"I found out which club Arte is joining."
Just before lunch ended, Yu Siwoo heard a voice calling him.
Amelia was rushing toward him.
"...Where?"
"Arte is planning to join the same club as you."
"What?"
"I don’t know why. But she’s definitely interested in you. Just like you said."
Yu Siwoo’s expression darkened.
What the hell had he done wrong?
Had he sold out his country in his past life?
"So I’ll ask you... where do you want to go?"
"Hmm. Maybe the fencing club? That seems safe."
"Fencing, huh. That might—"
...Something’s off.
It felt like the world had twisted for a moment.
Yu Siwoo sensed that something had changed.
But what?
He thought something was different, but maybe it was just his imagination.
Even though he hadn’t been attacked, his instincts were screaming at him.
Yu Siwoo decided to chalk it up to his mood.
Had he been under a lot of stress lately?
"No, how about the exploration club instead of fencing?"
"...Exploration?"
"Yeah. Her goal is the Academy’s hidden secret room... So the exploration club, which lets you roam the Academy, would be perfect."
"That sounds good. Let’s go with that."
"Great. Then let’s tell Arte."
It was unsettling, but he didn’t have much choice.
If he wanted to keep an eye on her, joining the same club was the way to go.
"We won’t need to look for Arte... She’ll show up soon enough."
"You sound so sure."
"You just experienced it too. She seems to know where we are. At the very least, she’s keeping us under surveillance."
"Hmm..."
"I was so nervous when I met her alone, but now I’m used to it."
Yu Siwoo couldn’t refute Amelia’s theory.
She had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of their conversation, after all.
Just as she said, they waited a moment—and sure enough.
Less than ten minutes later, she appeared.
"Oh, everyone. What are you doing here?"
"Ah, nothing much. We were just deciding which club to join."
"Hmm... Which one are you thinking of, Siwoo?"
"Same as me. We decided on the exploration club."
The corners of Arte’s lips curled into a smile.
She seemed pleased.
"That’s perfect. I was thinking of joining that one too. The three of us together!"
Amelia had said Arte was planning to join the same club as *him*.
So that was a lie.
She only said it after *he* expressed interest.
He felt like he was being toyed with.
But he didn’t have any other options.
The teachers would dismiss their claims as nonsense without evidence.
But if he just left her be?
An artifact capable of turning the world upside down would leak out.
That was something he had to prevent.
He had entered the Academy to become a hero who protected people.
The exploration club, which allowed them to move freely around the Academy under the guise of exploration, was the perfect choice.
He needed to find the secret room without her noticing.
Her watching him was an unavoidable cost, he supposed.
At least he had Amelia to share the burden with.
If I had been alone, the pressure might have driven me out of my mind.
"Then, shall we go submit our club application?"
"Sure, let’s go."
"Three new applicants?!"
The senior girl—presumably—was overflowing with excitement.
Was the fact that there were three applicants really that thrilling?
"Senior, where are the other club members?"
"Uh, that…"
She hesitated, unable to answer my question.
Got it. I can piece it together.
"Don’t worry too much. Even if there’s no one else, we’re still joining the club."
"Huh? How did you know?!"
"Hehe, it’s a secret."
"Amazing! Amazing! Tell me!"
[Is this cliché too overused?]
It’s nothing special.
A club on the verge of dissolution with no members.
The protagonist and their friends join it.
Thanks to the protagonist’s efforts, the club’s status skyrockets from rock bottom to the top in no time.
It’s a trope you see everywhere.
But I can’t exactly say, “Oh, I read it in a novel.”
I played it off with vague mystique, and the club president’s reaction was way too positive.
It felt good. Was this why people with good reactions were so popular?
"Ah, right… Uh, sorry, but our club has a little tradition!"
"A tradition?"
"Mhm. When you join, we hide a piece of paper in the clubroom, and you have to find it… It’s just for fun. You don’t have to if you don’t want to."
"Sounds fun. I’ll do it. What about you two?"
Yu Siwoo and Amelia nodded.
They seemed interested.
Maybe this was another contrivance the author added out of boredom?
Well, it *was* an exploration club. Finding hidden objects was a skill, or something like that.
The protagonist would find the hidden item in a flash, and then—*ta-da!*—get praised for it.
And naturally, they’d show off their ability while they were at it. That kind of thing, right?
So I jumped at the chance.
Judging by how nervous she looked, it probably wasn’t mandatory, but for the sake of the plot, I could handle this much.
[Heh, a treasure hunt! This’ll be fun.]
Unfortunately, it wasn’t what I expected.
Wait, seriously?
"Ah, can you close your eyes for a sec? I need to hide the paper."
[…? Reader, why do you look like that?]
Did she notice my face twisting in disbelief?
The author expressed doubt.
No, she just didn’t think at all.
I was the fool for expecting some kind of narrative device from the author.
"…Done. Okay, now you can look for it!"
Yu Siwoo and Amelia opened their eyes and started scanning the room.
The president beamed with confidence, clearly convinced it wouldn’t be easy to find.
"Heh, this’ll be tough to find!"
"Hmm, nothing looks different…"
Yu Siwoo and Amelia wandered around the clubroom, only to realize it was harder than they thought and began searching in earnest.
By the way, why was this place so spacious?
"The clubroom is pretty big, huh?"
"…We used to have a lot of members."
[Hmm, a classic setup. I like it.]
She was more focused on setting details than actual plot development.
How annoying.
"…I can’t find it. Yu Siwoo, how about you?"
"Sorry. I’m stuck too."
[Intuition can only sense physical threats right now! Of course you can’t find it!]
What are you doing.
In a situation like this, shouldn’t you obviously be making the protagonist look good?
"Can’t find them…"
The vice president, who had been so excited, began to hang their head in disappointment.
They seemed let down by their own inability to find the hidden items.
…Ah, this is hard to watch.
Well, I guess I have no choice.
"Hmm, is everyone’s training just lacking?"
"…Huh?"
"Here, here, and here. See? So easy, right?"
"Whoa! Amazing! Amazing! How did you do that?!"
"Hehe, it’s a secret."
I loosened a thread from my half-gloves and instantly pulled out the papers the vice president had hidden.
One under the mustache of a statue—why was it even there?
One wedged between the tightly packed books on a shelf.
And the last one tucked into the heel of the vice president’s shoe, sticking out slightly.
Three in total.
Let’s see what’s written on them.
"…Welcome to the Exploration Club?"
"Hehe, it’s like a hazing ritual. Our club always does a treasure hunt for new members."
Huh.
I’d been wondering what kind of setup the Exploration Club had. So that’s how it is.
[So that’s the setup…]
"I didn’t expect something like this."
[If I don’t set it up myself, it’ll default to a reasonable setup. And if I leave it alone, that’s how it’ll stay. …Well, maybe this is fine.]
"So, was it fun?"
"Yes, it was."
Leaving the vice president, who was still buzzing with excitement, I walked over to Yu Siwoo and Amelia.
"…? Why do you two look so gloomy?"
"How did you find them?"
"Huh?"
"Those tiny pieces of paper… how did you find them all so quickly…?"
"Ah, you mean that?"
Hmm, it’s not that hard of a trick.
It’s simple, really—so simple that only I could pull it off.
"It’s a secret. Hehe."
But I didn’t want to tell them.
Well, obviously.
I couldn’t exactly say, *Oh, I have thread extraction ability, so I saw everything the vice president hid even though my eyes were closed.*
They were over there so excited, and if I told them the trick, they’d probably…
Cry?
"To find them that easily…"
"I guess we’ll have to cancel the hidden camera operation."
"What?!"
Yu Siwoo was horrified.
…Wait, hidden camera?
"Why are you so shocked? What choice do we have? We need evidence."
"B-but that’s a crime…"
"Pfft, it’s fine. As long as we don’t get caught, right? And besides, you can’t afford to be picky in dangerous situations."
"…"
"Don’t worry. I said we’re canceling it. If she can find things this easily, she’d spot the cameras right away."
She wasn’t wrong.
If Arte really had dangerous intentions, we had to stop her by any means necessary.
…But hidden cameras?
It seemed Amelia truly wouldn’t hesitate to use any method available.
"How else can we find evidence… Kidnapping? No, she’d never let someone close get near her. Wiretapping? Hmm…"
I could feel cold sweat trickling down my cheek.
I’d thought Arte was the only dangerous one.
…Turns out, there was another dangerous person right next to me.