ATPCN – Chapter 37

“Have you finished your resume?”

“I’ve finished writing it, but it feels like there’s no real substance. After all, I’ve only been enrolled for a month, I don’t even know what I can write…”

“…Someone who’s been enrolled for a year and a month doesn’t know what to write either.”

Ling Jing ruffled her hair in frustration, then painstakingly smoothed it out again, muttering complaints as she did so: “Why is this Presidium so full of itself? You even have to submit a resume to apply…”

“It’s probably because so many people want to join, so they want to raise the bar a little…” Zhuang Chi, who had managed to cobble together a resume, stretched and continued with a hint of helplessness, “Why don’t you just not write it? They said they’re only recruiting new students. Even if you submit a resume, won’t you just be rejected…?”

“You never know. What if the person reading the resumes has bad eyesight?”

Ling Jing was unmoved, filled with the fighting spirit of someone who wouldn’t give up until she hit a wall. Zhuang Chi could only let her be. The two of them were currently in a small study room in the library. The Student Council’s recruitment drive had already begun, but it was only when she went to apply that she learned a resume was required, which led to them frantically trying to write their resumes on their laptops at the last minute.

“Ah, that Student Council President is really… This must be his idea,” Ling Jing, who was struggling with her writing, complained with obvious prejudice. “Do you think he told Gu Ximian in advance to give her time to prepare—though that doesn’t seem to mean much. After all, writing a resume should be easy for Gu Ximian, sigh…”

She negated her own point midway through. Zhuang Chi silently watched as Ling Jing’s expression shifted from indignant to dejected, then quickly became serious. “…Speaking of Gu Ximian, that Princess Olivia seems to be around her all the time recently, doesn’t she?”

“…” Here we go again. When it came to Gu Ximian’s relationships, Ling Jing was as sharp as a hound. Zhuang Chi helplessly curled the corner of her lip and gave a perfunctory reply, “…Is that so.”

“Yes! Aren’t you quite familiar with the princess and hang out with her all the time? How come you sound so unconcerned! You have no sense of crisis at all!” Ling Jing actually got angry and shot her a warning glare. “They’re practically inseparable. You have no idea what the rumors are like at school now. Everyone’s saying Olivia has taken a fancy to Gu Ximian and wants to take her back to A Country! Some bold people even went and asked Olivia to her face if she likes Gu Ximian, and Her Royal Highness actually admitted it openly—and as a result, rumors started spreading that they’re already engaged or something…”

“…What are you talking about, ‘sense of crisis’?” St. Blaisedon really is a school that loves to gossip, Zhuang Chi couldn’t even be bothered to lift her eyes. “Olivia likes Gu Ximian… Sigh, let’s not even talk about whether she understood which kind of ‘like’ the question was referring to. Even if she was being sincere, it’s not worth making such a big fuss over, is it? Are there few people in this school who like Gu Ximian? Aren’t you—”

“Shh, shh! What are you saying!”

Ling Jing’s face flushed red in an instant. With surprising force, she moved to cover Zhuang Chi’s mouth, only stopping when Zhuang Chi obediently made an ‘X’ sign in front of her lips. Then, she hesitated in her seat for a long while, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn’t. Suddenly, she leaned closer to Zhuang Chi and lowered her voice conspiratorially, “…Zhuang Chi, give me the bottom line first. Do you, do you… have those kinds of feelings for Gu Ximian?”

“…”

Zhuang Chi paused. Her first reaction was to glance around, then she replied decisively, “…I’m not talking about this kind of topic out here. If you ask again, I’m leaving. I still have to go print my resume.”

“! Wait, wait, wait for me, okay? I won’t ask anymore, alright…”

Ling Jing immediately shrank back, frantically speeding up her resume writing. Zhuang Chi let out a small sigh and leaned back against her chair.

Well, it’s not that I can’t answer, Zhuang Chi thought. It’s just… I feel like if I talk about this kind of thing behind Gu Ximian’s back in a public place, it might be like that time in the cafeteria, where I turn around and see the person herself.

As for “those kinds of feelings,” she of course didn’t have them. And regarding Olivia and Gu Ximian’s closeness… she wasn’t completely in the dark about it, of course. She had already heard about it from the person herself.

【Since we’re in the same major, most of our courses are the same, so we naturally spend more time together.】 Gu Ximian had said in a message, before posing a question. 【Olivia seems to be a rather important character, right? Do you think she’s fallen for me yet?】

What a direct and difficult question to answer. Although Zhuang Chi, as the author, vaguely remembered that Olivia fell for Gu Ximian at first sight (or rather, the feelings of most Alphas for Gu Ximian in this book started that way, which seemed very slapdash in hindsight), she couldn’t say so definitively. So she just vaguely tossed the question back: 【…What do you think?】

【I don’t think so yet.】

Gu Ximian’s answer was quite straightforward, but the reason was unexpected to Zhuang Chi: 【Because when she’s with me, she spends most of the time talking about you.】

…That does sound more like it’s still within the realm of friendship. Zhuang Chi blinked in confusion, thinking about how Olivia would also talk about Gu Ximian when they were alone together. It felt a little strange.

But it wasn’t a problem. Olivia’s romantic inclinations were her own business. After all, the current Olivia was no longer just a character from her pen, but a living person she knew. Zhuang Chi didn’t plan on forcing what she remembered onto her anymore.

Speaking of which, Olivia was probably her second favorite character when she was writing the book—the first, of course, being Gu Ximian. Little Zhuang Chi had once even entertained the idea of writing Olivia as Gu Ximian’s Official Match, but ultimately gave up because she couldn’t imagine Gu Ximian falling in love with any Alpha. Looking back now, she didn’t know if that decision was right or wrong. Although compared to the other problem children, Olivia was indeed like a little angel, but…

“Alright! I’m done!”

At that moment, Ling Jing finally finished her resume, happily copied it to a USB drive, and called out, “Let’s go print it then! I heard the Presidium’s booth is only set up for today, let’s not miss the application deadline. Most of the other clubs are set up for two days. It’s really putting on airs…”

“Of course. Did you think the Presidium is the same as other clubs?”

“Aren’t they more or less the same—Whoa! Student Council President!”

Ling Jing jumped in surprise, only then noticing that the one who had interjected with a cold remark was An Chen, who had appeared out of nowhere. He gave her a faint glance, then turned directly to Zhuang Chi. “Is your resume done? Let me see it before you go print it.”

“…Why?”

When An Chen had appeared out of thin air, Zhuang Chi had a sense of “I knew it!”, but she hadn’t expected him to make such a request right away, so she asked back blankly. An Chen frowned and said in a “what’s there to explain” tone, “Of course, it’s to see if your resume can pass first. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be too late by the time you print it?”

“…”

…So he means he’s here to help? Zhuang Chi was still confused, but An Chen couldn’t wait any longer. He leaned over to her computer and urged her, “Alright, there are only two hours left before the booth closes. I looked for you for a long time after my shift ended… Is this the file? Can I open it?”

He was actually quite polite, knowing to ask for permission first. Although still a bit bewildered, Zhuang Chi figured that An Chen would see it anyway once she submitted it, so she obediently opened the resume. An Chen scanned it once, his brow deeply furrowed. “This won’t do. This won’t get past the other members of the Presidium. Every single one of them is very demanding.”

It was the first time she had heard An Chen evaluate others like this. Zhuang Chi’s wariness towards the Presidium instantly jumped two levels. An Chen moved the cursor to the end of the personal experience section of her resume and said thoughtfully, “Add a line here. Just write… ‘Once defeated me at a banquet’—hmm, maybe don’t write ‘at a banquet’ for now, otherwise I feel like they’ll dig for details.”

“…………Huh?”

“Why are you looking at me with such a silly expression? I’m being serious. The fact that you could beat me carries a lot of weight in the Presidium—ah, you don’t believe me, do you? Of course I’m among the most outstanding people in the Presidium! If you don’t believe me, just write it down! I guarantee your resume will pass if you add it!”

…No matter how she heard it, the suggestion sounded absurd, but An Chen’s expression was so serious that Zhuang Chi couldn’t raise any more questions. Dazed and confused, she added the line under his strict supervision. Beside them, Ling Jing craned her neck to look, then turned to ask An Chen, “Then what should I write to pass?” only to be shut down by his reply, “You won’t pass no matter what you write. Don’t waste paper printing it.”

“Mm, that’s good.” An Chen nodded in satisfaction, then said with a serious expression, “…But passing the resume screening is just the first step. The interview that follows is the most important part.”

“…There’s an interview too.”

“Of course. This is the Presidium.”

It’s exactly like a formal job application process. Zhuang Chi felt a headache coming on. She heard An Chen say seriously, “…Let me give you a heads-up. Although I’m the Student Council President… my say in the Presidium is only second. The person who ranks first… how should I put it… is very outstanding, but a bit strange.”

Zhuang Chi’s heart skipped a beat and she became vigilant, sensing something unusual in the air. She asked cautiously, “…Strange in what way?”

“…” An Chen hesitated and thought for a long while, seemingly unable to find a suitable adjective in the end. He just sighed. “…Forget it. You might not even meet him, actually. Although his status is high, he basically only participates in decision-making and doesn’t often take part in the execution phase, so he probably won’t show up for this kind of new member interview… Anyway, just take this as a heads-up.”

Wow. No way, Zhuang Chi thought. Is there another plot-relevant character in the Student Council besides An Chen? And he’s even described by An Chen as ‘a bit strange’… doesn’t that mean he’s extremely strange?

The male character positioned as the ‘little wolf dog’ hasn’t appeared yet, that’s true, Zhuang Chi’s mind raced, but… is he in the Presidium? Huh? I remember he’s supposed to be a guy who’s a few months younger than Gu Ximian, right?

“That’s all for now,” An Chen had already concluded the topic while Zhuang Chi was still in a state of confusion. “The people who made it to the interview will be screened by tomorrow. There shouldn’t be many, so just wait for the notification. You have to perform well during the interview… Hmph, I suppose I don’t need to say much more. If it’s you, you probably won’t disappoint me.”

“I’ll take this to print the resume now. I’ll give it back to you when we meet tomorrow.”

As he spoke, he took the USB drive with Zhuang Chi’s resume on it, waved it in front of her, and then left with it. He had the air of someone who was naturally going to take care of the printing for her. His departing figure looked just like the Snail Girl who suddenly appears, accomplishes her task, and then retreats.

“…What’s with him, the Student Council President.” Ling Jing was also lost in confusion, muttering as she stared in the direction he had left, “What was that stuff he said at the end? It sounded so cringey. What’s with the ‘hmph,’ ‘hmph’.”

“…In the early years, quite a lot of people in anime talked like that.”

Setting aside the obvious dated feeling mixed into An Chen’s character design, and looking only at the immediate result, An Chen had undoubtedly come to help her pass the resume screening—and with a high degree of attentiveness. Perhaps he was indirectly apologizing to Zhuang Chi for almost having directly chosen Gu Ximian before, or perhaps it was for another reason, like a strange sense of rivalry along the lines of “How can you fall here? If you’re going to lose, it can only be to me”… Sigh, she really should have watched less anime back then.

Regardless, the first hurdle was probably cleared. But thinking further ahead…

…How strange. This was clearly an event that was only mentioned in a single sentence in the original novel, yet it seems to have more participating characters than any previous plot point, doesn’t it?

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