Chapter 24

The academy didn’t specifically divide students by grades. At most, they were divided by categories.

However, as always, humans are creatures who like to determine superiority and inferiority among themselves, and most of the dueling arenas within the academy grounds had their lights on.

Even when dawn came.

Despite the fact that the academy doesn’t measure dueling performance or assign new rankings and grades.

Perhaps the single fact that they could freely use their abilities to legally beat people was what ignited the flames in their hearts and minds.

‘I’m bored.’

It had already been two days since I told Hiyeon about the love potion and the black market, but she showed no signs of making a move.

Nor had there been any progress in assassinating the academy teacher.

The movements of the teachers were completely rigid, to the point where I wondered if the academy wasn’t letting them go home.

Some teachers were still commuting, but most of them either had combat-capable abilities or were going home in pairs.

A teacher with combat abilities would escort a teacher without combat abilities home, and then enter their own home alone.

In the end, this meant neither my plan nor the status window’s quest was making any progress.

I was tired of running around busily with nothing to do. I wish the story would progress quickly. What’s with the delay?

Anyway, the conclusion is.

I’m bored. That’s all.

‘A duel…’

What always alleviates the boredom in daily life is an incident. Regardless of whether it has a negative or positive meaning.

For a momentary amusement, a duel might be quite good.

After all, I had nothing to do recently and was feeling a wall in my ability development.

Perhaps through dueling with other ability users, I might also reach ‘abstraction.’

In the original, Bia didn’t rise to any remarkable level, but now both the content and abilities of Bia have completely changed.

The only similarities between the original Bia and me now would be the shadow and outward appearance.

In fact, there’s no need to talk about it at such length in such a shabby way. I just needed someone to vent on, and coincidentally, there was a good excuse.

So, who should I duel with?

On the day of the entrance ceremony, I was caught trying to stab the principal’s face with a shadow awl… my face and ability would have been widely known.

Of course, if someone is in their right mind, they wouldn’t want to befriend me or duel with me, but you never know. How can you tell if there’s such an oddball?

The minimum number of people needed to rent a dueling arena is 2.

So, I just need to find one more person who can serve as a suitable punching bag.

That’s easier said than done.

Having no friends and living like a loner at the academy, how would I have connections to invite to the dueling arena?

‘…Oh.’

As I thought quietly, one face came to mind.

The owner of that face was none other than Ryu Seong, the protagonist.

He has a personality that can’t easily refuse others’ requests, we’ve exchanged phone numbers, and I genuinely don’t have to worry about killing him if I beat him.

Aren’t friends supposed to help each other in times of difficulty?

Good. Let’s give him a call.

The customer cannot answer the phone. Please call again later.

…Blocked? That can’t be. When I saw him last time, we had a good time and parted ways. I don’t remember doing anything that would warrant being blocked.

I immediately started searching.

‘How to know if someone has blocked you.’

Fortunately, I was quickly able to realize that I had not been blocked.

Apparently, the guidance message changes slightly when you’re blocked.

Certainly, I didn’t do anything to get blocked. I was worried for nothing. But why am I so concerned about being blocked? I’m starting to feel bad.

Alright. Let’s try to become friends with as many people as possible.

If I make enough friends, being blocked by one person would be something I could laugh off, right?

…What a silly thought.

Anyway, the protagonist wasn’t the type to continuously ignore other people’s calls, so a reply should come soon if I wait quietly.

When the reply comes, after answering the call, I’ll naturally bring up the topic of dueling.

I can casually say something like I need an equal opponent. Although I just needed a punching bag, but who cares?

The protagonist, being the pushover that he is, would probably agree to face me.

…Hmm, it might not be bad to call Hiyeon as well to make her anxious.

Regardless of my declaration that I have no interest in Ryu Seong, a female creature feels jealousy and anxiety just from the fact that another woman is near the man she likes.

Of course, the emotions work in the same direction even when the roles of man and woman are reversed.

If I can use it, I should.

Or it might also be a good method to forcibly pull out a heroine who hasn’t appeared yet and pair her with Ryu Seong.

Just the fact that another woman is with Ryu Seong is enough to easily break Hiyeon’s character and mind. She has a mental state as fragile as glass.

It’s not for nothing that she holds the childhood friend position but still gets eliminated.

Pfft….

♦♦♦

The phone rang. Since I always kept it on silent, I felt a short vibration in my pocket.

With an awkward motion, I slid the call button to the side to answer. As expected, a familiar voice was heard from the other side of the phone.

It was Ryu Seong’s voice.

Suddenly, I felt an inexplicable irritation rising. Even though I just heard his voice, there was an instinctive sense of aversion.

Like a magnet repelling the same pole, I felt as if I instinctively disliked him. As if this had been right from birth.

However, I didn’t outwardly show that irritation and discomfort.

On the outside, I might look like a woman who just turned twenty, but inside was a seasoned office worker who had been through thick and thin.

Wearing a mask is quite familiar to me.

“Ah, sorry! My phone was turned off earlier, so I couldn’t answer. Why did you call?”

“It’s nothing serious. It wasn’t urgent either. So you don’t need to apologize.”

“I understand.”

“Anyway, the reason is… I was wondering if you’d be my dueling partner.”

“Huh?”

“Just as I said. I’ve been feeling like I’m hitting a wall lately, you know. I thought if I duel, I might develop a bit more.”

The way to make someone believe a lie is to skillfully mix in the truth.

Such ambiguous words are the easiest way to deceive innocent people.

“I’ll be there soon. Which dueling arena?”

“Number 8.”

Showing a duel to others was indeed uncomfortable. To begin with, I felt aversion to the gaze of others, and couldn’t concentrate properly with spectators.

Arena number 8 is located at the outermost part among the various dueling facilities in the academy, a place no one visits.

It’s true that mock duels between students are a kind of sport with abnormally high popularity.

But they want to show off their abilities to others and prove their superiority and inferiority. That’s why they don’t want to rent such a dilapidated building.

Even so, there wasn’t completely no waiting line, but I managed to get someone to yield with some “conversation.”

‘Status window.’

: Yes.

‘If a suitable opportunity arises, is it okay to just kill him?’

: If you can, I don’t mind. But I would like you to fulfill some of my quests even after you get the ability you want. That’s the condition.

‘Hmm… Alright.’

: And, anyway, it’s impossible to kill him unless it’s at the time I mentioned. Follow my orders.

‘I said I understood. I’m just talking about what to do if an opportunity arises. I’m talking about a hypothetical.’

: It will absolutely never happen.

Urgh… Can’t you talk to me more nicely?

You never know. Even if the future is already determined, the intermediate process might change due to some exception or variable.

So, the future where my parents died was predetermined. But what if I had burst out of the closet in the middle? Wouldn’t the process at least have been different?

That’s what I’m talking about.

The ending of death doesn’t change, but at least there would have been no regrets.

…That’s right.

.

.

.

How much time had passed?

From far away, a silhouette of a person began to walk towards me.

His figure, waving his hand enthusiastically and showing his pleasure with smoothly raised corners of his mouth, was similar to a dog running towards its owner.

A feeling similar to a Golden Retriever… but perhaps because of his distinctive sharp expression and silver hair, it wasn’t completely the same.

Yes. It’s closer to a wolf.

“Did you rent the dueling arena?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard it’s hard to get time. Thanks.”

“No, I was the one who asked for the duel. Of course I should make the reservation.”

“Still, thanks is thanks. Do you need a specific reason?”

“T-That’s true.”

“When should we start?”

“Whenever you’re comfortable.”

He immediately began to take a stance and drew a sword that suddenly appeared from behind his back.

I could recognize the form of that sword.

To confirm, I had asked the status window last time, but really, already?

It was the item that appeared in the original, which the protagonist obtained at the cost of his childhood memories.

It seemed like he had no intention of going easy on me.