I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game

“No…” 56 times.

“Save me…” 77 times.

“I can’t take it anymore…” 32 times.

“I feel like I’m dying…”

I stopped counting.

All of those words had come from my mouth.

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.

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“Jin Yuha~ Remember the massage you promised me last time~”

“I’ll be there in a sec! Just a moment!”

“Jin Yuha! Over here! I found a fantastic background! Can you be a photo model for a moment?”

“Okay, I’m coming!”

“Jin Yuha! Let’s play a board game!”

“Soup, wait a moment, board, board game… Let’s do it later tonight!”

“Tsk.”

“Junioooor! Feed me! Pick my ear! Sing me a lullaby!”

“Senior, I’ll be there before the food gets cold! And make one request at a time!”

“Hmph.”

“I made a simple snowboard for you to enjoy here. I made one for you too, so come out quickly, lazybones.”

“Okay───!! Just, just one hour! No, wait two hours!”

“Yuha. Head pat.”

“Hmm, hmm. Good girl, good girl.”

I patted Ichika’s head and stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘Ah, that’s why they say you shouldn’t make promises lightly. I’ve learned the hard way.’

The ceiling of the Winter Palace was dazzlingly bright.

Trudge, trudge, trudge.

It was 3 a.m. in the morning. Everyone had gone to bed, and all the activities for the day were over.

I dragged my feet as I made my way to the hot spring alone.

My reflection in the transparent ice walls of the Ice Palace showed dark circles under my eyes, almost pitch black.

Shin Se-hee, Yoo-ri, Kang Do-hee, Sophia, Lim Ga-eul, and Ichika…

The six of them had taken turns making demands, from light requests to things that required spending the whole day together.

Yes. My party members had so many things they wanted to do with me, and they had wanted to spend time with me like this.

It was a time of discovering new things about each other.

And the feeling of warmth in my chest was undoubtedly happiness.

Originally, I was only a player of Velvet School Life! I was a lazybones who had devoured the game.

Even though I couldn’t spend a lot of money due to my financial situation, I was the kind of person who would repeat the same story for days on end with the determination to not miss a single one of the hundreds of cutscenes for each character I had pulled.

I had loved, loved, and still loved these characters, so how could I not be happy to see them smile and laugh like this?

I was definitely happy. But somehow…

Hmm.

‘Doing everything at once is a bit much.’

When you go to an all-you-can-eat buffet when you’re really hungry and fill up four plates, you start to get full, sleepy, and tired. It felt like being in that situation, but with an endless supply of food.

‘How many days has it been already…?’

I had originally planned to stay for just one day, but one day was not enough to meet the welfare demands of the party members. So, my teacher had gone out and submitted a request for Utopia as a whole at the Academy.

And now, it had already been three days.

I wondered what would have happened if there hadn’t been a hot spring here. I would have probably collapsed by now if I hadn’t been able to regularly soak in the hot spring to relieve my fatigue.

“Let’s hurry up, relax, and rest…”

I had chosen this hot spring as a vacation spot to relieve the party members’ fatigue, but I felt like I was the only one reaping the benefits.

As I was about to step into the hot spring, I noticed someone in the distance.

‘Huh? Master?’

My teacher was drinking alone, with the snow-covered landscape as her backdrop.

‘She’s seemed a bit strange since that day…’

On the first day we arrived at the Winter Palace…

Shin Se-hee had called my teacher aside, and they seemed to have had a deep conversation for almost a few hours.

‘I didn’t eavesdrop because I figured they had something private to discuss…’

But since then, my teacher hadn’t said a word to me. She just watched me hang out with the party members, looking like she was deep in thought.

‘Was it something serious?’

I hadn’t had a chance to ask because I’d been busy hanging out with the party members. Now was my chance.

“Master.”

When I called her, she glanced at me and nodded.

“Ah, disciple.”

“….Are you worried about something?”

“Worried? Not really.”

“Then, why haven’t you said anything to me since we got here… The others are making all sorts of demands, but you haven’t said a word…”

At that, Baek Seol-hee chuckled.

“I don’t need to make demands because you’re already doing more than enough for me. Thanks to you, I even got to meet my mother this time.”

“Then, why haven’t you said anything to me since we got here…?”

My teacher took a swig of her drink and changed the subject.

“I was on my way to take a bath in the hot spring.”

“….Yes.”

“Hmm, then let’s do it together.”

“….Yes. Huh?”

.

.

.

‘Huh?’

At the outdoor hot spring behind the Winter Palace, snow fell from the sky, and white steam rose from the hot spring water.

I stepped into the hot spring, wearing clothes—well, not just any clothes, but the swimsuit I had worn at the Haeundae Festival.

Splash.

I felt like the fatigue of the day was melting away.

“Hmmmm”

It was always heavenly here, to the point where moans of pleasure would escape automatically.

And…

Splash─

I heard the sound of water from behind and swallowed hard.

“….Master?”

I turned around, staring blankly at her as she soaked in the water. Then, I quickly turned away.

Of course.

‘….You’re too bold, Master!’

Baek Seol-hee was only covering herself with a long towel, leaving too much skin exposed!

While the necessary parts were covered, the amount of skin showing was still quite provocative. The towel wasn’t fixed in place; it was only held by my teacher’s hand, making it even more stimulating.

“Hoooooo, this feels good.”

Baek Seol-hee let out a long, lazy sigh and closed her eyes, soaking in the tub.

‘Am I the only one who feels weird about this? Is it because of the role reversal? No, even with a role reversal, this is a bit much, isn’t it?’

I felt uncomfortable, but Baek Seol-hee remained unbothered as she casually floated the bottle and glass of alcohol she had brought on the water.

My teacher took a swig from the glass.

“Hmm, disciple. Would you like a drink?”

I still couldn’t bring myself to look at her directly, but I nodded anyway.

“….Yes, yes! Please, a drink!”

The glass and bottle floated towards me.

Glug─

The hot alcohol slid down my throat, warming my insides.

“Khu!”

‘Master, you drink strong alcohol.’

“This is the first time I’ve had a drink with you.”

“….I didn’t know you drank, Master.”

“Hmm, I don’t taste alcohol.”

“Ah.”

Oops.

I was careless with my words, knowing that my teacher had lost her sense of taste.

My teacher, who had been watching this, chuckled.

“I’m joking. I do drink alcohol occasionally. Even though I can’t taste it, I can still feel the effects.”

“….Huh?”

My teacher was joking? I wanted to look at her, but I felt like it would be disrespectful, so I desperately resisted the urge to turn around.

“It seems I enjoy seeing you in a difficult position.”

Baek Seol-hee said this with a slight smile.

A brief silence fell between us.

“Disciple.”

My teacher paused for a moment before calling my name.

‘Is she going to tell me what she and Shin Se-hee talked about now? What did Shin Se-hee say to make her act like this?’

“Yes.”

“Is it okay if I ask you just one thing?”

“Yes, ask me anything.”

“….You. Hmm, no. Never mind.”

Ah, why is she hesitating so much?

I kept my gaze fixed on the sky and opened my mouth.

“You know, there are two ways to drive a person crazy, right?”

“….Huh? What are those ways?”

“One is to stop talking in the middle of a conversation.”

I said this and closed my mouth.

After that, the silence continued, and Baek Seol-hee opened her mouth with a slightly annoyed voice.

“So, what’s the second one? Continue.”

“Look. If you stop talking in the middle like this, people go crazy.”

“Ah. I understand.”

Baek Seol-hee answered seriously as if it made sense.

‘My teacher really has a unique character.’

“Well, I don’t want to drive my disciple crazy, so I will say it. Just, it’s nothing much. You can think of it as me talking under the influence of alcohol.”

“Yes.”

“Jin Yuha. If your party members and I were in a dangerous situation, who would you save?”

“….Huh?”

A sudden, unexpected question.

‘If the two of them were in danger, who would you save?’

“If you’re in a dangerous situation where even you, Master, are in danger, I don’t think I’d be of much help…”

“…..”

“What, well, of course, if you’re in danger, Master, I’d throw myself in to save you.”

But the silence continued, indicating that this wasn’t the answer she wanted.

In other words, my teacher wanted me to choose between her and the party members.

Here, one way to please my teacher would be to give the answer she wanted to hear.

‘My teacher usually chooses to be honest in these situations.’

So, I had no choice but to say it.

“….It’s too difficult for me to choose between the two of you, Master. If I were in that situation…”

As I said this, I turned to look at Baek Seol-hee.

There she was, looking at me with a serious expression.

“I will definitely, by all means, save both of you. No matter what.”

Then…

“Pfft.”

Baek Seol-hee burst out laughing.

‘My teacher is laughing a lot today.’

It was a thrilling smile, different from the smile she had shown when we were fighting monsters. I stared at her blankly.

“So, you won’t give up on either of them, huh.”

Churrrrrrrr─

My teacher suddenly stood up without holding the towel.

Whoosh─!

I had no choice but to turn away again. I felt my teacher approaching me.

She grabbed my chin and turned my face towards her.

‘Huh? Huh…?’

I had a feeling that if I opened my eyes, I would see something I shouldn’t, so I tightly closed them.

Thwack─!

Suddenly, a stinging pain shot through my forehead. My teacher had slapped my forehead.

“You’re my disciple, but you’re so greedy.”

I opened my eyes, rubbing my forehead.

“Then, I suddenly feel resentful that I’m the only one who hasn’t asked for anything. From now on, I’ll also ask you to do things I want to do from time to time.”

With that, my teacher turned and left.

As I watched her retreating figure, I couldn’t help but gape in bewilderment.

‘….She was wearing underwear, wasn’t she?’

It only looked like she was naked because the towel covered her. Baek Seol-hee had been wearing underwear from the start.

I never imagined that my teacher would set such a trap. I was truly caught off guard.