Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Blonde Tanned Thug (2)
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The Ordinary Class was where those who failed to rank in the top 10 percent of the entrance exam were dumped.
In Dabcheon Academy, where skill alone determined a person's worth, those lacking standout ability held very little value. The Ordinary Class was essentially a place where such students were left to rot.
Even the naming convention showed zero effort, making it clear how the academy viewed them.
The academy didn't bother managing this class at all, so naturally, it fell to the students themselves.
And of course, that meant the strongest students.
The sharp sting spreading from the back of her head was more than enough to drag Fuyuno Tsubaki from her dream world back to reality.
Unlike the vibrant world of her imagination, reality for her was a dull monochrome—closest to gray.
She could distinguish colors just fine, but they held no real meaning for her.
"If someone's gonna hit you, at least say hello first. You just gonna sit there? I've been going easy on you lately, and now you're crawling all over me?"
Because Fuyuno Tsubaki's reality had never once been kind to her.
"You think it's okay to treat your life savior like this? Huh? Fuyuno Tsubaki?"
Jin-sook jabbed at Fuyuno Tsubaki's chest with her fingers, invoking her so-called life-saving grace.
For Fuyuno Tsubaki—the physically and mentally frailest person in Dabcheon Academy—even those finger jabs were a massive shock, pushing her body back helplessly with each prod.
"Hey, answer me."
Fuyuno Tsubaki had known for a month now that Jin-sook's talk of being her life savior was utter bullshit.
Because even without those two showing up, she could've escaped on her own—and nothing life-threatening would've happened anyway.
If anything, Jin-sook and Sun-hee were no different from enemies who'd threatened her life.
When the sky tore open and a rift appeared, those two had shoved Fuyuno Tsubaki down and told her to buy time while they ran.
So Jin-sook's claim of being her life savior right now was the pinnacle of nonsense.
But even knowing how wrong Jin-sook's words and actions were, Fuyuno Tsubaki couldn't point it out.
"S-Sorry. I was wrong, Jin-sook..."
Instead, she claimed fault herself and offered an apology.
It wasn't because she was too stupid to tell right from wrong.
She already knew speaking the truth wouldn't help.
In a society of superhumans, the sophistry from the powerful became justice itself.
"You knew that, and you still pulled this shit? Doing it on purpose means you really think I'm a pushover!"
"N-No, that's not—"
"Not what? You saying I'm wrong right now?"
"Ah, ahh..."
Of course, following the justice of the strong didn't guarantee safety.
Truth be told, whether she obeyed or not, Fuyuno Tsubaki just had to take it.
Because she was the plaything of her classmate Jin-sook standing before her...
"What's going on? Why all the noise, Jin-sook?"
...and of Sun-hee, who soon entered through the classroom door.
Fuyuno Tsubaki knew full well how pointless it was to wonder "why?" in such an absurd situation.
Piling up questions on that "why?" wouldn't solve anything, even if she luckily figured out the reason.
So Fuyuno Tsubaki just felt the doubt and asked herself questions without seeking answers.
That way, she could at least pretend it happened because she didn't know better.
It was better than knowing the reason and still being unable to fix it.
"What? No greeting? And she just sat down on her own and even smirked creepily? Wow... I thought we'd gotten a bit closer lately, so I was gonna shield her as much as I could, but this is too much. Did she at least apologize? Oh, she did? Well, at least it didn't go all the way to rock bottom. Good thing."
Sun-hee, arriving late, listened to Jin-sook and spoke as if mediating.
But Fuyuno Tsubaki knew those were just empty words dripping from her mouth.
Because for the past month, she'd felt it in her bones: Sun-hee, who showed up after Jin-sook's sudden head-smack and tantrum, speaking so leisurely now—that made her far more vicious.
"But words alone don't cut it for an apology, you know? If that was enough, why have laws or police? People who do wrong should be punished—that's the way of the world. Only then can they truly atone. Right? Fuyuno Tsubaki."
Just like right now.
"Punishment...?"
"Yeah, punishment. Don't worry. Just do what I say. It won't be hard or painful. Like always."
Sun-hee's words drew the eyes of several students already seated in the classroom.
It wasn't out of righteous anger or fury at the bullying anymore.
They were smirking, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Alright, stand up and come to the front."
"Y-Yes."
They didn't help Fuyuno Tsubaki—instead, they were thrilled by her suffering—because her family name was Fuyuno.
The Fuyuno Family: third-ranked among the world's great houses, the sky above the sky, the pinnacle of noble clans.
Seeing a member of that Fuyuno Family suffer like this gave the Ordinary Class students pure catharsis.
Because they were Ordinary Class students themselves—mediocre ones gathered here for lacking excellence.
"Keh heh. Look at her. A Fuyuno getting treated like that and she can't even complain."
"Bloodlines are all hype, huh? Just look at Fuyuno Tsubaki. Daughter of that legendary former head, and she's the weakest in Dabcheon. No wonder the Fuyuno Family cast her out."
"Ha, maybe I should ask Sun-hee to lend her to me later? When else am I gonna get to play with a Fuyuno?"
The name Fuyuno carried an untouchable reverence for ordinary folk—a chasm of class too vast to even gaze upon.
Yet here was Fuyuno Tsubaki, bearing that exalted name, showing such pathetic weakness. To these average students, it was deliciously satisfying.
Sure, none had personally suffered at the Fuyuno Family's hands, but everyone here was a superhuman.
Having lived in a power-driven society, they'd all been crushed by the strong at some point.
That's why they reveled in seeing lofty Fuyuno Tsubaki get her comeuppance.
...Tch.
Not everyone, of course—some frowned in distaste—but in this Ordinary Class, no one stepped up to help Fuyuno Tsubaki.
"Come on, Fuyuno Tsubaki. When you do wrong, you apologize, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"But a verbal apology means nothing. You gotta show with actions how sorry you are, yeah?"
Sun-hee, who'd led her to the front of the circular lecture hall's podium, gave Fuyuno Tsubaki a light shove.
"Get up there."
At Sun-hee's command, Fuyuno Tsubaki climbed onto the podium against her own will, hunching her shoulders and trembling.
Sun-hee smirked, savoring her superiority at the girl's cowering form.
"Okay, now say sorry to Jin-sook from the heart... yeah, that. Dogeza. Do it."
"Wh-What?"
"Slam your forehead on the floor and say you're sorry."
Fuyuno Tsubaki had always gone along with the strong to avoid pain and injury, but doing dogeza in front of everyone stirred unavoidable resistance.
She hadn't done anything wrong in the first place—bowing like that was wrong itself.
But even feeling that resistance to unjust demands, knowing her situation was wrong, she was already too accustomed to resignation and surrender to take the right path.
'Why do I have to go through this?'
So once again, Fuyuno Tsubaki just inwardly questioned "why?" as she slowly bent her knees to obey.
'Why does only crap like this happen to me? I didn't do anything wrong, so why am I the bad guy? Why is this world such a dull gray?'
Avoiding answers as usual and just piling on questions, Fuyuno Tsubaki's knees were about to hit the floor when one memory flashed in her mind.
[Get that straw away, you filthy mosquito bitch!]
The first salvation in Fuyuno Tsubaki's twenty years of life.
The image of a strikingly Exquisite man with black hair and pale skin flickered before her eyes.
Being saved by a man as a woman was deeply humiliating in this superhuman society, but for the utter weakling Fuyuno Tsubaki, gender meant nothing.
All that mattered was the fact that he'd saved her.
'Just one more time...'
That memory was the sole hope in her colorless world—the only thing retaining its true colors.
So even after witnessing with her own eyes, from the closest vantage, how he'd suffered grave injuries with unknown chances of survival, she couldn't help but wish shamelessly.
"Please, just one more time, save m—"
BAM!! CRASH!!!!
Just as she finished pleading for help, a violent impact flung the door open, slamming it against the wall with a thunderous roar that cut her off.
The front door—meant for professors—bursting open like that made Sun-hee and Jin-sook freeze, thinking a teacher had arrived early.
But when they saw the figure striding in with heavy, aggressive steps from beyond the wide-open door, their eyes shifted from tension to confusion.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It was a man in Dabcheon Academy uniform: sexy, healthy bronze skin; red eyes brimming with yang energy; golden hair shining like the sun.
The man swept his gaze over the stares fixed on him, his face on the verge of exploding with irritation.
"...What the hell is this?"
His eyes paused on Fuyuno Tsubaki, frozen in her awkward half-kneeling pose just shy of full submission.
Pondering her for a moment, he suddenly clapped his fist into his palm as memory hit.
"Oh, right. You're the one I saved. What's with that pose? Why are you half-kneeling like an idiot... Oh."
Yang Woo-bin, recalling Fuyuno Tsubaki, started questioning her odd stance but quickly read the room and grasped what was happening.
He turned from her to Sun-hee and Jin-sook standing right in front of her.
"Who the hell are you two, bullying the girl I risked my life to save? Wanna die?"
"Wh-What?"
"Butting in out of nowhere like... what the—"
Hearing "wanna die?" from a guy—no, a blonde, tanned thug who looked like he'd rolled in the gutter—was utterly alien even to the Ordinary Class's resident delinquents.
Caught off guard, they couldn't respond with their usual cocky nonchalance or aggression, but Yang Woo-bin's gaze had already shifted back to Fuyuno Tsubaki.
"Uh, uhh..."
His appearance had changed like night and day, but Fuyuno Tsubaki instantly recognized the man staring at her now as her one and only hero, the one from her dreams.
Her desperate inner wish had summoned him for real.
In her gray world, he alone shone in vibrant gold, red, and bronze. At the arrival of the hero she'd longed for even in dreams, Fuyuno Tsubaki offered trembling thanks.
"Th-Thank y—"
"And you—I went all out, risked dying to save you. Why are you getting bullied? Wanna die?"
"Eh?"
Fuyuno Tsubaki's one and only hero was a crazy fucking thug.