Creator’s Favoritism

“Sorry. I forgot I had something to do this morning. Can we talk later?”

As I abruptly stood up and spoke, Kang Chagyeong quickly nodded. His concerns were no longer my focus. 

The immense crisis that had suddenly appeared before me was now the biggest problem.

「Tito draws a thick circle around the name ‘Kang Chagyeong’ written in the center of the memo. He writes ‘first friend’ on the line connecting to ‘Maeng Sun-woo’, and ‘trusted colleague’ on the line linking to ‘Yeo Wook’.」

Until I opened the dormitory door with wind-like speed, no further narration boxes appeared.

After surveying the empty first-floor lobby, I let out an anguished groan and crouched down right there.

To be honest, this kind of thing isn’t that uncommon. Especially if the manga genre is fantasy with a male protagonist in his late teens.

Frankly, when I was just a reader, I didn’t think much of this industry convention, but becoming the subject of it was a completely different matter.

Moreover, judging by the tone of the recent narration box, there didn’t seem to be any plan beyond using me as the girlfriend character for ‘Yeo Wook.’

‘That’s even worse…’

From the moment I got entangled with the leading boy in a shounen manga, the chances were high that my character would be confined to just that.

Looking at it positively, one could think of this situation as an opportunity to get even one more panel in the webtoon, but…

I reflected on how popular such female characters were in the webtoons I had read so far.

A sigh involuntarily escaped my lips.

It was still not great. Given the development so far, the genre of was neither romance nor romantic comedy, but a fantasy ability school story.

Unless Tito was the type to brilliantly insert romantic narratives. Even that possibility seemed unlikely, given how impulsively he set up relationships.

Clearly, to gain recognition from the gods as myself, I had no choice but to break free from this rosy restraint.

And even if there was a love line while maintaining the individuality of the ‘Maeng Sun-woo’ character, I had absolutely no intention of dating comfortably as the god wished.

With one wrong move, I could end up in the hands of the devil and go to hell. Who has time for dating in this situation?

‘So… how do I overcome this situation?’

I was deep in thought, my face buried in both hands when—

“What are you doing here?”

“Eek!”

A voice accompanied by a light touch on my shoulder startled me so badly I nearly jumped out of my skin.

The owner of the hand was Yeo Wook. His face was equally surprised by my reaction, dressed in comfortable gym clothes.

As if he’d been doing laundry early in the morning, his hands held a laundry basket full of damp clothes.

“Oh my, you scared me. Why are you so startled? I’m the one who got more surprised…”

Yeo Wook, his eyes wide, withdrew the hand that had touched my shoulder.

His face, which should have been puffy this early in the morning, was impeccably handsome.

Perhaps because I had glimpsed the god’s plan that I didn’t want to know, seeing that handsome face only made me more troubled.

Still, I tried my best to smile as if everything was fine.

“Haha… I guess I’m a bit out of it after exercising? Ah! I should go rest in my room…”

At my line delivery, which would go down in history as terrible acting if it appeared in a drama, Yeo Wook furrowed his brows, looking skeptical.

I flashed an awkward smile and quickly dashed towards the second floor where the girls’ dormitory was located.

* * *

The breakfast served in the headquarters cafeteria was usually taken only by Haniyeong students, faculty members, and a small number of headquarters staff.

It was a modest meal, much less extravagant than lunch or dinner, and typically finished serving within an hour.

Thanks to this short window, almost the entire student body could be seen at the cafeteria in the early morning.

As the first-year girls lined up for breakfast, a group of first-year boys entered the cafeteria. Leading the three was, ironically, Yeo Wook.

Since I was standing at the very end of the line, it was inevitable that I’d end up next to him again at this rate.

Ah, damn it.

I quietly slipped between Hyun So-ra and Lee Chan-yu, who were in front of me, trying to hide myself a bit.

“No cutting in line.”

Lee Chan-yu, now unintentionally at the very back, spoke in a cool, almost detached voice. She didn’t seem inclined to tolerate my desperate attempt to avoid Yeo Wook.

Without much effort, Chan-yu grabbed me—despite me being 10cm taller—and pulled me back into my original place.

“Hi, Sun-woo?”

At the voice that immediately followed, I tightly shut my eyes. Slowly turning around, there was Yeo Wook, smiling with his eyes as always.

Damn it, really.

I quickly scanned the surroundings, trying to see if any romance flags might be raised.

And just as the area became noisy with chatter from the second-year seniors, Yeo Wook leaned down and whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Sun-woo, when did you get so close with Chagyeong?”

“Huh?”

I stupidly asked back. Yeo Wook slightly jerked his thumb in the direction of Kang Chagyeong, who stood behind him.

“You two seemed pretty close? Chagyeong and I are roommates. But, we’re not really close, so it’s kind of awkward.”

I eyed Yeo Wook suspiciously.

Is he interested in Kang Chagyeong?

I recalled the relationship diagram between Kang Chagyeong and Yeo Wook from the last narration box.

‘’Trusted colleague,’ was it? Does that mean they’re going to become best friends later?’

Kang Chagyeong, you jerk, you were so happy when I offered to be friends, and now you’re doing this?

As things turned out, I felt annoyed that the friendship I’d built with Kang Chagyeong might now become useless.

“Well, you just get close as things happen…”

Feeling uneasy about having a long conversation, I answered vaguely and brushed it off. Yeo Wook, without a hint of displeasure, smoothly replied, “Is that so?”

As the line for breakfast slowly moved forward, a brief narration box suddenly appeared.

「Tito thinks that ‘Yeo Wook’ and ‘Maeng Sun-woo’s’ faces match better than expected.」

(T/N: idk why but I totally agree…………………..but Sun-woo is just 15)

‘No, I don’t want this…’

At that moment, I deeply sympathized with manga protagonists who ran away from arranged marriages, not because they disliked the partner, but because they loathed the arrangement itself.

To be precise, it wasn’t that I disliked the partner—Yeo Wook seemed fine—but the idea of being in a relationship right now was absurd.

Anyone could see that this was not the time for dating. Not when vicious monsters were spilling out into the world every other day…

The more I thought about it, the more this situation felt like the perfect setup to get cursed out by readers for being tone-deaf. I had no choice—I had to make Tito give up on the love line, somehow.

‘Think, Sun-woo. If you have a brain, now’s the time to use it…’

As I pondered, tapping my temple, I suddenly caught sight of Lee Chan-yu’s calm profile as she picked up her tray.

-“Did you hear that Chan-yu awakened her materialization skill yesterday? She’s probably the first among the first-years, right?”

Suddenly, the conversation I had with Kang Chagyeong flashed through my mind.

* * *

The news about Lee Chan-yu awakening her materialization skill during the Ahyeon-dong Gate conquest started flooding the internet shortly after I finished breakfast.

She could have at least mentioned it herself. Lee Chan-yu was the hardest person to read among the first-years—always keeping her thoughts tightly sealed.

Even as 1st period began, I was lost in thought, my textbook barely touched.

Aside from the fact that her skill could summon weapons made of blue energy, I knew next to nothing about .

‘Materialization skill…’

I quickly typed “Hunter materialization skill” into the search bar. A post from the ‘Hunter Masters’ cafe, known for its well-organized information, popped up at the top.

[Weapon Materialization]
[Table of Contents]

Overview
Skill Characteristics
Skill Status
Holders
  4-1. Domestic Holders
  4-2. Foreign Holders

[1. Overview]

It is one of the most common and essential skills certified by the International Hunter Organization. The grade of the materialization skill typically follows the rank of the hunter. An S-class hunter’s will also be rated S-class, while an F-class hunter’s skill will only be F-class…

I was scrolling through the post, absorbed, when I felt a sharp gaze from the front of the classroom. The Korean language teacher, who was interpreting classical poetry, had fixed me with a disapproving glare.

But whether Jeong Cheol loved the king or not was far less relevant to me right now than this.

Ignoring the teacher’s stare, I kept skimming the document.

[2. Skill Characteristics]

Weapons materialized through the skill dramatically increase a hunter’s attack power compared to standard weapons. This is because they are custom-made, perfectly resonating with the hunter’s abilities…

My brows furrowed as I read on.

If Lee Chan-yu had awakened a materialization skill before anyone else, even before the protagonist, she was solidifying her position as one of the most powerful students at .

‘Is that why she’s being excluded from the love line?’ I wondered.

Tito’s narration implied that he found it difficult to include Chan-yu in a romantic subplot. Still, it seemed he hadn’t completely locked in the love line between Yeo Wook and me just yet.

‘If I perform as well as her, could I get excluded from the love line too?’

Maybe if I outshined Yeo Wook, Tito would drop the whole girlfriend angle. But to do that, I needed a weapon that resonated with me—something I didn’t even have yet. If I could awaken , though, it would be a huge advantage.

Just as I was finishing the document, one line made me stop.

[5. Miscellaneous]

Interestingly, the system awakens the skill based on the number of monsters defeated, rather than the rank of the monsters. Statistically, 15-20 kills are needed to trigger the skill.

‘This… might actually be doable.’