NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23
Since that moment, the stack had already started to pile up.
I’m pissed off that the pathetic nerd betrayed my pure heart, but forcing me into this crazy world?
How infuriating, that damn author.
Beating him to death would be justified.
You know, when a fan turns into an anti, it’s the scariest thing. The one who turned me into a nerdy, cool monster obsessed with obsessing is that guy.
“Hmph. Fine. I’ll teach you.”
I hear Olivia’s voice.
Her arms are still crossed, looking sulky.
“Please take a seat. And….”
I sit as she instructed.
A brief silence passes.
“And?”
Unable to contain myself, I ask the question.
Then, a small voice comes from behind me.
“Please… remove your top…”
The moment I heard Olivia’s words, the setting flashed in my mind like lightning.
The core of skills in this world is the mana circulation method.
If we were to liken it to martial arts novels, it’s like a secret technique.
And the easiest way to teach the mana circulation method is by injecting mana into another person’s body and guiding them directly in circulation.
The setting states that guiding the circulation works best with skin-to-skin contact.
‘It’s clearly a convenience-driven setting meant to throw in some lucky perv action.’
In the original story, the protagonist uses skill transmission as an excuse to touch the heroines’ bodies, all while they blush in their underwear after taking off their tops—as a setup to include such black-and-white illustrations in the books.
So-called service scenes.
The problem is that this service scene looks like it’s about to turn into reality.
‘Shit.’
I’m supposed to take off my top in front of Olivia.
‘Just like that, every single day feels like there’s a landmine waiting to explode.’
A world where landmines pop up like a DMZ.
“What are you doing not undressing already?! I really made up my mind to teach you… I’m embarrassed too, you know!!”
Olivia shouts.
I sigh.
“Just take it off, will you?”
There’s no helping it.
It’s all for the sake of the White Flame Sword Technique.
I take off my top.
The indoor air feels unnaturally cold against my bare skin.
“…”
A long time passes since I removed my clothes, but there’s still no reaction.
What’s wrong with her?
“What are you doing? Get started already.”
I urge Olivia.
“W-well, I’ll start now…”
Only then do I hear her voice.
A warm sensation touches my back.
*
Swish.
Kim Deok-Sung removes his tops one by one.
Under the dazzling lights, his muscular back is revealed.
It’s like looking at a statue with perfectly sculpted muscles.
Seeing that, Olivia’s face turns red.
“Ugh…”
A sound of discomfort escapes her lips.
The day she went to the ruins with him reflexively comes to Olivia’s mind.
He rises.
His solid, muscular, naked body emerging from the baptismal barrel…
‘Really… I don’t want to admit it, but he’s quite the specimen…’
Olivia’s face turns bright red as that thought crosses her mind.
She covers her flushed cheeks with both hands.
‘W-what kind of outrageous thoughts am I having right now…!!!’
She shakes her head vigorously.
This is unacceptable for a princess of France.
No matter how impressive his body may be.
Even if she has to place her hands on his back from now on.
‘I-I must be out of my mind. I’m not even married yet, and I’m about to touch a strange man’s back…!!’
Olivia’s face turns crimson to her earlobes.
She has never touched a man’s bare body, not even once.
But even if it’s for the sake of skill transfer, to be in contact with each other’s bare skin is too much for a French princess raised in a lavish palace.
‘Ugh…’
While Olivia is fumbling around in her thoughts.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to start?”
Kim Deok-Sung’s nonchalant voice pricks her ears.
Olivia’s face flares up again.
‘Y-yes, this is strictly a transaction. Just a transaction! One-on-one exchange of the White Flame Sword Technique for the Black Light Sword Technique!’
She closes her eyes tightly, trying to rationalize herself.
“W-well, I’ll begin now…”
Stumbling over her words, Olivia places her hands on Kim Deok-Sung’s back.
*
Contrary to the excessive delay, the transfer of the mana circulation method surprisingly ended quickly.
The problem lies with the sword technique movements, akin to basic forms in martial arts.
Kim Deok-Sung’s body isn’t untrained, but he’s hardly a genius—merely average.
Swordsmanship skills require not only the mana circulation method but also the corresponding movements, and Kim Deok-Sung struggles just to memorize them.
“That’s it for today. At this snail’s pace, how long will it take for you to teach me the Black Light Sword Technique?”
Olivia complains.
This time, there’s nothing he can refute.
Ah, I could really use a status window right now.
In web novels, sword techniques just get registered as skills after swinging a few times.
Having to struggle like this just because there’s no status window is ridiculous.
Damn light novel world.
I want to level up too.
Sighing, I speak to Olivia.
“The Black Light Sword Technique? If you want, I can teach you tomorrow.”
“T-tomorrow?”
Olivia’s face reddens.
She’s probably thinking about the skill transfer process involving their bare skin contact earlier.
“Ugh! To mention such things in front of a lady, you pervert! Scoundrel! Sea cucumber! Sea squirt! Anemone!!”
The now-familiar litany of sea cucumber, sea squirt, and anemone rings in his ears.
“Don’t want to? Then forget it.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to! Hmph.”
She crosses her arms and turns her head away.
“…Let’s say you can start transferring once you’ve mastered the White Flame Sword Technique. I’m a benevolent French princess, after all! Consider it an honor!”
“Y-yeah.”
I reply half-heartedly to her words while slinging my backpack over my shoulder.
After sweating it out during the sword practice, I feel sticky.
I need to hurry to the dormitory and take a shower.
“Don’t forget, you’ll be training with me every day after school!”
“Got it, I’m leaving now.”
“Do as you wish! Hmph.”
Even her last remarks are like that.
Shaking my head, I exit the training building.
I buy a cola from the vending machine at the entrance and take a swig.
The carbonation goes down smoothly.
Yeah, this is the taste.
Sports drinks aren’t my thing.
“Ugh.”
As I crush the empty cola can and toss it into the trash can, it scores a perfect shot.
“Finally met you, Kurosawa. You F-rank trash. So you were here? I’ve been looking for you, you know.”
From the back yard of the training building, a very familiar cliché dialogue echoes.
Kurosawa Yuji.
It’s the protagonist’s event.
Hey, what’s up?
Ishihara? Looks like Ishihara Daiki is picking a fight with the protagonist.
Normally, the punk assigned to pick on the protagonist at this moment would be Kim Deok-Sung.
It’s not Ishihara’s time to show up.
‘In the original story, the duel class I promised with Shinozaki was actually a battle between Kim Deok-Sung and the protagonist.’
But with me reincarnated into Kim Deok-Sung’s body, the protagonist’s first opponent switched from Olivia to Shinozaki Rin, altering the future.
Ishihara Daiki.
He thinks that the only girl suitable for him, the heir of the Ishihara Group, Japan’s top conglomerate, is Shinozaki Rin, the daughter of Japan’s prestigious family.
Thanks to that, he officially sent a marriage proposal from the Ishihara Group to the Shinozaki family, only to be rejected with “We have no need for a nouveau riche.”
After that rejection, Ishihara’s obsession intensified, and in Volume 2, after trouble arises between the protagonist and Shinozaki, he ends up picking a fight with the protagonist to get on Shinozaki’s good side.
‘Seriously, what childish people.’
I click my tongue.
What’s so good about that girl, Shinozaki Rin, anyway?
If Olivia is just coffee, Shinozaki Rin is top-tier.
Just recalling the scene where she started picking on me today makes me choke up and grind my teeth.
Why do I have to endure such trials every day?
You’re totally getting a dogeza. No mercy for you.
Clink.
I pull out a 100 yen coin from my change purse and get another cola from the vending machine.
‘So, what to do now?’
Should I intervene, or should I not?
There’s no need to worry about the protagonist.
That guy is stronger than me.
But I have a mission to drag the protagonist to the Cherry Blossom Festival.
That way, won’t he deal with the Vulture or whatever that guy is?
Of course, since the protagonist is naïve, he’d follow me if I suggested going, but there’s a slim chance of that happening.
‘Might as well intervene and wipe off some debt here.’
Damn.
Even after deciding, a sigh escapes me.
If it’s the same price, it’s better to get a crimson skirt.
Usually, in these situations, saving the beautiful girl from punks is the national rule.
Why should I save a shady, black-hearted wannabe male?
Ah, suddenly, I feel the heat rising.
Still holding the cola can, I walk toward the back yard.
“Look at this guy. He doesn’t even greet Ishihara. Where did you learn such manners?”
“Pathetic punk. A loser like you being a student of Shuo Hero Academy is just an embarrassment. An embarrassment.”
I hear Ishihara’s goons mercilessly trash-talking Kurosawa.
Extras that aren’t even worth remembering by name.
I keep walking.
In the distance, I spot Ishihara, with two of his goons behind him.
I infuse mana into the cola can in my hand.
The bright red cola can turns black.
I take aim at the back of Ishihara’s head with the can.
I throw the can.
Swoosh!
With a chilling sound, the can slices through the air and hits Ishihara right on the back of his head.
“Ahhhh! What the hell?! Who did that?! What audacious punk dares to cowardly attack the back of Ishihara’s head?!”
Reacting textbook-style, the blonde, tanned punk Ishihara turns around.
His golden eyes meet mine directly.
I look at Ishihara and say.
Looking at him, I said,
“Hey, it’s me, you bastard.”
“Ah? What the hell? Who dares to demand a dogeza from Shinozaki, huh?”
Ugh, I can’t stand that tone.
Even a beautiful girl saying such things makes me sigh several times a day.
But seeing this guy, a blonde tan punk acting all cocky, makes me want to smack him in the back of the head right then and there.
I reflect on myself for getting somewhat accustomed to this damn world for a moment.
“Damn it. You shitty blonde punk! Shut your mouth already, or I’m gonna throw up.”
Please,
I’m begging you.
Just shut up and free me from this pain.
“Ah? Is this guy really nuts? Out of nowhere, he smacks the back of Ishihara’s head and then says shut up? Crazy. Who do you think you are, huh? What’s your relationship with Kurosawa? Why are you suddenly interfering and causing a commotion?”
The line I was waiting for finally came.
What’s your relationship with the protagonist!
Ishihara and his two minions, along with Kurosawa, all turn their attention to me.
I take a deep breath.
From now on, I have to deliver the most cringeworthy line of my life myself.
Damn.
They say patience is a virtue, but to get this debt off my back with the protagonist, there’s no choice.
Suppressing the urge to vomit, I spoke with a trembling voice.
“Kurosawa is… my roommate and friend. That should be enough, right?”
Aaaah!
Damn it!
How can I be forced to say lines like this with my own mouth?
And to save a damn guy.
I didn’t even do this kind of thing when I was a total nerd.
I’m gonna kill that author for sure.
“Kim…”
Kurosawa murmurs with an impressed look in his eyes.
Is he really touched by this awful delivery?
I expected it, but it makes no sense.
There’s no one more of a sucker than me.
I achieved my goal, but feeling this dirty is something I’ve never experienced in my life.
I’m going crazy, seriously.
“You two are roommates? An F-rank failure and the black-haired dude from a small country. You really are playing together, huh? Hahahahahaha!”
“If you’re so brave, why don’t we have it out right here?”
I place my hand on Durandal and say.
“…”
Ishihara shuts his mouth.
His cheek is trembling.
“Why are you scared? Well, I guess you should be. That punk has so many demerits already, and if he gets caught using an unauthorized weapon on campus, he’ll be called before the disciplinary committee. All bark, no bite, cowardly bastard. If you fell in water, your mouth would just be floating there.”
The reason Ishihara persistently torments the protagonist like this, cleverly veering away from school rules, is simple.
His demerit points are dangerous, so if he racks up a bit more mileage, he’ll be immediately referred to the disciplinary committee.
If he gets referred to the committee, his dad, Chairman Ishihara, won’t just sit idly by.
That’s what he’s afraid of.
The golden sun as his dad? Absurd.
“Hey, are you crying? Are you actually crying? Idiot.”
“…I’ll be sure to watch you bow down to Shinozaki, Kim Deok-Sung.”
“What will you do if I win? Are you going to bow down too?”
Fire sparks in Ishihara’s eyes.
I quietly turn on the voice recording function on my smartphone.
In his eyes, Shinozaki losing is unheard of.
This hotheaded guy can be provoked just a little.
“Of course. Naturally, I will. And I’ll even get your little minions to do it too. Although that probably won’t happen. Hahahahahahahaha!!”
This is how he self-destructs.
I press the recording button to wrap it up.
You’re finished, whatever type of character you were.