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Chapter 72: The Dignity of the Main Heroine

The reason I appeared as Vikamon was simple.

First, I could not disguise myself as a member of the academy and participate in the boycott.

This was the biggest obstacle.

Disguising myself as someone already known was something Hannon had already done.

Given the prior trouble with Hannon, I couldn’t afford the risk of disguising myself as someone else again.

Thus, I needed someone who knew about Zerion Academy but wasn’t currently a student.

Vikamon was the perfect choice since, aside from his looks, he was insignificant.

Moreover, he had no deep personal relationships, so even if rumors spread about Vikamon’s reappearance, it wouldn’t make much of an impact.

He was a man who had been expelled from both Zerion Academy and his family.

In a place filled with nobles who valued status and ability, no one would care about Vikamon.

As sad as it sounds, Vikamon was just that insignificant.

Second, my original disguise as Hannon is tied to the student council.

Hannon still needed a legitimate reason to remain in the student council.

I could try to place him as a spy, but with only two people participating in the boycott, such a role felt meaningless.

If the scale grew larger, it might be different, but for now, the spy role held little value.

Third, Vikamon’s participation in the boycott made sense to its members.

Vikamon wasn’t a random, unrelatable figure.

He was someone expelled from Zerion Academy.

Naturally, he knew about the internal affairs and held resentment toward the academy.

Moreover, it was plausible that Vikamon, angered by Nikita’s death, would infiltrate Zerion Academy.

Most importantly, there was no risk in disguising myself as him.

In my judgment, Vikamon was the most usable option.

And this decision led to an entirely unexpected outcome.

On the third floor of an abandoned building.

In the chemistry lab.

I was frozen in place as I faced Isabel.

Isabel’s gaze quietly scanned Aerin and Rojamin.

The two of them were also frozen in place at Isabel’s sudden appearance.

Isabel’s eyes turned back to me.

The moment our eyes met, I quickly opened my mouth.

“Isabel Luna, it’s been a while.”

“Oh, uh, yes, it has.”

Isabel replied with a subtle expression.

Damn.

That reaction—she knows I’m Hannon.

‘Or maybe not? I’m supposed to be Vikamon, so this is technically another lie, isn’t it?’

Before things could get more complicated, I stepped forward.

Taking advantage of everyone’s shock, I grabbed Isabel’s wrist and pulled her outside.

“Wait, you!”

Isabel protested as I pulled her along, but I ignored her.

Once we entered another empty classroom, I finally let her go.

Isabel held the wrist I had grabbed with her other hand.

Maybe I pulled her too hard.

But I didn’t have time to apologize.

“Isabel, why are you here?”

At my question, Isabel flinched.

It was obvious there was no reason for Isabel to be in the abandoned building.

She fidgeted awkwardly and avoided my gaze.

As expected, that reaction confirmed she knew I was Hannon.

I stopped speaking like Vikamon.

“...Don’t tell me you followed me here?”

“W-Wait, I just—! You were going somewhere suspicious, so I thought you’d do something weird again and followed you to keep an eye on you!”

I stared at her, dumbfounded.

So basically...

Isabel was stalking me?

To think I would gain a stalker one day.

First Assistant Professor Barkov, and now Isabel.

My head ached.

Isabel seemed to spend far more time watching me than I thought.

‘At this rate…’

Whatever I did, the odds of Isabel catching me in the act were high.

“I didn’t think you were the type to do something so sneaky.”

“S-Sneaky? I was just—!”

Isabel trailed off, unable to finish, as if even she felt guilty.

But then she furrowed her brows as if something had occurred to her.

“And who are you to talk about sneaky behavior? ‘Down with the student council?’ You’re part of the student council yourself!”

Isabel proudly declared that she had every right to keep an eye on me.

How audacious of a stalker to act so righteous.

What an unfair world.

“And in that disguise, no less.”

Isabel gazed at my face with a conflicted expression.

Vikamon had bullied Lucas in the past.

Although Vikamon eventually repented, he was still someone Isabel disliked.

Isabel’s expression turned curious.

“How do you even know that person…?”

“I think I have plenty of reasons to resent the student council.”

I cut her off before she could ask more questions.

Isabel hesitated.

She also knew I had been close to Nikita.

Nikita, whom I respected, had died.

It was only natural for me to be furious at someone.

Isabel didn’t know that I had saved Nikita.

The only one who seemed to suspect it was Iris.

Isabel’s eyes trembled slightly.

I could see the emotions swirling in her gaze.

Isabel, too, had once lost someone dear to her.

She understood that pain better than anyone.

“That’s…”

When Lucas died, Isabel threw herself into her grief and gave up on life.

Lucas had directed his resentment toward the Apostles.

She had nowhere else to place her anger.

But my case was different.

I had a clear direction for my anger.

Isabel’s eyes slowly widened.

“…Did you approach Lady Iris for that reason?”

Isabel’s misunderstanding deepened.

‘Ah.’

I realized what Isabel was misunderstanding.

To her, my calm reaction to Nikita’s death was bizarre.

I had been preoccupied with preparing for the upcoming scenario.

And since I knew Nikita was still alive, I had no real reason to grieve.

But to Isabel, that must have seemed strange.

A close friend of mine had died seeking vengeance and self-destructed.

I should have had some emotional change, at the very least.

However, what I did afterward must have looked even stranger to Isabel.

Shortly after Nikita’s death, I started a relationship with Hania.

Even if it was a contractual relationship, the timing made it worse.

To her, standing beside Iris—who had caused Nikita’s rampage—was utterly incomprehensible.

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‘Isabel’s fixation on Hania and me…’

It wasn’t just a personal concern.

There were deeper reasons behind it.

And now,

Isabel’s lingering question had finally been resolved.

The reason I approached Hania and stayed by Iris’s side.

It was for Nikita’s revenge—such was the conclusion.

“...That’s a misplaced direction for your anger.”

Isabel looked at me with a determined will to stop me.

Her eyes shone brilliantly in crimson.

Undeterred by the dark night, sunflowers bloomed around Isabel.

The upright resolve of a rival trying to stop someone from going astray.

It was the fitting demeanor of a main heroine.

And I was the rival who had to appropriately use that resolve.

I hadn’t planned it, but the justification was there.

Isabel wouldn’t be able to doubt my motivations.

That alone was advantage enough for me.

“And what exactly is this misplaced anger?”

From now on, I would become an avenger to repay Nikita’s grudge.

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

“Isabel, if Lucas had been killed by someone, would you simply understand and move on?”

Isabel’s eyes widened.

But she couldn’t say anything right away.

It was because she knew the pain of losing someone precious better than anyone else.

“I won’t.”

Rage boiled in my eyes.

Even if it was fake, it burned fiercely.

“No, I can’t.”

Fortunately, I had enough experience to act.

A long time ago, I practiced facial expressions relentlessly to relieve facial paralysis caused by an injury.

When it came to facial expression acting, no one could match me.

Isabel’s lips trembled.

She looked like she had a lot to say, but she couldn’t speak recklessly.

At this moment, nothing could stop me, no matter what I did.

“So don’t get in my way.”

“No.”

The flame of defiance against injustice.

A similar spark of defiance still remained within Isabel.

After all, she too had once carried Lucas’s flame.

“I will stop you. I can’t just stand by and watch you go down that path.”

Isabel looked straight at me.

“And what right do you have? Isn’t this good for you? That annoying guy is falling on his own.”

“Lucas would have…”

She clenched her fists tightly and shouted powerfully.

“...done it this way!”

One semester ago.

Those lifeless eyes, devoid of strength, were now blazing with vitality.

Those eyes possessed a strange power that gave strength to anyone who looked at them.

Within Isabel’s body.

Finally, the signs of awakening began to stir.

The main heroine who would one day stand alongside Lucas to strike down the villain.

Her dignity as the true main heroine had started to blossom.

‘Yes, Isabel.’

You’ve always had the potential to replace Lucas.

In other words, you have the strength to lead the scenario.

‘The protagonist of this scenario.’

It would undoubtedly be Isabel.

And the trials of the scenario—

‘Will be me.’

The student council boycott incident was originally something Lucas’s group was meant to stop.

Unintentionally caught up in the boycott, they would face off against the protest group.

And Isabel was one of Lucas’s companions.

The gears of the scenario had started turning once again.

“And.”

Isabel didn’t stop speaking.

“I also don’t want to see you fall and disappear like this.”

Her final words were filled with earnestness.

Isabel saw Lucas in me.

And she wanted me to remain her goal and rival.

As much as she relied on me,

Isabel absolutely didn’t want me to crumble.

‘If that’s the case…’

Isabel would try to solve this on her own and wouldn’t tell anyone else.

If she told someone else, I would immediately fall.

By luck, I had gained a safeguard.

“Fine, then.”

I turned my back, returning to Hannon’s demeanor.

“Do whatever you want.”

The bait was set.

All that remained was to move the scenario forward.

‘As the trial.’

I would carry out the scenario.

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