Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Translator: Penny
Chapter 29: Relationship [End]
Episode 29: Relationship [END]
"If your stamina bar had been completely depleted, your bodies would have been under so much strain that you wouldn't have been able to move. You could have suffered even worse injuries. Why did you stubbornly charge in while still enveloped in mana? You're not fighting cocks."
"..............I have no excuse."
".....Um, I'm sorry?"
After scolding them from the bed, the two scratched their heads, seemingly at a loss for words.
"........Sigh."
Having spent so much time looking at the characters' illustrations in the game, I couldn't bring myself to say anything more.
Sigh... So, being truly beautiful really does make everything okay. I'm clearly the victim here, but I feel guilty scolding them.
Kang A-yul, who consistently ranked high in character popularity polls, and Lee Seo-yun, whose beauty rivaled hers, made it difficult for me, a devoted ASOMA player, to even utter harsh words to them.
"You won't do that again, right?"
"......Yeah."
"Okay, from now on, we'll fight where Miss Se-a can't see us... no, I mean, we won't fight at all!"
They'll definitely end up fighting anyway.
Perhaps I'm the only thing preventing them from fighting like before.
But that's enough.
Well, if I just stick around between them, they'll cooperate and support the original protagonist, right?
"I trust both of you."
With those words, I got out of bed.
Wobble!
"You!"
"Miss Se-a!"
I nearly lost my balance and collapsed, but Kang A-yul and Lee Seo-yun rushed to my side.
"I'm fine," I said, waving them back. "Just a momentary weakness in my legs."
I steadied myself against the wall and checked if I'd left anything in Kang A-yul's room.
"Oh, I'll take my uniform."
Using psychokinesis, I lifted the soaking-wet uniform and fled back to my room as if escaping.
-Miss Ayul, why are you stopping her...?
-Just leave her alone for now. If you want to go, you'll have to go through me.
It seemed Kang A-yul had stopped Lee Seo-yun from approaching me... but I didn't have the composure to thank her properly right now.
Thank you.
I gave Kang A-yul a brief, grateful smile that she could see before swiping my card key and retreating to my room.
"Yeah, this is my room."
The desk was a stark contrast to Yun Se-a's from my previous life, a chaotic yet meticulously organized space. A custom-made safe held notebooks filled with every detail of the original novel's scenarios, in case I ever forgot anything.
"Miss Seo-yun really only searched the closet, it seems."
She hadn't entered the private room with the desk and safe. I just had that feeling.
"...My uniform's soaked."
Whoosh!
I filled the bathtub with a little water and tossed in the drenched uniform.
Splash!
"I have a spare uniform... I'll soak this one first, then use my ability to quickly wash it."
After dissolving detergent in a basin of water, I tossed in the uniform and used psychokinesis to swirl it around vigorously. A quick shake to remove the water, and the five-minute wash was done in an instant.
Even though I have a washing machine, I still feel more at ease washing my clothes by hand.
"...Hmm, after sweating so much, it's only natural to wash up."
They changed my clothes, but I doubt they actually bathed me.
Well... first off, I've been transmigrated into Yun Se-a's body. My memories and her experiences have become intertwined, leaving me in this ambiguous state where I lack resistance from either side.
No way, that can't be it. Come on.
The jasmine scent in my hair—instead of my usual lavender shampoo—must just be my imagination.
Tap
As I quickly stepped out of the shower, a lavender fragrance similar to Yun Se-a's natural scent began to fill the room.
"Ah, that's the scent. The familiar lavender scent."
I must have been too flustered earlier to properly smell the scent.
Thump!
I threw myself onto the bed and stared up at the empty ceiling.
"Hmm... what's coming up..."
There's the episode where I rescue Hanae Sakura from being secretly bullied by jealous female students from other regions.
Then there's the temporary evaluation where I'm paired with a crazed revenge-seeker obsessed with killing monsters. The main event is subduing the lunatic who's been manipulated by a Demon and can no longer distinguish friend from foe.
And then there's the survival evaluation where we enter the Artificial Dungeon, only for C to B-Rank Gates to suddenly appear due to the Demon's machinations. We have to clear the Gates with the Cadets.
An episode where Seong Arin stops a second-year student's rampage fueled by jealousy of her overwhelming magical talent.
An episode where I join a club and, in the process, duel a battle-crazed maniac.
An episode where, after defeating all the martial arts masters in the Student Council President Election, I try to challenge Yun Se-a but am utterly defeated before even entering combat, frustrating players who had anticipated a showdown with her.
An episode where, on the day the club members depart for a summer vacation trip, they rescue Ecclesia after she's kidnapped by an external force.
"Damn, there's a ton of them."
All these episodes occur during the first semester of my freshman year.
When I was playing the game, I was thrilled by the sheer volume of content... but this is just too much for any human to handle.
First of all, among all those incidents listed, there are almost none without casualties.
My mission is to protect the children who will become crucial allies in the final battle against Mephisto and guide the protagonist to the opportunities that will help her grow, ensuring she can safely sever Mephisto's head.
To carry out all these tasks smoothly...
(The next day)
"Um, I'm going to resign as Student Council President."
I need to quit this Student Council President position.
"I'm thinking of resigning as Student Council President."
Clang!
"What? Suddenly stepping down as President?"
"Ah, don't worry. I'll continue serving until the election."
The next day, my announcement of resignation threw the Student Council Office into complete chaos.
"Did something happen, Chairman?"
"Could it be the aftereffects of blocking the Vice President and Transfer Student's attack back then...?"
"No, that's not it. Um... to be honest, I don't think I can beat Miss Ayul anymore. And it's getting too difficult to juggle my company work with my duties as Student Council President."
".........."
Kang A-yul's gaze turned toward me again.
"To properly support the protagonists from behind, I absolutely must relinquish the burden of the Student Council President position."
The Student Council President Election.
On the surface, it appears to be a peaceful process where the Student Council President is elected through campaign speeches and voting. But that's far from the truth.
"It's really just a chaotic free-for-all Academy's strongest fighter selection process disguised as a Student Council President election."
Those who aspire to become Student Council President don't simply run as candidates. Instead, they submit applications to participate in a tournament.
Each year, 300 to 400 challengers gather. While not all of them are vying for the presidency, every cadet has their own reasons for entering the election.
Before the midterm exams, some students aimed to etch their names into the Academy's history, while others sought to test their mettle against renowned powerhouses. Still others hoped to prove their worth to the future Student Council President, aiming to secure a coveted spot on the Student Council.
It's a common trope in Academy stories, but during crucial evaluations like midterm exams and cooperative trials, scouts from High-Ranking Guilds would be dispatched to observe the cadets' combat prowess.
The Student Council President Election, much like the midterm exams, drew high-ranking Guild officials to the Academy to assess the cadets' potential. In essence, it meant a gathering of the strongest individuals.
The strongest student across all grades becomes the Student Council President. It's a highly valued tradition passed down from Raon Academy.
I still don't understand why they call it the Student Council President Election. Why not just call it the Student Council President Selection? Were they too lazy to change it?
"What a shame. My revenge from last year is off the table. I'm just annoyed that people might call this an easy win."
"But you won yesterday's mock battle. Anyone who matters already thinks Miss Ayul is more suited for the Student Council President position."
Last year, Yun Se-a faced both the top and second-ranked third-year students simultaneously in the semifinals, where only five candidates remained, and defeated them in just fifteen seconds.
In the finals, she deployed a Gravity Field against Kang A-yul, pinning him down with crushing gravity. While he was immobilized, she launched him into the Void, securing a ten-second victory.
It was a truly overwhelming display of combat prowess.
It was as overwhelming and dazzling as the advance of a conquering king, so utterly dominant that it inspired awe rather than envy in those who witnessed it.
Since the footage was recorded separately, I could review it thoroughly.
The video had surprised me in many ways. Yun Se-a's boss battle pattern was drastically different from her usual brute-force approach of spamming energy attacks, like something out of a bullet-hell game.
If Yun Se-a had deployed a Gravity Field during the boss fight... even with a Speed Hack, I wouldn't have been able to dodge a single attack.
I knew she could slow opponents' movements with Gravity Fields, but I never realized she could create one simply by channeling her Psychokinesis into the ground and exerting immense pressure.
First, the Void's preparation time is too long. I needed something to shorten it. If I could create a Gravity Field, I could launch the Void at a slowed target.
But I can't create a Gravity Field.
It requires unlocking the earring's output limit, which is impossible due to Eve's not-so-subtle threat: "Don't destroy the earring." So I have to explore other possibilities.
Doping is forbidden, and I've already consumed so many elixirs that I'm about to vomit. Taking more would be pointless.
Hidden Pieces? There aren't enough Hidden Pieces even for the protagonist and his companions.
A mere extra like me can't steal the protagonist's destined opportunities.
If there's any hope, it lies in Constellation Magic and the Staff.
I had already planned to acquire Constellation Magic during the semester, so I could set that aside for now. The real priority was the staff.
Was it because Yun Se-a was already overwhelmingly powerful without one? Or did the developers think giving her a staff would make her unbeatable for players?
Yun Se-a never carried a staff—a staff, to be precise.
But I wasn't the Yun Se-a from the game.
A staff was always an advantage. If the world's deadliest assassin, capable of taking down dozens of armed men with just a knife, could also wield a gun, how much more formidable would they become?
The staffs sold outside the Academy are decent enough, but...
They weren't enough.
Before I realized it, my feet had carried me out of the Student Council Office and toward a classroom.
First-Year Class D
Bang!
Not Class A, where the protagonist was, but Class D, where cadets with lower academic performance took their lessons.
Thwack!
"Ugh...!"
"You bottom-tier trash! You don't even deserve to be at the Academy..."
As expected, delinquent students were exploiting the weaker ones.
The desks were in a predictably chaotic state. It seemed that students who had been demoted after performing poorly on the Entrance Test—students who shouldn't even be in Class D based on their actual abilities—were unilaterally beating up the genuinely underqualified cadets to compensate for their own lack of self-esteem.
"Just stay in the back and heal! I'll carry you! Why insist on being a Striker with that fragile pride...!"
"Excuse me."
I don't have time to waste on these pathetic losers.
"What do you want now...?"
"Trash mobs, get out of the way."
Crack!
"Aaaaargh...!"
"Shut up."
Thud!
Using psychokinesis, I hurled Thug 1, who was clutching his dislocated shoulder and screaming, into a nearby trash can. Then, I quickly scanned the area.
"Is Miss Baek Sia here?"
She's a genius science student who, despite lacking materials to craft weapons, discovered her talent through a chance encounter with the protagonist. Later, she becomes the Guild Master of South Korea's top blacksmith guild and creates battle suits that ascend countless military enthusiasts to legendary status.
The artisan who will forge my staff is right here.