Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: You've Opened Your Eyes
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"Hey, wait a sec! Senior! Let's talk this out! We're 21st-century modern intellectuals, aren't we? Let's handle it like civilized people—with words!"
Dane wriggled desperately to escape my grip. Her tear-streaked face gazing up at me looked just like a lamb digging in its heels, refusing to be dragged to the slaughterhouse.
Any onlooker would see a vicious-looking brute threatening a frail young woman—a total crime scene. But who cared about that right now?
The guy in front of me was about to flip my life's genre from bubbly romance to blood-soaked thriller. Face-saving could take a backseat.
"So... what the hell does that even mean? Explain it so I can understand... Please, dumb it down to my level!"
Her eyes swam with a mix of injustice and terror.
"All I did was try to live the standard possession story cliché and suck some sweet honey! Suddenly the genre shifts, the world ends? That's like a bolt from the blue!"
"Haah..."
I sighed and filled an empty glass to the brim with liquor.
"Yeah, I get it. It doesn't make a lick of sense. Must feel pretty unfair too."
"Of course it is! I overworked myself to death three years after starting at the company and ended up here! I just wanted an easy life this time around, mooch off some rich idler vibes—what's so wrong with that?"
"Not wrong. Hell, I get the appeal. Kinda jealous, honestly."
I downed a swig and set the empty glass on the table with a clink.
"You just picked the wrong zip code."
"...Huh?"
"Listen up, junior. I'll sum up just how fucked the situation is—short and sweet."
I tapped the table with my finger.
"This world was never a romance novel to begin with. Seems like you're dead wrong there... The real deal here ain't those fluffy love stories you read."
Dane's face went blank.
"What was the novel you read called? [Shining Romance Academy]?"
"Yeah... Overflowing with love, friendship, and youth..."
"Don't make me laugh. That's just window dressing. A thin wrapper slapped over the peace we fought tooth and nail to create back in the day."
"..."
"First off, lemme lay out the world I got isekai'd into. You know about the Great War 500 years ago, right? In your novel, it's probably summed up in one line: 'The hero slays the Demon King and brings peace.'"
"...Yeah. It was treated like some ancient legend."
"Legend? What do the history books say? Hero swings the holy sword, saintess prays, grand mage chants a spell, and they nobly seal the Demon King away?"
I snorted derisively.
"Bullshit. That's just later generations sugarcoating it to their taste."
"..."
"Truth is, it was a muddy bloodbath. To take down one Demon King legion commander, we'd sacrifice a hundred of our own as bait. When supplies ran dry, we'd chew on monster meat to hold out."
Dane gulped hard.
"So I didn't hold back either. Bombed enemy corpses, even cooked up black magic. The saintess lost her shit calling me insane... but she couldn't rein me in completely."
"W-Wait, you invented black magic!? That evil stuff the villains used in the original story? Our heroine got cursed because of it and suffered so much!"
"Yup, that's me—the OG. Corpse puppetry, curses, living bombs... All patented by yours truly. Maybe I should collect royalties."
I shrugged shamelessly.
"Anyway, we scrapped like that till we lopped off the Demon King's head. Saw the credits roll. That romance novel prologue you read? Built on our blood and sweat."
I ground my teeth.
"But when I got yanked back here, you know what happened to the world I bled for?"
"..."
"Knights are better with forks than swords. Mages do fireworks instead of research. That so-called hero's descendant? Rolling around in bed hugging a pillow."
"Ugh..."
Dane hung her head, thoroughly chastened.
"Fine, whatever. Peaceful times, I get it. We busted our asses so you descendants could laze around—could see it as rewarding. But here's the kicker..."
I tapped the table again.
"That 'peace' has an expiration date. You said the novel ends at graduation, right?"
"Yeah, two years from now."
"In reality, the author probably just bailed. But in this world we're stuck in, what do you think that means?"
I leaned forward, locking eyes with her.
"Post-ending world's a blank slate. No scripted fate—a lawless wild west. And that's when this world's true genre creeps back in."
"True... genre?"
"Yeah. You, holed up in the dorm ignoring the news, wouldn't know. But when I returned, this empire was... way more fucked up than I thought."
"But... that doesn't mean it'll definitely turn tragic."
Dane countered in a trembling voice. She didn't want to accept it—her comfy future vanishing.
"It ended happily, so maybe peace rolls on..."
"Sure, if wishful thinking's your jam."
I chuckled dryly and set down my empty glass.
"By that logic, my story ended happily too."
"Huh...?"
"War over, Demon King dead, peace reigns, grand festival, heroes cheer me on as I head home. Perfect fairy-tale ending."
I fixed Dane with a cold stare.
"So why am I sitting here?"
"...!"
Dane's pupils quaked like an earthquake.
"Worldviews can crumble anytime. Even the one the hero party secured ended up like this. You think that sandcastle peace from a romance novel survives post-ending unscathed?"
"Ah..."
"Mark my words: the second the protagonist tosses her cap at graduation, all the festering problems burst. Hell's gates open on the empire."
"Th-This is a dream."
Dane clutched her head, mumbling.
"Yeah, total nightmare. Wake up in my bed, back to normal. This can't be real..."
Seeing her deny reality and crumble, I let out a deep sigh too.
"Wish it was a dream, fuck..."
The two isekai'd souls' laments echoed miserably in the fancy tavern corner.
"So drink up. Today's the last day you can stretch out and sleep easy."
I poured the rest into Dane's glass. Her eyes, fixed on the sloshing amber liquid, were already dead.
"..."
She picked up the glass wordlessly.
And downed it in one go.
The clunk of the glass hitting the table sounded forlorn.
"Hey, senior."
"What."
"So... we just wait to die? Everything ends in two years?"
I grinned and shook my head at her question.
"Nah. That's why I came for you."
"Huh?"
"Think about it. Two years left means two whole years to work with."
"What're you...?"
"World still spins around protagonists, villains act dumb, bomb's not ticking yet."
"So?"
"So we smash everything before time's up. Fix the empire too."
I clenched my fist tight.
"Your shitty friends next door, the shortstack, monsters stirring in the north, that black magic cult you mentioned—all of 'em."
"..."
"Before the genre shifts and difficulty spikes to hell mode, while it's still easy, hunt 'em down and crush 'em preemptively. Cut the roots, no tree grows, right?"
"Ah..."
"That's the plan. Before the ending hits, defuse all the post-credits bombs. And you'll join me as the ultimate bomb squad. Hero's bloodline's one hell of a sign."
"..."
"No opt-out, by the way. Better to roll now than get munched in bed by a monster two years from now. Don't wanna die? Grind."
"..."
Dane had no comeback. Checkmate.
"Uh... training super intense?"
"Not lethal?"
"But even in my past life I was a girl, never did military... If my body's weak, I could die..."
"Relax, no worries."
I smirked and topped off her glass.
"Know what hero blood does? Even if I grind you like a blender 24/7, you'll wake up next day fresh as a zombie. That's your biggest boon."
"N-Nooo..."
I shook the empty bottle and called the server.
"One more here. Night's gonna be long."
======
Next day, 4 a.m.
Before dawn broke, when the world still slumbered in bluish gloom.
"Ugh... my head..."
Dane clutched her throbbing skull and opened her eyes. The harsh booze still coursed through her veins like fire.
'Yeah, had to be a dream. That crazy inspector, the genre-shift bullshit...'
Habitually, she groped for her fluffy pillow. But her fingers met not soft fabric, but cold, hard stone.
"...?"
Something was wrong. Her back ached. And it was freezing.
She slowly lifted her eyelids. Instead of the familiar dorm ceiling, a pitch-black night sky glittered with stars.
"Sleep well?"
"Eek?!"
Dane shrieked and bolted upright. Kasian crouched before her, peering down.
"Wh-Where am I... Who am I..."
"Where else? The training grounds."
Kasian jerked his chin around.
Only then did Dane clock it. Not her dorm bed—she'd crashed on a mat right on the training ground floor.
"No way... You made me sleep here?"
"Too lazy to haul your drunken ass up to the dorm top floor. Morning rally's here anyway. Saved steps."
"Y-You psycho...!"
Letting the empire's jewel, a duke's daughter, rough it outdoors?
"Up? Wash your face. Three minutes."
"Three minutes? You're kidding! I need makeup, hair wash...!"
"Who needs makeup for training? Just splash over there."
Kasian pointed to a basin.
"Skip it, we train anyway."
"Fuck, seriously...!"
She cat-washed with icy water and returned to find another victim on the grounds.
"..."
"..."
It was Yuria.
"Didn't call you."
"Master said training starts today. Said my edge dulled... Woke me at 3 a.m. and booted me out."
The two women's eyes met.
'You got nabbed too, huh.'
'Lady... hang in there...'
Silent understanding passed between them.
"Attention."
Clap!
Kasian clapped. Somehow, Erendel stood on the platform in a fur robe, sipping steaming coffee.
"Sleep well, kids? Air's so crisp, right?"
Erendel waved with a bright smile.
"Hey, old hag. Not coming down? Be the flare then."
"Fine, whatever."
Kasian scanned around.
'Legendary archmage, her disciple the north's mad dog, and the hero descendant monster potential...'
"Lineup's brutal. You two are Special Class starting today."
"Lame name..."
Dane muttered under her breath, but Kasian ignored it and signaled Erendel.
[Flame Magic: Fire Wall]
Kuuoooo...
Erendel swept her staff, and behind the track, crimson flames roared up, inching closer.
"Wake-up laps: 20 around the field. Don't run? Burn. Laggers starve."
"Crazy! Feed us first!"
"20 laps at dawn is 'light'? Why the fire?!"
The two women's desperate screams tore through the academy's predawn silence.