The World After the Bad Ending

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Chapter 78: My Girlfriend is Incredible

Since that day, Seron had returned to her usual self.

"Sweet potato snacks and pudding, give them to me."

"Finish yours first before saying that."

At lunchtime, her appetite returned to normal, even trying to snatch my pudding as before.

Seron, who was sometimes a little lacking and often acted foolishly—this was the Seron I knew.

"Your pendant is missing."

At that moment, she glanced at my clothes and made the remark.

She was right; I no longer carried the pendant while disguised as Hannon.

I wanted to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings from her.

"I lost it."

"Hmm."

Seron didn’t press further and continued eating her pudding.

But I wasn’t oblivious to the faint wistfulness that sometimes flickered in her eyes.

I simply thought that maybe it was because Seron had grown slightly more mature than before.

Is it unrequited love?

Unintentionally, I had hinted at a rejection—though not explicitly.

I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to refuse her feelings as the current Vikamon when I wasn’t the Vikamon she remembered.

The real Vikamon...

Where he was, I had no idea.

Had he vanished completely?

Or perhaps he had returned to my original body?

Since I had no way of knowing, I could only live as Vikamon.

Because of that, I couldn’t give Seron any answers.

As Seron’s situation began to settle, the boycott group had grown significantly in size compared to before.

At this point, it seemed like it was time.

"Vikamon, someone wants to sponsor our boycott activities."

I decided it was time to take the bait.

Turning to Rojamin, the boycott leader, I asked,

"Who’s the sponsor?"

"It’s a secret from everyone else,"

He said, clearly having been sworn to confidentiality.

"It’s the Third Princess, Iris Hysirion."

Rojamin mentioned her name cautiously, sneaking a glance at me.

I explained to him why I was angry.

Rojamin remembered my resolve to overturn the student council after witnessing Nikita’s death.

It seemed he was checking how I felt about this.

"Vikamon, I feel bad for you. Our boycott wouldn’t have grown this much without you."

But the sponsorship offered by Iris must have been an amount that Rojamin couldn’t easily overlook.

He desperately wanted to boycott the student council.

Though he spoke of noble causes, Rojamin also had personal reasons.

Revenge.

Rojamin had been a noble.

However, one of the Four Great Dukes, Drapen, had destroyed his family for unknown reasons.

In the end, he lost both his family and his home.

Because of this, Rojamin harbored deep resentment toward Drapen.

That resentment was now directed at the student council president, Sylvester Drapen.

Just as his family had been ruined, he wanted to bring down the president with his own hands.

It was a dark desire, but Rojamin hid it and looked at me.

"So, I decided to decline."

What?

What was this nonsense?

"...Decline? Why?"

"I already told you. The reason our boycott has grown so much is thanks to you."

Rojamin turned to me with a face full of resolute determination.

"Vikamon, to be honest, I initially started the boycott out of revenge against the Drapen family."

He openly admitted what I had guessed earlier.

"And you’re also driven by revenge for Nikita, right? Watching you made me realize something."

Rojamin clenched his fists tightly.

"We need to succeed in this boycott with our own strength."

A boycott that succeeded on the strength of its members alone would have true value.

That’s what Rojamin believed.

"If I were alone, I would gladly take the Third Princess's help. But with all of us together, I don’t need to. And now, I’m no longer driven by revenge alone."

He looked up at the night sky, his eyes shining like a boy dreaming of a brighter future.

"The current student council is wrong. I’m going to fix it."

Rojamin turned back to me.

His eyes were brighter than ever.

"Vikamon, if it’s with you, I know we can do it."

I felt dizzy.

While preparing for the boycott for the sake of the scenario, I had been so thorough that the boycott leader, Rojamin, had awakened to his own sense of purpose.

Looking at him, I couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.

Why was he having a breakthrough here?

"Rojamin."

There was no choice.

"I understand how you feel."

I decided to persuade Rojamin otherwise.

"But if you’re rejecting the Third Princess’s offer because of me, there’s no need for that."

"But Vikamon, the Third Princess—"

"Yes, she’s tied to Nikita’s death. But I also know the full story. It wasn’t the Third Princess herself but her faction."

The determination to avenge Nikita was clear in my eyes.

"The student council is just the first step. Like you said, I will ensure the success of this boycott to avenge Nikita. Even if I have to sell my soul to the devil, I’ll do it."

To that end, I would gladly join hands with the Third Princess.

Seeing my unwavering resolve, Rojamin clenched his fists and held back tears.

"...Vikamon, you bastard!"

Rojamin now looked like the protagonist of a youth drama.

"Fine. If that’s what you’re saying, I’ll go along with it."

I sighed in relief.

Thankfully, Rojamin was simple-minded.

"Good timing. I’m supposed to meet the Third Princess’s aide today,"

Rojamin said, inviting me to join.

Though I originally planned to send him alone, given his thoughts today, I felt uneasy.

"All right, let’s go together."

I decided to accompany him.

I needed to ensure he didn’t make a mess of things.

* * *

Following Rojamin, we arrived at a park behind an abandoned building.

The Zerion Academy had many beautifully landscaped areas, and this park was one of them.

However, the park we came to was dimly lit, creating an eerie atmosphere at night.

It was a place commonly referred to as a “haunted spot.”

“Ugh, it’s a bit chilly,”

Rojamin said, shivering from the spooky ambiance.

While waiting with Rojamin, I began to sense movement in the distance.

Step—

The sound of shoes brushing against grass reached our ears.

Soon, a girl with peach-colored hair appeared.

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Hania Rapidedia.

She had come here in Iris’s stead.

So, it’s Hania who’s stepped up, after all.

Hania had likely volunteered herself to avoid Iris being blamed if things went awry.

She glanced at Rojamin before her gaze landed on me.

Then she slowly tilted her head.

“And you are…?”

“Oh, this is Vikamon Niflheim,”

Rojamin introduced me on my behalf.

Hania already knew my name, but it made sense for her to be confused about why I was here.

After all, I had been exiled for crossing Iris’s party.

Just then, a breeze blew toward Hania.

She wrinkled her nose, then her eyes slowly widened.

Her gaze sharpened as she stared silently at me, her expression cold and pointed.

“Rojamin,”

She said, her voice carrying a strange hostility that the night wind seemed to carry with it.

Rojamin flinched instinctively at the ominous vibe.

“Could you leave us alone for a moment?”

Rojamin looked at me.

He must’ve thought of me as a real friend.

When I signaled with my eyes that I’d be fine, he quietly stepped away.

“Oh, uh… sure, you two have your conversation,”

Rojamin said hesitantly, sensing something off but choosing to trust me.

He left the park, disappearing into the distance.

Before I realized it, only Hania and I were left in the park.

I had a vague idea why she’d orchestrated this.

Vikamon had been exiled by Iris.

And recently, there had been the Nikita incident as well.

Someone as sharp as Hania would quickly deduce why Vikamon was here.

Naturally, she must’ve concluded that I was an enemy of Iris.

“So, Hannon, what are you doing here?”

What?

I blinked in confusion, momentarily thrown off by the unexpected name.

“…Hannon? What are you talking about?”

I feigned ignorance, but Hania sighed and wrinkled her nose again.

“The scent on Hannon’s body is unmistakably Iris’s scent. For it to be this strong, you must’ve shared a bed with her.”

Panicked, I sniffed my wrist, but my nose didn’t pick up anything.

Wait, didn’t I take a thorough shower after morning training?

And the shared bed?

That wasn’t today; it was yesterday.

Plus, I’m wearing different clothes.

How does the scent even linger like this?

I was starting to feel uneasy about how sharp Hania’s senses—and her fixation on Iris—were.

“And you carry a tool that allows you to transform into any form you want.”

I had once appeared as Hania herself.

So even in my current form as Vikamon, she had immediately recognized me.

No one else but me could exude such a strong trace of Iris’s scent.

This… was unexpected.

To be honest, Vikamon is my true form, and Hannon is the fake one.

But people act based on the information already imprinted in their minds, and she hadn’t figured that out yet.

“So,”

She said, crossing her arms with a slight scowl.

“What exactly were you thinking, showing up here like that?”

From my earlier exchange of glances with Rojamin, Hania must’ve realized I’d been involved with the boycott group for quite some time.

That only made her more confused, as she couldn’t find a reason for me to join such a group.

“…Don’t tell me,”

She said, narrowing her eyes as though she had a realization.

“Hannon, did Iris tell you something?”

I had once stayed by Iris’s side to ease her nightmares.

At that time, Hania had been staying in the men’s dormitory in my place, so she had no way of knowing what conversations had passed between Iris and me.

Iris wasn’t someone who easily shared her thoughts with others.

But since I was her cousin and had been getting along closely with her lately, she might have confided in me about the orders she’d received from Duke Robliage.

“No, she didn’t say anything.”

There was no need to complicate things by admitting to anything, especially since it wasn’t entirely false.

However, my denial didn’t seem to convince Hania.

“Haah, if you’re going to feign ignorance, at least do it properly. Anyone can see you’re trying to help Iris.”

I had a history of saving Iris from Nikita’s assassination attempt.

And since much of my behavior naturally revolved around aiding Iris, Hania had drawn her own conclusions.

She misunderstood, assuming I had formed the boycott group for Iris’s sake.

Though, to be fair, that wasn’t entirely untrue.

Hania stared at me for a while before crossing her arms again.

The motion emphasized her chest, but I kept my gaze elsewhere.

“All right, Vikamon. Tell me what your plan is. I’ll cooperate, depending on it.”

Hania was someone who would do anything for Iris.

It seemed I had gained a reliable ally.

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