It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Leader: The Studious One

” Haha, is that so? “

Yoo Geun-chul didn’t say much.

He just chuckled like an old man.

He was quite satisfied to see his granddaughter’s sulky face after a long time.

‘Kyung-joon…… No, maybe I should be thankful to the 『Explorer of Infinite Knowledge』 for this.’

He heard from his granddaughter that the second semester starts next week.

The last semester ended with his granddaughter taking the unrivaled first place, and Kyung-joon rising to second place.

He wondered how it would turn out this new semester.

” Hahaha. “

Yoo Geun-chul just laughed as if it was amusing.

” By the way, Seolha, don’t you play games? “

” Are you talking about our company’s The World? “

” Yes. “

Chairman Yoo wanted to check for a moment.

The difference between his granddaughter and her friend.

” I’m too busy studying to have time for that. I’ll do it when I’m in college, even if it’s just for the experience. “

” Can’t you study in the game? You might be able to concentrate better there. “

” Why would I do such a meaningless thing? It’s not like studying there will make me study better. “

Yoo Seol-ha wasn’t the type to believe in things like music that helps you focus or environments that are good for studying.

In the first place, she had her own study mansion in reality, and she didn’t place much importance on it other than for a change of atmosphere.

After all, studying was something you do whenever and wherever you want, as long as you set your mind to it.

This wasn’t wrong, however.

” Tsk. Is that so? “

” Yes, it is. “

Chairman Yoo seemed to have a slight idea of the difference between his granddaughter and Kyung-joon.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

After safely sending his granddaughter back to the main residence in the bodyguard’s car.

Yoo Geun-chul called Secretary Oh.

━Yes, Chairman.

“Tell Team Leader Jo. To immediately launch the 『Kyung-joon Special Management Team』 and get to work right away.”

━Understood.

“And…… If they can move forward with Main Scenario Chapter 2, tell them to give it a try.”

━I’ll pass that on.

Chairman Yoo hung up the phone.

He looked up at the sparkling night view of Seoul and fell into thought alone.

The super artificial intelligence 『God of the World』, which he obtained by chance.

And the virtual world 『The World』 created by that god.

Just because you know DNA doesn’t mean you know everything about a person.

Even though the Seolha Group created God of the World, it didn’t mean they managed and knew everything about The World.

The administrators are also just characters on the same stage as the players and NPCs.

‘Main Scenario Chapter 2…… So that’s when the administrators will start to get seriously involved.’

Of course, the administrators existed for the players.

The cash that users pay for their subscriptions.

And the liyan they earn by exchanging cash↔liyan.

Based on this, the Seolha Group acts like a government for the players.

Whether it’s collaborating with a kingdom to hold an event, or intervening in future scenarios by supporting a certain group.

This is what’s known as a 『patch』.

And in this scenario, the player who has had the biggest impact so far, and will continue to do so, is…….

“Kyung-joon. He’s something else, that’s for sure.”

The reason why Chairman Yoo went out of his way to meet Kyung-joon and even had dinner with him.

It was because he judged that Kyung-joon would be at the center of all the incidents that would occur in the future.

And after talking to him in person today, he felt it.

That he would be the one to lead the future World.

“Humanity Cantons as a friend, and either the Holy Cross Faction or Whale Forest as a friend or an enemy……”

Chairman Yoo couldn’t help but be surprised when Kyung-joon said that.

Originally, the reason he had given him a harsh talking-to today was to let him know that he would have to really struggle to protect his territory in the future.

After all, Kyung-joon’s territory was an 『Unofficial Territory』.

Not only was it not affiliated with any kingdom, but it was not under the protection of any powerful being.

As he said, his territory was a 『hot spot』.

A hot spot that all kinds of interest groups, including neighboring kingdoms, wanted to get their hands on.

‘All sorts of places will really intervene.’

He needed to be prepared for that.

Simply strengthening the Energy Towers and other basic defenses wouldn’t be enough.

First of all, Kyung-joon needed to know.

What exactly were the 7 cantons that made up the Humanity Cantons?

What kind of national policies did each of the dozens of kingdoms in the Holy Cross Faction operate under?

What was the position of Whale Forest’s monster society in the human society to the west, and what influence did it have?

And what was the contaminated land of the demons in the middle, and how should he approach the kingdom of Chuburian in the permafrost to the north?

He needed to know all of this.

And Kyung-joon had to decide.

His stance.

In order to survive in a World where tens of thousands of groups lived together.

But.

“Kkkk. To think he’d just blurt out the answer.”

Kyung-joon still didn’t know much about the World.

And yet.

He had chosen the stance closest to the right answer in his current situation.

To have Humanity Cantons as a friend.

And to have both the Holy Cross Faction and Whale Forest on either side as friends or allies.

If he chose the Holy Cross Faction as an ally, then Whale Forest would be an enemy.

If he chose Whale Forest as an ally, then the Holy Cross Faction would be an enemy.

When Chairman Yoo asked him why he had made such a choice, Kyung-joon replied as follows.

━Isn’t it obvious? The answer is to keep your friends far away. After all, all the surrounding countries are potential enemies.

That’s why he chose Humanity Cantons, which is far away, as a friend.

And he decided on the Holy Cross Faction and Whale Forest, which are close by, as potential enemies.

So which one will become an enemy and which one will become an ally?

Or do you turn both of them into enemies?

━But to go it alone here and turn both of them into enemies is like telling them to join forces and kill me. Can I compare it to South Korea making enemies of China, Russia, the United States, and Japan?

━Hmm…… All of them as allies? That’s something you’d only see in your dreams. In terms of territory management, I think you have to be a realist rather than an idealist. I think you have to be Hamlet rather than Don Quixote.

━Then the only thing left is to make one of them an ally and turn the other into an enemy.

“Kkk! Khahaha!”

Chairman Yoo laughed out loud in the middle of the Seoul night view.

He was a truly amazing kid.

To think he already had such insight at the tender age of a high school student.

If he had been his school teacher, he would have wanted to recommend him to be president or a CEO during career counseling.

But there was no need for that.

He wouldn’t have listened even if he had said so.

He was already a pioneer who had set out on his own path.

“Yes. Trust your eyes and keep going.”

Keep going, and eventually you’ll get there.

When you reach the end of the path your eyes are pointing you to.

It’s not just 100,000 won or 1 million won worth of LA galbi like now.

Whether it’s 10 billion won or 100 billion won.

Or even trillions of won.

You’ll be able to get your hands on as much as you want.

And already.

Things had begun.

The second coming of the 『Infinite Knowledge Seeker』.

With that, the World would change once more.

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

It is said that Yoo Geun-chul later described this moment as follows.

It was the most thoughtful night of my 70 years of life.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

University, high school, middle school, elementary school.

Summer vacation has ended for countless schools, and the time for the start of a new semester has arrived.

But the worst possible situation has befallen them.

It’s already tough enough shaking off the vacation vibes and adapting to the new semester……

But of all times, The World had to go and have a massive update!

[Attention all players of The World]

[Scenario Chapter 1 『Outsider』 has ended and Chapter 2 the『Anomaly』 begins.]

After this notification was displayed to all players, an incident occurred quickly.

Bizarre mutated monsters, the likes of which had never been seen before, began to swarm all over the World!

『Subject: Xㅂ Horned Rabbit suddenly became a Demon King?』

▶[Author]: No, Xㅂ I went to hunt Horned Rabbits for the newbie quest, and suddenly it shot some black laser from its horns and I died in one hit. What the heck??

▶[DPSPaladin]: Greetings. I am DPSPaladin, aspiring to be a damage-dealing paladin. Recently, after the large-scale update, several monsters have undergone mutations, becoming almost level 100 stronger. The areas around the Kingdom of Francois and the Kingdom of Deutschland are particularly bad. I think it might be because they’re close to Whale Forest.

▶[Author]: Ohhh… I see. But why is your nickname like that lolㄷㄷ?

▶[DPSPaladin]: Boy~★

▶[Author]: ;;; I gotta get outta here

▶[Author]: (Runs away in terror)

▶[DPSPaladin]: You’re not going anywhere!

▶[DPSPaladin]: (Throws something to weaken the author)

▶[Author]: Ouch!

▶[Author]: (Becomes weakened)

The monsters on the plains, which had only been around level 10 or 20, suddenly became level 100.

Monsters that were around level 100 became level 200, breaking through the guards and wreaking havoc on innocent villages.

At the same time, a deluge of quests poured in.

Various NPCs began desperately searching for otherworlders, or ‘players’.

Only they, who could resurrect after death, only they who would do anything for decent rewards, could resolve this 『Anomaly』.

“Hey, hey, you wanna hit the PC bang after school today and play some World?”

“Don’t you know I bought a gaming rig? I’m done with PC bangs.”

“They’re having a PC bang event for the Chapter 2 main scenario update, you know?”

“Oh, really? What kind of event? Don’t tell me it’s a playtime event?”

“Yeah. If you log 60 hours, they give you a high-grade~rare item box.”

“Whoa, seriously? I’m in.”

Kyung-joon and his classmates were also busy chatting about The World.

It made sense, since The World was a massively popular game globally, regardless of age or gender.

However, he did have one small complaint.

“……Why do they have to talk about games right next to someone who’s trying to study?”

Starting from the second semester, Kyung-joon had started studying even during breaks.

He had made a bet with Chairman Yoo.

Though he’d said some cocky things about needing to experience things for himself, anyone could see that Yoo Seol-ha was the one with experience, while Kyung-joon was not.

Still.

Whether he could win against Yoo Seol-ha or not, he had to at least try his best to keep up.

As he started studying during breaks, his friends actually started to gather around him more.

Before, when he was on his phone, they’d ask what he was doing and then leave.

“What do you mean ‘why’? We’re here to make sure our Kyung-joon doesn’t become a loner from all the studying.”

“This is so us. We’re such good friends.”

“No, I’d rather be a loner, so go play amongst yourselves over there.”

Kyung-joon waved his hands dismissively, trying to get his friends to go away.

“Oh? Come over here? Okay!”

But that only seemed to attract them more, like flies!

“Oh, Kyung-joon is studying? Cool! I should study next to him too~.”

“Whoa~ Our gaming addict, Dung-joon, is studying?”

“I can be serious when I need to be, you know? Haha.”

“So, what subject are you studying? Why are you taking out your phone instead of a textbook?”

“Duh, we have to study The World on our phones, right? I’m studying the changes from the recent update.”

“If that’s studying, I’m in.”

“Oh? Are we forming a study group for this?”

“Let’s do it! Hey, everyone gather around Kyung-joon!”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, just come here!”

“I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m coming.”

“I sense a hopeless aura here. I’m coming too.”

“Hold on, I’m gonna go grab some kids from other classes.”

Suddenly, a massive crowd began to form around Kyung-joon.

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Unlocking Your Inner Naruto Fox: Finding Your Sasuke and Mastering the Sharingan
• Intrusive Thoughts: Pikachu vs Levi
• The “I’m So Deep in This Light Novel I’m Living It” Blues: When Your Waifu Gets NTR’d and You’re Not Even Mad (But Kind of Are)
• Kakashi and Obito: Bro-mance or True Love? Unraveling the Mystery of Naruto’s Most Epic Duo
• From Page to Screen: The Grim Reality of Novel to Netflix Adaptation