Chapter 12: The Kind of Person Every Academy Has (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 12: The Kind of Person Every Academy Has (1)
Sigh.
Cathy, a professor of combat arts at Leilan Academy and the homeroom teacher for this year’s first-year Holy Fire Class, started her morning with a heavy sigh.
The academy’s opening ceremony was tomorrow, and try as she might to psych herself up, her heart just wasn’t in it.
“What’s the matter? You look gloomy, Professor Cathy.”
“Oh, Chairperson. No, it’s nothing.”
Since it was just the two of them, she could have spoken comfortably, but she made it a point to maintain professional decorum during working hours.
“Shall I take a guess? It’s because of Kang So-hyun, isn’t it?”
“Urgh.”
She’d been caught.
Under the pretext that he reminded her of her younger brother, and because she found his daily efforts despite his frail body admirable, she had been secretly visiting him at the gym.
But every single time, he would stare at dumbbells far too heavy for him to lift, attempt it anyway, and nearly injure himself.
This morning, when he tried to lift a 30kg dumbbell without even reinforcing his body with mana, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She had ended up following him into the gym and giving him a piece of her mind.
“Boys are like that. Sometimes they want to challenge themselves even when they know it’s impossible.”
“I know that, but still…”
“You do realize you can’t show favoritism during the academy curriculum, right?”
“Chairperson, I am very strict about keeping my public and private lives separate. You know that.”
The Chairperson thought to herself that she was actually terrible at that, which was why she was worried, but she didn’t say it out loud since it would only lead to a headache.
“Well, I suppose it’s natural to worry. He seemed like a good kid, just as you said.”
“Did you meet him personally? You didn’t do anything weird, did you?”
“Of course not. Honestly, anyone watching would think he really was your brother.”
“No, it’s just… Chairperson, you have a tendency to be mischievous toward students you like. That’s why I was worried.”
“My, listen to those excuses. Professor Cathy, the more you make excuses like that, the more pathetic it looks.”
“Ah, I’m telling you, it’s really not like that!”
The Chairperson of Leilan briefly considered whether she had teased her precious friend too much, but she quickly voiced her conclusion.
“I said it’s not like that~!”
“Hey…!”
But Cathy’s reaction was just too cute; it was her own fault.
Even at twenty-six, she was still this adorable. It was a serious problem. The Chairperson felt she’d have to keep looking after her.
“Haha!”
Right after she teased her just a little bit more.
* * *
It was unfair.
On the precious last day before the academy’s opening, I got caught by Professor Cathy and was banned from the gym for a full day until I “fully recovered.”
I had been taking down my mortal enemies, the dumbbells, one by one. The 30kg bastard I finally challenged was a formidable opponent, but I was certain I had the upper hand.
Just when I thought I could make the bastard submit with a little more effort, my “secret friend” had to intervene and break up our heated duel.
For a moment, I felt a surge of resentment toward Professor Cathy for interrupting a passionate battle between a man and a hunk of iron, but part of me was also grateful.
Fine, the bit about being able to win was a lie. I had sensed my own defeat.
The weight was on a completely different level compared to the 25kg dumbbells.
Having faced numerous dumbbells before meeting that monster, I knew from experience.
I wasn’t ready to handle him yet.
If Professor Cathy hadn’t stepped in, I surely would have been the one defeated.
Nonsense aside, the level I had reached before the start of the academy semester was a mere 25kg dumbbell.
Of course, that’s excluding factors like Reinforcement or mana.
I wasn’t quite at the level of a Superhuman yet, but I could finally say I was reasonably healthy.
I felt like my brain had gone half-rotten from nothing but weightlifting, but that ended today anyway.
From now on, I couldn’t—and shouldn’t—just focus on the gym.
For some reason, I hadn’t gained a lick of visible muscle, but since I’d succeeded in my goal of becoming a “normal person,” it was time to say goodbye to mindless lifting.
I mustn’t forget that the fundamental reason I started working out wasn’t to become the strongest through fitness, but because of the memory of almost dying from a lack of basic physical strength while trying to stick to a Transmigrator’s methods.
“Whew.”
I was a bit nervous.
Knowing that tomorrow was the academy entrance, I knew I needed plenty of rest, but I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep well tonight.
* * *
Well, I slept like a log.
Working out moves the body a lot, which allows for high-quality sleep. My foolish delusion that I wouldn’t be able to sleep melted away in the face of physical exhaustion.
Anyway, it was finally the start of my actual academy life.
As I finished getting ready and headed out, my roommate Ha-ni naturally fell in step beside me.
“Hey, So-hyun. What class are you in?”
Judging by the fact that she was actually talking to me, it seemed she intended to walk to school with me.
Walking to school together on the first day—this was a feat even the original Lilac hadn’t managed.
How did it go for Lilac? Ha-ni, who was beyond pissed right after the “bath incident,” had stormed off to school alone.
“Me? The Holy Fire Class.”
“Ah, so we’re split up?”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“Me? The Holy Sword Class.”
For reference, the classes are divided into Holy Fire, Holy Earth, Holy Water, Holy Wood, and Holy Sword.
If you’re wondering why it’s Fire, Earth, Water, Wood, and then Sword instead of Gold—since the classes are named after the elements of the weekdays—my friend simply said “Holy Gold Class” didn’t sound cool enough.
When I asked why the protagonist was in the Holy Fire Class instead of the Holy Sword Class, he didn’t answer.
He probably hadn’t even thought about it.
Anyway, she was originally supposed to be in the Holy Fire Class too, but it seemed the detailed settings had shifted a bit because so many people had survived.
“But the actual classes we take are elective anyway.”
“That’s true.”
Aside from morning and evening roll calls, special events, or exams, being in a specific “class” didn’t mean much.
The academy’s curriculum was like a university system where you took the subjects you wanted from the professors you wanted.
One student is a mage, another a swordsman, and another a priest—putting them all in the same room and giving them the same education?
That would be insane.
For that reason, for most students, their class didn’t hold much significance outside of exam periods or inter-class competitions.
Of course, for me, it was a bit different since the Holy Fire Class homeroom teacher was my secret friend, Cathy.
I didn’t know how often I’d see the homeroom teacher, but isn’t it better to have your secret friend as your own homeroom teacher rather than someone else’s?
We chatted as we headed toward the Academy Main Building where the classrooms were located.
Oh, by the way, after living together for a month, sharing snacks and ordering delivery behind the dorm warden’s back, we had become quite close.
Of course, this friendship was only possible because I still avoided taking off my clothes in the room and shunned all unpermitted physical contact.
To her, I was probably just a roommate who was easy to get along with.
After parting ways to find our respective classrooms, I opened the door to the Holy Fire Class and stepped inside.
As expected of the first day of the academy, even though I thought I’d arrived quite early, most of the students had already taken their seats.
The Holy Fire Class.
This was the class where important characters besides Lilac and Cheon Yu-hak belonged, and it was effectively the growth ground for the main cast.
After checking my seat on a screen projected via hologram, I headed over, only to find an unexpected guest already there.
“Oh, really~?”
A girl, laughing loudly while chatting with her friends, was unpleasantly squashing my desk with her butt.
Well, it was unpleasant, but I couldn’t exactly get angry.
It’s common for students to get caught up in making memories with friends and forget to be considerate of others.
I was a man capable of being considerate.
That didn’t mean I was going to stand during roll call, so I was going to ask her to move, but I’d try to say it as calmly as possible.
“Excuse me, that’s my seat. Could you move?”
Wait, she didn’t even pretend to hear me.
Was my voice too small? No way. Someone even further away had turned their head, so there was no way she hadn’t heard.
That meant I could infer she was intentionally ignoring me and picking a fight.
But a civilized citizen doesn’t get angry over something like this.
They say if you endure three times, you can even avoid murder. Shouldn’t a person endure at least three times?
“Um, I guess you didn’t hear me. Hey, friends, that’s my seat.”
“Ugh, seriously.”
Buddha. In a situation where the same result is guaranteed even if I endure three times, do I really need to finish the count?
I feel like twice is plenty.
Yeah, I’ll endure.
Why? Because if we actually threw down, I’d probably lose.
This world followed the logic of power, which meant there was no place for a civilized citizen.
“Step aside for a moment.”
However, because of an unexpected person’s appearance, the “Butt” illegally occupying my seat—no, the girl—sprang up and moved out of the way.
In a voice that was a far cry from the one that had just been swearing at me, she tried to yield the seat to the newcomer with a flirtatious tone.
“Oh, Yu-hak! Was this your seat? Sorry, I didn’t know~! If I’d known, I would have sat in the chair! Teehee~!”
Is she crazy?
Anyway, that was him.
The one who appeared was one of our two main protagonists, Cheon Yu-hak.
Oh, he was smiling, but it looked like Cheon Yu-hak was thinking something similar, as he was looking openly annoyed.
“No, it’s not my seat. I just have some business with the owner of this seat.”
Hah, this guy is dead wrong about something. That is my seat.
“I cleared it for you, so why don’t you sit down?”
Huh?
The guy started saying that while looking in my direction.
What? Is there someone behind me?
“You’re still feigning ignorance when I talk to you.”
Wait, holy shit. So-hyun, why are you… are you actually acquaintances with Cheon Yu-hak?
“I didn’t get a good look at you during the entrance ceremony, so has it been about seven years?”
“Uh, yeah. Good to see you, Yu-hak.”
Cheon Yu-hak began to chuckle as if he’d heard something amusing.
What’s with this guy now?
“Right, you should be that confident. I guess you’ve finally come to your senses.”
What, are we really friends?
“It’s been weighing on my mind because you kept using formal speech ever since I beat the crap out of you for challenging me the last time we met.”
I guess not.
Beside me, the “Butt,” who had been anxious while listening to Cheon Yu-hak, let out a sigh of relief upon hearing his words.
She was probably worried that if I were his friend, I’d tattle on her.
“Anyway, let’s get to the point. Join my team for the semester evaluation competition. Others might not recognize it, but I know your value. Someone like you is worthy of being my teammate.”
Oh, the girl’s face turned pale again.
She seemed to think that if he was scouting me as a teammate, we must be incredibly close.
Actually, I was quite surprised because I never expected such an offer.
Wow, holy shit. I’m acquaintances with Cheon Yu-hak? He seems to view me as a bit of an underling, but an acquaintance is an acquaintance.
Damn.
Don’t worry, “Butt.”
“No.”
Because I’m going to refuse.
“I suppose it is a bit premature.”
“No, I’m saying I just don’t want to.”
“Right, you probably need time to think. You’ll want to stick with the one who stands out the most.”
“Fellow student, can you hear me?”
“But you’ll realize soon enough. That in the end, I’ll be the strongest.”
Actually? You start getting overtaken by Lilac around the second year.
“Well, think it over.”
Cheon Yu-hak said that and returned to his seat.
When I turned my gaze, the girl was glaring at me with eyes that said, ‘What is up with this guy?’
She seemed to find it absolutely offensive that someone like me would dare refuse Cheon Yu-hak’s request.
And who are you, exactly?
Who are you to be so obsessed with Cheon Yu-hak?
Just as she was about to say something to me, our secret friend, Professor Cathy, opened the door and walked in.
“Alright, it’s time for roll call, so students from other classes, please leave. The academy is quite ruthless about these things; if you’re late, you might lose points.”
Hearing that, the girl left with an annoyed expression, shooting me a final glare.
Ah, she’s from another class?
Then I had a rough idea of who she was.
In this school, unofficial fan clubs for Lilac and Cheon Yu-hak would soon be formed, and she was likely the girl who would become the president of Cheon Yu-hak’s fan club.
I had glared back because she was being so pathetic, but now I felt a bit sorry for her.
As a fellow terminally ill comrade, I should have given her a more tender look.
What do I mean?
Her screen time was so low that it was ambiguous whether she was just an extra or a “Heroine Dies First” victim, but anyway, among the characters who show affection for the protagonist in the original work, she was the very first to die. So let’s call her an HDF victim.
She was a character originally destined to meet her end soon at this academy.
And a very gruesome one at that.