Chapter 42: Newspaper Club Part 3

‘…Why am I even doing this?’

On the smartphone screen, the blonde magical girl Ruri was beaming brightly, exclaiming, “Dameyo~☆.”

Seo Yuna pondered once again.

The reason she was doing this.

The reason she decided to take part in this humiliating operation.

In the end, it was all because of Kim Dohyun.

She owed him a lot.

He had blocked a ball for her during PE.

He had helped her study during exam season.

He had punched a thug who was making crude jokes.

She had never asked for his help, but Kim Dohyun always acted on his own.

Almost naturally.

But this time, the situation was reversed.

For the first time, Kim Dohyun had asked her for help.

And she couldn’t refuse.

Of course, at first, she had absolutely no desire to do this ridiculous thing.

But then Choi Dabin got involved—

And instinctively, she felt annoyed.

The fact that they had gone to the Mochi-kun plushie store without her.

The way they had grown closer through the library club.

…So, before she knew it, she had blurted out, “I’ll just do it.”

And that’s how Seo Yuna ended up practicing a magical girl voice.

“…Dameyo.”

“Ooooh~! Nice, nice!”

Jinyoung clapped enthusiastically.

“One more time! A bit cuter!”

“…Do I really have to do this?”

Seo Yuna let out a sigh deep enough to sink into the ground.

But there was no turning back now.

Kim Dohyun was looking at her with pleading eyes.

“Ha…”

And so, Seo Yuna decided to go along with this madness.

***

After school.

After club activities had ended.

Seo Yuna was quietly hiding near the newspaper clubroom.

‘I’ve already decided to help. Let’s just get this over with quickly.’

She lightly stretched her wrists and carefully observed her surroundings.

Cautiously.

One by one, the newspaper club members were leaving the room.

Soon, only Oh Deokhan would be left inside.

Since he was always the one who locked the door, this was the perfect timing.

Jinyoung whispered in a hushed voice, “Ready?”

Seo Yuna let out a short sigh.

Then, with a determined expression, she nodded.

Knock, knock.

After knocking, she slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

Oh Deokhan was closing his laptop and packing his bag.

When he saw her, he adjusted his glasses with a puzzled expression.

Seo Yuna took a deep breath and recalled the lines she had practiced.

And then—

“Ekkyun~! Oh Deokhan sunbaenim~!”

She spoke as brightly and cutely as possible.

With her hands slightly clasped together and eyes sparkling.

This should be perfect.

Or so she thought.

Oh Deokhan stared at her in silence.

Then, he frowned and said, “Are you insane?”

“…Huh?”

“You should go to the hospital. I never expected to find a lunatic at Hanbit Academy.”

For a moment, her mind went blank.

This was not the reaction she had expected.

Even Seo Yuna had to admit that she looked strikingly similar to the character Ruri.

Swallowing her frustration, she forced herself to maintain her expression.

And spoke again, this time even cuter.

“Ah, no~! I was just…!”

But Oh Deokhan still looked like he had bitten into something rotten.

“I only care about 2D.”

He slung his bag over his shoulder and gave her a cold look.

“It’s unfortunate for you, really.”

At that moment, Seo Yuna made up her mind.

She was going to kill Jinyoung and Kim Dohyun for coming up with this insane plan.

Failure.

This crazy mission was a complete failure.

Oh Deokhan was the real deal.

This guy was a true otaku.

Her mental state was crumbling.

If this continued, the plan would be ruined.

Then—

She felt something small in her pocket.

The magical girl Ruri keychain that Jinyoung had told her to bring ‘just in case.’

‘…Could this actually work?’

She hesitated, but there was no other choice.

Seo Yuna quietly pulled the Ruri keychain out of her bag.

And in that moment—

“Ooooh…!”

Oh Deokhan’s reaction changed.

“That…! That’s the Magical Girl Ruri keychain, isn’t it?!”

His eyes transformed instantly.

Gone was the condescending look he had given her earlier.

Now, his gaze was filled with pure admiration, the kind only a true otaku could have.

Seo Yuna let out a silent sigh of relief and switched back into performance mode.

“E-Ehet~! Sunbaenim, do you like Ruri too?”

“I am Ruri’s true disciple and protector…!!”

Success.

Seo Yuna exhaled in relief.

And she was certain.

This keychain was the key to the entire mission.

She subtly waved the Ruri keychain.

Oh Deokhan’s head unconsciously followed its movement.

Seo Yuna spoke smoothly, “Oh, by the way~ I found this keychain near the school! There were a bunch of them on the ground.”

“…What?! Who would dare leave such a sacred treasure on the ground?!”

Oh Deokhan’s reaction exploded.

His glasses glinted sharply as he clenched his fists.

His hands trembled with rage.

“This is an unforgivable insult to Ruri!!”

He looked ready to hunt down the culprit right then and there.

Seo Yuna suppressed a smirk and added, “I found it in the first-floor flower bed…”

At that moment—

“We must rescue Ruri immediately!!!”

Oh Deokhan bolted out of the room, not even bothering to grab his bag or laptop.

And he was sprinting at full speed.

Seo Yuna couldn’t help but feel a bit offended.

She had just lost to a 2D character.

‘Well, at least the mission was a success.’

Jinyoung and Kim Dohyun were waiting outside.

When they saw Oh Deokhan dashing away like a madman, they flashed her a thumbs-up.

At the same time, they quickly slipped into the newspaper clubroom.

Jinyoung rushed to Oh Deokhan’s abandoned laptop.

“Shit, it’s password-protected.”

Taking a deep breath, he started thinking about Oh Deokhan’s favorite anime characters.

First Attempt – ‘Ruri’

X Failure.

“This isn’t working.”

Jinyoung whispered beside me.

“Real otakus don’t use passwords that simple.”

He sighed and tried again.

Second Attempt – ‘MoeMoekyuu’

X Failure.

I had a feeling it wouldn’t work, but I tried anyway.

No luck.

Just then, Jinyoung nudged me.

“Hey, Ruri’s birthday is July 23rd. Try that.”

Third Attempt – ‘0723’
□ Success.

I silently looked at Jinyoung.

He looked back at me, pressing his lips together before letting out a small smirk.

‘…This guy is the real deal.’

We both thought the same thing at the same time.

Quickly, I moved the mouse and began deleting files.

Everything had to go.

A screen full of files related to Kim Dohyun, collected by the newspaper club, appeared before us.

Taking a deep breath, I decisively clicked ‘Delete.’

“Goodbye!”

***

A few minutes later, the job was done.

We immediately closed the laptop and stood up.

Jinyoung quickly opened the door and called to me.

“Let’s go! That otaku freak is gonna be back any second.”

We quietly slipped out of the newspaper clubroom.

At that moment, from down the hallway, we heard Oh Deokhan’s desperate cry.

“WHO DARED TO THROW RURI ON THE GROUND?!!!”

I didn’t look back.

Instead, I gave Seo Yuna a quick glance.

She nodded with a look that said, ‘We’re done now, right?’

I nodded back.

Mission accomplished.

Now all that was left was to get out of here.

Without hesitation, we rushed out of the academy.

We ran through the hallways and past the front gate, making sure no one was following us.

Finally, we could catch our breath.

Jinyoung, panting, spoke between gasps.

“Wow… Shit, that was insane. Felt like we were in a spy movie.”

I straightened up, still catching my breath.

And then—

I made eye contact with Seo Yuna, who was glaring at me coldly.

Thud.

Her fist lightly struck my side.

She didn’t hit me hard, but her message was crystal clear.

In a low voice, she muttered, “…Never ask me to do something like this again.”

“…Got it.”

Honestly, the one who had suffered the most in this mission was undoubtedly Seo Yuna.

Scratching my head, I spoke.

“Anyway, thanks for helping out, guys. I’ll treat you all to a meal today.”

Jinyoung’s eyes lit up.

“What? For real? Then let’s go get some meat!”

Seo Yuna sighed, clearly exhausted, but still followed along without complaint.

And so, we headed to a nearby restaurant.

***

At the barbecue restaurant, the four of us took our seats.

Looking through the menu, we placed our order.

“Five servings of pork belly, please.”

When it comes to barbecue, it’s best to order plenty from the start.

Hesitating and adding one serving at a time? That’s just bad manners.

Jinyoung excitedly placed the meat on the grill.

The sizzling sound filled the air, and I finally felt my tension ease.

‘Hah… At least we erased everything.’

Jinyoung flipped the meat over, grinning in victory.

“Man, today was like a freaking movie! What if we end up on a wanted list?”

I chuckled.

“How would they even find out? There’s no evidence.”

Seo Yuna spoke quietly.

“Are you sure the files are all gone?”

I swallowed a bite of meat and nodded.

“Yeah. We wiped everything.”

She nodded back.

“Hmm. Then we’re good.”

At that moment, I truly believed it was over.

We were just going to enjoy our grilled pork belly and call it a day.

But then—

Choi Dabin quietly spoke up.

“But what if the newspaper club backed up the files to the cloud?”

For a second, my hand froze, chopsticks hovering midair.

Jinyoung also turned to look at Choi Dabin, his face dropping.

And then it hit me.

…She was right.

There was no way those files had only been stored locally.

A guy like Oh Deokhan would definitely have backed them up to the cloud.

A cold sweat ran down my spine.

‘Shit. If they really saved it to the cloud…’

Seo Yuna muttered, “Then everything we just did was pointless.”

“…”

Damn it.

We hadn’t thought of that.