I Became the Terminally Ill Character in My Friend’s Academy Novel – Chapter 15

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Lightly, he says, that bastard Lilac.

These guys clearly didn’t understand the meaning of the word “lightly.”

It was my mistake to agree with him when he said, “Let’s lightly jog around the track to help with digesting our lunch.”

“Ugh…”

Seriously, if I hadn’t held back, my lunch would have reappeared in a horrific form while saying goodbye to my stomach.

How could these crazy bastards suggest “lightly jogging around the track” and then run at what felt like 30km/h?

They seemed to have only noticed me, who had been abandoned on the track after failing to keep up with them even with me running at full sprint, after completing another lap, and they were all looking at me with strange expressions.

“I heard you were weak, but you’re really frail.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, So-hyun, I didn’t know.”

“We weren’t even running that fast.”

That was Kang Ha-ni, Lilac, and Yoo-na, in that order.

Two looked at me with pity, and one was genuinely worried about me. I felt incredibly pathetic.

I wanted to say that this was already a huge improvement compared to before, but that would only make them pity me more.

“Huff…!

Displeased by their gazes, I forced myself to stand up.

Lilac, you bastard. After everything I did for you, this is how you repay me?

I even ate cherry tomatoes because of you…!

The Saint’s Will that was originally intended for Lilac was still in my pocket, but I had already made up my mind. I would give it to Professor Cathy instead.

Of course, it wasn’t Lilac’s fault that my physical strength was pathetic compared to the average cadet, but I couldn’t forgive him for suggesting we “lightly jog around the track” right after lunch and then suddenly sprint at full speed.

Of course, afterward, the kind Lilac and his friends matched my pace and jogged carefully with me as if I were a child.

Damn it, this felt even more embarrassing. Was it just my imagination?

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After that unexpected bonding experience, my next class was finally with my secret friend.

“Hello. I see some students from my homeroom class here. I’m Cathy, and I’ll be teaching Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat.”

Up until now, I had only seen Professor Cathy in suit-like clothes, but perhaps because it was a hand-to-hand combat class, she was currently wearing tight-fitting training clothes.

Most of the male students’ gazes were fixed on her ample chest, which was prominent even under her usual suit.

Of course, I wasn’t included.

I didn’t want to do anything that would lower Professor Cathy’s goodwill towards me.

Professor Cathy, however, seemed pleased, thinking the students’ shining eyes were due to their eagerness to learn.

Interpreting people too positively was both her strength and weakness.

“Everyone’s eyes are full of passion. Admiration for strength is an essential mindset for a hero. Good attitude.”

Setting aside whether what they were admiring was actually strength, I felt a bit uneasy.

Would this Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat class actually be useful?

No, it seemed worth taking just because of the instructor, but I was also worried that she might suddenly start talking about how true strength came from bare-handed combat or to practice martial arts for inner improvement.

Why? Because Lilac wasn’t taking this class.

“Some of you might think, ‘Isn’t hand-to-hand combat useless unless your talent is related to unarmed combat?’ I can confidently tell you that’s not true.”

Thankfully, she didn’t suddenly suggest we start meditating.

“Hand-to-hand combat is important even when using weapons. Of course, swordsmanship is the most important if you use a sword, and spearmanship if you use a spear, but supplementary hand-to-hand combat skills will definitely be helpful. And of course, it goes without saying for those whose talent is unarmed combat and have to fight bare-handed.”

Cathy displayed a video using a hologram.

It was a fight between a hero and a villain, both swordsmen.

“For example, the value of hand-to-hand combat becomes apparent when two people with similar skills and the same weapon type fight, like in this video.”

In the video, during a sword fight, the moment they locked blades in a test of strength, the hero slightly relaxed his grip, then used a low kick to destroy the villain’s posture, making him lose his balance.

Small gasps of awe erupted from the students.

“When using weapons, you should think about attacking unguarded areas. This can also be a survival tactic if you lose your weapon, or, like in the video, it can be used to exploit an opening when your opponent is too focused on your weapon.”

How should I put it?

It was a much more informative and useful class than I expected.

Well, it was a given.

She was a professor and an A-rank hero.

She wouldn’t spout nonsense here like it was a philosophy class.

But it still wouldn’t have been easy for her to suggest that her students think of the field she had dedicated her life to as a supplementary skill, so she was truly admirable for that.

“Well, you’d rather try it out than listen to boring theories, right? Today, to assess your level, you’ll pair up and have a simple mock battle.”

…What?

That wouldn’t work.

Sparring was only meaningful when the participants were evenly matched.

But seriously, there wasn’t a single student in the entire academy who could fight me on equal footing.

Why? Because I was too weak, damn it.

I wished Lilac or Kang Ha-ni, who knew my situation, were in this class, but unfortunately, there wasn’t a single familiar face here.

“Hey.”

No, there was one.

Not a very pleasant acquaintance, though.

“Want to spar with me?”

The butt, the prospective president of the Cheon Yoo-hak fan club, spoke to me with a rather fierce expression.

What was her problem with me, acting so differently from the original story?

In the novel, Lilac became angry with Cheon Yoo-hak for not saving people at the entrance ceremony despite having the power to do so, and Cheon Yoo-hak, in turn, found Lilac frustrating for insisting on protecting others despite being so competent, leading to a rift between them.

This girl, who liked Cheon Yoo-hak, then spread bad rumors about Lilac and picked fights with him simply because he didn’t get along with Cheon Yoo-hak.

Cheon Yoo-hak, however, despised her for her petty actions and ignored her. After being rejected, she became the target of bullying, a truly unfortunate character.

The extra characters bullied her, afraid of being ostracized by Cheon Yoo-hak themselves. Later, she was saved from bullying by Lilac and was about to show him some goodwill when she became a sacrificial lamb and died.

A device to incite hatred and act as a clown. In the end, she died to enrage Lilac further.

That was her role in my friend’s novel.

It seemed that this time, since Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak didn’t have a falling out yet, her attention shifted to me, who had rejected Cheon Yoo-hak’s offer.

“Why? Are you scared?”

She hadn’t directly challenged Lilac in the novel since he was incredibly strong, but perhaps because she had confirmed my lack of ability in Basic Physical Training, she was quite aggressive with me.

“Well, did I do something wrong to you?”

I decided to ask politely first.

“No? What are you talking about? You’re so self-conscious. Let’s just spar.”

Haha, so you were a friend with a talent for casually making sarcastic remarks!

I felt a pang of sympathy for the character my friend created as a mere consumable, but I didn’t like her personality.

It hadn’t been noticeable until now because I had only met relatively kind people so far, but I wasn’t a very nice person.

I wasn’t the type to be lenient towards those who showed hostility to me without reason.

Of course, I knew I couldn’t win, but I could probably surprise her if I used Enhancement.

Then what should I do?

“Stop.”

Someone intervened between us.

It was Professor Cathy.

“Cadet Kang So-hyun is physically weak, so I will be personally instructing him for the time being.”

“What? That’s not fair, is it? Isn’t that discrimination?”

“It might seem that way, but the academy’s principle is to provide training tailored to each student. And I can’t allow a spar when a student is showing such open hostility.”

Professor Cathy was firm.

It seemed she had originally intended to spar with me herself, but she immediately intervened after seeing the atmosphere.

Hey, hey, I was counting on you!

Cathy, you were always thinking ahead!

The butt seemed quite displeased, but perhaps aware of her own emotional state, she started looking for another partner.

Well, I hadn’t done anything particularly wrong, so she would probably give up on her own.

“Now then, Cadet Kang So-hyun, shall we begin?”

“Yes, Professor.”

“First, I need to see your skills, so attack me freely.”

Well, I had never fought before.

I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing though, so I assumed a boxing stance I had seen in most of the manga I’ve read and charged at her.

My straight punch landed squarely on her abs, but she didn’t even dodge.

I was momentarily surprised, but it didn’t take me long to realize that my punch couldn’t possibly hurt her.

She just looked at me as if she was asking me if that was all I had.

Yes, that was my serious, all-out attack.

Her eyes wavered for a moment, but then she started explaining.

“Cadet So-hyun, first of all, a straight punch isn’t aimed at the abs.”

Huh, really?

“And it’s not a punch you throw with just your arm strength.”

Ah, I seemed to recall something about using your steps and twisting your waist from manga and novels.

“More importantly, you lack overall strength. It would be best for you to focus on training and learning the movements before sparring.”

Wow, it seemed like I would be the punching bag in hand-to-hand combat class.

Professor Cathy’s pitiful gaze hurt my pride.

“But there are many grappling techniques that don’t rely on strength, so don’t worry too much, Cadet Kang So-hyun.”

She was trying to comfort me, but I couldn’t help but feel disheartened.

“That’s… that’s right, So-hyun. There are many techniques out there, not just striking techniques, so don’t be discouraged.”

I was so discouraged that Professor Cathy momentarily lost her composure, and spoke informally.

“Yes.”

The male students glared at me enviously as Professor Cathy approached me and corrected my form.

So what?

If you were so jealous, then you should become terminally ill (not anymore, lol) too.

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As the academy classes neared their end, I felt the need to revise two of my thoughts.

First, despite Professor Cathy’s kindness, she didn’t go easy on me during training.

It was truly terrifying how she kept making me repeat my movements with a smile until I got the form right.

I was a bit irritated because the other kids were laughing at me for not being able to do it, but in the end, she smiled and said she was glad my strength had improved more than she had thought, so I wasn’t too resentful.

Now, the second was for the butt girl.

Our butt girl was more tenacious than I thought.

Although it was in a frustrating way.

“Hey, does it feel good to be protected by a girl?”

“Pathetic bastard. I heard you were whining while only lifting 25kg dumbbells in the physical training class? Why don’t you just quit the academy?”

Specifically, she kept sending these annoying bastards to bother me.

“Hey, there are some bad rumors going around about you. Something about bribing the professors to treat you well.”

According to my roommate, Kang Ha-ni, the rumors were spreading incredibly fast thanks to whatever the butt girl was doing.

The reason was her talent, which specialized in instigation and fabrication.

“I told them it’s definitely not true. It’s not true, right?”

“Yeah, it’s not. I’m not close enough to my family for me to bribe anyone.”

“Of course. Lilac also said you wouldn’t do that.”

“Thank you both.”

Lilac was a good person, so it was expected, but I was a bit grateful to Kang Ha-ni.

She was just my roommate, and since she disliked men, she could have believed the rumors and distanced herself from me, but she seemed to trust me quite a bit.

“You’re welcome… we’re… you know… friends.”

Hmm, “friends”… That was a nice word.

“I’m going back to the room, what about you?”

“I have to work out a bit more.”

“What? You already did basic training this morning and almost died in our after-lunch light workout.”

“That’s why I have to do more. I want to graduate from being a weakling.”

“Oh, you have more willpower than I thought.”

Did I only have willpower?

If I told her that I had brought up this pathetic body, which couldn’t even lift 500g at first, to this level in just a month, she might see me in a new light.

Of course, I wasn’t going to tell her that since that new light might be the look one would give a fool.

Yeah.

“By the way, I don’t like whoever started the rumors.”

“Why, are you going to beat them up for me?”

“Oh, do you know who it is?”

“Just drop it. It’ll only ruin your image.”

As I was heading to the training room after saying goodbye, someone blocked my path.

“…Cheon Yoo-hak?”

It was our egoist, Cheon Yoo-hak.

“There are some strange rumors going around.”

“Ah, right.”

“I know it’s not true, so don’t worry. You might be weak, but you’re not spineless.”

Seriously, what happened between you and me in the past?

“Are those rumors because of me?”

“No.”

“Don’t play dumb. I’m used to my self-proclaimed followers causing this kind of trouble.”

Damn it, this was really unsettling.

You didn’t act like this in the original story.

You were supposed to just ignore and belittle the butt girl, and then leave while saying it wasn’t your problem.

“I’ll take care of it for you if you want.”

“No thanks, Yoo-hak. I don’t need your help.”

“I’m not saying this so you’ll join my team.”

Sorry, but I didn’t need it.

If I were lynched and beaten up, I might change my mind, but not now.

If Cheon Yoo-hak stepped in and resolved it now, it would ruin my plan.

“Thanks, but I’ll handle my own problems. I can’t back down.”

Cheon Yoo-hak observed me for a moment, then chuckled.

“You’re finally acting like your old self.”

I didn’t know what he meant by that, but since he seemed satisfied with my answer, I should go work out now.

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T/N – I knew it, the butt girl really became annoying fast like I said. As for the MC, I would have been disappointed if he didn’t have a plan, with him being an adult in his previous life and with all the future knowledge he has in his head.

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