I Became the Childhood Friend Who Commits Sui**de

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Thursday assembly time.

Han Si-hyun’s seat is still empty.

Did she go straight to Class B without even saying goodbye?

Well, either way, the reason for her leaving isn’t a good one.

It’s okay.

Let’s just keep it quiet.

Soon, a young woman who is the homeroom teacher of Class A walked in.

She may be a bit blunt, but I don’t think she’s a bad person.

At least not from what I’ve seen in the original story.

“You all already know, but as of today, Si-hyun has moved to Class B. I hope you all can resolve any issues with your friends through conversation from now on.”

At that moment, the teacher’s gaze lingered on me, and I flinched.

Could she be about to call my name here?

Honestly, that would have been disappointing.

It’s not considerate to the victim.

I mean, I hadn’t been hurt too badly.

“Instead, we have a friend coming from Class B. It’s like an exchange student.”

Exchanging not between schools but between classes, huh.

That’s a new paradigm.

“Okay, please come in.”

As the teacher opened the front door, someone timidly entered.

I had a rough grasp of the situation in just one second.

What a timid kid.

I don’t believe in physiognomy, but there’s still a certain feeling.

Bright red hair.

Contrasting sea-colored eyes.

Freckles that give her a pure look.

No matter how I look at it, she doesn’t seem like she has a bad personality.

But if she turns out to be a demon, it might be quite the shock.

“Could you please introduce yourself?”

“…Hello. I’m Sophie.”

“Alright. I hope everyone treats Sophie well. She can sit in that empty seat over there.”

The place the teacher pointed to was right next to me.

Oh? Was this always empty?

No, there used to be a female student sitting here.

Where did she go?

I looked around and found her in the empty seat where Han Si-hyun used to sit.

What’s the deal with that?

Can she just sit wherever she wants?

That can’t be right.

Did she leave because she didn’t like me?

I feel a bit gloomy for some reason.

Sophie carefully sat down next to me.

Seeing her up close was even more interesting.

I didn’t expect to find anyone shorter than me.

Yu Hana is quite short, but it’s hard to believe Sophie is a high school student.

This kid right now.

Her gaze is all over the place.

No wonder.

How flustered must she be?

She just switched classes out of nowhere.

I don’t get why it had to be this kid that got swapped.

Suddenly, a story from the elderly man in the counseling room yesterday came to mind.

He said it would help improve my condition, right?

Surely, it wouldn’t be because of just that…

That can’t be the case, right?

Right?

I felt a pang of sympathy.

Poor girl.

Of course, she’s not worse off than me.

“Hello?”

So, I decided to greet her first.

Sophie jumped in surprise and looked at me.

Then she smiled faintly and replied.

“…Yeah. Hello.”

What a nice kid.

Moreover, she’s a character who doesn’t appear in the original.

Which means what?

It means the risk is zero.

At least with her, I could probably do whatever without worry.

That said, I don’t plan on getting close.

I’m thinking of dying next week, so what’s the point of making friends?

Once I off myself, I won’t have to deal with anyone anymore.

“And we need to elect a new vice-class representative. Kyung Ah, who do you think?”

The class representative pointed to someone without much thought.

“Alright, Shin Woo.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Can I ask you to be the vice-class representative?”

“I’m not sure if I can do it well, but I’ll try hard.”

“Thank you.”

Without Han Si-hyun, Kim Shin Woo is the best option.

“Then I’ll conclude today’s assembly here. Everyone, have a good class.”

Click-click.

As the teacher left the class, the kids started to talk freely.

From how often my and Han Si-hyun’s names came up, it was obvious what they were discussing.

“Hey…”

At that moment, I heard a voice calling from the side.

I looked over blankly, and Sophie, who had been hesitating, asked.

“What’s your name?”

“Hana. Yu Hana.”

“Oh, Hana. Um… What’s the first-period class?”

Ah, since each class has a different timetable, she might not know.

Let me think for a moment. Today is Thursday, right?

So…

“I don’t know either.”

“Uh?”

Of course, there’s no way I would memorize the timetable.

I just heard about the Thursday classes for the first time.

“You can check the schedule at the back.”

“Oh, thank you. Hehe.”

Since the topic came up, should I check the timetable?

First-period class let’s see…

[Non-Ability Combat Training Practice]

Hmm. A practical class.

This is bad.

*

Non-combat subjects aren’t much different from regular school classes.

So there’s no problem there.

While I can’t understand combat theory, I just have to pretend I’m listening.

If I sit at my desk and zone out, the class will end itself.

The problem lies with combat practice.

I can’t understand it, and pretending to just listen isn’t an option.

I have to move my body, and that’s not easy.

I changed into my gym clothes and moved to the combat training room.

First-period class is Non-Ability Combat Training Practice.

Just as it sounds, we’ll train for fights without using abilities.

Well, at least there’s a silver lining.

After all, I’m powerless, so I can’t use any abilities anyway.

The teacher in charge shouts.

“Always think of training as real combat! What you learn here at the academy is ultimately to catch the monsters that threaten the world! Don’t think you can lounge around in your student status forever! Go crazy for combat!”

Ow. That booming voice hurts my eardrums.

It feels like I’ve entered the military.

Isn’t that a bit of an off comparison?

The academy is heavily characterized as a military school.

The main focus of what we learn is always combat.

In regular schools, essential subjects like Korean, math, and English, etc.,

At this academy, all of those are lumped together as non-combat subjects.

“Are you ready!”

“Yes!”

“Good! Then let’s start training!”

Most practical classes are conducted through virtual training using holograms.

It’s difficult and dangerous to bring real monsters into the academy.

In this training, the only rule is one.

Don’t use your abilities.

Other than that, whatever you do is fine.

There are no fouls when fighting monsters, or so they say.

Students go out in order.

The situation is set for a 1:1 battle against a monster.

Surprisingly, not many students win their battles.

Without abilities, they resemble ordinary students more than soldiers.

Still, a few exceptional individuals stood out.

Among them, the best was undoubtedly Kim Shin Woo.

“Kim Shin Woo. Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Great! Then let’s begin.”

The space where Kim Shin Woo stood transformed through virtual reality.

Before long, it turned into a destroyed city in the academy.

A sword was firmly in his hand.

As monsters charged at him, Kim Shin Woo swiftly dodged them.

He quickly stabbed the monster’s weak point with his sword.

What incredible speed.

How does he fight so well?

It’s fascinating.

The battle ended.

Naturally, the one remaining was Kim Shin Woo.

The teacher nodded with a satisfied smile.

“That was good. The swordsmanship is influenced by Han Si-hyun, right?”

“Yes.”

“Sometimes a colleague can be a great teacher. Especially a genius like her. Of course, that’s a separate matter from her character.”

Why do I feel suddenly tensed up?

After that, several students fought, but none had the same skill level as Kim Shin Woo.

They say Han Si-hyun is even stronger than that guy.

If she were serious, she could have died in a café.

“Next.”

It was Sophie’s turn.

Can she fight well?

The weapon she’s holding is a long stick.

Doesn’t quite suit her.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, yes. Maybe…”

“Start.”

I watched the battle closely to see if there would be any twists.

The outcome was straightforward.

“Ahhh…!”

There was no twist at all.

Sophie fell to the ground so quickly it was pitiful.

She ended up retiring just like that.

This was the most unremarkable battle so far.

Even the watching teacher frowned and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

The watching kids laughed.

Of course, they were just laughing because it was funny.

At least for Sophie, that had to be quite the blow.

I couldn’t laugh.

After all, that would be my future.

No, it would probably be worse than that.

A few more students had their turns, and finally, the moment came.

“Next. Yu Hana.”

“……….”

With a trembling heart, I stepped forward.

The teacher raised an eyebrow at the weapon in my hand.

“Are you really going to use that weapon?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Hmm. Understood.”

The weapon I held was a handgun.

Honestly, I have no confidence in any other weapon.

I saw the astonished expressions of the kids.

Even Kim Shin Woo had a worried look in his eyes.

Why are they acting like that?

I only realized the reason later.

“Roar!”

“Uh-oh.”

I never imagined that the monster’s grade would increase based on the weapon’s performance.

I couldn’t have imagined that at all.

“Are you ready?”

“Um, that’s…”

“We’re starting.”

I didn’t even say I was ready!?

There was no time to protest.

Monsters were rushing towards me in every moment.

My hands were trembling wildly.

This was my first practical session.

It’s the first time I’ve seen something like a monster for real!

How am I supposed to catch that thing!

I tried to at least aim.

Is this a tremor, or am I shaking too much to even know if I’m doing it right?

Anyway, I should just shoot.

It should somehow work out.

Bang! Bang!

No, that didn’t work.

My poorly aimed bullets flew far past the monster.

As the monster rushed at me,
I ultimately lost my nerve and curled up while screaming.

“Ahhhh!”

“I can’t bear to watch. Is this what you think a kid’s game is!?”

Before I knew it, the city and monster disappeared, leaving just a stark white space and the scary-looking teacher.

I knew in my head that I had to get up immediately, but my body refused to move.

He grabbed me by the collar and forced me up.

“Do you think the monster will just disappear if you stay like this?”

“Um, I-I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

“Do you think just you dying will end it? Not at all. Your weakness puts the whole group at risk! Everyone dies!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

My head went numb.

The world spun, and monsters attacked me.

The fear of death loomed over me like a constricting rope around my neck.

My heart pounded as I thrashed in pain.

No way.

I don’t want this.

It was then.

The door swung open, and someone barged in.

An excited Kim Shin Woo glared this way.

“Ugh. Just wow. It’s so ridiculous I’m laughing.”

Initially, the startled teacher soon snorted in disbelief.

“What’s going on, Kim Shin Woo?”

“Let her go.”

“Hana? Oh, you mean this trash? Alright. I’ll let her go.”

Thud.

I fell weakly to the ground.

Curling up and trembling was all I could manage.

In the midst of that, the teacher approached Kim Shin Woo.

“Do you think my teaching method is wrong?”

“……….”

“Answer me. Between me and this piece of trash, who’s in the wrong?”

“This isn’t about whether I can take down the monster or not. Have I ever gotten angry for not being able to kill a monster? Did I scold them for not fighting? No. This is an issue of attitude. I don’t need a student with that kind of rotten attitude.”

“Even now, there are people dying because of monsters. The reason you all entered the academy and receive education is to protect the world. So can that kid ever fulfill the role of a hero for mankind?”

“Han Si-hyun is the one who deserves pity. To be disciplined because of a fool like that.”

At those words, Kim Shin Woo, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“Apologize.”

“What…?”

“Apologize to Hana.”