I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City - Chapter 117



116 – A Baby Oldie’s Head Is In Knots

“Ugh…”

Rohan rose from his bed and habitually began his light stretches.

Still half-asleep from waking only moments ago, his body moved on its own accord.

A smooth and satisfying start to the day.

After seeing Sion and Clara off yesterday, he had stayed up all night, struggling to master the third sword technique.

There wasn’t much progress to speak of, he only managed to approximate the stance.

But that was to be expected. He held no disappointment for failing to achieve it in a single night.

‘Should I head to the training room?’

He mechanically continued his preparations with a blank mind.

Even with the dawn, it’s the same. The beginning of the day starts with training, to make his life as tough as a whale’s tendon.

Despite the repetitive routine, there is no sense of ennui.

Only the excitement of wondering if he can take another step forward.

‘The restricted video… I’ll play it after my workout.’

That would be the most opportune time to indulge alone.

He gulped down a nutrient-rich drink, checking his phone.

[Lete: Me and my friends took the midnight train back to the Sepia Islands!]

[Lete: Just gonna grab a wink of sleep and then start training! Good luck to you too, senior!]

[Lete: Ah! Senior, have you ever had your fortune told with cards?]

The dizzying messages emanate a vibrant energy.

An amusing girl. It’s the first time he’s encountered someone so overtly ‘junior,’ practically branded on her forehead.

He sends a reply and scrolls further down the messages.

[Sion: I need to clear out Clara’s apartment now, so I’m planning to go as soon as the government offices open. I’ll furnish it later and contact you.]

[Clara: Doki doki (,,• ֊ •,,)♡ Oppa! Call me when you wake up!]

A smile blossoms on his face unbidden from the morning.

Rohan’s fingers moved busily.

He needed to tell those two to call him immediately if any problems arose.

And the last message.

[Juyeon: I spoke with the two of them and heard the situation. Good job. I’ll call when I have time later.]

The two people must be Ichinose and Noah.

Rohan placed the empty glass bottle on the table and grabbed his bag.

‘Still, calling at this hour might be a bit much.’

They must have been extremely busy yesterday. Plus, the academy was seeing the utter peak of disarray, what with everything that happened on the deserted island.

It would be perfect if he called them leisurely on the way back, he thought.

Rohan put on his sneakers and stepped out of the dormitory.

The very act felt like a distant memory. He felt good, his condition was pretty good.

He arrived at the academy’s training room and looked around.

Among the few students, Ichinose was visible, loosening up in front of a large mirror.

‘I thought I’d be the first one here.’

He was diligent, all right. What time did he even get here?

Rohan casually tossed his bag down and began stretching, addressing Ichinose naturally.

“You’re here early?”

“Ah… I just got here myself. Rohan’s here early too, huh.”

“Hm?”

“What’s wrong?”

Rohan’s head turned from looking at Ichinose in the full-length mirror.

Rohan fixed Ichinose directly in his gaze, and began to observe. He started to notice things different from what he usually saw in the training room.

Extremely subtle differences, but there.

A faint trace of weariness, as if she hadn’t slept well.

Her usually lustrous hair also had a slightly disheveled feel in places.

“Ichinose. You look tired?”

“D-Do I? I’m fine.”

“Maybe the fatigue from the deserted island hasn’t worn off yet?”

“…That’s not it.”

She denied it, but closed her eyes and chewed on her lip.

The sight was so endearing he almost wanted to call her Baby-nose, but Rohan glanced at the cadets training nearby and kept his mouth shut.

“The exams are over, so take it easy on studying. Though you still have to work hard in training.”

“I was planning on resting in the dorm after training today anyway.”

“Good thinking.”

“Though I don’t know if I can rest quietly, since Noah will probably come looking for me.”

Just hearing that, Rohan could already picture it and chuckled.

Once they finished warming up, the two moved to the track for running.

As they moved their legs on the treadmill, the usually quiet Ichinose spoke first.

“How are you, Rohan?”

“What about? My body? My body’s fine.”

“Your body too, but… that, you had a nice encounter at the mall, right…?”

“Ah! Lethe?”

The name, so casually spoken by Rohan, was intensely imprinted in Ichinose’s mind.

*So that’s her name.*

“She wants to enroll in Orion Academy next year. Assuming she gets in, I’ll have a good junior.”

“Isn’t it a little presumptuous to just take it that way…? I mean, Lethe’s feelings might be different, right?”

The conversation during their workout was unusually long today.

Rohan didn’t mind this, and kept the conversation going as he ran.

“Giving out my number is just a starting point. An expectation that it could be a good connection, too.”

“Hmph.”

“Maybe the contact will continue, and we’ll develop a good relationship. Or maybe we won’t click in crucial ways, and we’ll end up worse than strangers, right?”

“…So, they’re considering it favorably, it seems?”

“It’s hard to say definitively yet, but asking for the number itself requires courage, doesn’t it? I was impressed. It would be absurd to see gratitude in a negative light.”

“…”

Ichinose closed his mouth, his expression stiff.

He began to pick up the pace, as if truly preparing to move his body.

Rohan, likewise, quickened his strides.

Whether it was thanks to transcendence, the elixir from the monolith, or simply the effect of training…

He continued his run, flaunting his noticeably increased stamina.

…

…

Rohan used the shower facilities in the training room.

But Eung-ae-nose had a habit of returning to the dormitory to shower.

The reason was nothing profound. Simply the lack of prying eyes.

“Huu…”

Ichinose luxuriated under the cascading hot water.

He had some leisure time today, after all.

He replayed the brief sparring match with Rohan and their wooden swords.

‘What on earth was that thrust?’

A swordsmanship he’d shown, claiming he was practicing something new and asking for some harsh criticism.

The feeling of receiving it was strange.

But Rohan’s lack of proficiency made it hard to fully grasp that sensation.

Thanks to it, Ichinose now clearly understood what Rohan meant by his common saying: that the system of his swordsmanship was a mess.

In such cases, the only answer was to try until it became second nature.

There was no other way. Rohan knew that well too.

‘On the surface, a simple thrust. But if we only look at the difficulty of mana usage, is it similar to some sword techniques of the Muhan Chamyung style(Dream Shadow Slash Flow)?’

What on earth was that sword? What form would it take when completed?

Curiosity welled up.

A pleasant sense of crisis arose. Rohan was becoming stronger, as if leaping forward.

‘At this rate, easily winning our sparring matches will soon reach its limit. The fact that he can swing his sword reliably even with a broken posture is a threat.’

It must be based on a strong core and lower body, not mana.

Besides, he possesses the strength to cleanly sever bone with a single swing.

Even if she won today’s sparring match, she couldn’t guarantee victory against Rohan in a real fight.

The flow and rules of sparring served as restraints on Rohan.

Rohan was the type whose true skill emerged when wielding a real sword, intent on killing.

Review complete.

Only then did Ugya-Nose bring her shower to a close.

“Hooo…”

She toweled the moisture from her hair and wiped away the droplets that dared to settle on her pristine skin.

Simultaneously, she pondered the second matter.

‘I meant to ask how his house was…’

Just asking about the girl, Lete, exceeded Ichinose’s self-imposed limit.

In the midst of it all, Ugya-Nose opened her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror.

Distracted by her emotions, she only now noticed a striking detail.

‘…Why am I?’

Why was she so curious about Rohan’s personal life?

How could Ichinose Yui, heir to the Unexcelled, be so interested in someone else’s affairs?

It was a question that felt entirely new.

Could it be that she was developing *those* kinds of feelings for Rohan?

She, who’d decided to live as a warrior, captivated by the sword? For a man she’d known for barely a month or two?

“That’s… Impossible…!”

The voice that should have stayed inside escaped her lips.

Startled by the sound of her own unconscious utterance, Ichinose clapped a hand over her mouth and finished drying herself.

“…”

Of course, Rohan could cook meals that perfectly satisfied her gourmet palate.

He was also the owner of a 100-point pillow, possessed the selflessness you only read about in fairy tales, and had saved her life multiple times.

He had the humility to not boast about his good deeds and impressive potential without arrogance.

And a kindness and respect she only noticed after the fact.

But…!

Ugya-Nose slapped her mochi-like cheeks, *slap! slap!*, to rouse herself.

It felt like she shouldn’t delve any deeper into the line of thought she was pursuing.

The likelihood of another sleepless night rose.

‘Because you keep uttering such embarrassing things as *Eungae* and what-not…!’

It was clear Noah’s mind had been thrown into chaos by a bizarre prank he’d never experienced in his life.

From noble mtl dot com

*

Returning to the dorm after finishing his call with Jooyeon, Rohan

came back to his room and lay down on the bed.

‘Sion and Clara said they were at the government office.’

Perfect timing.

Rohan adjusted his pillow, settled in comfortably, and closed his eyes.

[Playing Restricted Access Video #3.]