How To Survive Clichés

Chapter 16

“What’s going on?”

Up close, Yoo Suho’s face was a chaotic mix of despair and helplessness. His eyes, filled with a swirl of emotions, were a mess.

‘He’s in worse shape than I thought.’

He’d already been thinking about his comrades from the previous dimension every day, and now, on top of that, the guilt from recalling the comrade recruitment quest must have overwhelmed him.

And if he heard words that reminded him of the things he had said himself…

It was understandable he’d be in this state.

‘Though that wasn’t my intention.’

I sighed inwardly.

But why did he speak to me?
Could it be that he sensed something off in my words?

As the situation started to unfold differently than I expected, a creeping tension began to rise throughout my body.

I struggled to maintain a calm expression and looked at Yoo Suho. Soon, I saw his mouth slowly open.

“…You’re Damian Draco, right?”

I was a little taken aback.
…He knows Damian?

If my memory is correct, Yoo Suho had never mentioned anything about Damian before he started causing trouble. Moreover, since I possessed Damian, I hadn’t done anything reckless.

I quickly tried to recall the novel in my mind.
But no matter how much I thought about it, this was an unfamiliar situation.

…What is going on?
Wait. The novel?
And then, it clicked.

Like with Professor Morax’s class.
Like with what happened with Riword.
All of it was happening because I acted differently than the original plot.

‘And now I’ve drawn too much attention.’

Wherever I went, students were busy gossiping about what happened today, so it was impossible for Yoo Suho not to have heard about it.

Even on my way here, I had already overheard several whispers.

If that was the case, then it made sense that Yoo Suho knew about Damian.

I pretended to remain calm and continued speaking.

“…So, what did you want to ask me?”

I didn’t ask Yoo Suho to confirm his name. I already knew it, and I wanted to show that I was more curious about why he had called out to me than about his name.

If he had sensed something odd in my earlier words, I could just tweak them a little.

The one relief was that Yoo Suho didn’t seem like he was about to pounce on me with suspicion just yet.
The moment I thought that, I felt the tension in my body begin to loosen slightly.

With a complicated expression, Yoo Suho spoke.

“It’s just, I overheard everything at the training ground. I tried to avoid it, but I couldn’t.”

“…I see.”

“Sorry.”

Yoo Suho abruptly apologized. Watching him, I felt a strange sensation.

…It was all meant for you to hear anyway.
Even though he could’ve pretended not to know, Yoo Suho would always correct something if he thought it was wrong. That was a problem, but also one of his strengths.

That’s why he was suffering from guilt.
If my guess was right, Yoo Suho had approached me to reassure Damian. Soon, he’d probably promise to keep it a secret.

‘Such a needlessly kind guy.’

But kindness and the end of the world were separate issues.

Though he might be inherently kind, his mental fortitude was already worn down after making it this far in this dimension.

‘It wouldn’t be surprising if he broke down at any moment.’

The only reason he was holding it together this much was that this dimension started off relatively peacefully.

As I stared at him, with that empty expression, a sense of unease crept up.

Wait a second.
Is he even thinking clearly right now?

He was shaken by my words, but he didn’t seem like he fully understood. If anything, he looked even more lifeless.

I swallowed a sigh.

If I ended the conversation and left now, I had a feeling Yoo Suho wouldn’t proceed with the comrade recruitment quest.

This was the only chance.

“Your name.”

“…?”

“What’s your name?”

“Yoo Suho.”

Given that I had run into Yoo Suho, I needed to act as if I didn’t know him. If he discovered that I had possessed him, there was no predicting where he might run off to.

“Alright, Yoo Suho. I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“You need to tell me your own problem first. It’s only fair that way.”

“…What?”

At my words, Yoo Suho hesitated for a moment.

I crossed my arms and continued.

“Your concerns. You seem to have a complicated face, so I assume you must have them. If you talk about them, it might reveal my weaknesses, which were only rumors before. There’s a chance that something like what happened earlier could happen again.”

Yoo Suho looked a bit dazed.

Of course, I knew Yoo Suho wasn’t the type to talk about such things. But…

‘He’s just throwing a tantrum.’

Calling it a ‘favor’ and using illogical reasoning to make demands. It might have been accurate if he said, “It’s nothing for our family to ask you for,” but…

I deliberately used terms like ‘favor,’ ‘fair,’ and ‘weakness’—all words that Yoo Suho would find hard to refuse. The most important thing was that Yoo Suho found it plausible from Damian’s perspective.

Eventually, he spoke up.

“There’s a dangerous problem, and I was thinking it might be better to deal with it alone than to involve someone else and risk their safety.”

…So he meant he wouldn’t recruit allies. I swallowed my sigh.

“Well, now that you mention it, it seems minor compared to what I heard about you earlier.”

Yoo Suho finished speaking with a bitter smile.

I ended up sighing.

“Indeed. But it seems like you have an answer to your problem.”

“…An answer?”

“Yes. No matter what the issue is, it seems like the problem is that you don’t trust anyone to help. So, the solution would be to grow and resolve it together. It seems you don’t believe you can solve it with others.”

“…What if it’s something that’s bound to fail?”

I involuntarily furrowed my brow.

His tone was surprisingly harsh, tinged with bitterness. It was annoying, to be honest. After all, it wasn’t something to say to someone who could die from mana deficiency.

Moreover, if he gave up, it would be as if everyone here was doomed, including myself.

But I couldn’t just tell him he shouldn’t make any attempts without trying.

I looked at Yoo Suho’s slightly rigid expression and said, “It seems more complicated than expected.”

“……!!”

“I don’t know exactly what your problem is, but you shouldn’t think you can solve it alone. The important thing is that I was alone and I already failed. Your situation might be a bit different.”

Yoo Suho seemed to be staring blankly for a moment, as if looking at a quest window.

Maybe his thoughts were changing.

I hoped they were. If not, even after breaking the cliché, there would still be a risk to survival.

Soon, Yoo Suho seemed to make a decision and reached out toward the air. His eyes had a strange sense of exhilaration.

We would find out how the ally recruitment quest would turn out tomorrow.

I was tired.

“Keep my secret.”

I sighed and turned away, and then a popup window appeared in the air.

[‘Reckless Fool (D)’ trait activated!]

…Huh?

Is this happening now?

[Wasn’t he a fool?]
– Change the perceptions of ten major surrounding characters. (3/10)
– Princess Yuri Elloa
– Cedric Draco
– Yoo Suho

– You have acquired 1 QP.

“…”

No, I didn’t want this.

For a moment, I felt a chill run down my spine, and all the hairs on my body stood on end. If I got more involved with Yoo Suho, I would surely gain more points. After all, it was already clear that I earned points whenever my actions diverged from the original storyline.

But the problem was that the frequency of danger would increase just as much.

‘Not only would I get tangled up with demons, but also with devils.’

…Sorry, but no thanks.

Just breaking clichés was already overwhelming, and right now, I was too weak.

‘My body is practically as fragile as a sunfish.’

So, aside from breaking clichés, I needed to avoid getting involved any further. I dismissed the pop-up from my sight and started walking toward the dormitory.

At that moment, another window popped up in the air.

‘What now?’

I let out a tired breath and glanced at the new text.

And when I checked the pop-up, I couldn’t help but be startled.

“……!”

[Hidden Quest Complete.]
[Reward: Cliché Destruction and 3 QP.]

…There was another hidden quest?

Wait a minute.

A cliché was destroyed?

I had no idea what was going on.

‘…How did this happen?’

Up until now, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even get rid of a single cliché about being a fool, and yet now another cliché was destroyed so easily.

‘This feels a bit anticlimactic.’

I quickly composed myself and organized my thoughts.

‘If they’re offering to destroy a cliché for free, there’s no reason to refuse.’

I was already frustrated because there were so many clichés to break, yet my stats were at a pitiful level.

And now they’re offering to get rid of one for me—so why not be thankful?

‘So, which one got destroyed?’

With a bit of nervous anticipation, I checked the quest details.

[I won’t live as a third-rate villain.]
– Reward: Destruction of Third-Rate Cliché and 3 QP.

‘…A third-rate villain, huh.’

That was unexpected.

According to the original story, Damian would lash out at those around him due to his inferiority complex or feelings of inadequacy, only to end up getting beaten by Yoo Suho. So I assumed it would be one of those, but something completely unexpected showed up.

In any case, it was fortunate that a cliché was destroyed, but…

‘Hmm.’

How did this happen?

As I recalled the original story, I came to a possible conclusion.

‘Through my conversation with Yoo Suho, Damian’s future was altered.’

In the original plot, Damian was nothing more than a third-rate villain who would get beaten and disappear.

‘The fate of ending as a third-rate villain has been erased.’

But suddenly, I felt a nagging sense of discomfort.

The cliché that needed to be destroyed was “third-rate villain,” yet only the “third-rate” part was crossed out.

‘This feels ominous.’

I hurriedly brought up the cliché list.

[Cliché List: Fool, Terminal Illness, Eldest Son, Incompetent at Magic, Villain, Disowned, Mana Deficiency, Inferiority Complex, Feelings of Inadequacy, Death, ??]

“Ah…”

‘I knew it was too easy.’

Sure enough, only the “third-rate” part was crossed out from “third-rate villain.”

So, they just promoted me from a third-rate villain to a regular villain.

This was ridiculous.

I stared at the status window with a sour expression.

‘Forget the clichés. If I could, I’d rather get rid of the status window altogether.’

Suddenly, a bad premonition hit me.

Could it be that when I try to destroy the next villain cliché, it’ll say something like, “I won’t live as a villain”?

I sighed and closed the status window.

Since I couldn’t check anything until the quest appeared, and it was better to save up points as much as possible, I decided to rest for the day.

* * *

The next day.

There were two scheduled classes: Spiritology and Magic Swordsmanship. While these classes weren’t particularly useful to me, they were a chance to confirm whether Yoo Suho would proceed with the companion recruitment quest.

But…

‘Why is he here again?’

Just like yesterday, Ian sat next to me. It wasn’t like this was a designated seat. I briefly considered moving to another seat, but I gave up on the idea.

‘Well, I can watch her up close, so it’s fine.’

I was referring to watching whether Yoo Suho would carry out the companion recruitment quest. However, there was one more variable.

“Oh, Damian. You’re here early. Ah, and Senior Ian too!”

Tio greeted us cheerfully as he sat next to me. Now I had landmines on both sides.

I really should move.

Just as I was about to stand up,

Click―

The classroom door opened, and the professor walked in.

And just like that, I couldn’t move seats again. I was stuck in a minefield as the first class began.

The first class was Spiritology.

The professor in charge of Spiritology, Isla Dows, had a rather harsh expression. Her brown hair was curled in tight waves, as if reflecting her personality.

“As you all know, spirit mages are rare.”

Just as she said, spirit mages were indeed rare. Even the professor herself hadn’t been able to form a contract with a spirit, but she became a professor because she studied spirits at the Mage Tower.

Of course, the fact that she was a noblewoman from the Dows family played a part too.

Anyway.

The professor held a spirit stone in her hand as she addressed the students.

“Spirit sensitivity must be innate. This spirit stone can help determine whether you have sensitivity or not. The brighter it shines, the greater your sensitivity.”

With a wave of her finger, the spirit stones were distributed to the students.

“Everyone, place your hands on the spirit stone.”

The students placed their hands on the stones and waited for a reaction, but most of them showed no change.

Except for Ian’s.

Her stone shone with overwhelming brightness.

Some students gaped at her with envious looks, while Ian looked rather downcast.

“Of course, just because the spirit stone reacts doesn’t mean everyone can control spirits.”

The professor’s next remark was a blatant jab at Ian.

“Ian has such good sensitivity, so why can’t she control a spirit?”

It was mockery disguised as concern.

“Could it be that the contract was a lie?”

Her tone was as sharp as her expression. Annoyed, I turned my head away.

It was jealousy over something she couldn’t have. Ian, a mere commoner, was chosen, while the noble professor, who should’ve been the one chosen, wasn’t.

The professor laughed as if it was a joke, but Ian’s expression only darkened further.

In the novel, the professor constantly undermined Ian’s self-esteem like this.

She hoped Ian would never be able to control a spirit.

[The individual’s anxiety level has risen to 3.2. (3.2/4)]

Ian eventually lowered her head.

I sighed and looked at Yoo Suho.

There wasn’t much Yoo Suho could do during the class, but I was curious to see how he would react.

Yoo Suho had a thoughtful expression.

‘Hmm.’

…For now, I’d wait.

There wasn’t much I could do at the moment either.

And so, the first class ended.

During the break, Yoo Suho stood up. I saw him heading toward me. When he arrived, he just stood there awkwardly.

He came all the way over, but he seemed unsure of what to do next.

‘He might as well ask to be spoon-fed.’

After hesitating for a moment, I decided to speak.

I wasn’t planning on getting involved, but I still needed to make sure he started the companion recruitment quest.