“…”

Siwoo gazed at Arte, who was talking with Amelia.

Dorothy put her head down on the table after taking hangover medication.

Before he knew it, the four of them were together, hungover, eating a meal.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Ah, I’m okay. I’m not really hungry.”

“Really?”

Unlike Dorothy, who looked half-dead, Amelia seemed to have already regained some of her energy.

When he refused the meal, she took the soup that was supposed to be his and began eating it deliciously.

‘… She’s eating well. Is it because it was supposed to be mine?’

Amelia was eating so deliciously that he briefly considered taking it back out of spite, but he quickly shook his head.

Yesterday’s worries had completely robbed him of his appetite.

Siwoo looked at Arte.

‘What could she be thinking about right now?’

Humans, dolls, and free will.

Yesterday’s events had convinced him that this was the dilemma Arte was grappling with.

She was clearly in a precarious situation.

She was categorizing others into two groups: humans and dolls.

He couldn’t possibly think that was normal.

Dolls and humans. He had stayed up all night pondering what that meant before accidentally falling asleep…

Thanks to that, Siwoo was able to realize it.

Arte’s thinking was really twisted.

“Ugh, my head. Let’s take it easy today. We partied too hard yesterday…”

“I agree…”

Arte could not see others as human, and because of that, she could be more cruel than anyone.

Realizing this fact, Siwoo agonized over it for a long time.

How could he get Arte to see others as humans, not dolls?

At first, that was what he contemplated, but he quickly gave up. A huge flaw had been discovered.

Arte felt no guilt because she couldn’t see people as human.

Then, if she started perceiving people as human?

If she realized that the things she had done thinking they were dolls were actually done to humans?

…Who knows? At the very least, nothing good would come of it. That’s what Siwoo thought.

Then how could he get her to recognize people as human without hurting Arte?

Siwoo came to a conclusion. It was impossible for Arte not to get hurt.

“Arte…”

No matter what happened, she was bound to get hurt.

Siwoo could tell.

Arte is–no, Arachne is cruel. Enough that those who held grudges against villains would cheer.

So Arte, as a member of Arachne, must have also committed countless cruel acts.

Even so, he had watched Arte by her side, seeing things others didn’t know.

Her thoughts were inscrutable, and she sometimes did things he couldn’t understand…

Siwoo believed that, at her core, Arte was kind.

It was just, it was just…

Her heart was sick.

Others couldn’t see it, but Siwoo could.

A virulent poison rotting her from the inside out.

The only way was to remove the infected part. Still, if that was done, the patient had a very high likelihood of being unable to endure it and dying.

There was only one way to cure such an illness.

The infected part had to be removed and replaced with something to take over its function.

Siwoo vowed.

Even if Arte gets hurt someday, he will become her strength.

“Yoo Siwoo! Are you just going to keep standing there?! We came to the beach, so let’s have some fun!”

“…Ah. I’ll be right there.”

“Hurry up!”

For now, maybe he should start by making summer memories for Arte.

***

“…Sigh.”

[What’s wrong, Reader-nim?]

“No, it’s just… It’s been a while since I’ve seen a school uniform…”

[Hmm, that’s true. Could it be that you don’t want to start the new semester?]

“Yes…”

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

I can’t believe summer vacation is over… Time really flies.

The break was extended by a week, but it doesn’t feel like it.

They say time flies when you’re having fun.

[I’m happy about it! Both you and the protagonist were just staying home! It was boring!]

“We weren’t just staying home… We went to the sea almost every day.”

[That doesn’t count as going out!]

“…”

I tried to argue with the Author but couldn’t get anywhere.

…Dammit.

Well, I guess it would be boring to keep watching the protagonist.

“Fine, fine. We can leave soon.”

[Yay! A fun school life!]

“…”

It’s not that academy life isn’t enjoyable…

But regardless of that, on the first day back, feeling your whole body go limp like a water-soaked sponge is unavoidable.

It annoyed me a bit that the Author spoke so lightly about it when she doesn’t even attend herself.

[You can look forward to it! The academy has been renovated!]

“Ah, right. There was talk about that.”

I remember that being mentioned.

The academy was definitely… what was it? I forgot the name of the place.

…Anyways, it was half-destroyed by the attack of those animal friends.

While cleaning that up, they discovered a secret room that made it dangerous, so they said they would rebuild.

I was curious how they rebuilt it, and the Author said it was something to look forward to.

Arriving at the academy gates, I understood why.

“… Didn’t it get even bigger than before?”

[Yep!]

“There’s a bunch of machines…?”

[A cutting-edge system that intercepts those whose identities can’t be verified is the setting!]

It felt like it had become more of a fortress than a school.

“…Are you sure this is okay?”

[Hey, the academy was half-destroyed, so this level of precaution is a must!]

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Did they rebuild it like this during the short summer break?

…How?

When I expressed that doubt, the Author smiled and said.

[The materials were, well, solved with superpowers. And heavy equipment just needs superhumans, so it’s much faster than you’d think. Hehe.]

“…”

I had no idea how that was supposed to make sense.

But there’s no point in mentioning it now.

She solved everything with the use of superpowers. That should be enough.

***

“…This may be sudden, but we’re beginning midterms starting today.”

“What?!”

Immediately, Teacher Claire dropped a bombshell on the class after reuniting.

Midterms for the students feeling down about vacation ending.

I couldn’t hide my shock either.

“Author-nim…?”

[It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! I don’t know anything about this!]

Right, even still, there’s no way she would do that.

Any other Author would curse themselves out for that.

But that’s what actually happened. Even though the Author didn’t touch it.

Just what is going on?

“I know it’s startling.”

“S-Startling doesn’t even begin to describe it! Midterms when not even a day has passed since break ended?!”

“Do you remember what happened on the last day before vacation?”

“…”

The students’ mouths closed.

Well, there’s no way anyone forgot. It was a huge incident.

They say no students were seriously injured, but many teachers got hurt protecting them.

How would the students who directly witnessed that feel?

“The academy was attacked, and our prestige hit rock bottom. There was even talk of taking a whole semester off.”

“But! We defeated the villain…!”

“We repelled them. But that’s not what’s important. People got hurt, the building was damaged, and villains infiltrated. Do you know what that means?”

“W-Well…”

“Idiots who think they can do it too will multiply, that’s what.”

Hmm.

The academy had never experienced an attack like this before, so when an unprecedented incident occurred.

There’s a difference between having no precedent and it happening once before. I could kind of understand what she meant.

…But what does that have to do with midterms?

“So, how is that related to midterms…”

“It’s related. The content of the midterms has changed because of that.”

Intercepting the questioning student, Teacher Claire opened a black rectangular box.

“The midterm period is from today until one month before finals begin.”

“What?!”

“The content is the procurement of points.”

A student roster floating in a blue light emerged from the box.

Next to the students’ faces, the letters “0p” were bobbing up and down.

“The procurement method for points is simple. Subdue villains or help citizens. The point amounts will be determined by three or more teachers reviewing the incident.”

“B-But we’re students! We don’t have time for that…”

“Until finals, it’s self-study.”

The students were taken aback by Claire’s words.

It’s surely startling. However, the teacher didn’t wait for the students to regain their composure and continued with the announcements.

“It’s a good time for villains to run rampant. You all should be well-rested, and the teachers judged that you need some real-world experience.”

“But, it’s dangerous…!”

“That’s why there are also points for social contributions besides subduing villains.”

As if refusing to hear any objections, Claire packed up the hologram box and said.

What happened over the break to change the usually stoic but kind teacher like this?

Leaving the students’ doubts behind, the teacher brought someone in.

It was someone I was familiar with. At least the Author and I were.

[Hmm, a lollipop is a bit iffy. A cigarette would be cooler after all.]

“Lastly, I’ll introduce the new teacher who is replacing someone who can no longer serve as an instructor.”

“Nice to meet you, everyone.”

Perhaps he gave up his usual cigarette because he was in front of students.

With a lollipop in his mouth, he smiled brightly.

“I’m the former investigator, Lee Ha-Yul. I look forward to working with you.”