Chapter 119
Chapter 119
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: The Sin of Wasting Opportunity
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Wasting an opportunity is a sin.”
Kuhn spoke softly as he sliced into the tender lamb ribs.
This was one of Esset’s high-end restaurants, the Golden Table.
It was a special place where ordinary people couldn’t even dream of entry. Their signature lamb dishes boasted a depth of flavor unmatched anywhere else...
But since Kuhn had dragged me here out of the blue, my mood was far from great.
“Yes, yes, of course,” I replied soullessly, mechanically cutting my lamb ribs.
If I ignored Kuhn chattering away in front of me, at least the meat itself was delicious.
Leon chewed his in silence as well.
“As I said in my speech, if an opportunity arises, you have to become a hyena and tear into it. And right now, I’m giving you that chance.”
The opportunity Kuhn was talking about wasn’t about devouring these lamb ribs.
The reason the Golden Table was generally inaccessible was that they only accepted customers of a certain caliber.
It wasn’t for casual meals or date courses—it was a venue for high society socializing, or for nobles renting out the entire place for elaborate proposal events.
Today, it was the former.
This was an elite social gathering handpicked by Kuhn, so there were guests at several other tables besides us.
All of them were big names.
He really is a master at image-making.
That’s probably why the academy granted Leon permission to go out on a weekday the moment Kuhn asked.
Even if it was all an act... no, I knew full well how difficult it was to earn that level of social trust and credibility.
Kuhn’s determination and pretense in pulling this off were impressive.
However, even after scanning the room carefully, Kane wasn’t here.
Kuhn probably hadn’t invited him from the start.
I knew plenty about Kuhn Hilfenberg.
Born into the Duke of Hilfenberg family with exceptional talent, he was the kind of person who would lord over others no matter what anyone said.
And he thought the same of himself.
That’s why he despised anyone who didn’t move according to his will.
To borrow a line from Kuhn in Broken World... he didn’t need chess pieces that ignored the player’s commands.
Leon was already at odds with him, and Kane’s personality made him impossible for Kuhn to manipulate.
Tch, if Kane had been here, it would’ve been less awkward.
I just wanted to finish up and head back to the dorm.
“I appreciate the opportunity, but I’m the cautious type. I’ll think it over and get back to you.”
“Being too cautious isn’t good. Chances like this don’t come around often.”
I had no intention of chatting at length.
My response carried that intent, but Kuhn just brushed it off with a light laugh and lifted his wine glass.
The stares from around the room were getting on my nerves.
Everyone seemed focused on us... or rather, on Kuhn.
Even in this social gathering, he was only talking to me, so they were paying attention.
The unnatural silence around us meant they were all eavesdropping on our conversation.
More than that, why did this guy sound like a sleazy salesman?
His sly smile resembled Lucius’s quite a bit, but the vibe was completely different.
No, it was probably because Kuhn was suddenly acting friendly toward me, stirring up suspicion.
I knew that sly smile was just a mask.
So why was Kuhn pretending to be friendly and approaching me?
The answer came without needing much thought.
I was too much of an unstable element to keep as an enemy.
From Kuhn’s perspective, regardless of how I’d done it, I was someone who had disrupted his plans.
Given his personality, he’d investigated me thoroughly, so he probably knew everything about what I’d been up to.
I couldn’t bury all my past actions in the shadows.
Of course, I’d asked Ludwig to handle the Wifera-related incidents without mentioning my name...
But anyone who needed to know—like the Foreseers—already did.
Kuhn’s connections were broader than I’d imagined.
Just looking at the attendees here made that clear.
So, he likely knew all the information I hadn’t hidden or couldn’t hide.
Well... hiding everything I’d done forever was impossible anyway.
The reason I didn’t flaunt it publicly was because I knew the future Leon would be hailed as a hero and dragged into all sorts of annoyances.
I had no desire to end up the same way.
I didn’t envy or want the life of an influencer who couldn’t even eat out comfortably due to constant scrutiny.
Moreover, in the Broken World—where a few screws were loose—getting famous meant challengers showing up for dojo raids left and right.
“Inviting a failing student to my social club is a first. Normally, I wouldn’t spare a glance at a defeated loser like you, but you’re the exception. Feel free to be grateful.”
Perhaps my silence irked him, because Kuhn tossed out a jab.
I was about to ignore it when Leon slammed his fist on the table.
Bang!
The sharp impact silenced the room like a graveyard.
Kuhn glared at Leon with cold, red eyes laced with contempt.
“What crude behavior.”
“Your words are too harsh.”
“The person involved is staying quiet, yet some stray pup is throwing a tantrum. Our father raised me properly, but it seems he couldn’t be bothered with teaching a stray dog manners.”
Self-deprecating jab? No, aimed at Leon.
He could say stuff like that without flinching.
But it was effective.
Leon ground his teeth hard.
He’d stayed quiet until now because I was being insulted.
But stepping up like that meant Lucius got dragged in this time, which must’ve pissed him off.
As expected of Kuhn—he knew exactly how to torment Leon most effectively.
“Haa...”
I appreciated him standing up for me.
I hadn’t expected Leon to openly defy Kuhn in a place like this.
But there was no reason for Leon to take unnecessary flak because of me.
Plus, bringing up my failing grade had soured my mood too.
It wasn’t even my fault—how long were they going to keep harping on that?
“If this is how it’s going to be, I don’t need to sit here.”
I shoved my chair back deliberately and stood.
The lamb ribs were tasty, but not worth enduring this discomfort.
I didn’t hide my displeasure, and Kuhn sneered, nodding toward Leon.
“Because of you, my guest is upset. Don’t tell me you haven’t even learned to apologize?”
It was blatant provocation.
He planned to undermine Leon, who’d stood up for me.
Normally, Kuhn’s authority would keep anyone in check, but right now, I wasn’t in the mood to care.
“What are you talking about? It’s because of you.”
“......”
Kuhn froze at my sharp retort.
His glare toward me soon brimmed with deep, dark malice.
Defying him head-on like this would put me in his bad books, but it was too late for regrets.
I’d already drawn his unfavorable attention back at the Hilfenberg estate.
No matter.
In the end, Leon was this world’s protagonist.
Kuhn Hilfenberg’s downfall was inevitable.
“Let’s go.”
“But...”
Leon froze in shock at the sudden turn, so I grabbed his hand and stormed out of the Golden Table.
5
“Why do you just take it?”
We’d left the Golden Table and walked a bit.
The sky was already pitch black.
The crisp autumn night air didn’t wash away my irritation easily.
“I’m an outsider. If I butt in unnecessarily, others get hurt.”
Leon stared at the ground and answered flatly.
I already knew what he was thinking.
But knowing didn’t ease the frustration.
Leon saw himself as an outsider entrusted to the Hilfenbergs.
That’s why he tolerated insults to himself but couldn’t stand Kane or Lucius being disrespected.
It was a terribly soft and kind heart.
But at the same time, it was more arrogant and selfish than anything.
“That’s just your opinion. Senior Kane and Duke Lucius both see you as family. If you draw a line, what does that make them?”
Leon had no reply.
He just walked silently, chasing the moonlight.
“...It hasn’t always been like this.”
Suddenly, as if confessing in a confessional, Leon’s lips moved.
“The family head and Senior Kane both took good care of me. Things changed right after I showed my talent. To be blunt, he wasn’t born with genius. His aptitude was average at best—he could never be top-tier.”
How does it feel to watch someone possess the talent you lack?
I’d never experienced it, so I couldn’t say.
“To lead the Hilfenberg dukedom, you need perfection in every aspect. But when Senior Kane started shining and then a wild card like me rolled in showing talent too, his anxiety must’ve peaked. He couldn’t touch his blood kin Senior Kane, so he targeted me.”
Leon’s voice was utterly calm as he spoke.
But it wasn’t calm from feeling nothing.
It was the calm of scars piled so high that sensation had dulled—the calm of familiarity.
“First, they isolated me in the family. The family head guided me, and Senior Kane was friendly, but... the servants started avoiding me. I learned about the duke’s involvement later. After that, I reduced my words. Anyone close to me would end up unhappy.”
Much was omitted from the story.
But I knew it.
Isolated in the family, Leon never sought help from anyone.
Lucius would eventually step down as head, and Kane couldn’t protect him forever.
So Leon minimized his words and swung his sword alone under the moonlight.
He lived like a dead man so his existence wouldn’t burden anyone.
All so he could leave anytime after repaying his debts and exacting revenge.
I knew it all.
Because I was a Broken World player, even if a jaded one.
I’d cursed the story while pushing through to the end.
That’s why I had to say it.
“Are you an idiot?”
“...What do you mean?”
Leon reacted a beat late, clearly not expecting that.
His very Leon-like response made me exhale all my held-back sighs at once.
“If you run into a mugger on the street, who’s at fault?”
“The mugger, obviously.”
“Right, the mugger’s wrong—not the victim holding the money. So why are you acting like you’re the criminal?”
Fundamentally, Leon’s perception was twisted somewhere.
I could guess why.
Survivor’s guilt from being the sole survivor of a massacre.
PTSD from that, probably.
But no matter what, he couldn’t live his whole life with that warped view.
“The one who did wrong is wrong—there’s no way the victim is.”
“But—”
I flicked his forehead as he tried to argue.
Thwack. It landed solidly, but my finger hurt more.
“‘But’ is banned.”
Leon shut his mouth, at a loss for words.
Seeing him unable to think it wasn’t his fault... it was frustrating.
I didn’t hate Leon.
It was just self-loathing toward my past self.
My parents died hit by a truck that ran a red light at an intersection.
They’d come to pick me up after my college entrance exam finished.
I’d blamed myself countless times, thinking if I hadn’t asked them to come, they’d be alive.
Even now... that urge to blame myself lingered somewhere in my heart.
That’s why, even after their funeral, I couldn’t launch Broken World for a while.
I just rotted in my room like a shut-in, praying life would end.
The first time I ran Broken World was on a whim.
Even if I died, I couldn’t just abandon the last gift my parents left.
That whim led me to roam this broken world with Leon.
Broken World was undeniably a trash game by all accounts...
But to me, it was the best.
I cried and laughed through Leon’s journey, despaired at weird events, but never quit.
I scraped by to see that trash game’s ending.
So I knew.
Leon’s self-blame was just a twisted obsession.
“You did nothing wrong, so ease up on the guilt.”
“Still...”
“Okay, that’s banned too. ‘But,’ ‘still,’ ‘anyway’—and just to be safe, ‘no’ as well.”
Blocking all rebuttals, Leon blankly gazed at the sky.
His red eyes, bathed in moonlight, wandered aimlessly.
If a few words from me could fix it, it would’ve been fixed long ago.
But even if it was impossible now, he’d accept it someday.
“Let’s head back.”
The autumn night air was chilly, after all.
We hurried toward Esterro Academy.
6
Meanwhile, at the same time.
Esterro Academy dormitory.
Choco opened the freezer enchanted with preservation magic and pulled out a pudding.
She peeled off the sealed packaging from the pudding and placed it on the floor, then scampered over to her food bowl.
Eating on time was very important.
Crunch crunch. Choco munched diligently on her kibble.
By now, Pudding should be devouring the pudding named after her.
But no matter how long she waited, no eating sounds came from Pudding.
Choco tilted her head and looked around the room.
The pudding on the floor remained untouched.
Pudding the dragon was on the bed, fiddling with the necklace around her neck.
Swooo...
Suddenly, pitch-black energy leaked from Pudding’s necklace.
Choco’s fur bristled at the rippling darkness, and she charged toward Pudding.
That’s dangerous.
On instinct, she leaped to snatch the necklace.
-Kyu! Kyu kyu!
But Pudding, emitting her happiest cry yet, grabbed the darkness with both paws and chomped down hard.
Crunch!
Stunned by the sudden event, Choco froze in place.
Oblivious, Pudding cleanly devoured the surprisingly crisp darkness.