The Beggar Young Master of the Namgung Clan

Hwang Dong-jae looked at Namgung Il with a momentarily puzzled gaze.

'Does this brat have something to believe in?'

To the point where he had such a thought, Namgung Il looked quite confident.

If not, did he speak so ignorantly because he didn't know how difficult it was to get merit points?

Hwang Dong-jae still couldn't be sure of Namgung Il's intention.

"Are you scared?"

"...!"

"If you're scared, you don't have to accept it."

Who's scared of whom now?

When Namgung Il said that, Hwang Dong-jae's impression couldn't help but become fierce.

"Interesting... yes, tell me the details."

"It's a simple bet. If I don't get twenty merit points in five days from tomorrow, it's your victory. If I fail, it's my defeat."

"What can I get if I win?"

"I will kneel and apologize to you, senior, for being wrong."

It was a rather tempting proposal.

In the first place, Hwang Dong-jae's purpose was to make Namgung Il submit.

Although he had thought it would take quite a while until then, if he could make Namgung Il submit in five days, he could reduce that much effort.

'What should I do?'

Just by looking at the reward he would get, there was no particular reason to refuse.

Still, since Namgung Il's confident attitude kept bothering him, Hwang Dong-jae was thinking more carefully.

"Is this not enough?"

"...?"

"Then in addition to that, I will unconditionally obey whatever you say from now on."

Namgung Il additionally proposed.

'This... I have to accept it.'

As soon as he heard those words, Hwang Dong-jae immediately thought so in his heart.

Currently, the most prominent brat among the first-year students was, no matter what anyone said, Namgung Il.

But for that Namgung Il to not only submit to him but also to obey whatever he said.

Since he knew that Ak Simin was also very interested in Namgung Il, Hwang Dong-jae answered without thinking any further.

"Alright."

"..."

"Tell me your demand for when you win."

"It's simple. Don't do the act of gathering the first-year students from now on. In addition, the same goes for tonight and for five days."

It wasn't a promise that he couldn't keep.

Hwang Dong-jae's lips curled up even more than before, and he turned back.

"Then I'll see you in five days, Namgung Il."

Hwang Dong-jae, who was getting farther away with a laugh.

Soon, when his figure was no longer visible, Jeong Hyeon-yeong came to his senses and approached Namgung Il.

"A bet! Why did you do such a foolish thing?"

Moreover, the penalty for failing was only applied to Namgung Il.

If it was like this, wasn't it no different from Namgung Il taking all the blame for his own mistake?

Jeong Hyeon-yeong couldn't understand at all why Namgung Il had suddenly done such a thing.

"If I hadn't made a bet, Hwang Dong-jae would have gathered the first-year students tonight, no matter what."

"..."

"This is my own way of taking responsibility."

"Even so, why did you sacrifice only yourself? If so, including me..."

"You already knelt in front of Hwang Dong-jae. That's enough."

When Namgung Il said that, Jeong Hyeon-yeong could not say anything.

'I... I was misunderstanding Namgung Il.'

To be honest, Jeong Hyeon-yeong had thought that Namgung Il's first impression was very bad.

An unscheduled additional pass. Besides that, an egoist who acted as he pleased without caring about the eyes of others.

Since the Namgung Clan was also in the background, he had only thought that Namgung Il was a brat who acted as he pleased, trusting his family.

"..."

So this action of Namgung Il now brought considerable confusion to Jeong Hyeon-yeong.

Because the Namgung Il he had been thinking of until now was by no means a brat who would do such a thing.

But the him he had experienced directly was a very cool brat who fought confidently against injustice and even took responsibility for his actions.

"...Namgung Il, I think I've been misunderstanding you until now."

"What misunderstanding?"

"...No. Let's talk about that separately later."

It seemed like a story that should be shared over a drink.

Before that, for now, it was a priority to make sure that Namgung Il did not lose the bet.

"Namgung Il, still, the fact that you proposed a bet to Hwang Dong-jae must mean that you have some kind of thought, right?"

"..."

"I will also do my best to help you. So please tell me your plan for the future."

"I don't have one."

"...?"

When Namgung Il answered so confidently, Jeong Hyeon-yeong was momentarily at a loss for words.

Then did Namgung Il propose such a bet to Hwang Dong-jae without setting up any countermeasures?

Should he say this was reckless... no, it was just foolish.

"...You're not thinking of losing the bet, are you?"

"In this situation, I'll definitely lose."

"..."

"Then I'm going now."

"G-going! When it's not enough to put our heads together all night and come up with a countermeasure..."

"I have to go and meet my sister. I'll come up with a countermeasure after that."

Namgung Il said calmly and left the spot leisurely.

Jeong Hyeon-yeong, who was standing in his spot and looking at him blankly.

'...What on earth is he doing?'

He was a person who couldn't help but raise such a question.

* * *

The next afternoon.

The person Namgung Il first went to to come up with a countermeasure was Ak Simin.

"Take responsibility."

"...?"

"It's because of you, senior, that it became like this, so take responsibility."

When Namgung Il suddenly came to him and said that, Ak Simin was at a loss for words for a moment.

"...What do you want me to take responsibility for?"

"What are the ways to get twenty merit points within five days from now?"

"Merit points?"

Why on earth was Namgung Il asking him such a thing?

As Ak Simin was still sending a puzzled gaze, Namgung Il told him everything that had happened yesterday.

"What? You made such a bet with Hwang Dong-jae?"

"Yes."

"...Why do you cause so much trouble when not even a day has passed?"

Since Namgung Il had entered, there had not been a single quiet day.

Although it could be said that the main job of a class president was to handle the incidents and accidents within the class... this was almost like taking care of just one person, Namgung Il.

"When you think about it, the cause of this is all on you, senior."

"...?"

"Because of you, senior, I was late for class and got a demerit, and because of that, didn't Hwang Dong-jae find fault and threaten to gather the first-year students?"

"That's because you ran away... no."

Anyway, even if he said that to this brat, he wouldn't listen with even a corner of his ear.

Since Ak Simin already knew that well, he swallowed his words in the middle.

'Anyway, even if it wasn't for this incident, Hwang Dong-jae would have come out like this sooner or later.'

If he thought about it that way, it was just that a problem that would have burst anyway had just burst a little earlier.

Because he had also thought that he would have to have a showdown with Hwang Dong-jae someday.

Although the slightly uncomfortable thing was that the one who had set the stage was not him but Namgung Il... still, since the incident had already happened, it was meaningless to discuss that part.

"You said that if you win the bet, Hwang Dong-jae won't touch the first-year students in the future?"

"Yes."

"On the contrary, if you lose, you'll obey Hwang Dong-jae in the future?"

"Yes."

"...What on earth were you thinking when you accepted such a condition?"

"I didn't accept it, I proposed it first."

Hearing those words, Ak Simin's expression couldn't help but change.

To think that this bet was not proposed by Hwang Dong-jae first, but by Namgung Il first.

Although he had known that Namgung Il was an unpredictable brat, he had not thought that he would be so reckless.

"Do you have a brain or not!"

"Don't get so angry, senior."

"..."

"From your point of view, senior, isn't it better that Hwang Dong-jae can't touch the first-year students in the future?"

It wasn't wrong.

But Ak Simin did not want to take the risk of losing Namgung Il to Hwang Dong-jae for that.

"If you lose, you'll become Hwang Dong-jae's lackey. Do you know that?"

"I have no intention of losing."

"..."

"If you don't want to lose me to Hwang Dong-jae, you'll have to rack your brains hard on how to win the bet, senior."

He was a truly cunning brat.

He knew his own position well, and he knew how to use it skillfully.

"..."

Currently, there were two factions in the Vermilion Bird Class.

One was a faction centered on Ak Simin, and the other was a faction centered on Hwang Dong-jae.

What did not belong to either of those two factions yet was the first-year students.

Ak Simin wanted to recruit the first-year students and solidify his position within the Vermilion Bird Class even more.

Because it was much easier to recruit the first-year students who did not belong anywhere than to recruit the students who were already on the other side.

That was probably what Hwang Dong-jae was also thinking.

'It seems I've embraced a double-edged sword.'

It was inevitable that there would be a prominent figure in each grade.

And the person who could be said to be definitely prominent among the first-year students this year was Namgung Il.

Although his origin as a Namgung Clan member played a part, the prestige that emanated from the person Namgung Il himself was clearly different from the other first-year students.

In other words, it meant that if he recruited Namgung Il to his side, he could draw most of the first-year students to this side.

Since it seemed there were already brats who were following Namgung Il, if his guess was right, it seemed highly likely that Namgung Il would become the central figure of the first-year students in the future.

"...I've never seen a tiring junior like you."

"That's my charm."

"I shouldn't have shaken hands with you at that time."

"I'm a little hurt. I like you, Senior Ak."

"You're good with words."

Ak Simin said and sighed. And he said to Namgung Il, looking at him with a rather serious gaze.

"Since we're already in the same boat, it can't be helped. I'll help you."

"I love you, senior."

He's a junior who you really can't hate.

Ak Simin took a deep breath and asked Namgung Il.

"You said you need twenty merit points?"

"Yes."

"To be honest, it's almost impossible to get twenty merit points in five days."

Merit and demerit points were a kind of power that could be said to be the privilege of the teachers.

A power that could make the students sway more to their own will.

Since the teachers were all aware that it was a great power, they did not abuse merit or demerit points on the students.

"I've also gotten twenty points at most at once until now. So you know how difficult it is to get merit points, right?"

"Isn't it because you didn't have the knack, senior?"

"...Do you want to die?"

"Rather than that, how about we go and see our class head teacher? That teacher seems like he would give me a pretty generous score."

Ho Jeong-won had shown considerable favor to Namgung Il from the time of the entrance exam.

Besides that, since he was a student of the class he was in charge of, wouldn't he give a more generous score than the other teachers?

When Namgung Il asked, Ak Simin answered right away, as if he had known he would.

"There's something you're mistaken about. On the contrary, it's more difficult to get a score from the class head teacher of the same class."

"Why?"

"Think about it. Let's say our class head gave you a score, what would the other people think?"

"Hmm... I understand what you mean."

Merit and demerit points are scores that affect the entire class, not an individual.

So the standard for giving a score to a student of the class one is in charge of is bound to be stricter.

Because they would usually suspect that he had given the score to make his own class win.

Unless there was a just cause that could quell such suspicions, it was common not to give a score.

"Then what should I do?"

"..."

When Namgung Il asked, Ak Simin maintained his silence for a moment and was lost in thought.

"...There might be one way."

"...?"

"Besides getting it from a teacher, there's a way to get merit points. Do you know that?"

As he was saying that, an inexplicable tension was felt on Ak Simin's face.

(End of Chapter)