My Childhood Friend’s Stock Will Never Fail – Chapter 10

Author: Asternkm

Boom.

Like a Netflix next episode that casually skipped ahead to the next day, Yoohee was still completely dumbfounded.

“Mother of Failure, my ass.”

Yoohee muttered quietly.

The constellation hosting the sub-scenario was Mother of Failure. If they wanted to at least live up to their name, shouldn’t there be no penalty for failure?

“What… Did something bad happen?”

Seeing Yoohee’s unpleasant expression, Joohoon, who was on the other side of the transparent glass wall, asked with a worried face.

Ah, she almost made her adorable Joohoon worry.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Yoohee answered with a bright smile, but Joohoon seemed to notice something was strange and did not let go of his concerned gaze.

“…Of course, I might not be able to help you. But I can still listen.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll feel better if you at least talk about it.”

After saying that, Joohoon lowered his head shyly.

Although his body had grown unbelievably compared to before, his considerate and gentle nature was exactly the same.

“The thing is, it’s not about me. It’s about my friend… You know, the roommate I mentioned yesterday.”

Sorry, Jinhee. I’ll use your name just once.

Since it felt a little awkward to talk about it directly, Yoohee borrowed Jinhee’s name and began explaining.

“Jinhee has recently been targeted by someone kind of like a delinquent. Ah, not a real delinquent, but someone similar. Someone you really don’t want to get involved with.”

Joohoon nodded and listened carefully to Yoohee’s story.

“They keep running into each other, and there’s nothing good that comes from it. But yesterday, that person suddenly said they wanted to meet today.”

“Oh, really?”

Joohoon’s expression changed slightly.

But he continued listening until the end.

“Yeah, wait, today is 6 o’clock—”

Yoohee glanced at the clock attached to the visitation room wall.

The current time was 5:13 PM. There was less than an hour left until her appointment with Seo Hyunho.

“Damn it, no, I mean, she’ll be meeting him soon. Jinhee will.”

Yoohee forced a smile.

Then Joohoon added in a calm voice.

“If she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t have to. If she tells the teacher, they’ll help make sure that person can’t hurt her.”

What a pure-hearted idiot.

Looking at Joohoon, who gave such a harmless answer like a soft polar bear, Yoohee imagined pinching his cheeks. When he was young, he had been as soft as silken tofu, but she had no idea how he would feel now.

“The problem is, it’s a situation where I can’t just not go. That’s why it’s difficult.”

If she refused Seo Hyun-ho’s invitation, she would receive the scenario failure penalty.

At first glance, bad luck might seem like a trivial penalty, but vague penalties were often the most dangerous.

Who knew what kind of accident could happen just because of bad luck?

“But it should be okay. Jinhee has something like mind-reading abilities. If she thinks something is suspicious, she’ll handle it well on her own.”

Since Yoohee knew the contents of the original story, as long as she acted according to Seo Hyunho’s intentions, nothing serious should happen.

However, after hearing Yoohee’s answer, Joohoon’s complexion darkened.

For a moment, Joohoon took a deep breath and lowered his head. His jaw tightened, like someone trying but failing to control his expression.

“…Really?”

Clink.

Along with his low voice, the chains restraining both of Joohoon’s wrists shook.

But it was not a light movement.

Clang! Clatter! Clink—!

Huh?

Under his rolled-up sleeves, thick veins appeared on his wrists.

Veins that looked ready to burst from being so tense and angry.

At the same time, the sound of metal scraping grew rougher.

Something was wrong with Joohoon.

Biiiiiiip—

At the same time, the siren attached to the CCTV camera on the ceiling of the visitation room began to ring.

Thud thud thud thud.

A series of orderly footsteps approached, and eight guards immediately opened the visitation room door and entered.

“First-year Black Panther Class student, Kim Joohoon! From this moment onward, you will be classified from warning level to current danger level!”

What?

“Visitation is immediately terminated. All future visitations are prohibited!”

What?

“You will be transferred to the danger-level containment room immediately. If you show signs of another rampage even once in the future, you will be disposed of immediately.”

Ah—

Yoohee’s jaw dropped as if it were about to come loose.

Clang!

The guards firmly grabbed the chains and restrained Joohoon before mercilessly dragging him away.

In the blink of an eye, Yoohee was left alone inside the visitation room, facing only the pure white wall beyond the glass.

A desolate and empty room.

And then, as if it had no sense of timing, the status window appeared.

[Congratulations! You have cleared the first main scenario, ‘Tutorial for Newbies’!]

[As a reward, you have received the support of Constellation ‘A Devoted Romance Fantasy Lover’.]

[You may increase any desired stat. Which stat would you like to raise?]

“…”

As Yoohee remained completely frozen without responding, the border of the status window began sparkling like Christmas lights in an attempt to attract her attention.

But Yoohee was in no mood to choose a stat at all.

[Twenty-ninth Possessor! If you do not answer soon, the next scenario will begin immediately!]

The status window urged her.

“Guidance ability…”

Since she had no choice, Yoohee answered, and the status window turned off its flashing lights before continuing its explanation.

[The selected Guidance Ability stat will increase!]

[Guidance Ability: 5 → 7]

[A small number of constellations have entered the channel.]

[Current number of connected constellations: 14]

***

Joohoon had only been confined to Building F two days ago.

And yet, in only three days, he was being raised to danger level?

That was impossible.

Yoohee sat on a bench in Building F where nobody ever came, holding her head with both hands.

Unless there was a huge disturbance inside Joohoon that nearly severed his rationality, there was no way he could rise to danger level this quickly.

‘Why did Joohoon…’

Until the moment the visitation started, Joohoon had definitely been acting like his usual self.

The strange change only began when Yoohee started talking about Jin-hee.

‘That’s why it’s strange.’

Yoohee had not said anything that would shock Joohoon.

‘And then immediately the second main scenario appeared…’

While she was still inside the visitation room, not long after Joohoon had been dragged away, the status window announced the second main scenario in its usual bouncy voice.

[Oh my, oh my, Twenty-ninth Possessor! You must be deeply saddened because the male lead candidate has become danger level!]

[But don’t worry! The second main scenario prepared especially for Twenty-ninth Possessor is here!]

— Second Main Scenario ~The Prince of the Sleeping Cell~

Difficulty: D+

Description: Meet Kim Joohoon, who is imprisoned on the top floor of Building F, through the power of love.

Deadline: 3 days

Success Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: Acceleration of Kim Joohoon’s instability

Host Constellation: Constellation ‘Galactic YOLO Tribe’ manages the rewards and penalties.

Within this scenario, the F Building mini-map can be viewed.

This scenario was different from the first main scenario in terms of difficulty alone.

Furthermore, the failure penalty was the acceleration of Joohoon’s instability.

He had already been raised to danger level and could go berserk at any moment. If his instability accelerated here, it would practically mean there was no hope left.

‘Ah, my head…’

This was a scenario she absolutely had to complete.

The problem was how she was supposed to meet Joohoon when visitations had been prohibited.

While Yoohee was struggling with a problem she could not find an answer to, she heard a constellation’s reaction in her ear.

[Constellation ‘Mother of Failure’ asks if you have forgotten something.]

“Forgotten something?”

[Constellation ‘Mother of Failure’ sighs, saying you are late for your appointment.]

Ah, right.

Her promise with Seo Hyunho…

When she lifted her wrist and checked the time, it was already 6:20.

Tap, tap.

Unlike during the day, she walked weakly through the academy campus, which had become calmer in atmosphere.

She did not think Seo Hyun-ho would still be waiting.

Following the path lined with cherry blossom trees, she eventually arrived near the central clock tower.

Then—

Whoosh—

A gust of wind swept across Yoohee’s entire body.

As she reached out and brushed her windblown hair back over her shoulder, she noticed someone watching her.

‘…Seo Hyunho?’

Seo Hyunho walked toward her with long strides.

When he approached with such an intimidating presence that it looked like he might flick her forehead at any moment, Yoohee squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

But instead of the expected sharp pain, she heard Seo Hyunho click his tongue.

“What happened?”

“Huh?”

Yoohee carefully opened her closed eyes and looked up at Seo Hyun-\ho.

Although she was 20 minutes late past their meeting time, he did not seem particularly angry.

“If someone like you, a textbook model student, is late, something must have happened.”

At Seo Hyun-ho’s indifferent question, Yoohee’s eyes widened.

Did Seo Hyunho actually have this much understanding?

“That is…”

Yoohee trailed off and fell into thought.

Wait a second.

If she could properly persuade Seo Hyun-ho, then perhaps…