NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24
“I’m doomed to be a laborer until I die.
I’m nothing but a meat shield blocking the final boss.”
“Are you done talking? Then scram.”
“No, I’m not done yet. Hey, Kurosawa.”
Kurosawa and Ishihara’s eyes lock.
“I’ll see you in a few days during the duel. I’m going to teach you the F-rank basics.”
Ishihara snarls.
Just like I expected.
He’s planning to humiliate me in the public duel.
This scene was originally supposed to happen in volume 2, but thanks to my changes to the original, it got moved up.
Kurosawa’s eyes sparkle.
“Alright. I’ll see you then, Ishihara.”
Kurosawa Yuji speaks resolutely.
“Tsk. Let’s go, guys.”
Ishihara clicks his tongue and takes his lackeys away.
Phew.
I feel like I can breathe again.
I thought I was going to lose my mind with all that nonsense.
“Kim, are you alright?”
As soon as Ishihara disappears, the protagonist runs over to me.
I really don’t want this guy’s concern.
I nod out of politeness.
“Thanks a lot today… for calling me your friend…”
He scratches the back of his head with a goofy smile.
My mind is a mess.
I have no interest in hearing this cringy dialogue from a guy.
“I get it, so I’m leaving.”
I’ll save the cherry blossom festival talk for later inside.
“Leaving? Kim. Wait a second…”
Ignoring the protagonist’s words, I leave the training building.
This much male character screen time is more than enough.
Any more and it’ll get ridiculous.
*
After leaving the training building, I arrive at the Annex.
It’s the reading club room.
As I open the door, I see Kasumi-senpai reading a book.
“You came, junior! I’m so glad!”
Kasumi smiles with a flushed face.
I shut the door and drag a chair to sit down.
“I’m really happy that you came to the club today. Hehe.”
Kasumi mumbles while hiding her face behind the book.
“Since that day, you haven’t come to the club at all… I thought I was abandoned. You’re such a bad guy… taking away both my body and heart… I hate you.”
“Hey, let’s chill out a bit, senpai.”
Good grief.
My head’s spinning in a different way than with Olivia.
Who’s taking away what? Taking away, my foot.
This is ridiculous.
Kasumi’s shoulders droop.
“Alright, I’ll be a good little spy who listens to you, junior.”
Each of her words feels like a dagger to my chest.
I feel like I might become a victim of a romantic misunderstanding.
She mumbles darkly and rustles something onto the desk.
It’s a paper bag.
“What’s this?”
I ask, and Kasumi covers her mouth while laughing.
She giggles while covering her face.
She pulls out an item from the bag.
“I bought this just for you, Junior! It’s the special yakisoba bread from the academy’s snack shop. What do you think? I did well, right? Praise me. Praise!”
As she said, the contents of the bag are yakisoba bread.
A staple menu item in Japanese school cafes.
“Oh, well. Good job.”
I give a half-hearted compliment.
To properly exploit a slave, you also need a suitable carrot.
That’s how they become an active slave.
“You complimented me… Hehe…”
Kasumi covers her face with a book, smiling.
Does she really appreciate even a half-hearted compliment?
I can’t understand the mindset of a light novel heroine.
Instead, I focus on the yakisoba bread.
A long, split hot dog bun filled with something that looks like brown noodles.
That familiar visual from Japanese anime.
“Selling yakisoba stuffed between bread? Isn’t that just stacking carbs on carbs?”
Isn’t that a carbohydrate hell?
It feels like seeing rice, spaghetti, and tteokbokki all served on one tray in Korean school meals.
In both Korea and Japan.
Still, considering the effort of bringing it, I should at least eat it.
I take a bite of the yakisoba bread.
“How is it? Is it tasty, Junior?”
Kasumi’s purple eyes sparkle.
“It’s alright, so just tell me what you texted earlier.”
Honestly, the bread is a bit decent.
Kasumi’s face brightens at my response.
She nods her head.
“Uh, okay. First, let’s talk about the cherry blossom festival terror plan you mentioned at Inokashira Park…”
I listen while biting into the yakisoba bread.
Finally, the main topic.
“…It’s true. Vulture is participating.”
A smile forms at the corners of my mouth.
I was worried that the butterfly effect would somehow ruin the cherry blossom festival episode.
Fortunately, there seems to be no problem.
That means.
“All that’s left is to take him down.”
Gather all the available forces and ensure that the villain doesn’t escape.
If I report to the association, 100% of the information will leak to the New World League.
There’s no other option but to catch him on the spot.
“Good job.”
“Thank you for the compliment… Junior. I’m happy.”
Maybe because she went through a horrific experience earlier, today Kasumi’s lines are surprisingly bearable.
I stuff the remaining part of the yakisoba bread into my mouth with my right hand.
But honestly, it’s tastier than I expected. Bad things truly taste good.
I can’t be the only one who suffers.
Just as I swallow the last of the yakisoba bread.
I hear Kasumi’s voice in my ear.
“By the way, Junior, did you ask me this because you’re planning to go to the cherry blossom festival?”
“If I wasn’t going, would I have asked?”
“You’re planning to go with the princess knight again, aren’t you? Taking away a girl’s pure heart, you really are a bad guy, Junior.”
Kasumi looks at me while hiding her face behind the book.
I’m losing it.
I feel my blood pressure rising in real-time.
Is this perhaps a place called Shitopia?
“…I’m just joking. I can’t accompany the spy of the League to deal with the villains of the League. Yeah… I understand.”
That was the scariest and most terrifying joke I’ve ever heard in my life.
If she jokes again, my limbs might devolve into squids and I’ll end up in the emergency room.
“Junior, be careful. Vulture will be a tough opponent for both you and the princess knight. If you get hurt… don’t.”
Kasumi says with a worried tone.
It’s not like we’re actually going just the two of us, but there’s no need to explain that.
It’s not necessary to explain, even if it’s not going to happen.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”
Not even thinking about dying.
I’m going to live until I can paint the walls with my own mess.
“Yeah. I trust you, Junior.”
Kasumi smiles.
I’m too tired to react to everything now.
Let’s just get to the point.
“So, what’s the second thing?”
I throw the question again.
Kasumi’s expression turns serious.
“About Kurosawa. Yeah, I found out. Just as you said, we got orders to keep an eye on the Son of the Sword Master who defeated Shinozaki.”
Finally, I hear a line I like in this crazy world after a long time.
Just like in the original story, the protagonist, who beat an A-rank student with an F rank, is now being monitored by the villain organization.
I was a little worried since the opponent has changed, but it’s a fact that an F rank beat an A rank.
And with the title of Son of the Sword Master, there’s no way they wouldn’t keep tabs on him in the League.
Exactly as planned.
‘I really like this.’
It finally feels like the world is turning normally.
I hope the protagonist wraps things up with the New World League instead of me.
The title itself is about saving the world. It should be the protagonist who saves it.
‘Damn villains.’
If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have to deal with all this trouble.
Why does their goal have to be world destruction?
Technically, it’s the recreation of the world through the apocalypse, but in the end, it’s all the same.
The original mentioned that if Messiah’s ultimate plan for the New World succeeds, every being living in this world will perish.
If this crazy world goes down, then so do I.
Couldn’t they aim for something modest like world domination?
Oh well, it’s just the typical light novel villain.
‘I need to find a way to return.’
Saying that sounds a bit cliché for modern stories, but my mom is really sick.
I have no idea what the original world is like after I got possessed, if I’m dead or alive, or how much time has passed there.
I must escape from this crazy world.
I need to go back, find a job, and pay for the hospital bills.
My dad, who’s nearing retirement, can hardly handle it alone.
That’s why I can’t get attached to this crazy world.
“Sigh.”
A sigh escapes as the worries and thoughts I’ve been trying to ignore surge up and cloud my mind.
It’s all because of that guy.
If I go back, I’m definitely going to slap that author in the face.
Damn him.
“Junior, are you worried about something?”
Kasumi asks.
I shake my head.
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie. Your face says you’re worried!”
She touches her forehead.
I’m already troubled; now she’s making it worse.
Creak.
I get up from the chair.
“I’m going now.”
I’ve heard all I needed to.
It’s getting late; it’s time to head back to the dorm.
“…Okay. It was nice meeting you today, Junior. Be careful on your way back.”
I leave the cafeteria, receiving Kasumi’s send-off.
I walk through the campus at night.
‘The way back is still… after thinking about it countless times, it can only be through the Great Game.’
The Great Game.
An annual competition where hero academies from all over the world gather to choose the strongest hero candidate.
A staple of battle novels; you would be disappointed if it didn’t come up in a world martial arts tournament cliché.
It’s also a key episode in the latter part of the original story.
‘The winner of the Great Game, the Crown Prince… receives treatment equivalent to New Crowns and, if there are no disqualifying reasons after graduation, is directly integrated into New Crowns.’
“After receiving the same treatment as the New Crowns, if there are no disqualifications after graduation, you will be directly transferred to the New Crowns.”
The New Crowns.
Since the deaths of four out of five heroes who saved the world from the Great Disaster, they were chosen as the new powerhouses of this era to protect the world.
The world granted them power equivalent to that of a national authority.
“If I have the power of the New Crowns and the authority to access all of the world’s secrets, I can find a way to return to the original world.”
For that, winning the Great Game is essential.
Or at least becoming incredibly close to the winner.
In the original story, the one who takes the Crown Prince position is none other than the protagonist, Kurosawa Yuji.
Since I’m relatively close to him now, it’s a sort of insurance policy.
“But, as they say, it’s wise to test the bridge before crossing, and if I can win, the picture looks much prettier. No need to mention that I’m a reincarnator.”
To return to the original world, they say I need to be the strongest.
Because of this, I’m also trying to awaken my Gift and consume the Black Stone.
Yet, it’s full of contradictions.
Thinking about it again, this world really feels like it’s on hell difficulty.
“What if when I go home later, a gate opens and monsters come out, with hunters and everything?”
Nah, that can’t be true.
That would be insane.
*
Special Dormitory.
Seated on the edge of the bed, a platinum-haired beautiful girl in a white negligee, Olivia, is humming a tune.
“Hmm, hmm♪”
Today, she’s in an exceptionally good mood.
Because she finally made plans for an outing.
With a pinky promise, a stamp, and a signature copied, there’s no way that guy, no matter how shameless, could break it.
“Finally, we can have a proper outing now. Hehe.”
Olivia beams with a lady-like smile.
“Did you finally make plans with your master’s master? Congratulations,” says Bella silently approaching beside the bed.
Olivia jumps in surprise, her face turning red.
“W-What? I don’t know that foolish guy! Hmph. He seems like the dumbest man in the world! What matters is that we can finally go cherry blossom viewing!”
Puffing her cheeks, Olivia touches her phone to search.
Last year’s cherry blossom festival pictures fill her screen.
Blossoming cherry blossoms, paddle boats on the lake, people enjoying walks in the park, and photos of people having a picnic on the grass with lunch boxes come into her view.
The kind of ordinary outing she has longed for.
“I heard that when it comes to cherry blossom viewing in Japan, it’s all about the lunch boxes. Have you decided on the menu?” Bella’s question pierces Olivia’s ear.
“N-No, not yet…”
Lunch boxes.
That’s an aspect Olivia hadn’t thought of.
“I haven’t decided. What menu would be good?”
Shuo Hero Academy operates as a full boarding school.
Most students have their meals at the academy’s dining hall.
But there are always students with unique tastes.
The academy opens the home economics practice room after school for students who request access to cooking equipment.
Using the home economics practice room, they can prepare lunch boxes.
The problem, however, is the menu.
Bella speaks up.
“In Korea, when going on an outing, they mainly pack a food called ‘Gimbap.’”
“Gimbap…?”
A name of food she’s never heard before.
Olivia’s eyes widen.