Chapter 38 Part 8: Connivance.

Before long, the homeroom teacher began explaining the regular sparring sessions.

Other students listened with great anticipation, but there wasn’t much substance to it.

It was pretty much just saying they were going to hold regular sparring sessions, as the name suggested.

The plan was to form groups, set up a schedule, and have students spar with each other periodically.

It’s probably one of the classes designed to improve students’ combat skills against other people.

But the last thing he said bothered me, so I couldn’t just let it go.

“As you all know, the experience gained from sparring will also be helpful in the upcoming sports competition.”

With a grin, the homeroom teacher added.

“There’s nothing better than winning an award as a representative of the first-year students.”

And then he said that if I was lucky, I could win an award as a representative of the entire school, and he looked at me… Honestly, I could only let out a hollow laugh.

There are close to 270 students in the entire school.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to be the best among those 270.

Especially since there are famous students in each grade.

… I have no idea why I’m considered one of those famous students, but anyway.

Anyway, the whole framework of sparring was also a problem.

I can’t completely crush my opponent, so I have to draw the line somewhere.

And I didn’t have any particular talent for subduing opponents while keeping that line.

In fact, it was obvious that it would be a one-sided beating rather than a sparring match.

“It will be a good experience even if you don’t participate in the competition, so please do your best.”

The homeroom teacher announced the start of cleaning time.

While everyone moved to their pre-assigned cleaning areas, I quietly got up from my seat and went outside the classroom.

For a moment, I thought that for an academy, they could just hire outside help for cleaning.

I have to wait for the other students to finish cleaning before I can mop the floor.

So, I was about to look out the window for a while when Xia tapped me on the shoulder and said.

“Yeji, are you going to participate in the competition?”

“I don’t know.”

“Huh? What’s with that lukewarm response?”

“I didn’t feel the need to participate.”

“…Really?”

Xia’s eyes wavered.

Did she mean she thought I would definitely participate?

I frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and decided to tell her the truth.

“Right now, even sparring is a bother.”

“No way…”

It wasn’t a joke, I really felt that way.

Even if it’s called a regular sparring session, it’s still a sparring match between students.

And of course, sparring between students wouldn’t be a meaningful stimulus for me.

Was it because I had overworked my body so much during my time as a test subject?

Because of that, I couldn’t gain anything unless I was sparring with teachers or outside instructors.

It’s not for nothing that I look forward to the special training sessions.

The vice-principal even told me so to begin with.

Since I was at a level where I could debut as a pro hero or hunter right away, there was no need for me to participate in the competition.

I was fine without participating in such things.

Still, just in case, I said it half-jokingly.

“If I participate in the competition, it will be a disaster, you know?”

“So you’re not participating in the competition? Not because sparring is a bother?”

“…Why?”

Right after that, Xia immediately clasped her hands together and lowered her posture.

“Then spar with me!”

“Ah…?”

“Please, I really want to achieve a meaningful result in this competition!”

“Ah, is that so?”

“I, I’ll do whatever you ask… Can you do it somehow?”

Xia said that, smiled awkwardly, and stared at me.

Honestly, I wanted to say it was a bother and push her away, but Xia is a closer friend, right?

So, I nodded readily.

“You have to buy me a snack later, okay?”

“Of course, I can buy you that! No matter how much it costs, I’ll buy you everything!”

“But Xia, weren’t you supposed to be using a broom?”

“…Ah.”

“See you later.”

“Yeah…”

I watched Xia hurriedly enter the classroom and chuckled.

And for a moment, I thought about how to spar and then started to wring out the mop and clean.

Cleaning only takes a few minutes of thorough mopping.

It wasn’t much different now, and as soon as I finished cleaning, I wrung out the mop and put it back in its place.

“Ah.”

Right after that, I remembered that I had forgotten something important.

I frowned slightly and spread my fingers to count.

It was good that I received the medicine again after that incident.

But my aunt said it would still take time to improve the medicine.

So, for the time being, I would have to take the medicine to avoid seeing hallucinations, but this wasn’t a clear solution either.

Getting rid of emotions wasn’t a big problem.

I would just become a somewhat blunt and dry person, not lose my social skills.

However, the sudden eruption of suppressed emotions was definitely a problem.

“What should I do…”

I realized it during the last sparring session.

If suppressed emotions burst out, I would most likely suffer from illusions.

Although I ended up being fine that time because I was already hallucinating, there was no guarantee that it would happen again.

I couldn’t ask the vice principal to stick with me all the time.

So, I need to come up with a way somehow.

It’s a headache to watch Xia’s sparring during the regular sparring sessions, and now I have to worry about the medicine.

I lamented that I never knew it would be so hard to go to school normally.

“Tsk.”

Well, what can I do?

Since things have come to this, I have to try to do something about it.

Just as I was thinking that and trying to muster up my enthusiasm, I heard a familiar clearing of a throat from behind.

“Jinhoo, why?”

“I hope I’m not interrupting you, am I?”

“Huh?”

“You seemed lost in thought.”

“I wasn’t doing that. I was just simply spacing out a little.”

“It’s a bit unexpected to think of you doing that.”

“…Why?”

Spacing out wasn’t awkward.

And it wasn’t something to be told it was unexpected.

I wondered for a moment if there was another problem I didn’t know about.

“You just have that kind of vibe. Something relaxed, like you’ve already finished all the calculations.”

“Aha…”

“Come to think of it, I couldn’t apologize properly last time… Do you have time?”

“You couldn’t apologize properly last time…? Ah.”

I definitely thought I had made him pay the price last time, but thinking about it again, I hadn’t.

I remembered that I had punished him without saying anything at the time.

“I, I’m sorry for suddenly playing such a harsh prank on you.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize, Yeji. I already guessed when you came to me.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. But you didn’t say anything, so I just thought you were playing around.”

“I see… The apology is fine. We’re even, right?”

I said that and changed my expression as if I was really okay.

In fact, it’s kind of funny to receive an apology now.

But Jinhoo naturally led the situation like a sly fox.

“So, do you have time? I was going to go to the snack bar.”

Jinhoo said that and chuckled.

He must have meant for me to follow him because he had something to say.

Now that I think about it, him stepping up to apologize was probably just a way to start a conversation.

Well, there’s no reason to refuse.

“Will you buy me something?”

“I’ll buy you something if you come with me. There were a lot of new snacks anyway.”

“Really? Thank you.”

Everything Jinhoo said was true.

He said he would buy me something if I came with him, and there were a lot of new snacks.

Thanks to that, I was able to buy the things I wanted to eat and sit down to eat them.

“Jinhoo, I’ll eat well.”

“Yeah. Ah, come to think of it, you’ve been wearing glasses lately…”

“Why, is it weird?”

“No, I think it suits you. But did your eyesight get worse?”

“It’s because of the special training.”

“Ah, is it because of the beastman ability?”

“Yeah.”

Among the abilities with a long history, there were some that formed a kind of race.

And beastmen were one of the abilities with a long enough history to be called a race.

The details were all different, but the big picture was the same.

By making the body closer to that of an animal through manifestation, it seeks to improve physical abilities.

Of course, the reconstruction of the cells themselves during that process was a bonus.

So, even if you’re human, you can create gills and spawn, something like that.

…Ah, I don’t want to think about this topic for too long.

“You know, Jinhoo? Snakes have pretty bad eyesight.”

“I see. So, can you not see at all without your glasses?”

“Not to that extent.”

“So your glasses aren’t a weakness.”

“What, are you analyzing me? Are you going to participate in the competition too?”

Jinhoo gave an awkward laugh instead of answering.

Then he nodded as if it was obvious and said.

“The most likely winner in the school right now is you.”

“…Ah?”

“I’m not joking. At least, that’s what I think.”

“I see…”

“The regular sparring sessions, I checked the bulletin board earlier?”

“You checked it?”

“Yeah. You and I are in the same group, so I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Jinhoo said that and gave a meaningful smile.

I thought about the meaning of that smile for a moment and then just gave up thinking.

Well, it didn’t seem like he had any bad intentions.

And time flew by, and before I knew it, the day of the regular sparring sessions arrived.