(…So that’s how it is?)

(Pff, pfft… To think a god would be threatened by a mortal.)

Perhaps they were displeased with her recent overconfidence.

The girl could hear their voices mocking her.

They probably intend to tease her thoroughly at this opportunity. It’s a shallow provocation to get under her skin.

However, she won’t fall for such provocations.

It might have been different if it were someone else…

But if it’s Yu Siwoo saying it…

If it’s the Protagonist of this world saying it, she couldn’t be happier.

“How cool…”

(…This one is admiring someone who just threatened her to be careful. Has she really gone mad?)

“Why? I was planning to let him win eventually anyway.”

The others probably can’t imagine letting someone win because of their pride.

They might go crazy at such threatening remarks and try to manifest themselves somehow.

But she threw away her pride a long time ago.

(You’re really something else.)

(Well, isn’t that why she set this up? It’s entertaining, isn’t it?)

“Right?! Right?!”

Excited by the sudden praise, she eagerly sought agreement.

It’s fun. It’s unique.

Whenever she hears such things, it feels like she’s the one being praised.

“To think the Protagonist would care so much about the Reader!”

It seems their relationship was better than she expected.

She never thought Siwoo would suggest sleeping in the same room.

It’s disappointing that they’re not in the same bed, but time will surely take care of that.

“Maybe I really am a genius…?!”

(Here we go again.)

(This is why you shouldn’t praise her like that.)

The girl lightly ignored the noisy chatter of those guys.

They’re just jealous.

‘They’re envious and jealous that I’m the first.’

There was no need to listen carefully to what those guys were saying.

‘After all, I’m a genius…!’

“I was right not to speak to the Reader!”

(Didn’t you say you didn’t speak because you feared getting scolded?)

(That’s what I thought too. How long has it been since you were ridiculed as an immortal afraid of being scolded by a mortal…?)

They seem especially envious and jealous today.

But she can speak through results.

She proudly showed them the scene she was watching.

“Can you still say I was wrong after seeing this!”

(…)

She felt triumphant at the voices of those guys who fell silent like dumb spectators watching the Reader and Protagonist sleeping in the same room.

Who’s responsible for the Reader’s progress in getting this far?

‘That’s right, it’s thanks to me.’

She became anxious because the girl didn’t speak to her.

That’s why she couldn’t take her eyes off the Protagonist, and her obsession deepened.

And who was it that found this most entertaining?

It was them.

“If we had left them alone, wouldn’t it have taken ten years for those two to make progress?!”

(I’m not sure about that, but it certainly would have been slower than now.)

(Hmm, that’s true…)

Some of them acknowledged her passionate speech.

Well, that’s to be expected.

‘When will those two start dating?’

‘At this rate, won’t they die without ever dating?’

Their progress was so slow that such opinions were exchanged among those guys.

One even suggested forcibly changing the Reader’s settings, inserting one where she goes into heat at the Protagonist’s scent.

Tsk tsk. That’s no way to enjoy it.

‘They really don’t know how to do it like me.’

They think there’s no problem doing such things because they manipulate the world as they please every day.

“Naturally. Not by force but of their own accord. If you just set the stage, the story flows on its own.”

Those guys, full of envy and jealousy towards a genius, couldn’t understand this.

Can’t we just force them together?

‘That was the prevailing opinion. Until I showed them!’

It’s perhaps natural that these guys haven’t been interested in romance until now.

What fun is there in forced romance?

“I really am a genius!”

(Ah, I want to kill her. Why did it have to be that bitch…)

She decided to ignore the guys who started their envy and jealousy again.

There’s only one thing she was looking forward to now.

What will become of the Reader and Siwoo in the future?

That was the only thing she was curious about.

***

Siwoo and I were lying in the classroom, leisurely resting.

The students who saw them looked envious, but well.

It’s not really worth paying attention to.

It’s not like their usual behavior was bad enough to be attacked by others.

Unlike before, when public safety was so unstable that the academy set villain subjugation as a test for students, things have improved considerably.

How convenient it must be now that academy students are helping with public safety maintenance, which was originally done only by superhumans belonging to the Association.

According to the Investigator, the Association is considering officially introducing an internship system.

It seems they found the students’ level to be quite good.

That’s not all.

Arachne has also started activities.

“Somehow, those guys have been going out regularly these days.”

“Now there are too few villains left…”

The resumption of activities by Arachne.

The academy students are superhuman forces, even if they lack experience.

The Association has always worked hard to maintain public safety.

With these three organizations burning with determination to eradicate villains, this result might be natural.

All the students have long since given up on villain subjugation and turned their attention to community service.

The academy is of course aware of this fact…

But it doesn’t seem like they have any intention of changing it.

While villain subjugation is important, the academy’s purpose was to restore some of its fallen authority.

“I received snacks on my way here today.”

“I got chocolate. It feels like I’ve been receiving things more often lately… Do you know why this is happening?”

“It’s because the perception of academy students has improved a lot these days.”

“What?”

Until now, academy students didn’t receive much attention from citizens.

It’s the heroes who actually work, and the students who are still learning are in a period of growth.

There was less interest in students who weren’t exposed to them.

But in the past month or so, interest in students has greatly increased.

There’s only one reason. It’s because of the students’ active participation.

“Running around catching villains, rebuilding broken shops, natural disaster recovery support to technology demonstrations at village performances. Exposure to positive aspects suddenly increased, right?”

“…Ah.”

They caught villains to collect points.

This already improved citizens’ perception, but it didn’t end there.

Fixing broken shops around the academy also accumulates points.

For the students, it was just an action to get good grades, but it led to positive responses from citizens.

“It was considered a one-time thing, but I heard the response was too good. They say they’ll do it periodically from now on.”

Does that mean there’s no benefit for the students?

That’s not the case either.

It was an action taken to gain their own points. In other words, they helped for selfish reasons, but in the end, they still helped.

Naturally, the students received thanks from the people they helped, and it seems they felt a sense of achievement.

Recently, the amount of voluntary practice by students has greatly increased.

It was impressive to see the investigator smiling with satisfaction.

Maybe he seemed a bit angry, too.

Wondering why they hadn’t done such a good thing sooner.

“It seems a positive virtuous cycle has been created.”

Siwoo also smiled happily at that fact.

The fact that he, with his protagonist-like personality, can spend time so leisurely in the classroom, well.

It’s because the students are working hard.

Because no big incidents are happening.

Students help citizens to receive points.

Citizens thank the students, give them this and that, and praise them.

The students feel good because they have never heard gratitude and praise like this, so they work harder.

The Association judges that the possibility of becoming villains will also decrease because they’ve had such good experiences.

The humiliation they would face if they became villains. And the cheers and rewards heroes receive.

They’ve experienced it all.

“Oh, I see…”

“… What’s with that unenthusiastic response?”

I was slightly puzzled by Amelia and Dorothy’s reactions.

“No, it’s just… Don’t you two seem to be sticking together a lot lately?”

“That’s right. Just now, Arte started answering, and then Siwoo finished it…”

“Is there something going on?”

I couldn’t properly answer Dorothy’s innocent question.

Because there really was something.

“…Uh, well. It’s nothing! Haha, right?”

“Y-Yes. That’s right. It’s nothing.”

Siwoo and I awkwardly laughed and tried to change the subject.

After all, how could we say we’re living in the same house?

There was a reason, but we couldn’t say it.

If we did, it might seem even stranger.

“…Well, let’s leave it at that.”

“Leave it at what?”

“Never mind, Dorothy. Let’s just leave them be. If they’re happy, well.”

“…”

“…”

At Amelia’s amused expression, Siwoo and I realized.

We don’t know how she found out, but she already knew.

That Siwoo and I are living together.

She probably just asked now to confirm.

“…Be careful with contraception, okay?”

“We haven’t done anything!”

Are you in your right mind, Amelia?!

Author’s Notes

As the writer continues to win, she becomes very proud and dismisses the others as jealous and envious people.

I need to slap her on the cheek…