Ep.05: What the Hell?! A Freshman! What the Hell?! An Elite! What the Hell?! Extermination Corps!
Whoa! A freshman! Whoa! An elite! Whoa! The Exterminator Corps!
* * *
Yeah, I already knew that life never goes exactly according to plan.
So living itself is way more fun than I ever imagined.
Still, this? This is beyond anything I expected.
“F-freshman—.”
“Hitting the academy’s top ace, Haruno Yukio-senpai…!!”
“…and dropping her completely with a single strike.”
*That’s not what happened.*
Even if life doesn’t bend the way you want, how can it go this far off track?
Unless the universe is deliberately screwing me over, there’s no way this could happen.
*Dragging a completely unused empty classroom out here to wait for the freshies? Who would do that?*
…God, the fact that even my own words make some kind of twisted sense only makes it more infuriating.
Fine, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Let’s say I randomly opened the unused classroom.
Even if everything else checks out, how the hell am I supposed to explain why I’m seeing this scene and somehow landing on a completely ridiculous conclusion?
*They’d be better off assuming I was teaching belly-punching drills.*
*Way better than thinking I’m secretly seducing the popular senior who looks just like a human capybara.*
*I mean, how do you even interpret this scene in a clean, innocent way?*
“Hoo…”
Because of me punching her in the gut and watching her fly across the room?
Two minutes into sparring in a wide-open training hall?
Or maybe because those three elegant, high-class girls from the Haruno Yukio fan club have no idea what “belly-punching training” even means?
“Ugh… Dad, you said I was the strongest among the new students…!!”
“E-even if it means losing the top spot for the family name…”
*You didn’t need me to prove you wrong, Haruno Yukio fan-club members.*
God, every plan I set up on purpose just collapses the moment I need it most.
And the worst misunderstanding? It hits me perfectly every single time.
“Hah…”
A miserable, pathetic situation where nothing goes my way.
Looking at myself like this, I can’t help sighing.
*…Still, there’s a chance to escape. As long as I grab it, I’m good.*
Even though my entire plan fell apart and I’m now stuck with the absolute worst misunderstanding.
But I can still slip out of here.
*Hypnosis would be the easiest, but trying to hit all three at once with it in one screen is impossible.*
Not being able to use the best option stings a little, though.
So the only way out right now is the three people blocking the entrance.
If I can make the best use of how sharply they’re still glaring at me, I’ll slip away—
“Umm…?”
“S-senior!!”
“Haruno-senpai!”
—but a much better opportunity walked right up to me before I could finish.
“H-here’s an empty classroom…? What was I supposed to be doing here….”
“Haruno-senpai!!”
“Senpai, are you okay?”
“F-freshmen…? W-wait just a second. My head feels really dizzy…”
For some reason, I accidentally pressed the app close button on my phone while under hypnosis, and Yukio wakes up faster than I thought possible.
*Good. Everything I needed to do here is finished. No more hesitation. Time to leave.*
Thanks to that, the fan-club girls’ eyes naturally turn toward Yukio.
And in this situation, I missed the perfect chance to slip away.
*If they notice me now it’ll get annoying… so quietly… as sneakily as possible…*
Being reincarnated into a body with zero presence turned out to be unexpectedly helpful.
Stepping as lightly as I can, I slip out of the “capybara hideout” disguised as an empty classroom.
I start running toward the auditorium like I’m escaping, because even if the original plan for Information Division enrollment is ruined, I still have to complete that goal.
* * *
* * *
The empty classroom where a nameless male freshman quietly slipped away, carrying a fierce storm of multiple meanings.
The three freshies who got seduced by the human capybara Yukio.
They have zero intention of helping her up while she slowly wakes up with a dazed expression.
“Senpai, are you okay?”
“What happened… I wish someone would explain this…”
“I can’t believe it, but it looks like Senpai lost the sparring test.”
“Lost the sparring test…? Who did I lose to…?”
“The freshman you were watching, Hitoshi Takumi.”
“Hitoshi-kun… I lost to him…?”
Yukio doesn’t fully understand what the new students are telling her.
She knows she didn’t come here for a sparring match with Hitoshi.
She was only brought here under the pretense of light conversation to suggest joining the Exterminator Corps.
“Something… feels off. I didn’t think I’d end up like this…”
“What? Then why did that freshman punch Senpai’s lower belly?”
“Lower… belly…?”
If the sparring didn’t happen here, why is Hitoshi Takumi asking such a sharp question about her lower belly?
The moment that sharp question from the new student rings in Yukio’s ears,
A vague memory of her conversation with Hitoshi at this very location flashes through her mind.
*“Hah… I’m going, Senpai. Don’t put strength into your lower belly!!”*
*“Really… you’re hitting my lower belly…? My lower belly…?”*
“I… I think I agreed to be hit.”
“What? You agreed?”
“I can’t quite remember, but it felt like we both agreed.”
“W-why? Why would you agree to let that creepy freshman hit your lower belly…?”
The more she thinks about it, the deeper she sinks into confusion.
When suspicion toward Takumi Hitoshi begins to slowly bloom in the minds of the three new students excluding Yukio,
“Kkwaaa—?!”
“S-Senpai?!”
The decisive proof that perfectly explains the entire incident.
It comes out violently from Yukio’s mouth while she keeps complaining about dizziness and nausea.
“Uweee…”
What pours from the stomach-bent, repeatedly retching Yukio’s mouth is none other than the main body of the parasitic youma Hesu Nectri.
“T-this is…!!”
“Heso Nectri? Why is this inside Senpai’s body…!!”
“Haa… haa…”
Staring at the main body of Hesu Nectri writhing weakly on the floor,
Yukio suddenly remembers another story Hitoshi gave her.
*“Everything is for Senpai’s sake. Please understand.”*
“Now… I get it. Everything is coming back to me.”
Using the hazy fragments of memory, she finally pieces together the full picture of what happened.
“Hitoshi-kun saved me. He saved my life that was parasitized to the point I barely remember my own name.”
“S-such a thing…?”
“It’s true… to defeat Hesu Nectri, you need a strong physical shock to the main body, right?”
“Huh? Doesn’t something feel a little off? I’ve never heard of it feeding on memories…”
Even while the elite new students are chatting about Hesu Nectri,
Yukio’s mind is completely filled with only one name—the savior who rescued her, Takumi Hitoshi.
*So he followed me here? He put off his Information Division goal and came after me, a complete stranger?*
“…Even though it’s small, my heart is beating faster. This feeling might be new to me.”
A faint but undeniable warmth of affection.
And stronger than that, the desire for the “best talent discovered under the banner of the Exterminator Corps.”
For the first time, something starts to peek out from deep inside Yukio’s heart.
Eyes sharp enough to spot a parasitic youma that’s almost impossible to detect without the Board of Health.
A mind brilliant enough to know every detail and weakness of the parasite that’s nearly impossible to detect without the Information Division.
Even as a first-time meeting between freshman and senior, a kind heart that doesn’t hesitate to save her.
And.
Kung… kung…
*Even though I only got hit once… why is my lower belly still stinging? It’s not pain, but… something feels wrong with my body…*
With her own lower belly from the academy’s top ace still throbbing from the strong strike,
In the midst of an overwhelming attack by an unmanageable youma and youkai, where victims keep piling up,
*At first I just wanted to have fun with the lieutenant’s reaction, but…*
“…My thoughts have changed, Hitoshi-kun. I absolutely must bring you to the Exterminator Corps as a new recruit—no matter what happens.”
To Yukio, he is now recognized as a talent that “must never be missed.”
“Everyone, I’m sorry. I’ll get up first.”
“S-senpai? You’re not feeling well—!”
“I have to meet the director and the vice director, so I’ll go. Everyone, keep fighting for the test.”
* * *
“If everyone has filled out the Information Division enrollment form, please submit it here!”
“…”
“Freshman? Are you okay?”
“N-no. Something… I feel chills all over my body…”
What the hell is this bad chill? I definitely escaped quietly.
Why does it feel like I’ll never be able to join the Information Division…?