Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Disease of Thinking You're the Center of the World
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People sometimes make wrong choices. Very occasionally.
For example, knowing there's a test the next day but skipping study out of some inexplicable confidence, or lending out an eraser during art class despite knowing it won't come back.
Stuff like that.
Honestly, I knew this would happen. I knew it. I just didn't realize a single misguided thought could lead to this kind of disaster. "It'll be fine for a little while." "No way they're recruiting already, right?" Wishful thinking like that.
And now look at the catastrophe it brought. All I could do was wipe away tears.
"Heyyy. Heeeey~"
"..."
"Hmm. Why aren't you answering? Heyyy~ Can't you see me~? Huh~? No way~? Hey. You there, pretty person!"
I desperately ignored Yang Min-ji, who was propping up her face with her hands right in front of me. But I couldn't help it when Raphael, sparkling-eyed beside me as she eyed the cooking tools, reacted to being called a "pretty person."
"Yes? Why~?"
"Why isn't this guy answering? Treating me like I'm invisible?! This is the first time anyone's ever ignored me like this. Everyone I meet goes crazy trying to get involved with me! This is bruising my ego a bit! Hmph! Hmph!!"
"..."
I clenched my fists desperately as Yang Min-ji kept tugging at my hair. Sure, I had a hunch why she was talking to me, I didn't want to get involved, I only came here because Raphael kept whining, and to check on one other person's status.
Why did you do it, Lee Seong-hoon? You should have thought it through coldly. No matter how much you wanted to check the mid-boss's status, you should have held back.
She's in the Cooking Club. Why did I do something so reckless?
"It's a recurring illness. The delusion that you're the center of the world. He's probably thinking up ultimate move names in his head right now."
"For real? How old is he to still be doing that?!"
"Yeah. The other day, I heard him call dropping that steel beam 'Kamui.' And he said, 'Wouldn't it be cool to swing a scythe and yell Death Side?'—Mmph!! Mmphmph!!"
When did she hear that? When?! That was my naming session after confirming you were asleep! I clamped Raphael's mouth shut by force and glared at Yang Min-ji. She seemed pleased that I was finally reacting, grinning ear to ear.
"Why'd you disappear so suddenly that day?"
Unlike her goofy smile, the sharp question made me dodge her eyes and whistle innocently.
"What could it be? Hero candidates should definitely show up to something like that. You were blocking the drake from the opposite side, right?"
I didn't block it. I went after the culprit. But I couldn't say that, so I invoked my right to remain silent.
As I ignored her, Yang Min-ji hopped around in front of me muttering, "What's his deal?" and Raphael shook off my hand and glared, I quietly scanned the surroundings.
Then a familiar face entered. Impossible not to recognize her from the description.
I've been here a while, but protagonists and major side characters are impossible to miss even if you try.
The moment you see them, even if they look a bit different from the description, you just know. This one's a character. They stand out from regular people.
Not just a difference in art style. There's an aura.
Handsome, pretty, that celebrity-vs-normal vibe radiates off them.
That's how I spotted her instantly.
Silver hair striking enough to draw every eye, red eyes deeper than blood, sharp features, high nose.
Skin so white it was almost glowing.
A woman whose beauty could rival Raphael's.
As I stared intently, she noticed and looked back. Three seconds. After locking eyes for three seconds, I hurriedly looked away.
"That was close."
"What? I haven't even picked up a knife yet."
"You don't have to stab me first as a prerequisite, do you? Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"Think about your usual behavior, and it might not seem so harsh?"
Fair point?
[Club Application]
[Magic Research Club]
Isia stared blankly at the paper for a long time before setting down her pen. Joining the Magic Research Club was fine.
The club president seemed nice and welcomed her with a smile.
But the issue she'd been agonizing over wasn't that.
'Lee Seong-hoon.'
The man who'd handed her her first defeat in life. Yet he treated her like a maid, wielded unknown power.
Thinking about it, he was weird.
He had the strength to beat her easily, yet ranked at the bottom. No smartphone, not even what a three-year-old has. According to Yang Min-ji, he led the charge against the drake but didn't go up on stage.
Always dragging around a woman with out-of-spec beauty like a leech, and at the department store last time, there was another unfamiliar woman.
'Some hidden young master from a rich family?'
No way. In this day and age? No such thing as hidden heirs. She'd know if he was from any prominent family.
"What the heck is he?"
Should she use the Association's resources for a background check? The thought crossed her mind briefly, but she shook her head. What era is this?
"Sigh."
Isia pushed aside her tangled thoughts and stood up. Thinking more would just give her a headache, and she'd only picture that infuriating smug face of his.
No matter how she sliced it, Lee Seong-hoon seemed specialized in pissing people off.
What if he and Raphael were survivors from a massacred village hiding their power for revenge? Like some brainrot novel she'd read somewhere. With those delusions scribbled in her head, she arrived at...
[Staff Room]
It had a "Staff Room" sign. She'd come to find the teacher for her club application.
But Isia soon regretted it.
The door opened, revealing an unbelievable sight.
Teachers collapsed on the floor, a man standing in the center.
His face was hidden, but his name tag was red.
'A student took down a teacher?'
Justitia's teachers were almost all—actually, entirely—retired or active heroes. Only powerhouses in the world top 10,000 could teach here.
But what was this? Collapsed teachers, and in the midst, a man lifting his head arrogantly, slowly turning his gaze this way.
With a creepy, tearing laugh.
Isia instinctively tried to run, but she couldn't.
Light glowed at her feet, and her vision went black.
"Why is that guy here?"
I furrowed my brow at the intruder. A black-haired man with a faint blue aura. Expressionless as he cooked with Yang Min-ji.
"You have time to glare? Focus on chopping properly."
"Sorry, but I'm at the level where I can cut without looking—"
Schwick—Feeling the knife slice through empty air sent chills down my spine. I stopped glaring and focused on chopping. That was close to slicing my hand, wasn't it?
"Tch."
Raphael clicked her tongue at me while prepping ingredients surprisingly well. What is she? I pictured her in Heaven's house, a mess of cola cans and snacks, binge-watching TV all day.
What's with this betrayal?
"Why? Surprised? Shocked that your capable me has even more talents? Sadly, there's nothing I can't do!"
She struck a weird pose with the knife, so I backed away and finished my task. Raphael's nonsense was daily life, but not with a knife.
"..."
Embarrassed by my reaction, she pouted and finished up. Yeah. If you stay quiet like this, it'd be great.
Next is the Reading Club, so think of this as practice.
Today's just a normal day anyway. Just settle the extracurriculars well—
I halted my thoughts. It didn't take long to realize that was a flag.
"What?"
"Huh?"
A blue window popped up, and at my feet, dozens of mana flows. No, magic power. No, spells.
Too many to take in at a glance. Mana flows everywhere. This was a first. Magic flows were always clear before, but not this.
Each one a massive current, and before I could act—
Thud.
Collapsing sounds. Not once, but repeatedly, matching the number of Cooking Club members except me.
Muscles relaxing, bodies going limp and crumpling into view.
Massive spell, people dropping like flies.
No need to think. I already knew what magic it was.
"Sleep spell."
Even Raphael beside me had closed her eyes, breathing softly in sleep. Lachesis, perched on my shoulder anticipating food, was out too. Why not me? As if answering, the blue window appeared.
"Benia."
Guess it's because Benia is asleep in my inventory.
I quickly assessed. Only one who could pull this off.
Park Shin-woo.
For some reason, the Isia kidnapping happened early. That's fine. But the problem is him.
The black-haired man in my sight. He caught Yang Min-ji gentlemanly as she fainted, still handsome even unconscious—which annoys me—but the issue is he's down.
In the original, it starts later, outside, when Kim Tae-hyun, training, comes back for a forgotten item.
Yes. Kim Tae-hyun starts immune to the sleep spell. But now?
He's out cold under the sleep spell.
So what happens to Isia with no savior?
Beats me. Normally Kim Tae-hyun rescues her each time, but successful kidnapping is uncharted territory.
And think about it. Who twisted events like this?
Reason unknown, but 99% my fault.
"Ah. Hate this."
I tried to dodge responsibility. Built rapport with Kim Tae-hyun, checked magic circle progress. How'd it end up like this?
I threw that fit to stay out of it.
Now I have no choice. If she's kidnapped like this, it'll mess up my sleep, and I'm the only one standing—like it's telling me to save her.
All circumstances pushing me: "You do it." Like being forced to sing in front of class in school.
No confidence, don't want to, feels like it'll go wrong.
"Screw it. Let's try."
If it fails, I'll just run.