Bamboo Forest Manager

The Meeting Concluded

My head felt dizzy with complexity.

Until just moments ago, I couldn’t hear any noise from outside; now it lingered in my ears like tinnitus,

feeling like a mental effort not wanting to accept this current situation.

The sofa which I expected to be soft pushed back hard against my buttocks as soon as I sat down.

The tea served by the chancellor tasted strangely luxurious;

realizing this effort on his part only after taking a sip did my mind start feeling clearer again.

“I am indeed the administrator,”

I told him so; he let out a short breath—probably thinking ‘of all people.’

“But nothing related to my father or family matters here. Right now, as an administrator,

I came here to sort out an incident that occurred in Bamboo Forest.”

“Ahem.”

“You were already caught from the start. Even if you keep silent here, haven’t I eventually found out?”

I wanted to believe it was something done by someone else related to the chancellor.

That would have been much simpler to handle.

But when I saw his expression, Anonymous407 seemed indeed to be the chancellor.

“Sigh.”

The chancellor took a sip of tea and let out a heavy sigh. His eyes were skeptical, searching for where things had gone wrong, tracing back to the root of it all.

“It turns out I am Anonymous407.”

Hearing it straight from the chancellor’s mouth only made the path ahead seem more daunting.

Yet, it was an undeniable fact that had come before me, and he was uniquely asking for my help.

“First off, I’d really like to know why you suddenly did such a thing.”

“…”

“I need to know. You are aware of what happened because of you, aren’t you?”

This wasn’t just about this current incident.

Anonymous407 had also been involved in conflicts between freshmen and sophomores/juniors last time.

“That time wasn’t me starting the fire. There was a group chat among sophomores and juniors in Theater Studies gossiping…”

You know very well indeed.

Really irritatingly so.

“Right? But wasn’t it you who poured oil on that in Bamboo Grove? Thanks to that, there were endless divisions in Bamboo Grove for a while!”

“Hmm.”

“You did that on purpose? It doesn’t seem like something someone at your level wouldn’t know about.”

He seemed slightly stung by my words as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped sweat from his forehead.

“I didn’t expect it would spread that far.”

“So you admit it was intentional?”

“Hmm, yes.”

Why is this headache mine?

My head throbbed painfully as irritation surged through me unexpectedly.

Yet I managed to suppress my anger as I asked again,

“Why did you do it?”

“…”

“There must be some reason! The posts written by Anonymous407 were all abusive. Really, every single word dripped with malice!”

Even if one hides behind anonymity, there are still things that shouldn’t be said.

Yet, Anonymous407 crossed that line.

Literally the worst.

They wrote solely to hurt others. Nothing more, nothing less.

And to think it was the university president.

Astonished, I asked him about it. The president paused to catch his breath and then clenched his fist tightly.

He then vented a fury that seemed too intense for his age.

“Haven’t you all done the same?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Haven’t you? Saying how well the school is run. Blaming it on the president or professors, calling the school a dump. Haven’t you all cursed as well?”

It’s an anonymous community.

Specifically, Gahyun University’s anonymous community.

Naturally, it was flooded with posts criticizing the university.

There were those who targeted professors, those who mocked them, and of course those who cursed at the president himself.

“The words you can’t say in front— isn’t that what your beloved community is for?”

“…”

“Since last year.”

The president chuckled in disbelief and nodded.

“I’ve been watching since last year. Seeing what all of you have been ranting about in Bamboo Grove.”

Strictly speaking, Gahyun University’s Bamboo Grove wasn’t officially affiliated with Gahyun University itself.

It was created by seniors and somehow ended up in my hands over time.

“It was infuriating. Professors, teaching assistants, even me—the president—and even including our janitor lady working at the university.”

“Sigh.”

“They cursed and mocked relentlessly as if their lives depended on it.”

Among everything Anonymous407 said there was one thing they never left out:

– You’re living like this because all you do is hang around Bamboo Grove.

They specifically targeted users of Bamboo Grove for their insults—not just any student from Gahyun University but specifically those using Bamboo Grove.

“These days everyone knows we live in an era where people freely insult others online without hesitation. Freedom of expression? Well yes—that kind of era.”

So even someone like a university president saw an opportunity to enter into Bamboo Grove—it must have been easy enough for him.

“You know how much I’ve read your insults? Enough that I could mimic your tone almost exactly when writing myself. Do you realize how much thought and revision goes into my posts before publishing?”

The president chuckled nervously, claiming he hadn’t been this tense even when writing his thesis.

After a while, he slumped his shoulders as if drained and let out a bitter laugh.

“However, it must be wrong.”

It seemed unnecessary for me to say anything.

He already knew.

“Yes, it’s wrong. I feel like I’ve stepped too far. It’s funny that I only realized now that I’ve crossed the line.”

The victim who became the perpetrator.

It seemed undeniable that the president was a victim.

Even if it was the fate of those in higher positions, there was clearly an aspect where he was used as a scapegoat in the bamboo grove.

But it was also undeniable that he was a perpetrator.

“Anonymous7 is a full scholarship student.”

I looked down at my teacup with a bitter smile. Tapping on the now cold teacup with my finger, I continued speaking.

“Her mother isn’t around anymore. After graduating high school and working in a factory, her father passed away and she could attend university thanks to his insurance money.”

“……”

“She still hasn’t stopped doing part-time jobs.”

“Ha, ah… indeed, what an awful thing to have done.”

“She’s demanding an apology. Her deceased parents didn’t do anything bad enough to deserve being maligned by others,” I said.

Pressing his thumbs against his eyes firmly, the president then spoke,

“Call her in.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s something we need to handle. If you want to spread this incident around freely then go ahead; I’ll accept it.”

With eyes tightly shut, President sighed deeply

I looked at him for another moment before slowly rising from my seat and heading towards the door

Then I made a call,

“Senior Joo-hee? Could you come over to the president’s office for a moment?”

* * *

A few minutes later,

Senior Joo-hee arrived wearing not her usual welding jacket but instead donned in white blouse—dressed up appropriately for visiting President’s office

“Uh hello there! My name is Min Joo-hee; third-year student from English department.”

The senior looked back and forth between me and the president, a bewildered expression on his face.

It seemed he couldn’t make sense of this combination.

That was inevitable.

After all, Senior Juhee didn’t know I was the administrator, nor that the president was Anonymous407.

Slowly, the president rose from his seat and approached Senior Juhee.

Then he bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry.”

His polite formal speech carried a heartfelt apology. It didn’t seem like an apology one would make to a much younger student.

“What? Why suddenly…”

“I sincerely apologize for disparaging both innocent student Juhee and her parents without any reason.”

“…!”

Juhee’s eyes trembled visibly.

It took a moment, but she seemed to finally grasp what was happening now.

“You can spread the word if you want. I did something I shouldn’t have. I am truly sorry.”

From noble mtl dot come

Senior Juhee glanced at me briefly while staring blankly at the dean.

I didn’t react much either.

It meant that everything was left to Senior Juhee’s choice.

Her deliberation wasn’t long.

“I initially intended just to accept an apology and leave it at that. However, considering your position as president, you should have been more careful with your words—even if anonymous.”

Then she casually rolled up her sleeve.

Oh?

“Just one flick on the forehead. That will settle this matter; we’ll consider it never happened.”

Smiling slightly as she made her offer, the president gratefully responded before leaning forward with his forehead exposed.

“Wait just a moment!”

As I hurried toward him,

Whack!

With a sound so loud one might think his skull had shattered, the president’s body toppled backward.

Had I not caught him quickly enough, he would have fallen right over.

“Ugh! Huh-ugh!”

He seemed momentarily knocked out.

The Chancellor, with a distressed expression, asked me what he had just been hit by.

“That’s enough for now.”

Senior Ju-hee smiled brightly as she walked out of the Chancellor’s office.

No, she stopped midway.

“Woo-jin, let’s talk later. I need to head straight there since I postponed my cafe shift.”

“Ah, yes. Sister.”

She strutted off with all the authority of a battalion commander.

Anyway.

“My head isn’t cracked open, is it?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not.”

I helped the dazed Dean to his feet.

“Please leave an apology on Bamboo Forest. I’ll speak to Senior Ju-hee separately too.”

“Ah, got it.”

“And congratulations on becoming Number 3.”

“…Hmm?”

The Chancellor stared blankly at me as I continued with a smile.

“Handle excessive swearing on your own. Of course, don’t just block everything indiscriminately. But you’ll have enough authority to make those calls now.”

“To me?”

“It’s always been the rule of Bamboo Forest. Once you know who the administrator is, you become one.”

“Heh… Heh heh heh.”

Laughing incredulously at this revelation suddenly reminded him to ask,

“Number 3?”

“Number 2 was just decided too.”

* * *

– Anonymous407 (Administrator3): Dear students of Bamboo Forest. Due to my recent words and actions…

– Anonymous7 (Administrator2): We resolved things through discussion with Anonymous407. Thanks for your help Admins!

Of course there was chaos in Bamboo Forest once again,

But rather than cursing over such trivial resolution that they talked things through,

↳ Anonymous294: Damn! These guys have seen into the abyss!

↳ Anonymous11: At this point the admin is scarier damn.

↳ Anonymous404: It was so petty watching them fight that I took both for myself!

↳ Anonymous198: The consensus in the academic community is that the administrator opened both accounts with extreme prejudice and caused a downfall.

↳ Anonymous69: s*x?

↳ Anonymous59 (Admin1): Welcome, newbies.

↳ Anonymous388: Admin1 is happy with his new followers. Thumbs up.

Thus, the conversation came to an end.

The Bamboo Grove will probably remain quiet until the final exams now.

Woojin Kim glanced over Bamboo Grove one more time and stepped out of the dormitory with a smirk on his face.

It seemed not too bad that some people were delighted knowing that Anonymous407 had become somewhat of a bulletin board slave.

“Nice, very nice.”

Humming to himself, Woojin headed towards the bicycle storage to go to his next class.

A few minutes later,

A new post appeared in Bamboo Grove:

– Administrator: (Photo)

A photo of a bicycle with only one wheel left, just like last time.

Accompanied by one added comment:

– Administrator: I’m really going to kill whoever stole my bike.