NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29 - How to Prepare for Exams (4)
3. How to Prepare for Exams (4)
It started out trivial.
That day, I was checking the Meta System.
[Meta System] *A system for you, the reader!
Characters cannot see the Meta System.
Meta points are awarded based on the frequency and importance of appearances by the character ‘Kang Nayeon’ in the story.
Meta points are awarded based on readers’ reactions and interest in ‘Kang Nayeon.’
Use meta points to strengthen yourself in various ways! [Current Meta Points: 1200]
Since I had performed well during club activities, my meta points had steadily increased.
[Appearances in Chapters 17 and 18] The content of chapters 17 and 18 was simple. It mostly described recruiting Lee Hana and our club activities.
The only thing I learned was that the scammer trusted me quite a bit.
However, what bothered me was the content at the end of chapter 18.
I seriously reviewed the appearance part.
085 After finishing the conversation, I dismissed all the children.
But I still had an unresolved task. I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out the fox orb, holding it in my hand.
I have to make use of this, but who should I ask for help?
No, there’s someone, someone who listens to my requests well, is always with me, and has high agility.
In the end, I decided to entrust the fox orb to her.
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Cool, detached, and naturally talented heroine? This works.
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I’m going all-in on Lee Hana stocks.
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Kang Nayeon? Choi Soo Jung? Forget them, it’s Lee Hana’s era now.
What is this fox orb, and why is it an unresolved task?
I carefully read through the comments to see if I could get any hints, but readers were entirely focused on the new heroine, Lee Hana.
Well, cold and cool-headed female characters are traditionally popular. Plus, this part was completely focused on her, so it’s understandable.
But who’s supposed to take the fox orb?
I skipped through the comments and continued to review the latest chapters to check the concerning content.
Just then, the scammer approached me.
“Kang Nayeon.”
“Yes, Yuhan! What’s up?”
“Take this.”
…It’s an orb.
It was mostly blue, but it had a strange iridescent glow. At a glance, it looked incredibly valuable.
I recalled the part I had just read.
This guy would never give me something good for no reason. And it said agility was necessary. That means I’ll have to dodge something! It’s clearly ominous! What is he up to now?
“Okay! But what is this?”
But refusing a request is one of the hardships of service work.
“A special orb.”
The scammer gave an evil grin. That made it feel even more ominous.
“Just hold onto it for now. If anything strange happens, let me know.”
“Got it!”
What? What’s going to happen?
Hey, I’ll break this thing! I’ll break it!
I screamed that inside, but my shout never reached the scammer.
In the end, as the sunshiny heroine who always grants requests, I had no choice but to accept what clearly looked like a cursed version of a lucky charm, the “fox orb.”
…I’ll pretend to accidentally break it later…
…But my meta points will go down if I do that, damn it.
And so, begrudgingly, I ended up carrying around the so-called “fox orb.”
Even after reviewing the appearance part, the only insight I got was something useless like, “Now we can only hope Kang Nayeon successfully escapes.”
What on earth is this?!
I felt like I had become the protagonist of a ghost story, clutching my nervous heart as I faced each day.
Then, strange things started happening.
“Hello.”
Students from other classes started approaching me in odd ways.
And if you looked closely, their eyes were kind of… off.
“Today is going to be a round day, like an orb.”
Their conversations were weird, too.
“Uh, yeah. It’s a good day, I guess?”
“Orb.”
“Uh…?”
“Today, the orb is especially good.”
I couldn’t make any sense of what they were saying.
And then, one day, I opened my locker to find a strange love letter… no, an “orb letter.”
Orb, orb, orb, orb, orb, orb, orb, orb.
Will you accept my love for the orb? I’m mesmerized by your orb-like beauty. If I could only possess the orb, I’d be willing to risk my life.
The letters arrived in all sorts of ways—collages, blood-written letters, and more—all anonymously.
And every single one of them was filled with an obsession with the orb…
This is all because of the orb, isn’t it?! Scam artist, what did you give me?!
The unwanted attention became more intense with each passing day.
“Do you like orbs? I do.”
“Hold on, Nayeon is talking to me right now.”
“Round, beautiful, strong…”
“Excuse me?”
It became so noticeable that even people around me could sense the weird atmosphere.
Resisting the urge to curse, I reported this to the scammer, and his response was:
“Oh, that? … Just endure it for about a week, and it’ll be resolved.”
Take it back now!
I was trying to go about my life in peace, but even Dum Dum cautiously asked if I was okay.
The difference in character between them was astounding.
I quickly opened up about my concerns.
“You know, Yuhan gave me an orb, and ever since then, strange people keep obsessing over the orb and talking to me!”
“About the orb?”
“Yeah. Recently, I even received a letter written in blood… It’s really worrying.”
After a brief silence, Dum Dum spoke with a calm tone.
“…Let’s break it.”
“Huh, but Yuhan gave it to me, so—”
“You’re more important than that kind of thing.”
Dum Dum!
Overjoyed, I handed the orb to Dum Dum.
Dum Dum pulled out the sword she always carried on her back.
With that sword, it should work! Filled with anticipation, I watched as Dum Dum swung her sword down at the orb.
Clang!
The sword landed precisely on the round orb.
Finally, this troublesome thing would be gone!
I happily looked at the orb.
But the orb didn’t have even the slightest scratch on it.
We stood in silence for a moment.
…Is this thing really cursed?
“Did that jerk give you this? Let’s break it right now!”
I sent out an SOS to Nayuri just in case. But…
“Gah! My knuckles are cracked! What is this thing?!”
She couldn’t break it either. Even the extreme flames Nayuri unleashed in her rage couldn’t damage it.
What is this? It’s no longer just an orb.
“Nahahaha—It won’t break~.”
Choi Soo Jung failed as well.
“…Sorry.”
Even Lee Hana, my last hope, couldn’t break the orb.
I was left to wrack my brain once again…
At this point, should I just risk losing meta points and punch the scammer in the face?
At least if I could get some information from the appearance part, I could prepare for something!
But all the parts related to me were things like, “Maybe I should have others on standby just in case.” “Hmm… It could be dangerous.”
These kinds of useless monologues! And recently, there were even ominous mutterings like, “Hmm, is the time approaching?”
Thanks to the kind and considerate (excluding the scammer) club members who were willing to take the orb for me, I was able to survive.
I thanked them and continued to carry the orb, feeling like I was holding onto a cursed relic.
I had no choice but to do as I was told, right…?
Still, I received a lot of help from my kind clubmates.
Nayuri, always worried, came to my class every hour to hover around me and block anyone trying to approach.
Dum Dum kept trying to destroy the orb whenever we ran into each other.
Lee Hana and Choi Soo Jung told me to contact them if anything went wrong.
My club is full of good people… except for the scammer…
The scammer is the root of the problem in the first place, damn it!
Unable to contain themselves any longer, some club members confronted the scammer during training, demanding to know what the orb was.
But the scammer, undeterred by their furious gazes, just kept up his relaxed attitude.
“You’ll find out later. It’s not harmful.”
“Do you still think that after seeing how people are acting strangely and obsessing over Nayeon because of the orb? Who are you…?!”
Nayuri erupted in anger, but the scammer…
“I’m going to call everyone out in about a week, at night. If you just come with me then, it’ll all be resolved.”
He gave no further explanation and only repeated that I had to keep the orb.
“Just wait and see, you…”
Nayuri glared at the scammer, grinding her teeth.
***
About a week later, just as the scammer said, the incident finally happened.
After training, the scammer and I were walking back to the dorm when we were suddenly blocked by a massive crowd of people.
“Oh, is it today?”
The scammer nonchalantly muttered and then spoke to me.
“Kang Nayeon, take the orb and head to the lake under the mountain.”
“What?”
The crowd surged towards us like a wave, and I clutched the orb tightly in both hands.
***
This passage is an excerpt of a longer work. It seems to follow the experiences of Kang Nayeon, a heroine whose actions and interactions with a mysterious orb lead to increasingly strange and unwanted attention. The tone mixes light-hearted humor and supernatural elements, with hints of larger plot twists yet to unfold.