Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: 16. Words of Love (2)
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I'm out of breath.
The muscles that haven't fully matured yet are screaming for mercy.
My back, plastered to the ground, is soaked with musty dampness.
First-year mock training.
Just before it started, I clearly heard the teacher say in a bored tone, "Just beat up the scarecrow."
If that's what you call a scarecrow, then what the hell am I?
A cosmic piece of trash, sprawled out on the ground after struggling against a mere scarecrow?
The man lying on the ground, panting, flapped his sweat-soaked gym clothes and got up.
The iron sword he'd chosen, thanks to being an Evolution-type Transcendent, was already missing teeth.
This wasn't going to cut it.
I had to show some results to get a good score.
...Or so I thought.
But Han Su-ah was up ahead, playing with the scarecrow all by herself like it was a toy.
"...Is that thing even human?"
"No idea."
The man answered the second piece of cosmic trash lying next to him and followed the swaying lion tail far ahead with his eyes.
Mutation-type Transcendents generally had great strength.
No, not just great strength—they could crumple rebar like it was nothing, wielding monstrous power beyond common sense.
Of course, even among Mutation-types, there were those no different from ordinary people in daily life, but the closer to beasts, the more powerful they tended to be.
And right now, standing unscathed all alone up ahead, Han Su-ah's base was a lion.
A Transcendent with the same base as Predator, the hero representing Britain.
The result was simple.
They'd been told to face it as a group, but she'd taken on the scarecrow—no, that 4-meter iron hunk spewing ferocious eyes—all by herself and even shut it down for real.
...Well, yeah. Second in entrance exam scores after Lee Ji-yoon the Magic-type, I guess.
A gaze filled half with awe and half with a strange sense of inferiority turned toward Han Su-ah.
Evolution-type Transcendents grew stronger honestly the more they trained, but sometimes seeing Mutation-types who were strong from birth stirred up petty jealousy.
Come to think of it, Han Su-ah even had a diamond spoon in her mouth, which made it even more infuriating.
As the man scratched his head irritably for no reason, Han Su-ah approached, having dealt with the scarecrow and achieved the goal, making her cute lion ears and tail vanish in a poof.
Her signature half-lidded, apathetic eyes turned toward us cosmic trashes.
And then.
"...G-good work."
Her head tilted at the unexpected words that slipped out just like that.
Good work? Really?
Me?
Or him?
We'd just been lying here watching.
Oh, is she sarcastically mocking me for collapsing and resting after trying so hard?
"Nah, you did it all, Su-ah."
"Y-yeah... right..."
"......"
What's the point if it pisses me off inside? She really did do it all.
We let out awkward haha laughs and changed the subject.
But what came back was Han Su-ah's delicate brow furrowing just a bit more than before.
Does she think we're idiots who can't even pick up on sarcasm...?
I racked my brain trying to figure it out, but it soon proved pointless.
Yojora had finished training and approached with a bright smile, dragging Han Su-ah away.
78
Another failure today.
Failed to make any new friends, guys or girls.
I sighed as the dismissal bell rang over the school speakers.
Why is this so hard?
In comics, they make friends right away without much interaction. How do they do it?
Just sitting next to someone makes them friends,
or taking the same class does it.
Isn't that just comic-book logic that doesn't work in reality?
I'm not asking for much.
I never even dreamed of being friends with every student in the academy. I just wanted to get along with everyone in Class 1-A.
But my hopeless affinity wouldn't even allow that.
A little kinder.
A little gentler.
A little warmer.
They're all similar vibes,
and I get what that vibe is in my head,
and I even try to do it,
but all I get back is failure.
Honestly, the guys are still tricky for me, so fine.
But the girls are even more ridiculous.
We talk sometimes, but it feels like they're holding back, not saying everything they want.
At least that has an obvious reason, so that's a relief.
My affinity issues,
and my seemingly cold expression,
but the biggest problem is the name Han Su-ah.
More precisely, the "Hanseol Group" behind me.
Even if class systems are gone, in this world, money is status.
No matter how much I try not to bring it up, they can't help feeling awkward.
"......"
...But today, everyone seemed even more distant than usual...
Just my imagination?
At this rate, Dad might treat me like livestock just eating and shitting...
Can't even study, which is supposed to be easiest...
Can't make friends...
Just chipping away at the group image...
"Infirmary? Why?"
Yojora's question came, the one who was always laughing and chatting with different friends every time I saw her, oblivious to my worries.
She'd stuck with just me for a few days, but today she was buzzing around making friends whenever she had time.
If it doesn't work out, maybe take a friend-making seminar from Yojora.
I'll keep that in mind.
"...Oh, just need to talk to the teacher for a bit."
"I seeee..."
Obvious, but I didn't tell the whole truth.
Even if Yojora's my only friend right now, how do I say straight-up, "Going to learn how to talk to guys from the teacher"?
Luckily, she just nodded without prying.
She was just staring intently at her phone.
The occasional vibration.
And her lips twitching upward nonstop—she was probably texting the infirmary teacher.
...She's kinda mysterious up close.
Like when I saw the teacher briefly at the bookstore,
or on stage at the auditorium giving her greeting,
or when I was planning to blackmail her with what I saw yesterday if she marked me wrong, but she just kindly said, "Then let's be friends from now on."
From what I've seen, she seems like a really nice person. How'd she and Yojora get like that?
SNS?
Probably connected through that?
Yeah, comics sometimes have plots about SNS burner accounts and stuff.
She's bright and cute on the outside, but probably has a dirty mind inside.
The teacher seems kind on the outside, but not really.
Didn't peg her for a lecherous type.
Hmm.
Well, that's social life these days.
Everyone's got one or two masks.
Nothing weird.
As long as they don't act weird in front of me, OK.
That's the mindset.
As I rudely imagined what Yojora was like online,
a tiny doubt bubbled up alongside fantasies of her naughty selfies.
Yojora.
Right before inviting me to the bookstore, she said "Master..."
Meaning, she was texting the infirmary teacher, right?
But at the bookstore, she acted all surprised like it was a coincidence...
"......"
...Ah. Probably because I was there.
Yeah, if it was just them, she wouldn't fake it.
They'd go straight to a motel,
or like yesterday, the bathroom.
Right into se...
Se...
......
...Anyway! Mystery solved!
Feeling refreshed, I parted ways with smiling Yojora and headed to the infirmary.
"...Fine. If you're buying, I'll go with..."
There was already someone there.
A girl with pure white bobbed hair that looked familiar, her uniform wrapped in a khaki jumper.
Entrance exam,
new student oath,
and same look all along, so I recognized her immediately.
The one who sleeps at the desk behind me.
Lee Ji-yoon.
"......"
"......"
"......"
Did she get hurt in class?
Can a Magic-type even get hurt?
Why's she at the infirmary?
My thoughts paused as she gnawed on her tail.
Maybe because I entered without knocking, the teacher and Lee Ji-yoon's gazes locked onto me at once.
Not one, but two gazes.
...I can barely breathe...
Three seconds of fidgeting with my bag strap, gauging the mood.
I surrendered without resistance, lowering my eyes to their feet and mumbling.
"...H-hi..."
Was it nerves?
I'd just been talking with Yojora, but my throat was parched.
If it was just the teacher, maybe, but with unfriendly Lee Ji-yoon there, my cheeks burned.
They say first impressions are key to making friends...
No chance with her now. Yeah.
I'd liked her pretty face despite her usual bored expression, unlike Yojora's charming smile.
Guess I should give up.
"Can you wait a sec? This student came first."
"...Y-yes..."
Unlike me, on the verge of breaking over one more person, the infirmary teacher spoke in her usual gentle tone.
How does she do that? My voice is shaking already...
No time to ask for the secret.
I shuffled awkwardly to the bed nearby.
The softness against my butt felt great.
If anything, it felt less like an infirmary bed and more like one from a cozy home.
They must spend a lot on beds here...
As my butt settled and the idle thought faded,
Lee Ji-yoon, who'd been silently getting treated, shook off her wrist and left the infirmary.
Without even glancing my way. Thud. Thud.
Now just me and the teacher.
I crept forward carefully, not wanting to disturb.
"Hi..."
"Hey. Hi."
Her casual reply made me freeze in place.
Hey?
Hi?
To me?
"...U-um..."
"You said to use casual speech first, right?"
"...But you said it was uncomfortable with me..."
"Still is. I'm forcing it."
Only then did I notice the awkward smile on his lips.
I don't read faces much, so I was slow.
"If you don't like it, should I go back to formal? It's more comfy for me."
"No! No..., ...N-no, ...th-this is fine..."
"Yeah?"
But that lasted only a moment.
On Seo Woo-jin's lips was now a gentle smile.
A soft one that put you at ease,
totally unlike Yojora's "Master" title.
This guy doing that stuff with a woman in a building bathroom?
I know it's weird to think now, but
imagining him doing something socially frowned upon felt heavy.
His pristine white coat.
The upright young man.
Both screamed "parents' ideal type."
...And he's pretty handsome too.
"So how do you want help with conversation practice? Role-play?"
"......Y-yeah. Role-play. Sounds good..."
I nodded like an eager puppy, and he grinned, mimicking me.
Seeing it like this, it's kinda embarrassing.
I'll nod more moderately from now on.
Already learned one thing.
Then came a super, super, super suspicious line.
"Alright, then... Wanna head out for a bit?"
"O-out?"
"If another student catches us role-playing, it'll be embarrassing. For you and me."
"......Ah."
"My place? It'll be cramped compared to your house..."
"...W-wait."
Of course, I'd just said imagining bad stuff was heavy.
Heavy, but not impossible.
Didn't mean I fully trusted Seo Woo-jin.
Irrefutable evidence: coming out of the bathroom with a girl.
That's a mask.
Hiding a lecherous, cunning...
sly fox? Something like that.
Yojora calling him weird names for a reason.
So no way I'd naively follow him somewhere risky alone.
Sure, I'm stronger, so he couldn't do anything reckless, but why risk it?
What guys like.
How to talk to guys well.
Best to learn just those two from him and keep a safe distance.
So.
"...If we're going, my house."
"...Your house?"
"......"
"Sure. Why not."
With the auntie who does housework there, fine,
but...
Like in that naughty comic Yojora recommended yesterday, "Den,"
his place would definitely end up just the two of us,
absolutely,
no way.
Now I feel safe...
Phew...
I stood up firmly.
Ah.
It took a full 20 more minutes to realize I'd just invited a guy to my house for the first time in my life.