Fated to Die in an Academy Novel – Chapter 107

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Lee Yoo-na was acting very rationally, at least by her standards.

She refrained from jumping out of the bushes every time he made a shocking statement, and she resisted the urge to smash the faces of those bitches hitting on Lilac with a sledgehammer.

She even endured the humiliation of almost having her most shameful secret revealed to Lilac because of those sluts.

All for one reason.

To resolve this question without Lilac finding out.

Kang So-hyun.

Her friend from the academy, the boy who was always strangely afraid of her.

At first, it was a mystery.

Neither her appearance, which attracted unnecessary attention, nor her talent, which charmed any man regardless of their preferences, had any effect on him.

He was the first besides Lilac to resist it, but he didn’t approach her with the same gentle kindness as Lilac.

Instead, he was wary of her and kept his distance.

If he had stopped there, she would have dismissed it while thinking that some people were just like that. But he didn’t.

Honestly, she knew her personality was twisted, so she always wondered why he was kind to her despite keeping his distance.

It wasn’t love. Nor was it submission out of fear.

She was confident in sensing others’ emotions, so she was almost certain of this.

What he felt towards her was always faint pity, sympathy, and… a sense of responsibility.

‘Why? Who are you? Why do you feel that way about me?’

She had those questions, but still, she thought she could be friends with him.

She also had secrets, and she wasn’t the only one he felt that way about.

He harbored similar feelings towards Lilac, the professors, and sometimes even the other cadets.

If he didn’t have feelings for her, if he cared about Lilac, wouldn’t that be enough?

She thought so before.

But what if he knew all her shameful secrets? What if there was a chance he would tell Lilac?

She had to silence him by any means necessary.

If he knew her true nature, it would explain why he was afraid of her.

It felt like all the pieces were falling into place.

“…Tell me. What are you?”

He looked at her for a while without saying anything.

Was he thinking of an excuse, or was he going to get serious? Or was he just going to deny it out of frustration?

…Perhaps she was feeling betrayed after a long time.

She thought she would never feel this way again.

Did she like having friends more than she thought?

Just as those regretful feelings surfaced from within her—

“Huu…”

A demonic aura swirled around him.

It was a vast and dense demonic aura, unlike the faint one she was born with, lingering around him without spreading.

“I can actually control demonic energy.”

“…What? How?”

If he could control such a high concentration of demonic energy, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to figure out her true nature. But there was no way an ordinary cadet, someone not born with a black magician’s talent, could control this level of demonic energy.

The swirling demonic aura subsided, and at the same time, a mark appeared on his right hand.

The demonic blood flowing through her screamed.

It screamed that she shouldn’t question the owner of that mark, the agent of ‘that being.’

That she should kneel and beg for forgiveness.

What was this? She didn’t know about devils’ ecology or habits. What was this mark that instilled such a primal fear in her?

Was he dangerous after all?

“Ah, shit. What is this? You said you would help.”

He said that as he covered the mark on his hand with a glove he pulled out from somewhere while approaching her.

“Hey, are you okay? You look terrible. No, damn it, what the…”

The emotions she felt from his gaze were pure worry, guilt, and regret.

Worry…? In this situation? About her?

Ah, now she remembered.

The day they first met.

When Lilac brought him along while betraying her expectations of enjoying lunch with him alone…

When she was seriously considering smashing his head in, hoping it would prevent such incidents from happening again…

Even though it seemed like Lilac had dragged him there against his will, he felt sorry and worried for her, so she tolerated it.

Thinking about it again, it was ridiculous.

Him, who staged a youthful drama in the middle of the night to set her up with Lilac, suddenly revealing her true nature to Lilac?

Him, who could control this level of demonic energy, being afraid of her because she was a half-demon?

It was an absurd delusion.

…She was agitated.

She wasn’t being rational.

She hadn’t lived a very rational life, but this time, she was definitely in the wrong.

She was too on edge because those bitches called her a defective product. She was worried that Lilac would find out about her true nature.

She was also afraid that her friend, whom she finally made, would see her as something other than ‘Yoo-na.’

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“…What?”

“What do I look like to you?”

To him, her friend, was she a disgusting, defective half-demon succubus? Or was she just Yoo-na, the human?

“…Can I be honest?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“You really won’t be mad?”

“…What are you even going to say?”

He hesitated for a while, then looked at her with determination.

“…A pink chihuahua.”

And that answer was quite unexpected.

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Devil’s Touch said it would help me if I paid the price for the contract.

It was a provisional contract, not a real one, something that allowed me to borrow its power whenever I wanted.

So, without much thought, I cut off a bit of my innate qi, about the amount I used for Enhancement, and gave it to the artifact. The next moment, a storm of demonic energy swept through the surroundings.

What…? It was so efficient just from a bit of innate qi? Why could that black magician only do that much even after sacrificing his comrades’ corpses?

But how do I control this? It was subtly different from magical power, so I wasn’t sure how to handle it…

Such thoughts came to my mind simultaneously, but at least the latter was unnecessary.

The vast demonic energy, as if it wasn’t meant for me to control, moved on its own and gathered in my right arm.

“I can actually control demonic energy.”

So far, so good. I could even boast about it.

But the moment the concentrated demonic energy formed a strange mark on my right hand, things changed.

No, damn it. Why is there another stupid mark? I already had Black Shadow’s mark.

Before that playful thought could even finish, Yoo-na’s face contorted, and she clutched her chest as if she couldn’t breathe.

What the hell was this?

-By the order of the demonic realm, an unawakened half-demon cannot face a noble being of hell. You have been granted authority as a proxy through a special provisional contract.

-It can no longer question you. And if you wish, it will grant you anything…

‘Shut up.’

I quickly covered the mark with my glove, and Yoo-na seemed to recover, exhaling.

-You asked for my help…

‘Damn it, I asked for help, not to kill her, you crazy bastard.’

I was screwed. Royally screwed.

My plan to lie about being able to control demonic energy was gone.

Would this still be okay?

I hurriedly ran to Yoo-na.

-If it weren’t for you.

A woman who looked at me with hatred-filled eyes. She was a woman who, in the original story, would be consumed by demonic energy after failing to become a hero, and perish, burning with her love.

-I came here to kill you, but that wasn’t enough?

Did I really have to go this far? I had already made too many mistakes to have such doubts.

So, I grabbed her neck.

It was slender, as if it might break at any moment.

It felt unreal that this was the lifeline of a woman who was considered one of the greatest heroes in this world.

Her body, which she had honed as a hero, driven by her hatred for me and defying fate, was still as slender as when she was a student.

-If you find it funny, then laugh. Why? Did you develop feelings for me after fighting so much? Stop being creepy.

Her eyes flashed with madness as she grabbed my wrist.

I had already broken her body and taken all of her magical power. What stood before me wasn’t a hero anymore, but a woman on the verge of death.

-If you don’t kill me now, I will definitely kill you later. Even if I die, I will kill you. You think I’ll forgive you just because you’re dead?

It was impossible, yet I felt uneasy.

So, I tightened my grip. It was still an unpleasant sensation.

No, damn it. This wasn’t my memory.

Yoo-na and I had no reason to kill each other, and the sensation on my fingertips was just a delusion.

Right?

Please.

I didn’t know what I said to the trembling Yoo-na, but she looked up.

She looked at me for a moment and smiled wryly.

Of course, there was no hatred or disgust in her eyes like the woman in my memory.

It was only natural, but I was so relieved by that look.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“What do I look like to you?”

My heart skipped a beat.

It was a question as if she had peered into my memories.

What was she to me right now?

The Succubus Queen who cornered Lilac but perished before she could finish him off?

The woman who rebuilt herself for revenge and became one of the world’s greatest heroes?

No.

Neither of those were ‘my’ memories.

One was just a vanished possibility of the future, and the other was just a remnant of a damn memory whose owner I didn’t know.

Then what was she to me?

A somewhat uncomfortable acquaintance, a troublemaker who might explode at any moment, a severe Lilac addict, and a girl who had finally become someone I could almost call a friend.

“Can I be honest?”

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“A pink chihuahua.”

“…What?”

“A pink chihuahua. Ever since we first met, you haven’t cared about anyone but Lilac, always looking like you’re about to bite someone.”

She tilted her head in confusion.

“So, to me, you’re a pink chihuahua. Fierce for your size, and scary as hell because I don’t know what you’ll do next.”

“Pfft.”

Hmm?

“Pffft… Haha.”

…She was laughing?

I honestly thought she would flip out.

Judging by the way she was clutching her stomach and chuckling, she was trying hard to contain herself.

The pink-haired girl laughed cutely for a while, then returned to her usual, subtly expressionless face.

“So that’s why you were scared. Yeah, I guess it’s understandable.”

“…Is it that funny?”

“Don’t worry, at least Lilac and I won’t bite you.”

She smiled and stood up.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?”

-Do I deserve to call you my friend?

I suppressed the question that arose from within me.

“I’m honored.”

I wouldn’t let her end up like that again.

Just as I was about to conclude the incident, the cause of it all quietly spoke to me in my mind.

-Devil’s Touch requests to speak.

‘…Shut up. I’ll feed you to Black Shadow.’

There was a limit to crossing the line.

I felt bad that I hadn’t given Black Shadow a proper meal since the Rose Dragon, so you…

-I admit my failure, but I traced the succubi’s forced recall.

…Maybe I shouldn’t feed it to Black Shadow just yet?

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The devil beyond Devil’s Touch smiled.

She was pleased to have successfully engraved her mark on his body.

She knew he would dislike it, that he would be flustered and try to cover it up.

It was a form of expectation management.

If she kept performing well, his expectations would rise, but so would his wariness of a competent devil.

So, it was better to make a big mistake at first and then gradually reveal her competence.

So that he would let his guard down and open up to her little by little while still remembering her mistake and not being too wary.

As long as her mark was on his body, even if it was just a provisional contract, time was on her side.

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“Girls, I told you not to fight in the human world.”

“Y-Your Majesty…!”

“S-Sorry!”

“No, it’s okay. You fulfilled your quota, and thanks to you, I found a promising offering. And more importantly, I was able to see my dear child thanks to you.”

The Queen smiled seductively and nodded.

“You’re still alive.”

It was a smile closer to twisted obsession than affection, but it was an undeniably beautiful smile that would charm anyone.

“Yes, it’s okay. It didn’t disrupt the plan. You can do better next time, right?”

“Yes!”

“O-Of course!”

The Queen caressed them.

“Everything is for the perfect dreamland.”

The moment she said that, countless bat wings unfolded and flapped, searching for new prey.

“Yes, for a perfect world where no one is sad.”

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T/N – Oh dang, I’m more curious than ever about those memories. From the sounds of it, it seems like the MC killed Lilac or something and Yoo-na became a hero to kill him for revenge only to fail. It sounds to me like the MC became a villain in his memories, what with treating Ha-ni as a tool and now this.

Also, I’m super curious about the devil the MC contracted as well. She seems to be pretty high up the ladder. I can see the Succubus Queen going for the MC only for him to flash his contract mark and the Queen shitting herself after seeing it.

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