Friend 2

Baek Da-eun.

The main heroine of [The Academy’s Falling Star Swordsman].

However, despite being the main heroine, Han Seoyeon had no memory of any daily episodes regarding Baek Da-eun.

That was natural.

As an avid reader of munchkin catharsis stories, Han Seoyeon didn’t want to see scenes of a tsundere heroine doing laundry and spending everyday life with the protagonist.

The original author should be grateful that she at least knows the core storyline.

In fact, even that was so ruined that it was strongly imprinted in her mind, impossible to forget even if she tried.

“Han Seoyeon.”

Therefore, for Han Seoyeon, who only knew the core story of the original work,

“Would you like to come over to my house this weekend…?”

Baek Da-eun’s proposal was somewhat bewildering.

“Come over…?”

“Yes.”

Han Seoyeon felt genuinely perplexed.

Perhaps Baek Da-eun’s proposal might be an event from the original story.

Baek Da-eun is set up as having no friends.

An event where the protagonist visits the lonely heroine’s house seemed quite plausible.

“With Suho too?”

“…No.”

“…?”

But something was off.

A heroine’s event should necessarily include the protagonist.

Baek Da-eun’s crush, Han Suho, should be there.

“Why…?”

Yet she says Han Suho won’t be there.

The blonde delinquent little sister with demonic charm who seduced two heroines before the main story even began.

“…”

Baek Da-eun didn’t continue speaking.

She lowered her head, as if somewhat embarrassed.

‘Ah, come to think of it─’

Suddenly, Han Seoyeon recalled.

The figure of Han Suho, who had been difficult to meet recently.

Indeed, the situation was somewhat understandable.

After all, a munchkin protagonist should be able to deduce things as easily as eating cake.

Han Seoyeon doesn’t know what’s happening with Han Suho.

However, unlike the original story, Han Suho’s life as a chaebol heir must be undoubtedly busy.

In other words, Baek Da-eun has already been rejected.

She must have been turned down by Han Suho due to his busy schedule.

Then the question is, why has the event Han Suho should have experienced come to Han Seoyeon?

“…Well, Father said he wanted to meet my new friend from the Academy.”

This question was also quickly resolved.

All the puzzle pieces fit together.

Baek Da-eun having a conversation with her parents.

In the midst of that, the topic of friends comes up by chance.

None other than the topic of Han Suho.

It’s natural for parents to be concerned about their child’s friends.

Though she never really had parents, anyway.

So Baek Da-eun must have decided to introduce Han Suho.

This is an original work tagged with #ruined and #regret.

If it were the pushover protagonist Han Suho, he would have calmly accepted that proposal.

But the original story has been twisted.

Han Suho is no longer from the slums, but has become the only daughter of a busy chaebol family.

With his busy schedule, Han Suho declines Baek Da-eun’s proposal.

As a result, Baek Da-eun had already said she would introduce a friend, but couldn’t betray her father’s expectations.

As a reluctant alternative, she ends up inviting Han Seoyeon.

‘Well, it’s probably a development like this.’

She prided herself on having read quite a few web novels.

Han Seoyeon was confident.

Moreover, Baek Da-eun’s father, Baek Kang-hyuk, was one of the few kind adults in this ruined world along with Kim Wan-seung.

Perhaps that’s why he was a memorable character.

“I’d like to hear your answer…”

Baek Da-eun trails off.

Han Seoyeon sees her hesitating, unlike her usual self.

If all her conjectures are correct, this must be a butterfly effect due to the destruction of the original story.

In other words, the vast majority of the reason why Baek Da-eun is troubled is essentially Han Seoyeon’s fault.

She doesn’t know what impact this event will have on Baek Da-eun.

As long as it’s not included in the scope of her knowledge about the original story, whatever happens with this event shouldn’t have a big impact on the core development of the story.

“Sure.”

“…!”

Han Seoyeon didn’t hesitate.

Baek Da-eun’s face immediately brightened.

There was no reason to hesitate.

The original story was already somewhat broken anyway.

A ruined world’s regret event requires a ruined world heroine.

It needs a heroine who regrets and becomes obsessed with the protagonist.

At this point, there’s no such element.

Baek Da-eun has someone else she has a crush on, and she’s not ruined by that person.

What remains is just a girl who wants to introduce a friend to her parents.

That’s all there is to it.

Going to a friend’s house shouldn’t be a problem, right?

After all, Han Seoyeon and Baek Da-eun were friends.

“Really…?”

“Yeah.”

Coincidentally, Michaela will be absent on the weekend too.

Rather than rolling around in the dormitory, she decided to visit a friend’s house for once.

She acts as if awkward.

Wearing a mask of deception.

She makes excuses about her father.

“Okay.”

As if it were the most natural thing, she agrees.

Because she was a good person.

She probably doesn’t want to trouble anyone.

It wasn’t right.

She deceived a friend by using her parents.

“Really…?”

Yet still.

“Yeah.”

The corners of her mouth rise.

Before guilt, joy consumed Baek Da-eun’s body.

Early morning on the weekend.

Michaela put on the Academy uniform.

“…”

She looked at Han Seoyeon, sound asleep for the weekend.

Blankly, for a moment.

The workplace experience period starts today.

For two days of training, they won’t be able to see each other.

Usually.

If it were her usual self, she would have left without lingering on such things.

A thought crossed her mind.

Should she wake her up a little, to say goodbye?

Han Seoyeon has a crush on Michaela.

If she woke her up arbitrarily, wouldn’t she not complain?

“…How foolish.”

It was an overwhelmingly arrogant thought.

She deliberately withdrew her outstretched hand.

She turned around.

“I’m off.”

Until the moment she left, Michaela kept her eyes on the girl.

Baek Da-eun is the daughter of a rich family.

Her father, Baek Kang-hyuk, while not quite a national star like Lee Yeon and Han Joon-hyuk, was a wealthy man with assets no less than theirs.

After dressing in the dormitory and moving her body at the right time, a long limousine comes to greet her as if it had been waiting.

“Wow…”

And so, the place they arrived at was an antique Western-style mansion.

Han Seoyeon’s eyes literally widened.

It could be said to be closer to a palace than a house.

Inside, marble floors with large, high-quality rugs placed merely for decoration, and servants lined up neatly with respectful attitudes.

Though she shouldn’t say this as someone living off others, even the S-class awakened Academy dormitory paled in comparison to this place.

“Welcome. Friend of the young miss.”

The guidance of an elegant maid sister.

Han Seoyeon was led into a wide, antique room.

“This way.”

Even the red carpet on the floor looks expensive, making it difficult to walk on.

In many ways, it was bad for a commoner’s heart.

[Activating Clear Mind and Still Water.]

[Abnormal status has been removed.]

Finally, Clear Mind and Still Water did its job.

Han Seoyeon immediately calmed down.

And then.

“…Have you come?”

A familiar.

Yet, completely different girl greeted Han Seoyeon.

The pink hair is neater than usual.

There’s a strange light in the emerald eyes.

The skin gleamed even more than usual that day.

A pink fairy seemed to dwell on the lips.

The blue dress that looked like it came straight out of a romance fantasy novel had artistic patterns embroidered in gold thread, visible at a glance.

An appearance that seemed to embody the ideal noble.

“Han Seoyeon.”

“…Ah, yeah.”

Forgetting for a moment that her name had been called, Han Seoyeon stared blankly at Baek Da-eun.

Beautiful.

No other flowery words were necessary.

There was no other way to express it besides such a trite word.

Is this really Baek Da-eun?

A clean Baek Da-eun with nowhere to do laundry?

Han Seoyeon could somewhat understand why the original protagonist had done so much laundry.

“Come inside. Don’t just stand there blankly.”

Carefully, Han Seoyeon sat on the sofa opposite Baek Da-eun.

On the table were cookies emitting a savory aroma and fragrant black tea.

It felt dreamlike.

To the point where she felt as if the genre of the world she had fallen into was not a ruined world, but a romance fantasy.

“Shall we have some tea first?”

“Ah, okay…”

Sip.

Han Seoyeon was busy savoring the tea while glancing at Baek Da-eun.

It’s a completely different appearance from her usual self in the Academy uniform.

She doesn’t shout or raise her voice.

She looks like a noble lady, not a villainous lady.

…Honestly, she was pretty.

Second only to senior.

Shake, shake.

Han Seoyeon shook her head.

She was pretty, but it was just a compliment as a friend.

There was no meaning beyond that.

“Um…”

After all, wasn’t she a woman who had feelings for her brother?

There was no point in having such impure thoughts.

“It’s a new dress I just had made, does it suit me?”

It hasn’t even been a week since senior said she trusted her.

She shouldn’t be swayed by another woman’s appearance alone, right?

“…I guess this style of dress doesn’t suit me after all.”

“It suits you! You’re pretty! You’re pretty!”

…But she couldn’t not compliment someone looking so dejected!

“Is that so.”

Baek Da-eun smiled brightly.

Han Seoyeon maintained her Clear Mind and Still Water posture.

As a munchkin protagonist, Han Seoyeon doesn’t particularly dislike harems.

However, she didn’t want to give even the slightest impure glance to a woman who had a crush on her brother.

Netorare is firmly rejected.

The munchkin Han Seoyeon dreams of doesn’t need a golden sun.

“…I’m glad.”

No matter how you look at it, it’s a dress for competition.

There’s only one reason she showed such an appearance.

It must be to show Han Seoyeon first, to judge whether it suits her before seriously competing with Han Suho.

An awkward silence falls.

Han Seoyeon gathered her thoughts to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.

“…Ha, Han Seoyeon?”

An escape route quickly appeared.

A middle-aged man’s words that refreshingly shattered this strange atmosphere.

“C-Could it be that the friend our princess made at the Academy is Han Seoyeon!”

The middle-aged man, Baek Kang-hyuk, approached.

“Excuse me! Could I get your autograph! I’m a fan!”

With paper and pen in hand.

“…”

Why was it?

For a moment, Baek Da-eun’s expression sank deep and cold.

It wasn’t the common emotion of a teenage girl embarrassed by parents too embarrassing to show to a friend.

It was closer to something deeper and darker.

Hunter workplace experience.

The Academy’s policy of matching one-on-one coaching with professional Hunters to further train the elite who will become the future of Korea.

Michaela headed to the room assigned to her.

She is strong.

Even stronger than most S-class awakened ones.

Those who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her were rare in this world.

Neither Han Seoyeon nor the terrorists were a match for Michaela at full strength.

At most, only two people could compete with her on equal terms.

One was the Demon King she saw in her past life.

Now that he’s dead, there’s essentially only one left.

For this reason, Michaela had never learned anything at the Academy.

Literally because there was nothing to learn.

To begin with, the Academy is a national military facility.

Consideration for foreigners was difficult.

It was surprising that she was even admitted.

She didn’t expect anything.

Just for the purpose of attendance.

It couldn’t be more than that.

“─I’ve been waiting.”

That expectation was completely betrayed.

“Michaela Wittelsbach.”

She knew that face.

Michaela had seen that face many times.

Hair like a lion’s mane, burning brilliantly.

A grayish-white uniform studded with countless medals.

It was impossible not to recognize that appearance while living in this country.

Her portraits and statues were hung on every street.

“Principal.”

Lee Yeon.

Hero and principal of the Hunter Academy.

She appeared before her eyes.