How Do I Appear in the Protagonist's Eyes?
The opening ceremony—combined with the entrance ceremony—was simple enough.
They just herded the cadets into the auditorium, announced that school was starting, and offered the freshmen a few congratulations on their admission.
The only thing that could even pass for special was the freshman representative stepping up to deliver a greeting to the upperclassmen, and even that was nothing but stock phrases.
There was nothing worth listening to carefully.
The students around me, however, seemed to disagree.
The moment the girl serving as freshman representative mounted the stage, a wave of admiring gasps rose in unison.
Brown bobbed hair that swayed with every step, falling just to her shoulders. Golden eyes sparkling like stars, and skin of pure white. A figure sensual enough to stir the basest of impulses, dressed neatly in the school uniform.
Even I found my mouth falling slightly open in admiration.
Ah. Come to think of it, she was the freshman representative.
Yi Siyun—the protagonist of How to Become a Hero.
I had seen that face plenty of times in the manhwa, but seeing her in person was several times more beautiful.
I was barely restraining the urge to run over and touch her all over right then and there.
She took the microphone on stage and began saying this and that… but none of it really registered.
I was simply focusing on that nightingale voice without a single thought in my head…
I already knew what she was going to say, after all.
So rather than Yi Siyun’s words, the murmuring comments from the people around me reached my ears more clearly.
“Is that the one who took down that terrorist group?”
“Yeah. Yi Siyun, was it? For a while the news talked about nothing but her, so even if you weren’t interested you ended up knowing the name.”
Most of it was information I already knew, and the majority of reactions amounted to little more than “She’s so pretty…”
But every so often something interesting floated by.
For example, people analyzing Yi Siyun’s three sizes based on the terrorist-suppression video that had gone up on NewTube…
Apparently they were a bit bigger than they looked.
No—I was absolutely not having any lewd thoughts.
Everything else people were saying I already knew, but the three sizes had never been detailed even in How to Become a Hero…
I really just listened out of curiosity.
I have to live in this world now, so isn’t it better to have even one more scrap of information?
Especially when this is a cruel world where every kind of villain runs rampant!
In a place like this, information is power.
To survive, even something like Yi Siyun’s three sizes has to be carefully stockpiled.
Who knows? Villains might suddenly kidnap me and demand her measurements.
If I hand over the three-size intel and walk away alive, isn’t that a massive win?
Anyway, the point is that no matter what it takes, surviving against the villains comes first…
Villains?
I turned my head slightly and saw the top of Tania’s head. She was clinging tightly to my arm, resting her cheek against my shoulder.
…Villain!
I gave up thinking about it.
What was the point of fretting when the girl currently wrapped around my arm was the youngest daughter of the biggest villain organization’s boss?
And on the other side…
“Hmm…”
Adele was gazing toward the stage with a bored, indifferent expression.
Both Tania and Adele were radiating an atmosphere of not wanting to be here at all…
Yet it felt as though they were reluctantly staying put because of me.
Yeah. There was no way cute girls this thoroughly wrapped around my little finger could be villains.
Had I been smiling without realizing it?
Adele, who had been standing blankly beside me, poked my cheek with a cold finger.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
Startled by the cool sensation, I looked at her—and she looked back at my face and smirked.
Ah. I should have taken a picture of that expression just now.
As I smacked my lips in pointless regret, Tania—still clinging to my arm—snapped at Adele with a thorny edge in her voice.
“I told you not to talk to Eli.”
“Can’t friends even talk?”
“Why is Eli your friend?”
And just like that they started bickering again. The people around us who had been glancing over carefully put some distance between themselves and us.
I thought it would end quickly like usual… but maybe Adele was bored too?
She grinned slyly and kindly picked apart every single one of Tania’s remarks.
As the argument dragged on longer and longer, I had no choice but to step in.
“Friends shouldn’t fight!”
“But, Eli…”
Even looking up at me with those sparkling eyes, no still meant no…
Whoa—when I came back to myself, I was unconsciously stroking Tania’s head.
I briefly worried she might not like it, but one look at her expression washed that concern clean away.
Eyes closed, simply enjoying the petting—she looked so much like a cat that stroking her was satisfying in its own right.
Come to think of it, both Tania and Adele accepting my petting so naturally…
So the original Elysia must have stroked them often too.
Huh? Does that mean I can stroke them whenever I feel like it?
Being the one who had possessed this body, I hadn’t known the proper distance and had fretted over how far skinship was allowed to go.
No—wait.
Thinking about it, Tania had been glued to me this entire time.
Looking at it the other way…
Doesn’t this mean this level of skinship is fine even if I initiate it?
I had obtained the right to hug this cute girl whenever I wanted.
As I enthusiastically stroked Tania’s head all over, Adele behind me slightly bent at the waist and rested her chin on my shoulder.
The light weight settled there shifted subtly with every breath she took in and out.
“Hmm…”
After exhaling once, Adele opened her mouth.
“So…”
Was it because our bodies were pressed together?
Her voice seemed to resonate a little.
One of Adele’s arms slid forward and wrapped around my waist.
It wasn’t a restraint meant to lock down my movement—it felt more like a lover expressing affection to someone they cherished.
“What were you thinking about that made you smile like that?”
Right—why had I been smiling?
Ah. That’s right.
When my busy hand stopped, Tania opened her eyes and looked up at me as if urging me to keep going.
I met those eyes steadily and whispered softly.
“Just… I was thinking about how cute you two are.”
How could the youngest daughter of a mafia boss and the second daughter of one of the three great guilds, bickering because they couldn’t stand the boredom, possibly not be cute?
I wanted to keep petting them like this for the rest of my life.
But maybe they took those words in a completely different sense than I intended.
Tania stared at me with wide eyes, and Adele—who had been resting her chin on my shoulder—made a small “Huh?” sound and stepped back slightly.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
When I asked in confusion, Tania, frozen for a moment, shook her head vigorously.
“Mm. It’s nothing. Just… a little surprised…”
Surprised? What was there to be surprised about in the conversation just now?
I turned my head to look at Adele behind me, but she showed a similar reaction—surprised for a beat, then shaking her head and saying it was nothing.
Well, since both of them insisted it was fine, there probably wasn’t a problem.
But why do they both seem a little farther away?
Tania, who until moments ago had been stuck to me, was now standing a bit apart, fidgeting with her hands and looking elsewhere. Adele was the same, yet somehow a strange sense of distance hung between us.
Having the girls who had been clinging to me suddenly act like this left me feeling oddly lonely…
“Tch…”
I unconsciously let that disappointment slip out of my mouth.
It was a small sound, but both of them heard it—their bodies trembled slightly.
Still not coming back?
Then I’ll just do whatever I want.
I reached out and snatched both Tania’s and Adele’s arms at the same time.
Sounds of “Hyeit?” and “Eut?” came from either side, but I ignored them.
I somehow didn’t feel like being considerate.
I squeezed my eyes shut and instead tightened my hold further, hugging both of their arms tightly against me.
“Eut… Um, Eli?”
“Elysia…”
Two flustered voices reached me. After a moment I realized the surroundings had gone quiet. Slowly opening my eyes…
I saw the people around us staring.
I was momentarily flustered and lost for words, but I quickly understood.
It would be rare to see three beauties of this caliber stuck together like this.
I had to forgive them for spacing out while they stared.
Instead, when I puffed out my chest proudly, Tania slightly lowered her head and Adele let out a long “Haa…” sigh.
Why? Was it still too early for them to be receiving this much attention all at once?
As I stood there feeling puzzled, my eyes met a pair of golden eyes watching me from afar.
We looked at each other for a moment.
Yi Siyun tilted her head slightly.
Like someone trying to recall something.
The instant that thought hit me, I hurriedly bowed my head deep.
Because I remembered facing her in that abandoned building just a few days ago.
Let’s think about it for a second.
A girl who had looked connected to a place that clearly seemed like a crime scene was now arm-in-arm amicably with two girls whose names were infamous.
At this moment—how did I appear in the eyes of the justice-filled protagonist?