I Became the Terminally Ill Character in My Friend’s Academy Novel – Chapter 37

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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I woke up to a cheerful ding~ and instantly felt annoyed.

I wanted to deny reality and close my eyes again, but it was pointless since I had already seen it.

-9 hours until the special quest begins.-

“…What the hell?”

“Huh? What’s wrong? Why are you cursing?”

Startled by the unreasonable notification, I blurted out a curse before remembering Ha-ni was in the same room.

“Ah, sorry. I must have been dreaming. It was a bad dream, so I’m a bit out of it.”

I really wished it was just a bad dream. What was a special quest? I had never received one before.

“Are you nervous about receiving the commendation today? Ah, you’re so cute. Getting nightmares because you’re nervous~”

Yes, today was the day I received the commendation I desperately wanted to avoid.

And I didn’t know if this special quest was a good thing or a bad thing, but the fact that it completely overlapped with the award ceremony amplified my anxiety.

This was so inconvenient.

-A special quest refers to a new event that didn’t occur in the original story, The Holy Sword Hero of the Academy.-

…That was incredibly helpful.

It even gave me an explanation just because I complained.

-I-it’s not like I told you for y-your sake!-

Seriously, crossing the line?

I could endure the sudden, annoying quest in the morning and the dreadful award ceremony where I had to participate as a main character, but I couldn’t tolerate this outdated, lame joke.

-I apologize.-

I knew it from the time it said, “Thank you always, human,” but it really seemed like someone was manually sending me these notifications.

At least it apologized for its lame joke, so there was room for leniency.

Otherwise, I would have wasted time trying to figure out how to turn off these annoying notifications.

-I sincerely apologize. As a token of my apology, I will provide additional information about the special quest.-

Well, it wasn’t human, or rather, it wasn’t a person, so whatever. Everyone made lame jokes sometimes.

We couldn’t always make funny jokes. We needed to be more tolerant.

-…The characters involved in the special quest are Choi In-ho and Jin Kyung-tae.-

Seriously, why were you acting all offended when I forgave you?

No, wait, setting that aside, what? Choi In-ho and Jin Kyung-tae?

The possibility of it being a positive quest vanished the moment those two names were mentioned.

If it was just Jin Kyung-tae, I could have assumed it was related to the commendation, but the fact that the crazy Choi In-ho was involved probably meant that they would actually appear.

“Han-hee.”

“Yeah?”

“You go ahead today. I’m not feeling well.”

I actually understood the situation.

I heard that Choi In-ho escaped during transport, and if Jin Kyung-tae had promised to join them, then they would have gotten him out somehow too.

Yes, I could understand.

It had been less than a month since the academy started, and originally, Choi In-ho shouldn’t have even properly appeared yet, and Lilac was supposed to be having a chase scene with Jin Kyung-tae.

Since I caught them too early, there would probably be some unintended side effects.

Academy students receiving commendations?

I understood it was an event those perverts obsessed with students would love, both in a positive and negative sense.

They probably thought it was the perfect time for a terrorist attack, with the academy in chaos due to club activities.

But understanding the situation and feeling disgusted were two different things.

“Hey, you’re not skipping the award ceremony, are you?”

“I’m not running away. I’ll go as soon as I feel better, so don’t worry about me and go on ahead.”

“Really…? Okay. Do you need anything?”

“No, wait, yes. Tell Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak something.”

“What?”

“Tell them to be prepared.”

“…What? Okay.”

And you guys should be prepared too, Choi In-ho and Jin Kyung-tae. You’re dead.

What was I going to do?

Snitch.

This wasn’t an event from the original story, and I didn’t need to fix anyone’s personality like with Kim Ga-eul.

I opened my smartphone, searched my contacts, and tapped the number saved as “Secret Friend 2.”

After a brief ring, a voice answered.

[Cadet Kang So-hyun? What is it?]

“Chairman, it’s nothing much, but I have some useful information that could restore Reilan Academy’s slightly tarnished reputation. Do you need it?”

[What…?]

Why wait for those villains to launch a terrorist attack? I could just strike first.

I had a secret weapon, after all.

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Two men were enjoying a drive in a sports car on a beautiful spring day.

“Why do you look so glum on such a nice day?”

“Ah, just thinking about the students smiling makes me sick.”

The two villains, Jin Kyung-tae and Choi In-ho, were on their way to launch another terrorist attack.

“You and I really have nothing in common. Just seeing the students smiling brightly and enjoying their youth makes me happy.”

“Bullshit. Then why are you killing them?”

“Killing? That’s a bit harsh. I’m just trying to prevent them from becoming despicable adults like you and me. I would stop this right away if there was another way.”

“If you asked people who’s crazier, you or me, they would all say you.”

“I know I’m not understood. But isn’t that what conviction is all about?”

“They say that a madman with conviction is quite scary.”

To others, this would just look like two crazy people arguing, but there seemed to be a hierarchy even among madmen as they tried to portray each other as the crazier one.

“Well, anyway, let’s not interfere with each other’s work since we have the same goal.”

“Yes, we should make their last moments the happiest, while they’re still enjoying their lives.”

Although their ideologies were different, the results of their crimes were the same.

And since their previous terrorist attacks were thwarted, both pleasure killers were quite eager.

They wanted to deal with the students immediately without any complicated procedures, but they were currently following orders from above.

“…Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“There are a lot of checkpoints today.”

“You’re right.”

They wouldn’t be caught since they already changed their appearances with transformation magic, but it was strange that the closer they got to the academy, the stricter the checkpoints became.

And the number of cars around them gradually decreased as they approached the academy.

By the time they were the only car on the road, an indescribable sense of unease filled the two criminals.

Something felt wrong, but they didn’t know what.

“Hmm, so it’s true. A sports car, and camouflage magic. Very accurate.”

“Holy shit.”

“Turn the car around! Quickly!”

Their vague unease materialized into a disaster and descended upon them.

Raylan Claudia.

The Chairman of Reilan Academy, and a transcendent being who had never fallen out of the top 30 in the world hero rankings.

A being who was a symbol of fear to villains was approaching them while walking on air.

Although she wasn’t in her true form, the aura she emitted was clearly not that of an ordinary person, and Choi In-ho, sensing this, hurriedly tried to escape. But his attempt was futile.

“Shit…”

A car was a vehicle that traveled on the ground.

In other words, it was an object that only functioned when its wheels were in contact with the ground.

Conversely, if the wheels weren’t in contact with the ground for whatever reason, a car was just a heavy piece of scrap metal.

“It’s no use trying to run. This is a precious opportunity given to me by one of our students to restore the academy’s reputation.”

And their sports car was already floating in the air due to her talent.

“Now, let’s check your faces, just in case.”

As she approached, she waved her hand, and the magic disguising them was forcibly dispelled, revealing their true faces.

“Both of you, as expected. It’s good to see you. I’ve been quite stressed lately thanks to you two.”

There was nothing Choi In-ho and Jin Kyung-tae could do against an S-rank hero, one of the few in the world.

“Say something.”

The car started to crumple with a creaking sound.

“What are you planning to do, just die silently?”

Heroes of A-rank and above had the right to summarily execute villains, and that meant she was serious.

This was the moment when the two villains who had tormented and traumatized the protagonist in the early part of the original story were completely removed from the narrative.

It was also the moment when the right and left arms of the academy’s mastermind, who would have committed countless atrocities in the original story, were cut off.

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The award ceremony was proceeding smoothly.

“Cadet Lilac and Cadet Kang So-hyun have shown exemplary behavior and contributed to society by fighting against injustice, and thus, we are awarding them with certificates of commendation.”

I felt a bit embarrassed seeing the professors clapping with proud expressions.

Lilac received his award first as he was called, and then, just as I was about to go up on stage to receive mine…

…an alarm suddenly blared, and something fell from the sky.

It was a monster.

A giant centipede-like insect with the scythes of a mantis and the horns of another monster.

A creature that clearly wasn’t born naturally, it was a new synthetic life form, a chimera, born from the magic of a dark mage and the Loneliness of an insect tamer.

Most of the students were terrified by its gruesome appearance and strange aura, and the professors tried to respond, but a barrier suddenly appeared and separated them from the students.

No one wondered why a monster had suddenly fallen from the sky in this unexpected turn of events.

It was a similar scene to the entrance ceremony.

-Kishaaa…!

The monster roared, as if triggered by the screams.

Again, no one questioned why the monster had suddenly appeared.

Most were paralyzed by fear, and those who weren’t…

“Hey, Lilac.”

“Oh, So-hyun.”

…already knew.

The giant monster tried to lunge at the students, but contrary to its will, its body started floating in the air.

The students, who had initially been scared, thinking that the monster could fly, tilted their heads in confusion as they noticed something was wrong.

“Ah!”

“Chairman!?”

“So it’s true. I was told that they would reveal themselves if I released a monster. There’s another traitor inside the academy. I’ll have to crack down on the professors.”

The students and professors sighed in relief at the sight of the Chairman, who appeared calmly while walking on air.

Her fake identity, if I remembered correctly, was a retired hunter, not a hero, but still quite capable.

“I think this will be enough.”

“Yeah. Hey, you have no idea how surprised I was. I received a message this morning saying there would be a terrorist attack at the award ceremony today, but I shouldn’t worry because they would take care of it. Who wouldn’t be worried after receiving a message like that?”

“I did it because I was worried you would make a mistake if I told you directly.”

“That’s true. But the Chairman is amazing. How did she know about the terrorist attack in advance?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s been on high alert since there have been two incidents already?”

“Is that really all?”

“What, do you think I’m lying?”

“No~? Why are you getting angry?”

Lilac’s sly grin made me feel annoyed. It felt like he was teasing me, saying, “I know you’re lying~.”

This bastard had good instincts in the wrong places.

Well, anyway, it seemed like this terrorist attack had been resolved without any casualties.

The students were already acting like spectators at a hero show, and although the professors were trapped in a barrier, they didn’t seem to be in any danger.

The mastermind, who had probably realized that things were going wrong, and the traitor, who couldn’t escape because of the barrier, must be panicking.

“By the way, why didn’t you catch him yourself and let Yoo-hak do it?”

“If you and I didn’t show up to receive the awards, they might have become suspicious.”

And one of those two would be caught by the ill-tempered second protagonist.

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“What the hell is going on! How did the information leak…?!”

While most of the students and professors were gathered, a man was running in the opposite direction.

“Professor Lee Ho-min, where are you going?”

His heart sank at the sudden cold voice, but Professor Lee Ho-min forced a calm expression.

“Ah, I… I left something important in my office. I’m in a hurry to get it.”

“Really? I think you’re actually trying to destroy evidence, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“It’s surprising that there’s actually an artifact that can conceal talent. Anyway…”

Cheon Yoo-hak, with a fierce grin, aimed his spear that was longer than his own height at the professor.

“You’ll have to become my achievement, Professor.”

“What are you doing…?!”

As if he had no intention of listening to his excuses, Cheon Yoo-hak thrust his spear towards his heart.

A barrier appeared just before the spear pierced him, blocking the attack, but Cheon Yoo-hak just smiled.

“This should be enough evidence.”

It didn’t take long for despair to fill the professor’s face.

It was as if the mastermind’s legs had been cut off, following his arms.

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T/N – Ah, yes, the power of tattling. If you know something bad’s about to happen, and you can’t handle it on your own, just go and tell someone else who can. Remember kids, snitches don’t get stitches when lives are on the line.

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