And So, We Became Friends
Wow, I've finally escaped being a loner. Good for you, Lucia.
If only I could just be happy about it.
First, let's get one thing straight. I wasn't a loner because I couldn't make friends. I was a loner because, just like the original Lucia, I had no intention of making friends in the first place. You could call me a voluntary outsider.
Besides, it hasn't even been a week since I became Lucia. Just adapting to this reality was hard enough.
On top of that, I have no intention of changing the future. The 'information' I possess—which no one else has—holds limitless possibilities. Depending on how I act, the future could certainly change. But how can I be sure it would change for the better? Good intentions don't guarantee good results.
I already know the correct answers. Which path is the right one, and what needs to be done. But if I half-assedly try to make things better and end up straying onto a completely different path, what kind of ending will await me? I don't know. And because I don't know, I can't afford to act rashly. That's why I wanted to replicate Lucia's original path as closely as possible.
Of course, a perfect replication is impossible. I am not the real Lucia, after all. But I could at least keep it similar. I had no intention of getting close to Yujin until summer vacation. I also didn't plan on associating with the other heroines or classmates until the second semester. Because that was what Lucia did, and that was what I intended to do.
Fine, I admit it. I was being short-sighted. If I really wanted to follow Lucia's footsteps to the letter, I shouldn't have helped Aris. But ignoring a girl who tripped right in front of me felt a bit too cold, didn't it? I followed my conscience, and as a result, I ended up forming a connection with Aris.
Sigh, what's done is done. Let's not think too negatively. Even if I accidentally interfered with Yujin and Aris's first meeting—well, they already knew each other's faces, so first contact? Anyway, even if I disrupted that, those two will get close in no time.
The story of Dawn Swordsman hasn't even properly begun yet. There will be plenty of opportunities for Yujin and the heroines to grow closer, and Aris possesses a powerful weapon. A weapon that is absolutely fatal to Yujin.
Yujin has a deceased younger sister. And Aris looks just like her. Yujin has no choice but to care about Aris. Every time he looks at her, the phantom of his dead sister will flicker in his mind, making it impossible to ignore.
Besides, from the moment it became impossible to walk Lucia's path with absolute, flawless precision, the future was bound to shift slightly anyway. I was just trying to minimize the deviation. Yes, let's look on the bright side. At least I won't have to spend the entire first semester as a complete loner, right?
Aris seemed to genuinely want to be friends with me. She approached me much more actively than I expected. When she asked to eat lunch together, I seriously suspected for a moment that Frey was pretending to be Aris.
For a girl who used to be terrified of human contact to muster up this much courage... He-he, I feel strangely proud. I've learned that my small act of kindness can actually give someone courage.
There's no use crying over spilled milk. Since things have turned out this way, I might as well get along with Aris from now on. In fact, rejecting her under the pretext of preserving the future would probably lead to an even worse outcome.
No, even without such calculating reasons, I wanted to be close to Aris. Why? Because Aris is just so incredibly cute. Yes, a flawless, bulletproof reason. Right?
◈ After school. I read a book recommended by Aris in the library. Of course, I wasn't alone; Aris was right beside me. For the record, I returned most of the books that had been piled high on the desk back to her. I couldn't speed-read like Aris, so I had no choice.
I had an inkling from the pink cover, but it turned out to be a romance novel about love and conflict between a man and a woman. I had never read this genre of literature before, but it was surprisingly decent. The way two people with absolutely nothing in common met by chance, bickered, and gradually grew closer was masterfully written. It was indeed worthy of Aris's recommendation.
But as in any novel, a crisis eventually befell the protagonists. The male lead, a Supernatural Ability User, went off to war against the monsters and went missing, and news of his death reached the female lead. She was utterly devastated. Unable to bear her grief, she tied a rope to the ceiling to follow her lover to the grave. Then, she climbed onto a chair, slipped the rope around her neck, and...
Well, naturally, the male lead was actually alive, and the female lead barely survived. Having read up to that point, I suddenly remembered something I had to do. I said goodbye to Aris and left the library first.
I hurried back to the dormitory. He-he, why didn't I think of that before? Books truly are a treasure trove of knowledge. They are indeed nourishment for the soul. There's a reason so many great figures of the past praised them.
Returning to my room, I looked around. What I was looking for... yeah, of course it wasn't here. I mean, no matter how unusual an academy girl might be, there was no way she'd have a rope lying around her room. Where could I get a rope? A hardware store, probably? But I didn't know where a hardware store was located. I had spent too much time reading in the library, so I didn't have the luxury of wandering around to find one. By the time I found it, it would probably be closed. What should I do...
It's too early to give up. As the saying goes, if you don't have teeth, use your gums. I searched for something to replace the rope. A belt? Too stiff, and it wouldn't tie well. A necktie? Not bad, but let's put it on hold for now. Stockings? They'd probably snap halfway through. A whip? Why is there a whip here? Ah, I forgot. Lucia wasn't picky about her weapons. A whip was one of the weapons she used. It wasn't very helpful in battles against monsters, so she never used it in actual combat, though. Maybe that's why she was so clumsy with it; whenever she swung it, she always ended up hitting herself.
I gave the leather whip a firm tug. Yes, this will do. Now, to tie it... wait, how do I tie it? The book I just read mentioned that a hangman's knot, or an Evans knot, is used for hanging. The problem was, I didn't know how to tie one. I shouldn't have rushed out in such a hurry. I should have looked up a book on knots in the library. But it was already too late. Left with no choice, I tried tying it my own way. After a few attempts, I managed to get a decent-looking result.
Now, the only thing left was where to hang the tied whip... but there was no suitable place. Should I go outside and tie it to a tree branch? Someone might see me. Rejected. I crossed my arms and pondered. Should I get a nail and hammer it into the ceiling? But where would I get a nail? As I groaned in frustration, my eyes fell on the tension rod in the closet. I pulled it out and secured it above the front door. The suction-cup tension rod held much firmer than expected, not budging even when I gave it a hard yank.
I climbed onto a chair and tied the whip to it. The length... was perfect. Once I kicked the chair away, my feet wouldn't touch the ground. My heart pounded wildly. Since this was my first time trying this method of self-harm—no, training—I couldn't help but feel nervous. What happens when I can't breathe? Will Super Regeneration work against strangulation? I don't know. I'll find out soon enough. I slipped my neck into the noose. Taking a short, deep breath, I kicked the chair away.
"...Ugh."
Gravity dragged me down. My body plummeted. Reflexively, my hands flew up to grab the noose around my neck. My feet couldn't reach the ground, leaving me flailing in midair.
"Ke-kheg... ka... hg..."
It hurts... I can't... breathe. My carotid artery was being squeezed shut. It was painful. This was a completely different kind of pain from anything I had felt before. My head felt hot. The blood flow was cut off, preventing oxygen from reaching my brain. My survival instinct desperately tried to make me breathe, but the air I gasped for couldn't pass through my windpipe.
The sturdy leather whip dug deep into my neck. My skin tore. A sharp, stinging pain wrapped around my throat. My heart beat faster and faster. Thump. Thump. Thump. My ears rang. My thoughts were failing to connect...
Ah, this is bad... I'm really going to d—
"Ha-ahg..."
My vision blurred. My eyes burned, feeling as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. Saliva pooled and spilled over my lips. My knees went numb. The colors of the world were fading away. Ah. Ahhh... It hurts. It hurts. It's agonizing. Save me. I'm dying. To think Super Regeneration had a weakness like this. If my breathing itself is cut off, regeneration can't do anything. Wait. You've got to be kidding me. I'm really dying. I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying... but...
"Ke-kheg... ha-ahg... he... he-he... eu-he..."
Why am I so happy? My heart is pounding so hard. It's terrifying, yet ecstatic. Ominous, yet thrilling. It feels so sweet, as if my brain is rotting from the sheer sweetness. It's too sweet. What is this?
"Ah, n-ngh, kheg..."
My skirt grew wet. Something warm trickled down between my thighs. The sound of dripping droplets. My vision flickered black. The sound of my heartbeat grew more and more distant.
"...Ah."
The strength drained from my hands gripping the leather whip. My flailing legs went limp. Nosebleed trickled down, touching my half-open lips. It tasted like iron. But soon, even that taste vanished. My senses faded. My tightly clenched teeth ground against each other. I could no longer hear the beating of my heart.
Creak. My body swayed side to side. Like a pendulum. Creak. Creak. Creak. Cre—
"Hi, hi-hit..."
Ah... I'm so happy.
My consciousness faded away.