“What are you saying, Juno? It’s your fault?”

The woman who had been scolding Adrian turned to look at me. Adrian also looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“When Thompson’s gang tried to push me into the pool, I should have stayed quiet, but I provoked them.”

“What? They deliberately tried to push you in?”

“And when they didn’t like me and threatened me with a gun, I should have stayed still. But I ended up provoking Thompson.”

“G-gun?!”

“And when they were belittling me, saying I was far inferior to my brother, I should have endured it. Adrian only defended me and saved me from Thompson’s gang. I should have stopped him then too. In the end, even that scene ended up provoking Thompson’s gang.”

“What… What are you talking about? Explain so I can understand.”

Teacher Gina’s expression fluctuated violently at my calm words.

Oh my God, she sighed lowly, seeming to assume the worst without me having to say more details.

Adrian also looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. He must be confused and perplexed by the mix of truth, instigation, and fabrication on a base of truth.

But my dry expression was just a build-up.

I quietly took a breath, preparing to drop a bomb on Teacher Gina’s pitiful face. Then, as if I couldn’t hold it in any longer, I said in a trembling voice.

“It must be a common occurrence for Thompson’s gang to bully kids. As natural as breathing. What Thompson’s gang said is right. They said I’m a useless child who shouldn’t exist in this world. I deserve to be bullied. I’m an inferior being compared to my brother.”

“Juno. How can you say such things?”

“…I hate myself. I’m my parents’ failure, Teacher! I want to disappear from this world, waaah!!”

I pretended to be overcome with emotion, sobbing and covering my face with my hands.

And while wailing and crying loudly enough to make my nose red, I peeked at Teacher Gina through the gaps in my fingers.

As expected, Teacher Gina’s face was a sight to behold.

The expression of Teacher Gina, an American proud to her bones with ‘Love Yourself’ as her life motto and sensitive to children’s mental health as the school nurse, crumbled.

She was shocked at the numerous instances of school violence, the true face of Thompson’s gang, and the mentally broken, pitiful female student before her.

Teacher Gina grabbed my shoulders and spoke haltingly.

“…No, no, that’s not true! Juno, you did nothing wrong. Adrian, now that I hear this, it seems you did what you had to do. You were protecting Juno. I had no idea. I’ll talk to the principal about this as much as I can, so you two can go now!”

Then she knelt in front of me, meeting my gaze.

Her blue eyes wavered with sympathy for me and regret for only now understanding the situation.

“You’re the most lovable child, Juno. Never call yourself a failure! If anything happens, make sure to come to me.”

“Oh, of course. Thank you, Teacher.”

I expressed my gratitude, dramatically reaching out my hand.

And Adrian, sitting next to me, looked at me as if bewildered.

“I really… didn’t know you had such a talent, Juno.”

Adrian said, looking at me with a mixture of admiration on his face.

“You should join the drama club.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

I sniffled, leaving the principal’s office after my overheated crying performance. Adrian followed closely behind me.

The word ‘closely’ might not suit someone over 6 feet tall, but anyway.

Adrian, who had been gloomy in the staff room as if disappointed in himself, smiled brightly in front of me.

“It’s thanks to you. If it weren’t for you, I might have been called to the principal’s office too. Then it would have reached my parents’ ears… I’d rather pass on that. You acted in front of Teacher Gina because of me, right?”

“Well, that’s true, but I also gained something thanks to you freezing the football team guys. So let’s call it even, we did each other a favor.”

“Gained something?”

Adrian tilted his head.

I walked, trailing him like a tail, lost in thought.

Anyway, thanks to Adrian freezing all the football team members who were beating up kids in that secluded pool, our school’s dungeon team became a bit more comfortable.

As a result, only Adrian and I remained on our team.

‘But McQueen, that bastard slipped away by himself?’

Clearly, Teacher Gina said, “All of you who were there when Adrian froze the mansion, come along!” but Victor McQueen managed to slip out of that incident.

Apparently, if he gets called out one more time, he’ll be in big trouble.

‘What an unpleasant guy. Just wait till I catch you.’

I led Adrian out of the school building. The vast grassy field came into view. I had come out to catch Victor McQueen and give him a piece of my mind.

But then,

Thud thud thud thud thud―

“Ugh?”

A strong wind blew from afar, causing the grassy field to ripple in blue waves. Adrian and I frowned at the fierce wind and the sound of machinery cutting through the air.

“What? What is this……”

The wind grew stronger. My red hair fluttered wildly, and through my hazy vision, I could see a large piece of metal landing on the field.

“This f***ing……”

The curse came out involuntarily.

Adrian asked what ‘michin’ meant beside me, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to answer.

A black helicopter had landed in the middle of the field.

And a man hopped out.

A man wearing black Boeing sunglasses, a beret, and a military uniform.

I could tell at a glance.

He was the awakened soldier assigned to our school.

The man’s name was Benjamin. Benjamin Trumpets.

Mr. Benjamin greeted us, revealing his snow-white teeth.

“I’m Benjamin Trumpets, an officer from the United States Special Forces. Nice to meet you. I’ve been assigned here because the Special Forces are in charge of closing the gate.”

The American soldier I had imagined was burly with a square jaw and intimidating shoulders.

However, the first American soldier I met, Mr. Benjamin, was closer to a handsome young man with curly brown hair and a charming smile.

Of course, he must have been over thirty.

He suddenly appeared on the school field by helicopter and was a Special Forces officer assigned to our school to close the gate.

I alternately looked at Mr. Benjamin, who was smiling as if painted, and the black helicopter behind him.

‘Setting aside the helicopter entrance, is this face also a drama effect? He’s incredibly handsome.’

Honestly, arriving by helicopter while leaving a perfectly good car behind isn’t really something to just brush off, but… anyway, isn’t this a drama? I could let this level of production slide.

‘By the way, I hope the genre isn’t changing to a military drama.’

Teacher Gina must have seen the commotion on the field, as she immediately ran out of the staff room and approached the three of us.

“Oh, Mr. Trumpets! I’ve already heard the news.”

“That’s right. You must be Teacher Gina.”

Teacher Gina seemed to already know about the officer assigned to our school. Mr. Benjamin’s green eyes curved as he smiled prettily.

“Children, say hello. This is Officer Trumpets, who will be commanding our school’s dungeon team.”

“Hello.”

Mr. Benjamin looked at the two of us and tilted his head.

“But the number of student awakeners is significantly less than what I heard before. Are these two students all?”

“Ah, about that……”

The half-dozen or so F-class football team members who were suspended left only Adrian and me among the awakeners who had gathered in the gym earlier.

When Teacher Gina briefly explained last night’s events, concern crept into Mr. Benjamin’s face.

“I see. Only two awakeners. It’s significantly fewer than other schools, but with two upper-class students, I’ll do my best to lead this elite small group.”

“It’s not two people.”

“Hm?”

At my words, Mr. Benjamin turned his head to look at me.

“There’s one more awakener besides the kids who came to the gym.”

Victor McQueen had completely skipped out on the awakener recruitment that took place in the gym last time.

From what I heard, the teachers already knew he was an awakener, but he had been dodging around using football games as an excuse and didn’t even show up at the gym.

‘Then the other football awakener Charlie mentioned before must have been Victor.’

Victor seemed to have been running away from Teacher Gina’s grasp using football practice time as an excuse, but not only Teacher Gina, I needed Victor too.

More precisely, I needed an upper-class awakener who could be helpful in the dungeon.

And Victor McQueen was an S-class awakener.

Though the teachers didn’t seem to know his exact grade.

‘Now that I know your grade, I can’t let you slip away alone.’

In front of Mr. Benjamin and Teacher Gina, I added that Victor McQueen was an awakener and ‘probably’ A-class or higher.

It would be nonsensical for me to know Victor’s exact grade, so I pretended to be guessing, saying things like “I saw him use his skills and it seems similar to mine.”

At my words, Teacher Gina was delighted to hear news of an upper-class awakener and went to catch Victor.

Mr. Trumpets, who had been treating us kindly, had other business at the school.

He said he came to promote the U.S. military to high school students. These days, with gates opening and things being unsettled in many ways, the number of people quitting the military because of the gates has increased.

‘That means the helicopter entrance was also a kind of performance.’

He entered the school building excitedly, wearing his stylish sunglasses.

And soon after, it was lunchtime.

As soon as class ended, I went to the cafeteria, roughly put pancakes, an omelet, and apple juice on a round plate, and sat down at a long table.

I was about to cut the cold pancakes and dip them in syrup.

Clack clack―

The sound of high heels hitting the floor echoed from somewhere.