in the corner of my vision.

The interfaces were perfectly replicated as if a smartphone was floating in the air.

It used to be quite annoying to be treated strangely whenever I looked at my phone in front of others, but if it's displayed like this, I won't have to worry about that anymore.

Above all, the most noticeable thing was that a new [Main Story] had opened.

I was worried that no main story had opened since the uninhabited island, but fortunately, I seemed to be on the right path.

"But how do I turn this off?"

As I rolled my eyes around and thought about turning off the smartphone screen, the windows in front of me disappeared.

Thankfully, it seemed I could turn it on and off at will. I wouldn't have to worry about it obstructing my view during combat.

"It's really over now! We can make a club, right?"

Seah and Youngje, who had been watching the battle from the spectator seats, approached me.

"Yeah, the instructor said he would take care of the rest, so all we have to do now is wait."

Judging from the main quest window I just saw, it was almost certain that the club would be established.

The only thing left was for Lee Haru to crush the 'Fund Investment Club' in the club competition.

With this sparring, not only the reputation but also the value of the 'Fund Investment Club' would plummet, so it wouldn't be difficult for Lee Haru.

────♬

The academy bell signaling the end of the club tour time and the start of lunchtime.

The sound seemed to announce the end of the consent form battle, which felt both long and short.