Chapter 136

Part 2 wasn’t starting.

Ever since the Act 4 climax of Part 1, the subjugation battle against Aaron Stingray, almost three months had passed without a single notification.

‘Where did something go wrong?’

In the original, Part 2 Act 1 was the Student Council episode.

So, naturally, I thought all I had to do was restore the Student Council system and exert influence so that the main characters could play an active role in the process. That way the scenario would start on its own, and I would clear it with high Contribution Points.

Even when no notifications appeared right after the Student Council election, I assumed it was because the Council hadn’t officially launched yet—because Iri hadn’t been formally appointed as Student Council President.

But now that today’s appointment ceremony had ended and the notification window was still quiet, that only meant my judgment had been wrong.

‘So the Student Council election wasn’t the trigger? Did Part 2 Act 1 actually require another condition to begin? Or… was it cleared without me realizing?’

I had all sorts of hypotheses, but I couldn’t know which was the truth. This damn unfriendly perk system never bothered to explain anything properly.

The only one I could really talk to about this was Ciel, a fellow Transmigrator. But of course, her situation wasn’t much different from mine.

In the first place, Ciel’s original personality from the story had grown far stronger within her. Rather than worrying about perks or triggers, she was far more focused on learning hacking skills. She must have judged that to be the strength needed to survive as a human being.

Therefore, if I wanted more information, I would have to reach out to the Transmigrator Alliance, the group Serena Beresford belonged to.

‘It’d be better to talk to Serena first before I meet them.’

For now, I considered Serena a “new ally,” but I didn’t fully trust her yet. It was possible that everything she had shown me so far was calculated.

Of course, it was highly likely that she truly liked me and followed me sincerely. But there was no guarantee the other members of her group weren’t influencing her actions.

That was why I needed to learn more about the Transmigrator Alliance through her.

While I had stepped out briefly with those thoughts, I cleared through a mountain of backlogged tasks and contacted Serena through Maria. I intended to reschedule the meeting with the Transmigrator Alliance.

But the moment she picked up—

[Let’s talk in person!]

—she abruptly hung up the call.

It was the first time someone had hung up on me like that, so I sat there dumbfounded. And then, less than a minute later, someone suddenly showed up in my office.

It was none other than Serena herself.

It was absurd, but I didn’t show it on my face and greeted her. Sitting on the guest sofa, I lifted the coffee my secretary had brought and opened the conversation.

“I didn’t expect you to be at the Academy.”

“Since I couldn’t reach you, I thought I might be able to see you here, so I came directly, dear husband.”

“…Huh?”

I stopped mid-reply.

Wait. Dear husband?

Did she just call me dear husband?

…What the hell was with this woman all of a sudden?

“…What are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“The way you addressed me.”

“Oh my. Aren’t we supposed to be married? I thought it’d be better to get used to it early. Did it offend you?”

“…”

More than offensive, it was baffling.

This was practically our second meeting, yet she called me that so casually? This woman wasn’t in her right mind.

“Serena Beresford.”

“Just call me Serena.”

“Miss Beresford.”

“…That’s cruel.”

I deliberately changed the address to keep my distance from her.

Serena looked a bit dejected, but I didn’t back down. At least until I was 100% sure she was an ally, I intended to keep this stance.

“The reason I called you here today—.”

Hmm. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t called her.

She had just shown up on her own.

“No. Correction. The reason I contacted you was…”

“You want to know about our group, right? Of course, that’s why I came too. But don’t you think you’re being a bit too much?”

I understood what she meant.

In order to obtain a new Game Changer-level module, I had been away for a while, and I had ignored all of Serena’s attempts to contact me.

In the meantime, she must have struggled to explain to her members why I wasn’t answering and to keep them convinced.

And now I was demanding she hand over information again. It wasn’t strange for her to feel dissatisfied.

“What do you want, then?”

“Last time, I think I talked too much about myself one-sidedly. This time, tell me about you. Then I’ll give you the information you want.”

“One question each, back and forth.”

“Alright. But I’ll go first.”

“Fine.”

I nodded in agreement.

Holding her coffee cup in both hands, Serena raised it to her lips as if to cover her face, sneaking glances at me. Then she carefully asked—

“Since… since the last time we met, what did you tell your father about me?”

“I didn’t tell him anything.”

“Eh?”

A funny, squashed-frog-like sound escaped her lips. She looked quite flustered.

“W-why not?”

“He never asked.”

“Just that…?”

“You should know the other reason.”

Any normal parent would have asked, after a meeting, “What did you think of her? Do you want to keep seeing her?” But the Stingray Chairman had shown no sign of such curiosity.

In the first place, he wasn’t the kind of man who cared about those things, and my relationship with him lacked too many elements to be called that of a normal father and son.

And Serena also knew what kind of man the Stingray Chairman was. Did she really think a final-boss-level villain would care about his son’s feelings?

I let that meaning show as I looked at her steadily. Serena fidgeted and mumbled—

“I-I see… I wasn’t thinking straight. Or maybe that’s actually a good thing. I won’t have to deal with in-law politics…”

“It’s my turn to ask.”

Since she was muttering something incomprehensible again, I cut her off.

“Go ahead.”

“I want information on the Transmigrator Alliance members.”

“Heheh. I knew you’d ask that, so I came prepared.”

Serena placed a data chip neatly on the table. I picked it up, inserted it into the Socket HUB, and opened the internal data.

“I’ve compiled everything I know about the members. Their names, faces, and even their personalities before the original synchronization—I wrote down what I figured out.”

“This… is useful.”

I couldn’t trust this data 100%, but refusing to believe it wouldn’t magically give me another method either.

There were only a handful of people among the photos that I could identify at a glance just from their appearance.

That meant none of them had played a particularly significant role in the original story.

‘The members are 23 in total. Excluding “that person,” there are maybe three I should really be wary of.’

In the original, quite a few of them were villains.

Among them were a high-ranking Mafia executive and a mad scientist who had conducted horrific experiments on humans.

Each of them had been impressive characters in their own right, but from my perspective now, only three carried enough influence to be considered dangerous.

The first was—

‘Zyle Stormwalker.’

A politician who had once been a prosecutor.

In the original, he had stood on the protagonist’s side, cornering the Stingray Group politically as a reliable ally. His combat ability had been remarkable as well, leaving a strong impression when he single-handedly crushed an assassination squad sent by the Stingray Group with his bare hands.

The second was—

‘Grigori Silvereyes.’

A middle-aged, self-taught wizard.

A Slavic man distinguished by his golden and silver heterochromatic eyes.

He was a villain who had quickly seen through the weaknesses of the protagonist’s necromancing techniques and instantly neutralized the witch Evangeline, showcasing his seasoned skill.

And finally—

‘Kara the Red Fixer.’

One of the city’s top-tier powerhouses.

Among the government-recognized fixers, she was the most skilled contractor. Despite working solo, she earned far more than most large fixer offices.

In the original, she had no direct connection to the protagonist’s group and appeared only in the background setting. At most, she was described as having helped repel the grand offensive of the Mystics in the final chapter.

Her role in the story wasn’t very large, but in terms of personal combat strength, she was probably even stronger than Lexus Bane, whom I had hired.

‘If these people become my enemies, it’ll be troublesome.’

I regretted underestimating the level of the Transmigrator Alliance.

I had assumed it was full of nobodies I could simply cut down if they displeased me.

‘But these ones can’t be touched recklessly.’

It wasn’t about whether I could defeat them or not.

If I eliminated them rashly without sufficient preparation or justification, the backlash could easily turn against me.

‘So for now, I’ll pass this file to the Stingray Intelligence Division and see if I can dig up more detailed information…….’

While I was thinking that—

“It’s my turn again.”

Serena’s voice snapped me back to reality. I turned my head to see her smiling brightly, eyes gleaming with expectation.

‘This one is more useful than I thought.’

In the original, she had only appeared as a minor side character who occasionally helped the protagonist’s group, nothing special. But right now, she held a wealth of information I couldn’t obtain with the original knowledge alone.

‘I should maintain a good relationship with her, make her think we can be allies.’

Raising Serena’s importance in my mind, I asked,

“All right, what’s your next question?”

“It’s not a question, but a request. Is that okay?”

“As long as it’s something I can grant.”

“I won’t make unreasonable demands. What I want is just……”

Knock, knock.

Before she could finish, a knocking sound came, followed by voices beyond the door.

[Chairman, may we come in?]

[I’m here too.]

It was Iri and Raina’s voices.

Since I had already told Maria not to block the Special Class students whenever they came, they must have come straight to the office without issue.

‘What should I do?’

I thought about it for a moment.

But there was no reason to refuse.

The Transmigrator Alliance and Serena’s importance were high, yes—but they didn’t compare to Iri.

Besides, flaunting my close relationship with Iri in front of Serena could be useful. And most of all, I was curious about how the two would react when they met.

‘After all, Iri and Serena were childhood friends in the setting. Maybe I’ll hear something about Serena herself.’

“Come in.”

With that calculation, I allowed them entry. Serena looked slightly displeased at having her turn cut off, but really, who told her to visit me while I was working?

The door opened, and the two entered one after the other.

“Excuse me.”

“I came to consult about a Student Council matter. Scholarship activities and…… huh?”

Realizing there was already a guest, they stopped. Raina looked like she was wondering if she should leave, while Iri—

“Serena……?”

“Iri.”

Upon seeing Serena, she immediately frowned.

In contrast, Serena only twitched her lips, her expression tangled with complex thoughts, desperately searching for words to return to her.

But only for a moment.

“Aaron.”

Glancing between me and Iri, Serena suddenly seemed to harden her resolve. Or perhaps she simply wanted to show off to Iri, because she asked,

“So, when will we be holding our wedding?”

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