It’s Not Easy
If I tried to hurt Jinhyun, disaster would follow. I’d learned that the hard way, after trying to kill the bastard several times.
And every single time, some stroke of incredible luck had rushed in to help him—while, of course, incredible luck had come around to punish me.
Like the time a temporary wall suddenly collapsed toward me while I was passing a construction site.
Or when a tire ripped loose in a car accident and came flying straight at me.
Things like that. The kind of absurd, thunderbolt-from-a-clear-sky nonsense that only happened to me.
So by the fifth time or so, I’d just given up.
Even when I’d hired those villains this time, it wasn’t really because I wanted to hurt him. I’d only done it because I wanted to create some excuse to get close and build a little rapport.
...I never expected that to come back as a disaster, too.
Not even disaster, really. It was just my karma circling back to smack me in the face.
Still, no matter how I looked at it, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
I’d already been a little on edge after the guys in my class told me to brace myself for whatever came next, and then Jinhyun had to go and throw himself in front of me.
That pissed me off so much I snapped and told him it was none of his business, to get lost and stop meddling. If that wasn’t a disaster, what was?
At this rate, all the goodwill I’d built up by saving them was going to vanish in a puff of smoke.
I’d have to apologize. I hated the idea so much I could die, but sometimes there was no helping it.
I should bring him a banana milk tomorrow or something, since that was his favorite.
Normally, I should be hanging around the protagonist’s group, trading stupid little jokes and building favor, but things were already going sideways from day one.
I grumbled my way home along the road after school.
When I checked my phone, there were messages from Yeonhwa in the chat room, worrying about me.
Even Jinhyun had messaged to ask if I was okay.
I couldn’t tell whether he’d done it of his own free will or because Yeonhwa had bullied him into it, but I couldn’t exactly read it and ignore it, so I sent back an apology, saying I’d just been a little touchy.
In any case, someone had been tailing me ever since I left the school gate. Who the hell was it?
Having someone keep their distance and watch me from the shadows had been annoying enough from the start.
They’d even followed me onto the subway, so they clearly weren’t some half-wit. They were definitely an Academy student, at least.
One of the guys who’d just told me to brace myself? Or someone else I’d knocked out during the entrance exam?
I’d pissed off too many people to know who it was.
If I could just make them disappear the way I usually did, life would be so much easier.
But both of us were wearing Academy uniforms, so I couldn’t exactly handle it that way, which was maddening.
Unless it was one of those people nobody would bother looking for even if they vanished.
But the moment I disappeared, everyone around me would start searching until their feet were blistered raw.
I had no intention of letting them know where I lived, so I turned down a narrow side street with almost no foot traffic.
But I wasn’t trying to shake my tail.
If anything, I’d stopped and stared down the side street for a while, as if I were deliberately telling them where I was going, before I went in.
I wasn’t running away. I was telling them to come.
We had our image to worry about, so we couldn’t fight out on the main road. Better to settle this somewhere deserted.
I had no intention of backing down from a fight that had come straight to me.
Some nonsense about wanting to get along with my classmates? Please. What a load of crap.
The only people I needed to get along with were the protagonist’s group and, at most, the heroines around them.
Not those disposable extras who showed up for a line or two in a novel or a game.
I intended to break those bastards properly so they’d never get in my way again.
So they wouldn’t even dare touch me.
Thinking about how much trouble Academy was going to be, I figured it was easier to teach them their place now.
Waiting for the challenger who’d be showing up any minute, I’d already loaded my body with all sorts of chemicals until white vapor drifted from my breath.
But no matter how long I waited, the challenger never appeared.
I could hear someone pacing near the entrance to the side street, but that was all.
What the hell? Did they cut and run? Or were they a stalker? I bent my tail into a question mark and stepped back out onto the road.
But the footsteps that had been following me were gone.
What the hell had that been? It felt like someone had snipped the noodles in my cold noodles with scissors right before I could eat them.
I’d even been looking forward to seeing that smug face of theirs.
Unless they’d gone out of their way to leave me feeling disgustingly unsettled.
I didn’t think there was any Academy student petty enough for that, but then I finally remembered there were definitely a few characters like that in the original story.
Guys who lost to the protagonist, grew bitter about it, and then spent all their courage and strength picking on him from the shadows. Yeah, there had been one.
Looks like I’d poked one of those losers by accident.
I’d stepped in dog crap. That was exactly how it felt. Since nothing had actually gone wrong, this was how disaster had decided to hit me instead.
Feeling my hatred for the story’s fucking author deepen by another layer, I left the alley and headed home again.
With something like that hanging around behind me, things were going to get annoying whenever I needed to meet Yustitia or do “work.”
I should find the bastard and put him down as soon as possible.
“I’m ho—... Right. Nobody’s here.”
I’d almost automatically said I was home, then remembered late that this wasn’t the boss’s hideout but a tiny rented room.
The habit had stuck. I snorted, peeled off my shirt and nothing else, folded it neatly, and flopped face-up onto the bed.
The cool blanket gradually warmed to my body temperature, and before I knew it I was already growing drowsy, my eyes starting to shut.
It wasn’t even 2 p.m. yet. Sleeping now felt like a waste.
Still, maybe a short nap wouldn’t be so bad.
My body wasn’t tired, but my mind was. I’d steeled myself for this, but Academy really wasn’t an easy place.
How many problems had already cropped up on the very first day?
I wanted a calm, smooth life.
I wanted to avoid exhausting trouble and just take things easy, easy, easy... so why the hell wouldn’t the world let me?
I curled my tail around my thigh, then scratched idly at the blanket with my nails before deciding it would be a shame to sleep right away. I pulled out my phone and made a call.
If I considered the time difference, the boss would still be in the middle of the night somewhere, and he wasn’t the type to work himself to death until dawn.
That meant there was really only one person I could call.
“...Haa. Hello, sis. Or should I call you teacher?”
“T-teacher...! Just call me casually. I’m not at the point where you need to call me that yet...”
Yustitia was apparently still at the Academy, because instead of her usual voice, she sounded like an old friend I hadn’t spoken to in ages.
Even though she’d been at my place just yesterday.
In any case, if she was still at work, this probably wasn’t the time for anything important.
Which was fine, since I’d called because I wanted to talk to someone I was comfortable with.
“So, how does it feel to be teaching students at Academy?”
“How does it feel... hmm. Well, this is my first time doing something like this, so it’s a little strange. Fascinating, too. I didn’t realize there were that many gifted kids.”
“Same here. I didn’t expect there to be so many. Oh, do you remember that boy from earlier today? The one who just stood there? I only stayed quiet because I knew what your ability was, sis... but he just stood there too.”
“How could I forget? He had a look on his face like he’d already lived through the end of the world, and then he broke a record like it was nothing. Hmhm. Ah, I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
So Yustitia had noticed Minho, too. Hmm. That wasn’t great.
I didn’t like the idea of her taking an interest in Minho.
In the original story, the reason the Liberators were wiped out before they could even launch their attack on the Academy was that Yustitia had become completely captivated by Minho and spilled everything about herself and the organization.
Right. She was a senior officer among the Liberators, just like me.
If I was a low-ranking newcomer, she was practically one of the founding members.
The story behind that was long, but it was too long to get into now, so I’d leave it there.
Anyway, my job was simple. Keep her from getting too interested in Minho.
“It’s fine. It’s not like knowing that would cause some huge disaster. Anyway, I just called because I was bored. Sorry for bothering you when you’re busy.”
“No, no. I’m the one who should be sorry I can’t talk long. Want to get dinner together sometime?”
“Sure. Let’s meet at that place that does good carbonara, then.”
Somehow, I’d naturally set up our next meeting place too. I really hadn’t meant to do that.
Still, it was better to decide in advance than do nothing at all.
The call ended, and silence settled back over the room.
Hmm. Maybe I should make a quick list of what I needed to do.
Find Academy’s security vulnerabilities and use them to plot the optimal infiltration route.
Get close to the protagonist’s group while keeping them from getting too strong.
Pass along any Heros Corporation information I could only access at Academy to the Liberators.
Provide some mental care for Yustitia.
That was a lot.
None of it was easy. And none of it was something I could do while exhausted. So...
A nap would be a rational choice, right?
— — — —
Following Blanca had been for information gathering, nothing more.
I hadn’t wanted to do it either, but from the very beginning, she’d twisted the development I knew, so I’d had no choice.
That said, if I was honest, it had mostly been because of a vague sense of unease.
Chasing after her wasn’t going to miraculously tell me who she was. That much was obvious.
It was practically a meaningless act, done only to soothe my anxiety.
Still, I had to...
She realized I was tailing her.
When she took that side street halfway there, it was clear as day that she wanted me to follow.
That only made me even more curious about her identity. Of course, I wasn’t crazy enough to actually follow her.
I needed information from her, but not enough to be worth exposing my own identity in the process.
More than anything, I was afraid. Afraid of following someone so completely unknown.
Her mastery of supernatural abilities and martial skill was beyond the level of an ordinary student.
And then there was her attitude, which seemed to change on a whim depending on who she was dealing with. She didn’t look like a normal student no matter how I cut it.
Who exactly are you, Blanca?