Chapter 144: This Should Be Fine, Right?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: This Should Be Fine, Right?
There is a saying that even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, you can survive as long as you keep your wits about you.
I believe that’s true.
Even if you’re caught up in a terrible crime or being threatened by terrorists, as long as the opponent is a sentient being, you can demand an improvement in your situation through conversation—or something equivalent to it.
With that mindset, as soon as today’s classes ended, I requested a dialogue with the culprits who had kidnapped me.
“…Guys, what on earth is this? If you have a grievance, just say it. Don’t do this.”
Of course, since I was currently tied to a chair, it probably looked like a meaningless struggle.
Oh, and for the record, the kidnappers were exactly who you’d expect: Lilac, Lee Yu-na, Cheon Yu-hak, Ju Ri-ra, Kang Ha-ni, and Kim Ga-eul.
They had even found some strange sunglasses from somewhere and were standing there with their arms crossed.
Ri-ra, Yu-na, I can see how embarrassed you are. You’re intellectuals. Won’t you please let me go?
“Sinner Kang So-hyun, lift your head.”
“Lift it!”
Right, the ringleaders are Lilac and Ga-eul. You two are dead meat, seriously.
“Guys, I need to go train. Stop playing around and untie me.”
“Aha! That is precisely your sin!”
“Your sin!”
…Did these guys eat something wrong for lunch? No, considering they’ve been whispering among themselves since this morning, I can’t rule out the possibility that they ate something wrong for breakfast, either.
What do they mean, training is a sin?
“Neglecting the bonds of friendship! The sin of clinging to training day and night is very deep!”
“Very deep!”
Dumbfounded, I looked at Cheon Yu-hak. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze.
Hello? Mr. Cheon Yu-hak, don’t look away.
Hey. You. Look me in the eye. Are you doing this for revenge because I teased you on your birthday?
Lee Yu-na’s face was as red as an apple, and Ju Ri-ra was using Cheon Yu-hak as a shield.
“…Hey, Ga-eul.”
“Uh…!? What? I’m not falling for it this time! I mean it!”
“If you betray them and join me right now, I’ll forgive only you.”
For a moment, Ga-eul flinched, immediately looking for a chance to switch sides, but she was promptly captured by Ha-ni.
“No, Han-hee. You and I trained together this morning. Isn’t it wrong for you to be part of this? This is a total double standard.”
“I know, I know it all too well. I also know that you’ve suddenly started training until late at night lately~”
Ha-ni slowly approached me and flicked my forehead.
“…That hurt. Why did you hit me?”
“Because I know better than anyone that you need to rest right now. Don’t you know that rest is an important part of training?”
Rest?
Come to think of it, I think Sun Wukong mentioned something about resting since yesterday.
I just felt like I was still fine, so I ignored him and asked him to keep going.
“I know why you’ve suddenly become so impatient, but pushing yourself like that won’t be efficient, you know?”
…You know? How?
“She’s right, So-hyun. You’ve become strong enough. You’ll get good results in the end-of-semester Ranking Tournament. Let’s just rest for a day.”
Lilac dropped his playful attitude and spoke with a serious face.
Ah, so to them, it looked like I was overexerting myself for the tournament.
Well, it is about that time.
But that’s not why I’m doing this…?
“See? I’m right, aren’t I?”
No. Well, I guess the reason doesn’t matter. What matters is that I looked like I was overdoing it to them.
Now that they mentioned it, my body did feel strangely heavy.
It was just that before the regression, whenever I tried to rest, I was immediately plagued by nightmares or bad memories. Because of that, it became natural for me to exhaust my body to its limit and fall asleep as if I were passing out.
It seems I didn’t recognize my current state as being that difficult.
This is a bit bad.
The side effects of regaining my memories were starting to appear in unexpected ways.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being in a hurry, but the situation isn’t so urgent that I should be causing worry to those around me.
I don’t think it would have happened, but if I had kept immersing myself in training like this and collapsed from exhaustion, it wouldn’t have ended with just this level of concern.
I guess he’s the protagonist for a reason; he catches me whenever I’m about to make a mistake.
He’s all grown up. I can’t call him my dumb friend’s son anymore.
“So, let’s all go to karaoke! We talked about it, and everyone said they wanted to hear you sing again!”
…Somehow, I feel like that’s the real objective. If I look tired, shouldn’t you humanely let me rest?
Huh? Is the “dumb friend’s son” engine starting up again?
“So-hyun, let’s rest for just one day. Spending time playing with us is important too, you know?”
Seeing them surround me as if they would never let me go to train, I realized that resisting would be meaningless.
I surrender.
“Fine, just untie this first.”
“Oh? Really? No taking it back?”
“I won’t take it back. I’ll go to karaoke with you, so don’t worry. If I knew you guys were this worried, I wouldn’t have done this. Karaoke? Sure, let’s go.”
It’s a principle not to negotiate with terrorists, but since what they want isn’t anything else but for me to rest, it would be ridiculous to fight to the death over it.
As for karaoke, wanting to hear someone who can’t sing sounds like a bit of a twisted hobby, but if it’s you guys who want to hear it, I should sing for you.
“Oh! So-hyun! You’ve softened up a lot!”
As soon as Lilac untied the ropes, Ha-ni and Ga-eul blocked my path, as if afraid I might run away.
“…What are you doing? I said I wouldn’t run.”
“Oh, what’s this? Kang So-hyun is actually not running?”
“Why would I lie to you guys over something like this? Ah, but before that, can I go to the bathroom?”
“…Hey, Lilac. Let’s follow him. He might run.”
“Of course, Han!”
“We’ll be guarding the entrance, so just keep that in mind.”
“…Why won’t you do a high-five with me?”
“Just what kind of image do you guys have of me? I said I’m going to karaoke.”
I’m really going, so why are they so suspicious?
* * *
After returning from the bathroom, I followed them obediently. The kids looked at me with slightly suspicious expressions, but once I sat down and reserved a song, they seemed to relax and lowered their guard.
See, you punks? I told you I was coming, so why didn’t you believe me?
“Whoa! Is the big one coming!?”
“Let’s see Kang So-hyun’s singing skills!”
I don’t know what they’re expecting, but since I’m here, I should enjoy it to the fullest, right?
Just like when I went to karaoke with Ha-ni before, I applied Reinforcement to my throat and released my soul at full power.
However, even though I sang the song they requested, their expressions soured in an instant.
These punks… they asked me to sing, so why are they acting like this?
“No, those kinds of screaming songs don’t suit you.”
It was so bad that Lee Yu-na even snatched the microphone away, asking what kind of crazy thing I was doing.
What? Why reject my soulful singing? Seo-ha said this was the best and told me to only sing things like this in front of others.
“I don’t usually say things like this, but singing a song like that with your voice is truly insane.”
“…Is it that bad?”
“Yes. Just try singing something calm and soft.”
Well, I guess I have no choice.
I’m not really feeling it, but should I give it a try?
I released the Reinforcement on my throat and lightly cleared it.
Well, they’ll probably get bored and start singing their own songs soon anyway.
I might not look like it, but I’m a master at singing boringly. Back at the orphanage, all the kids would fall asleep as soon as they heard my lullabies.
* * *
That naive thought crumbled the moment I ended up singing eight songs in a row.
“…Guys, is this right? Is this some kind of penalty game?”
“Huh? What!?”
The kids, who had been listening to my singing with intoxicated faces, jumped up as if startled.
“Ah! It’s my turn for a requested song, why did you stop!?”
What requested song, you geek? This is just like “Butt.” She’s doing annoying things again.
Ga-eul protested as if it were unfair, but clearly, the one who should be angry wasn’t Ga-eul, but me.
In the first place, this isn’t how you’re supposed to hang out at a karaoke room.
Sure, somewhere in the world, there might be some tone-deaf bully who plays like this, but at least I’ve never had such a hobby.
“You guys should sing too! Why am I the only one singing!? Did you come to a concert!? Are you going to pay me!?”
“…That’s not a bad idea. Should we go with a concert concept? How much is a ticket?”
“Did you go crazy from sleepiness while listening to the music?”
When I glared fiercely at Lilac for talking nonsense, he finally apologized and took the microphone.
“Alright. Sorry, So-hyun. You sang so well that I guess everyone just wanted to keep listening. Take a break; we’ll sing this time.”
You should have done that from the start, you punk. You’re the one who told me to rest because I looked tired.
And who do you think would believe such flattery?
However, for some reason, Lilac looked quite nervous as he sang.
“70 points.”
“56 points.”
“It’s 100 points.”
“80 points?”
In order, Ga-eul, Ha-ni, Yu-na, and Ri-ra gave out scores like they were human karaoke machines.
He sang pretty well, but the scores are quite stingy, aren’t they?
“…Ah, honestly, singing right after So-hyun is too much. The comparison is too obvious.”
“That is a cowardly excuse.”
“You cannot join us.”
Then, they started some kind of comedy skit among themselves.
They really know how to have fun.
Lilac, looking aggrieved, held out the microphone to Cheon Yu-hak, who was sitting apart.
“…What are you doing?”
“I can’t be the only one to die. Yu-hak, you have to sing too.”
“I sing better than you, though?”
“Haha, that’s why you should sing before the ‘So-hyun effect’ wears off to make it fair.”
“…How pathetic. Watch closely. I am different from you.”
As if he had no intention of running away, Cheon Yu-hak boldly took the microphone and selected a song.
It was a pop song in a vocal range that didn’t overlap with mine as much as possible.
“…Hey! Don’t run away! Fight back!!!!”
With Lilac’s desperate cry, Cheon Yu-hak’s song began.
Oh, he’s a better singer than I thought.
Afterward, Lee Yu-na sang a love song, Ju Ri-ra surprisingly tried rapping, and Ga-eul sang some anime song. It was quite refreshing to see Ha-ni join in, saying she knew the song too.
Despite everything, it’s fun to hang out together. I’m glad I came.
I truly thought so.
* * *
At the same time, there was someone swinging a sword alone in a clearing on the mountain behind the Academy.
The swordsmanship was still violent and the path of the blade unstable, but thanks to the effort put in, it was a sword that had managed to suppress its savage nature just a little.
Well, yeah.
It’s me.
Kang So-hyun.
Why is the guy who was singing at the karaoke room training? Actually, the trick is simple.
After saying I was going to the bathroom, I used Ruyi’s Cloning Technique to create a clone filled with Innate True Qi and sent it to play with the kids, while I came here to train.
Since we share memories and it remains as experience, it’s not a lie, and I won’t get caught later.
It’s a perfect crime.
Ah, well. Whatever. I didn’t say I wouldn’t train. I just said I’d go to karaoke.
I just need to make the kids think I’ve rested well and then take a proper break before I collapse~
— Do you know? The world has agreed to call what you’re doing right now ‘deception.’
“Ah, why go as far as calling it deception?”
— The way I see it, if you keep this up, you’re going to get seriously hurt one day.
“It’s fine as long as I don’t get caught. As long as I don’t get caught.”
— Then at least don’t make excuses to yourself, you reckless brat.
“…Wow, Sun Wukong is saying that with her own mouth?”
— Quiet.
Look at him cutting me off as soon as something unfavorable comes up…
— If you keep deceiving your true feelings, you’ll eventually lose sight of what you truly want. Know when to stop.
“…I know that too, okay? But it’s not right now.”
I’m not tired enough to stop training, and I have enough leeway to play with the kids, so it would be a waste to rest.
Yeah, that’s just why.
I have to win at least one round against Professor Cathy within the weekend, and it’s just because I can still do more.
…So, I’m not overdoing it.
* * *
Afterward, I said I’d stop by the convenience store for a moment, swapped places with the clone, and naturally deactivated the Cloning Technique.
I actually stopped by the convenience store for the sake of the perfect crime, so no one would find out.
[Hmm?]
“?”
At the sudden, questioning voice, I turned my head to find a very unexpected person standing there.
A red butler’s uniform and a white mask.
As far as I knew, there was only one person in this world likely to wear such a tasteful outfit as daily wear.
[To think I’d meet you in a place like this.]
…Everyone has a plan.
Until they get screwed over by their own cleverness.