Chapter 37: Probably a Light Conversation:

It would have been nice to have a proper conversation.

But after she gave me a sad look,  Hye-yeon brought me coffee, and that was the end of it.

After finishing the cold coffee, Seo-jun said she would visit sometimes, and I told her not to.

She refused.

After they left, I looked around the slightly empty room, turned on the TV, and quickly switched from the news channel I didn’t want to hear to the classical music channel.

I wasn’t in the mood for jazz.

Maybe they didn’t confiscate my cigarettes because they were too wholesome.

Anyway, I lit one up, smoked it for a while, and then stubbed it out on the table where the white powder had been.

Blurry figures began to appear before my eyes again.

With no expression, just staring at me as they did when they died.

I wore the B-rank uniform and went to Class B-2.

I didn’t feel too bad.

It felt like being told that a piece of meat that wasn’t even good enough for ground beef could now be used for something, even if it wasn’t a steak, at least a stir-fry.

The school building and its facilities were different, almost like they were from a different era.

Large blackboards and TVs were replaced by holograms floating in the air.

I liked that.

But when I entered the classroom, all the students stared at me.

Everyone was seated. The teacher was standing at the podium.

Honestly, it was a little creepy.

Just being stared at.

And I hated it.

The researchers just stared at me, no matter what I said.

Their only response was scribbling on their chart boards.

No one spoke to me.

Not even the teacher.

Well, I guess deflecting an arrow with a chart board showed how much they cared about their student.

There was only one empty seat.

A nameless white flower sat on the desk.

Did they have these in the F-rank class?

No one seemed to care when a student died.

Well, maybe life isn’t that important for fake ability users who are just physically strong.

After they graduate, they’re sent to the Baekdudaegan Mountains to fight communist remnants, never knowing when they might die.

I walked to the empty seat, put the white flower on the floor, and sat down.

Everyone around me treated me like I was invisible.

As I looked around, I saw a familiar face.

The girl who yelled at me for smoking.

“Hey, you. Didn’t you say you’d come find me if I didn’t show up?”

I approached her during break and spoke to her, but she just pretended not to know me, trembling slightly.

I sighed and sat back down, looking out the window.

Maybe she doesn’t know Seo-jun yet.

I guess villains suddenly attacking the academy is a story that only happens at the beginning.

Class, break, lunch, class, break, class, end.

I just stared blankly into space the whole time.

The classes seemed pointless.

I don’t care if six nuclear bombs fell on Seoul.

Anyway, after class ended, the teacher glared at me as he left.

The students got up and slowly surrounded me.

Some of them left the room with bored or satisfied expressions.

A boy whose hands were trembling slightly stepped forward and spoke to me.

It was a little funny that only one person was talking despite so many of them gathered around.

“I heard you didn’t even attend classes in the class for idiots.Do you even know who used to sit here?”

“How would I know? This is my first time here.I don’t know who sat here, but it’s a little uncomfortable.”

As soon as I finished speaking, a kick flew at me, and I crashed into the wall.

The boy who kicked me walked over, grabbed me by the collar, and started punching me in the face while continuing to talk.

His name was Kim Seo-hyun.

He liked croffles.

He was popular because he was handsome and had a good personality.

He was her boyfriend.

He stopped punching when he saw my teeth scattered on the floor, mixed with blood.

I spat out bloody phlegm and looked up.

Everyone was staring at me.

One idiot looked unsure of himself, even though he was the one who hit me.

Several others who had angry faces when they surrounded me were now looking at me with pity.

Several others were still angry.

“Don’t think you’ll be treated as one of us.We won’t consider someone like you, who came here after killing someone, a colleague even after graduation.Don’t even think about attending classes. We won’t let it slide like today.”

“……I don’t give about your speech just because one of your died.”

This time, I saw the bottom of a shoe.

A slight impact, blood flowing from my mouth, and now seemingly half of my teeth were broken.

I purposely didn’t regenerate and went back to my room in a mess.

I washed up, changed into a new uniform, and fell asleep.

I heard curses in the hallway.

They cursed at me, mocked me.

I grinned and tried to walk past, but I got slapped.

I went back to class, listened to the lecture, and got beaten up in the corner of the classroom.

I purposely didn’t regenerate and went back to my room in a mess.

I got beaten up on my way back too.

In the hallway, and as I tried to close my door, some kids grabbed my hair, threw me to the ground, and kicked me…

They didn’t come inside, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Anyway, I cleaned myself up, washed my uniform, hung it on the balcony to dry, and fell asleep.

I went to school in the still-damp, smelly uniform.

This time, my jaw got dislocated from the beating.

The kids panicked, stopped hitting me, left me in the corner of the classroom, and ran out.

But one person stayed.

“Yoo Ha-rin.”

I pretended to pop my jaw back into place as I regenerated it so I could answer.

Then I spoke.

“What.”

“……Do you need to attend classes? You’re not even listening.You don’t have to come to class.As a B-rank, you could live comfortably, even if it’s not a high position.”

“I didn’t kill your friend for some position.”

“…….”

I staggered to my feet and started walking.

Someone always cleaned up the bloodstains on the floor, so it seemed like someone was always cleaning up after me.

When I returned to the dormitory, Seo-jun was waiting for me with an anxious expression.

Our eyes met. Her anxious face turned to shock.

She ran towards me.

“Who, who did this…?”

“Who do you think? Are you going to chase them down with a knife and kill them all?”

“Stop changing the subject and just tell me!”

“What are you going to do? Cause a scene in class with your fancy uniform, threatening to chop off anyone’s hand who touches me?”

“Yes, if necessary.”

“Do I look pitiful to you?”

“……Incredibly.”

I started walking, and Seo-jun followed me, fussing over me.

I saw some familiar faces in the dormitory, but no one mocked me or hit me as they passed by today.

Maybe it’s because Seo-jun’s face is well-known.

It might be good to have her around on days I don’t want those bugs touching me.

“Do you feel like you want to protect me?”

As I entered my room, Seo-jun naturally followed me inside.

“Yes, all day if possible.You told me not to come, so I held back for a while, but I was waiting here today, and this is what I see.”

Right, I told her not to come.

I was acting like this because I thought she would come anyway.

“I should have just ignored you and come from the first day……”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

I couldn’t stay on the bed in my dirty uniform.

So I started unbuttoning my shirt.

“W, wait, what are you…oh.”

I took off everything except my underwear.

Seo-jun didn’t blush.

She just stared blankly at my body.

My withered body was covered in scars that wouldn’t disappear no matter how much I regenerated.

There were marks from where I had cut myself open, broken ribs that hurt even when I breathed, and a deep cut on my wrist that wasn’t bleeding, but still visible.

“Was that too much? I need to wash up, so could you turn around?”

Instead of turning around, Seo-jun walked towards me angrily.

She grabbed my shoulders, pushed me down, and pinned me.

“Tell me what happened. Don’t give me that ‘I can’t tell you’

” Now.”

“Nothing happened.”

I said with a crooked smile.

“It hurts, let go. Why do you look so serious?”

When you were living happily, you left me in that lab.

If you had visited me even once.

No,If you had even thought of me.