I Became the Traitor in an Academy Story

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No matter how much of a Heros Academy it is, the morning time was spent teaching things you’d learn in high school.

In other words, it was boring enough to make you yawn.

History was rather interesting, with plenty of differences from the original content and story, but the rest felt like some hardcore sleeping pills.

Honestly, I couldn’t help but wonder if the teachers were actually abilities users and we were just training our mental stamina against psychic attacks.

Of course, that couldn’t be true; the classes were just dull.

Other students were listening with enough enthusiasm to light a fire.

But they weren’t sitting in the back; they filled the front rows, so it wasn’t too odd.

Giving it your all in studying is probably what’s needed to become the true best—something like that, I guess.

It was probably all about getting even one extra point on the test to stand above the others.

Of course, that didn’t apply to me.

I just needed to be higher than the white-haired kid sitting in front of me.

With that mindset, I spent my time, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime.

Maybe it was still early in the semester, but it felt like the kids were a bit stiff around each other.

They seemed to view each other more as competitors than friends, not really trying to get close.

However, there were still some groups gathered, like the “victims” who had come to confront me yesterday, or Yeonhwa, who had made friends in no time.

And near Im Changwon were his little followers, nothing much else.

Minho was already trying to hit on a girl sitting next to him, asking if she wanted to join him if she didn’t have anyone else to eat with.

Her name was Seolhwa. With sky-blue hair and blue eyes, even I could tell she was stunning.

I wanted to get a closer look, but that would be a nuisance, so I satisfied myself by watching from a distance.

Besides, it was surprising that groups were forming already after just one day.

It was much quicker than I thought.

If I hadn’t made an awkward connection with Minho yesterday, what would have happened?

The thought alone was chilling.

If I had tried to approach, all I’d get back would be the frosty stares of the heroines.

As if they were thinking, “Who does this loser think they are, trying to stick to him?”

…Ugh. Better not think about it. Just visualizing that makes my stomach churn.

As I headed to the cafeteria to put something in my aching guts, someone called out to me from behind.

It was Yeonhwa.

“Blanca, I’m sorry! We were wrong yesterday. We apologized by message, but I feel like that’s not enough…! I’m really sorry!”

“…Sorry. I didn’t know I shouldn’t have butted in.”

They were apologizing for what happened yesterday.

Why were they apologizing to me?

As I stood there, dumbfounded, unsure of how to react, I finally managed to speak.

“Why are you apologizing? It’s us who should be saying sorry.”

“But… you seemed really angry…”

“I’m fine, really! I just got a bit emotional at the moment. Bad memories resurfaced. It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

“You’re really okay…?”

“I’m really okay. Worrying too much isn’t good, Yeonhwa.”

As I pretended to be easygoing with a smile, Yeonhwa looked genuinely relieved and smiled back.

“So, do you want to eat together? I actually wanted to eat with you yesterday, but you disappeared before I could say anything. If you don’t have anyone to eat with, how about joining us…?”

That was the plan after all; I came to the Academy for that. I happily accepted, and Yeonhwa was bouncing with joy.

So they really did think it was their fault.

Then… I wouldn’t need to buy banana milk after all.

While I watched the exuberant Yeonhwa, I suddenly felt someone looking at me from the side and glanced over to find a female student staring at me.

It was Lapiz, sitting next to me.

She was hesitantly snapping the tip of her tail against the ground, clearly wanting to say something but hesitating.

And I knew what she wanted.

She wanted to be friends with me.

But I was also debating if it was okay to accept her.

She was supposed to be a loner.

In the original story, she longed for friendship.

But due to her unusual appearance and background, she couldn’t fit in with anyone and drifted alone.

In the original, when Minho reached out to her, that was when their connection began…

If I accepted her now, wouldn’t that ruin the later interactions between Minho and Lapiz? I couldn’t help but think it through.

But eventually, I decided to accept her.

Of course, it wouldn’t be like Minho, who sincerely reached out; it was going to be more like sharing a chicken skewer with a stray cat.

I didn’t genuinely want to reach out. I shouldn’t have.

That role belonged to Minho.

But until then, I was fine playing along as a friend.

With that, I’d draw a line, but Lapiz might end up longing for a true friend.

That’d make it easier for Minho to swoop in later.

After finishing my calculations, I asked Yeonhwa if it would be okay to include Lapiz as well.

“Lapiz? Oh, the one who was tilling the land? That sounds great! It’s better to have more people to eat with! But… are you two close?”

Yeonhwa looked at me curiously as if she was genuinely interested.

“Not exactly, but she also seems to have no one to eat with, just like me.”

Lapiz’s eyes widened, and she beamed at me before quickly realizing she was showing her teeth and hurriedly covered her mouth.

Her teeth looked more like those of a carnivorous beast than a human.

And she absolutely hated that.

Yeonhwa had already approached Lapiz, urging her to join us.

As she did, Lapiz glanced at me, blush rising on her brown cheeks, mouthing a grateful “thank you.”

I really wasn’t trying to get her to be a friend, though.

Poor thing.

All I could do was think that as I watched her.

— — — —

In the afternoon at the Academy, unlike the morning, it was strictly about improving our abilities and training to become heroes.

In other words, it was time to move our bodies.

“Since it’s the first day, we won’t have any serious training. You can come to me for feedback on yesterday’s exam, and then feel free to do as you like. However, please inform me when you leave the training area.”

Justitia said that, then began calling out students for feedback in the order they took the exam.

In the game, this was when the enhancement system was unlocked, and Yeonhwa would have shown me how to use it, but…

Here, it was just ordinary stretching with Jinhyeon.

It sure was different from the game world.

So what was I doing, you ask?

I was basking in the sun, lying flat in a sunny spot.

Not being lazy or anything.

What I was doing by lying there was a crucial process for absorbing the materials needed to use my abilities and refining them into a usable form.

Not a nap at all.

As I struggled to resist the gentle sunlight and began to doze off, someone approached and cast a shadow over me.

It was Lapiz. I thought she was just coming to stir things up like last time, but it was unexpected.

“Um… Uh, you’re Blanca, right?”

She stammered but resolutely spoke to me.

If I hadn’t awkwardly made a connection with Minho yesterday, would she have talked to him like that?

“Yeah, so what do you need?”

“It’s um… At lunchtime, I wanted to say thanks for letting me join…”

Having said that, she shielded her face with her hands, unable to bear her embarrassment any longer.

“What’s that? You’re feeling sad for being alone, so I just let you tag along.”

She seemed a bit shocked by my comment about being pitiful, shaking a little, but she quickly seemed to take it positively again and kept thanking me.

“S-so, if possible, can we eat together again sometime…?!”

Lapiz asked me, as if she was asking for something she shouldn’t be asking.

“Sure, why not?”

I casually agreed, and unlike Yeonhwa, she was bouncing with joy.

In her excitement, she didn’t notice the group of students approaching from behind her.

“If you’re done with whatever you’re doing, could you step aside? I have things to do too.”

“W-what…?”

“You really came here to become a hero, huh?”

“Um, guys…? W-why are you talking to Blanca…”

It was those kids from yesterday. Ah, that explains why it was so quiet.

It shouldn’t be them, though.

They were the ones who picked fights with the main character from the beginning in the original, so I wasn’t surprised.

It was probably because I stood out the most that they were targeting me.

“Well, I need to get that apology, you see.”

Trying to extract an apology—yeah, that would be hard.

With a grin, I stood up.

“Right now, that jerk has a point. Step aside for a bit, Lapiz. I don’t want you getting dragged into this.”

“B-but Blanca…”

Lapiz seemed unable to just watch as her first friend got into trouble and tried to approach.

But she was being crushed under the pressure from the hostile “victims” behind me, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Oh, are you actually feeling sorry now? That’s cute, so how about a big bow as an apology—”

“Shut up and bring it on. I mean it.”

Interrupting the annoying punk, I flashed a smirk and beckoned them to come.

“…You have quite the arrogance, don’t you? Are you serious?”

The girl who would eventually become a heroine frowned at me as if she didn’t get it.

“I’m serious.”

Same with the others.

Among them, the punk seemed especially bothered, veins popping on his forehead as he glared at me.

“Let’s see if you’ll still say that when you’re crying and begging.”

“I’m terrified.”

He looked exactly like a typical punk, both in personality and appearance.

Decked out in gold jewelry and sporting bleached hair.

His abilities matched his looks too.

Sure, he’d eventually come to his senses, but that didn’t give me a reason not to take him down right now.

Honestly, he was a bother all the way through the mid-part of the story.

I wasn’t stupid enough to pass up the chance to take a swing at guys like him.

“What’s all this ruckus about? And Ageha, I believe I called for you. What are you doing here instead?”

But this time, Justitia intervened.

“Ah, Sensei. Well, that’s…”

The ones who were confronting me seemed to lose steam the moment they saw Justitia.

The girl called Ageha, who had been at the front, along with the punk, were no exception.

Meanwhile, Lapiz rushed over to Justitia as if she sensed salvation, explaining the whole gloomy atmosphere to her.

“So this is what’s happening. Please help us…!”

“I see. So it was during the entrance exam…”

Justitia listened to Lapiz’s explanation, crossed her arms in thought, then finally spoke up.

“Very well. I’ll allow it. However, this will be limited to a duel format. I trust there are no objections?”

“None.”

“None.”

“S-Sensei?!”

And just like that, an unexpected duel was set to begin.

 

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