⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[...Are you really going to do it?]
"I told you, yes."
The next morning.
The Writer-nim, still anxious, tried to get confirmation from me one more time.
Even after I said I'd do it.
Well, I had refused at first.
I tried consoling her while she freaked out and said she hated it, but she only cried harder, leaving me no choice but to agree.
...Honestly, I'm still reluctant about it.
But there's no helping it. To soothe the sulking Writer-nim, I have to keep my promise.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Hehe... Watching the protagonist all day should give me tons of material!]
"..."
Yeah.
No use hiding it.
Because I ruined Yoo Siu's big moment, the compensation the Writer-nim demanded was something I was already doing.
Surveillance of the protagonist.
So why did I refuse at first?
It's 24-hour surveillance.
It's a whole different ballgame from casually keeping an eye on him from afar.
Literal 24 hours. From this morning until tomorrow morning.
I figured the incidents happening inside the Academy were plenty, but the Writer-nim saw things differently.
She insisted his daily routine could be material too, or whatever.
Even when I tried convincing her that a guy's everyday life had no place in an Academy novel, she wouldn't budge.
I even pointed out that spying on his sweet dates with the heroines later would be way more worthwhile, but still nothing.
She went so far as to say we'd get even more material if I surveilled him once on a normal day and again on a date.
I have my own private life, and Yoo Siu has his too... but...
No helping it this time.
I apologized to Yoo Siu in my heart—he'd be under my watch all day, after all.
I couldn't just come out and tell him I was going to stalk him.
Best to keep it completely undetectable.
Hmm, can I really pull off the surveillance properly? I'm a little worried.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Ooh, I'm so excited. What kind of day will it be...! Maybe a ton of wild incidents will come pouring out?!]
"Even as the protagonist, I bet his daily life is pretty ordinary..."
No matter how I thought about it, the kind of scenes the Writer-nim was hoping for just weren't going to happen.
No way a protagonist deals with dramatic, novel-worthy events every single day.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[No way! It'll happen for sure! He's the protagonist!]
Where on earth did this baseless confidence come from?
I let out a small sigh.
"No helping it. This is just the one time, right?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Ehehe...! This is gonna be fun...!]
Fun, my foot.
I just hoped she wouldn't end up disappointed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"From now on, you're going to learn morals."
A muscular male teacher walked into the classroom and announced.
The students, who had assumed they'd be honing their abilities or learning how to get stronger, rebelled loudly.
"Isn't this supposed to be practical training?"
"We came to the Academy to become heroes."
Siu could sympathize with his classmates' grumbles.
They'd trained relentlessly since childhood to become heroes and squeezed through the Academy's narrow entrance gate.
They naturally expected to toughen their bodies and pick up skills, only for morals to come out of left field.
The teacher smirked at the students' backlash.
"Yeah, I figured you'd hate it. Your seniors always did."
"Then...!"
"But despite all the complaints, this class has always stuck around. Simple reason: you have to become heroes."
Have to become heroes?
The students started focusing intently on the teacher's words.
It felt like something important was coming.
"Math, science, Korean, English... You've only learned that stuff at a basic knowledge level."
"Of course. We barely have enough time to train as it is."
"Right. You don't need that. Heroes don't have to ace math or master science."
The teacher cut off a female student who was about to say something.
"It's true you came here to become heroes, and you have more sense of justice than your peers. I get that."
"Then we don't need morals! We're just wasting time...!"
"That's exactly why we teach the most essential morals. Tell me—what are you going to do once you're heroes?"
The female student—whose name was Amelia, if he remembered right?—was caught off guard by the sudden question flipped back at her.
She hesitated before answering.
"Hunt monsters and catch villains."
"Right. More precisely, protect citizens from threats."
"What does that have to do with morals...!"
The teacher shot back at her protest.
"Do you have any guarantee you won't become villains yourselves?"
"...Pardon?"
"I mean, any assurance you won't turn into villains."
"Of course not! We came here to become heroes...!"
"You've probably never heard that some Academy graduates end up as villains."
"?!"
Not just Amelia—plenty of students were shocked by that revelation.
An Academy graduate becoming a villain?
"N-No way...!"
"Afraid it's true. They get drunk on power, get scouted by crime syndicates... All sorts of reasons."
An Academy student as a villain.
Siu glanced at Arte, then whipped his eyes forward in a hurry.
He'd locked eyes with Arte, who was smiling right at him.
"That said, we can't just preemptively weed out anyone who might have the potential to go villain."
Thud, thud.
The teacher circled the students. Building tension, maybe.
With the class now hanging on his every word, the teacher fixed them with a sharp gaze.
"That's why we have no choice but to rely on your consciences. Hence, morals class. It's the bare minimum safety net."
"Can something like that really stop people from becoming villains?"
"No idea. But it's better than nothing, isn't it?"
"..."
"If you're convinced, take your seats. Time to start class."
As he watched his classmates sink into thought, Siu's own mind grew complicated.
Academy students becoming villains...
Which meant villains could infiltrate the Academy too, right?
A gaze prickling the back of his neck made cold sweat bead on Siu's forehead.
After school, on the way home.
Siu's thoughts were a mess.
Morals. He'd never given it serious thought before.
But now that he did, it wasn't wrong.
Villains recruiting heroes meant gaining an ally and ditching an enemy.
And as always, destroying was easier than protecting.
He'd heard heroes were perpetually swamped with work.
Glancing absently around, he noticed scenery he'd usually breeze past.
Someone casually tossing their trash on the ground after eating.
Someone spitting on the pavement.
Scenes he'd shrug off before now made him grimace.
He tamped down the growing unease and headed home.
That's when he spotted an old grandma struggling to pull a cart up a hill.
"...Grandma, can I help?"
"Eh...? You're helping? Thank you, dear."
It was the kind of person in need he'd usually overlook.
So Siu stepped in to help the grandma.
Once he'd hauled her cart up the hill, she beamed at him.
"Thank you so much. You made it so much easier."
"No problem."
He felt a bit bashful, but helping someone and getting thanks warmed his chest.
Yeah, the teacher was right.
Heroes exist to help people.
Morals really are important...
"...!"
His warm chest turned ice-cold in an instant, like it'd been doused with frozen water.
"Ju-just now... behind the utility pole..."
He swore he'd seen black hair.
Long, wavy hair cascading down to her waist. That woman's hair—the one who'd been nagging at him lately.
The breeze that had felt so pleasant moments ago turned frigid.
No, no way.
Arte couldn't be here.
It had to be someone with a similar hairstyle... right?
His heart hammered deafeningly.
Arte Isis. She was tailing him.
No mistake.
He couldn't miss those slitted eyes.
"What the hell...!"
Could it be that?
The teacher had mentioned Academy students sometimes becoming villains.
Was she trying to recruit him?
Was that why she'd been watching him?
He had no idea.
Why was she following him?
Chills racing down his spine, he bolted home and yanked the curtains shut.
"Huff... huff..."
His ragged breathing grated on his nerves. It felt like someone was watching.
Her actions flashed through his mind.
Hacking the Academy database, showing tons of interest in him, somehow tied to the monster outbreak—though he didn't know how.
Plus, the teacher had said the monster incident stemmed from a criminal's screw-up.
No clue if she was that criminal's sidekick, but staging a monster outbreak wasn't child's play.
There had to be some massive conspiracy lurking behind it all.
One thing was clear: she was scheming something with whatever she called "Writer-nim."
And she was interested in him.
"...Gone?"
He peeked through the curtain.
Night had fallen. She must've gone home by now...
"...!"
He yanked the curtain shut again.
She's there! She's there!
Blurry, but he saw her.
She was definitely watching the place!
"Why... why me..."
He felt wronged, but he couldn't yell out loud.
He didn't want to provoke Arte lurking outside.
Siu dove into bed and pulled the covers over his head.
Just like when he was a kid hiding from scary movies.
Tears trickled from Siu's eyes, soaking the pillow.
That night, Siu didn't sleep a wink.