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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Lunchtime, a pleasant and enjoyable time.
This time when the academy was particularly lively was beautiful, perhaps because it was a sweet break during the workday. It could also be that it was because it was a time to enjoy a meal.
“…Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Conversely, it also meant that having this meal interrupted could make one feel quite awful.
“Can’t we talk after we eat…?”
I was caught by the purple cat, Joo-ri, on the way to the student cafeteria, and although I tried to weakly resist, she didn’t seem to have any intention of listening to my complaint.
“Yoo-hak is acting strange.”
“That…”
‘That bastard is always strange, you bitch.’
The words almost escaped my throat, but I managed to hold them back with my superhuman patience.
“Really? I haven’t noticed anything.”
Perhaps I had already reached the level of a superhuman in terms of patience alone.
Seriously, whether they were pink or purple, they all acted the same way.
Heroines like this aren’t popular these days. To make this world a bit more fun and exciting, I think they need a little fixing up.
“He acts normal most of the time, but then suddenly he gets scared or runs away. And every time that happens, the external inspector, Kang Na-hyun, is nearby.”
Oh, as expected of Joo-ri. As someone described as having the best observational skills in the academy, she seemed to have figured out the direct cause of the problem.
Or maybe it was just because Cheon Yoo-hak was being so obvious.
“It’s nothing, really. It’s just that Cheon Yoo-hak confessed to my sister before and got rejected. My sister is his first love.”
“Ah, so… what?”
The light in Joo-ri’s eyes disappeared.
Huh? Why did she take that so hard? Was this a kind of shock therapy for her?
“Why are you so surprised? Do you like Cheon Yoo-hak?”
“No, what I feel for Yoo-hak isn’t such a simple romantic feeling. Can you stop reducing everything between men and women to one-dimensional sexual attraction?”
Haha, yeah right. It’s really salty, Lira!
You don’t know it, but I probably know more about you than you know about yourself.
That was right. It hadn’t been obvious until now because there hadn’t been an opportunity to observe it, but Joo-ri was a character who, despite liking Cheon Yoo-hak, ultimately just wanted to remain as his aide.
Of course, it was a meaningless gesture, and when it came to Cheon Yoo-hak’s love life, she would get excited like this, so later on, it became a secret that everyone knew.
If I asked Yoo-na the same question, she would probably answer like this.
-Yes, I like Lilac. So what? Only Lilac is perfect, and I’m the only one who can accept him. Who else would I like?
…No, that girl wasn’t normal either. Anyway, it was at least better than not being honest.
“Oh, really. I think you two look pretty good together.”
“R-really? He… hehe.”
She acted like a cold city girl every day, but whenever someone said something like this, she would smile happily, and what? She said it wasn’t a simple romantic feeling when she reacted like this?
That was why Cheon Yoo-hak pretended not to know your feelings until you died, you know.
Hey, try that thing again! That thing!
Reducing everything between men and women to one-dimensional…
Ahahaha!
“I-I’m asking, just in case… What does the inspector think of Yoo-hak?”
“I don’t know? I’ve never talked to the inspector about Cheon Yoo-hak in private.”
“I-I see?”
Oh my, I can feel her liking him from here. Hey, do you think you’ve lost a rival?
But it’s a bit much to be happy about just this. Wouldn’t it be better for you to become a bit more proactive for the sake of the readers who will be frustrated, Lira?
Hmm, let’s add a little spice here.
“But when she first received his confession, she said he was a bit arrogant but cute, I think?”
Oh, I can see Joo-ri’s good mood plummeting in real time.
Why are you acting so tough when you’re going to be like this over something so small?
“…Why don’t you just be honest? One is too honest, and it’s a mess, but why are you pretending so much?”
“Pretending what?”
I asked, but I also knew the answer.
It was because of her obsession that she always had to be rational and competent to be needed by Cheon Yoo-hak.
For her, who was practically sold to Cheon Yoo-hak’s family at a young age due to her family’s circumstances, love remained in her heart as something fragile that could collapse so easily.
“I’m not someone who clings to such useless things.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes, I was just actively investigating because if Yoo-hak gets close to a woman, it will disrupt his schedule.”
Is that the best excuse your brain, which is supposed to be the strongest in theory, could come up with…?
“Yeah, if you say so.”
But why did you cry so much when Cheon Yoo-hak said he liked another woman in the original story?
…I should really fix their twisted love story sometime, too.
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Kang Ha-ni was in a pretty bad mood right now.
“So, I’ll obviously lose, huh?”
In fact, Kang Ha-ni was confident in her skills and had faith in the sword technique she had learned.
She had trained her talent, and she had even awakened a trait that others probably didn’t have, so she believed that she could compete with Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak if she could go all out against them.
The problem was that she couldn’t go all out.
If she used her family’s secret sword technique in public, someone might recognize her.
She had promised her father, the head of the family, that she wouldn’t use it unless her life was in danger, she suffered an unbearable insult, or it was to find and test a potential husband, so she couldn’t use the sword technique just for the sake of winning the competition.
“Can I win with a camouflage sword technique?”
She recalled their appearances she had seen in class.
And the conclusion came to her immediately.
She couldn’t win.
She could subdue most opponents without going all out, but Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak were not ordinary opponents.
With an unfamiliar sword technique, she wouldn’t be able to penetrate the light of Lilac’s holy sword, nor would she be able to close the distance while avoiding Cheon Yoo-hak’s spear technique.
Honestly, even if she used her secret sword technique, she didn’t think that her chances of winning would exceed 50%.
“What should I do…?”
She knew she had a bit of a hot temper, but this time it wasn’t unbearable. Though for some reason, she couldn’t stand being looked down upon by him.
As she was contemplating, a thought suddenly struck her.
“…I can’t use my technique, but can’t I change my sword?”
The sword she had received as a gift when she entered the academy.
It was a famous sword, but it didn’t particularly symbolize her family, and it was the most suitable item to break through her current situation.
Originally, she hadn’t planned to use it until at least after the first semester to test her skills, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea.
A weapon needed time to become familiar to one’s hand.
Normally, it wouldn’t be good to use too famous a sword in a sparring match for learning, but a certain phrase that popped into her head encouraged her decision.
-Yeah, yeah, if you win, I’ll do anything you want.
“…Should I just try it out?”
The moment she made her decision and arrived at her dormitory, she felt a strange sense of incongruity.
“Huh?”
When she opened the door, Kang So-hyun was cooking.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh? You’re back?”
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“I feel bad always being treated by you. I should do this sometimes, too. But I knew you’d never let me, so I tried to do this in secret.”
Even though I looked like this, I used to cook a lot for my siblings in the orphanage, so I wasn’t bad at it.
“Honestly, I’m a little scared. Are you a good cook?”
Kang Ha-ni smiled playfully, but aside from the issue of skill, I had some confidence in myself.
“Please try it, guest.”
“Oh, curry.”
Kang Ha-ni’s favorite foods were basically all strongly flavored with spices.
An easy dish for beginners, with a deep flavor, no room for failure, and a strong aroma.
That was curry.
“How did you know I like curry?”
“There aren’t many people who dislike curry.”
What? You had to let real curry age overnight? They sell aged curry at the supermarket these days.
When I took out the fried food I had prepared as a side dish, Ha-ni laughed while looking genuinely surprised.
“I added curry powder to the batter to make it go even better with the curry.”
“The chef has good sense.”
Hmm, I’m glad she was satisfied.
Honestly, I made this because I felt a bit bad for teasing her earlier, but I got a little carried away because I was having fun while making it.
Ha-ni seemed to be in a good mood as she tasted the tonkatsu and shrimp tempura dipped in curry.
“Hey, let’s go out for a bit after eating this.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll show you something cool. And since you seem to know what you did wrong, I’ll give you a chance to take it back.”
What’s this? By now, she should have realized that she can’t win without her sword technique.
“Actually, I have a secret weapon.”
…Huh?
Hearing those words, I felt strangely uneasy.
I remembered her weapon that she only unleashed when she went up to the second year because of her pride, but there was no reason for it to come out at this time.
“Cheon Yoo-hak was bragging about the weapon he got from the dungeon he went to with you, but actually, I have a pretty good weapon too.”
No, I know.
Why are you trying to use it now?
“…Really? What is it?”
“It’s a pure white blade, but I haven’t used it much myself yet. Since you treated me to curry, I’ll show it to you too.”
I wondered if my prediction was wrong, but unfortunately, it was indeed the weapon she used from the second year onwards in the original story.
The cursed blade, Snow Fang.
It was a mana weapon made by a modern craftsman, not a relic. It was a masterpiece and a failure, made by melting the tooth of a named monster, a Lycan, the ruler of the snowy plains, into the blade.
It was an item that was famous as a renowned sword despite having a penalty, and there was no doubt that it was a masterpiece of unquestionable quality.
However, it was also the reason why she, who had been proud of her swordsmanship, became obsessed with the sword rather than her swordsmanship, and eventually turned into a sword demon.
“I don’t show this to just anyone~”
It was somewhat concerning to see her smiling so brightly while taking out such a dangerous item.
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“Watch closely.”
From the pure white scabbard at her waist, a beautiful single-edged sword, also white as snow, was revealed.
The handle, the simple decorations, and even the blade itself were pure white. It was an alluring blade that didn’t allow for any impurities, and possessed a magical power to enchant people even without any special adornments.
“How is it? Cool, right? I really don’t show this to just anyone.”
-Not bad. The main material is Myriad Year Cold Iron, and it also has the energy of a Snow Wolf. If either of them were too strong, it would have become just an average weapon, but the perfect harmony between the two enhances each other’s energy, drawing out more power than what the original materials had.
‘Excuse me?’
Sun Wukong, who had suddenly become an expository character, looked at it with approval.
-Myriad Year Cold Iron is the best material, aside from the divine metal, to use to make divine items like the Ruyi. It’s a material with strong yin energy, so the basic way to handle it is to suppress it with fire, but instead of suppressing it, they enhanced the yin energy by infusing it with the energy of a Snow Wolf. That’s not something that can be done with ordinary skill.
-But there’s a crucial problem. The blade itself is too sharp, and because they tried to preserve the energy of the materials as much as possible, the memories of the Snow Wolf remain, so the weapon itself hates humans. It’s a textbook cursed blade.
‘I know, right? This is really bad…’
-But it met a good owner. This child has the qualities to subdue that sword.
‘…What?’
What crazy talk was this? She couldn’t do it in the original, so what kind of nonsense was he talking about?
However, it was also true that Ha-ni, who was currently swinging the sword, didn’t seem to be possessed by it.
No, Ha-ni. What are you doing now…?
Whether she knew my thoughts or not, Ha-ni, who started swinging the sword lightly, looked like she was performing a beautifully choreographed sword dance rather than exercising.
Closing her eyes and carefully sharing her senses with the sword, Ha-ni finished the sword dance and smiled.
“Not bad, huh? Hey, do you still think I’ll lose to Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak?”
-She has good fundamentals. Yes, a swordsman should use a sword, but they shouldn’t be intoxicated by the sword’s beauty or sharpness.
No, I mean, that’s true…
But she couldn’t do that in the original, that was why it was such a mess, I’m telling you!
I had a sudden thought.
What if Kang Ha-ni really could subdue that messed up sword, even in the original?
“…If you do well, you might actually win?”
Lilac, Yoo-hak, you guys should be nervous.
Ha-ni was really strong now.
Ha-ni, sheathing her sword, stretched and smiled faintly.
“Just you wait. I’ll win it all.”
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T/N – Go MC, help them conquer the protagonists. Then you can go and take the rest of the side heroines for yourself. Hehehehe…
Also, Sun Wukong said that she had the qualifications to subdue the sword, which means she could also do it in the original story too. I wonder why Ha-ni failed to subdue it? Or maybe she let herself become a sword demon in the end? Hmmm…
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
