I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game

In reality, Sophia was the type to hide a lot behind her outwardly cheerful and transparent persona. Everyone’s friend, kind to everyone—this was only one side of her.

Beneath the surface was a different facet to her personality, and she was well aware of it.

‘Rather, I’m more damp and sticky…’

A prime example of this was her activities on Jin Yuha’s fan cafe.

【Flower on a Cliff】, a cafe that now had over a million members, was a place to share photos and daily life updates of Jin Yuha.

Among the members was a legendary named user who had started as a regular member, progressed to a fervent fan, and eventually become an operator.

「Yuhacottdae」

She consistently uploaded Jin Yuha’s personal photos and daily life updates, along with fantasy stories, earning the admiration of many members.

While it was more or less assumed that she was a student at Velvet Hunter Academy, no one could have imagined that he was Utopia’s 【Saint】 ‘Sophia’.

Who could have guessed that a member of Utopia, their healer no less, was a fan, watching Jin Yuha’s every move?

The reason Sophia had managed to keep her fan cafe activities a secret for so long was because she had been in front of the camera since a very young age.

Pretending to be someone else in front of people, showing them what they wanted to see, while hiding her true self—this had become second nature to her.

‘But they’re both me.’

The facade she showed wasn’t entirely fake, nor was the hidden side of her the true her.

However, opening up about this required more courage than she had anticipated.

The only reason she was considering coming clean now was because Ichika’s condition reminded her of her own past.

‘I used to suffer from a Jin Yuha deficiency syndrome, just like Ichika…’

The moment Sophia first saw Jin Yuha in a news article, she was captivated. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find any information about him.

And it was nearly impossible to directly find him within Velvet Hunter Academy.

As a result, she spent a month bedridden, even affecting her modeling schedule. Her world was falling apart.

And then, by chance, she was summoned to Velvet Hunter Academy’s mid-term evaluation and…

—Wow.

Even now, that moment felt like a dream.

‘Since then, I’ve been managing my desires through close-range fangirling…’

Since she was enduring in her own way, she believed that the same method would work for Ichika.

As she stared down at Ichika,

Flinch—

Ichika’s eyebrows twitched.

“It’s a ceiling I don’t know.”

She opened her eyes and muttered nonsense, her expression as blank as ever.

“….Ichika, how’s your body feeling?”
“Yeah, my body? Ah, the benefactor came and went.”

Ichika slowly got up and nodded. Then, as if she didn’t want to let go of the remaining warmth, she closed her eyes and touched her body.

Sophia’s eyes darkened as she watched.

‘….I can’t accept that this woman receives such undeserved rewards. It’s intolerable.’

Hmm. Hmm.

Sophia took a deep breath and spoke.

“Well, unintentionally, I also learned about your situation, Ichika.”
“Oh, really?”

Ichika responded nonchalantly.

Twitch.

Sophia’s temples twitched at her indifferent attitude.

“Hoo… Anyway, Ichika, I understand that you need skinship with Jin Yuha to maintain your mental stability.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I can’t live without my benefactor now.”

How could every word she uttered be so irritating?

Sophia’s forehead veins bulged, but she suppressed her anger with superhuman endurance and continued.

“Well, as the party’s healer… I’ve thought of a way.”

Sophia took out her phone, opened the gallery, and handed it to Ichika. Her hand trembled as she did so.

“What’s this?”

Ichika asked, but Sophia remained silent.

In the photo album were tens of thousands of files—all of Jin Yuha.

Jin Yuha’s photos.
Jin Yuha’s videos.
Jin Yuha’s voice recordings.
Everything related to Jin Yuha.

‘This is like handing over my fatal weakness…’

If Jin Yuha were to find out about this, he would be disgusted.

She had never intended to reveal this side of herself to anyone. She wanted people to see her as just a cheerful, energetic girl who happened to be a model and liked taking pictures—nothing more.

Yet, here she was, taking a gamble and exposing her weakness to protect Utopia, to preserve their harmony, and to not sadden Jin Yuha.

Swipe— Swipe—

As Ichika flipped through the photo album on the phone, her eyes sparkled with interest.

“….If there’s anything you like among the things I have, I’ll share them with you.”
“Oh.”
“And I’ll give them to you whenever you ask.”
“Ooh.”

Sophia spoke with a stiff voice, in contrast to Ichika’s bright exclamations.

“Good. Then I like this video.”

The video Ichika chose from the sea of Jin Yuha was none other than the one where Jin Yuha had caught a Demon and was overwhelmed with excitement.

It was Sophia’s most prized possession, something she didn’t want to share with anyone else. She had been there at the scene, too.

‘I really don’t want to give this up…’

But.

“Yes, I understand…”

Sophia nodded, feeling as if she were cutting off her own flesh. And then, she said what she had to say.

“….So, please be satisfied with this, Ichika. Stop approaching Jin Yuha.”
“Hmm?”
“As long as you can fill your heart for Jin Yuha in some other way—”
“I don’t want that.”

A blunt refusal. An oppressive silence hung between them.

.

.

.

‘What the hell am I doing…!’

Sophia bit her lip.

“What… what do you mean?”

Sophia asked, her voice filled with astonishment, but Ichika calmly rejected her.

“Ichika—! You, you really—”

Anger welled up inside her. Her head was heating up. She wanted to tear the woman in front of her to shreds.

Her voice grew louder with each word.

“Ichika. Are you serious about Jin Yuha?”
“Serious?”
“Yes! You barely know him, and you didn’t even know who he was until recently! How dare you suddenly butt in and be so brazen!!!”
“Does timing matter? If Yoo-ri tries to win over Jin Yuha, will you just let her have him with a smile?”
“….Th, that’s!”

Ichika’s question left her speechless.

Thud.

It felt like a huge rock had dropped into her heart.

‘What do you know about him…!’

Her mask had already shattered long ago.

Jin Yuha was not someone to be taken lightly, casually, or carelessly.

No, he was someone who should not be approached that way.

The unspoken rule they had been following was about to be shattered by this woman who had suddenly intruded.

“Ah, so this is your true self and your true face?”

Ichika’s eyes, which had been devoid of interest, now sparkled with curiosity as she looked at Sophia.

“You’re getting interesting now.”

.

.

.

“Hmm, it seems we gained a lot from this US monster-hunting mission.”

In Utopia’s hideout, Shin Se-hee was buried under a pile of pristine white papers, working on the post-mission cleanup.

It was always best to strike while the iron was hot.

“First, I need to upload Ichika’s introduction video… Hmm, now that I think about it, Kang Do-hee, Lee Yuri, and I don’t have separate introduction videos yet, do we?”

The timing was perfect.

With Baek Seol-hee’s test, the party members had all leveled up, and with the attention from the US monster-hunting mission, now was the best time to showcase their improved abilities.

“So, I should prioritize making those videos and uploading them. And it might be a good idea to update the existing ones, too. Hmm, I should consult with Sophia about the videos…”

Just then.

Suddenly—

A pitch-black shadow emerged from under her feet.

“Huh? Ichika?”

And the shadow picked up a pen from the desk and began to write on the white paper.

Scratch— Scratch— Scratch—

As Shin Se-hee read what was being written, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Huh? What’s this…?”

Shin Se-hee couldn’t help but laugh at the unexpected content.

“This is interesting… The very first one is Sophia?”