Conquering the Broken Heroine?

It was from when she was young.

Although it was from when she was just five years old, Baek Da-eun still couldn’t forget the memory of that day.

A gate that suddenly opened.
Monsters pouring out.
Her family leaving her side for the sake of citizens.

She was left alone.
Even as the roars of monsters raged from all directions.

Baek Da-eun’s family had left her in a place thought to be safe.
As hunters, it was the right decision to save as many people as possible.

But as family, it wasn’t the right decision.
Monsters barged in.
Even to where she was curled up.

It was the end.
She believed without doubt that death was coming.

She closed her eyes.
Though she struggled not to cry, the tears that trickled out bit by bit were frustrating.

The monster lunged.
Her eyes opened again.
The pain she had imagined wasn’t there.

“It’s okay now.”

Instead, what was in front of her eyes was a shadow with black hair and black eyes.
A child her age with short hair, wearing shorts, holding a large sword in their left hand.

“I’ll protect you.”

The child was strong.
They killed the monster with a single slash to the neck.
Despite having black hair that hadn’t awakened to abilities yet.

Perhaps, was this how the hero Lee Yeon had been?

“What… is your name…”
“It’s a secret.”

When the situation ended, the child disappeared.
Without seeking any reward.

Baek Da-eun couldn’t forget that child.
She owed them her life.
She wanted to repay the kindness somehow.

But she couldn’t find them.
Even with the information network of one of the top five hunter families in South Korea, she couldn’t find them.

Time passed, and one day.
Baek Da-eun, now in middle school, witnessed it.
Even though they had become blonde with red eyes due to awakening to abilities, they couldn’t deceive her eyes.

It was that child from back then.
Their name was Han Suho.
The only daughter of the chairman of the Firefly Group.

They were from South Korea’s largest conglomerate.
It was natural that even her information network couldn’t easily find out.

Was it because it happened when she was so young?
Han Suho didn’t notice Baek Da-eun’s identity.

She didn’t mind.
Surely it was because that kind personality had helped too many people.

She said she quit using the sword around the age of seven due to personal circumstances.

The feeling of wanting to repay the kindness had, at some point, changed into feelings of love for the adolescent girl.

She had fallen in love.
Even if it was with the same sex, it was a forbidden love.
With a girl who was too kind and loved helping people.

Coincidentally, the status of their families matched as well.
There was nothing lacking as a potential bride(?).

If there was a problem, it was that there were too many vixens flirting around.
Especially the student council president was threatening.

It was comfortable not having to see her face in the third year of middle school.
Who would have thought she’d be the president in the academy too.

“500 times confiscation of bean sprouts.”
“There’s no such thing in this world!”

That gloomy woman was after her fiancée.
No, it would have been better if that woman was the only love rival.

“Bean sprouts only once a day from now on. Understood?”
“I bought it with my own money! Give it back!”

Grind.
Baek Da-eun gritted her teeth.

“If you’d like, should I make you lunch instead?”
“Ah, that’s a bit…”

Anyone else was fine.
But she didn’t want to lose as a woman to a powerless person who only knew how to act cute.

What is the typical development in the early stages of an academy story?
If someone were to ask that, Han Seoyeon would answer.

It’s none other than an accident.
An incident that even the academy professors, who have been through thick and thin, couldn’t anticipate.

Given the nature of the academy environment, students often come into contact with monsters.
However, that doesn’t mean that coming into contact with monsters necessarily puts them in mortal danger.

An environment where thorough safety is promised under the control of professors.
Classes involving contact with monsters would be conducted in such a way.

But despite the professors’ preparations.
The practical classes that the protagonist is in are bound to have accidents.

This was almost a force majeure, even for professors who were excellent hunters.

An awl in a pocket.
The awl in the pocket will eventually come out.

A device created to highlight how the protagonist is different from supporting characters as the novel progresses.

The protagonist calmly deals with situations that not only ordinary students but even professors can’t handle properly.

“Attention!”

About two weeks after entering the academy.

“As you all know! In two days, we’ll have this semester’s first practical evaluation!”

Finally, the first event is coming.

“It’s not a difficult evaluation! You just need to form pairs and conquer the hunting ground prepared by the faculty!”

Unfortunately for the passionate, skilled professor─

“There’s no need to worry about accidents! The faculty will always be on standby for safety!”

Accidents that will happen, happen.
Of course, without any casualties.
Because Han Seoyeon will make it so.

“Professor, may I ask a question?”
“What is it!”
“Can we form pairs as we like?”
“It doesn’t matter!”

Moreover, the most important point of this event.
It’s that students can decide the members of the two-person teams themselves.

Even seniors and juniors can pair up.
It was an opportunity.
To show a cool side to her senior.

Progress the original story and conquer the senior.
It was perfect.

“Senior, if you don’t have a partner─”
“Miss Han Seoyeon!”

Just as she was about to seduce her senior.
An unreasonable interruption came.

“For this practical, form a team with me!”
“…Huh?”

What nonsense is this?
There’s no way I’d form a team with a heroine that makes me want to throw up.

“Senior Wittelsbach. Could you form a team with me?”

At that moment, an impossible voice was heard.
A sweet female voice.

Who is it?
Who dares to bid for the senior I claimed first─

“Han Suho, was it? Your name.”
“Yes.”

The blonde delinquent, barging in.

“About that matter yesterday, I think we need a serious talk.”
“…Alright.”

Han Seoyeon was dumbfounded.
There were no options left.

“Please consider it an honor to form a team with me!”

In [The Falling Star Swordsman of the Academy], the protagonist also formed a team with Baek Da-eun.
The reason was extremely simple.

“…You don’t have friends.”
“Wh-What are you saying!”

Baek Da-eun had no friends.
Han Seoyeon had no friends.
Of all places, to follow the original work here.

What is this, give me back my event.
Stop joking around and hurry up.
I’m saying give me back my intimate practical with my senior!

Let’s turn back the clock hands to the day before.

On that day, Han Suho couldn’t spend her usual academy life.
Undeservedly, she was very popular.

This wasn’t limited to just her classmates.
S-class Awakener.
That title had a special quality that surpassed other ordinary students.

One-on-one lectures with professors who liked her.
Scout offers from large guilds coming in already, despite being a first-year.

Because of this, she missed a whole day of classes.
She thought it didn’t matter since they provided her with lecture recordings separately and acknowledged her attendance, but.

“Hey, did you guys see that?”
“See what?”
“Han Seoyeon’s boob exposure.”

…When she accidentally overheard trivial gossip from classmates whose names she couldn’t even remember.
Han Suho regretted it to her bones.

“Man. Have you got nothing better to jerk off to than that powerless bitch?”
“Why? It was just arousing.”

What were they talking about?
At first, she couldn’t understand.

Han Suho had always been like this.
She was a slowpoke.
Only realizing things after they were over.

“With water dripping like that, her uniform all wet, her bra and cleavage showing through as she stubbornly attended class… Should I say it felt sinful? It felt thrilling, like becoming a school violence perpetrator.”
“You’re disgusting.”

An incompetent younger sister, insensitive to a fault.
Far from being the kind older sister.

“Honestly, you jerked off too, right? Admit it.”
“That’s true.”

It was just once.
That Han Suho had left her seat.
She had been by her side throughout class time and lunch.

So that this time, at last, she could protect the sister she loved.

This was the result.
Han Suho had failed to protect her sister again.

“If she just dyed her hair, she’d be exactly my type.”
“No way. Are you going to confess or something?”

Even though she had power now.

“Are you crazy? She’s from the slums, she might be a prostitute.”
“True. Attending class so stubbornly in that state isn’t easy unless you’re a professional prostitute.”
“She might be E-class as an Awakener, but she’s S-class as a prostitute.”

Even though she had power.
Why was she so slow?

“Oh. I just had a good idea.”
“What is it?”
“Outdoor play. The practical evaluation is coming up soon.”

Had she not done anything for her at all?
Had she only lived receiving things?

“Oh yeah. Not bad.”
“Prepare some cash. Being an S-class prostitute, it’ll probably cost quite a bit, right?”

If there was one thing different from before.
It’s that now, even if late, she could take revenge.

“Hey.”

She clenched her fist.

“Wait, I have something to say.”

She swung with all her might.

“Aaagh!”

One man’s face caved in.
His nose bone shattered to pieces.

Blood dripped from her fist.
There was a disgusting fishy smell.

“You bastard, what are you suddenly doing…!”

She planted her fist into another student.
Crushing his mouth.
So he couldn’t spout any more filthy words.

“…Guhk.”

Now his mouth could only make stupid sounds.

“Wh-Why are you suddenly doing this to us…”
“I wonder.”

Perhaps it was just an ordinary conversation between male high school students.

Vulgar talk full of bluster but with no actual intent.
Han Suho’s reaction might have been too extreme.

“Do you need to know?”

But what of it?
The students before her were perpetrators.
They were nothing but criminals.

They probably thought they were exercising their rights as social superiors.

So Han Suho exercised hers too.
Her rights as an even greater social superior.

There was no reason to know them.
They didn’t need to know.

Isn’t it natural for those who are only strong against the weak to suffer whatever treatment from someone stronger?

It had been 10 years.
The time her sister had to spend in the slums.

Han Suho had changed.
While her kind sister was gone.
The only adult to learn from was the father who had abandoned her sister in the slums.

Han Suho wouldn’t be condemned for this.
She was the sole heir to the Firefly Group, South Korea’s top conglomerate.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

A voice barged in.

“You are…”
“Hello, Senior Wittelsbach.”

Han Seoyeon had to be happy.
She had to live a happy life.

“Would you have time later?”

She would confirm.
The first friend Han Seoyeon had made.
Whether she could truly make her lovely sister happy.

Unlike her stupid younger sister.

“What’s the occasion? You’re not stalking me during lunch time.”
“I have privacy too, sis.”
“Hmm.”

It was a lie.
She didn’t care about privacy at all.

“By the way, the practical evaluation is coming up soon.”
“That’s right.”

Her sister said.

“Come to think of it, you don’t use a sword anymore?”
“I quit that long ago. That kind of thing.”
“That’s a bit of a shame.”

Han Suho’s sword was strong.
Han Seoyeon knew that.
They were twins after all.

Except for the fact that the older sister Han Seoyeon was left-handed and the younger sister Han Suho was right-handed, the size of their talent should be roughly similar.

If she had continued to put in effort, Han Suho might have become a swordsman no less skilled than Han Seoyeon.
After all, she was the protagonist of the original story.

“I got sick of it.”

Han Suho will never pick up a sword again.

The reason she wanted to learn the sword early on was because of the name Suho that her late mother had given her.

She wanted to become someone who protects, befitting that name. She wanted to wield a sword for the sake of those she loved.

“Things like swords.”

A sword that couldn’t even protect her own older sister.
A sword that was broken when she was seven years old.