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Chapter 35: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

 Chapter 35



“Good morning.”


As I entered the classroom, the class president greeted me as if she had been waiting for me.


When I nodded in response, she smiled slightly and took out cleaning tools from the storage.


Silently, as if it were the most natural thing, we cleaned the classroom together in the morning.


Seeing the smiling class president made my feelings complicated.


While I was having lunch with Sylvia alone, the class president had been watching me closely.


Even though she had apologized and could have sat next to me, she kept a bit of distance, possibly still mindful of what she had said to me before.


I knew what kind of relationship she wanted to have with me.


I also knew what to say to make her happy.


But I felt I had no right to be the one to do so, having initially planned to ignore her fate despite knowing how things would turn out for her.


So, I forcibly ignored her presence during breaks, only speaking briefly when we occasionally had conversations.


Yet, the goodwill conveyed through the chocolates she had given me and the promises we had made meant that the time I spent with her every morning had accumulated in my heart, becoming too significant to ignore.


As a result, I couldn't help but think about it.


I didn't want the class president to die.


*


"Attention everyone! Today, we'll have another mock battle training like last time! But this time, you'll be grouped into teams of five, and instead of picking your teams, I've pre-assigned the groups.”


The students gathered in the gym, where construction materials were still piled up and the entrance was open, as Eve shouted.


I remembered the mock battle training we had last time.


The class president and the spearman had practically carried me through it.


Aside from making the large goblin drink something called Fire Punch at the end, I hadn't done much.


It would be nice if today's training was as easy as the last.


As if reading my mind, Eve spoke with a meaningful expression.


“The previous training was adjusted to be like a child's play because it was your first time. Today, you’ll be facing not just weak monsters but demonic beasts, so be prepared.”


The students' faces hardened at the mention of demonic beasts.


Students enrolled in Aegis Academy to become heroes were strong.


But only in comparison to ordinary people.


When the comparison was with demonic beasts, the story changed.


Most students in this class would struggle to face even a low-grade demonic beast alone.


The panic caused by Eve’s illusion of a demonic beast on the first day of school was because of this.


Demonic beasts with unique abilities, like barriers that prevent escape, are typically classified as mid-grade or higher.


When they couldn’t leave the classroom due to Eve’s illusion, the students had mistaken it for a mid-grade demonic beast, which even active heroes find difficult to handle, hence their panic.


Yoon Si-woo and Sylvia, who weren’t afraid to face a mid-grade demonic beast, were extraordinary.


Those two would probably excel if they started as active heroes immediately.


The point was, unless I was in the same team as Sylvia or Yoon Si-woo, the training would be challenging.


Please, please let me be in Sylvia’s team!


“Now, I’ll announce the teams! By the way, Si-woo, Evande, and Sylvia are all in different teams again!”


My hopes were shattered from the start.


The only consolation was that I was in the same team as the class president.


The other team members were two male students whose faces I knew but had never spoken to and a female student I remembered because of her intense dislike for insects.


I nodded to the team members who greeted me, and Eve’s voice came through.


“Today’s training will be set up to be as close to real combat as possible, so be careful not to die. We’ve put in some safety measures, so you won’t feel like you’re actually dying, but it won’t be a pleasant experience. After all the teams finish their training, we’ll review the footage together to point out areas for improvement. Let’s start with Team 1.”


Eve, usually cheerful, spoke seriously about the gravity of the situation, draining the color from the students' faces.


Team 1 was Yoon Si-woo’s team.


As Yoon Si-woo and four other students walked forward, Eve snapped her fingers.


The students vanished instantly.


Unlike last time, there was no screen showing what was happening, so we couldn’t see what the students were doing.


The students reappeared after ten minutes.


The team members looked at Yoon Si-woo with eyes filled with awe and admiration.


Although the original work didn’t describe this training, based on their reactions, it seemed Yoon Si-woo had put on quite a show inside.


Next was Team 2, which included Sylvia.


When they reappeared ten minutes later, everyone except Sylvia seemed exhausted.


Even though Sylvia was pretending to be fine, her posture was a bit off, indicating it hadn’t been easy.


Seeing the other team members talking about how amazing Sylvia was, I could guess what had happened.


Then it was our team, Team 3’s turn.


With the class president and me, the other members lined up in front of Eve.


Eve snapped her fingers, and the scenery changed.


We were in what looked like a residential area with buildings.


It seemed like an ordinary city at first glance.


But knowing it was a training scenario, our team members formed a defensive formation, with the girl who disliked insects in the middle and the rest of us surrounding her, cautiously watching our surroundings.


She was an esper, so we had agreed beforehand that the close-combat members would protect her.


As we slowly moved forward, I spotted a large, dog-like creature beyond an alley.


Just as I was about to warn the others, the class president and team members spoke up.


“There’s a demonic beast ahead, it’s targeting us.”


“Ugh... I see one over here too.”


“And here…”


It seemed we were surrounded by demonic beasts.


In the center of the formation, the girl acting as our commander spoke in a trembling voice.


“Everyone, please take on one of the monsters each! I'll try to create openings for you from the center!”


As soon as she said that, a dog-like monster lunged at us.


Its fierce appearance made my heart race, but I had to handle at least one on my own.


Clenching my fist, I prepared to counterattack while dodging its attacks.


Attack, attack.


With my superior physical abilities, I could see and react to most attacks.


So, I planned to dodge and then land a punch somehow.


As I focused on dodging the incoming monster, something unexpected happened.


The monster, instead of attacking head-on, leaped over my head.


Caught off guard by its unexpected move, my mind and body froze for a moment.


This was bad, I thought, turning around quickly.


The class president and the two male students were fending off one monster each with their weapons.


The monster that had jumped over me was now pouncing on the girl in the center.


In a panic, she extended her hand towards the monster, and it suddenly halted in midair.


Her telekinetic ability.


I sighed in relief.


Taking advantage of the monster's paused state, I enveloped my fist in flames and struck it down.


The monster went limp, seemingly dead.


We then helped the struggling male students defeat their monsters, and soon, the class president also managed to take down hers, catching her breath.


Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.


Despite my superior physical abilities allowing me to cover for others, I was not used to actual combat, so my mind sometimes couldn’t keep up.


“Sorry. I should have handled it better...”


“No, it's fine. My position is to handle unexpected situations like that.”


I bowed my head, apologizing to the girl, who waved her hand dismissively, saying it was okay.


“We can reflect on this later. Prepare yourselves again, they’re coming,” the class president said.


Startled by her words, we quickly looked around to see more of those dog-like monsters charging towards us.


We hastily reformed our formation and prepared for battle.


“There are five of them! Everyone take one each! I'll try to hold off one!”


The girl’s voice echoed from behind.


There were five monsters this time; we couldn’t afford to let any slip by.


With that resolve, I grabbed one of the charging monsters with both arms.


When I ignited my hands, the monster let out a painful scream.


My hands trembled.


If I could finish it with one blow, that would be better.


The screams of the burning monster pierced my ears.


Even if I tried not to, I couldn't help but hear them.


As a modern person not accustomed to violence, the act itself made me nauseous.


This hesitation delayed me in finishing off the monster, and I reacted too late to the girl’s scream from behind.


Turning around, I saw the monster had broken free from her telekinetic grip and was now lunging at me.


The monster in my grasp was still struggling for breath.


By the time I finished it off, the other monster's teeth were already inches from me.


“Scarlet!!”


The class president’s shout echoed.


She had rushed over and plunged her sword into the back of the monster attacking me.


At the same time, I saw another monster sink its teeth into her neck.


Blood spurted out, and I screamed something as I smashed the head of the monster biting her.


But the class president, lying on the ground, no longer moved.


The class president was dead.


Because of me.




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Comments

  1. Although she probably wouldn’t die due to this being a test, it would definitely be a wake up call for mc as she has been hesitating too much

    Thanks for the chapter !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What do you mean ‘probably’ lol.
      She IS dead obviously 🙄

      Delete
  2. MC has to snap out of it.
    As the professor said, the illusion is realistic in terms of what can happen and it musn't feel great to die there either.
    I hope this makes MC realize that being stuck in that world means that every relationship matters even if one doesn't want to aknownledge it.
    A least for me it's clear that MC does care for the class president.
    I don't think it's just a matter of guilt because the president is so nice and MC has been putting a wall either.
    If that was the case, being a coward or not, the reaction would have been a bit different.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Back to trauma making hmm

    ReplyDelete

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