Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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"B-Bug... bastard!?"
"?"
The assistant professor's face turned beet red as he glared at me like he wanted to kill me.
He was having an extreme overreaction to what I'd said.
'Why's this guy acting like that? Bug phobia or something?'
[It seems he interpreted your words as a metaphor, Suho-nim.]
'Huh? Metaphor?'
[He took "there's a bug" as referring to himself.]
'Aha!'
I achieved enlightenment like a monk and grasped the situation five seconds later.
'Shit, this is fucked...'
[....]
Judging by the professor's expression, no explanation would help.
No, it felt like any excuse would only make things worse.
But I couldn't just stay silent either.
"I mean, this fly larva..."
"F-F-Fly!?"
Okay, now I'd straight-up labeled him a fly larva.
They say silence gets you halfway there, but my mouth was the problem.
'...CEO, what should I do?'
[Looking to your superior only in times like this is a bad habit.]
'...I hate you.'
Even Armonia had given up.
Around the professor, who was staring at me like he wanted to hit me, the female students' voices started to murmur.
(Whoa, what a sight.)
(Yeah, he should know when to stop...)
(I heard from a club senior not to get too close to that professor.)
(Why?)
(Well, he secretly takes girls away and forces them to...)
The professor bellowed to quiet the commotion.
"Who’s talking during class time!"
"""…"""
All the students shut their mouths.
But they just silently looked at the professor with eyes full of contempt.
No one showed respect—they all stared at him like he was a bug.
"Urk..."
The professor seemed to realize the situation and stomped back to the podium with heavy footsteps.
Thud, thud, thud.
His massive build sent vibrations rumbling through the lecture hall.
Once at the podium, he looked my way and spoke.
"You! What's your name!"
"...Seong Suho."
"You made a racket, so minus 10 points!"
"…."
After I took the 10-point deduction, class could finally resume.
Thankfully, the restarted lecture was a quiet one, free of the assistant professor's blunders.
"…That concludes today's class."
"""…"""
No one responded.
They just looked at the assistant professor like he was a fly.
"Kuh..."
Thud thud thud. Slam!
The assistant professor caused an earthquake in the lecture hall with his quick steps and slammed the door as he left.
Everyone started buzzing.
I stared blankly into space and sighed to Armonia.
'Fucking shitty fly bastard...'
[Which one are you referring to?]
'...Both.'
Both flies were shitty...
As my head filled with thoughts of flies, Luna approached me from the side.
"Um... really... thank y—"
But before Luna could finish, students swarmed around me.
"Whoa, that was awesome!"
"So satisfying."
"Your name's Seong Suho, right?"
"Ah, yeah."
Everyone was hyped from the earlier incident and started talking to me all at once.
Luna watched me intently, her words cut off.
"…."
Taking advantage of the noisy crowd around me, Louis went up to Luna and spoke to her.
"Luna, you okay?"
"...Yeah, I'm fine."
"That professor bastard—I was this close to saying something..."
He was like someone muttering bus numbers after missing the bus.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
"…."
Luna replied and turned her gaze back to me.
Louis stared at Luna blankly, made a complicated expression, and left the lecture hall.
During the break, Luna kept looking at me like she wanted to say something, but with the crowd around me, she didn't approach.
The break ended, and Sonya entered.
This class was Sonya's Basic Attributes.
She greeted the students, then looked at me before starting the lesson.
She flashed a grin.
Smiling at me, she began the class.
'Heh heh, this feels good. Secret relationship. Kinda thrilling.'
[Be careful. Luna Staatfeldt is watching.]
'What would she know? Probably just observing my face.'
I felt Luna's gaze until Sonya's Basic Attributes class ended.
She kept looking at me whenever she could.
After class, Sonya announced from the podium.
"I told you last week to decide on your main and sub attributes, right? I trust you've all chosen by now. Starting tomorrow, we'll have moving classes based on your attributes."
Sonya explained that they should tell the assistant right after class about their chosen main and sub attributes.
"You all worked hard today."
Clap clap clap clap clap clap.
The class ended amid the students' applause.
As class wrapped up, Luna approached me.
"Um... earlier... tha—"
"Ah! Suho student."
"Yes."
Luna's words got cut off again.
"Haa..."
I heard Luna's sigh in my ear.
Oblivious to it, Sonya beamed brightly and called me to the podium.
"Could you come up here for a moment?"
"Yes, of course."
"…."
Leaving Luna staring at me wistfully, I headed to the podium.
The other students were telling the assistant their main and sub attributes as they left the hall.
Glancing back, I saw Luna packing up to leave.
By the time I reached the podium, Sonya looked at me with a hurt expression.
She spoke quietly so the other students couldn't hear.
"...Does it make you happy to leave me alone like that?"
"No way. You have no idea how tough it was for me that day."
"…."
"…."
""Pfft.""
We both chuckled playfully.
"I'm kidding. That day was really fun."
"Me too."
"I called you about your main and sub attributes. Have you decided?"
"Yes, I have."
I'd agonized over it all yesterday and reached a conclusion.
"Main attribute is wind. Sub attribute..."
"?"
"Lightning."
"…."
Sonya just looked at me quietly.
After a few seconds, she gave a wry smile.
"Good thing I called you just in case."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"...How about something other than lightning?"
"...? Uh... I haven't really thought about it."
"…."
The reason I'd chosen lightning was simple.
Lightning was extremely hard for drawing magic circles, but high proficiency meant fewer mid-cast mistakes.
At least no issues while drawing the circle.
That alone made lightning valuable to me.
The downsides could be overcome gradually.
Plus, awakening each attribute cost 10,000 Enel, so piercing another one felt wasteful.
"I know you have an attachment to lightning, Suho student."
"…."
I didn't, but whatever...
I'd never had any attachment, but I stayed quiet for now.
"But starting this year... lightning magic classes have been cut."
"...What? Lack of popularity?"
I couldn't understand.
Even if unpopular, could a magic school really drop a major attribute class?
I understood immediately after hearing the name Sonya mentioned.
"Maximilian Winter..."
"...No way?"
"...He was the professor in charge."
"Ah..."
Things had gotten messy.
'Damn, nothing goes right...'
[You might need to awaken a different attribute.]
'Enel's precious...'
Honestly, for lightning, I figured just attending class would suffice.
The biggest reason was not wanting to waste Enel on other attributes.
Sonya continued explaining.
"After the professor passed, even the students taking it switched to other subjects."
"...So there's no way to take the class at all?"
"Yes... The subject still exists, so you can enroll, but it's just you alone in the classroom reading a book and self-studying."
"…."
Hearing that made me want to sign up for lightning even more.
'Then I'd be alone in class? Perfect honey pot.'
[If that guarantees free time, it could actually benefit us.]
'Right, classes mean nothing to me anyway.'
The magic I used wasn't leveled by effort—it was by Enel.
Besides, I was only learning magic because of school life.
I made up my mind and told Sonya.
She tried to persuade me otherwise, but couldn't change my decision.
No reason to switch if it was convenient.
"...Alright. If it gets too hard, tell me. I'll switch it somehow."
"Haha, I'll work hard so that doesn't happen."
I told the assistant my main and sub attributes, then headed to the office with Sonya.
When Sonya and I arrived at the office, Louis was the only one there.
Sonya looked around and asked him.
"Oh? Did Luna student step out for a bit?"
"Well..."
Louis explained today's events to Sonya.
Luna had run straight to her dorm right after leaving the lecture hall.
Sonya frowned upon hearing this and apologized to me and Louis.
"I'm sorry. It's embarrassing as a fellow school professor."
"No, Professor Sonya didn't do anything wrong..."
"Right. It's the fly's fault, the fly."
"Pfft."
Sonya covered her mouth and laughed at my fly comment.
But she quickly held it in and gave a bitter smile.
"Haa... That assistant professor has always had issues like that..."
"Well, it was obvious from the first class."
"Suho student..."
"Yes?"
Sonya suddenly wrapped both hands around my right hand and looked at me with moist eyes.
"If anything happens, tell me right away. Got it?"
"Haha... If I couldn't handle that, I wouldn't have come to Schutra."
"Don't say that. That assistant professor is really vicious."
Sonya was reluctant to even add the honorific.
But Louis was glaring at me with extreme displeasure.
'What's his deal now...'
[Can't access info, so can't analyze.]
Sonya kept holding my hand without letting go.
"Phew... With the mood today, maybe we should skip club activities."
"...Yes."
Louis spoke up while looking at Sonya.
"Um... Professor."
"Yes?"
"Could we talk privately?"
I took that as "Get lost."
Louis smiled at Sonya.
He didn't care about me at all.
'This guy's impossible to read...'
[Doesn't seem like he'd have important enough talk to exclude you.]
I'd never seen Louis talk privately with Sonya.
They only exchanged necessary words during class or club.
Sonya looked puzzled and asked back.
"Is it important?"
"Yes, very important."
"...Will it take long?"
"Yes, probably."
Sonya looked at me desperately, still holding my hand.
But I had no choice.
Butting in would just cause weird misunderstandings.
Even then, irritation was clear on Louis's face.
'This bastard better not be up to something weird.'
[He's still a professor, even part-time. He wouldn't dare.]
'Haa... I was so excited to be with Sonya...'
Sonya reluctantly released my hand, forced a smile, and agreed.
"Alright. Suho student, go rest first."
"...Yes."
We exchanged passionate eye contact, like sharing a kiss through our gazes.
After the eye exchange, I left the office.
Club activities ended awkwardly, and I sat on a terrace chair waiting for Luna.
"...She’s not coming today, is she?"
[Unlikely.]
The sun had set, and it was night.
Club should’ve ended an hour ago—she was way overdue.
"Did that fly professor hurt her or something?"
[Luna Staatfeldt doesn’t seem the type, but personality changes are possible.]
"Haa..."
Unable to be with Sonya and now maybe not meeting Luna—it started irritating me.
"Maybe I should grab that fly professor and kill him..."
"...Don’t do that."
"Huh?"
Luna’s voice came from behind.
Turning around, Luna smiled down at me.
She wore a bright smile I hadn’t seen before.
"Please don’t do that kind of thing because of me..."
