Chapter 6

For some reason, it bothered her.

"I've never heard of it before, but should I investigate?"

"Yes, please do."

Olivia lifted her face from the pillow.

"I should take a bath in the hot spring."

As he said.

Olivia swallowed her words and blushed.

‘D-Did I smell bad back then...? ’

Olivia hastily raised her arm to smell it.

It seemed as if there was a slight smell of sweat, perhaps due to her imagination.

"I need to go right now!"

"Please come back safely."

Leaving Bella's greeting behind, Olivia quickly gathered her toiletries and headed for the dormitory's large communal bath.

The dormitory corridor was strangely deserted.

Olivia recalled the layout of the dormitory in her mind and walked toward the bath.

Then,

Bang!

A deafening explosion echoed in her ears.

It came from the direction of the bath.

‘What is it?’

Curiosity piqued, Olivia quickened her pace.

When she arrived at the entrance of the bath, what she saw was:

"How dare you peek at my naked body, are you prepared to die?"

A slender beauty, her naked body wrapped in a towel, her long navy ponytail flying, menacingly pointing a katana.

"No, that was a m-mistake?"

A handsome young man with black hair, looking flustered, sweating coldly, and trying to explain.

Olivia's face flushed as she instantly understood the situation.

"P-Perv!!"

A sharp scream burst from her lips.

It was the moment the original story began to twist.

*

The meals at Shuoh Hero Academy were quite excellent.

I had given up on the taste, expecting hospital food, but it was surprisingly good.

It was the quality befitting an academy that claimed to be the best in Japan and the world.

After quickly finishing dinner and changing back into my school uniform, I hurriedly left the hospital room.

‘Since I’ve eaten, I should go check on the bath situation now.’

I had told Olivia to go to the bath, but there was no guarantee that the situation would unfold as in the original story.

If she wasn’t in the bath, I would have to find her again and urge her.

‘If they meet, I won’t have to deal with any more trouble.’

A smile appeared on my lips.

Since Durandal is now mine, all that’s left is to enjoy my time at this academy.

Let the protagonist and the heroine have their fun.

I hurried out of the hospital and walked through the campus where cherry blossoms were in full bloom, infiltrating the dormitory.

I walked down the corridor, recalling the layout of the dormitory I had downloaded in advance.

‘Not far now.’

First floor.

The sign for the bath was visible in the distance.

The large communal bath of Shuoh Hero Academy is not gender-segregated.

To prevent any possible incidents, the usage times for male and female students are divided.

‘Prevent incidents? Go to hell.’

No gender segregation in the bath of an academy that boasts the best facilities in the world?

It can’t be anything but a shallow, convenience-driven setting to include a bath scene and lucky perverts.

‘Just a cheap thrill.’

I grumbled and continued walking.

At the end of the long corridor, the sign for the bath came into view.

"Perv!!"

Olivia’s sharp voice rang out.

Was it a success?

I stopped in my tracks.

Thump, thump.

I summoned my magic power. A thread of magic power from the magic circuit directed toward my eyes.

My vision magnified like a telescope.

In the distance, the scene in front of the bath door was visible.

A flustered Olivia.

A black-haired young man, sweating coldly, bowing and clasping his hands like in a manga, the protagonist Kurosawa Yuji.

And in front of him, a beautiful girl with a navy ponytail, her face hardened like a demon, her naked body barely covered by a towel.

"Shinazaki Rin?"

Her name slipped out of my mouth.

Shinazaki Rin.

Following the rule of light novels where one heroine takes center stage in each volume, she is the title heroine of the second volume and the daughter of the Shinazaki family, the current top hero lineage in Japan.

The greatest prodigy in Japan. The protagonist's childhood friend.

And the unfortunate genius who was pushed to second place by Olivia, the top student.

The story of the second volume of the original is about resolving her inferiority complex toward Olivia and the protagonist, and further, fighting the head of the Shinazaki family who was using and pressuring her, to save her.

So, she shouldn’t be here.

‘Why is she here?’

My brows furrowed.

I calmed my mind and assessed the situation.

Olivia was holding a bath basket and wearing casual clothes.

In contrast, Shinazaki Rin had wet hair and her damp naked body was barely covered by a towel.

Clearly, she had just finished bathing.

Anyone who saw this would know.

‘The protagonist saw someone else’s naked body.’

From Olivia to Shinazaki Rin.

‘Is this the butterfly effect?’

My head was in a mess.

Then, Shinazaki Rin’s voice echoed in my ears.

"I can't tolerate your rude and shameless behavior, Kurosawa."

Her navy eyes turned cold.

Shinazaki quietly raised her right hand.

Thud.

A katana sliced through the air and landed in her right hand.

Shinazaki's personal weapon, the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi.

"I will judge your sins with my sword, Kurosawa Yuji."

Shinazaki’s contemptuous gaze fixed on the protagonist Yuji.

The Shinazaki family, for ten years, had been the perennial second family in Japan, until the Kurosawa family, the black curtain organization, the New World League, attacked and caused their downfall.

Because Shinazaki had always been compared to the protagonist since childhood, she inevitably harbored a sense of competition and inferiority toward Yuji, the last surviving member of the Kurosawa family.

‘That’s right.’

The original setting flooded my mind.

Meanwhile, the conversation between Yuji and Shinazaki continued.

"So, I'm sorry, Rin. It really wasn't intentional."

"I told you not to act familiar and call me by my first name, didn't I?"

Shinazaki glared at Yuji with a cold expression.

"I'm sorry, Shinazaki."

"I don't want to hear your insincere apologies. Come to the training hall right now, Kurosawa."

"…Alright."

Yuji reluctantly answered, and Shinazaki, glaring at him, turned and walked away coldly.

"Damn it."

Shinazaki’s disappearing figure came into view.

She muttered a curse in Korean.

The original story deviating from the start.

The reality of the light novel world, where the future changes depending on whose naked body the protagonist sees, was absurd and made me want to take a break.

But the future had already changed.

Spilled water.

There was no way to reverse it.

‘This is a pain.’

I wasn’t without a way to handle it.

But I couldn’t just play and eat as I had originally planned.

I had to intervene.

If I didn’t, I might end up having to fight the New World League, those crazy guys, myself.

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

Those guys are ridiculously strong.

‘So, you, the protagonist, should take the fall instead of me.’

My gaze turned to the protagonist Yuji.

He was as handsome as his setting described, disgustingly so.

Well, that’s why he gets the harem.

I didn’t like it.

‘I’ll charge you the cost of the trouble you’ve caused me, with interest, so look forward to it.’

Intervening in the original story was annoying, but not impossible.

Major events always revolve around the protagonist.

If I stick close, I’ll naturally get some benefits.

Given my position, where I have to use national pride to survive, this could be considered a somewhat attractive aspect.

The more attention I get, the higher my national pride will rise.

‘Thinking about it, this isn’t bad. Except for the annoyance.’

To find a way back to the original world, I first needed to become famous and rise to a high position.

That way, I would have access to more information and resources.

Right. Since it’s come to this, I’ll have to suck the protagonist dry.

I won’t suffer any losses.

I made this resolution and was about to turn around.

Then,

"Wait a moment."

A voice reached my ears.

I hate this.

Olivia’s voice.

"You there, the black-haired guy... Kim Deok-sung, right?"

That’s why I hate it.

With black hair, everyone recognizes you. It’s rare.

"Damn it."

I muttered in Korean and turned around.

The platinum blonde beauty, Olivia, and the protagonist Yuji, standing awkwardly beside her, came into view.

"So what if it’s me?"

I looked at the protagonist and Olivia alternately and answered curtly.

"That’s... "

Olivia was at a loss for words.

She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms.

Yuji was looking around nervously.

"Whatever. You. Kurosawa."

"Huh?"

Yuji looked at me.

A sigh escaped me.

I moved toward where Olivia and Yuji were standing.

Yuji’s face came into view.

Suddenly, the face of the rascal, no, Kim Deok-sung, came to mind.

Same black hair, but such a difference in appearance?

It’s an unfair world.

I patted the protagonist’s shoulder.

"Don’t hold back; just fight honestly. Don’t make things worse by holding back."

Yuji’s black eyes wavered.

He seemed surprised by the advice to avoid the power-saving game.

"Wh-What do you mean by that, ahahaha... "

The guy laughed awkwardly.

It was ridiculous how his face betrayed the lie, as if he was afraid of not being the protagonist.

Regardless,

"That’s the path that better suits your goal. If you want to distance yourself from Shinazaki, keep hiding your strength."

I had to say it.

I didn’t want to get tired like in the second volume, where he holds back because they’re childhood friends.

The protagonist needs to show his strength at this point, regardless of the opponent.

That way, the twisted story might unfold better.

"..."

Yuji’s eyes widened.

His face hardened.

This should be enough for him to understand.

I moved on.

"Wait."

His voice reached me.

I was done talking.

I had no interest in being held back by a guy.

I ignored Yuji and walked past him to reach Olivia.

Olivia glanced at me.

"Hey."

"Did you call me?"

Her gaze finally turned to me.

Elegant posture, befitting a princess of France.

I sighed inwardly.

With the situation changed, I would have to take charge of this troublesome main heroine for a while.

"You, come with me. We need to talk."

I pressed my temples as I spoke.

"Why me?"

I pressed my forehead.

Tsundere, I hate it.

"If you don’t want to, don’t."

I hate pushy people.

I walked past her.

"I didn’t say I don’t want to!"

I heard Olivia chasing after me.

I clicked my tongue.

You should have done that earlier.

*

In front of the bath, where Olivia and the unknown black-haired student had disappeared,

Kurosawa Yuji was left alone.

"Don’t hide your strength."

Yuji muttered to himself.

The image of the black-haired student came to mind.

Another black-haired, black-eyed individual.

A face he had never seen before.

Considering the rarity of black magic power, he might be the only student with the same hair color as him in the academy.

"Getting further away... "

The image of his childhood friend, Shinazaki Rin, came to mind.

Her cold expression and tone.

It wasn’t just anger over him seeing her naked.

Perhaps it was more than that.

It might be the anger stemming from the long-standing enmity between the Shinazaki and Kurosawa families.

‘Did he mean that?’

If so, how?

The secrets between the two families were not something a regular student would know.

And the goal he mentioned.

It was undoubtedly about ‘revenge for the family.’