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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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All the club members had gathered.
Three existing members and four freshmen, including myself.
Plus, Seora noona, who was practically a ghost member, making a total of eight.
“Ah, hello.”
Seora noona, arriving a little late, greeted me with a slightly awkward expression and then sat next to Han Saebyeok.
‘If she’s going to be this awkward…’
Why did she even touch me like that? Again, it was incredibly fortunate that I didn’t try anything.
I shook my head slightly.
I was wondering how I should face Seora noona, but seeing her even more awkward expression made me sigh. Well, time would heal all wounds. There wouldn’t be a problem as long as I pretended nothing happened.
“Ehem. Everyone, attention please.”
Yoo Bam noona, standing in front, cleared her throat and gathered everyone’s attention.
“I will now explain the club activity plan for this year.”
Perhaps because she was giving a presentation, her pronunciation was clearer than usual. It looked kind of cute, and I had to stifle a laugh.
“Please look at the screen. This is our club’s roadmap for this year.”
A surprisingly high-quality roadmap appeared, as if it had been meticulously prepared. I could see how serious Yoo Bam noona was about club activities.
“The ultimate goal of Toons is to produce a short animated film and submit it to the competition at the end of the year.”
A short animated film.
An animation that doesn’t exceed 10 minutes, no matter how long. Actually, even 10 minutes was including the theme song; the actual running time should be around 5 minutes.
‘That’s an appropriate level for a university club. I was wondering what kind of animation we could make in a few months.’
A typical Japanese anime episode is about 20 minutes long. While it’s only 20 minutes, a considerable amount of work goes into making an animation of that length.
Making such an animation with just university club members? I thought it would be difficult to produce anything decent even if we dedicated an entire year to it. But a short film was possible.
Of course, a short animated film wasn’t a walk in the park either. For about seven or eight university students without professional skills, even a 5-minute animation was a challenging task.
“We’ll start the actual animation production in June at the earliest, and July at the latest. Until then, we will be planning and creating storyboards. At the same time, we will also be training the new members.”
“Training?”
It was Sung-joo who asked.
I looked over and saw a look of bewilderment on Sung-joo’s face. He was probably taken aback by the unexpectedly serious activity plan.
‘Sung-joo joined with a relatively light heart.’
Sung-hyun and I were fine.
We were genuine otaku, so we joined because we were interested in these activities. Of course, we were worried, but we could accept it as an experience.
‘A-reum seems okay too.’
A-reum was also quite the otaku, even if she didn’t show it as much. Of course, not as much as Sung-hyun or me.
But Sung-joo?
He didn’t seem like an otaku at all. The only anime he mentioned enjoying were mainstream ones like One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach, and he didn’t seem interested in these kinds of activities in the first place.
Yoo Bam noona answered Sung-joo’s question.
“The existing members will train the new members. Our members are excellent. Basic Photoshop, editing, animation, motion graphics, we can do it all.”
“Do we have to come during the vacation too?”
“Uh… yes. During the vacation, we will invite… or rather, hire a professional to train us…”
Yoo Bam noona’s voice trailed off at Sung-joo’s question. She seemed to be gauging the freshmen’s reactions.
Sung-joo nodded with a thoughtful expression and replied,
“Sorry for interrupting. I’ll ask any further questions after you’re done.”
“O-okay…”
Yoo Bam noona nodded, but she looked a little anxious. She was probably worried that the freshmen would quit the club.
I glanced at the others.
Ahn Sung-hyun, having heard about it from Seora noona, had a calm expression as if he had expected it, and A-reum, rather than being worried, looked excited, as if she was looking forward to it.
‘If we can just persuade Sung-joo hyung, it’ll be fine.’
Actually, I was starting to like this club more and more. From an outsider’s perspective, it might seem like a hassle, but in reality, it was a rare opportunity.
They were even bringing in a professional in this field.
Receiving instruction from an industry expert. Such an extravagant thing wouldn’t be possible with the meager club funds. It must be coming out of Yoo Bam noona’s own pocket.
‘Is Yoo Bam noona really from a chaebol family?’
She said she was an exchange student, so she couldn’t be from a domestic chaebol family, but I was curious about her background.
Well, it wasn’t really important. I was just happy to have this unexpected opportunity to learn.
“Ehem. Our activities aren’t just limited to animation production. In July, we’ll also participate in Commics. We’ll have our own club booth there.”
Commics. An otaku festival held in Seoul and Busan.
I knew it was scheduled for the end of July this year.
“We’ll sell goods and doujinshi at the booth.”
For goods, would we be making and selling things like keychains and mousepads? Doujinshi referred to fan-made works, right? I was confident in my drawing skills, so I could actively participate.
‘I’ll participate as an artist.’
And I would take a step back when it came to running the booth. I didn’t like being in front of people.
But wait a minute.
“We’ll also participate in cosplay. We’ll even make our own costumes. Saebyeok and Hana are in the fashion design department, so they’re experts.”
Cosplay?
‘No way.’
Just being in front of people was burdensome, but walking around in a costume? I suddenly wanted to run out of the clubroom.
“If we have time, we’ll also have a Halloween party! During vacation, we’ll go to the beach, it’ll be fun!”
Yoo Bam noona’s voice grew louder, as if she was gaining confidence. It must be because she was talking about fun activities rather than tedious tasks. Topics that would pique the members’ interest.
But for me, it was bad news. I just wanted to stay in the clubroom and work…
On the other hand, Sung-joo hyung’s expression was the opposite of mine. He seemed to like the active schedule.
“This concludes the roadmap presentation. Although we only have a year left, let’s have fun with our activities!”
“Woohoo! Our club president is awesome!”
A-reum was the first to shout and clap. I also clapped, but I was already starting to worry about the cosplay and Halloween party.
But I shook my head and cleared my worries.
One of the things I had learned in the past few months was to forget about trivial worries.
‘It’ll work out somehow.’
Yes, unlike before, it was just a little burdensome, not something I couldn’t do. A year ago, I would have run away as soon as I heard about it… This was a huge improvement. I could still change even more.
Then, Yoo Bam noona held up a box and said,
“Now we’ll draw lots! It’s time to choose your teachers and students!”
It seemed they would be teaching one-on-one rather than as a group.
“I’ll take two, and Saebyeok and Hana will each take one.”
I glanced at Han Saebyeok and Ju Hana.
Han Saebyeok, the girl with cold, sharp eyes and short hair.
Ju Hana, who also had a cold demeanor but was actually timid inside.
‘Anyone but her.’
I hoped it wouldn’t be Han Saebyeok. I might die of awkwardness if I had to receive one-on-one training from her.
I hoped to be taught by Yoo Bam noona. Yoo Bam noona, who had a friendly and approachable demeanor and was a senior in the same department. I felt like she would be understanding even if I made mistakes.
But life doesn’t always go as planned.
I lost at rock-paper-scissors and ended up being last.
“Oh, I look forward to working with you, President.”
“Ehem. Sung-joo, I’ll teach you well. You don’t have to worry.”
“I’m with Yoo Bam noona too. I’ll learn diligently.”
“I like students with enthusiasm. Sung-hyun, I look forward to working with you.”
Yoo Bam noona’s two students were quickly decided.
“Ta-da! Let’s see, let’s see, who did I get…?”
A-reum, pulling a piece of paper from the box, made drumroll sounds with her mouth as she checked the result. Then, she ran over and hugged Han Saebyeok.
“Yay! Saebyeok unnie, please take care of me!”
“Okay.”
Han Saebyeok smiled slightly and hugged A-reum. Then, she suddenly looked at me.
Smirk.
Was it my imagination that one corner of her mouth lifted into a smirk?
‘Hey, I don’t want to learn from you either.’
I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.
Anyway, with this, my teacher was automatically decided. I looked at Ju Hana, who was hesitantly approaching me.
“I, I look forward to working with you, noona.”
“Y-yes…”
Ju Hana replied in a small voice, fidgeting with her hands.
…I was worried about whether the training would go smoothly.
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