I Became the Terminally Ill Character in My Friend’s Academy Novel – Chapter 51

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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A piece of trash, who had lived a life of inflicting pain onto others but had never experienced it himself, lay sprawled on the floor while spewing out blood.

“Ugh…! Uhh…!? What the… Ugh, what is this…!?”

“Hurts, doesn’t it? That’s what you get for trying to copy someone else’s talent when you don’t know anything about it.”

“You crazy bastard! How are you even enduring this!? What’s wrong with your mental fortitude!?”

Well, I wasn’t enduring it with mental fortitude.

But I had no obligation or reason to correct him.

“Oops.”

I retrieved Ruyi, which I had made lighter before he threw it away, and transformed it into its familiar knife form.

“W-Wait, let’s join forces.”

“Ho, you hate humans, don’t you? Didn’t you think of them as inferior beings?”

“H-How could I think of a strong person like you as an inferior being? Right. An executive. You wouldn’t know, but I’ll work to get you a position as an executive in our organization. A much brighter future awaits you than just becoming some hero.”

“Oh, that’s tempting.”

A position as one of the twelve Zodiac Generals, who only appear strong at the beginning and all die by the end of the academy arc except for you?

I took a step forward while showing a complete lack of interest.

“Wait…! Ugh… Okay, if you don’t want to join the organization, an elf! I’ll introduce you to an elf woman. You humans go crazy for elf slaves, don’t you?”

“Haha, I really like that idea, but no, thanks. Do I look like I want to be stabbed by Lilac later on?”

Lilac was kind, and he hated things like slaves~

“Wait, just wait a minute! Damn it! Tell me what you want! There has to be something!”

“There aren’t any. More accurately, there’s nothing you can offer me.”

He had used up his innate qi to the limit, so he wouldn’t be able to use magic power now, let alone his artifacts.

Most artifacts required energy to use.

“Why are you doing this to me in the first place!? What did I ever do to you!?”

“Well, there are a few things, if you think about it. I almost died at the entrance ceremony. But that’s not why I’m doing this.”

“Then what…!?”

He sounded quite indignant, but it sounded absurd to me.

The reason I was killing him was a bit ridiculous, but he, of all people, didn’t have the right to complain about it with me.

“It’s because you’re too trashy.”

“…What?”

“Just think of it as readers dropping the novel because villains like you are so unpopular these days. Third-rate villains are a pretty big reason why readers quit.”

“…The fuck, what does that even…”

“Wow, now you’re even cursing. If you’re that upset, then fine, think of it this way. If you’re still around, then the academy will continue to be noisy. Those kids work their asses off even after graduation. It’s a bit too much that they can’t even go on a school trip peacefully, can’t take exams properly, and can’t even have a proper romance considering it’s an academy story, right?”

“…?”

He had a look on his face that screamed he couldn’t understand it at all.

Or maybe he couldn’t accept the fact that he was dying for such a trivial reason.

“I told your first love the same thing, I’m going to save the heroes. Not just save their lives, but make sure they can enjoy the things they should have been able to enjoy.”

“I understand! Then I won’t set foot in Reilan Academy ever again! I’ll live quietly while recuperating! No, if that’s not enough, I’ll hand over all the information I have on the other Zodiac Generals!”

“No need. I already know everything. And a third-rate villain like you will probably try to get revenge if I let you live, right?”

“No! I don’t know what makes me third-rate, but I swear on my elf honor that I’ll keep my promise!”

-I swear on my elf honor. I will not lay a finger on your colleagues.

“Pfft…! You really are a consistent bastard.”

That consistency gave me certainty.

In the original story, you said that, and yet you beat Kang Ha-ni to a pulp before throwing her at Lilac.

You also offered Yoo-na the same deal to protect Lilac before putting a hole in Lilac’s stomach.

You even mocked them by bringing up the already deceased Professor Cathy.

“Please…! Please spare me…!”

Yes, that’s it.

This is the death that suits you.

A villain who only gets in the way deserves to leave the stage quietly before anyone can even hate you, and without having any impact on the story.

I raised my knife and stabbed down, just as I had practiced diligently.

A sensation similar to what I had practiced in VR was transmitted through my hand.

The only difference was that he didn’t scatter into particles of light afterward.

Life gradually faded from the eyes of the guy who couldn’t even scream as he choked and gurgled.

It was a pathetic death for a villain who was supposed to turn the academy upside down and throw the world into chaos.

-Achievement acquired. You have hunted future villains in place of the protagonist. The title ‘Dark Hero’ is created.-

…Who’s a Dark Hero? Fuck.

I didn’t feel as cheerful or refreshed as I thought I would.

It felt strangely unsettling, considering I had finally cut out the first cancerous tumor of this novel.

I wanted to crack a joke like usual, but I couldn’t even do that right now.

-The Saint’s Will strengthens your mental fortitude.

“…Thanks. Yeah.”

Think positive. I’ve bought myself some time with this.

There were no more traitors left in the academy, and the incident where the chairman would suddenly retire wouldn’t happen now.

-Are you alright?

I heard Sun Wukong’s voice from within Ruyi.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Even if I’m not, I have to get used to it.”

-Is that so? It’s good if you’re okay. But you know…

“Yes?”

-Even if you feel okay, you never really know if you’re really okay.

“…What are you talking about? Don’t say such ominous things.”

More than that, I couldn’t just stand around. I had to take what I could from this guy for my future plans.

Most of the artifacts he possessed couldn’t be taken away once they already had a designated user, but some could be used if the contract was renewed.

A prime example was the Black Shadow he used as his main weapon, which could change owners and form a new contract. I could also take the artifact he had hidden to turn Chairman Reilan into a puppet, the ‘Undecaying Puppet.’

And above all, the item I wanted to take from him was thankfully still safely stored in his possession.

A mask resembling a dragon among the twelve Zodiac animals. This mask, which had a perception-inhibiting effect, was the item I wanted most from him.

Well, he said the design could be changed to whatever form I wanted, so that was fine. Honestly, I didn’t really want to wear a mask, but anything with perception-inhibiting effects was hard to come by.

Why did I need this?

I had been thinking about something.

Was it okay to do this?

Well, I had killed or imprisoned all the early villains, so the early game was empty, right?

I just wanted to change the novel in an interesting direction, not completely rob the protagonist of all opportunities to grow.

It was good that they were enjoying their academy life, but it was time for a villain to appear to provide them with some stimulation.

Thinking about the world after graduation, I felt that it was even more necessary.

But there was no way I could suddenly find a charismatic villain or someone to help them grow from somewhere, right?

I patted the mask and tried it on.

I didn’t feel like anything had changed, but fortunately, I had an artifact to test it.

Ho, interesting. It feels like it’s not me. Because of the foreign energy, unless someone has incredibly good insight, they won’t be able to see through it.

“That’s good.”

So, just for a little while, until I find a decent villain to raise them with.

“From now on, I’m the villain in this area.”

I planned to play the role of the academy’s delightful villain.

I also roughly thought about the new guys I would recruit as my subordinates.

Of course, I wouldn’t start right away.

I pocketed the bottle containing the liquid form of the Undecaying Puppet and looked at the last remaining artifact, the Black Shadow.

The thing, coiled like a black snake, had already left its previous owner’s body.

Hmm, I was actually a little hesitant to make a contract with this thing.

It wasn’t an artifact with a huge penalty, but this thing left a huge mark on your body when you made a contract with it.

If I made a contract with this artifact, an undeniably chuunibyou-esque pattern would appear somewhere on my body.

“This isn’t the time to worry about that…”

Honestly, just Reinforcement and Ruyi weren’t enough for me to act like a villain.

Black Shadow was already a fairly powerful artifact in its current state, and it was a special one capable of awakening, so it was only right for me to make a contract with it unless it refused.

Honestly, I was hoping it might refuse, but the moment I cautiously reached out to it, it wrapped around my arm as if it had been waiting for me.

Oh, shit, not my arm…! It’ll be noticeable when I wear my summer uniform…!

Regardless, it seemed to like my left hand, so it opened its mouth wide like a snake and bit my hand.

After a brief stinging pain, a small tattoo appeared on the back of my hand, indicating that the contract was successfully completed.

The design, which looked like a snake with wings, wasn’t quite to my liking, but thankfully, it wasn’t too big.

“I’ve got everything I need now.”

Now all I had to do was conceal all this, and thankfully, the Black Shadow I just acquired had the perfect function for that.

“…Black Shadow.”

The black shadow residing within my body wriggled as if responding to my call.

“Eat.”

The giant mouth that appeared on the back of my hand devoured what had been its owner just moments ago without hesitation.

To it, it was simply following its new owner’s orders, but I couldn’t help but feel a little creeped out.

Consume.

Black Shadow’s ability to manipulate shadows resetted whenever its owner changed, and it grew stronger every time it was fed something.

Perhaps it was satisfied with its first meal, the black, snake-like shadow rubbed against me as if trying to act cute, but honestly, it was more scary to me than cute.

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Fatigue washed over me with each step I took to bring me closer to the dormitory.

It felt like the exhaustion that had been suppressed by my relief of successfully completing a major task was now catching up to me. Or perhaps the burden of directly killing someone for the first time was heavier than I thought.

Of course, it was a conclusion I had reached after much deliberation.

The decision to kill him instead of imprisoning him, and to deal with him now instead of later when it might have been safer, were all things I had thought about a lot. But still, the question kept coming back to me.

Would Lilac have killed him?

Was there really no way to resolve this without killing him?

And even now, the answers to those questions were still the same.

I had to kill him, and there was no other way.

If he had been a little more sincere in his love, there might have been another solution. But in the end, his base possessiveness had long since overtaken his love, and if I had spared him, he would have felt resentment rather than gratitude.

“Oh my.”

“Oh.”

I ran into a familiar face on my way back to the dormitory, with my steps feeling heavy.

Chae Yoo-jin.

A girl I seemed to encounter every time something big ended, she was probably an extra who would have died like Kang So-hyun in the original story.

“You’re coming back from somewhere at this hour?”

“Well, yeah.”

“…You look a bit tired. Are you okay?”

I wasn’t really close to her, so the fact that she was asking this meant I must look terrible.

“Um, honestly, I don’t know what’s going on, and I might be being nosy here, but please don’t regret it too much.”

“…What?”

Ah, it wasn’t her fault, but my words came out a bit snappish.

She could have been offended, but she smiled gently instead and continued.

“It’s already done. In the first place, you wouldn’t have done it if you were going to regret it, and you did it because you thought it was the best choice, right?”

It was a little strange.

She didn’t know what had happened to me, but in a way, she accurately captured my situation and comforted me appropriately.

“Like I said before, observing people is my hobby. I just thought you looked uglier than usual, so I was being a bit nosy.”

“…Ah, shit. I almost felt touched.”

“Well? I think it’s too early to feel touched.”

“What do you mean?”

“Comforting you is someone else’s job, not mine. I bet you won’t regret it then.”

It was a voice too full of conviction to be mere comfort.

“…How do you know that?”

“You see a lot of things when you observe people. You seem to think that everyone else is frozen in time if you don’t do anything, but when you’re doing something, other people are doing something too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying you should hurry back to the dormitory~ I’ll refrain from saying anything more because it’s a spoiler!”

She laughed heartily with exaggerated gestures, just like the first time we met, and turned away.

“…What’s at the dormitory?”

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The moment I entered my dormitory room, I smelled something delicious.

“Oh? So-hyun, come quickly! Hurry!”

“Oh, what? This looks a bit better than breakfast, though?”

“…What are you guys doing?”

“It felt a bit weird inviting the other kids to the boys’ dormitory.”

Simply put, Lilac was wearing comical glasses and a hat while holding a cake, and Kang Ha-ni was busy cooking.

“We bought this for you because you seemed down. Surprised?”

“Dinner will be ready soon, so wait for a while. You won’t be able to eat later if you have cake first.”

Honestly, I was surprised.

I knew they noticed I was feeling down, but I didn’t expect them to prepare an event like this.

“Professor Cathy and Yoo-na chipped in for the cake too.”

“Really?”

I could understand my Secret Friend, but the Pink Chihuahua actually spent her own money on me…?

Did Lilac suggest buying it…?

“Yeah, Cheon Yoo-hak said you’d get over it on your own.”

…Ah, shit.

That hurts my pride.

It was strangely embarrassing that I was touched by such a cliché scenario.

“…Thanks.”

Yes, this was enough for now.

None of them could die for the sake of the cliché, cheesy happy ending I wanted to see.

Let me be content with having been able to protect them.

“…Yeah.”

“…Wow.”

But the two who actually received my thanks were dumbfounded.

“…You can say thank you with a smile?”

“Even if I told the others tomorrow, they wouldn’t believe it.”

No, but these guys, after I went through all the trouble of thanking them…

“…I’ll let you off the hook just for today.”

Still, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

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T/N – Awwww, what a sweet ending. MC really made a lot of loyal friends over the course of the story. Perfectly set up for deaths later on… I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Let alone you readers, even I would be devastated if that were to happen.

Also, quite curious how the MC would handle being the early arc villain. He already has the disguise with the mask and Black Shadow that screams villain. Undecaying Puppet also sounds pretty strong, if a bit disgusting. He could find a powerful villain who just died and turn it into his puppet to do his pretend villain schemes.

Lastly, really? He just got rid of the body? What about the classroom? I mean, the fight did seem confined within, but I honestly doubt that a classroom can withstand the strikes of Ruyi without at least incurring some damage. Especially at the end when the full weight of the staff was crushing the villain…

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

IMPORTANT NOTE: Our release schedules will be changing slightly from the every 2 days release. From now on, I will post a chapter for this novel every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So please keep this in mind moving forward. Thank you and I hope you keep supporting this novel!