Chapter 19: The Kind of Person Every Academy Has (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 19: The Kind of Person Every Academy Has (End)
After the duel ended, Kim Ga-eul was left in a daze.
Though it had been ruled a draw, she, more than anyone else, knew the truth.
— Let’s do our best, okay?
The way he had approached her while saying those words wasn’t the “dangerous suicide charge” the instructor had described, nor was it an act of desperation.
He had simply dodged because he could see the attacks coming.
It wasn’t a movement mastered through martial arts, nor was it purely instinctive.
He had truly just seen them and leisurely stepped aside.
If he hadn’t smiled at the end and feigned collapsing after being hit by the whip—specifically choosing the moment when the impact was weakest—it never would have ended in a draw.
No, actually, even a draw was dangerous.
The mere fact that she had drawn with someone she had constantly called a loser and looked down upon would inevitably spark suspicion among those around them.
Turning her head to scan the area, her eyes met those of another boy.
In the depths of that gaze, which was filled with a chilling indifference, there was a faint trace of pathetic contempt.
The gaze of Cheon Yu-hak, the boy she admired so much, was as cold as ice.
* * *
Ah, for fuck’s sake.
My eyes hurt like hell.
I didn’t expect it to hurt more than being hit by a whip.
I had no idea that briefly enhancing them would cause my eyes to scream in agony from the backlash.
Well, I guess I learned something new today.
Thanks to the Will of the Saint slightly boosting my recovery, I felt a bit better now, but reinforcement was a much heavier burden than I had anticipated.
If I had reinforced the entire eye instead of focusing solely on visual acuity, the strain might have been less. However, given how pathetic my original stats were, simply reinforcing the eyes wouldn’t have been enough to pull off the performance of seeing through every whip strike.
Since my goal this time was to instill fear in a single person, I had to endure this much pain.
If I had to find a silver lining, it was that the areas hit by the whip didn’t leave any scars, thanks to the training grounds and the high-tech training weapons.
Well, all in all, I’d say the results were quite satisfactory.
“So-hyun.”
It would have been perfect if not for Professor Cathy’s summons. I had no idea how she even heard about it.
I would have preferred it if she were angry; seeing her look at me with such sad eyes made my conscience prickle.
“I heard what happened during the duel.”
What now? What exactly was the problem?
“Even if you wanted to handle it yourself, how could you use such a method?”
Ah, was the problem the part where I pointed a dagger at a girl’s throat? Perhaps my dagger, thrust in the name of equality and the hero’s ideology without regard for gender, didn’t look so great from a social perspective.
“You used your Talent, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes.”
Oh, so that was the problem.
“So-hyun, I’ll be honest with you. I know what the penalty for your Talent is.”
I see. I know that you know, Professor. As secret friends, we certainly knew each other’s secrets well.
“You’ve only just recovered a little, so how could you do that again so soon? You should have asked me to mediate since I’m your homeroom teacher.”
The problem was that I couldn’t do that.
If I told her, the harassment would stop, but the chances of me being able to manipulate the situation to my liking would plummet.
Besides, if I told someone who already claimed to know my penalty, “No? I just wanted to do my best, I didn’t have any personal feelings!” would they even believe me?
If I were her, I’d tell me to stop talking crazy.
What kind of idiot uses Innate True Qi for a reason like that?
“So-hyun.”
Ugh.
Having a secret friend was reassuring, but I wondered if I’d set the boundaries wrong.
Of course, she was a character who was kind and maintained a close distance with everyone, not just me. But calling me aside after school just because I’d been a bit reckless with my Innate True Qi felt a bit excessive.
…Or was it?
If a student in my class used their Innate True Qi just to smack a girl around in a duel, I guess I’d be pretty worried too.
“Shall we make a promise?”
“Pardon?”
“It doesn’t matter how small it is. If anything happens, you must come to me for counseling. And even if something happens before you can, let’s try not to use your Talent if possible.”
Now you’re just talking nonsense. I knew my secret friend lacked a sense of reality, but this was a bit much.
“If you do, I promise I’ll come to save you.”
She held out her pinky as if making a promise to a child.
At that sight…
— Then I’ll definitely help you.
I was reminded of someone who had made a similar promise to me when I was young.
Forgetting how embarrassing it was, I ended up interlocking my pinky with hers.
Ah, damn it. I should have refused.
“Thank you for promising.”
To be honest, I wouldn’t be able to keep this promise.
I still had so much left to do. In fact, I hadn’t even started yet.
Still, I felt like I should at least make an effort to restrain myself when I was in front of her.
* * *
By the time the counseling session ended, the sun was already setting.
Kang Ha-ni had told me to go back first since it might take a while. She had probably already eaten dinner, so I figured I’d grab something outside and head back to the dormitory.
While I was stretching and wondering what to have for dinner, my eyes caught something I really shouldn’t have seen—something I would have missed if not for a stroke of bad luck.
Butt was walking with Cheon Yu-hak, her face filled with anxiety.
Seeing them head toward a secluded area made me feel uneasy for no reason.
No matter how I looked at her expression, it didn’t seem like a confession. I could pretty much guess what was happening.
Even though Cheon Yu-hak had a peculiar personality, he wasn’t a psychopath, so a murder wasn’t going to happen. But usually, nothing good comes from heading to a deserted place with that kind of atmosphere.
“Ah, shit.”
If I hadn’t seen them, I could have just ignored it and debated whether soft tofu or blood sausage soup was more worthy of being my dinner. But since I’d seen them, I couldn’t just ignore it.
I suppressed my presence and followed them. A small crowd had already gathered there.
The ones looking intimidated were the self-proclaimed lackeys of Cheon Yu-hak, led by Kim Ga-eul. Surrounding them were Cheon Yu-hak’s actual companions.
It seemed Kim Ga-eul was the last one; Cheon Yu-hak, who had brought her, naturally joined his group and stood in the center.
“Right, I saw you in class today. Was it Kim Ga-eul?”
“Ye… yes, Yu-hak.”
“Yu-hak?”
“Huh…?”
Ah, that guy is doing it again.
I’m telling you, he definitely enjoys this.
“Are we close enough to be on a first-name basis?”
What, then? Should she call you ‘Young Master Yu-hak, the legitimate heir of the Cheon family’?
“No, right. Not yet. But…”
“‘Not yet’? You’re funny.”
A female cadet with a sharp aura standing next to Cheon Yu-hak mocked her.
“You said you’d prove you were better than him. You begged for just one chance. But I heard you got your ass kicked.”
Given her decent rhyme, she might have been a rapper.
By ‘him,’ she probably meant me, right?
“I didn’t get kicked, it was a draw…”
“Yeah, that’s even more pathetic than losing. You were so confident, so I wondered what kind of amazing thing you’d show us. But a duel? Against a kid who can barely lift a 30kg dumbbell? Even if you won, it would be pathetic, and losing would be pathetic, so are you actually proud of a draw?”
She was covering her mouth, but it was obvious she was laughing at Kim Ga-eul.
“Ah, maybe for someone at your level, that was actually doing quite well, right? Since you fought fair and square and drew with someone Yu-hak acknowledged, you must feel like you’re on the same level as us now.”
“That’s enough.”
As she continued to taunt Kim Ga-eul, Cheon Yu-hak intervened.
Of course, it wasn’t because he felt sorry for Kim Ga-eul. If my guess was right, Kim Ga-eul was about to receive a shock.
“You’ll only get yourself dirty by talking to her.”
Exactly.
Cheon Yu-hak was a man who was infinitely shitty to those he didn’t acknowledge, but surprisingly sweet to those he did.
Kim Ga-eul’s expression, which had briefly looked touched by his first words, crumbled in an instant.
“But Yu-hak. The way she acts is an eyesore, and her mediocre abilities are annoying.”
“Are you going to kick every annoying thing you see on the street? You’ll only get your shoes dirty.”
Ah, Kim Ga-eul started crying.
Well, it was understandable. Being treated not just as useless but as literal filth by the person she liked… anyone would want to cry.
“Look at her. Did we bully you? Did we hit you? Why are you crying? It’s okay for you to spread rumors about other kids and have boys who like you harass them, but it’s ‘fucking unfair’ when it happens to you?”
“Watch your language. It’s unrefined.”
The fact that he didn’t deny the content of her words at all was a very Cheon Yu-hak-like attitude.
“Hey, honestly, I’m kind of grateful. I was going to oppose whatever you tried to show us, but you went ahead and gave us a perfect excuse. Did you know? Yu-hak hates girls like you the most. Not just a simple delinquent, but a bitch who uses people’s feelings to stir up trouble while pretending her own hands are clean.”
Tears streaming down her face, she looked at Cheon Yu-hak with eyes that had lost almost all their light.
“Hate me…?”
He shook his head.
He really was a brutally cruel bastard.
“How can I hate something I have no interest in?”
Ugh, shit. Kids these days are terrifying.
“Let’s go, Yu-hak.”
“No, I have more to say, so you guys go on ahead.”
“You’re not going to accept her, are you?”
“You still don’t seem to know me very well.”
“Just kidding. I made a reservation at the restaurant, so come quickly~”
With that, Cheon Yu-hak’s real group trooped out.
I didn’t know how much more cruelly he intended to grill her, but it wasn’t my role to step in and stop him or to comfort Kim Ga-eul after it was all over.
Well, Lilac would probably comfort her tomorrow or something.
“Are you leaving?”
The moment I turned my body to walk away, Cheon Yu-hak looked in my direction and asked.
…Shit, he’s not talking to me, is he? I’m hiding behind a building wall, how could he know?
“I told you before, your skill at hiding your presence is terrible. You might fool others, but you can’t fool me.”
Shit.
I got caught.
Kim Ga-eul turned her head and looked at me.
I hoped to see anger in those eyes, but they were completely hollow.
“I despise worthless things, but I believe those I acknowledge should be given their proper place and power. At the very least, they shouldn’t be insulted by those who don’t know their place.”
“…So, you handled it for me, and now I’m supposed to be grateful?”
“No, I’m just stating a fact. Don’t misunderstand; it’s not like I intended to step in from the start. She just acted on her own, claiming she’d prove she was better than you within the week, and my teammates only allowed it because they found her annoying.”
“So it’s not your responsibility?”
“I wouldn’t say that. In the end, it was a problem caused by my teammates.”
He really wouldn’t concede a single point.
“Do you not like it?”
“Yeah, not really.”
“Good. That’s how it should be. People who burn with a desire for revenge just because a bug annoyed them are all on the same mediocre level.”
In truth, I didn’t feel any sympathy for the situation Kim Ga-eul was in.
She had picked the fight herself, driven by her own greed.
Not satisfied with being the president of an unofficial fan club, she had tried to stand by his side but failed to catch his eye.
In the process, she had tried to make herself look bigger by trampling on others, so the hell that would begin tomorrow was something she had to endure on her own.
If there was one thing I pitied her for, it was simply that she was born to be a disposable pawn rather than a full-fledged villain.
That was it.
“You’ve always been strangely kind to trash, even while throwing all sorts of tantrums.”
“What?”
“Nothing. If this is what you’ve decided, I have no intention of interfering. I’ll be going now.”
Saying that, Cheon Yu-hak truly turned his back and walked away.
I looked at her for a moment in silence.
“What, loser? You think I’m pathetic too, so you want to take this chance to insult me? Or do you feel sorry for me now that I’ve been dumped?”
“No.”
“Ha, laugh if you want to. It won’t bother me at all coming from someone like you.”
She seemed to be trying to imitate Cheon Yu-hak, but saying that with eyes full of tears didn’t make her look like him at all.
“I’m not laughing.”
And I wouldn’t pity her either.
It wasn’t my role to heal her wounds.
Above all…
“I would never laugh at you.”
Even if she was just a disposable character, I didn’t feel like laughing at a person my friend had created.