Chapter 22: Reversal (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 22: Reversal (3)
Man, a teenage body is something else.
After singing until my reinforced vocal cords were ready to burst and stuffing myself with spicy kimchi fried rice and tonkatsu, I had honestly resigned myself to the “death” that would surely follow today.
Yet, surprisingly, thanks to the fantastic combination of the Will of the Saint’s enhanced healing and the resilience of a teenage body, I woke up today with nothing more than a slightly scratchy throat.
Actually, if I had pulled a stunt like that right after transmigrating, I probably would have kicked the bucket. It felt less like the perks of youth and more like my hard work finally paying off, but hey, what does it matter?
Either way, being healthy is a good thing.
“Uuugh…”
However, there was one superhuman currently paying the full price for her first taste of true indulgence.
“I told you not to eat the spicy tonkatsu.”
The loser, who had called me a total coward for eating regular king-sized tonkatsu and wolfed down the spicy version without even taking a stomach protector, was currently letting out silent screams of agony on her bed.
That’s the thing about spicy food. The eating part is one thing, but a much more sinister horror always visits the next day.
She probably really needs to use the bathroom, but she’s likely holding it in out of embarrassment because I’m here.
It was quite pitiful to see a heroine using her superhuman endurance for something like this.
It’s okay, Ha-ni. Even heroines have to go to the bathroom. I understand.
But I still can’t forgive her for calling me a total coward.
“Shut… up…”
Well, despite my teasing, Ha-ni would soon find her freedom.
I had business to attend to outside today.
Technically, I didn’t have to leave yet, but it would be a disaster if I got too cocky just because we’d gotten closer and my favorability dropped like the original Lilac’s.
If she actually decided to stab me, I’d be dead in a heartbeat.
“Where are you going…?”
Surprisingly, Ha-ni, who I thought would want me gone as soon as possible, reached out to stop me.
“Hm? Just out for a bit. I’ll be back by evening.”
“Buy a Melona on your way back.”
“Sure. I’m coming back late, so it might be better if you just bought one yourself, but I’ll bring back something soft for your stomach.”
“Mm.”
* * *
I had several goals for going out today, but the first was to resolve a lingering doubt.
It was a simple question.
I could use my Talent.
I could also manipulate Mana.
Though my body was still pathetically frail, it was improving. At this rate, I could say I possessed the basic qualifications of a cadet.
However, there was one thing I wasn’t sure of yet.
The obvious question: Am I actually capable of fighting?
I had ways to overcome physical limitations and techniques, but for someone like me, who had lived in a normal, relatively peaceful world before transmigrating, I wondered if I could handle a life-or-death struggle—not just a spar, but a real fight.
At the entrance ceremony, Lilac handled Choi In-ho. In the Saint’s Dungeon where the goblins appeared, Professor Cathy dealt with the enemies.
That’s right. I hadn’t properly fought a monster yet, let alone a villain.
Could someone like me actually move properly when practical training starts next week?
Today was the day to test that.
The place I visited was the Academy’s VR Room.
Despite the name, it wasn’t a lounge for games. It was a combat simulator that used high-fidelity recreations of actual monsters, humanoids, and even criminals.
I sat in the device, started it up, and intentionally loaded the data of a villain with a name I didn’t recognize from the registry.
The moment I set the pain feedback to 100%, the scenery shifted, and I found myself facing him in what looked like an arena.
“What’s this? Just a brat?”
Good. He definitely looked human.
Knowing it was a virtual illusion meant it wouldn’t be exactly like reality, but it seemed sufficient for an experiment.
Thanks to the machine’s high performance, the dry wind and the dust felt startlingly real.
The unnamed villain’s weapon was a knife, just like mine. Since he was an E-rank villain, he wouldn’t be that strong.
As I used Reinforcement to enhance my vision, the world slowed down, and his movements became clear.
“Sigh. Consider it bad luck that you ran into an old-timer.”
Who am I calling an old-timer?
The man lunged at me.
The way he swung his dagger was just as sluggish as my own movements, but the murderous intent in his eyes was that of a real criminal.
After dodging a clumsy strike, I punched him in the solar plexus. A sensation remarkably similar to reality traveled through my arm.
It seemed I was capable of hitting a person without much hesitation.
While I was pinning the struggling man down, his knife grazed me, sending a sharp sting of pain through my skin. Aside from that, I was able to subdue him smoothly.
The problem started from here.
“You little shit! Let me go! You motherfucker!”
The cut from the blade stung, and the fist I used to hit him throbbed.
The realism was so intense it made me feel like this was actually reality, causing a momentary hesitation.
In truth, it was true.
I didn’t necessarily have to kill a villain.
Even in the original story, the number of villains Lilac actually killed could be counted on one hand.
If I just subdued them and left them there, they’d be arrested and sent to prison.
“Uh…? You piece of shit, you better put that down!”
But the hesitation was only brief.
Because of that kind of hesitation, the original Lilac had to endure countless hardships.
Because of that, Choi In-ho had gained an opportunity and managed to escape once again.
Steeling my resolve, I drove the knife into the neck of the restrained man.
A strangely unpleasant sensation, like piercing through thick meat and bone, traveled up my arm, but it wasn’t unbearable.
Befitting its reputation as the top academy, Leilan Academy’s training facilities boasted incredible quality, allowing me to witness the process of a villain’s death.
Many things seemed to flash through the villain’s eyes in an instant as he failed to even let out a scream, but eventually, he ceased to move.
It wasn’t a pleasant sensation, but it wasn’t so revolting that I couldn’t do it.
The immersion broke at the very end when the corpse scattered into particles of light, but practicing like this was surely better than not doing it at all.
The lingering discomfort would soon become familiar, and then it would vanish.
It was always important to think that way.
“…Shouldn’t an academy story have some kind of cheerful mental safety device?”
* * *
My second goal was actually nothing major.
I just needed to go to the mart and buy some things.
“Please ring these up.”
“Are you going to the mountains or something?”
“Yeah, something like that. I need to get them before it gets too humid.”
“You look like an academy cadet. Do you get bugs in the dorms too?”
“Ah, the dorms are pretty clean, but the main building is so large that some show up there.”
“Ah, I suppose. There are people who buy these every year. I only asked because it’s a bit early in the season.”
“I’m just a bit sensitive to bugs.”
“Haha, a hero cadet who hates bugs? You won’t be able to go to the jungle regions then.”
“I guess so.”
After exchanging small talk with the mart employee, I stepped outside. The timing was just right.
As the sun began to set, I saw him in the park across from the mart.
The main purpose of today’s outing—a meeting disguised as a coincidence.
“Whew.”
Lilac.
On weekends when he didn’t have other plans, he would visit his family home outside the academy and then train in this nearby park.
He had mentioned it was the place where his Talent first awakened, so he felt he could train better there.
It was exactly as I had read in the novel.
For a brief moment, I watched the original protagonist of this world practice his swordsmanship.
Slowly, but accurately tracing the path of the blade, his sword descended.
Closing his eyes as if refusing to allow even a microscopic tremor, he held his breath and swung. Even to a layman like me, he looked incredibly solemn.
One might ask why he was being so dramatic over a simple downward strike, but perhaps it was because the posture was so simple that his effort was more clearly visible.
“Whew.”
However, he let out another sigh.
He didn’t seem satisfied.
“Lilac?”
It would be rude to interrupt once he started swinging again, so now was the perfect time to speak up.
“Oh, So-hyun!”
He had always been strangely friendly toward me, but ever since I told him I’d forgive Butt and that it was okay to help, his favorability seemed ready to pierce the heavens.
It was a bit much.
“Were you training?”
“Yeah. What a surprise to see you here. Did you have business nearby?”
“Yeah, I had to buy a few things.”
“Anyway, it’s good to see you, man.”
He could have felt interrupted, but he welcomed me without a hint of annoyance.
I almost felt bad.
Since I was about to use him.
“Hey, Lilac. Do you have time next week?”
“Huh? Next week? I might be a bit busy on the weekend.”
“No, during the week. About Ga-eul… it seems like the bullying is getting worse than I thought.”
I didn’t actually know if it was getting worse, but it probably was, right?
“…Is that so?”
As expected of the protagonist, he already looked displeased by the news.
“So, I was thinking of gathering a few people who have time to give her some simple encouragement. Usually, in situations like that, having just one or two people on your side can make a huge difference.”
“Ah, hey. That’s a great idea. But do you think the others will want to join? I’m down, though.”
“Actually, I started by recruiting you first, but I’ll try to get a few more.”
“Should I ask around too?”
“Don’t… I mean, don’t call Lee Yu-na.”
I almost called her Pink Chihuahua by mistake.
“Pink…? No, but why?”
“She’ll get jealous just seeing you try to comfort another girl.”
“Come on, Yu-na can be a bit prickly, but she’s not like that.”
The hell she isn’t.
I probably know her better than you do.
“Just don’t call her if I say so. She’s very blunt, so if she says something discouraging, it’ll ruin the mood.”
“Ah, I guess that could happen.”
He seemed to treat my first comment as a joke, but when I gave him a plausible excuse, he nodded in agreement.
I suppose even if she’s his childhood friend, he can’t deny her personality.
“Anyway, keep your schedule clear. Let’s do something small on Thursday after classes.”
“Sure. But So-hyun, you’re really kind. If it were me, I don’t think I could go that far for someone who bullied me.”
“You would have done even more than me, not less.”
“You think so?”
Yeah. That’s why you cried so sorrowfully when she died just as you were finally starting to get close, just as she was repenting.
The image of him hugging something unrecognizable, apologizing and sobbing because he couldn’t save her, had vividly portrayed the despair of the boy named Lilac, even through mere text.
Even though he eventually killed the culprit after Kim Ga-eul died, it didn’t change the fact that she wasn’t coming back.
Because it was the first time he had lost someone at the Academy, the description had been particularly detailed, and it still remained vivid in my mind.
“Yeah. You really would have done more than me.”
“Haha, I don’t know about that.”
Tsk.
Setting Kim Ga-eul aside, I should make sure this dense, son-like friend of mine doesn’t have to cry so bitterly this time.
* * *
By the time I finished chatting with Lilac and returned, it was quite late.
Ha-ni, who looked much better now, poked her head out from the top bunk.
“Oh, you’re back?”
“Yeah. I bought the Melona too.”
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? You told me to buy it.”
“You actually bought it? Man, you’re seriously fucking cute.”
Well, it’s a cliché for webnovel protagonists to forget things like this, but I’m a sensitive man, so I don’t usually forget promises.
Of course, I was also a bit scared of what would happen if I upset her.
“Hey, but did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“I heard it through the group chat, but apparently Kim Ga-eul was asking if anyone had your number. Everyone ignored her, but do you think she’s trying to mess with you again?”
“Why does she hate me so much?”
“Who knows? Our So-hyun is so cute and quick-witted.”
…Actually, that doesn’t make me feel great either. If I didn’t know she was a girl, I would have scowled.
Though I’d probably end up smiling again after being threatened with violence.
“Anyway, if she tries anything on Monday, tell me. Ah, too bad we’re in different classes. Why does she show up at our class every day when she isn’t even a student there?”
“Who knows? Maybe she still has lingering feelings for Cheon Yu-hak.”
“She’s really persistent. Seriously.”
But her looking for my number is a bit annoying. Let’s see what she has to say on Monday.
If things go south, I just won’t save her.
Wait, no. I can’t not save her because of Lilac. I’ll just have to save her a little bit late.