Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 29

EP.29 Retest

Even though Jeong-hyeon and Lucia were the ones who directly drove the sword into her chest, Regina was the true culprit of this whole incident, wasn’t she?

‘If you think about it, we’re just victims of Regina too.’

If Regina hadn’t intended it, none of this would have happened… Jeong-hyeon couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. He knew this was a twisted rationalization.

‘Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.’

The real priority now was to ensure Esich learned that it was Regina who killed Erie.

‘Of course, simply telling him would only raise suspicion.’

Instead of just telling him, Jeong-hyeon planned to manipulate or hide the evidence, steering Esich’s thoughts in one direction.

‘It won’t be easy, but it’s doable.’

Jeong-hyeon watched Esich silently. His face was expressionless, but his clenched, trembling red fists told him he was far from calm.

‘There’s nothing easier than shaking someone who’s pretending to be rational.’

Such people always believed they were truly rational.

‘So, I’ll gradually plant seeds of doubt.’

Once Esich took the bait, he’d be trapped in a web he couldn’t escape from.

‘But that’s one thing. The real problem is this.’

Jeong-hyeon sighed and looked ahead. Honestly, he couldn’t remember the faces of the new instructors, but some of them might remember him.

‘I want to hide my face as much as possible.’

Given that achieving an excellent score—a rather abstract goal—was crucial, Jeong-hyeon couldn’t skip the retest or wear a mask in front of everyone. It was frustrating.

‘Damn it.’

If he was overwhelmingly strong, he wouldn’t have to worry about this. He could just kill everyone and do his own thing. Given the situation, he realized he needed to train even harder to improve his stats. As he was thinking this, the retest began.

***

“For this exam, the new instructors will personally duel each student and assign scores based on their performance…”

As Jeong-hyeon listened to the explanation, Miria spoke in awe.

“I wondered why they chose one-on-one duels, but now it makes sense. They want to clearly demonstrate the change and leave a strong impression of the new instructors. It’s not a bad strategy.”

Though she said a lot, it boiled down to this: the new instructors were far superior to the old ones.

Even if the changes were surprising, it was obvious they wanted to shift public opinion positively.

‘They’re trying to appeal to the public, showing how much they’ve improved.’

It was a signal that the academy could rise again, so there was no need to worry. It was a blatant tactic, but its transparency made it likely to be effective.

“Whoever came up with this idea did a good job.”

“Yeah.”

The problem was that this new strategy held Jeong-hyeon’s fate in its hands. Jeong-hyeon sighed and checked when it was his turn. Two more people to go. Soon, he’d have to step in front of those new instructors.

As he pressed his throbbing head, someone poked his back.

‘Is it Lucia?’

Jeong-hyeon thought she might be here to wish him luck, but when he turned around, he saw an unexpected person.

‘Princess Charlotte?’

Why was the First Princess here suddenly? Jeong-hyeon looked at her in confusion, and she sighed deeply, placing something in his palm.

‘A ring?’

It was a blue ring made of magic stone. It had no special decorations, but the inherent elegance of the magic stone made it seem incredibly valuable. Jeong-hyeon looked at her, puzzled as to why she was giving him this.

“… What?”

The First Princess responded with a somewhat annoyed expression. Wasn’t that supposed to be his line? Jeong-hyeon frowned, trying to understand her motives. Seeing his confusion, she wore a complex expression and explained.

“… It’s a face recognition suppression ring. Once you wear it, others won’t be able to recognize your face accurately, so keep it on.”

It was exactly what Jeong-hyeon needed in this situation, but he couldn’t fathom why she was giving it to him. They hadn’t parted on good terms before, and they weren’t exactly on friendly terms to exchange such favours.

Seeing his confused expression, the First Princess seemed at a loss for how to explain. She sighed lightly and spoke.

“You don’t know this, but your face… it’s quite problematic.”

The moment Jeong-hyeon heard that, he felt something was seriously wrong.

It seemed she misunderstood, thinking he was questioning why he needed to hide his face with the ring, rather than why she was giving it to him.

“Never mind the reason… Just wear it and go.”

With a relieved expression, she turned and walked away. Jeong-hyeon watched her leave, then showed the ring to Miria.

“Is this really a face recognition suppression magic ring?”

Miria seemed to have a lot to say but eventually just nodded silently.

“I see.”

Jeong-hyeon called over a nearby student, a rather plump fellow, to help him test the ring.

“Hey, help me out for a second.”

He flinched and looked at him with a fearful expression. Jeong-hyeon hadn’t done anything yet, so why was he so scared? Not wanting to waste time, he gestured for him to come over quickly.

“What do you need?”

“Just hold out your hand.”

He took a step back, looking horrified. Jeong-hyeon stared at him silently, trying to understand his reaction. He glanced around nervously before speaking in a panicked tone.

“You’re not going to cut off my arm, are you?”

What was he talking about? Why would he cut off his arm? Ignoring his nonsense, Jeong-hyeon grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. His face twisted in pain, as if he was bracing himself for something terrible. It was a bit ridiculous.

Jeong-hyeon quickly slipped the ring onto the man’s finger.

‘… It’s real?’

As soon as he wore the ring, Jeong-hyeon could see the man’s face, but it was as if he couldn’t quite recognize him. The effect was fascinating.

‘How should I describe this?’

Before, seeing his face immediately brought to mind the image of a muscular pig-guy. Now, Jeong-hyeon could see his face, but nothing specific came to mind.

‘It’s like looking at a passing landscape.’

You know it was there, but you couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Jeong-hyeon smiled slightly at the thought.

‘Not bad.’

Maybe it was the unexpected gift that made him happier. Jeong-hyeon quickly put the ring on his finger.

“Thanks. You can go now.”

He looked at him with a horrified expression and asked.

“… Why aren’t you stabbing me with a sword?”

What on earth was he talking about? He decided it wasn’t worth responding to and started warming up.

‘Let’s see how skilled these so-called elite knights really are.’

He couldn’t miss this golden opportunity to legally beat up the instructors. So, he waited eagerly for his turn.

***

Marpe, the commander of the 2nd Knights Order, couldn’t help but frown as he looked at the faces of the academy students, who seemed lazy and pathetic. On the front lines, children younger than these students were taking up arms and sacrificing themselves to buy even a little more time. Meanwhile, these students wasted the precious time that had been bought with such sacrifices, completely oblivious.

‘… What could the king possibly want by sending me here?’

Rather than educating these useless brats, it would be far better to send him to the battlefield to cut down as many of those damned demons as possible. Why had he been sent to this place?

Though he despaired, he knew that the king’s orders were absolute. No matter his feelings, he decided to complete the mission given to him perfectly. He looked at the male student in front of him, who was staring back anxiously.

‘What pathetic faces.’

Wondering how on earth he would ever turn these students into competent people, he signaled the student in front of him to attack first by tilting his practice sword.

“Here I come!”

Marpe couldn’t suppress a sigh as he watched the sword swing towards him. Every single student seemed to be practicing ‘show-off’ swordsmanship, meant more for display than actual combat.

Finding it utterly pathetic, he frowned deeply and without hesitation, swung his practice sword, knocking the student down.

“Ugh!”

Watching the student fly away, Marpe felt a headache coming on. He had swung the sword lightly enough that it could have been blocked if the student had tried, but the student couldn’t even do that and was thrown aside.

‘What am I supposed to do with these students who lack skill, effort, and determination?’

Feeling only frustration, he wanted to petition the king to send him back to the battlefield immediately. But the king’s words about having high expectations for him kept echoing in his mind, forcing him to endure the situation.

‘… If only there was at least one decent student.’

That would give him a reason to be here. He hoped for someone worthwhile, but after testing nearly half of them, not a single one met his expectations.

‘If I had to pick, that guy named Jer was somewhat decent.’

But even Jer hadn’t met his expectations. He was about to completely lose interest, thinking the remaining students would be no different, when the next student stepped onto the training ground.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Lee Jeong-hyeon.”

Marpe replied with a disinterested expression.

“Alright. Nice to meet you too.”