I Became the Terminally Ill Character in My Friend’s Academy Novel – Chapter 23

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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As usual, the butt was on my desk.

I had heard that she even looked for my phone number over the weekend, and honestly, I thought this girl was still hung up on Cheon Yoo-hak and was planning something else.

“Loser, you’re here?”

So, as usual, I sat down while expressing my iron will and determination not to yield to violence, and the butt greeted me with a bright smile.

“Did you miss me over the weekend, loser? I missed you.”

…What was wrong with this girl? Did she eat something bad?

“Ah, I was waiting for you. You’re not mad that I sat on your desk again, are you?”

“Ah, no.”

“Why the formal language? We’re the same age. And we have a lot of classes together.”

Hmm, many students were looking at us.

Some were laughing as if dumbfounded, and some were looking at us with interest, but the first to react were those who were once the butt’s friends.

“Hey, Kim Ga-eul, you’re so shameless.”

“Loser, I’ve been thinking. I think I was too harsh on you. We haven’t really had any major issues between us.”

But the butt ignored them, just like they had done to her.

“Hey, are you ignoring me?”

“Loser, do you smell something bad? I don’t know who it is, but it’s really disgusting, right?”

Aha.

Since I hadn’t completely rejected her, this girl was now trying to act friendly with me and push the narrative of, “We made up, so why are you guys being a pain?”

She was probably trying to get revenge on those who had criticized her in the process.

It was a plan and execution speed worthy of the Queen of Instigation, whose talent was C-rank Agitation.

“I don’t know about bad breath, but I do see someone shameless right now.”

“You must have a dull sense of smell! I envy you~ I get nauseous when there’s someone with bad breath next to me.”

“Listen to this bitch!”

“Oh my, I’m sorry. Was that for the loser? But I see why you have bad breath now. It’s because you have a potty mouth!”

Well, this was good and all, but why are you doing this at my desk? Couldn’t you do this somewhere else?

“Hey, loser… So-hyun, don’t be so lenient with her. She’s acting up again because you seem so easygoing.”

You just called me “loser” too, didn’t you?

And she had the nerve to say that after gossiping about me behind my back when she was with the butt. Birds of a feather, and all that. She was also incredibly shameless.

“So there are two shameless people here, not just one.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer someone who’s just shameless to someone with bad breath and is shameless?”

No, I hated both.

“Ah, seriously, this bitch.”

“Stop it.”

Lilac intervened in their fight.

“You’re classmates. She seems to be reflecting and is trying to apologize, so don’t be so harsh. Ga-eul, you shouldn’t be so irritable with others either.”

“Lilac! You don’t know what she did to So-hyun!”

“What? I was just trying to talk to the loser because I wanted to be friends with him, but you keep interrupting.”

“You didn’t believe So-hyun when he was having a hard time either. If you really want to fight, you should do it privately without involving others. How would So-hyun feel with you doing this at his desk?”

Yes, yes, that’s right.

Our apostle of justice and mediator of goodwill, Lilac, was moving exactly as I wanted.

Until just now, he had probably been trying to persuade his friends, saying that the rumors about Kim Ga-eul weren’t entirely true and that I was trying to forgive her.

Cheon Yoo-hak seemed indifferent to the situation, and Kim Ga-eul’s former friends, probably realizing they would be at a disadvantage if they continued, quieted down.

Now, the butt would probably fall for Lilac, who had helped her. As expected of someone who fell in love easily.

“Loser.”

Huh?

What? Why weren’t you going to Lilac?

“Our loser is so mean. I’ve been asking for your number, why are you ignoring me?”

Ah, perhaps it was because public opinion hasn’t completely shifted yet, and Lilac’s help wasn’t that noticeable? Well, it was only Monday.

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The public’s opinion of her definitely started to improve after Lilac corrected the rumors and defended the butt by using me.

It was partly because the person involved had forgiven her, and the topic itself had become stale after a week, but it wouldn’t have been this smooth without Lilac.

Although it wasn’t to the point where her former friends all came back to her, it seemed like the insults and bullying had decreased.

Of course, it didn’t mean everything had quieted down. Cheon Yoo-hak, who didn’t care in the first place, was one thing, but his companions didn’t seem to intend to let this matter go.

It had essentially become a battle between Lilac’s friendliness and the loyalty of Cheon Yoo-hak’s group.

Today, the situation was unfolding in a strange way.

It wasn’t like this in the original story.

In the novel, the butt, thoroughly humiliated, attended school like a zombie, and after Lilac stepped up to defend her, the class just let it go.

Cheon Yoo-hak ignored her, saying he didn’t care about someone with lifeless eyes, and his group didn’t react much either. But now, they were strangely invested.

It was probably because Cheon Yoo-hak hadn’t told them to leave it alone, and considering his personality, that was practically him expressing his displeasure.

What was the problem?

Was it because I was the target of the bullying?

Or was it because the butt was more cheerful than expected after being rejected by Cheon Yoo-hak?

Probably both.

Actually, I had already sensed that I was screwed.

Everything else was fine, but if Lilac’s friends and Cheon Yoo-hak’s group fought, it would likely lead to a fight between two specific girls.

It was quiet for now because nothing major had happened yet, but our pink chihuahua, in charge of craziness among the female characters, and the purple cat, who had criticized the butt next to Cheon Yoo-hak…

Those two who never ended things quietly in the original story, would clash soon at this rate.

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Perhaps I was a good person.

A saint reborn in this era, perfectly suited to be the owner of this ring called the Saint’s Will?

Of course, considering that the original owner of this ring was a weakling who died to Goblins, I would deny it even if I really was a reborn saint.

Anyway, the reason I, who had dismissed the protagonist and Professor Cathy’s praises before, was suddenly thinking this way was…

“Are you done talking?”

“No, were you planning to wait if I wasn’t?”

…because seeing the pink chihuahua and the purple cat fighting made me think I might actually be a good person.

Yes, the problem started when I came to the gym to work out and clear my head after finishing my last class of the day.

The gym, which I had practically monopolized for the past month, was now filled with people, and even the treadmills, essential for effective cardio, were all occupied.

Troubled by the half-baked knowledge that strength training would be less effective without cardio, I thought, “Do I really need a treadmill? Can’t I just run?” and then, “I’ll just run around the track outside and then lift dumbbells~.” With that lighthearted thought, I ran into this situation.

The two girls’ gazes turned to me.

“What do you think?”

“Is there even a need to ask? Of course, it’s…”

Ah, shit, it wasn’t “soon,” it was today, lol.

The Lilac-obsessed girl and the Cheon Yoo-hak fanatic were glaring at each other.

“It would be good if they got along well as friends. So why are you so twisted, trying to ruin someone’s life like this?”

“Hey, I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s life. But she shouldn’t be so shameless. She should at least show some remorse. She’s acting even more confident because Lilac is trying to hush things up.”

“The victim of the bullying is right here. He said he’s fine with it, so why are you guys making a fuss, even bringing Lilac into it?”

Here’s a summary of the incident.

As Lilac’s supporters started warming up to the butt, Cheon Yoo-hak’s supporters became displeased with her for having picked a fight with me while using Cheon Yoo-hak’s name.

They tried to shift the focus away from the fact that I, the victim, had forgiven her.

They started attacking the butt again, saying things like, “Isn’t her attitude too much, not even properly apologizing. She’s not even showing any remorse for her actions,” topics that were only slightly related to me.

It wasn’t really a big problem, at least until a certain Cheon Yoo-hak supporter said, “And who’s this Lilac supposed to be, to butt in like this?”

Our pink chihuahua, who had been completely indifferent to this incident, became the vanguard the moment she heard that.

Yes.

Circumstances, good and evil, even right and wrong, held no value to our pink chihuahua.

Lilac was her sole value, standard, justice, and virtue, and that’s why she was angry.

The pink chihuahua was no longer just a Lilac supporter.

She had become one with Lilac, considering any attack on Lilac as an attack on herself.

In essence, she was a mad dog who would attack anyone who insulted Lilac, a small but ferocious pink chihuahua, biting at those who thought bad of Lilac.

“What the hell? You have a potty mouth, unlike how you look. Ah, seeing someone like you following him around, I can see what kind of person Lilac is.”

On the other hand, the purple cat, our Joo-ri, wasn’t sane either.

She, who was more of a playmate than a childhood friend to Cheon Yoo-hak, was the one most influenced by his strong sense of self-importance.

She was like a servant assigned to him by his father as a playmate when they were young, but Cheon Yoo-hak had never looked down on her or treated her carelessly.

Because she had talent.

He was the first to recognize it.

The opportunity to learn what she wanted, the power to make her family, who had sold her off, regret their decision, the position where no one could treat her carelessly – she received all of that from Cheon Yoo-hak, and thus, he was more than just someone she admired. To her, he was a god-like being.

She tried to fulfill everything Cheon Yoo-hak wanted and blocked those who tried to use him.

In a way, they were quite similar, but because the two boys they followed had such different personalities, they often clashed.

But why the hell was I caught in the middle of all this?

-You know Lilac, right?
-You’re more likely to be reasonable than her, since Yoo-hak has acknowledged you.

I swear.

From now on, I won’t explore the academy grounds and run for cardio just because the gym was crowded.

Since they were fighting for the people they liked, there was no right answer to this argument.

But surprisingly, this seemingly endless fight ended rather easily.

“…No, if I do that, I’ll be just like him. I apologize. We’ll expel the one who insulted Lilac.”

Joo-ri was the first to back down.

“What?”

“You’re angry because of Lilac, right? I understand how you feel even though we like different people.”

Huh?

You guys weren’t usually like this.

Was this also related to Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak’s still-harmonious relationship?

The half-crazed pink chihuahua was one thing, but the purple cat always had to be rational and competent to earn Cheon Yoo-hak’s approval.

But despite that, these two often fought, insulting each other’s idols whenever they met, but this time, the cat backed down first.

“Lilac is a competent student that even Yoo-hak acknowledges. We didn’t intend to insult him. He might be too kind, but that’s part of his charm.”

“What? Just because you didn’t intend to insult him doesn’t mean you’re not at fault!”

“Of course. I can write you a letter of apology if you want. Though I can’t ask Yoo-hak, I can also personally apologize to Lilac for my failure to manage my people.”

By the way, despite her ferocity, the pink chihuahua was easy to calm down. You just had to put Lilac next to her, or, like now, show respect for Lilac.

Damn it, if you were just going to resolve it amongst yourselves, why did you drag me into this?

But since it seemed like it would end peacefully, I didn’t want to stir up trouble.

“Where are you going?”

“It’s not over yet.”

“Huh?”

I tried to sneak away, but the two girls’ gazes pierced me, as if this was just the beginning.

What else do you guys want from me?

“Why did you reject Yoo-hak’s team offer?”

“Will you join Lilac’s team if he asks?”

Aha, so now that you’ve resolved your misunderstanding, you’re going to try and set me up?

“I won’t listen to excuses like, ‘There’s still a long time until the team projects start.’ I believe someone Yoo-hak has his eye on wouldn’t make such flimsy excuses.”

“Lilac seems to like you. I don’t really like it, but you’re definitely more perceptive than others.”

The gazes they directed at me turned to each other again.

Haha, this was a mess.

Hey, Lilac, Cheon Yoo-hak.

Weren’t you going to manage your pets properly? Your chihuahua and cat were biting other people.

After more arguing, Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak appeared with miraculous timing, and I was finally freed after a long discussion with the five of them.

To be precise, the four of them talked, and I just listened.

Guys, I wasn’t going to join any of your teams.

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T/N – You mean to tell me that the two protagonists of the fictitious novel each have their own personal yandere? Damn… Also, who wants to bet that this Joo-ri girl is also a victim of “Death Before Heroine Status”.

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