I’m an Ordinary Returning Student at the Academy

Chapter 38

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]

Chapter 38

On the first day of the festival, some strange guy messed up one of the booths.

Right after that, a recipient of the Medal of Honor turned that suspicious guy into a well-beaten pulp.

Considering how things turned out, I thought it was enough trouble among the students.

And when I visited again late in the afternoon, there was indeed quite a commotion.

“Seniors! Four cream ones!”

“Cream? We’re all out. How about red beans instead?”

“No way! It has to be cream!”

“Then wait a moment!”

Hmm.

“Oh, shit! Hey, Alexander! Why is the ice cream already sold out?!”

“We used it as sparingly as possible, you idiot!”

“It’s noisy and crowded, go quickly and buy more! Quickly!!”

Ugh.

“I am a hotteok-making machine. I am a hotteok-making machine. A machine….”

“Hey, are you done yet?! Can’t you see the line behind you?!”

“Aaaah! I’m not a machine! Ugh!!”

Clearly, there was a commotion. But… would you call it a good commotion?

I was confident that it would still be popular on the first day.

The snacks like bungeoppang or hotteok, unique and perfect for the chilly weather.

They all have a sweet taste, which gives them quite an advantage in terms of preference.

And the people selling them are the four protagonists. They’ve been the top of the popularity rankings since enrollment.

Of course, there’s a sad past involving Selena and them, but that’s another story. Even Selena herself was helping them out just yesterday.

With all those factors combined, it was natural for them to receive a lot of attention on the first day.

The problem is, how to maintain that popularity until the last day of the festival.

‘To be honest, I didn’t care about that. I just wanted to satisfy my selfish desires.’

Whether it’s gourmet cuisine or powerful bombs, I thought it would be better to just focus on attracting attention on the first day.

And it was enough to fill my inner emptiness, which had been rotting away because of those idiots.

Thus began the bungeoppang and hotteok selling venture, led by four male leads and one female lead.

I thought even if it went well for just one day, it would be a great success. But now…

“Ah! Seniors! Even if it’s burnt, please give it to me!”

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“This? It’s too burnt though?!”

“There’s a special taste to something burnt!”

“Please press the hotteok a bit harder. I like it crispy!”

“Okay, okay. Just wait a moment!!”

The sun hadn’t even set yet, but there was already a crowd at the booth. And I heard they hastily opened it because students demanded it.

‘Why? Why is it doing even better than yesterday?’

I suggested it, but I didn’t expect it to turn out like this. So I immediately began investigating the reason.

And the conclusion was… Could these guys have the same past life memories as me?

The filling of the bungeoppang, which was originally only filled with red bean paste, now ranged from cream to chocolate to pizza seasoning.

Rumor has it they’re even considering adding cheese, but I’m not sure.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm went as far as making a few more bungeoppang molds and bringing them over.

And what about the hotteok? Of course, they also changed the filling.

They added chocolate, and sometimes crushed nuts. But the climax was undoubtedly putting ice cream on top of the hotteok.

I didn’t ask for it, I didn’t even hint at it, and that was it.

What was supposed to be a curiosity turned into one of the most popular treats of the festival.

“Lastly, since so many people flock, everyone is curious and this has the effect of attracting more people.”

Marcus sneaks up next to me.

There was a bungeoppang in his mouth, and a hotteok in his other hand.

“I heard you suggested this, Karl.”

“It started out that way, though I didn’t think it would go as far as it did.”

“Considering how well it’s going, it’s really surprising, isn’t it?”

That’s what’s so amazing about it. I couldn’t have imagined it.

Unless I remember wrong… Could it be that that was their real talent?

There’s no way the four of them were destined for a life of baking bungeoppang and hotteok… instead of being masters of a family. No matter what, it’s too far out of line.

In that case, there’s only one possibility. They must have received some kind of protagonist buff.

Everything they do goes well. They receive all kinds of attention and can’t help but be successful. That kind of thing.

‘Come to think of it, even during training, they were doing unbelievably well.’

According to the instructors and trainers, there were definitely a lot of shortcomings, but they learned quickly.

If it weren’t for the fact that they were the sons of huge aristocratic families, they would have told them to go straight to the army.

Looking at it that way, I can’t help but think they have some sort of buff.

…I envy them. Those idiots. It feels like I’ve received a buff that gets me involved in all sorts of incidents and accidents.

“Karl? What are you doing?”

Selena approached after briefly greeting some other juniors. Soon, she too was greatly surprised by the situation at the snack booth.

“Um… It wasn’t like this yesterday. This is unbelievable.”

“Me neither. Could it be that they have a talent for business?”

Let’s just get a bit closer and quietly observe the situation from nearby. That’s what I thought as I stealthily approached the snack booth.

“Oh. Hey, it’s Karl.”

“You’re here? Alright, everyone! The Medal of Honor recipient is entering! Form up!”

Holy shit! You crazy bastards. Don’t. Fuck! Don’t do it.

Don’t make me remember my military days! Don’t do the ‘attention’ thing in front of these kids who don’t even know what that is!

“Pah-pah-pah-pah!”

You sons of bitches! Don’t even think about making a bugle sound with your mouth!

If I delay here any longer, I feel like I’ll either die of embarrassment or chop them into pieces.

So I quickly went in and gave each of those damn idiots a satisfying smack on the back of their heads.

I’d like to punch them in the face, but I’m letting them off the hook because they’d worked so hard yesterday to build a human barricade.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“We’re just doing what we did at the training camp?!”

“Bullshit! Instead of doing that, why don’t you bake more bungeoppang! Wilhelm, press the hotteok properly!”

I turned hastily, but the surrounding students had already witnessed this spectacle.

The gaze they all directed at me seemed to ask, ‘What’s going on? Should we all greet like that just because the Medal of Honor recipient is here?’

Fortunately, I had an ally who was on a different level from those idiots.

“Everyone, there was a brief commotion! Now, please feel free to focus on the snacks again!”

Sob, sob. Thank you, Selena. At least you’re different from them.

I have a feeling I know why they all confessed. It’s because they instinctively realized that they could be in big trouble if they let go of such a woman.

Thanks to Selena’s efforts and the reasons why everyone came here, the commotion didn’t last long. Everyone just went back to asking for this or that snack.

“…Karl.”

After some time had passed, Shulifen was the first to speak up.

“You okay?”

“Huh?”

“Are you okay?”

“…Yeah.”

“Good, then.”

There must be a lot of questions and things he wants to ask. But Shulifen didn’t ask me any of that. He just kept his mouth shut.

Tap, tap—

Someone tapped on my shoulder, and when I turned around, Wilhelm was offering me a hotteok.

It was neither too thick nor too thin, just cooked to perfection, with ice cream on top.

“It’s yours. Eat up.”

“Thanks.”

“Cheer up.”

As expected, he didn’t ask for any reasons.

Neither did Alexander, who poured me a cup of water following suit, nor Joachim, who was dressed in a ridiculous outfit.

It was consideration for me. It was the best they could do, knowing nothing at all.

Perhaps the greeting just a moment ago was intended to straighten my distorted face.

How should I explain this? There’s no need to get upset. It seemed like he was saying that.

These bastards. Suddenly acting like this, they seem quite mature. It doesn’t suit them.

“Hey, Karl, the ingredients are running out too quickly. What should we do about this?”

“The ingredients? No. I specifically told you to prepare them just right.”

“Maybe it’s because there are a lot of customers coming in.”

That doesn’t make any sense, though. Even if there are many customers, the amount we make is limited.

Even with four people, we can’t exhaust all those ingredients in one go.

My doubts were soon resolved. These guys just gave it as much as they could.

To the brim. It’s better to give generously than to fail because of stinginess.

Looking at it this way, there was another reason why it was so popular. I’d come back for more if they did that.

“…Mmm.”

At first, I was worried about whether I should warn them to do that in moderation.

But then I realized why don’t they say that?

‘You can go broke by not selling, but you can’t go broke by giving away.’

And above all, those guys seem to be really enjoying themselves.

At first, they shook their heads, but now they’re more diligent than anyone else.

It was the moment when those four really felt like protagonists.

…It was a problem that I felt that way while making bungeoppang and hotteok.

* * *

It’s the third day of the festival. It’s less busy than the first and second days, but the cooking booth is still bustling today.

Fortunately, today, both Karl and Selena were present from the opening.

“Don’t worry about the ingredients. Got it?”

“Okay! Today, we’ll definitely sell a thousand!”

“You crazy bastard. We might end up dead doing that.”

The six men and women, bickering, but also in unison, as they greeted another round of customers.

“….”

The woman with red hair quietly stood behind the waiting line.

After quite some time had passed, her turn finally came.

“Here you go. Thank you. Next!”

Karl, who has taken Shulifen’s place temporarily, asks her what and how much she wants to buy.

Normally, it would have been some flavor of bungeoppang or how many hotteok. The answer would have been something like this.

“Master.”

But the words that came out of the red-haired woman’s mouth were unexpected.

“I’m here.”

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]