I Became the Traitor in an Academy Story

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“Well, I somehow made it to the top four.”

And, unsurprisingly, the top four were all members from the Hero department, Class A.

There was me, Minho, Ageha, and Im Changwon.

It was practically predetermined who would be the real winner of the semifinals.

Ageha’s opponent was Im Changwon, and I was up against Minho. Honestly, I have my doubts about Ageha being able to beat Im Changwon.

Even with the penalty of being unable to move, I wonder if he could win—how can Ageha possibly win against an active Im Changwon?

No way! I feel bad for Ageha, but some things are just impossible. She seems serious about trying to win, but… hmm, I doubt it.

If I were her, I’d want to avoid a confrontation. It’s not precisely a mistake to lose against a truck, is it?

Thinking of it as just a natural disaster, and feeling like, “Well, I fought well!” while dusting my hands off seems like wisdom for living.

If every unavoidable event is always blamed on oneself, it’s hard to hold onto sanity.

Sometimes, flexible thinking might be necessary, pointing fingers at others to keep one’s mental state intact.

That’s enough about that. Getting back to my situation, it was definitely the time to lose.

With all the attention focused on me after reaching the top four, it felt a bit excessive.

Well, the excessive attention likely started when I stepped onto the arena in costume.

But really, that focus was just about my body, not my skills or abilities. I didn’t want to be recognized for my abilities.

It’s not like I enjoyed being noticed for my physique, after all. No sir. I simply disliked the attention.

So now, I had to find a way to lose, no matter what.

Minho had been carefully pacing around me since the match began, assessing my movements.

The commentators seemed frustrated by his behavior and were yelling, “Agh!” but honestly, that was so typical of Minho that it made me laugh.

If anyone knows Minho, it’s that the moment he approaches me, he’ll get hit by any number of toxic substances.

So, he must be circling around, looking for an opening while saving up his energy. Surprisingly, this match doesn’t prohibit artifacts.

If it’s only one artifact, even students could use them in this match.

It’s just that they choose not to, either out of pride or because they’re ridiculously expensive. Equipment was not banned in this match.

With special suits like mine being allowed, using artifacts should be a non-issue.

Wealth is also a form of power. What a bunch of crazy result-oriented folks.

I tossed out a few nitroglycerin bombs casually, but naturally, they didn’t hit.

Predicting trajectories? That stuff doesn’t matter against someone who can disregard inertia and change the direction of their speed at will.

Moreover, since there’s no real intent behind it, I couldn’t even get close to Minho, much less getting any dust on him.

While I was floundering without any results, Minho’s shoes were already prepped up, shining brightly.

There’s no way taking a hit from those wouldn’t end badly. Thank goodness my opponent was Minho.

At least, I could lose in a way that made sense to the spectators.

If I had fought against Ageha… I wouldn’t even know how to lose gracefully. Plus, she might even catch on if I was throwing the match deliberately.

Though I think Minho would notice, too—what’s it to me?

He’d definitely keep his mouth shut. If it was useful for him, he would quietly use my weaknesses against me.

Minho was starting to rev up and accelerate now.

That was a relief since there was no way I could keep up with that speed.

If I could catch up, the commentators might start making weird comments about why I was taking it slow.

But standing still wouldn’t do any favors for either Minho or my pride, so I decided to unleash a thick mist around me to obscure my figure.

Yet, as if to shrug off my pathetic illusion, Minho accelerated enough to dash right in front of me in an instant.

The bottom of his shining sneakers was heading straight for me.

Getting hit by that would surely shatter something.

I really didn’t want to feel pain. But if I tried to tough it out awkwardly, I might faint, so I crossed my arms in a gesture of defense.

I wasn’t trying to block his shoe; I just wanted to make it look like I was attempting to block it.

It hit squarely in my gut.

Literally, a flash exploded right in front of me, and it was lights out.

– – – –

And so, the victor of the Sports Festival was Im Changwon.

How had this happened? Achieving awakening so early in the first year’s Sports Festival when it was supposed to occur in the second year was rather natural, to be honest.

Seriously, I was utterly lost on how to fight. No matter any moves I made, I’d be grabbed from a distance and tossed around, rendering me totally helpless.

So yeah, that’s how I lost.

It was a Sports Festival filled with many uncomfortable elements—Blanca’s ‘little brother’, Im Changwon’s mysterious awakening, and Blanca deliberately throwing the match for me.

Does Blanca know that I caught on, or does she just pretend to be oblivious? Maybe she truly doesn’t know.

She casually said to Jinhyeon during the match that it was not an emotional thing and even apologized.

The kids brushed it off saying that if Blanca felt emotional during a fight, it was only natural, but who knows?

Maybe that was actually part of Blanca’s true nature. There’s a saying; ‘People show their true selves when they fight.’

I want to believe that’s not her true nature, but there’s always a possibility.

Maybe I’ll find out once I reach relationship level three.

“Are you okay, Blanca?”

Trying to boost my favorability, I called out to her, and she immediately stopped talking to her friends, turning her attention to me.

“Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, I’m fine. Want to check for yourself?”

Even though she had changed back from her suit to her uniform, she seemed ready to show off her midriff by pulling her shirt out of her skirt.

“No, no—I don’t mean like that.”

“You hit a girl, and now you want to see her stomach? Wow, trash.”

Seolhwa joked with me like that. But honestly, whether she was joking or serious was hard to tell.

Her love feels a bit heavy, you know? Even though my relationship isn’t at level four yet, the weight of it could already be sensed, sending a chill down my spine.

“That’s not it…”

“Oh, come on, Minho. Even if you said you wouldn’t let it slide, that was just too inconsiderate. It’s a girl’s tummy, after all…”

“Alright, alright. But I can’t just punch her in the stomach or the head, can I?”

As I sweated in embarrassment, Blanca came to my rescue.

Since the person involved was okay with it, Ageha seemed to run out of things to say and only mumbled “Well, that’s true…”

“Aw, what a shame. If you’d fought a decent opponent, you might’ve gone even further!”

Yeonhwa stretched her arms in disappointment. Watching her, Blanca cynically commented, “I should just curse the heavens; what else can I do?”

What a cozy scene. From this perspective, it doesn’t seem like Blanca has any secrets.

However, it was clear she was hiding something.

I found myself searching for her name online, thinking I might have missed something, and I came across a recently-uploaded video.

But it didn’t relate to her secrets or anything.

With a title designed to attract clicks, something like ‘Current Female High School Student’—the content featured her battling Jinhyeon and inadvertently exposing her skin.

…I couldn’t understand why she’d choose to lose deliberately.

Maybe she was trying to stick to the original story, or perhaps she just didn’t want unwanted attention.

If it was the latter, it’s a total fail on her part, right?

“Blanca, you have to see this.”

“Huh? What… uh…”

As I called her over, she approached, seemingly puzzled about why I was beckoning her, but quickly flushed and frowned.

“Those darn reporters…!”

She snatched my phone from my hand, quickly started scrolling down, and began reporting like a maniac.

It’s too late; the internet has probably spread it like wildfire, Blanca.

Hang in there.

– – – –

What I achieved in this Sports Festival.

Laying the groundwork for the Academy’s invasion plan.

I’d like to say the plan succeeded… but that’s impossible.

There were a couple of shaky elements along the way, and unexpected variables popped up too.

First was Im Changwon’s awakening. Then there was Minho’s suspicion. Finally, Jinhyeon directly witnessing that person.

Just those serious matters were enough. And none of them were something I could handle myself.

Jinhyeon had a loose tongue; I wouldn’t be surprised if he blurted out any mention of that person at any moment, and Minho’s suspicion will likely continue until my identity is fully revealed.

As for Changwon, ha, who knows? What do I even do about that?

Just that thought makes my head spin, but there was something that topped it all off.

Videos of me beating up Jinhyeon. More specifically, videos capturing me in the process of beating him up, at times modifying my suit just for it.

When I stretched out the rope with my right arm after collecting the armor from my left side, videos of my bare legs and arms on display spread across the net.

I’ve been reporting all those with gritted teeth for their explicit content while actively appealing to the Academy to get all of them taken down, but who knows if that’ll work?

…Seriously. Why does everything I do turn out like this?

Today was particularly busy for that person, so I had to stay cooped up in my rented room all afternoon.

Life is truly a tough gig.

It was mid-May.

 

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