I Became the Leader of Academy City

17 – Rule 10. The Senior Discipline Officer Must Not Suffer From the Flu.

The ominous signs appeared right after waking up.

Immediately after getting out of bed, his head felt like it was splitting open, and his diaphragm tightened, inducing a feeling of nausea.

After dealing with the urgent call of nature, he retreated to his bed like a soldier returning to a safe zone.

For longer than usual, he spent time staring blankly at the ceiling in his room.

Muzzy with a runny nose and lost in time, he felt hunger and thirst but couldn’t stir from his bed.

His throat was swollen. Swallowing the tepid saliva that kept pooling in his mouth now became a painful effort.

I managed to use the thermometer I had barely brought with me.

39.4 degrees Celsius.

It has been a while since I last encountered the flu.

My stock of general medications has recently been depleted.

Neglecting to resupply weights on me like regret.

At least, it was a relief that it was the weekend.

As the head of the disciplinary committee, I couldn’t let my members see me failing to take care of my own health.

Even if I had managed to drag myself to school in this state, it would only have tarnished my image.

Attending school would have been difficult in the first place.

I don’t expect the members to understand.

Perception and understanding are separate matters.

I don’t want a weak image of myself to be etched into their minds.

I had to be an unyielding iron man.

I had to dominate as the perfect chief of discipline.

Only then would I not be overshadowed by the genius known as Oh Baek Seo.

‘I should be better by tomorrow… I have to be.’

I needed to recover before the following day arrived.

“Cough! Cough!”

I’d feel reassured if only I could place a cold, damp towel on my forehead.

But with my body in such a state, even the act of wetting a towel was a Herculean task.

Whirr.

My smartphone on the desk vibrated.

A single pulse.

A text message.

Unfortunately, I had no time to reply.

Whirring.

The vibration lengthened.

This time, a phone call.

‘I can’t take it.’

I decided to return the call once my condition improved.

I don’t even have the strength to lift a finger right now.

The vibration stopped after continuing quite a bit.

Silence returned.

“……”

Maybe it’s because I’ve been engrossed in work since becoming the head of the department.

While spending time aimlessly in pain, numerous memories that I had forgotten used to come to mind vividly.

I was reborn as an extra without a name in the game.

Born from the many genes stored in the factory, artificially modified by AI’s random selection, as one of the common beings.

The womb I came from was the incubator, and my mother was a childcare robot.

Upon reaching the age of awareness, I had completed the education process that everyone went through.

Then AI ardently drummed into my head the mission, “You need to revitalize humanity.”

That proposition is established as a value pursued by the academy city.

If I didn’t have game knowledge, I might have seen that proposition as the highest ideology.

In addition, I learned the ways of living and received a house when I became the age of a lower elementary school student.

It was the beginning of independent living.

During that period, the children receive overprotection from the security robots roaming the streets.

In the academy city, where the social structure is still incomplete, young children often become targets of crime.

Security robots are usually used as cleaning robots, but they also have combat functions. They had their own charming appearance.

I also received overprotection from them.

However, I didn’t feel human warmth from those soulless robots.

I wished I had a friend, or at least a neighbor.

Then I met a girl.

On a day when the white snow filled the academy city, the girl’s rosy hair was fluttering in the winter wind.

She introduced herself as Kim Eunha.

It was a pseudonym.

I found out later that she was one of the six sinners, Kim Dalbi.

I who knew nothing was just happy to have a human friend.

I’m not sure if Dalbi felt the same way at the time or if it was just a pastime, but she treated me kindly.

We became close quickly.

For the first time since my reincarnation in this world, I had someone on my side.

Just for being the first one on my side, Dalbi became something special to me.

I often used the excuse of being a child to express my affection for her and frequently gifted her flowers and handwritten letters. I hoped she would always stay by my side.

Perhaps grateful for my sincerity, Dalbi often visited my home and paid great attention to my needs.

Claiming to have learned it online, she cooked delicious meals with her band-covered hands, and on her way over, she would give me new toys, a watch, or a cool robot that she claimed to have picked up on her way.

Dalbi liked being held. Whenever she had the chance, she would stretch her arms out to the side: a signal that wanted to be embraced.

In the middle of a blowing winter wind, hugging each other tightly like penguins, it was only natural to imagine a future together with her as we grew up.

However, that was a dream that lasted only three years.

Dalbi left me.

Leaving behind only the words that she liked my innocence.

I still don’t know what she meant by those words.

There’s a peony talisman attached to a picture frame on a cabinet next to my bed.

If I turn my head slightly, I can see it.

Why did Dalbi suddenly leave me, only to return years later to leave a letter at my house?

Why did she congratulate me on my admission to Asung High School, leaving behind a peony?

Even this I couldn’t understand yet.

Even though I thought I had let go of Dalbi, whenever I was alone and reminiscing, she was still lingering in my mind.

Was it because she was the first person to be on my side? Or because I poured so much of my heart into her? Or because my mind was also immature, unknowingly given my young age then?

The memory of Dalbi, which I thought was a burnt-out ember, would sometimes quietly flare up again, leaving me with a lingering sense of her.

My sleep was heavy with pain.

I gently closed my eyes.

“……”

I must have been in deep sleep.

As I blinked my eyes open momentarily, I faintly saw a woman with dangling pink hair.

I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

Because I felt so hazy.

So I closed my eyes again.

Something damp was pressed against my forehead. It was cold.

Right after, a gentle smell of gruel filled my nostrils.

I felt the sensation of someone gripping my hand tightly, brushing through my hair.

Suddenly the realization dawned on me, I wasn’t alone.

Soon, a calm voice resonated in my head.

“I’m sorry for coming.”

For some reason, she left with an apology.

I half-opened my eyes again.

The warm hand I had felt was now absent.

Her gaze lingered on the storage cabinet beside the bed for quite some time.

And as I closed my eyes, the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

Next, I slipped into a deeper dream.

……

When I regained consciousness, I could hear the sound of water splashing nearby.

Soon, a cold towel was placed on my forehead.

As my eyes flickered open, a familiar face came into view.

“Are you awake?”

A gentle smile.

It was Baekseo.

“?”

Why was Baekseo here?

In that moment, I instinctively thought of the Frog folder on my computer’s hard drive.

Relieved, I remembered securing my computer with a password to be prepared for emergencies.

“Baekseo…? How did you…?”

My voice was hoarse so I could not speak properly.

Baekseo was sitting in a chair beside the bed.

She was dressed in a revealing top and a flowing skirt that fell to her knees. Her coat was hanging on the coat rack.

“I couldn’t reach you, so I came looking.”

I recalled my smartphone ringing several times.

It was Baekseo who had called.

“How did you know my home’s password?”

“Don’t you remember when I came over last year because there were some things to pack and the department head told me the password over the phone?”

“Ah…, right.”

I still remember it.

“……”

I don’t have the energy to maintain my usual poker face right now.

I didn’t want to show this weak side of myself.

Still, I feel at ease now that Baek Seo is here.

The flu must be more painful than I thought.

“Boss, should I bring you some porridge?”

Porridge?

Did he buy it?

Or did he make it?

Come to think of it, I think I smelled porridge in my dream.

Could it be the scent of the porridge Baek Seo was cooking that I smelled in my sleep?

‘I’m actually hungry.’

Just hearing about the porridge, a severe hunger rushed in.

I turned my head towards the window. The sky was gradually turning into a deep blue. It was evening.

Only then did I realize that I hadn’t eaten anything all day.

I looked at Baek Seo again.

“Eh… it would be nice if you do.”

“Wait a minute.”

Baek Seo brought a bowl of thick rice porridge that had been soaked in the kitchen and a metal spoon. He also brought soy sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl.

“Uh…”

I carefully raised my torso. I was hit by a headache, but I could feel that my condition had gotten a little better after receiving some care while I was asleep.

“Boss.”

Baek Seo scooped a spoonful of white porridge and blew on it to cool it down.

“Ah~.”

“……”

Baek Seo offering the spoonful of food, as if feeding a child.

For a moment, I almost opened my mouth without realizing it, but a recent comment from Baek Seo flashed through my mind.

– ‘I just had this sudden thought that I need to take care of you, boss.’

No.

This isn’t right…!

“…I’ll eat.”

“Will you?”

After receiving a spoon and a bowl of porridge from Baek Seo, I scooped up and ate the porridge myself.

Despite the porridge lacking any special flavor, it felt incredibly delicious.

I added some soy sauce and sesame oil and took another spoonful. The seasoning was just right, enhancing my appetite even more.

Baek Seo watched me eat with a delighted gaze, as if he were my mother.

“Baek Seo.”

Still, this had to be said.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For coming.”

It wasn’t a courtesy.

It was sincere.

I’m not made of iron.

I’m just an ordinary person who needs to reign supreme as an iron figure in the morals committee, only on the surface.

After a long time, I’ve come to realize that loneliness especially creeps in when you’re in pain.

Since I’m just an ordinary person too, that must be why I liked my first-ever friend, Dalbi, so much.

Even though it hurt my pride to show Baek Seo a side of me that was weak.

Regardless, it was incredibly touching to have someone come and look after you when you were suffering alone.

Baek Seo smiled wryly and shook his head.

“No. If the chief is sick, of course I should come. Besides, it’s nice to visit the chief’s house after a while.”

“Why my house?”

“It’s fun to visit a friend’s house, isn’t it?”

A snicker slipped out.

Well, that’s true.

“Come whenever you want.”

“Huh?”

“You’re okay. You’re welcome anytime.”

As I spooned the porridge, I spoke and suddenly the room fell silent.

“…Why is it so quiet?”

Why the silence?

Did I say something wrong?

I stealthily glanced towards Baekseo.

Somehow, she looked deep in thought.

“Anytime?”

Baekseo asked, her gaze becoming earnest.

I nodded.

“Is that odd?”

“That’s practically like living together, isn’t it…?”

“?”

Was it because the flu was muddling my thinking?

I couldn’t understand how she came to that conclusion.

…

After Baekseo left to buy new medicine and returned, she laid down beside me again.

Despite it getting late into the night, she tirelessly took care of me with great devotion.

I couldn’t count how many times I imagined how happy I would be if I married someone like her.

The hand she laid gently on my abdomen over the blanket was an act of kindness, a gesture meant to alleviate even a fraction of my pain.

Time had gone past midnight.

Baekseo was in my room, reading a book she had brought.

“Baekseo.”

“Why, Chief?”

Interrupting her concentration on the book, she raised her head as soon as she heard me and responded with a tender smile.

Her index finger silently tapped on the book repeatedly.

“You can go back now. It’s late.”

“I’ll stay until you get better. We have to go to school together tomorrow.”

Really.

What a genuinely kind person.

“But I feel like I’m burdening you.

We should return home before the last subway train ends, right?

I can hardly keep my eyes open, so I should let Byakusho go before I fall asleep.

“It’s okay. I think a good sleep will make me feel better… I owe a lot to the director today. You even made a cold compress and porridge for me…”

I noticed Byakusho’s hand that had been tapping the book stopped abruptly.

For a moment, her eyes widened for some reason.

She quickly returned to her usual expression, but I didn’t miss that change.

It was too dramatic.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Byakusho shook her head and closed her book.

Did her reaction not mean anything?

“Director, are you sleepy?”

Byakusho laid her hand on the blanket, soothing my body and asked.

“Ah, sorry but I think I need to sleep. You should also go home…”

“There is no need to worry about me.”

“Go home before the last train ends, I feel bad as it is.”

I was already doing enough damage here.

I didn’t want her to see me fall asleep, in the state I was in.

“…Okay. I will stay here until the director falls asleep.”

“Okay.”

“Should I sing you a lullaby?”

“Don’t do that.”

Somehow, the thought of hearing a lullaby made me feel more pitiful.

Byakusho also laughed delightedly, whether the offer of a lullaby was a joke or not.

I closed my eyes.

I fell asleep quickly, perhaps due to Byakusho’s soothing touch.

* * *

“……”

Byakusho silently watched An Woo Jin fall asleep.

Minutes passed, and Woojin had completely fallen asleep.

The gentle smile on Baek Seo’s face gradually hardened.

She headed straight for the kitchen.

As she lifted the lid of the silver pot on the gas range, white porridge came into view.

It was lovingly cooked, without a single flaw.

“It wasn’t Woojin who cooked it…”

Baek Seo murmured softly.

Her eyes slowly grew distant.