The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 21



20 – After the Mock Battle, Main Heroine

The second fainting after the last Iron Forest.

At this point, I wonder if I have a fainting passive skill.

‘Because I overdid it.’

Fainting was a natural order.

“Kingnon, it’s time for dinner.”

At that moment, a voice reached my ears.

It was Card Velikman, my roommate in the same room.

After being sent to the hospital room, I received quick treatment.

The wounds from the sword were slow to heal.

Thanks to that, the treatment took longer than expected, and I was transferred back to the room by the healer.

From the previous battle to the final half’s battle.

It was an extremely harsh mock battle that even drained my stamina.

So today, I was focusing on recovering my body.

I could feel Card approaching and staring down at me.

Annoying.

I wish he would go away.

“Sweetie, if you don’t get up right now, I’m going to kiss you.”

“Damn it.”

A curse slipped out of my mouth at his sweet voice.

Card put both hands on his waist and laughed gleefully.

He looked like a crazy punk.

“Hey, nice to see you, 14th place.”

14th place.

That’s the rank I got in the mock battle.

Although I didn’t make it into the top 10 as I originally aimed for.

Instead, I achieved a great feat by breaking the lazy genius, Ban’s sincerity.

Surely, I must have left a stronger impact on the kids’ minds than the top ten.

‘And the same goes for Isabel.’

Moreover, Isabel couldn’t have the battle she had been looking forward to.

She must be quite upset.

“Card, what’s your rank?”

“Me? Haha, higher than yours, 11th place.”

Card laughed boastfully.

But knowing his secret, I snorted.

He was someone who could go higher if he wanted to, just like Ban.

It must mean that now is not the time to reveal his hidden card.

“Who’s first?”

“Sharin, as always.”

As expected.

Still, it was disappointing.

I had prepared a secret weapon to surpass Ban and aim for a higher rank with Sharin.

But I couldn’t even use it.

‘The battle was more intense than I had anticipated.’

As if to teach me that this world is not a game.

It was much tougher than the game knowledge I had.

‘Especially.’

The battle of the extra-class characters, who were not even considered, was more intense than expected.

Extras are also the same people now that it has become a reality.

They were desperate to raise their ranks.

‘I need to broaden my perspective.’

Even if the plan is revised, there should be no setbacks.

I learned a lot from this mock battle.

“So, Wangnon, are you going to have dinner or not? Today is the day of the mock battle, so Marie personally supervised the cooking.”

“Why did you wake me up so late? You should have woken me up immediately. You’re being lazy.”

“Wow, the audacity is real.”

Marie, the head maid, is so skilled in cooking that the royal family wants to take her as a chef.

If I go late, the other kids will take all the food, and there will be none left.

I left the room, bickering with Card, and went down the stairs.

Maybe because the battle was quite intense.

My body is still stiff.

“Ah.”

At that moment, as I was coming down the stairs.

I happened to run into someone walking down the hallway.

The light reflected off their forehead, blinding me.

I rubbed my eyes first.

Then the other person noticed why I was doing that, and their pupils widened.

“You, you!”

Their ponytail fluttered with anger.

The person with the exposed forehead was one of the four who slandered me.

It was Seron Parmia.

Among the four, Seron was the unfortunate one who fought with me first.

“Hello, 30th place.”

“Don’t call me 30th place! And I wasn’t even 30th place to begin with!”

Wasn’t it because they lost to me that they became 30th place?

“Seron is 19th place.”

Card explained from the side.

How does this guy know that?

After losing to me, it seems Seron used the remaining opportunities to somehow climb back up.

Well, he never had the skills to be ranked 29th in the first place.

“Did you have a stomachache during the last mock battle?”

Card smiled brightly and looked back at Seron.

Then Seron glared at Card with a serious face.

“How does someone from the Magic Department know that?”

“I remember all the pretty girls.”

“If you run your mouth one more time, I’ll rip it apart. You look like a butter potato.”

Why does he compare everyone to crops?

When our eyes met, Seron’s face twisted.

“What are you looking at, burnt sweet potato.”

Such spirit.

I quietly stared at Seron.

Then Seron glared back at me without backing down.

She had suffered so much at my hands.

Her spirit never seemed to die.

As I kept staring, my neck started to ache.

When I raised my hand, Seron’s shoulders flinched greatly.

Her feet moved back and her body bent forward.

It was an instinct engraved in her body.

No matter how much Seron tried, she couldn’t forget what happened today.

Watching her blankly, I rubbed the back of my neck for a moment.

“Ugh!”

Soon, she realized what she had done and her face turned bright red.

Steam rose from her forehead.

“You’re a tomato. A beaten tomato.”

I gave her a nickname as well.

“Ugh, you…”

Seron’s body trembled, and she quickly turned her head away.

And then, he ran away as fast as he could.

Card, who was watching, lowered his head with a curious expression.

“What did you do to make Seron like that?”

“I slammed him to the ground and punched him in the face.”

“Hehe, he got it good. It’s cute when tough guys become docile.”

I looked at Card with a disgusted face.

“That’s a dirty hobby.”

“It’s a great hobby. Seron may be snappy with others, but he’s endlessly weak to his man. Give it a try. It’ll be fun.”

I just let it go in one ear and out the other.

When I got to the cafeteria, as expected, it was bustling with kids.

Everyone had a hard time with the mock battle.

Today seemed to be a day to fill our stomachs.

I joined in and quickly got my food.

“Master Hanon, you worked hard today.”

As I received my food, the head maid Marie greeted me.

It seemed she was greeting every single student.

There were quite a few students, and it was quite a dedication.

You’d have to be that diligent to become the head maid.

“Ah, Wangnon, it looks like there are no seats because you came late?”

As Card, who got his food with me, said, the cafeteria was packed.

“Should we eat outside?”

There were tables prepared outside as well.

But it was a bit of a hassle to go out there.

Just then, I spotted an empty seat.

“There it is.”

“Oh, good eyes.”

As I headed there first, Card quickly followed.

Just as I put my tray down and sat.

“Oh.”

I noticed the person sitting in front of me a moment too late.

Between the honey blonde bobbed hair.

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The crimson eyes shone.

“……You.”

It was Isabel Luna.

Next to her, Sharin was munching on a cream-filled churro that came as a dessert.

When she met my eyes, she greeted me with the spoon she was holding.

She had no table manners at all, which was just like her.

“Yo, Isabel.”

Card was the first to greet Isabel.

Isabel gave him a cursory nod and then stared intently at me.

Her gaze could pierce through my face.

I sat down, ignoring her gaze.

Then I picked up a fork and took a piece of steak.

Isabel’s sharp gaze continued to be felt.

“Even a dog wouldn’t be disturbed while eating.”

“Don’t treat people like dogs.”

“I thought you were a Labrador Retriever.”

“Pfft.”

Sharin, who was next to me, laughed with her mouth covered.

When Isabel glared at her, Sharin quickly bowed her head and continued eating the churro.

“You know the results of the mock battle, don’t you?”

As expected, Isabel mentioned the mock battle.

“If you’re asking for an apology with this……”

“I can’t accept such results.”

Her crimson eyes were fixed straight on me.

I read the desire in Isabel’s eyes.

A firm desire to end it with her own hands.

“I will defeat you with my own hands and get the apology. So come up next time.”

I see.

I realized.

‘Isabel is changing little by little.’

Now, the dark circles that always shadowed Isabel’s eyes seem lighter than before.

Her once rough hair is now managed, and she has gained some healthy weight from eating properly.

Even her lips, which were always dry, have regained a bit of their shine.

Isabel has been training alone to win against me in our mock battles.

And to achieve the results of such training, a balanced diet, sleep, and rest are necessary.

The results of training do not appear overnight.

So, from the day she met me, Isabel must have forced herself to eat and sleep.

The effects are now showing.

“…Why are you smiling?”

I didn’t realize.

Was I smiling already?

“You’re mocking me. There’s no reason for that.”

Until the day you can live your life without me.

Isabel, I have no intention of losing.

Hearing my sarcasm, Isabel pouted her lips and stood up.

Her tray was already empty.

She glared at me as if she had something more to say.

“…And I’m not doing this because of you. It’s for Lucas.”

Her words carried a warning.

‘You heard it.’

That day when the girls picked a fight.

Isabel heard what I said while confronting them.

It seems this made Isabel even more rebellious.

“Sharin, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Sharin stood up, sticking a straw into her juice bottle.

Then, when our eyes met, she gave me a slight smile.

I had promised Sharin to become Isabel’s enemy for her sake.

I guess that means I’m doing well.

“I’ll give you this.”

With that, Sharin handed me a churro.

I frowned at it.

“You’ve already eaten it.”

“It’s delicious.”

“I have my own.”

Sharin tilted her head and muttered to herself, “But it’s tasty,” before walking away.

She’s such a quirky girl.

“Junior, it seems the seat in front is empty. May I sit?”

As I was about to scoop my soup, another presence appeared in front of me.

When I looked up, there was silver hair fluttering.

Nikita Cynthia.

She was the vice president of our academy.

“Of course. I thought you might come, so I saved it for you.”

I gladly gave up my seat.

“Thanks to you, junior. It’s not easy to find a seat with so many people.”

She said that and sat in front of me.

“Junior, you did well in the mock battle. It was impressive.”

“Embarrassingly, did you see it?”

“As a senior, it’s only natural to watch my junior’s hard work.”

It seems Nikita likes me a lot.

“Raising your rank from 14th to 48th is no easy feat. You did really well.”

Usually, I’m the one giving compliments.

Today, receiving praise from Nikita feels strange.

“So, about the reward.”

Then the most important topic came up.

“Unfortunately, it’s not for the top ranks.”

The top ranks in the mock battle refer to the top 10.

Nikita had promised a reward if I made it to the top ranks.

It’s a pity.

“I even thought about our honeymoon. It’s really sad.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t marry just anyone. I can only marry the person chosen by my family.”

Rejected.

This is my second confession and second rejection.

Moreover, my jokes are starting to not work on Nikita anymore.

It seems she has gotten quite used to my jokes.

It can’t be helped.

Should I be serious?

“However, if you achieve something so great that our family wants you, it might be possible.”

“I will become a hero starting today.”

“Huhuhu, it’s a joke.”

“The Cynthia family is my goal from today.”

“Even if it’s a joke, junior.”

“I will definitely close the demon palace and stand in the sky.”

“Junior!?”

Let’s revise the plan.

Seeing my serious face, Nikita was flustered.

“…Sometimes, I can’t tell how much of your jokes are serious or just jokes.”

“I’m always serious.”

“Junior, as I said before, my ideal type is someone tall.

If you grow taller, I might consider it.”

Nikita politely rejected me.

This is my third confession and third rejection.

“Hmm, Wangnon is big in other ways though.”

Then Card, who was beside me, made a useless comment.

When I signaled him to shut up, Card shrugged his shoulders.

“Wangnon, why does it seem like you’re only talking to famous people from our school in the restaurant today?

Is it my imagination? Wangnon, you actually have a demonic charm.”

“I wish I had the power to shut your mouth right now.”

“That would require a lot of power. My mouth doesn’t stop.”

“I plan to stitch it up while you’re sleeping tonight.”

“Fine. How about we sleep in different rooms tonight?”

You silly fool.

“By the way, junior.”

Nikita called out to me, gently pushing away the carrots.

Nikita had a child’s palate and couldn’t eat carrots.

“What are your plans for the labyrinth team this time?”

Labyrinth team.

He was talking about the team that would enter the underground labyrinth.

I had performed reasonably well in the mock battle.

With this level of performance, requests to form a team would surely come from all sides.

“Well, I haven’t thought about it yet.”

In fact, I had already made up my mind.

But it’s not something that can be decided just because I want it.

“Could you include Poara in the team you’re entering?”

“Poara, you mean?”

Poara Silin, a first-year student who had made a pact with the Spirit Lord.

Thanks to his contract with the Spirit Lord, he had been promoted to the special class.

“Everyone will want Poara.”

“Other students have too high expectations of Poara. Excessive expectations often lead to failure.”

There’s a saying that expectations lead to disappointment.

If they expect too much from Poara and he doesn’t deliver, they’ll be greatly disappointed.

This wouldn’t be good for them or for Poara.

Nikita would probably want to take Poara under his wing and manage him himself.

But the places third-year students go are much deeper than those for first and second-year students.

It wasn’t feasible to take Poara there.

“But if it’s you, junior, I don’t think that will happen.”

That’s because I had no expectations of Poara at all.

“What does Poara himself think?”

“I subtly asked him today, and he requested it.”

Poara, who has the Spirit Lord.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

There was no reason not to take her.

Let’s take this opportunity to build a better relationship with Poara.

‘Which team will make an offer?’

I hope it comes from the team I’m considering.