Drunkard (2)
Her sister’s death.
Overwhelmed by grief, the woman finally crossed the point of no return.
Unaware that she was being played by evil.
Unaware that all the tragedies that had befallen them… were nothing more than a script.
The traitor’s ending was the completion of a world where no one was happy.
It was the point where the story’s bleakness hit rock bottom.
All that remained before the tragedy were regret and despair.
As such, there were also many opinions that found it regrettable.
[Category: Free Board]
[Title: But isn’t Selena a bit pitiful?]
If you think about it, she’s a victim too.
From beginning to end, she was used and discarded by those Baob bastards.
Moreover, it was revealed that the sister she missed so much…
was actually manipulated by the cult she was cooperating with.
From the beginning, there was a huge movement to corrupt Selena.
It seems they targeted her because she was the Headmaster’s top disciple.
It’s probably right to see it as her being swept away by a larger current.
[She’s pitiful, but she’s still a bitch.]
-> How many people died because of her? You can’t whitewash that.
-> I don’t feel like I don’t understand the situation, but I can’t look at her kindly because of what she did.
[I was a bit sad. She was my favorite character among the faculty.]
-> Selena is quite popular.
-> Well… “Noona” type characters are rare in this game.
-> Lol.
-> Those damn PP-dan bastards again.
[Information) It was the Headmaster who brought Selena to the Academy.]
-> It’s you again…
-> I’m tired of even mentioning it now.
-> He’s just the root of all evil.
Selena had a pretty solid fanbase.
Her unique cold atmosphere, her respectful attitude towards students, and even her mature figure that gave off a violent feeling.
Thanks to that, her betrayal left a strong impact.
[Category: Free Board]
[Title: No, my Noona!!!!!!!!]
It can’t be… It’s a lie, right? Tell me it’s a lie.
How could you do this to me?
How much I followed you… Betrayal… Please, if this is a dream, I need to wake up. When I open my eyes again, Professor, you’ll smile at me like always…
[This guy’s losing it too.]
[He’s going to pass out lol.]
-> Judging by what he’s saying, he already has.
-> In many ways, she’s an irreplaceable character.
-> Lol.
[I don’t know why everyone likes the chicken coop traitor so much.]
-> Oh, she’s well-seasoned.
-> Does the 2nd place in the faculty popularity poll look like a joke to you?
-> I think she’d drop out of the top 10 if we voted again now.
-> Fact ban, please.
[These guys like spoiled stuff.]
-> Please, don’t call anyone over 13 a girl.
-> ?
-> ?
-> You’re out.
-> Those damn NN-dan bastards again.
Opinions were divided.
Of course, no one condoned Selena’s betrayal.
The ending she brought about was just too horrific.
There were only those who sympathized with the Drunkard's story, and those who refuted that sympathy.
In my case, I was closer to the former.
‘Of course.’
Her evil deeds could not be forgiven.
She caused too many casualties.
No matter how much pain one has received from life, one should not inflict it on others.
Just as one should not stab innocent people using their own wounds as justification.
Selena crossed the line.
Even though I knew that.
The reason I pitied the Drunkard was…
Simply.
-Oppa!
…because I thought she resembled me.
Because I saw myself in her broken form.
My stomach churned for no reason.
The one person who was precious in my life.
The everyday life where we were happy because we had each other.
But the sudden death of my younger sister.
Despair, frustration, longing, loss… I, who went mad, unable to bear all of it.
Or…
Selena.
‘Perhaps.’
I might have been identifying myself with Selena all this time.
Because we lived through similar pain.
I understood the despair and brokenness she experienced.
I felt sorry for the blind emptiness.
Because my past self walked the same path.
I superimposed yesterday onto today.
“...”
I gaze at the woman before me.
Shaking crimson pupils.
As if questioning the answer reflected on their surface, I slowly part my lips, which had been silent.
It was a snippet of a conversation we once had.
“You once said so.”
During a brief exchange of small talk.
“The reason for drinking is to forget shame.”
Was this the shame you wanted to forget?
Yourself, conflicted between longing and guilt.
Was it because of the nauseating problem that you couldn’t stop drinking for a moment?
For all that long time.
-It is because we cannot stop that we are adults.
-Even if we know it is wrong… because we are already too old to change.
You were afraid.
When you sobered up.
Of all the conflicts and anguish that would follow.
The woman speaks in a subdued voice.
“...It’s a long story.”
Lips that quietly begin the prologue.
The Drunkard begins to confess the sins she has harbored for so long.
I listen to the sinking resonance.
“It began like this.”
The cultist who reached out.
Selena cooperated with him for a long time, providing information.
There wasn’t even a shred of guilt in her actions.
Only a longing for Lianne filled her.
“At that time, I thought it didn’t matter. As long as I could see her again… I was prepared to shoulder any sin.”
The woman wanted to sell.
Her gold, her house, her lifespan, her sorrow, her love, even her guilt.
She was determined to use everything she could.
Venom forged from sorrow.
But…
Since when?
“I gradually became weak, so to speak.”
She felt even that venom wearing away.
The children approaching with smiles.
Fellow professors who were role models as educators.
Selena feared the environment that was kind to her.
Because she felt like she would ruin her plans if she got close to them.
So she built walls around herself.
“I always drew a line.”
The reason she hadn’t chosen a direct assistant so far was similar.
Because she didn't want to get any closer than necessary.
She was always drunk, prickly to her fellow professors, polite to the students but maintaining a certain distance.
As someone who existed in the Academy but didn’t belong.
She indifferently dealt with everyday life.
However…
The permeating time was not something that could be ignored at will.
Time at the Academy became more and more familiar with each passing day.
That tormented her heart.
Perhaps the reason she drank was because of that shame.
The desire to escape from reality, even for a moment.
The woman couldn’t shake off her confusion.
“Perhaps that was why.”
In truth…
If she were preparing for betrayal, she could have been more thorough.
Currently, Selena was the most likely candidate for the next Head Professor, holding power comparable to the Headmaster.
It meant she could pull the Academy’s main forces outside at the right time.
If it were to suit the cult’s plan, it would have been appropriate to weaken the Academy’s power as much as possible.
If it had been done this way, the Academy would have already been half-destroyed.
Even if I stepped in to stop it, I would have had to expend my lifespan.
But the fact that she didn't…
“...Master was hesitant.”
“Similar. Of course, I don’t know if it can be packaged with such nice words.”
While still longing for her sister…
The scenery of the Academy kept catching her eye.
The longing for what she loved and the guilt towards the students were stickily mixed together.
The divided selves fought each other as if to kill.
A jumbled mind.
In the end, the woman could neither do this nor that.
She hesitated in a halfway position.
Selena hesitated.
What to choose.
What use was it now that everything had gone to waste?
The Drunkard avoids my gaze.
“The reason I accepted student Judas as my assistant was also for an experiment.”
“What kind of experiment?”
“I needed it. A sample of a star, not yet a star but soon to reach stardom, or to be precise, a sample of an immature star’s spring.”
“It was an experiment related to resurrection.”
“The concept of a star itself is so rare. Especially a young star. That’s why I had to push myself to become the homeroom professor of Class A, 1st year. To approach student Judas.”
“Professor Kadel, who would have originally been appointed as the homeroom teacher for Class A. Pushing him out of his position was indeed your intention.”
“That’s right.”
Now I understood.
Why I suddenly received the top score on the entrance exam.
Why the homeroom teacher of Class A was changed, unlike in the original story.
Why Selena, who always kept to herself, accepted me as her chief assistant.
It was all to approach me.
I give a complicated smile.
Adding a question to the end of the upturned corners of my lips.
“What exactly… was the experiment you mentioned?”
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