Novelist Running Through Time-Chapter 158 (1)

TL: KSD

The first day of a school trip is usually carried out in a calm atmosphere. Not because it’s actually calm, but simply because it’s calmer compared to the second day.

Even if all the kids seem wild and hyper, that madness is merely akin to the excitement of racehorses snorting at the starting line.

The true frenzy of a school trip begins on the second day.

To be exact, it starts the moment they take off their school uniforms.

“Yaaaaaaaahhhk-!”

The Practical Dance Department was already in chaos, with a teacher’s thundering shout ringing out from early morning.

The second-year homeroom teacher, Choi Min-joo, delivered a fiery slap.

Considering the times, the slap didn’t land on a cheek but instead aimed for a stomach.

Because of the short crop tops, the slap hit an exposed belly button with some force.

Smack-!

“Aaaaaah!”

“Who told you brats to crawl out here in crop tops?!”

The second-year student from the Practical Dance Department, clutching her belly, glared with determined eyes, ready to fight for her freedom of clothing.

Her revolutionary comrades quickly joined her, glaring daggers at the teacher.

“Teacher! This isn’t school, is it?!”

“School trip hours are still academic hours! Did you think you were on vacation? Should I mark you absent?!”

“There are costumes way more revealing than this on stage!”

“That’s a stage costume, and this is casual wear!”

“Wherever we stand is our stage!”

“I can’t live because of you brats, seriously…”

The second day of the school trip marked the start of the real sightseeing. Fully prepared to enjoy themselves to the fullest, the students entered battle mode. Smartphones were mounted on selfie sticks, and they dressed up in flashy casual outfits meticulously selected for the occasion.

Even the students from the Creative Writing Department, who had nothing to do with stage outfits, were blinged out in their finest, looking like outsiders awkwardly trying to imitate internet trends.

But to Park Chang-woon’s eyes, even they looked like delinquents. The moment he saw how the kids were dressed, he sighed heavily and covered his face.

“No matter how much I try to keep up with the younger generation, I just can’t get used to this…”

It was rare for Park Chang-woon to lament something about today’s youth.

“What’s with the way kids dress these days? Moon In, do you know?”

He gave Moon In a once-over. Despite the casual dress code, Moon In stubbornly remained in his school uniform. And, as always, he carried that blanket around. Since it was the same blanket he had draped over himself even at the Cannes Film Festival, there was no use questioning it.

Still, even taking that into account, Moon In’s appearance screamed ‘model student’.

Park Chang-woon felt a strange sense of satisfaction, like he’d just finished a hearty bowl of rice soup, and smiled contentedly.

But he overlooked the environment in which Moon In had grown up.

“Why? Isn’t that a pretty wholesome look?”

“Wholesome? Are you blind?”

“As long as there’s no cigarettes and condoms involved, it’s wholesome enough…”

“……”

Park Chang-woon shut his eyes tightly and clamped his mouth shut.

Then, clutching his pounding head, he hurriedly stood up.

“L-let’s eat.”

“Lunch is still a long way off.”

“I’m hungry, that’s why…”

EP 10 – Starry Sky

School trips, in their origins, were a part of militaristic public education implemented during the Japanese colonial period. The purpose was to make colonized Korean students tour mainland Japan and internalize the economic disparities, serving as a tool of indoctrination.

However, in the present day-

“Okay, everyone, say kim-chi-”

“Kimchi-!”

“Kimuchi-!”

“Ang, kimotti-!” (TL: It’s a racist slang term, basically referring to moaning sounds made in porn videos, especially in Japanese porn, meaning something along the lines of ‘Ah, this feels so good’.)

“Ah, stop this bullshit you crazy bastards! There are so many people around-!”

“H-hey kids, stop fighting…”

“Kimchi? Then I’m going to say paocai!-” (TL: Kimchi is the Korean term for pickled vegetables, similarly, Paocai is the Chinese term for pickled vegetables.)

“Teacher! They’re making a fuss about paocai over kimchi!”

“And stop cursing…”

School trips have turned into playtime for middle schoolers.

The ‘su(修)’ in school trips means ‘to refine’, and ‘hak(學)’ means ‘learning’. Hence, the original purpose of a school trip was ‘a journey to refine one’s studies’. (TL: su(수) and hak(학) from 수학여행(School Trip/Field Trip))

However, tradition always evolves with the times. What was once akin to a <Japanese brainwashing beam> has now transformed. Why resist change when it comes so naturally?

Thus, school trips have become <excursions where kids are unleashed at scenic spots to frolic around>.

Whether the teachers can also join in the fun depends on the situation.

This usually hinges on whether a youth instructor has been hired.

If students adhered to rules well, the fallen angel Lucifer, capable of becoming either an angel or a demon, could be assigned to them, and the <School Trip> would evolve into a <Training Camp>. This would allow teachers to stop babysitting and instead relax in the accommodations, casually cracking open bottles of soju.

However, Baekhak Arts Middle School, with its long-standing tradition of teachers treating students with genuine care, did not hire youth instructors.

It wasn’t because of increasing concerns about student rights and safety, but because they were a wealthy school. Even in the past, Baekhak Arts Middle School didn’t go to training camps. The school’s parent association was so formidable that there was no room for negotiation.

Thus, for these reasons, the teachers of each department had to serve as tour guides throughout the school trip.

However, Park Chang-woon seemed to hold a slightly different opinion.

“Tour guide what! More like babysitter. This…”

It’s not that Park Chang-woon thought all middle schoolers were little kids who needed protection. He was simply saying that taking care of middle schoolers running around under the scorching sun was as exhausting as taking care of newborns.

Eventually, Park Chang-woon plopped himself down on an unnamed fountain in the middle of downtown Gyeongju. Far from resembling a sage, he looked more like a rogue, with beads of sweat dripping from the ends of his beard.

“Ugh…”

Park Chang-woon was, after all, at an age where his knees were starting to ache.

An age where his aching knees prevented him from meeting his childhood friends anywhere but in PUBG. An age where it was practically impossible to keep up with children who could run around tirelessly without knee pain.

Thus, he leveraged his brief political experience from about a week-long career as a politician and implemented a shrewd and meticulous strategy.

“Teacher Kim. Can you watch the kids for a bit? My knees are killing me…”

“What?”

“Oh, thank you so much~”

In an instant, Park Chang-woon passed his duties to another teacher and fled back to the accommodations.

Teacher Kim, who suddenly got stuck with an entire department, stared blankly into space,

While Park Chang-woon smiled brightly at the thought of lying down under the air conditioning when he got back.

However, both teachers had overlooked something,

It was practically impossible (unless you were Gu Yu-na) to control the rebellious students of the Creative Writing Department without Park Chang-woon’s presence.

Thus, a ominous atmosphere began to brew among the Creative Writing students, now free from the teachers’ grasp.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that the remaining soccer club coup forces were plotting dark schemes to overthrow the civilian government, but…

“Gu Yu-na. Take that off. Right now.”

“…What?”

“Starting now, that yellow furry hoodie of yours is confiscated.”

Something far more terrifying was beginning to stir.

* * *

The representatives of a class are the class president and vice president. Democratically elected, they appoint other cabinet members like the cleaning manager or the library manager.

This is the standard political system of student society.

However, systems and reality often diverge.

The real politics of student society operate on far more intricate principles.

Gender, for instance, is far too simple a criterion. The hierarchy and cliques within student society are divided by a variety of other factors.

Hobbies, academic performance, athletic ability, social skills, club activities, gaming, beauty, financial assets…

There are kids who excel academically, kids who don’t, kids who love soccer, kids obsessed with otaku culture or gaming…

The interpersonal relationships in student society form a metaphysical world, sorted into multifaceted and intricate categories.

It is absolutely incomprehensible to adults aged 19 or older.

As a result, the political factions within a class are also sharply delineated. It is rare for these diversely categorized students to unite in one voice.

At most, there are about three situations when this happens:

When begging the teacher to skip today’s class,

When an unappetizing lunch is served,

And-

“Whattttt-?!”

When, after flirting for three years, someone suddenly declares they weren’t actually a couple, leaving everyone exasperated.

“You mean they weren’t dating?!”

“Shh…! Shhh…! They’ll hear you…!”

The class president grabbed the arm of the blonde-haired student, trying to lower their voice.

The fact that a bookworm from the Creative Writing Department dyed her hair blonde was enough to show that she was essentially the leader of the delinquent girl faction.

Though she usually looked at the class president, leader of the female honor student faction, like a cow looking at a chicken, Gu Yu-na’s ‘Single Declaration’ made cooperation between the two factions possible.

“Really?! Really really?!”

“Really, really…”

The scandal that broke out on the first night of the school trip spread quickly throughout the Creative Writing Department through communication between the faction leaders.

The otaku gaming enthusiast faction, self-proclaimed as the progressive faction of the Creative Writing Department, and the soccer club, which had been keeping a low profile since their failed coup, quickly learned of the news.

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Once the influential figures of each faction held summit meetings and reached a consensus, even the underground crime syndicate of the Web Novel faction, which had been watching from the shadows, decided to ride the tide.

And so, the voices of the entire class united as one.

Their cause? None other than-

“Yu-na, can you come here for a moment?”

“Why should I?”

“…Please, just come here.”

The <Gu Yu-na’s Love Squad>.

*****

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