Fated to Die in an Academy Novel – Chapter 144

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

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

There’s a saying that you can survive even in a tiger’s den if you just keep your wits about you.

I think that it’s true.

Even if you’re caught up in a terrible crime and are threatened by terrorists, if your opponent is a sentient being, you can at least demand an improvement of your situation through conversation or something similar.

With that mindset, the moment today’s classes ended, I requested a conversation with my kidnappers.

“…Guys, what is this? If you have a problem, just say it. Let’s not do this.”

Although, since I was tied to a chair, it might have looked like a futile act of defiance.

Ah, and as you all probably guessed, the kidnappers were Lilac, Yoo-na, Cheon Yoo-hak, Joo-ri, Kang Ha-ni, and Kim Ga-eul.

They even had weird sunglasses on and had their arms crossed.

Lira, Yoo-na, I can see that you’re embarrassed. You’re intelligent people, aren’t you? Won’t you untie me?

“Sinner Kang So-hyun, raise your head.”

“Raise it!”

Right, so the main culprits were Lilac and Ga-eul. You guys better be prepared.

“Guys, I have to go train. Stop messing around and untie me.”

“Ahem! That is precisely your sin!”

“Your sin!”

…Did they eat something bad for lunch today? No, wait, considering that they were whispering amongst themselves since morning, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that they ate something bad for breakfast instead.

What was so sinful about training?

“Neglecting your friendship and training day and night! That sin is very deep!”

“Very deep!”

I was so dumbfounded that I looked at Cheon Yoo-hak, and he coughed and looked away.

Hello? Mr. Cheon Yoo-hak, don’t look away.

Hey, you bastard, look me in the eye. Are you getting revenge because I teased you about your birthday?

Yoo-na’s face was as red as an apple, and Joo-ri was hiding behind Cheon Yoo-hak.

“…Hey, Ga-eul.”

“Huh…!? What? I’m not falling for it this time! Seriously!”

“If you betray them and join me now, I’ll forgive you.”

Ga-eul, who flinched and was immediately looking for an opportunity to betray them, was captured by Ha-ni.

“No, Han-hee. You trained with me this morning. You shouldn’t be doing this, should you? This is hypocritical.”

“I know, I know very well. I also know that you’ve been training late into the night recently~”

Ha-ni slowly approached me and flicked my forehead.

“…That hurts. Why did you hit me?”

“Because I know better than anyone that you need to rest. Don’t you know that resting is an important part of training?”

Rest?

Come to think of it, I think Sun Wukong told me to rest yesterday.

I just thought that I was still fine, so I ignored him and asked for us to continue.

“I know why you’re suddenly in such a hurry, but it’s not efficient to push yourself like that.”

…You know? How?

“That’s right, So-hyun. You’ve gotten strong enough. You’ll get good results in the end-of-semester ranking competition. Let’s just rest for a day.”

Lilac stopped his playful attitude and said that with a serious face.

Ah, so they thought I was overdoing it because of that.

Well, it was about time for that.

But that wasn’t why I was doing this…

“What do you think? Am I right?”

No. Well, what did the reason matter? The important thing was that they thought I was overdoing it.

Now that they mentioned it, my body did feel a bit heavy today.

Before I regressed, whenever I tried to rest, I would immediately have nightmares or bad memories would surface, so it was only natural for me to push my body to its limits and pass out.

I guess I didn’t realize how tired I was.

This wasn’t good.

A side effect of regaining my memories was appearing in an unexpected way.

Of course, there was no harm in hurrying, but things weren’t so urgent that I had to worry those around me.

I didn’t think it would happen, but if I had continued to train like this and passed out, it wouldn’t have ended with just this level of concern.

As expected of the protagonist, catching my mistakes like this.

He’s all grown up. I couldn’t call him my incompetent friend’s son anymore.

“So let’s all go to karaoke! We talked about it, and everyone wants to hear you sing again!”

…It seemed like that was their main purpose. If I was tired, shouldn’t you let me rest?

Huh? Was he starting to act like my incompetent friend’s son again?

“So-hyun, let’s just rest for a day. It’s important to spend time with us too.”

Seeing them surrounding me as if they were determined not to let me train again, I knew it was pointless to resist.

So I surrendered.

“Okay, just untie me.”

“Huh? Really? You’re not going to go back on your word?”

“I won’t. We’ll go to karaoke, so don’t worry. If I knew that you were going to be this worried, I wouldn’t have done it. So what’s a little karaoke?”

It was a principle to not negotiate with terrorists, but it was ridiculous to fight to the death when all they wanted was for me to rest.

Karaoke… Well, it seemed like a strange hobby to want to hear someone who can’t sing, but if you guys wanted to hear it, then I should sing for you.

“Oh! So-hyun! You’ve gotten so much softer!”

The moment Lilac untied the ropes, Ha-ni and Ga-eul blocked my way, perhaps afraid I would run away.

“…What are you doing? I told you I wasn’t going to run away.”

“Oh, what, Kang So-hyun is really not going to run away?”

“Why would I lie to you about this? Ah, but before that, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“…Hey, Lilac, let’s follow him. He might run away.”

“Of course, Han-hee!”

“I’ll be guarding the entrance, just so you know.”

“…Why aren’t you going in with me?”

“What kind of image do you guys have of me? I told you I’d go to karaoke with you.”

Why were they so suspicious when I was really going with them?

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

After going to the bathroom, I obediently followed them, and they looked at me with slightly suspicious expressions, but they relaxed when I sat down and reserved a song.

I told you I’d go, so why didn’t you believe me~?

“Wow! Is it going to be like before!?”

“Let’s see Kang So-hyun’s singing skills!”

I didn’t know what they were expecting, but since I was here, I should enjoy it to the fullest, right?

I put Enhancement on my throat, just like when I went to karaoke with Ha-ni before, and unleashed my soul with all my might.

But when I sang in response to their request, their expressions instantly soured.

These bastards, they asked me to sing, so why were they acting like this…?

“No, this kind of screaming song doesn’t suit you.”

Yoo-na even took the microphone from me while asking what kind of crazy thing I was doing.

What? Why were you rejecting a song filled with my soul? Seo-ha said that this was the best I could do and told me to only sing songs like this in front of others.

“I usually don’t say things like this, but singing that kind of song with your voice is really crazy.”

“…Is it that bad?”

“Yeah, sing something calm and gentle.”

Well, I couldn’t help it.

I didn’t really want to, but should I give it a try?

I released the Enhancement on my throat and lightly cleared it.

Well, they would probably sing themselves if they got bored.

I was a master at singing boringly. Even at the orphanage, all the kids fell asleep when I sang them a lullaby.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

That naive thought was shattered when I sang eight songs in a row by myself.

“…Guys, is this right? Is this a punishment game?”

“H-Huh!?”

The others, who were listening to my song with drunken expressions, jumped up in surprise.

“Ah! It was my turn to request a song, why did you stop!?”

What request, you otaku? As expected of a butt, she was being annoying again.

Ga-eul protested while looking wronged, but it was me, not her, who should be angry.

This wasn’t how you were supposed to enjoy karaoke.

Of course, there might be some fatso somewhere in the world who played like this, but at least I had never had such a hobby.

“You guys should sing too! Why am I the only one singing!? Is this a concert!? Are you going to pay me!?”

“…Not bad. Should we go with a concert concept? How much is a ticket?”

“Did you get dizzy from listening to the song and go crazy?”

I glared at Lilac, who was spouting nonsense, and he finally took the microphone while apologizing.

“Okay, I’m sorry, So-hyun. You sang so well that everyone wanted to keep listening. Rest a bit, we’ll sing this time.”

He should have done this earlier. He was the one who said that I looked tired and should rest.

And who would believe such flattery?

But Lilac seemed quite nervous while singing.

“70 points.”

“56 points.”

“100 points.”

“80 points?”

Ga-eul, Ha-ni, Yoo-na, and Lira gave scores one by one, like karaoke machines.

He sang quite well, but their scores were so stingy.

“…Ah, honestly, it was a bad idea to sing right after So-hyun. We’re being compared.”

“That’s a pathetic excuse.”

“You can’t fool us like that.”

Then they started doing some kind of skit.

These kids really knew how to have fun.

Lilac, who looked wronged, handed the microphone to Cheon Yoo-hak, who was standing alone.

“…What are you doing?”

“I can’t die alone. Yoo-hak, you have to sing too.”

“I sing better than you.”

“Haha, that’s why you have to sing too before So-hyun’s charm wears off. It’s only fair.”

“…How pathetic. Watch carefully, I’m different from you.”

Cheon Yoo-hak, showing no intention of running away, confidently took the microphone and chose a song.

A pop song in a vocal range that didn’t overlap with mine.

“…Hey! Don’t run away! Fight head on!!!!”

Cheon Yoo-hak’s song began with Lilac’s desperate cry.

Oh, he was a better singer than I thought.

Afterward, Yoo-na sang a love song, Joo-ri surprisingly tried rapping, and Ga-eul sang some kind of anime song. It was quite refreshing to see Ha-ni join in while saying that she knew the song.

It was fun playing together. I was glad I came.

I sincerely thought so.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

And at the same time, someone was swinging a sword alone in a clearing in the back mountain of the academy.

The swordsmanship was still brutal and the sword path still unstable, but thanks to his efforts, he had managed to tame its brutal nature a little.

Well, yeah.

It was me.

Kang So-hyun.

Why was the guy who was singing at karaoke training here? The trick was simple.

When I said I was going to the bathroom, I used Ruyi’s clone function to create a clone filled with my innate qi and sent it to play with the others while I came here to train.

We shared memories, and it remained as my experience, so it wasn’t a lie, and I wouldn’t get caught later.

A perfect crime.

Ah, well, what could I do? I never said I wasn’t going to train. I just said that I was going to karaoke with them.

I just had to make them think I was resting and then rest appropriately before I collapsed, right~?

-You know, the world has agreed to call what you’re doing now as ‘deception.’

“Ah, it’s not deception.”

-I think you’ll get seriously hurt one day if you keep this up.

“It’s fine as long as I don’t get caught. As long as I don’t get caught.”

-Then at least don’t make excuses to yourself, you reckless fool.

“…Wow, did Sun Wukong just say that?”

-Shut up.

Look at him, cutting me off as soon as I say something he doesn’t like…

-If you keep deceiving your true feelings, you won’t even know what you truly want. So stop it.

“…I know. But not now.”

I wasn’t tired enough to stop training, and I had enough energy to play with the others, so it would be a waste to rest.

Yeah, that was it.

I had to win a match against Professor Cathy within the week, and I could still do more.

…So, I wasn’t overdoing it.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Afterward, I had my clone say that I would stop by the convenience store, then I switched places with it and naturally dispelled the clone technique.

I even went to the convenience store for my perfect crime, so no one would find out.

[Hmm?]

“?”

I turned my head at the sudden, questioning voice and saw a very unexpected person standing there.

A red butler’s uniform and a white mask.

As far as I knew, there was only one person in this world who would wear such an outfit casually.

[Fancy meeting you here.]

…Everyone has a plan…

…until they get screwed over by their own cleverness.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

T/N – Damn, what are the odds? Also, his clone technique reminds me of the Multiple Shadow Clone technique of the Naruto anime with the menory sharing. I wonder if he could also use it in the same way for training?

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