I Became the Traitor in an Academy Story

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The next day, Minho was looking at me with a hint of warmth in his gaze, which was a first.

He was still cautious, but it felt more like he was looking at a scruffy alley cat rather than a ferocious tiger.

…Could I say it was slightly effective?

Honestly, I had no clue how far my lies had gotten.

Yeah. It was all a lie.

The senses, the childhood memories of helping him—everything.

I just made it all up on the spot.

It did feel a bit half-baked.

There was no way the protagonist wouldn’t see through such flimsy lies.

He must have noticed everything. The reason he didn’t pry further might be that he figured out all he wanted to know.

…Sigh, this is tougher than it looks. He really is the protagonist.

I’m not sure what kind of answer he wanted, but I had a vague idea.

Maybe he was going to ask if we were both possessed.

Minho had a quick mind.

Watching everything he knew unravel because of me was probably leading to some rational suspicion.

What surprised me more was that he was watching me too. I just didn’t think he would.

I knew I drew attention.

But to even attract the protagonist’s gaze felt unreal.

Why have I never been helpful? I hated this body even more now.

…But, for yesterday, I genuinely appreciated being in this body.

If I had been an average human, I would’ve stressed a hundred times more trying to create a convincing answer.

Who would have thought being a beastkin would be a lifesaver?

Of course, I continued to face discrimination as if breathing.

Yeah. Even if I have cat ears on my head and a tail on my backside, that doesn’t make me a real cat.

I could at least have caffeine.

It just has a more pronounced effect on me than other humans, which is why I don’t drink it often.

To give you an idea, just one cup yesterday kept me from sleeping properly.

I usually sleep late, but I barely managed to close my eyes at 4 AM.

So now, I was dead tired.

It was lunchtime soon, and sunlight was streaming in through the window, making me doze off and wake up repeatedly.

I wanted to sleep peacefully, but Lapiz kept waking me up, making it impossible.

My friend, who pretended to care, really did, which was touchingly sweet, but couldn’t they just let me sleep?

That’s what I wanted to say.

“B-Blanca, just hang in there a little longer… I mean, lunchtime is almost here! You can sleep then…! The teacher’s been glaring at us forever…”

“Right… I see. Yawn…”

From now on, I should stick to hot chocolate instead of trying to act fancy by drinking coffee at cafes. Or maybe even white chocolate.

Thinking about it, no one would really care if a high school girl indulged in sweet stuff, right?

Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

I should enjoy the privilege of being a high school girl. I may not have wanted this body at all, but isn’t living as it comes part of being human?

Feeling tired, the class content just wouldn’t sink in.

If someone asked if it was different when I wasn’t tired, I wouldn’t really know.

Even so, there’s a huge difference between retaining a few words and genuinely not hearing what someone says.

Thank goodness there’s no attitude score. Or is there? I wonder if that’s a thing.

Who cares if I lose a few points? It’s not like that’s gonna get me expelled.

Half-dazed and barely paying attention in class, I suddenly found myself seated in the cafeteria.

“Blanca. Um, what time did you sleep yesterday?”

When did I get here? I was just in class a second ago. How strange. Did the protagonist teleport me? Nah, that wouldn’t happen yet.

“Blanca…? Blanca!”

When Yeonhwa called my name, I finally snapped back to reality.

“Oh, uh, yeah? Ah, 4 AM. Yawn… Sigh… I’m sorry, just a bit tired. This pork cutlet rice bowl is tasty…”

“Goodness, what kept you up so late?!”

“Just had some coffee… So, what were we talking about?”

We were definitely talking about something, but I missed it all while dozing off.

Yeonhwa, with her golden retriever-like personality, was planning where to go after school, still wearing a bright smile.

“But… You look super tired. Should we go another day? Ugh. I was hoping to go to celebrate surviving the first week.”

“No, no. I can catch some sleep during training time. Uh, did you say board game café? Are we going there?”

“You were listening well! Yup, we’re going to the board game café!”

Yeonhwa seemed excited and continued talking about how it might help with hero activities.

Honestly, if she just said she wanted to play because she enjoys it, no one would have minded.

Hearing about strategies for actual combat made me question if she was serious or just delusional.

“Alright, alright. I’ll join without you needing to say that. Just keep it to a minimum.”

I forced down yet another yawn and tried to brush it off.

After all, no matter how good something is, if you overhype it, people will start to look at it negatively.

“C-Can I go too…?”

“Of course, Lapiz! Four-player board games could be fun, right?!”

Now Lapiz was going too. It might not be so bad after all.

Experience points get divided, the more members there are in the party.

If Lapiz was included, we could wipe out villains before Jinhyeon or Yeonhwa could do anything.

If you’re wondering what I mean, it’s actually pretty simple.

On the way to the board game café, the protagonist and his party get ambushed by a villain squad.

Suicide-seekers, suicides. Call them what you will; they’re a bunch of lunatics who don’t care about living and just want to get their name out in the world.

A group that didn’t even exist in the original story.

There’s no way these guys would get to enjoy board games without any incidents, right?

But Yeonhwa seemed blissfully unaware, happily continuing her chatter.

Not long ago, they were definitely talking about board games, but somehow it transitioned to club activities.

“What? You’re in the same club as Blanca?!”

“Yeah. She said if I didn’t have anywhere else to go, I might as well join her club—so I did.”

“What kind of club is it?!”

“The Supernatural Ability Research Club. They analyze abilities and explore new possibilities… But I still don’t quite get what they do.”

Jinhyeon was recounting his experiences in the club, and hearing him, Yeonhwa nodded, realizing such a club even existed.

“What a peculiar place… Not doing anything on the first day.”

“What’d you guys do on your first day?”

“Well, we showed our abilities and then got matched with suitable seniors based on that.”

“I-I did the same… as Yeonhwa…”

Lapiz looked at me, her eyes filled with anticipation, instead of Yeonhwa.

…Did I do well?

I wasn’t sure if it was right, but when I pat her head, she looked happy.

Seriously, she felt like a pet.

It made me feel strangely attached.

“Hehe…”

…But that would come with plenty of complications, so it’s probably not feasible.

And by the way, she doesn’t even notice being treated like a pet.

Hmmm, no matter how I look at it, I felt a bit guilty about that. I should try a bit harder moving forward.

– – – –

Blanca, just as she boldly declared.

She was sleeping, taking advantage of the training session.

I couldn’t decide whether to wake her up or not.

We weren’t supposed to be messing around in class. But at the same time, I shouldn’t disturb someone who’s tired.

So I had no idea what to do.

Even the homeroom teacher just observed her sleeping instead of waking her up.

Other kids from different classes were glancing at her but didn’t intervene.

In times like these, what is the right thing to do?

…What would my idol do in this situation?

“Jinhyeon, what are you doing in front of Blanca?”

“Uh, well… I don’t know if I should wake her up or not.”

As I said this, Yeonhwa gave a knowing smirk, as if she expected that.

“Maybe it’s better to let her sleep? We saw how exhausted she looked at lunchtime. It isn’t desirable to sleep in class, but waking her up doesn’t seem right either.”

Yeonhwa made the judgment for me. But I wasn’t satisfied with that.

…Hmm, you know, I think it’d be okay for you to start judging on your own, Jinhyeon. The situation is a bit different now.

Yeonhwa looked at me with pity. But I still couldn’t do it.

I was afraid.

“Hey, if you’re gonna talk, step back a bit. Plus, you’re blocking the sunlight. And to think you can’t even make that simple decision. Goodness, are those decorations on your shoulders?”

At that moment, Blanca suddenly woke up and harshly told me to move.

“Blanca, that’s… Jinhyeon has a reason for that…!”

Yeonhwa, slightly surprised by Blanca’s reaction, tried to defend me.

“But that could be true. But do you think the families of those victims, who weren’t saved because of hesitance, will care about that? I don’t think so.”

Blanca only retorted back with a voice full of irritation.

And her words pierced straight through me.

“…I’m sorry. I must have blanked out for a moment because I’m tired.”

Blanca realized her reply was a bit harsh, quickly apologized, and left.

“Jinhyeon… Don’t stress too much. If Blanca knows your circumstances, she’ll think differently…”

“…No, that’s not entirely wrong. If that person hesitated back then, I wouldn’t be here.”

Yeonhwa tried to comfort me, but Blanca’s words deeply resonated with me.

I couldn’t be tied to the wounds of the past forever.

 

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