Chapter 56

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on March 10, 2025

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Next week.

“The decision has been made.”

Park Geon-su, wearing a serious expression, made a rare appearance in the east wing. Hayoon and Arin, who had been working since the morning, tilted their heads in anticipation of his announcement. However, the two, who had interacted with Park Geon-su over the past few weeks, already had an approximate idea of the result based on his demeanor.

“The contest has been approved! There was hesitation about hosting large school events, but online competitions can bridge the gaps between smaller events. Besides, the other teachers were in favor of it.”

As expected.

Noticing Park Geon-su’s brightened expression, it seemed he had indeed received the go-ahead for the contest. And that wasn’t all.

“I’ve also brought this. I’ll send it via text, but you’ll need it when we distribute the prizes later.”

“Wow….”

“Is this what it looks like? A Shyburger set coupon.”

Apparently, additional gift icons for prizes had been arranged. Recognizing the brand, Arin immediately responded, pretending she was familiar with it.

“This should be suitable—one coupon each for 4th and 5th place. The top three should keep their original prizes.”

“Yes, there should be at least three fried chicken sets for the first prize to make it both distinct and genuinely appealing.”

With that, the rewards for the in-school event now far exceeded what was typically offered.

“We’ll work on adding the 4th and 5th place prizes, then distribute the flyers as soon as possible.”

“Alright, alright. I’ve already informed the homeroom teachers to reserve bulletin board space. As soon as the work is done, stick the announcements up in each classroom.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood.”

“Great, thanks for your hard work.”

Once Park Geon-su finished speaking, he promptly returned to the classroom corridor. Hayoon and Arin quickly adjusted the poster for the vocal competition they had been working on.

It didn’t take long.

The poster was virtually complete already, and all they needed to add were the details about the additional prizes for 4th and 5th place.

“Okay, we’re done!”

Within minutes, Hayoon performed the final edits, unplugged the USB drive, and hurried off to the faculty office to take advantage of the shared printer. A few minutes later, the printer hummed to life and soon spewed out clean copies.

“All finished. Shall we go now?”

“I’ll handle the second and third graders. You can do the first graders. Besides, you pretty much designed the posters, right?”

True to form, Arin took two-thirds of the posters with her, eager to assert her presence as “the older one.”

“By the way, can I ask for your help? I have a moving classroom session first period, so I need to hurry.”

“Sure, don’t worry about it. Just take these and I’ll handle the rest.”

“Thank you so much.”

Hayoon didn’t object, seeing that she, too, had a moving classroom session and needed to hurry.

With a mutually agreeable resolution, the two parted ways, reminding each other that they’d meet again later.

“…?”

Of course, there were not many who noticed the posters Hayoon and Arin put up on the bulletin boards in the classrooms. Most people only glanced their way when an unfamiliar woman entered their room, then resumed their conversations immediately after.

With a male-to-female ratio of 3:1, such reactions were unsurprising, but…

“Vocal competition…?”

Some students did show interest in the posters that Hayoon and Arin had put up.

#

To be honest, students around Hayoon’s age generally avoided school competitions. The odds of winning a prize by participating in a school-wide essay competition or art contest were extremely low. Without years of consistent practice, it was nearly impossible to win.

And to top it off, the prizes usually amounted to nothing more than a ten-thousand-won gift card.

Who would enthusiastically participate in a school event like that?

Even the student council’s school e-sports tournament stood out as slightly better. Unlike traditional competitions that favored teachers’ preferences, the e-sports tournament was purely for fun. Participating in team games with friends was enough to satisfy many students. There were plenty of students laughing and enjoying themselves.

In that sense, the vocal competition prepared by the game development club was similar in nature to the school e-sports tournament. The prize money far surpassed the miserly amounts given away in traditional competitions, and unlike essay or art contests, singing didn’t require specialized skills.

Hasn’t every high schooler visited a karaoke room at least once? Haven’t Maister High students, buried under heavy workloads, at least listened to a labor song or two? Moreover, this wasn’t even an in-person event, so no one would directly compare their singing to others.

Naturally, participation skyrocketed, and Hayoon, Arin, and Jin Ho were overwhelmed by the sheer number of submission emails.

” seriously, how many emails are there…?”

“166…”

“Chicken and Shyburgers are tempting. In all my three years here, I’ve never seen these guys participate in school events.”

There were far too many submission emails.

In a school with only 400 students, having 166 emails meant one in every three students had entered the contest.

“Isn’t this unusual? Right?”

“Huh? Is it?”

“Maybe… Considering there are quite a few delinquents around here…”

Although admissions procedures are slightly stricter for Maister High students, it’s not as if being a rebellious student doesn’t exist. Many students skip around after half-heartedly attending specialized classes, often ending up at karaoke bars, explaining why 166 students participated.

“In any case, we’ll need to conduct an integrity interview with the top five participants, offering them vocal contracts and club admission proposals.”

“Right, right. We don’t want to accidentally select someone unsuitable.”

“I agree.”

Clearly, it was necessary to strengthen the integrity section of what was initially a casual final interview. All three mutually agreed on this, none of them wanting to distance themselves from the process because of a few bad apples.

“Alright…”

And so, for a while, the three of them carefully reviewed the evaluation criteria as well as key points to note during the upcoming interviews.

“Shall we begin?”

“166 entries—who knows when we’ll finish?”

“Assuming three minutes per song, it’ll take roughly 500 minutes of assessments. Including evaluations, it might stretch to nine hours?”

“Wow…”

“…”

As Hayoon was about to start, a sudden lightheadedness hit her, thanks to the red medicine Jin Ho had given her. Luckily, it was still early in the weekend, so staying until 7 p.m. might be doable.

“Still, if you allow me, I can quickly filter out any inappropriate entries.”

“Can you do that?”

“I’ve been immersed in this kind of stuff for years. If you let me, I’ll save some time and make quick decisions.”

“…”

Here stood Jin Ho, volunteering to bear the load. Hayoon paused briefly but soon nodded.

Who is Jin Ho, after all?

Isn’t he the genius behind naming the M4 Agabang security detail? There must be some logic behind his actions.

“Let’s do one trial. Is that okay with you, Arin?”

“I don’t care.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

With Arin and Hayoon’s agreement, Jin Ho connected a Bluetooth speaker to his laptop. This was to ensure a certain level of sound quality while everyone listened together. Not long after, the first song began to play.

“Oh…”

Hayoon recognized this tune. Wasn’t this the one that high schoolers always sang at karaoke?

“Hmm…”

As the intro played, Jin Ho’s slightly annoyed hum filled the room briefly.

– “Even without you, this sky is dazzling…”

“Cut. Next.”

“Eh?”

Before the first lyric even emerged, the music was abruptly stopped. Arin cried out in surprise, her eyes wide.

“What did you hear?”

“Why should I hear more?”

“What are you talking about?”

Arin looked utterly confused, but Hayoon instinctively understood.