Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Realization as the Protagonist
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The Academy Workshop.
Amidst the heat-filled space and the bustling people, I found myself standing before an incredibly beautiful black spear.
“Go on, take it and feel the weight. We can make minor adjustments to the weight right away.”
“Yes.”
As I reached out at the workshop artisan's suggestion, I felt dazed. My mind couldn't quite focus on reality, and a sense of unease… still lingered.
*Grip.*
But the moment I gripped the spear, that unease largely vanished.
Holding the spear lightly, I could feel its substantial weight and the metallic sensation, distinctly different from the spears I had held before.
Until now, I had been using training spears, borrowed ones from Kalli at that. Holding a spear made of a completely different material like this, I could feel the increase in my Strength and Agility stats much more keenly.
I immediately summoned the item's status window.
*
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Steel Alloy Spear
Grade: Rare (Additional Refining Applied).
Item Effect: Increases Agility by 1.2x when equipped. Durability is enhanced.
*Due to the item's effect, your Agility stat has been adjusted to 48.
Additional Refining.
—Strength Correction Level 1.
*Strength correction has been increased by 1.1x, adjusting your stat to 30.
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*
A Rare grade.
The moment I gripped the spear, I could feel the definite improvement in my stats.
‘The additional refining was definitely worth the investment.’
I had spent well over 1 gold on this single spear, but the satisfaction was something more than the money I had invested.
*Swish.* Swinging it lightly, the weight felt quite good. It was heavier than my previous spear, but it was a weight I could get used to.
“The weight seems fine like this.”
“If you don't adjust the weight now, it'll cost extra later. Are you sure you're okay with it as is?”
“Yes. I'm very satisfied.”
“Then just sign here to confirm you've received the item, and we're done.”
He handed me the confirmation form. I signed my name and walked away, feeling pleased.
"Well, use it well."
"Yes. Thank you."
As I left the workshop, I slung the spear onto my back for the first time in a while.
*Thump.*
As I fastened it with a familiar motion, the weight on my back seemed to ground me.
‘Right. This is what stability feels like.’
The pride of owning my very own spear, not a borrowed one, and the fact that it was a high-performance weapon, made me even happier.
*Step.*
As I walked out of the workshop… my excitement was short-lived.
“Hoo.”
A faint sigh escaped me once again.
The joy of getting a new spear faded quickly; the source of my unease remained unresolved.
*Clank.*
As I closed the workshop door behind me… my eyes narrowed instinctively.
‘I really didn't expect this at all.’
No matter how I looked at it, Kalli's actions showed she had feelings for me. I also realized that the impulsive words I'd said to her yesterday had been taken in a completely different way.
‘A careless remark…’
It had brought about a massive storm.
“…”
As I walked toward the training grounds, I replayed my time with Kalli in my mind.
—You know. Um... I think we could be okay, just a little.
—Yes. A little... It might be treading a fine line, but with you, Han Cheon-seong, expressing your feelings for me like this... I didn't want to just reject them outright.
The words she had said to me were still vivid in my memory.
And realizing the true meaning behind them felt incredibly strange.
“Kalli's being so ambiguous, too…”
I couldn't make up my own mind.
—A little.
More than anything, I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to take that expression.
Kalli seemed to have taken what I said yesterday as something akin to a confession, and she responded in a very un-Kalli-like way… by accepting my feelings.
Even her words about "treading a fine line" felt a little different to me.
‘Does that mean she wants some kind of ambiguous relationship with me?’
“…”
It weighed on my mind as I continued to walk.
It all started with my slip of the tongue, a misunderstanding that had spiraled out of control. But I never thought Kalli would actually consider allowing a ridiculous relationship like romance between an instructor and a student.
And in doing so, she had essentially shown me her heart.
'That she doesn't dislike me.'
...And I, who was seriously considering it, felt the same way right now.
I don't dislike Kalli.
If I had to say, the feeling was strongly that I liked her.
I had a good impression of Kalli's character in the story of 'Groa', so I'd felt an affinity for her from the moment we met. She wasn't my absolute favorite character, but… as the days we spent together passed, I couldn't help but see her in a better light.
I'm receiving a great deal of help from her, and I must continue to do so.
That's the only way I can move forward properly in this world. Kalli is a great source of strength for me right now, so I had to maintain my connection with her as much as possible.
*Step.*
...Then I stopped walking and tapped my cheek without thinking.
*Slap.*
With a very faint sting, I could once again feel that this was reality.
“...If you ask if I'm happy, I'm really happy.”
A faint laugh escaped as I muttered to myself blankly. Even though some time had passed, it was still hard to believe that Kalli had shown such feelings for me.
It felt like I was dreaming; it was just so surreal. But this was really happening.
The easygoing yet aloof Kalli from the story.
She hadn't even opened her heart to Leonhardt. So how could I not be happy that someone like her had feelings for me?
Suddenly, I remembered what happened just before I left Kalli's office.
—W-wait a moment, Cadet Han Cheon-seong.
The moment she suddenly pulled me into an embrace, expressing her affection.
“…”
As I blankly caressed my cheek, I felt my face about to break into a slack-jawed grin.
My lips wavered. Honestly, honestly, it felt so good. Looking back on it now, "good" is the only word that comes to mind.
Kalli's unique, subtle scent, and the dizzying sensation of her body pressed against mine...
—Um... I did say I was a little okay with it.
And the shy way she spoke at the end was such a contrast to her usual self that it came across as a surprising charm.
She was endlessly strict with other cadets, but today, with me, she expressed her affection so lovingly…
*Step.*
As I started walking again, my heart began to pound once more. And with that pounding came a sense of unease.
‘So what on earth am I supposed to do?’
If I could become Kalli's lover just like this, it wasn't that I was against it. Kalli was a woman far more charming and beautiful than I deserved.
And since she was strong enough to protect me, becoming her lover might even improve my situation significantly.
But Kalli's use of the word 'a little' showed a very peculiar attitude.
She wouldn't reject my feelings, but she couldn't fully accept them either… It was a sign that she wouldn't allow things to go 'any further.'
That's what was keeping me from getting a clear sense of direction.
Along with that… I had to face my current reality.
‘Am I in a position to be in a relationship with someone?’
Is this really a situation where I can accept romance?
In just two days, two apostles will come for me. A crisis so great that it was named 'Escaping Death' was scheduled to happen.
And this crisis wouldn't be a one-time event. I had a hunch that such crises would continue to come my way in the future.
—The reason I fell into this world.
I had a strong feeling there was a reason even for my status window being different.
A realization about myself.
...The very reason for my existence.
Maybe I'm not just an extra or a supporting character in this world.
That thought has been crossing my mind constantly lately.
All those people who were originally supposed to be involved with Leonhardt, the protagonist of this world.
I got entangled with them, unintentionally or not, and just a few weeks ago, I directly intervened in the first episode, twisting the established worldline.
“…”
I quietly looked down at my hand. It was covered in calluses, the result of countless hours gripping a spear and dedicating myself to training.
I saved Karite with my own hands; I saved her when she was supposed to die.
"Hoo."
As I let out a soft breath, my heart grew a little heavy.
‘If I consider the possibilities…’
Maybe I have a role as significant as this world's protagonist.
I even started to feel like I might be playing such an… absurd role.
Seeing Kalli today forced me to think more deeply about myself. The fact that someone as amazing as her had feelings for me couldn't be dismissed as a trivial matter.
What I once thought was an absurd assumption was now slowly taking on the weight of reality.
—That I've been given such a significant role.
From the very beginning, this world was vastly different from what I knew, and besides, for Leonhardt to be the protagonist, I was already entangled with too many important characters.
At the root of it all, they had approached me, and it was also a relationship that formed because I had wished for it.
‘In just two days, I'll even be meeting Anastasia.’
My life was definitely not one where I could live as a simple extra.
“…”
As the training grounds came into view, my eyes grew somber.
‘How nice would it have been if this were a peaceful world.’
Then I wouldn't have to worry so much. I could have just followed my heart… and only thought about my own well-being.
The things I had only vaguely felt before were now hitting me with stark clarity.
In the first place… looking back, everything was strange.
I, who had only been given a Common grade, had achieved such absurd growth.
My growth rate had already surpassed even Leonhardt's, and I possessed a power that went beyond even that.
It was clear that, even if it took some time, I would soon complete the clues for my skills.
...Then the gap between me and Leonhardt, the supposed protagonist of this world, had grown too wide to close.
To the point where I had the strange illusion that this world was revolving around me.
No, it already felt like the truth.
*Click.*
As I opened the door to the training grounds, my thoughts… seemed to be falling into place.
The reality I've been given.
Only now, after several months have passed… do I feel like I'm seeing it clearly. It was as if I had just broken out of my shell and realized the significance of my own existence.
“…”
I saw several cadets and the Class C training instructor. Acknowledging their presence, I walked on blankly.
‘Perhaps this world is…’
...a world where I have to do something.
That when crises come in the future, I must face them all.
Even the countless crises to come… I no longer felt they would be directed at Leonhardt.
*Grip.*
A small laugh escaped as I naturally drew my spear.
“That's why… I acted.”
Come to think of it, from the moment I decided to save Karite, I was already prepared.
I wouldn't live just for myself…