Fated to Die in an Academy Novel – Chapter 109

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

(Kim Ga-eul Pov up to next transition)

Just reject me outright. Then I won’t attend the party.

That’s what I originally intended to say.

Seriously, how could I ask him to be my partner?

I thought there was a chance once.

He wasn’t the type to open up to others easily, and I was close to him, regardless of the method.

But instead of trying when there was still a sliver of hope, I denied my own feelings.

Stupid bitch.

He became popular just by changing his style, his status changing overnight.

I realized it when people far greater than myself showed interest in him, and even the professor, whom I never considered a rival, asked him to be her partner.

Ah, I guess it’s not going to work for me.

Every time he indulged my whims and comforted me, I had the same thought.

What if we had met differently?

What if we had met earlier?

Even his casual friends had dramatic encounters with him.

Lilac had the entrance ceremony. Kang Han-hee was his roommate. Cheon Yoo-hak was his childhood friend. And the professor who asked him to be her partner had the incredible experience of clearing a dungeon together with him, and recently, he even saved her life.

What about me?

Nothing. I didn’t even have a dramatic encounter with him, just the worst first impression.

It was undeniably my fault.

I was so frustrated that I rejected him, someone I could never have no matter how hard I tried.

I should have just held back.

It wouldn’t have been a negative if I hadn’t done anything stupid.

But I messed up and made the worst first impression.

I provoked him, bothered him, and even framed him, but still I couldn’t defeat him, falling into the abyss as a result.

Ironically, it was him and his friends who extended a hand to me in that abyss.

The relationship wasn’t equal from the start, so his kindness should have ended when he treated me as an equal.

But he didn’t stop there.

He saved my life, comforted me when I was down, and didn’t reject me when I approached him.

And every time I tried to repay his kindness, the difference became clear.

The lunchbox I made was worse than the one made by Han-hee, a guy. I couldn’t help him when he was in danger, and when I thought he was dead, I tried to take revenge but couldn’t even attract the villains’ attention.

What was this? This wasn’t just a different starting line.

Ah, it was all my fault.

It was so undeniably my fault that I couldn’t even blame anyone. I was so far behind that I couldn’t even consider myself their rival.

But there was something even more disgusting.

What if he realized I was feeling down?

He would definitely reach out to me again.

The mere thought of it made me feel disgusted with myself.

So, I should end this. I would apologize to Yoo-hak, get rejected one more time, be completely cornered, and then give up. It was time for me to sort out these feelings.

That was what I thought.

“Butt.”

Until he suddenly called me by a ridiculous nickname.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

It might sound strange for me to say this, but unlike the others, I couldn’t easily predict what Ga-eul was thinking.

I had read countless times about what the other characters thought and how they reacted in different situations in the novel, and I knew their personalities from the settings book. But Kim Ga-eul was originally just a passing extra.

She was a girl who paid too steep a price for karmic retribution by dying tragically just to fuel the protagonist’s anger.

She wasn’t exactly a good person, but she wasn’t pure evil either, so her details weren’t clearly defined in the settings.

That was why I didn’t know Kim Ga-eul well.

But I could talk about the Ga-eul I experienced myself.

She was more timid than I thought, but she was also stubborn.

She could be cruel to those she wasn’t close with, but once she considered someone an ally, she would support them recklessly.

She was easily pleased by small things, and her smile was more charming than I thought.

And she was easily flustered, perhaps too much so, when faced with unexpected problems.

She was a character too insignificant to be called a heroine or a villainess, and that was why she was an extra.

I saved her at first out of pity for her insignificance, but she had become too close to me.

That was the Kim Ga-eul I knew.

And if I considered the human Kim Ga-eul I experienced, not the novel character, I thought I knew what she was thinking.

“You know you’re worrying about something incredibly stupid, right?”

“…What? Didn’t you hear me?”

No, I heard you clearly. That’s why it was so ridiculous.

Well, in a web novel, a mind-body-spirit virgin might appear and shout, “Purity is…!” and there would be a 5700-word comment about it, but honestly, dragging on a childhood crush and failing wasn’t that uncommon.

It wasn’t like she was two-timing.

It wasn’t like she couldn’t forget her past love.

It was just that she had a past love.

That was why she tormented me.

And now she felt guilty for being attracted to me because it felt disgusting?

That was the gist of it, but what the hell did that even mean?

I wasn’t a crazy sweet guy, but I was okay with this much.

If she hadn’t even reflected on her actions, I wouldn’t have cared.

But she apologized and reflected.

She was even blaming herself.

Surprisingly, in real life, that put her in the top 20% in terms of personality.

“…But why ‘butt’?”

“You were sitting on my desk when we first met.”

“Huh…? Yeah.”

“You left a mark. So every time you bothered me, I called you that in my head. ‘That butt.’”

Ah, shit, now that I thought about it, wasn’t that sexual harassment?

“…Are you joking to make me feel better?”

…She took it that way?

“I’m not joking. You called me a loser a lot too.”

But I couldn’t back down now.

I had to be shameless.

I had to put on a brave face.

In situations like this, the first one to be embarrassed loses.

“Weren’t we being serious just now?”

“That was just you. Why are you only saying what you want to say?”

“…So you’re confessing your feelings for my ass?”

“No, that’s not it. I’m just saying I’m not a perfect person either.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re talking like you’re the only messed up and strange person here.”

That wasn’t true.

“But you’re not. Everyone makes mistakes, and you can make mistakes because you’re young.”

Honestly, not to mention me, Cheon Yoo-hak, Kang Ha-ni, and even Lilac, as I saw yesterday, all had their flaws.

How many people in the world lived without making a single mistake?

So, what mattered was whether they crossed the line, and if they hadn’t, whether they could reflect and move forward.

As far as I was concerned, Kim Ga-eul hadn’t crossed the line yet.

“…You know you’re being mean right now, right?”

“What, you’re complaining even when I’m comforting you?”

“Saying that makes it sound like my worries were meaningless.”

“We’re finally on the same page, Ga-eul. That’s right. You were worrying about something completely meaningless.”

Well, it wasn’t completely meaningless. Everyone went through that phase during adolescence and grew into adults.

“Why are you so nice to me?”

Hmm, I wonder? I didn’t think I was being that nice.

If there was a reason…

-Hey, isn’t Ga-eul, the girl who appears in the beginning, a bit too expendable?

-These days, I like it when they just kill off characters who did something wrong.

-That’s true, but it’s a bit much. She’s not even a villain. You should have made her a more vicious villain in the beginning if that was the case.

-Then it would be weird for the protagonist to sympathize with her.

-I guess so…?

Perhaps it was because of the guilt and responsibility I felt for dismissing her death with a simple “I guess so…?”

And although it started from such selfish pity, that wasn’t all there was to it anymore.

“It’s like giving an extra rice cake to someone you dislike.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying.”

“…Loser.”

“…You… I was trying to be nice.”

“You seemed like a real loser when we first met. Why are you so good with words now? I feel like I’ve been tricked. Why would a loser hide their strength? It’s so unfair.”

Ga-eul’s expression was still dark.

I didn’t think her worries would be resolved just by talking.

“Hey, if I asked you to go with me now, would you be my partner? It’s not because you like me, right? It’s kind of unfair, so…”

“Hey.”

I think I say this too much these days.

“Ga-eul, just be honest.”

Good words were always cheesy. You should say what you want to say.

It was much better than regretting not saying it.

“Do you want to be my partner, or not?”

That was the point. Don’t go down some dark path and just be honest.

Ga-eul’s gaze wavered as she looked at me.

“I… want to.”

“Good. Then let’s go together.”

“…Huh? Really?”

“Do you think I’m lying?”

I was the type to go back on my word, but I was being serious this time. She could trust me.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Snip, snip. The scissors trimmed my hair little by little.

“…So you want me to be your partner too?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun, right?”

“…So-hyun… Sometimes, I seriously wonder if my friend is crazy.”

Ha-ni, who was cutting my hair, said in disbelief.

“But is that even allowed?”

“Well, the invitation didn’t say we couldn’t.”

“That’s true, but…”

The invitation said to bring a partner, not just one partner.

That’s right.

I said let’s all go together.

I wrote down everyone I was close with who wanted to go with me in the partner section.

That’s that, and honestly, I prepared all sorts of excuses, thinking there would be a lot of backlash if I said we were all going together. But surprisingly, everyone agreed readily.

First, the professor.

-Huh? Multiple partners? Yeah, let’s do that.

-Huh? I’m asking you this, but you know this is a very irresponsible and crazy request, right?

-There’s no way So-hyun would ask for something like this without a reason. I trust you, So-hyun.

She agreed so readily that I felt guilty.

-And I’m confident.

-…Confident about what?

-Confident that you’ll choose me in the end.

She said that and tapped my forehead, making me blush furiously.

And Ga-eul…

-Loser, you’re so mean. Really, really mean. I was so excited…!

-Use this opportunity to properly talk to everyone and make up. I’ll help you talk to Yoo-hak and Lira.

-Do you think I’ll fall for that?

-Yeah.

-That’s true, but…! Ah, shit! Loser, I hate you…! No, I don’t hate you!

And so on. She eventually agreed.

We couldn’t stay awkward forever, so we had to move on.

“…So I’m the last one?”

“Yeah, Cheon Yoo-hak agreed with a devilish grin, saying he was looking forward to his father’s expression.”

It was true.

He had been looking like a dead man these days, but the moment he heard my suggestion, he regained his energy with an evil grin.

“Lira is going to kill you.”

“She seemed happy about it. She said it was better than going with someone else.”

Joo-ri was also listed as my partner.

Lilac seriously considered it too, asking me “Should I do it too…?” I told him to back off if he didn’t want to die at Yoo-na’s hands. If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have done it too.

“…Is that how it works?”

“Yeah, anyway, there’s already another guy besides you, so don’t feel pressured and let’s do it.”

“…Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you trying to two-time? Are Yoo-hak and I just a cover?”

“Ah, what are you talking about? It’s not like that.”

It wasn’t really like that.

It wasn’t completely without personal motives, but I had a legitimate reason.

…What? Why was there a reason for this crazy harem behavior?

Honestly, it seemed difficult to attract that man’s attention otherwise.

But this way, I could definitely get his attention.

Because among the Cheon family bloodline, the one person who wouldn’t miss this kind of incident was the head of the Cheon family, Cheon Mu-jin.

…Well, it was time to stop making excuses and reach a conclusion.

I will have to decide soon. One way or another.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

T/N – Hello guys. Sorry about not being able to post last Tuesday and Thursday. I was sick these past couple of days, and in fact, I’m still not doing too hot right now (Or maybe I AM too hot right now. Get it? *Cough Cough*). I’m getting better, but I wanted to post these chapters before the weekends to give you guys something to read. I should be able to post as usual on Sunday, so no worries.

That last comment sounded ominous. Also, did Ga-eul really say she doesn’t have a dramatic encounter with the MC? He saved her from a goddamn psycho killer!

Lastly, just a heads up, I changed “Asshole” from the last chapter into “Butt” as it was the nickname he gave her earlier on.

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