"Oh! There it is!"
The club president lifted his head, brimming with excitement.
He looked like an overgrown dog spotting a giant toy, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
"…Wow. It’s amazing."
"Yeah. So pretty."
Amelia and Yu Siwoo gazed at the mountain in awe.
Pretty, huh?
But untouched nature… was actually pretty stunning.
…Well, “untouched” was a lie, technically.
There was a crime syndicate branch hidden in there, after all.
[This is gonna be fun… I’m so excited!]
"I really can’t wait. …Don’t you think?"
"Yeah! So excited!"
Were Academy students still just… students, at the end of the day?
They all seemed thrilled at the idea of skipping class to have fun at a mountain lodge.
Especially Amelia and Yu Siwoo.
Those two had been stuck together since earlier.
…What were they even doing?
"Amelia?"
"Hiiik?! O-oh, Arte! What’s up?"
"Nothing. …Just curious what you were doing."
"W-what?! N-no, nothing! S-sorry! I’ll step away!"
They’d looked so close I was smiling to myself—
But the second I spoke to Amelia, she jumped apart like she’d been caught.
…Ah. Right.
She was embarrassed!
"You don’t need to apologize."
If anything, *I* should be the one apologizing.
Ugh, maybe it’s because I’ve never been in a relationship.
I totally missed the pink vibes.
They were having a moment, and I barged in like an idiot.
I’d seen that exact scene in light novels a million times.
The male lead and female lead about to kiss—then some clueless third wheel ruins the mood, and they flusteredly pull away, waving their hands like, “It’s nothing!”
I’d always gotten so mad at the third wheel. *Why the hell would you interrupt that?!*
And now… I was that third wheel.
…I felt kinda bad.
Meanwhile, the president had already dashed ahead, full of energy.
Amelia and Yu Siwoo were whispering to each other again.
…Hmm. No one’s looking, so it should be fine.
I subtly moved a thread inside my choker.
"KEH?!"
"Ah, my bad. …You okay?"
"Keh, c-cough. I-I’m fine."
Ugh, still not used to this. I needed more practice.
The ability the author gave me was the Thread Extraction Ability—it let me manipulate the threads of any clothing I recognized as “clothes.”
The only condition was that I had to be wearing it.
I’d gotten so used to the ability that I could control it as naturally as moving my own limbs, but the advanced applications were still tricky.
Not that the applications were all that special.
As long as the mana in the threads didn’t run out, I could keep controlling them.
So if I loaded them up with mana beforehand, I could use pre-loosened threads like this.
…I’d tried making a whole bunch of thread bundles once, but the author shut that down.
He said if he removed the penalties to make the ability stronger, it’d just be broken—no different from a typical web novel protagonist.
Only time he ever drew a hard line.
…Well, whatever.
That was why pre-loosened threads were harder to handle.
I pulled too hard—now Lailah’s gasping like a dog on a leash.
If I’d misjudged the force, her head might’ve split in two.
Need to reflect on that.
Maybe I should practice before using it next time.
"Well then, Miss Lailah… may I ask a favor?"
"Uh, y-yeah. Got it."
I flashed her a smile, and as if she understood, she vanished.
…Good. The major variables are blocked off now.
Time to hear the story she’d kept buried so deep.
"Author-nim, don’t you think it’s about time you told me?"
[Hah, hahaha… Yes, I suppose now’s as good a time as any…!]
I was dying to know.
Even if I begged, Author-nim had refused to say a word.
Finally, I’d get to hear it.
She’d said she’d come up with an amazing setting!
Just how much had she grown?
Please let it be good.
[You see, the Weavermen’s motif is animals, right?]
"…Right?"
Since their concept was infusing animal traits to surpass humanity, that much was obvious.
[So, the executives should be famous animals! That’s what I decided!]
Author-nim laid it out like she’d just made some groundbreaking discovery.
She only just realized that…?
Weavermen executive… infused with the traits of a pygmy hog!
What the hell’s a pygmy hog, you weeb?
That’s the reaction readers would have.
But if it’s a famous animal? Way easier.
Weavermen executive… infused with the traits of a tiger!
See? Way more intuitive.
No explanation needed, and it sounds powerful.
No, wait.
Author-nim wasn’t done yet! You’re supposed to listen to the end!
I believe in you, Author-nim!
[But just using famous ones felt… lacking. What if they had symbolism? That’s what I thought!]
"Ooh, symbolism. Nice."
I barely stopped myself from cheering.
Right, our Author-nim’s just inexperienced.
But she can do it if she tries!
[Right?! So, super famous symbols—the zodiac! I decided to base the executives on the twelve signs! There are twelve of them!]
"…Huh?"
Splash.
It was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on the raging wildfire in my chest.
W-what did she just say?
…The zodiac? Twelve executives?
[Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig! Hehe, so much material!]
Ah.
Author-nim’s voice echoed in my ears, giggling about how much material she had.
Hadn’t I just told myself to listen to the end?
And I had.
She hadn’t grown at all.
"Uh, Author-nim… have you already put that in the setting…?"
[? Yes. I did.]
I barely swallowed the curse words rising in my throat.
Stay calm, Arte Isis. Stay calm.
Author is a pufferfish… Author is a pufferfish…
If I don’t want to die, I have to pet her, pet her!
"T-those twelve… do you have any idea how long it’ll take to introduce them all…?"
[Huh?]
"Even if we do three per episode, we’d need at least four whole episodes."
[…Wha?!]
"And if we take out three right at the start, the next three won’t have any tension at all?"
[···.]
"At first, if you only send out one or two at a time and then dump a whole bunch later, people will start talking about power inflation and all that. Can you even handle that…?"
I waited for a long time.
…No answer.
I forced myself to be patient and waited for the author. Finally, in a voice that sounded like it was crawling, they timidly countered me.
[B-But… wouldn’t it be okay if we just don’t have all twelve of them appear…?]
"You can’t just not introduce the executives of the antagonist faction. They’re major characters."
[Hii, hiiing….]
This is ridiculous.
How the hell am I supposed to fix this?
"Author-nim, what if we just pretend they never existed…?"
[But we’d have to erase all twelve of them… Hi, that’s too hard.]
Hah. Fine.
If the author can’t erase them, then there’s nothing I can do.
I’ll just have to work with the existing setting and make it fit somehow.
I cooled the heat rising in my head.
Pressuring the author any further wouldn’t do any good.
What if they drop the series?
The world can’t end like that.
"Then how many of them are in this mountain lodge?"
[Th-That… one executive and 200 subordinates…]
"…200? By the way, how many students does the Academy admit in a year?"
[…300.]
I didn’t even have the energy to get angry anymore.
One executive with 200 subordinates.
Considering that the more executives there are, the wider the disparity, the others are probably similar.
So twelve of them would be 2,400?
Even if every Academy student graduated and became villains all at once, it would take eight years?
That’s a setting error.
…There’s no choice. I really don’t want to, but…
I truly don’t, but I have to do it.
"Author-nim, can you prepare one school uniform for me?"
[Y-Yes…? A school uniform?]
"Yes. I think I’ll need one."
I didn’t want to use my ability excessively.
Using it in broad daylight was insane, and even at night, I was certain it would drive me out of my mind.
But fortunately, this was the mountains.
And not just any mountains—it was a place untouched by anyone except the Webermensch.
Giving a bunch of dead guys an eyeful wasn’t a big deal.
Dead men tell no tales, after all.
As long as the other club members who came with me didn’t notice, it would be fine.
"If I kill them all, it’ll be okay, right?"
[Y-You’re serious…?]
"Yes. I’ll find a way to make it work."
There were just too many villains…
Hmm, I could say they’re villains who fled from overseas and settled here.
They should’ve been fighting among themselves to reduce their numbers, but for some reason, they stopped and merged.
That’s how the Webermensch ended up with so many.
That should work as an explanation.
…It’s a really forced setting, but I had no choice.
How was I supposed to handle 2,400 people?
"Phew, tonight’s going to be busy."
I couldn’t kill all 201 of them, including the executive.
I had to leave some alive so they could ambush Yu Siwoo’s group.
…Maybe around fifteen would be enough?
It’s not Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves—it’s Arte and her 2,400 animals.
That’s way too many.
At this point, should I be called Editor-nim instead of Author-nim?
The thought suddenly crossed my mind.