Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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Luna headed to the men's dormitory to soothe her troubled mind.
She'd started learning magic circle incantations, so she figured she'd use that as an excuse to seek advice—and maybe just see him.
She arrived at the dormitory as evening twilight settled in.
But what she heard from the men's dorm supervisor was completely unexpected.
"He applied for an overnight pass and left?"
"Yes. I think Seong Suho will be back around tomorrow."
"...Thank you for letting me know."
Luna knew that students with high grades could get approval for overnight stays.
But she hadn't imagined Seong Suho would actually go out.
'No, this is actually for the best. What would I even say if we met?'
Luna turned to head back to her own room.
But then she spotted a black doll approaching the men's dorm from up ahead.
And the person who came right up to her was...
Seong Suho.
"Huh? What brings you here?"
"Oh, n-nothing."
The sudden sight of Seong Suho made Luna want to bolt from the spot.
His unexpected appearance embarrassed her at the thought that he might realize she'd come looking for him.
But the supervisor had ruined any chance of escape.
"Ah! Suho. That girl over there was looking for you. Perfect timing."
"Haa..."
Luna wanted to grab her head in frustration.
'Why, of all timings...'
Seong Suho spoke first to Luna, who couldn't lift her head properly.
"What's up?"
"Well..."
"Let's go to the terrace first."
"Huh?"
"You can't really talk about it here."
Suho had a rough idea of why Luna was visiting. With a nonchalant expression, he led the way to the terrace.
Seeing him like that, Luna started feeling like a complete idiot.
'Haa... I should just act natural, so why am I like this...'
Luna, feeling the gap between her usual self and this version, followed Suho with a troubled heart.
I headed to the terrace with Luna, communicating along the way.
After a few rounds with Sonya, I'd returned to the dorm.
We'd finished up and were lying there chatting about this and that.
Her husband was a merchant who made a good amount of money.
On top of that, he was caring, and their relationship seemed solid.
The problem was the child.
Sonya started blaming herself, saying her body just couldn't have kids.
But...
It was a common story in places where medicine wasn't advanced.
The husband had assumed it was Sonya's fault—not his—and stopped having sex.
That frustration had built up into her dissatisfaction...
Though I couldn't pinpoint exactly why the husband had stopped.
Then sage mode hit me, and I started getting a grasp on the situation.
Fine if I was just visiting and stayed a bit long, but if the maids saw me leaving the next day on their way in? Total headache.
I somehow convinced Sonya, and we headed back to the dorm.
And that's when I ran into Luna by chance.
Luna and I arrived at the terrace.
The sun had fully set, leaving only scattered lanterns to dimly light the surroundings.
At this hour, even the lanterns couldn't reveal who was on the terrace unless you looked closely.
I led Luna to the same corner as yesterday.
She followed without any resistance.
We pressed close in the tight space and started talking.
"What's going on?"
"Well... I felt so stuck. I thought maybe I could get some advice, so I came. Sorry if I bothered you."
Luna answered curtly, avoiding my eyes.
I chuckled and replied.
"Well, that happens."
"...You're okay with it?"
"No way you half-assed it."
"You didn't even watch..."
"I watched the whole time."
"?"
"You sat next to me constantly. I get what kind of person you are."
"..."
I caught a subtle smile on Luna's face.
As Armonia said, smiling at sweet talk was a good sign.
If there was no favorability at all, she'd have frowned at that conversation.
It could've come off stalkerish from someone she disliked.
"Let's try approaching it from a different angle first."
"Please do."
"Close your eyes."
"Okay."
"Don't open them no matter what."
"...Okay."
Luna closed her eyes and quietly waited for my words.
She looked a bit anxious.
Probably wondering what I might do.
But I stayed silent for about 30 seconds before speaking.
"Picture someone in your head."
"Huh?"
"Eyes closed. Just pick anyone."
"Okay... Got someone."
I had no way of knowing who she picked.
"Now, picture their eyes, nose, mouth, face shape—as detailed as possible."
"...Uh... Hold on..."
Luna instinctively cracked her eyes open and glanced at me.
I scolded her gently but firmly.
"Eyes closed."
"S-Sorry."
I smiled as I looked at her.
Not certain yet, but I had a feeling.
I asked her softly.
"How's it going? Can you picture the eye shape, lip shape, hair— all the details?"
"...Not really."
"That's normal."
"Huh?"
"You can open your eyes now."
Luna opened her eyes at my words and looked right at me.
She immediately started scrutinizing my face in detail.
From her perspective, she was being subtle so I wouldn't notice, but to me, it was obvious.
It looked like she was straight-up staring at my face.
Confirmed.
She'd pictured me.
I explained to her.
"The human brain is super efficient. It easily holds the overall frame, but if details feel too complex, it just fills in with past memories. And tricks you into thinking you know it perfectly."
"Ah... Yeah, it felt mixed up somehow. You're amazing—where'd you hear that?"
"Just something from before. Let's start there."
"...Picturing a person? Isn't that more complicated than magic circles?"
"Nah, the complexity is the point. Simple magic circles are pointless."
"...Okay, got it."
She accepted my words right away.
Even as she did, she kept sneaking glances at my face.
I continued naturally, letting her observe.
"Think of this as homework I assigned."
"Homework... okay."
"Yeah. Practice drawing magic circles when we meet, but alone in your room, forget them and just do this homework."
"Got it."
"And stick to the same person you thought of earlier."
"...Okay."
She was on board, but I needed to nail it down.
"Don't switch to someone else. Dodging to something easy defeats the purpose."
"...Got it."
"Anyway, trying is on you. No way for me to know if you cheat. I'll just teach my best."
I emphasized "my best" on purpose.
"...Thank you."
Luna's stoic expression softened a bit as she thanked me.
Truth be told, I added the restriction because the thought of her switching to some other guy once she got the hang of it pissed me off.
Armonia's comms echoed in my head.
I cheered via comms and said to Luna,
"Alright, let's head back."
"Okay."
We left the terrace and went our separate ways to our dorms.
The weekend passed, and it was the first day back at school.
Students were chatting with their friends here and there.
And...
I pretended not to notice her gaze and kept checking the situation with Armonia.
I had to act oblivious no matter what.
The goal was to make her memorize me in detail and think of me all day locked in her room.
Then a nuisance showed up.
"Luna, everything okay?"
"Huh? Yeah?"
Louis's sudden voice startled Luna into looking at him.
Louis spoke to her cautiously.
"Did that guy do something weird?"
"...No, nothing like that."
The bastard's voice carried straight to my ears.
Louis was openly glaring at me, which backed that up.
Luna said to Louis,
"Class is about to start. Better take our seats."
"...Fine."
Louis returned to his seat with a dissatisfied look.
Luna resumed staring holes into me.
But soon the classroom door opened.
The sleazy-faced teaching assistant entered and began class.
"Magic circle exam in three days. Goal is to replicate exactly what I draw on the board. Study hard."
"""Yes, sir."""
Everyone responded and dove into drawing magic circles.
He explained some runes were omitted so they wouldn't activate for real.
Then the bullshit started again.
"Where are you from, student?"
"...Levin Kingdom."
"Oh... I know the court mage there. Visited once. Fine place."
"...Thank you."
Luna wanted to brush it off politely, but she couldn't.
The TA kept touching her shoulder and arm, making it creepy.
Louis now wore a demonic scowl unlike anything before.
Yet he said nothing.
A top admit or not, it showed the TA's untouchable authority.
Bzzz.
While comming with Armonia, a fly suddenly buzzed by my ear.
Classroom hygiene was trash.
I calmly resumed comms.
Bzzz~
It went from annoying to brushing my ear.
Waste Enel on that? Lame...
The fly pissed me off more, so glancing aside, I spotted Luna.
The TA bastard had his hand on her seated shoulder, kneading it disgustingly.
Luna looked at me, then averted her eyes and focused straight ahead on her magic circle.
I pretended not to see.
The fly didn't just brush my ear—it went into it.
I let out a booming roar in the classroom.
"Fuck!! I'm done for, seriously!!!"
The fly had already buzzed out after stirring my ear canal.
"Haa... haa..."
When I came to, every student was frozen in shock, staring at me like statues.
Luna too.
Her expression especially—beyond surprise, pure horror.
I asked the superior for a way out.
If even the CEO didn't know...
The ugly-faced—no, sleazy-faced TA said to me,
"Student... what's the matter?"
He looked pissed, obviously.
I had to explain.
"Sorry. It was..."
"It was?"
I calmly explained to defuse his anger.
"A bug next to me was buzzing so loud that I..."