Became a Traitor in an Academy

The Suicides

The board game cafe Yeonhwa looked up wasn’t that far from school.

It was a shop located in a busy district, about 10 minutes by bus or 25 minutes on foot.

I wanted to take the bus and get there quickly, but Yeonhwa strongly insisted on walking since it was a monumental day.

Since Jin-hyeon tends to go along with whatever Yeonhwa says, and Lapis had weak opinions of her own, it was decided we would walk.

Probably wanting to chat with each other while walking.

But if there was one thing Yeonhwa overlooked, it was that none of us were as outgoing and fond of talking with others as she was.

Jin-hyeon had thin emotions and opinions until the later parts, and Lapis was completely asocial and awkward.

Honestly, I’m not really the type to get along well with people either.

The result was this.

“Lapis. Come to think of it, you said you were going to learn from your mom and grandmother. Do they both have the same ability as you?”

“Mom’s is the same but… stronger, and grandmother is on a different level… but, could you not ask about family…?”

“Ah… s-sorry…”

For 20 minutes straight, without rest. Yeonhwa kept trying to raise the mood by continuously talking to us.

But such attempts would break off after just a few exchanges, like just now.

Either because she happened to hit a landmine, or it was outside their interests so they didn’t understand, or they lacked conversational skills and couldn’t continue – for such reasons.

Since none of us were skilled at maintaining conversational rallies, conversations wouldn’t last long.

Even the longer conversations were honestly just her playing both parts.

Like playing ping pong alone like in that old battery commercial on TV.

The only difference was that instead of overflowing with余裕 like that battery, it was quite pitiful.

As her attempts to create conversation topics by wracking her brains kept getting frustrated, even Yeonhwa seemed to be losing steam.

Yeonhwa’s expression looked clearly more tired than when we started.

“Yeonhwa, you don’t need to force conversation.”

When I helped a bit because she looked pitiful, Yeonhwa regretted belatedly saying we should have just taken the bus, as if her energy was completely drained.

“If it’s because of earlier… that was my fault.”

Since it seemed she kept trying to lift the mood because of that, I properly apologized while sober now.

Though technically I should be the one receiving an apology.

Since they woke someone taking a nap and showed an unpleasant sight.

“It’s okay, Blanca. What you said wasn’t completely wrong.”

However, the response came from a completely unexpected person.

Jin-hyeon was telling me it was okay with his own mouth.

Yeonhwa was looking at such Jin-hyeon with a complicated expression.

This guy isn’t normally one to step forward and apologize, did some wind blow?

“…Oh, I see.”

Not knowing what had happened, I suppressed my displeasure and just went along with it saying maybe that’s possible.

Just a whim probably. I ignored it thinking it wasn’t anything significant.

“Hmm, we’re almost there, but where is it…?”

Yeonhwa seemed uncomfortable with complete silence and was looking around searching for the cafe that should be nearby.

Then, as if discovering something, she stared intently at somewhere.

“…Hey, Blanca. And Jin-hyeon. That person on the rooftop of that building, don’t they seem to be staring intently at us?”

“Maybe they’re just curious seeing academy students moving in a group.”

“Maybe… but they’re staring too intently.”

“J-just, probably some weird person… l-let’s go, Yeonhwa…”

Everyone contributed a comment while looking at the strange person on the rooftop.

Since my hearing is exceptional but not my eyesight, I couldn’t tell exactly what it was.

Still, I carefully thought it might be a Suicide.

I’m not sure if this is the location from the chat logs, but it’s about time to get attacked.

And the moment I thought that, I felt a sensation like someone grabbing my heart.

I had felt it a few times before.

My instincts rang alarm bells. Saying I would die if I didn’t dodge.

“Dodge!”

I tackled Yeonhwa, who hadn’t grasped the situation yet, moving away from that spot.

Lapis seemed to feel the same thing as me and pulled back while lifting the ground Jin-hyeon was standing on to forcibly push him away.

Then the space where we had been split open, and villains poured out in droves from inside.

If we had stayed still, we would have been split in half like summer watermelon.

Then, if what just attacked us was the Crevice Creator, one of the Suicides’ executives…

“A Gate…? Why is a Gate here… this is a safe zone! Why is there a Gate…”

Yeonhwa looked at the Gate in shock.

I was shocked too. Because it was different from what I knew.

In the game, it just quietly opened Gates.

Villains would pour out from inside, and the player would just deal with them.

There wasn’t any gimmick like having to dodge where Gates would appear like now.

Originally, the Crevice Creator had no physical power, and the ability was self-deprecating about how its limit was just releasing what was stored inside because it took enormous stamina just to open once.

It shouldn’t have had power to cleanly cut a streetlight in half like now.

However, there was no time to ponder as the villains crawling out from inside the Gate rushed straight at us.

“Jin-hyeon, get back!”

Yeonhwa instantly enlarged the flame from her lighter, creating a wall of flames around us.

“Is everyone okay?!”

While Yeonhwa bought time, Jin-hyeon quickly stood up and tried to check everyone’s condition.

“I-I’m fine! Yeonhwa should be… okay too. Blanca is… safe!”

“Jin-hyeon, call the heroes! And help evacuate citizens! We’ll handle this… eek?!”

However, while Yeonhwa was giving orders to Jin-hyeon, a villain threw himself through the burning wall of flames toward us.

“Die!!!”

Even with his whole body on fire, suppressing his flesh burning with magical power as he charged in, his appearance was believable as a demon from hell.

“You go die!”

Lapis lifted pavement blocks and threw them hard at the villain’s body.

The villain flew back outside the burning wall with a death cry.

They weren’t called Suicides for nothing. Those things didn’t care about living or dying.

They were crazy bastards who just wanted to let people know they existed somehow.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Seeing that sight made Yeonhwa’s eyes waver and her firepower weaken too, so I shook her shoulders to wake her up.

“You didn’t kill him, those guys are just crazy! Got it? Yeonhwa, listen carefully. Don’t ever put out the fire!”

“…Ah, okay, Blanca.”

In the game, the fire went out because there was no one to support her.

So Jin-hyeon used his ability. And through that his name became known and he met someone who could be called his master.

That needed to be prevented.

“Lapis, let’s push back anything coming through the wall together!”

“What about me?”

“You just stay still! What could you do when you just got beat up blankly last time?!”

After snapping irritably at Jin-hyeon who asked for something to do too, I dealt with the villains throwing themselves one by one into the flames.

The Suicides really seemed not to value their lives, rushing at us like moths to a flame.

Lapis showed an unusually rough personality as she knocked down villains without a moment’s hesitation, while I responded by kicking or paralyzing them.

After dealing with several dozen like that, nothing else charged into the flame barrier.

“…Hah, hah. Did we clear them?!”

Lapis, still wrapped in golden magical power, said what absolutely shouldn’t be said.

“Is it… over?”

Yeonhwa trembled as she opened her eyes that had been tightly shut.

“Probably. You can put out the fire now.”

When I said it was okay to extinguish it, Yeonhwa withdrew the flames.

The street that had been quite crowded until just now was now empty except for us.

Looks like the citizens all evacuated.

“Ugh, uugh… hah, hah… sob…”

Yeonhwa was breathing heavily as she looked at the dark red masses writhing on the ground.

“Don’t look, Yeonhwa.”

This was something the protagonist was supposed to do, but since Jin-hyeon wasn’t doing it.

I should at least do it.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”

She’s probably blaming herself terribly inside right now.

The Yeonhwa I knew had a surprisingly delicate personality despite appearing tough.

Along with guilt for getting her friends involved in this, it was also her first time hurting someone with her ability.

She must be really shaken up.

I patted her saying none of this was her fault.

Jin-hyeon just stood still even while I was doing this.

What a pathetic bastard.

He’s really just standing there.

I thought he’d do something at least.

“…Well, well. This is impressive, I guess that’s academy students for you. Who would have thought 80 people would fall so helplessly.”

“Who are you!”

“Who else but the person watching from above?”

However, as if not giving us time to recover, the Crevice Creator had approached us at some point.

“…Were you the one who attacked us?”

Jin-hyeon, who hadn’t done anything until now, finally stepped forward and glared at the Crevice Creator.

“Huh? Ah. Not exactly. Originally I was planning to terrorize citizens, but then I saw academy students.”

“Tell us, what’s your reason!!!”

Lapis shouted at the Crevice Creator while lifting all the remaining pavement blocks.

“Because I fucking want to be famous.”

“For just that reason?”

“‘Just’, you say. Well, I guess for academy students it is ‘just’. Ha, haha. Yeah, just that reason. What you can do just by breathing, we have to go this far to barely manage!!! Ah, I’m so glad I joined the Suicides!!! I’ll shoot all of you down!!!”

As if my casual words had properly scratched his inferiority complex, the Crevice Creator suddenly accelerated and pulled out a syringe from his chest.

Purple liquid.

Ah.

So that’s why. The reason the portal had attack power.

The ability amplification drug I had spread in the underworld to fund the Liberators’ activities seemed to have flowed this far.

Damn. It’s my fault again.

And almost simultaneously, Lapis threw all the pavement blocks at the Crevice Creator.

But the Crevice Creator was one step faster.

The Crevice Creator finally stabbed the syringe into his body.

Then he opened a Gate in front of him to block the pavement blocks-

No, while getting hit by the pavement blocks and becoming a bloody mess.

He shot a wide-open Gate toward us.

“Oh shi-“

Before I could finish speaking, we were swallowed by the Gate.