I Became the Terminally Ill Character in My Friend’s Academy Novel – Chapter 99

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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After enjoying the water play for a while, Ha-ni closed her eyes and focused.

“Huu…”

She might have been excited at first, but obtaining this level of opportunity wasn’t easy. She, with her exceptional desire for strength, wouldn’t want to miss this chance.

It was a situation that could make anyone impatient, but she was patiently controlling the overflowing energy.

The energy here contained few impurities, readily absorbable by humans, but it still wasn’t wise to absorb it recklessly.

She was probably focusing on removing unhelpful impurities and carefully absorbing only what was beneficial.

Compared to the vessel she had built through her efforts, her total magical power wasn’t that large.

Well, it wasn’t really that small either, but it was lacking compared to Cheon Yoo-hak or Lilac.

“Good luck.”

The total amount of her magical power was one of her weaknesses that she never fully overcame even in the original story. Today, Ha-ni would overcome that wall.

The magical power in the spring slowly began to swirl and flow into her.

“Beautiful.”

The sight of the sparkling magical power swirling around her looked quite pleasing to the eye.

-Why are you just spacing out?

‘Huh?’

As I was watching with satisfaction, Sun Wukong suddenly spoke to me.

What was he talking about?

I had nothing to do, so I was acting as a guard.

-No, I mean, cultivating now would be beneficial for you too. Why aren’t you doing anything?

Of course, I was also subtly absorbing the energy, but I wasn’t lacking in magical power.

I didn’t really use it much except when using artifacts.

‘I can just convert my innate qi, so I have enough magical power, don’t I?’

-Huh…

Sun Wukong groaned in disbelief at my honest answer.

-Is there anyone else who treats innate qi so carelessly like you do? And who told you to absorb magical power you can’t even digest? I said cultivate. What’s important for you right now isn’t increasing your magical power, but properly shaping your vessel.

‘Um, I don’t quite understand even if you explain it like it’s common sense, you know?’

-…Why do you know things no one else knows, but not such obvious things?

I learned how to circulate energy and the basics of magical power, but there was nothing about “vessels” in the settings, and I never learned about it in class.

-Right, this is just like you… Anyway, it won’t harm you, so try doing as I say.

For a moment, I thought Assimilation activated, but I realized that the connection was weaker than that.

It felt more like a partial sharing of consciousness, not a physical merging.

As I circulated the magical power as he envisioned, the state of my body naturally came to my mind.

-When you first met me, your mind, qi, and body were all severely distorted.

-Your mind, though distorted, was holding on firmly, but your skills were lacking, so you couldn’t even properly wield your innate talent. Moreover, your body was dying because of that talent.

Well, he had a point.

-However, you somehow managed to balance your body by recklessly absorbing opportunities based on knowledge you obtained from who knows where.

Hmm, I didn’t think I consumed that much?

Just Resurrection, Saint’s Will, the elixir made by the Rose Alchemist, and a few enhancing potions…

…That was a lot, now that I think about it.

-Actually, that’s also a problem. Since you only consumed them without properly digesting them, your body is full of undigested medicinal properties.

‘Really?’

-…Did you think you could just consume elixirs and potions and absorb them instantly? Most of it was used to repair your broken vessel. If you had consumed them in a healthy state, the medicinal properties would have been wasted.

Indeed, judging by the image in my mind, I could feel something excessively concentrated somewhere in my heart or blood vessels.

-Well, anyway, you managed to fix your body, but you pushed yourself too hard again recently. You tried to wield ‘qi’ at a realm you hadn’t reached yet with your barely prepared body, so it became distorted again.

Ah, I felt a bit guilty about that too.

The technique I used against Professor Cathy that day, and the technique I used against Seo Tae-ho, weren’t things I had learned through training.

-If left alone, the distortion would worsen, but since you’ve obtained this vast magical power as an opportunity, I can help you recover. I’ll create a vessel that can handle such movements.

Such movements…

Hmm, indeed, during my fight with Seo Tae-ho, my body stuttered, unable to keep up with the movements from my memories.

‘Then I’ll leave it to you.’

As I bowed my head to him, I heard Sun Wukong’s pleased voice.

-Alright, don’t worry. I’ll make it as painless as possible…

What?

-Of course, I won’t stop even if you’re in pain.

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It was refreshing.

The initial process of carefully filtering the energy was difficult, but the subsequent process of making it her own was surprisingly pleasant.

If it were a foreign energy or if she did it too roughly, it wouldn’t have been so peaceful. But perhaps because she had filtered out only the energy that suited her best, it felt refreshing rather than painful.

A cold, sharp metallic energy along with a chilling sensation slowly circulated and melted into her body.

Her always unsatisfactory amount of magical power increased.

Magical power began to flow properly through the pathways she had created but couldn’t fully utilize before.

Following the flow of the abundant magical power, she found herself standing in front of a wall.

Perhaps she had been standing there for a long time now.

Was the reason she hadn’t noticed it before due to her lack of magical power?

She felt that wasn’t the only reason.

She, whose life revolved around the sword, now had things she wanted to do with that sword.

She had also decided to accept her feelings, which she had stubbornly denied and tried to suppress.

Coincidence.

The improvement in her skills gained through actual combat, the experience of escaping death, the change in her mindset, and the powerful opportunity he had given her…

Perhaps it was the coincidence of all these things at once that allowed her to face this wall.

Before, she would have tried to cut down the wall without hesitation, but now she knew there was no need for that.

Ah, perhaps this was what people called enlightenment?

The wall slowly crumbled.

What lay beyond wasn’t overwhelming. It was absorbed naturally, as if it had been a part of her all along.

And when she opened her eyes…

A sticky, foul-smelling black substance oozed out of her body.

She had changed.

As a swordswoman who constantly checked her own condition, she knew it the moment she opened her eyes.

Her muscles and bones became stronger and more flexible, and her magical power flowed much more smoothly.

…Her chest felt a bit tighter than before, but other than that, it was mostly a positive change.

Was this the “washing of the marrow and cleansing of the tendons” or the “rebirth of the bones” that heroes of A-rank and above experienced?

Her body felt light.

She wanted to share this joy with him immediately, so she turned her gaze towards him, and she was shocked.

He, Kang So-hyun, was floating in the air.

And his eyes, as he slowly opened them, shone with a golden light tinged with red just for a fleeting moment.

The moment he opened his eyes, the cave was filled with an even stronger floral fragrance.

Strong, but not overpowering.

Alluring, but not intoxicating.

A gentle, floral fragrance.

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‘This hurts like hell…!’

He was definitely crazy. He said it wouldn’t harm me, yet I almost lost my mind. How was this not harmful?

If it weren’t for Saint’s Will and Enhancement, I would have definitely gone crazy.

Saint’s Will, I’m sorry. I really won’t complain like that again.

-You’re exaggerating. You can’t gain anything without this much pain.

‘No, I mean, couldn’t you have at least explained it beforehand!?’

Seriously, even when Professor Cathy ‘donutted’ me, it didn’t hurt this much.

…What happened to me?

Simple. My insides were scorched with fire.

Sun Wukong absorbed the surrounding magical power, converted it into heat, and thoroughly scorched my body from head to toe.

I thought it was some crazy torture method, but his answer was even more absurd.

-Do you know what iron and humans have in common?

‘What?!’

-They become stronger when heated and beaten.

‘As far as I know, humans die when heated and beaten?!’

I wasn’t sure if this was really Sun Wukong’s doing, or if he used some other trick, but the flames only burned the impurities accumulated in my body. When he found a distorted part of my body, he literally heated it, softened it, and then forcibly reshaped it.

I was being subjected to such an insane treatment, yet there were no external injuries, which was driving me crazy.

I wanted to deny it, but since I could automatically see in my mind why he was doing this to me, I couldn’t protest too much.

-When I was still immature and reckless, I was imprisoned in the Eight Trigrams Furnace as punishment. That’s when I realized that while fire is dangerous, it can be very helpful if handled properly.

I know! Damn it! They imprisoned you there and tried to burn you to death because there was no way to execute you, but you endured and escaped, causing chaos…!

-Once the distortions are corrected with fire and the impurities are burned away, you will be able to naturally absorb the remaining medicinal properties in your body.

In other words, my body would absorb whatever it could because it was in so much pain that it felt like it was dying.

-Your understanding of death has increased.-

I wasn’t happy about that…!

That’s what Sun Wukong did to me.

I thought I was going to die from the pain of all the walls blocking my dantian, heart, and brain being forcibly broken down.

How painful was it that my understanding of death had increased?

Especially when the heat pierced my head and burned my eyes, I wished I could just go insane, but somehow, I managed to stay sane.

-I suppressed it, so it’s much less painful than it should be. You should endure this much.

‘This is less than the original pain…? What exactly are you doing to my body?’

-Well, I just cleansed your marrows, refined your tendons, and created the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils.

‘…Huh?’

…Was that something you could just create?

-The Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils will disappear for now since you’re not used to them yet, but you’ll be able to use them yourself once you get used to them.

If what he said was true, and it probably was…

Why would Sun Wukong lie to me?

Then, despite the momentary pain, I had gained something incredible.

-I’ve only just fixed your body, so don’t get too comfortable. It will be even more painful when you cultivate your ‘qi’ later. You can’t rely on shortcuts like this then…

More painful than this?

-Anyway, I don’t understand how someone so timid can usually act so recklessly.

Sun Wukong chuckled, then suddenly appeared before me as an illusion.

…Still in the form of a blonde, twin-tailed girl.

“It’s time to open your eyes. Don’t you want to see the changed world?”

Open my eyes?

Ah, this was the mental realm again.

I forgot because it was so painful.

As I opened my eyes, my consciousness shifted from the mental realm to my physical body.

…Huh? Why was I floating in the air?

Fortunately, there was still a spring below, so it was fine, but I could have been seriously injured.

Or not? Would I be fine since I was a superhuman now? I wasn’t sure.

“…Hmm?”

The world seemed clearer.

It felt like the things I couldn’t see or feel before were now much more vivid.

I felt a gaze and turned my head to see Ha-ni staring at me with a shocked expression.

Judging by the blackish impurities oozing out of her skin, she had also made some progress.

That’s what happened in martial arts novels when someone achieved enlightenment.

“Crazy.”

Ha-ni suddenly muttered.

…What?

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Cheon Yoo-hak.

He was generally confident and rarely flustered.

However, even he had moments of discomfort, and a prime example of that was when he had to formally face his father, the head of the Cheon family, like now.

His father, Cheon Mu-jin, was the chairman of Cheon-hwa Group, a figure to be reckoned with in this country. He had semi-retired from active hero work for the sake of managing the group, but he was once a renowned hero.

He was the person he respected and aimed to be.

An ambitious man with a burning desire to achieve his goals.

A man who was sometimes strict, but with hidden kindness within.

“Yoo-hak.”

“Yes, Father.”

“…You won’t call me Dad?”

“…I’m an academy cadet now.”

“Your sister still calls me Dad.”

“…My sister only does that when she needs something from you.”

He was a bit of a doting father, but a good father nonetheless.

Then why was he reluctant to meet him?

The answer was simple. When his father addressed him formally like this, it usually meant he was planning on doing something big.

“Well, yes. I didn’t call you here to hear you call me Dad.”

“Yes…”

“The important thing is your upcoming birthday party.”

Damn it…

He cursed internally.

Not at his father, but at the reality he was about to face.

The mention of his birthday at this timing was extremely unsettling.

“How about a small celebration with just the family?”

“No.”

His minor rebellion was futile.

“I heard that Kang Hyun-woo invited your friends to an after-party after the exams.”

“…Yes?”

…How did he even hear about that?

Well, there was probably no place in the country that didn’t have his father’s informants.

Considering they were classmates, this situation made him even more uneasy.

Don’t tell me…

“I can’t lose to that bastard Hyun-woo, so I have to treat them even better. It’s a good opportunity since your birthday is coming up.”

I wish you would just lose.

“Let’s throw a party! A bigger and grander party than that bastard Kang Hyun-woo could ever imagine!”

Please.

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T/N – Hahaha! Poor Cheon Yoo-hak. The pain of having a doting and competitive father.

Also, Sun Wukong and the MC’s interactions always makes me smile. Sun Wukong is such a bro. I also find it hilarious that he keeps showing up to the MC as a girl with twintails.

Lastly, so Ha-ni broke through the wall? Does that mean she’s stronger than the original protagonists now?

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