EX rank supporting role’s replay in a prestigious school-Chapter 976: Regret (10)

Seong Si-wan’s Apartment.

The apartment, about the same size as the dormitory at Eun Gwang High, often had university friends visiting two or three times a month, but today, it was his high school junior, Gye I-dam, who was there.

Having accepted Jo Yi-shin’s proposal, Seong Si-wan and Gye I-dam decided to team up, with Seong Si-wan persuading Gye I-dam that it would be easier to stay together for convenience.

Of course, Gye I-dam initially expressed hesitation at Seong Si-wan’s suggestion.

In the realm of information warfare on the web, Seong Si-wan couldn’t do anything, and Gye I-dam wasn’t thrilled about showing Seong Si-wan how to manipulate public opinion, leveraging his past experience as a notorious internet troll.

However, Seong Si-wan wasn’t about to just stand by while his junior got entangled in this situation, so he persuaded Gye I-dam to join him.

‘Doing this every day would ruin both my body and mind. How many years did I-dam do this during his time as a hardcore troll...?’

Seong Si-wan sighed inwardly as he watched Gye I-dam sitting in front of more than ten holograms.

Gye I-dam was typing with one hand while constantly leaving comments through a voice input device.

From the comments Gye I-dam had written, it seemed like dozens of people shared the same opinion.

The tone of his comments shifted from male to female, from young to old, and sometimes even used professional jargon or slang from specific occupations. The punctuation and paragraphing were meticulously done, so much so that it bordered on madness, as if he were impersonating many people.

Just typing those comments and spreading rumors was hard enough, but when necessary, Gye I-dam didn’t hesitate to engage in debates, wearing down the opposing party until they dropped out.

Seong Si-wan, reviewing the comment list that Gye I-dam had made, asked:

“Idam, do you still have lingering feelings about Yi-shin because of the duel you had before? I didn’t expect you to write comments like this.”

“No. If Jo Yi-shin hadn’t suggested this, I wouldn’t have written such comments.”

“I see. But, do you secretly call Yi-shin a twisted character?”

“Ugh, I... I’m sorry.”

“It’s not something you need to apologize to me for.”

Seong Si-wan was astonished at how thoroughly and persistently Gye I-dam spread rumors about the discord between Ahn Da-in and Jo Yi-shin.

At Eun Gwang High, the top two students were Joo Su-hyeok and Ahn Da-in, but it wasn’t hard to manipulate the story into making it seem like there was only discord with Ahn Da-in.

Jo Yi-shin had a personal relationship with Joo Su-hyeok, going to baseball games together and monitoring smoking regulations with him.

In contrast, Jo Yi-shin had distanced himself from Ahn Da-in, fearing that Joo Su-hyeok might suspect something between them, so spreading rumors was easy.

Had Seong Si-wan not been aware of the inside story, he wouldn’t have believed all of this, but at the very least, he would have tried to verify it himself. Gye I-dam, using a mix of unreliable facts, wove a seemingly convincing tale.

Gye I-dam, relentless in his work, didn’t even sleep. When Seong Si-wan tried to make him rest, Gye I-dam firmly refused.

“We can’t sleep now. If similar comments stop abruptly, people will suspect it’s from the same person.”

“Right... The experienced ones are different.”

“...”

Gye I-dam had not just been suspected, but had been caught and publicly humiliated several times before.

Because of this, Gye I-dam tried to stay awake as long as possible when working on such tasks.

However, Gye I-dam had become exhausted from his long personal war, and the stress from the various circumstances had drained him.

In the end, Gye I-dam fell asleep while sitting, and instead of waking him up, Seong Si-wan decided to just watch over him.

‘Let’s let him sleep for just an hour.’

As Seong Si-wan watched over Gye I-dam, he quietly reclined his chair and covered him with a blanket.

Before leaving the room, Seong Si-wan checked the holograms Gye I-dam had been looking at.

Just one glance was enough to make his head throb with negative emotions, incomprehensible passion and anger, and illogical reasoning detached from reality, making him turn away immediately.

However, Gye I-dam seemed not to miss any of it, as his auto-capture program for comments he had made was still running non-stop behind the hologram screens.

Had Gye I-dam been obsessed with hurting someone or causing harm for his own pleasure, Seong Si-wan would have stopped him at any cost, but since this wasn’t the case, he decided to do what he could.

Leaving Gye I-dam asleep in the room, Seong Si-wan quietly left.

“Seunghyun, are you enjoying your break?”

Seong Si-wan spoke softly, checking in on his junior from the Jiikhoe, and continued the call.

“I heard there are a few complex issues in the Jiikhoe. Can I take a look at them? I’ve already talked to Idam. Don’t worry, I’m with him.”

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Afterward, Seong Si-wan handled some tasks for the Jiikhoe.

Meanwhile, Gye I-dam remained asleep, unaware that Seong Si-wan was working for both him and the Jiikhoe.

He slept with a face more at ease than ever.

Seong Si-wan knew Gye I-dam was talented in this area, but he hadn’t expected this level of skill.

The rumor about the discord between him and Ahn Da-in spread in an instant.

Gye I-dam created a rumor with a mix of speechless words and official documents, including an Eun Gwang High student ID, to back it up.

Though Seong Si-wan wasn’t thrilled about having the rumor about discord with the heroine spread, he gritted his teeth, thinking it was ultimately for Ahn Da-in’s sake.

Despite the rumors circulating, most students at Eun Gwang High didn’t believe it, and there were some who actively refuted the rumors.

However, it was difficult to quell the rumors simply by negating them, given how well Gye I-dam had worked.

Furthermore, someone unintentionally added fuel to the fire.

That someone was none other than Woo Gi-hwan.

[If we’re talking about the eternal second place at Eun Gwang High, we can’t leave this person out. After all, both the top and second place are held by Do Won-woo’s Woo Gi-hwan!]

Woo Gi-hwan appeared on a live-streaming session on the university’s broadcasting channel.

Unwisely, the broadcasting club invited Woo Gi-hwan as a guest for a live-stream session.

Promoting their channel, they thought it would be a crazy plan, but Woo Gi-hwan, who was expected to decline, decided to join the broadcast.

[Hello, I’m Woo Gi-hwan, a freshman. As mentioned, I hold second place, just like Do Won-woo at high school.]

Woo Gi-hwan surprisingly spoke calmly.

This caused the chatroom, with just over a hundred people, to treat him as a normal guy.

[What? I heard he was the crazy guy from Eun Gwang High, but he seems normal.]

[I’m disappointed... he’s so ordinary...]

[The rumors are exaggerated, just like the one about the Unknown Rising Star.]

[Our Yi-shin isn’t the type to spread rumors like that. He’s second place at Eun Gwang High after all. Second place is still impressive.]

[Who are you to be calling Yi-shin an Unknown Rising Star;;;]

[Woo Gi-hwan speaks really well. While he doesn’t have Do Won-woo’s presence, I can understand that he’s second place.]

[I saw him when he was a first-year at Eun Gwang High. He was crazy, though! Why is he acting normal now? LMAO]

But there were also people who knew who Woo Gi-hwan truly was.

Naturally, Seong Si-wan knew the true nature of the crazy senior.

The host continued the conversation about the ongoing discord rumors at Eun Gwang High, and over time, Woo Gi-hwan’s mask began to slip off.

Soon enough, Woo Gi-hwan hit the panic button and screamed.

[Who likes being second place in the world? Damn Do Won-woo! Aaaah! That suspicious junior will eventually achieve first place, fulfilling the 0th class’s hidden wish for the top!]

Since when had Woo Gi-hwan’s obsession with first place turned into a hidden wish for the 0th class?

Besides, a top student had already emerged from the 0th class.

Eun Ho had been the top student when he entered, and he continued to maintain the first place throughout the semester, including midterms and finals.

Though this point was mentioned in the interview, Woo Gi-hwan refused to acknowledge it.

[Already, Eun Gwang High’s first-year student, Cheon Eun-ha, has taken the top spot...]

[I trust that junior! Hang in there, Jo Yi-shin!]

Eventually, Woo Gi-hwan’s mad rant brought an end to the live-stream session.

The small channel with few viewers, just a university club’s casual stream, had exploded with views because of Woo Gi-hwan’s rampage.

And the sound of Woo Gi-hwan’s desperate cry became a short video that circulated as proof of the discord.

Because of this, even though few people truly believed the rumors, it became a hot topic in the Eun Gwang High community board.

Most thought Woo Gi-hwan was hilarious and felt sorry for Seong Si-wan, but there were others who were cautious because of the reactions from outside the school.

“The atmosphere isn’t good. Everyone’s getting really worked up about the rumors about Yi-shin. I’ll try to calm them down,” Eun Ho, the current first-year top student in the 0th class, said.

The juniors had sent messages of concern, but if Eun Ho calmed them down, it seemed things would settle.

But the awkwardness didn’t escape the attention of Hwang Ji-ho, who had been wearing a grim expression the whole time.

“Eun Ho is more like... trying to calm things down, rather than actually calming things down.”

“Trying to calm things down? What do you mean?”

“Never mind. Just have more tea.”

The Tiger Mansion was peaceful, thanks to Eun Ho.

But strangely, a different place was not peaceful — it was with the Dragon Tribe.

When Seong Si-wan thought about the Dragon Tribe, he realized something.

Yeom Jun-yeol wasn’t in the 0th class, but he frequently came second, so there was a risk that his discord with Cheon Dong-ha might get tied into the rumors.

Just in case, Seong Si-wan contacted Yeom Jun-yeol, but got a different response than he expected.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] I did come first in my first year, but since second year, Dong-ha has been first. It’s strange that rumors like this aren’t spreading about me.]

Indeed, spreading such nonsense about Yeom Jun-yeol would cause the Dragon Tribe’s fan club to go wild, so it wouldn’t be easy to do.

Although there were some malicious comments about the star player Yeom Jun-yeol, it was rare for people to cross the line or spread rumors.

It was well known that the Dreaming List was created because someone had targeted Yeom Jun-yeol.

Malicious commenters, despite wanting to take advantage of this moment, were holding back.

[Yeom Jun-yeol] Someone’s definitely been targeting Yi-shin and Da-in from the start. With the China-Korea-Japan exchange tournament coming up, maybe they want to stir up internal conflict.]

[Yeom Jun-yeol] I’ll look into the source of the rumors. My uncle, the Blue Dragon, and my father will help too. Don’t worry. I don’t believe those rumors.]

Anyway, the situation with the Dragon Tribe was different from what Seong Si-wan had anticipated, but he was grateful that Yeom Jun-yeol was looking out for him.

If he hadn’t stopped him, Gye I-dam might have been dragged into the Dragon Palace or targeted by the Red Lion Intelligence Team, so Seong Si-wan decided to intervene.

Even though Gye I-dam had actively spread rumors, the origin was from Seong Si-wan, so he decided to handle it himself, asking the Dragon Tribe and the Red Lions to stay out of it.

As the rumors continued to grow, a strange conspiracy theory about Seong Si-wan began to spread.

It began with some people questioning why he was placed in the 0th class.

Those assigned to the 0th class had usually been problematic, such as being absent frequently, having ties to organizations like Gye Ri, or engaging in bizarre behavior like Hwang Ji-ho, who had failed every subject, or Han Yi, who had some physical disabilities. But Seong Si-wan’s past, created by the Star Universe, was spotless.

Some suggested that the Hwangmyung Group might have influenced this to make Ahn Da-in the top student, but that was just another conspiracy theory.

As the rumors grew louder, Seong Si-wan received a contact from an unfamiliar player.