The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 97

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 97
“The resale value’s going to tank….”
Julien swallowed his anger quietly.
Such a pathetic evaluation.
But the public’s response was cold.
Luxury goods were the kind of thing that appreciated over time—today was always the cheapest they’d ever be.
Especially Limited Editions; their value could double or triple.
So it wasn’t uncommon for people to buy luxury items as an investment strategy.
Yet sometimes, a Limited Edition could become so unpopular that its value plummeted.
In such cases, a regular product without the Collaboration could actually be worth more.
Right now, Julien’s Collaboration product was receiving exactly that kind of assessment.
Worthless, and destined to remain worthless.
As a luxury item and as an artist’s work alike, it was facing the harshest criticism imaginable.
“We didn’t even take a discount on this! Isn’t this too much?”
Sylvie’s sharp voice made Julien’s irritation flare.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
This wasn’t what he’d envisioned at all!
And of all people, he’d partnered with this incompetent Pradel….
“So what? Is it my responsibility that their products aren’t selling?”
When Julien snapped back with equal irritation, Sylvie let out a hollow laugh.
Pradel’s popularity was falling?
No—just last quarter, Pradel had shown higher brand value and sales than Selian.
It wasn’t some cheap brand that could be devalued by a single artist.
“So you really are Ye Ji, aren’t you, artist?”
Sylvie posed the question she should have asked from the start.
But Julien paid her no mind and simply rose from his seat.
Yet Sylvie didn’t genuinely suspect his claim.
She merely thought he’d made a fool of her.
Could it be that Selian had put him up to this from the beginning?
With that thought, the two of them left the VIP room and headed out to the main floor.
The few customers who’d been there in the morning vanished entirely after lunch.
Outside, the crowd was bustling, and everyone passing by carried Selian shopping bags.
“Man, there’s nobody here at all.”
A bright, carefree voice—seemingly intent on scratching at Sylvie’s nerves—rang out.
‘What is this Asian guy doing here?’
At the appearance of the flamboyantly dressed Asian man, Sylvie gave up pressing Julien and held her tongue.
The empty Pradel store—just as he’d said.
A lone staff member, standing at ease, stepped forward to attend to the customer.
“Yes, how can I help you?”
He turned his body toward a display, preparing to pose as a customer himself.
Then an irritating voice continued.
“Oh, yeah. I’m the artist doing Installation Art over at Selian. I’ve got these Sunglasses that broke, and I wanted to get them serviced.”
What the hell—he wasn’t even a real customer.
Sylvie glared at the Asian man as he rambled unnecessarily to the staff member, grinning all the while.
Not even a customer, just a repair job.
And he claimed to be someone involved with Selian?
Her glance, viewing this with displeasure, flicked across to Julien on the other side.
His expression seemed strange.
……
Julien stared at the Asian man with a pale, sickly expression.
If this Asian man really was, as he claimed, one of the artists collaborating with Selian,
‘Shouldn’t the two of them know each other?’
Collaborations could theoretically happen in secret.
But if that were the case, why would he have such an expression?
Could it really be…?
‘……Is it true? Julien Valmont wasn’t Ye Ji after all?’
But Sylvie could only clench her fist, powerless to act.
‘Is the Ye Ji you know actually this Julien Valmont?’
That one question would solve everything.
But she couldn’t ask it.
To ask it of a Selian-affiliated artist would be as good as announcing they’d been swindled.
Asking outright would be a confession that they’d made a desperate gamble to bring down Selian.
Despite her prejudices blinding her judgment, Sylvie was a woman of genuine competence.
She understood that such a question would be digging her own grave.
“Please wait a moment.”
The staff member, having taken the warranty and identification card the Asian man handed over, stepped away to verify them in the system.
The flamboyantly dressed Asian man leaned against a glass display case full of elegant handbags.
His gaze met Julien’s.
Sylvie watched both of them, hoping to confirm her suspicion either way.
A strange tension hung in the store—a muffled, heavy silence distinct from the noise outside.
***
Perfect!
Young felt laughter threatening to burst out at Julien’s glare, which seemed murderous enough to kill him.
How about that—a man of his years showing such a clumsy, undisguised glare.
This is what happens when you try to pull tricks using a young person’s name—embarrassment of the highest order.
It’s all deserved. Every bit of it.
……
Young met Julien’s stare directly and spoke.
“You know what?”
Some might find it surprising,
but Young was actually quite the polyglot—French and Italian included.
While not fluent, he could communicate effectively, so he kept it brief.
“I’m really close with Ye Ji.”
……
A chill silence fell—thin as frost on glass.
Young shifted his gaze to Pradel’s director.
How could I sit here while these stupid adults put my precious student in harm’s way?
“You need to work on your judgment of character.”
Contrary to Young’s cheerful tone, the other man’s expression crumpled into something downright sinister.
Just then, the staff member returned, having finished the verification.
“Sir, to repair this, we’ll need to send it to headquarters. It might take a while. Is that alright?”
The staff member explained kindly and politely that they’d need to send the item to the main office to source the proper parts.
Young nodded in agreement.
“Of course. You have to look carefully and use the right parts. Use the wrong one, and it comes back to bite you as a much bigger problem.”
It sounded like a response to the staff member, yet the words felt oddly misplaced.
But Sylvie understood—that remark was directed at her.
She’d failed to look carefully, and now faced a much larger problem.
That was Sylvie’s situation now.
“I… yes, I understand. So even if it takes a long time….”
“Then just throw it away.”
Young replied lightly to the bewildered staff member and turned to leave.
He felt their gazes following him as he left, but his step was light.
The distraction Ye Ji had asked for was worth exactly this much.
Though admittedly, given his personality, he’d embellished it a bit.
‘Anyway, to get a fun role like this.’
Young found his student quite impressive.
As he left the Pradel store, the noise of the crowd returned to his ears.
“So incredible….”
“Beautiful even from above.”
Young smiled wider as he watched people enjoying the installation in the main hall.
He’d given beauty and pleasure to many, and thoroughly humiliated those with malice in their hearts.
One thing was certain: Ye Ji was no ordinary person.
Delighted at having played two reprehensible adults, Young pulled out his Mobile Phone.
“Hey, Ye Ji? It’s me, your teacher~”
At Young’s clearly excited tone, Ye Ji burst out laughing.
Her laughter mingled with relief, her voice carrying certainty.
—You handled it well, then.
“Of course—I just met him. He was absolutely furious.”
—Too bad I couldn’t see it myself.
“Should I go back in and take a picture for you?”
At Young’s exaggerated tone, Ye Ji laughed again.
As he listened, he could also hear Da Hye and Hyun Min talking nearby.
“Everything’s working out.”
—Thank you so much.
“Don’t mention it!”
He answered her courteous thanks playfully, yet something weighed on his chest.
Someone of such tremendous talent would inevitably attract all manner of petty troublemakers.
More brazen, calculated villains might entangle themselves with her in time.
But at the same time, Young was certain:
“You handled all of this beautifully yourself.”
Looking forward, as long as it was Ye Ji,
she would find her way through anything.
After a brief call with Ye Ji, Young returned to the pop-up site where people were marveling.
Today was a day worth enjoying.
***
[BOGUE] Selian Transforms Paris Lafanette into “Temple of Water and Fragrance”… Overwhelming Collaboration with Prodigy Painter “Ye Ji (GOYO)”
It’s no mere Popup Store. The moment doors opened, beneath a soaring 40-meter dome unfolded a synesthetic forest of breathtaking scale.
The performance—real water droplets falling across Ye Ji’s (GOYO’s) massive Canvas suspended in air—delivered visual shock.
(Excerpt)
ㄴ The money stench is insane that’s real luxury right there
ㄴ Pradel really gets shown up next to this
ㄴ I don’t think you can even put them in the same tier anymore?
ㄴ How long is this running?
ㄴ Definitely gotta go see and smell it before it closes
ㄴ But honestly I kinda feel scammed,, when I tried it at home the fragrance smelled different from what I remembered?
ㄴ The pop-up was so flashy we all got hypnotized together lol
ㄴ I bought it even though it’s not my style;;; am I actually crazy
***
A flood of articles and comments.
Ye Ji found the media’s continued interest puzzling.
Really, once people shed one layer of their prejudice, wouldn’t they figure it out quickly?
Sung Su and Young—the artists she’d collaborated with.
Find the common denominator between them, and Cheonglim Art High School would pop right up.
If people actually made the effort to dig, they could find it—so why couldn’t anyone catch on?
“…That’s just what you think.”
Hyun Min flatly contradicted her.
His position was that it wasn’t the kind of thing people could easily figure out.
Anyway, while Ye Ji—or rather, Goyo—dominated all the media,
she hadn’t bothered to follow up specifically on what happened to Julien afterward.
All she could tell without even looking was that Julien’s Collaboration product with Pradel had completely tanked.
And one more thing was certain.
“I think Julien’s solo exhibition scheduled for early next year got cancelled?”
A gallery that stood above Montrebleu—
Black Cube Gallery, which owned multiple locations in major cities worldwide including London, Paris, and New York.
His exhibition there appeared to have been cancelled.
Presumably, it was due to his quiet impersonation of Goyo, or perhaps the loss of reputation from the failed Pradel collaboration.
Either way, it was a grave of his own digging, the price of imitating what he couldn’t handle.
Hyun Min, watching Ye Ji mindlessly snacking and resting, suddenly asked,
“So, what about scheduling after your solo exhibition? Are you thinking of booking anything?”
After the Selian fragrance Popup Store,
Goyo’s account had been flooded with even more direct messages.
“Hmm, if something good comes along, I could probably take it.”
“The problem is figuring out what counts as ‘good’ by your standards.”
By normal measures, good opportunities were already piling up endlessly.
But Ye Ji’s criteria weren’t measured in mere social status or money.
That was the most difficult part for Hyun Min in managing Goyo’s account.
What level of opportunity would actually satisfy Ye Ji?
After a moment’s thought, Ye Ji expressed what remained her fundamental wish, unchanged as always.
“Just… if it’s a chance to show my Paintings to as many people as possible, that would be enough.”
With that kind of opportunity, money and fame would naturally follow anyway.
But Ye Ji’s essential dream had never wavered.
As she spoke, Hyun Min, scrolling through Goyo’s account on his phone, found one particular DM and showed it to her.
“…Well, then I found exactly the right one.”
What Hyun Min showed her was
[Hansung Electronics Official]
a message from Hansung Electronics, a global tech company.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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