I Became the Mafia in the Academy — Chapter 17
“Alright, you accept the condi—huh? What did you say?”
As if he hadn’t expected me to decline, the president wiped the smile off his face and looked at me with bewildered eyes.
I spoke to the president once again.
“Thank you for the proposal, but. I decline that offer.”
“……You’re really declining? Does that mean you don’t need the consent form?”
“No. That’s not it. What I want to say is…… I would like to make a different proposal to you all.”
“A different…… proposal?”
I pulled out my phone and called the number at the very top of my recent calls list. After two rings, a voice came through.
—I have received your call.
“Han Seo-jun. Did you bring it?”
—Yes, I am currently waiting outside the door.
“Come in.”
—Understood.
The moment I hung up and slipped the phone into my pocket, the clubroom door we had come through opened, and Han Seo-jun walked in.
“Young Master. Here it is.”
Han Seo-jun placed two briefcases on the desk in front of me, gave a silent bow, and immediately walked back out. The president, who had been staring blankly at this sight, let out a scoff of disbelief at Han Seo-jun’s exit.
“……Who was that guy?”
“Is that important?”
Without even shifting my gaze, I undid the latches on the briefcases.
Inside the opened cases laid countless file folders. Pulling a few out and tossing them onto the board game boxes, I looked at the president and began to speak.
“The Board Game Club. A Bronze-ranked club located on the 1st floor of the Club Hall. Finding it difficult to purchase the board games pouring out every year with just the ten million credits provided once a month, the amount you borrowed through the Economics Club at near-loan-shark interest rates piled up and up, and has now ballooned to fifty million……. Is that correct?”
“Wait, how does a freshman like you……”
“You should know that’s not what’s important right now, shouldn’t you? Besides, seeing as an adjustment to your basic funding was mentioned due to a lack of new members last year…… you’re really on the edge of a cliff.”
“N-no, that’s……!”
“Well, that doesn’t matter either way. What’s truly important is why I am telling you this.”
I snapped my fingers to bring the focus back to the main topic.
In that instant, as if realizing something, the president glared at me with widened eyes.
“……Don’t tell me, you’re going to buy the consent form. Is that it?”
At his words, a smirk spread across my face.
“Bingo.”
“Buying a consent form with money, what kind of ridiculous───.”
“───Fifty million credits.”
“What?”
Thud.
Charrrrrrk─!
The remaining briefcase opened, and something poured out from inside.
Bills, bills, bills.
Every single thing blanketing the table was a wad of cash.
At a sight that completely defied common sense, the president could only gape like a fish.
“Uh, uh…….”
“I would like to make a proposal to the Board Game Club.”
Not just any proposal, but
An offer you can’t refuse.
“Right here, right now, is fifty million credits. Fresh, crisp cash withdrawn straight from my account.”
“What are you…… talking about……”
“Oh, it just so happens that the debt the Board Game Club currently owes is also fifty million credits. Isn’t this an incredible coincidence? To think you could pay off all your debt just by handing over a single club certificate!”
Slowly, I leaned in and whispered into the president’s ear.
“Isn’t it wonderful?”
If the other party doesn’t accept the proposal, give them money. If they still refuse, consider whether the money wasn’t enough.
I don’t know who said this quote, but isn’t it a spectacular one?
The president, who had been staring at me with a blank expression until now, reached his trembling hand toward the desk.
Swish.
The moment I pulled the scattered bills back toward me, the president looked up at me with pitiful eyes.
“But still, risking the club’s fate just for money───.”
“Hmm, I’m disappointed if that’s how you see it. Does this look like simple money to you? What I am giving you is an opportunity. A chance for the Board Game Club to survive.”
Ah, and also─.
Looking down at him with an indifferent expression, I murmured quietly.
“Don’t even think about negotiating. If you guys don’t accept this offer, I can simply go to another club.”
Violence wasn’t the only way to strike fear into someone.
Using the other party’s circumstances and psychology to make them realize what a massive opportunity this current situation was. And making them realize on their own what would happen if they missed this chance.
This was the method to plunge an opponent into fear through situation and atmosphere, rather than physical violence.
“……I just have to write you the consent form?”
“Yes. And then you can take this briefcase and go pay off your debt.”
“……Wait a moment. I’ll bring it right away.”
“Yes, I will be waiting here patiently, so there’s no need to rush. Senior.”
When I finished my conversation with the Board Game Club president and returned to where the kids were, everyone was staring at me blankly.
“……Why are you all looking at me like that?”
I definitely didn’t make any mistakes, so why were they acting like this?
“Uh…… Yujin, you were a nicer? Scarier? Person than I thought.”
“Boss, I almost wet myself…….”
“……To think of buying a consent form with money, that’s just absurd.”
Having watched my methods from behind, the kids each showed different reactions.
“At first I thought you were just threatening them with money, but…… if you think about it closely, it’s a proposal where the Board Game Club has nothing to lose. Fifty million credits must be an insanely huge sum; is it really okay for you to spend this much money?”
“……A huge sum?”
Fifty million credits would be roughly fifty million won in Korean currency.
Was it because even in the game, it cost an average of one hundred million credits to buy a single piece of decent gear? Even after handing over an amount equivalent to fifty million won to someone else just now, I didn’t feel a sense of deprivation at all.
Above all…….
“I just spent a little bit of pocket money, so it doesn’t matter.”
“……Excuse me?”
Right now, considering my—Yu Jin Han Callione’s—account balance, this much really was just pocket change.
The Callione Family was one of the premier underworld households in the entire world. Thanks to that, my bank balance was unimaginably abundant.
More than anything, the fifty million credits I used this time was merely a fraction of the amount I received from Father after taking care of the Blunte Family last time, so it was ambiguous to even say my wealth had decreased.
Having no way of knowing this fact, the guys just stared at me blankly with expressions that said they had no idea what I was talking about.
“Freshman.”
Having seemingly finished drafting the consent form, the president approached me with a document envelope in his hand.
“Here, this is the Bronze club consent form you asked for.”
“You got it done faster than expected. Thank you.”
After receiving the document envelope from him, I naturally handed it over to Jinwoo.
“Seeing as you’re spending this much money just to get a consent form from a Bronze club like us…… you must be planning to do this properly?”
“Yes. Just as you think.”
Hearing my answer, the president chuckled.
“To think I’d get to see the sight of a freshman creating a club again during my generation. Even though I have nothing to say since I’m giving you a consent form in this format…… now that you’ve taken our club’s consent form, do your best.”
Saying that with a voice filled with sincerity, the president held his hand out to me.
I grasped his hand and nodded.
“You won’t have to worry about that.”
With this, everything on this end was finished.
Leaving the Board Game Club behind and stepping out of the room, we headed straight for the 1st floor where the hall’s lobby was.
“I didn’t expect us to get the Bronze consent form this easily, but…… how do you plan on getting the Silver club consent form?”
Yeong-je immediately asked about the next schedule.
Since it hadn’t even taken an hour to get the consent form from the Board Game Club, we still had plenty of time to spare, so I spoke as I slowly walked forward.
“The Silver club will actually be easier.”
“Huh?”
“Well, you’ll see.”
Our next destination, the Silver club, had its clubroom on the 4th floor of the Club Hall.
“Wow, the upper floors are definitely on a different level from the bottom. It’s not just clean here, it’s practically shining.”
Jinwoo, stepping out of the elevator first, looked around.
“Boss, what club is it this time? We conquered the Board Game Club, so…… Archery? Shooting? Someplace like that?”
“No, it’s not a grandiose club like that…… we’re going to a club that runs a business.”
“A business club?”
Turning the right corner right out of the elevator, the very first thing we saw was a luxurious black door. Next to it hung a placard reading [International Trade Club].
“International Trade Club? What kind of place is this?”
“I’ve heard of it!”
As if she had heard something about the club we were visiting this time, Kim Se-ah raised her hand high.
“It’s a club that swiftly and accurately delivers foreign products that can’t be found in the academy or local markets through their own unique routes! It’s the club where they say there’s nothing they can’t get as long as you pay, right?”
“Huh? The boss is one thing, but how do you know that?”
“I looked into it because I heard they pay a pretty good salary here too.”
Seeing this unexpected side of Kim Se-ah, Jinwoo let out an exclamation of admiration. At their friendly dynamic, I smiled, curling the corners of my mouth up, and spoke.
“It’s not exactly anything, but as long as it’s not something overly special, it is true they can procure most things.”
Just as Kim Se-ah said, this [International Trade Club] was a sort of trade commission agency that would procure anything as long as you provided the money.
In the game, it acted as a shop available inside the academy. But if you progressed through the academy route, there was a certain fact about the [International Trade Club] you naturally came to learn.
“Let’s not drag this out and go in.”
“What? Just like this, without warning?!”
Kim Se-ah panicked at the sight of me opening the door and walking straight in without any prior preparation.
When we opened the door and entered, a massive space reminiscent of an office and cold air blasting from the air conditioners greeted us.
No, a chilling atmosphere greeted us.
“I told you to bring in the genuine article, but you brought a counterfeit?! What are you going to do about this loss!”
“I-I’m sorry! Deputy Manager!”
“Sorry? You’re sorry? Does saying sorry end your club life? I’ll dock the losses from your salary, so you’d better expect it. Got it?!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
A sharp voice rang out the moment we stepped through the entrance. Soon enough, perhaps sensing our presence, the woman who was berating the employee turned her sharp gaze toward us.
“……Can I help you? It’s not club operating hours yet.”
Is this her roundabout way of telling us to get out?
“We didn’t come to buy anything.”
“Excuse me? Then what?”
“I came to meet the president of the International Trade Club.”
“What? Wait, looking at the color of your name tag, you seem like a freshman…… Hey, do you even know what kind of place this is? Do you think our president is some kind of dog that comes running the moment you call for him?”
“Not a dog, no.”
“What?”
I flashed a smirk at the flustered girl and made a gesture as if I were ringing a bell.
“Care to see me for a moment?”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing───.”
“Ring, ring.”
Right then, a woman pushed past the employee who was about to yell at us and approached, the sound of a bell ringing as she moved.
Wearing a cadet uniform altered to give off the vibe of a black business suit, the woman walked up to me with an emotionless face, the faint chime accompanying her steps.
“It’s been a while. Hasn’t it?”
“……Huh?”
A beautiful woman whose hair was tied back, revealing a pure white neckline.
Stepping in front of the panicked employee, she bowed at the waist toward me and spoke in a calm voice.
“The president of the International Trade Club, Lee Ha-ru, greets the Young Master.”.
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