The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 174

I confessed to Professor Beganon.
To be exact, the real Hanon confessed to Professor Beganon.

Why did this situation happen?
My face was filled with complex emotions.

To be honest, it’s not like I don’t know Hanon’s preferences.

Hanon likes older women.
In the first place, Hanon was a character created to appeal to the ‘older sister-younger brother’ dynamic, a common subculture genre.

At Zeryon Academy, when it comes to beautiful older women, Beganon is the most iconic figure.

That’s why, during the Blazing Butterfly arc, Hanon and Professor Beganon were heavily involved.
Even outside of the game, players actively shipped the two together.

But that doesn’t mean there was any official pairing.
Except for this time, that is.

‘I was only gone for a few weeks.’

What on earth happened in the meantime that led Hanon to confess?
Now I understand why the kids were acting so weird today.

Starting from my ex-girlfriend Hania, to my fiancée Sharin, and Seron, who’s in unrequited love with me.
Even beyond them, I’d been tangled up with countless women.

So what if a rumor spread that I confessed to Professor Beganon?
Of course the kids would treat me like some lunatic and avoid me.

“I’d just started fixing up my image recently, too.”

Completely wrecked it again.

“…I don’t really care what your image is like, though.”

Isabel, who was beside me, spoke up casually.

“In fact, it might be better if your image is worse.”

Her smile looked just a little devious.
Why is she acting like she’s going dark now?

Since the confession, Isabel’s slyness had definitely increased.

In the end, I decided to just accept it cleanly.
After all, I’ve just gone back to being the playboy I used to be.

It’s nothing new.
I’m used to being a scoundrel.

“Ah! Prince Sweet Potato!”

Just then, a familiar voice rang in my ears.
When I turned around, someone with short legs came running toward me.

The moment I saw a flash of red hair, I felt a heavy impact in my stomach.
Looking down, I saw it was Seron.

As radiant as ever today.

“You should’ve said you were back!”
“I’m back.”
“Too late!”

She’s throwing a fit even though I did say it.
Still full of energy, as always.

“You’re back.”

Eve approached from beside Seron.
It seemed Seron had taken good care of her while I was away.

“So, did everything go well?”

Seron tilted her head up and asked.
Is this girl trying to blind me with sunlight?

She’s getting shinier by the day.

Still, I’m grateful for how much she looks out for me.

“I wrapped it up perfectly.”
“Good job.”

Seron went on tiptoes and patted my head.
She radiated a sense of nurturing warmth.

Did she study psychology or something while I was gone?

“By the way, Seron, what rank did I get in the latest mock battle?”

I suddenly remembered something I hadn’t checked yet.

My last mock battle rank was 14th.
Not a low rank at all.

The real Hanon wasn’t bad either.
He shouldn’t have ranked that poorly.

When I asked out of curiosity, Seron fell silent for a moment.
Then she gave a little cough, raised her hand, and patted my back.

“It’s okay. Prince Sweet Potato, so what if you ranked a bit lower?”

Lower.
My expression froze at those words.

Did the real Hanon’s rank drop?
It was disappointing, but fine.

A mock battle isn’t everything, after all.

“So what rank was it?”
“Ahem, hmm… 18th.”
“What?”

Surprise filled my eyes.
Because that meant Hanon had lost to everyone.

No matter what, the real Hanon shouldn’t have fallen that far behind.
What the heck happened? When I looked at Seron, she scratched the back of her head.

“I don’t know what it was, but he was totally out of it the whole mock battle. Just got knocked out in one go.”
“That was probably right after he confessed to Professor Beganon.”

Isabel added in.

“I heard it from the other kids.”

Somehow Isabel, who wasn’t even at the academy, had sharper ears than Seron.
Maybe this was the difference between an insider and an outsider.

There’s no way Beganon accepted Hanon’s confession, so he probably just spaced out after getting rejected and got taken out.

It’s just so typically Hanon.
But it couldn’t be helped.

“And apparently, he confessed again afterward.”

I couldn’t say anything after hearing that.

Hanon had confessed twice during that time.
A bold man, indeed.

‘The story of a guy who got rejected twice after confessing to his professor.’

And yet, it’s a story that has nothing to do with me.

* * *

After eating the lunch Isabel packed for me, I went to the martial arts class for the afternoon session.
Normally, I would’ve been excited, thinking ‘Ah, how I missed this class’.

But now, my legs felt heavy.
I was worried about what kind of rumors might be going around.

Creak—

I opened the classroom door and walked in.
All the students’ eyes turned to me.

They stared for a moment, then quickly looked away.
Even the girls who usually treated me like trash did the same.

Who would’ve thought I’d see those girls looking at me with sorrowful eyes someday.

Life really is full of surprises.

“Hanon.”

At that moment, Van called my name.
Come to think of it, I had agreed to duel with Van.

I felt sorry for Van.

“…Let’s have the duel another time. Hang in there.”

Then, for some reason, Van ended up consoling me.
He seemed to understand my loss.

Tears welled up in front of Van’s compassionate gaze.

“You’re here.”

As Van passed by, another person approached.

Hania Rapididia.
Daughter of the Empire’s Chief Knight Commander and my ex-girlfriend.

My eyes opened slightly.
That was because Hania was showing a reaction I hadn’t seen in a while.

It was clear she had seen through my true identity.

Eve and Seron, who had followed me, coughed awkwardly.

My eyes turned to the two of them.
They both tried to avoid my gaze as much as possible.

Those two… they got caught.

At this point, it feels like so many people know that it’s barely even a secret anymore.

But having Hania find out would be troublesome.
That’s because she’s one of Iris’s closest aides.

I felt a headache thinking about how my identity would be interpreted by Hania.

“I know what you’re worrying about, but I’m not going to make an issue of it.
I know very well how hard Hanon has been working for Lady Iris until now.”

Just as I was tensing up, Hania’s gentle voice reached me.

“I won’t go along with the lie, but I won’t tell Lady Iris about it first, either.”

I suddenly felt overwhelmed.

“My ex-girlfriend is really cool. I might fall for her again.”
“If you want to get back together, try being cooler than me.”

That… won’t be easy.
A massive obstacle.

Poke—

At that moment, hands pushed in from either side of my waist.
Seron and Isabel stood on either side of me.

Seron glared at me with fierce eyes, while Isabel smiled as if nothing was wrong.
But the pressure on my waist only kept increasing.

“Are you two planning to crush me like this?”
“Well, who told you to flap your mouth like that in front of me? Who gave you permission to flirt with someone else!”

Seron shouted, fuming.

“What I said before still stands.”

Meanwhile, Isabel just smiled.
She was clearly referring to what she had said before—about locking me up.

Please don’t do this.
I still have things to take care of.

“You brought this on yourself.”

Eve glared at me with contempt in her eyes.
She still wasn’t happy with the situation around me.

Meanwhile, Hania glanced between Seron and Isabel, then turned her gaze to me.

“Under imperial law, having multiple wives isn’t a problem, but if someone gets injured over it, the ruling won’t go in your favor—so be careful.”
“…Hania, what do you take me for?”
“A playboy who even confesses to professors.”

Of course, Hania knew the rumor too.
It was clear that fixing that rumor was going to take a while.

“By the way, where’s Lady Iris?”

Suddenly, I realized Iris wasn’t around.
Wherever Hania went, Iris was always there.

It was rare for her not to be present.

“His Grace Heavenly Grace Duke summoned her.”

Heavenly Grace Duke… so that person has already made a move.
No wonder Iris wasn’t here.

Unless it’s the time of the Winter Demonic Palace Expedition arc, someone like Heavenly Grace Duke—on par with White Wood Duke—can bypass the academy schedule to summon someone.
So Iris had to skip her academy schedule today to respond to that summons.

‘So the scenario is being pushed forward.’

An event that was originally supposed to take place at the end of Act 5.
But that event has jumped ahead, starting at the end of Act 4.

‘An entire act of the scenario has been pulled forward.’

The Winter Demonic Palace Expedition, which is coming soon.
And right after that, the final Act 6 would definitely begin.

Which meant Heavenly Grace Duke must be trying to make a move on Iris in advance.
From my perspective, it was an unpleasant development.

Because I knew what Iris would have to endure as a result.
But to completely sever the evil, it was something she had to go through.

‘I’ve minimized her nightmares as much as possible.’

I’d done my part to resolve them, got help from Eve, and even used the Sword of White Dreams.
Iris’s nightmares had been largely alleviated.

I was sure Iris could endure it herself now.
All I could do was trust her.

The soon-to-come Act 6.
Since the scenario had been advanced, I had to be even more careful about unexpected variables.

At that moment, as I made my firm resolve—

Rattle—

The classroom door opened, and someone walked in.

As always, she wore a carelessly thrown-on outfit, reeked of alcohol, and had a terribly sleepy-looking face.

Anyone would think she was a slacker.
Even so, her beauty was striking enough to make you forget her age.

“Everyone, get to your seats.”

At her words, the students sat down.
I took my seat too, and Professor Beganon scratched her head with a complicated expression before opening her mouth.

“Hanon Airei.”

As soon as she called my name, all the students’ eyes turned to me.
I stood up, puzzled at being suddenly called.

Beganon looked at me for a moment, sighed, and then spoke.

“Come to the faculty office after today’s class. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

The moment she said that, all the students’ eyes widened.
And I knew exactly why.

Because not long ago, I had confessed to Professor Beganon.
And now she was personally calling me in.

What could it mean?

‘I’m screwed.’
“You’re screwed.”

Seron voiced exactly what I was thinking.
Impeccable teamwork.