Chapter 12
"Hehe, thank you so much. I was wondering what I'd do if you turned me down~. But you accepted so readily. I'm just thrilled."
"...Not really. There wasn't any particular reason to refuse."
Honestly, if anything, I'd been thinking of seeking her out myself. But Ayumi was the key person who could make or break Yujin's mental state. Ideally, I wanted to keep her within arm's reach. For a friend like that to come to me first? I was the one who should be grateful.
And even setting that aside, sharing a meal with a busty beauty like Ayumi—who had such a sweet, lovable face—would fill any man's heart to the brim.
Lunch was the usual academy cafeteria fare, nothing special. Ayumi set a super-sized shrimp fried rice on the table and bowed her head to me like she was saying grace before the meal.
"First off, I wanted to say thanks. For getting along so well with our Yujin. Thanks to you, his face looks a lot brighter these days."
It was like a mom thanking her kid's friend. I waved off the gratitude.
"No need to thank me. I just did what I thought was necessary."
"Necessary... yeah. You might see it that way. But if the result is that Yujin gets help, how could I not be grateful? I still want to say thanks."
Ah, damn. Ayumi's pure-hearted innocence was so blinding I could barely keep my eyes open. I knew she was a good kid from the original story, but facing that gentle aura in person? It hit different. I could feel her genuine desire to thank me. It made me—a calculating opportunist—feel a twinge of shame.
"Yujin used to be a lot more mentally stable. He didn't love stepping up, but he never ran from his responsibilities, and he never shrank under others' stares or pressure. But ever since he got that Unique Ability judgment... he started doubting himself a ton."
"Can't blame him."
A power like Female Training was laughable on its own. Especially in a world where your Unique Ability tied straight to your essence—it was like having your inner darkness dragged out into the open. Headache-inducing from Yujin's perspective alone, but it must've been a shock for Ayumi too. Like announcing to the world, Your friend's a potential sex offender.
But Ayumi didn't waver.
"Whatever Yujin's Unique Ability is, it doesn't matter to me. I trust him. I believe what defines a person is their actions, not their Unique Ability."
"Nice words."
"Thanks. But it seems like whatever I say to Yujin just sounds like empty talk to him. Like I'm only saying it because we're childhood friends and I care about him. Guess when you're too close, even sincere feelings don't get through."
And that's where I came in. "That's you. Someone with no connection to Yujin, yet you reached out first. It must've given him so much emotional relief."
Ayumi gazed into the distance, reminiscing, and added, "To me, Yujin's my childhood friend, my big brother... and my little brother too. We're both orphans who never knew our parents. We've held each other's hands tight and survived like real siblings. So thank you—for supporting that sibling bond."
...Damn. Too pure. It was bringing tears to my eyes. No wonder the protagonist went pitch-black the moment Ayumi died in the race start. He couldn't forgive a world that killed someone this sweet.
But right now, I'm Joo Hyowon. I couldn't crank empathy to full throttle just because of a heartwarming story. Instead, I played it cool—swept my hair back dramatically—and dropped a line straight out of a chuunibyou cool guy's playbook.
"I just made sure the scales balanced."
We were in the academy cafeteria, after all—eyes everywhere.
"The scales... Hm, good saying. Then Yujin must be getting something really great in return."
Ayumi smiled contentedly, then suddenly clasped her hands together, rested her chin on them, and changed the subject.
"By the way... any other reason you're helping Yujin?"
"...Like what?"
"Like you like him!"
My temple throbbed. Why did everyone here try to shoehorn everything into romance? Even Ayumi.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in guys."
And with this body? No interest in girls either. I'd become a tragic soul unable to fully love any gender.
...Well, truth be told, I never dated as a guy anyway, so maybe it didn't matter.
"More importantly, what about you? Yujin as a man..."
"Nope."
She cut me off clean, like it was the most natural thing. As if she'd fielded this question a hundred times. It was so sharp it caught me off guard.
"I said it earlier, right? Yujin's my childhood friend, but also my little brother and big brother. You don't catch romantic feelings for a little brother or big brother, do you? It's like that."
There was this thing called the Westermarck effect—people who grow up together don't develop sexual curiosity toward each other, and romance is hard. Questionable if it holds up in real life... and crucially! This was a fictional world!
Don't underestimate the childhood friend heroine, reality!
Deep down, I was rooting for these two. Watching their tight bond was heart-fluttery in a ticklish way, and leaving the protagonist's Unique Ability to rot felt like a waste. Sure, abusing it without consent was messed up, but with mutual agreement? It was god-tier.
Fully trained characters could surpass average heroes by senior year; someone like me, already A-rank material, could rival or exceed the Five Heroes. Leaving that efficiency on the table? Insane.
Conclusion? One clear path: SM pure love! Training pure love! A fully consenting couple going all out on training pure love for power-ups. Perfect.
And Ayumi fit that mold ideally. The girl who unwaveringly believed in the protagonist while everyone else spat hate and scorn. Who else could be a better heroine? Step up if you think you qualify.
But they had zero interest? ...Well, classic childhood friend trope: spotting unexpected maturity in each other, hearts aflutter. They just hadn't hit that phase yet.
Don't rush it.
As I quietly reached that conclusion, Ayumi gently took my hand and said, "Hey, if you ever need to talk about Yujin stuff, anytime's fine. I'm always open."
No, no, no. It's the opposite! I'm not the one consulting you about Yujin—you should be consulting me!
Felt like we'd buttoned the first hole wrong... but priorities: save Ayumi first. Linking her and Yujin could wait.
Then it hit me—there was a big blank in what I knew about Ayumi.
Knowing it might be rude, I filled it anyway.
"If it's not too rude... what's your Unique Ability, Ayumi?"
In the original, she died before it came up, so even I—the player—didn't know. Hope it was something useful.
Ayumi scratched her cheek shyly and answered.
"Um... mine seems to be Healing. I told Yujin, and he said it doesn't suit me much? Kinda embarrassing."
Ah, a healer!? That added one more non-negotiable reason to save her.
I didn't know the conditions or effects yet, but in a world where one heal could mean life or death, a healer was priceless. Even if hers wasn't super efficient, pairing it with Yujin's Unique Ability would make it OP fast.
And if I got hurt for some reason... as long as Ayumi was fine, we'd manage!
"...I wanna stay friends with you for the long haul."
"! Me too! Let's be friends! Forever!"
Looking at Ayumi's utterly innocent face, I felt a flicker of self-loathing for eyeing her ability. But what could I do? The world's too harsh.
I might be after her power, but I'll play the friend role properly. Forgive me, Ayumi.