I Became the Terminally Ill Character in My Friend’s Academy Novel – Chapter 8

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Despite the small mishap, I was able to safely see the victorious morning sun again without any other incidents thanks to my superhuman patience.

…Actually, I felt like I lost.

It felt like I had thrown away a victory right in front of my eyes.

Anyway, although it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, I was able to coincidentally form a closer bond with my secret friend, so it was time to leave for the academy for real this time.

As I was about to leave after preparing a simple breakfast as thanks for the night’s stay, my secret friend, no, Professor Cathy, looked at me with a lingering gaze, but I pretended not to notice.

I could have called her “noona” as she wanted, but considering the cause of her death, it was probably best not to get too close to her yet.

Anyway, my academy life was really starting now!

With a slightly excited heart, I first looked for the dormitory.

Fortunately, I wasn’t carrying much since I didn’t have many belongings that needed to be moved. But it was still important for me to check out the place where I would be living in.

With confident steps, I found my assigned room. Building A, Room 107.

It felt strangely exciting to think that I was probably the first to arrive at this spacious dormitory.

But strangely, I sensed a presence in Room 107.

That was odd.

There were characters who entered the dormitory early in the original story, but only one character entered on the first day.

‘She’ couldn’t be here because she was supposed to be the protagonist’s roommate in the original story.

After a moment of contemplation, I found an answer.

Since no one died at the entrance ceremony, there might have been someone who should have died back then who wanted to enter the dormitory early!

I lightly knocked on the door, showing my good manners.

“Yes? Who is it?”

Shit.

The voice from beyond the door was strangely androgynous… or rather, feminine.

But I shouldn’t judge people by their voices.

Perhaps my roommate was just a kind classmate with a voice complex.

“I’m an early dormitory entrant, are you one too?”

“Oh, what? Both people assigned to the same room entered the dormitory early?”

“I guess so. What a coincidence.”

“Ah, really? The dormitory sent me a text message, but I haven’t read it yet.”

The door opened casually.

“Nice to meet you.”

The person who appeared had feminine features, shoulder-length black hair, and above all, a strangely expressionless and cool impression, very similar to the character I had in mind.

Still, it could be a misunderstanding.

Unlike Professor Cathy, there was no definitive proof.

“I’m Kang Han-hee. I didn’t expect to meet my roommate so early. Nice to meet you.”

Misunderstanding my ass.

Academy transmigrator specialty: If you think it’s impossible, it’s usually already a fact, lol.

Kang Ha-ni, the protagonist’s roommate and a cross-dressing girl from the original story, was standing right in front of me.

“I’m Kang So-hyun. Nice to meet you too.”

Why the hell were you here when you were supposed to be the protagonist’s roommate?

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“Huff…!”

I quickly found out why Kang Ha-ni, who was using the alias Kang Han-hee, became my roommate.

No, I should say I already knew why.

Yes, it was because no one had died at the damned entrance ceremony.

-Originally, the protagonist and Kang Han-hee weren’t supposed to be roommates, but as a result of many students dying in the terrorist attack, they were assigned to the same room.

“Huff…! Huff…! Gasp…!”

Yes, I seemed to recall reading something like that in the original story.

But honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought since it didn’t seem like an important detail at the time.

I thought the author just wanted to set up a fateful and dramatic scene.

But how was I supposed to know that Kang So-hyun was originally supposed to be her roommate?

Fortunately, she was said to be secretive and reluctant to make friends, and I also had no intention of actively approaching her, at least for now. So we just unpacked our belongings and parted ways relatively coolly.

It felt very strange to meet the second victim of the “Death Before Heroine Status” in such an unexpected place.

“Ughhhhh!!!!”

Why was I making such a fuss?

It was because I was currently engaging in an activity quite similar to black magic that was allowed to humanity.

The act of inflicting pain and suffering upon oneself in exchange for great power.

Ah, yes.

It was working out.

It was a common rule for academy transmigrators to work out after coming to another world, so I followed up my mountain climbing with this.

My weak body felt like it would collapse under the heavy pressure of the 500g dumbbells, but at this moment, I was enduring a total weight of 1kg, one dumbbell in each hand, with superhuman patience.

“One million and twenty-three…!”

Of course, the “one million” was just for show, I was only on my twenty-third rep.

I felt like I was going to die.

Just how pathetic was this body?

I initially grabbed the 5kg dumbbells while thinking of starting lightly, but my shoulders almost popped out, so I gradually lowered the weight to the current level.

It made me reflect on whether I expected too much from a body that had just gotten out of a hospital bed.

Up to 2kg was manageable with one hand, but after only a few reps, my arms were already screaming in protest.

It was scary.

The weakness of not knowing how frail my body truly was.

This was insane.

Considering that other superhumans started with at least 30kg dumbbells, it was unreasonable for me to start my academy life with a body that struggled with 500g dumbbells.

But as I always said, a transmigrator had a transmigrator’s way of doing things.

I had a plan to bring this pathetic body up to the average level of strength in the short span of one month.

Enhancement.

The best thing about my talent was that it did not discriminate.

About half of my innate Qi, which was now larger than that of an average person after sufficient recovery, was depleted all at once, but in return, I felt my bodily functions being enhanced.

Perhaps because what had been drained wasn’t an excessive amount of life force, it wasn’t particularly painful this time.

“Huff.”

What I enhanced this time was my recovery rate, specifically focusing on the recovery of torn muscle fibers.

In other words, the muscles, which would normally recover slowly due to my pathetic body, would now recover and grow at an accelerated rate the more they were overworked!

Considering that my talent and trait grew stronger with use, it was a truly perfect plan that trained my body, talent, and trait all at once.

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“Ughhhhh…!”

I didn’t know.

Enhancing muscle recovery didn’t mean that the muscle soreness would just go away, and to see sufficient results, I also had to eat nutritious meals with this pathetic, aching body.

Damn it, I should have paid more attention to my health and physical education classes…!

Yes, everyone has a plausible plan.

That is until they almost died from basic exercises, and it wasn’t even weightlifting!

It was strange how I had a very similar thought when I was climbing the mountain just a while ago.

For a moment, I wondered if I was just stupid, but that couldn’t be it.

It was just that my pathetic body couldn’t keep up with my perfect plan. I had often been told I was smart.

-You’re really good at thinking on your feet.
-If you drowned, only your tongue would float.
-What kind of drugs are you taking to have such thoughts…?

And so on. I lived that life being praised as a genius.

Anyway, with a heavy heart, I headed to the cafeteria to eat nutritious food.

“…Huh?”

Surprisingly, the student cafeteria wasn’t open, and there was a notice posted in front of it.

The student cafeteria will be open starting March 15th.

Ah, right.

If one thought about it carefully, how could they open the cafeteria on the first day when there were only a few early entrants?

And come to think of it, this damned Reilan Academy required meal tickets to use the cafeteria except for full scholarship students.

Ah, I could remember the major events and settings, but I kept forgetting these minor details.

Haha, I was screwed.

I checked my pockets, but naturally, I didn’t have any money.

My body ached, I was exhausted, I was starving, and I didn’t have a single penny.

Was this… despair…?

Giving up on everything and closing my eyes, I felt the surprisingly warm sunlight of the warm March day.

“Oh my!”

Huh?

I turned my head and saw the illusion of my precious secret friend, Professor Cathy.

Ah, perhaps I had already become psychologically dependent on her.

Seeing her in this desperate situation…

Was this how someone lost in the desert felt when they saw a mirage of an oasis?

As I dropped to my knees, the illusion surprisingly rushed towards me.

“Cadet So-hyun, are you alright!?”

Huh?

Did illusions normally touch people like this?

“Are you really Professor Cathy?”

“Who else would I be…?”

Uh, I didn’t know why she was here, but I was saved.

Did the reason matter at this point?

It was probably because the Chairman hadn’t completely lost interest in me yet.

“I’m…”

“You’re!? Are you in pain!? Cadet So-hyun, do you want to go to the hospital!?”

“I’m so hungry…”

“…What?”

It was embarrassing, but I had to survive.

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Actually, she had been following Kang So-hyun ever since she ran into him earlier today.

She hadn’t intended to go this far, but it was all because of the Chairman.

-Does he resemble your younger brother?

She hadn’t thought so at first, but after hearing those words, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

His frail but hardworking nature, his selflessness, and even his favorite food being the same, she was now reminded of her brother whenever she saw him.

She knew it was rude, but she couldn’t help but see her brother, who would have entered the academy this year if he were still alive, in him.

He was hardworking.

He never stopped trying even though he might have fallen behind the others because of his weak body.

Although his workout started with 500g dumbbells, which even an ordinary person could easily lift, how could his effort be compared to that of an ordinary person?

-One million and twenty-three!

He cheerfully shouted that after doing twenty-three reps with the dumbbells.

Knowing it was a joke to lift his own spirits, her heart ached even more.

After focusing on his workout for several hours, he checked his smartphone and started walking somewhere.

The cafeteria?

Eating something nutritious after working out.

She understood his thought process, but that was why she couldn’t understand it even more.

“…But the cafeteria isn’t open yet?”

She suddenly remembered something.

He had almost gotten into trouble yesterday because he didn’t know the academy rules.

Just as she thought that, he clutched his head as if dizzy and closed his eyes tight.

“Oh my!”

She cried out in surprise, and he looked at her with a dazed expression before collapsing to his knees.

As she rushed towards him in surprise, he looked at her blankly for a moment and said,

“I’m so hungry…”

She had thought something serious had happened, but should she be relieved?

She immediately took out her smartphone and placed an order at a nearby restaurant she knew well.

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I was alive.

Thanks to the increased recovery rate from the ring, I was able to eat well even though I was exhausted.

I finally felt a bit alive after finishing two bowls of omurice.

Life was beautiful.

And the two mounds of omurice were even more beautiful than the joy of life.

Although they were now in my stomach, I won’t forget the beautiful sight of those two hills for at least three hours.

“Thank you so much, Professor.”

I thought I used formal language earlier, but whether it was because she was relaxed or because we were at a restaurant outside the academy, she naturally switched to informal speech.

“Yeah, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I thought you were going to collapse when you suddenly dropped to your knees. You have no idea how worried I was.”

I briefly glanced at her chest, its ample size evident even under her shirt, as she placed her hand on it.

“How was it?”

“Huh!?”

“Why are you so surprised? I’m talking about the omurice. It’s good, right?”

“Ah, yes, omurice. Yes, the omurice.”

I almost had a heart attack.

I only glanced for a moment, and I had almost no ulterior motives.

Really.

“Well, it was good, but the one you made was better.”

How was that?

Did transmigrators have no sense of tact and just say it was good and leave it at that?

That didn’t exist in my dictionary.

I was a man who could accurately grasp an opportunity and say what my secret friend wanted to hear.

Considering her confident cooking setting, she would definitely like this kind of compliment.

But contrary to my expectations, she looked at me a little surprised and smiled bitterly.

“Actually, this is my brother’s favorite restaurant. He always ate omurice here whenever I was busy.”

“Ah, I see.”

Shit.

Transmigrator specialty: No sense of tact.

It seemed to be true.

“He always said my omurice was better.”

I was screwed.

She wasn’t crying or anything, but she probably wasn’t happy to hear something like that in a restaurant that held memories of her brother.

“…You really do resemble him.”

Her gaze seemed a bit affectionate, but I quickly looked away.

I didn’t want to get that close to the professor yet.

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T/N – I f*cking died at the “compliments” the MC received in his previous life. Those weren’t compliments, my dude. Also, the f*cking two beautiful hills made sure I stayed dead. At this rate, he really will have to call her “mommy”.

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.