Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 10: Circle (2)

One day until the episode starts.

I pushed down my annoyance and finally got up and started getting ready to go out.

Today I was going to go see the members of the club as I had planned yesterday.

The club meets every Thursday at 2:30 in the school’s club room.

If the schedule hasn’t changed since I dropped out, I should be able to meet them today.

But first, I had a few things to check.

[An unspecified number of people have become aware of your actions.]

[Awareness was added, but settlement was partially suspended.]

[Your awareness has increased significantly!]

The awareness gains showed no signs of stopping today.

News is still being made, conspiracy theories are being created, and the community is still talking about it.

That way, the more people are interested in what I solved, the stronger my story becomes.

—

[Text Thief]

Tags: #stealth action, #text adventure

Awareness Rating: C+ (B+)

Skill Level: Lv. 3

—

The number of people who learned of the incident while I was asleep has increased, and my withheld recognition rating has risen.

As soon as it’s settled, I’ll be on the same level as some of the most famous creators.

How high is this going to go?

This is getting scary.

I haven’t actually watched any news yet because I’m not sure what’s being said.

……But I’ll watch it.

If something was going to happen, I’m sure she would have told me first.

I googled the relevant keywords on my phone and watched the video at the top.

[Amid growing calls for a closer investigation, police said they were having difficulty determining what happened due to a problem with all the CCTV cameras in the area.]

[Netizens are reacting to the incident with comments such as “this is outrageous” and “they are deliberately covering it up.”…….]

They were more similar to what happened to me but only my case has gotten more attention.

Unlike other news stories, it’s not just about superpowers and crimes ‘happening’.

Maybe it’s because it was also reported that the problem was solved by someone else.

It’s a great story to get people talking but the recognition that has been calculated and given me strength is less than a tenth of that.

In order to get that recognition, I had to make sure people knew who was behind the story.

I have no idea how or when to do that.

“It’s …….”

That was all I needed to know.

I rushed to finalize my preparations and organize the contents of my inventory in order to arrive on time.

Just as I’m about to open the door to make it in time for the bus to arrive.

-Ding.

I was halfway through the door when I bumped into something and the door didn’t slide open properly.

Something is in front of the door, blocking it …….

A package?

I peeked my head through the gap to see what was blocking the door.

As expected, it was a package from Seol Do-yeon.

If it hadn’t come today, it would have been delayed for a while, so thank goodness.

—

[Cyborg Mask]

#armor #disguise #cyberpunk #future

—

When I opened the package and cut through the tape with a razor knife, I saw a black mask with no proper packaging.

I took the mask out of the box and held it to my face, and it reshaped and molded itself to my face.

No vision distortion. No weight.

I could even turn a dial on the side of the mask to change its appearance to show just my eyes, or just the lower part of my face.

‘It certainly lives up to its cyberpunk name.’

I put the mask back in the box and headed out the door.

I don’t need it today, but it will come in handy tomorrow.

* * *

In a club I once belonged to, I was the ‘screenwriter’.

I wasn’t interested in making games, I was more interested in getting out of the club and graduating.

I was semi-forced into the club because a senior I was close to in freshman year threatened me to join because he was going to start a club.

It was a shame that there were only 11 people in the club, and I didn’t have to learn any expertise because I was taken care of.

Regardless, I worked hard until I finished the game, and as a result, I fulfilled the requirements for the story to be awakened.

Then, after a few updates and revisions after the game was released, I left the club with unilateral notice.

I made the game and finished it, so there’s no problem. It’s not a company, so I’m free to leave.

However, since then, I’ve never been able to have a proper conversation with the club president.

The only thing that didn’t go wrong was running the club.

Even if the club remains, our relationship is bound to change.

I hope we can reconcile today while I’m there.

* * *

Current time: 2:37.

A meeting is in full swing in the club room.

I was planning to just take a quick look at the president and leave when I was done but I don’t know how long the meeting will be.

If there are no big plans right now, it’ll be over quickly, but if there’s a big update or a plan for the next game, it could take an hour.

I’ll have to wait outside, but oh well.

…but I don’t mind eavesdropping, do I?

It’s not like I’m a complete outsider to the club.

[Your story begins.]

[You can easily overhear conversations around you.]

I pressed my ear to the closed door and focused on the voices inside.

I couldn’t make out all the details of the conversation, but I could hear several familiar voices overlapping.

There was a lot of laughter and chatter, which is unusual for a meeting.

‘Are they already chatting after the meeting?’

Maybe, but probably not.

It’s time to think about the next project, and the meeting has just started.

Plus, let’s be honest…….

The majority of the members are not very talkative, so it’s unlikely that they’re just chatting.

So what are they talking about?

My curiosity was piqued.

No one was walking by, so I held my breath and listened a little closer to the sound on the other side of the door, and then-!

Kwaaang!!!

At that moment, a loud crash echoed down the hallway as something slammed into the door from the other side.

It left a slight dent in the metal door I had my ear pressed against.

After making sure no one was in the hallway and around me, I knocked on the door of the club room.

“Oh, I’m sorry!!”

“Hey, what are we going to do about the dented door?”

“Shut up……!!! If you don’t say anything, we can get away with it, just keep it down so that they can’t hear you outside…!”

I can clearly hear the voices of the club president and a member whose name I can’t remember, standing just beyond the doorway.

I got the gist of what was going on.

The president had an accident while showing a story.

……What did she want to show?

Anyway, the meeting continued in silence after that.

The conversation I overheard was exactly what I expected, and there was no sign of the meeting getting long.

Before the meeting ended, I took a seat near the club room and waited for everyone to leave.

They’d have to come in front of me to get down to the first floor anyway.

“Good job-”

As the meeting ended, I heard several members’ voices overlap and the door opened.

There wasn’t any additional recruitment, and every single person who came out was a familiar face.

“Huh? Seon-woo?”

Then, the man who was about to walk down the stairs stretched and recognized me.

It was senior Kang Hyunseok, who had called me yesterday.

“What’s up with you? I thought you finished your exam early.”

“Eh, Seon-woo. Didn’t you say you left the club?”

“What? You left the club?”

“That came up in a meeting two weeks ago. Didn’t you hear then?”

“He was in a different field, so he only attended meetings sporadically…….”

Only three people approached me, including senior Kang Hyunseok.

The rest recognized me, but because we were unfamiliar with each other, they just passed by.

Yeah, it’s better than having to deal with awkward people.

“I just came to take care of business, see how you’re doing.”

“Oh, she told you to come over so she could show you a story or something?”

“What? Uh, yeah. Yeah.”

It’s a lie.

I could have made an appointment over the phone, but it was awkward, so I just walked in.

As it turns out, it was more of an awakening story than a meeting.

“I was surprised. I knew you had some sort of superpower since yesterday, but I never thought someone like that would appear right next to me.”

“Stories? That’s what they call them. I read on social media that they happen when you make something.”

“What? Then why aren’t we getting one? Is it because they only have one creator?”

From their reactions, it seemed that no one but me and the president had awakened the story.

I guess the criteria for story awakening is what I know.

Still, I expected one or two more people.

“Seon-woo, did you hear about the incident at the stadium? I was too scared to leave.”

“Oh… yeah. I think I saw it on the news…….”

“Isn’t it interesting? They said that someone intervened and solved it, but there are no more clues!”

“Haha…….”

I decided to hold my tongue.

I just wanted this topic to end as soon as possible.

…By the way, how come none of the people from the club room seem to be the ones I’m looking for?

“Then why isn’t she coming out? I’ve been waiting to say hello since earlier.”

“She told us to go ahead of her because she had to clean up. Doesn’t she do that sometimes?”

“Oh, did she do that today?”

“Yeah, well, she’s been looking a little under the weather lately, so maybe she’s taking a break.”

Another excuse.

The president would often send the members back first, saying she was going to organize, and then stay in the club room alone.

But not many people know what exactly she does there.

If it’s for the same reason I suspect, she won’t be offended if I just walk in.

“Well, I’m going to go in then.”

“Okay, I’ll see you next year. It was nice meeting you!”

Kang Hyunseok waved to me as he left, and the other two nodded lightly behind him.

They soon descended the stairs, continuing their conversation.

As they walked away, I was left standing in the empty hallway, with the club president standing just beyond the door.

Just, you know, business as usual.

I checked to make sure the members weren’t coming back, and then swung open the door to the club room without knocking, as I usually do.

In the center is a table and chairs for up to eight people. On either side were cluttered personal lockers and bookshelves, and a plush couch by the window.

The club room was dark with blind curtains, but the layout was familiar.

“……? Did someone forget something?”

The person sitting on the couch looking at her phone in the dark room looked back at me.

The only person left in the room was the club president.

I pressed the light switch to turn on the lights and walked into the club room.

“…Seon-woo?”

“Hi.”

Our eyes met.

I slowly walked over to her while the president sat down and tied her hair.

I wondered what I should call her.

Should I call her by her usual friendly name?

Calling her ‘senior’ would feel like I was drawing a line in the sand, since I’ve never done that before.

…Maybe I should just call her by her usual name.

“Sis, it’s been a while.”

“……Yes, it’s been a while.”

“Should I have come to see you?”

“No, no, no, no, it’s okay, yeah.”

Lee Seorin, club president, a person I met again after a month when we had a bad conversation.

[She is a person who contributed to your story.]

[When accompanied by her, the proficiency level of ‘Text Thief’ temporarily increases by 1.]

“……I was going to call you anyway.”

Today, I intend to reconcile with my sister, at least a little.