Why Is Everyone in This Dating Sim Trying to Kill Me?!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Hunting (3)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"No way…"

The freckled female student's eyes widened, and she stumbled backward.

She couldn't believe it.

Because Sophia was the one and only character capable of healing from such an extreme range, a distance where one couldn't even perceive the target.

"Th-this is che-cheating…! It's cheating! That brat must have pulled some trick!"

The freckled girl cried out convulsively.

However, there was no need for me to step in now.

[ You… you dare…! You dog-faced, goddamn bitch!!! ]

Sophia's voice, coming through the earphones I'd bought from the store.

She sounded incredibly heated, as if her fury was radiating all the way to me.

'Hmm, did her dad teach her those curses too? They're quite… colorful.'

I know the setting implies her dad is Korean, so she's somewhat fluent in the language.

[ O-on *our* Yuha's body, a wound…! ]

'Or did she get into a keyboard battle on some online forum…?'

Nah, no way.

Well, she must have picked them up from Korean movies.

These days, curses in movies are usually unfiltered.

And the phrase 'our Yuha' that she'd uttered briefly crossed my mind, but was quickly erased.

Whoosh—!!

Thwack!

"Gah!"

Thwack! Thwack!

Thwack! Thwack!

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Silver arrows rained down simultaneously from above.

Sophia's main role was a healer.

Her primary skill was shooting golden arrows imbued with light magic to heal targets.

But at the same time, her abilities as a long-range damage dealer were also exceptional.

By reversing the nature of mana, she could shoot silver arrows that dealt a significant amount of painful damage.

In other words, she was an all-rounder, an absurdly overpowered character who could heal and deal long-range damage!

Following Kang Dohui, she was *Velvet Sra's Mistake ver. 2*.

'Seriously, they really pushed her because she was a new character, didn't they?'

I let out a chuckle, watching the scene unfold before me.

"…Gah!"

"Th-the arrows have attack power! But she's a h-healer, isn't she!?"

"Dodge!!!"

The students before me tried to dodge Sophia's arrows somehow, but there was nowhere to properly hide from arrows falling vertically from above.

And the arrows she shot weren't weak enough for mere nameless extras like them to dodge.

In other words, they had no choice but to take Sophia's arrows head-on.

Surprisingly, however, they didn't fall easily.

"Ugh—!? W-what is it? It d-doesn't hurt? No, why am I h-healing…!"

Because Sophia was intermittently mixing in golden arrows, healing their bodies only to strike them again, repeating the process.

'Ugh, look at her, shooting them where she just shot them. This is why you shouldn't cross Sophia.'

I wore a slightly disgusted expression.

I did tell her to use it when she wanted to beat someone for a long time, but did she hate these kids that much?

'Well, I guess she wouldn't want to let off easy the ones who insulted her.'

The price for dismissing Sophia as insignificant to her face was steep.

Despair slowly began to cloud the eyes of the students who were repeatedly alternating between healing and injury.

"…J-Jin Yuha! Wh-what did we do wrong?! Stop this cruel torture!"

"Yeah! Even if we stabbed you, it was just a combat situation anyway! Just end it quickly!"

The damage dealers who had just stuck their weapons into my body shouted at me.

In response, I scratched my cheek and replied.

"Hmm, well, our healer seems pretty upset."

"…What?"

"That one over there dismissed our healer to her face, you see."

I pointed a finger directly at the freckled female student.

She tried to retort with a flustered expression, but,

"I never—... Gah!"

An arrow pierced her thigh, and she screamed.

"I clearly told them I'd found an excellent healer and couldn't team up with them. Yet, she kept insisting I hire her as a healer, all while dismissing *my* healer as insignificant."

"…Th-that's…!"

At that, their faces contorted, and their heads snapped around.

Because it meant all the suffering they were currently enduring was ultimately because of that one damn woman.

"Damn it, shit. Because of that bitch, even we…"

"Well, it doesn't really concern you guys. You just got caught up in it. My bad. I'll send you off quickly."

"…Alright, thanks."

At that, the damage dealers bowed their heads and expressed their gratitude to me.

Not forgetting to glare at the back one more time.

Slice—

I immediately drew my sword and cut them down.

Thwack—!

And Sophia, seeing me, also stopped her personal revenge and finished off the freckled student.

"Gah!"

* * *

Hoo.

Shin Sehee, who had been continuously casting spells, momentarily retreated to rest, intending to replenish her depleted stamina and mana.

"…Huh?"

Suddenly, her eyes shot open at the sight that entered her vision.

Something felt… off.

Something was wrong.

It was only the first day of the second week of the exam.

She had planned to conclude the battle with a moderate probing attack today, then retreat,

and strategize for the next battle, but…

"Uh… H-how did this, how did it end up like this?"

Shin Sehee turned her head with a bewildered expression, surveying her surroundings.

The battlefield was sparsely populated.

Half of the students she'd seen at first,

No. Two-thirds of the students were gone!

However, the reason Shin Sehee hadn't noticed this was,

first, because she had directly plunged into the battlefield, narrowing her field of vision.

And second, because her faction and Lee Yuri's faction still maintained an evenly matched balance.

Wham—!

Wham!!

She turned her head to see Lee Yuri and Kang Dohui also lightly exchanging blows, continuing their battle.

They wouldn't be planning to pour all their strength into the first day either.

'To say it's because of my activity… my magic isn't strong enough to inflict critical injuries unless a student takes a direct hit.'

Furthermore, with healers to recover from injuries, it would be difficult to noticeably reduce the enemy's strength.

But what in the world happened here?

Was she truly the only one who noticed this strange anomaly?

'Someone, someone intervened…!'

Shin Sehee, belatedly coming to a conclusion, bit her lip tightly.

It was then.

"Long time no see?"

Whoosh—

"Who's th—!"

Suddenly, at the voice from behind her, Shin Sehee immediately spun around, drawing a dagger from her waist and pointing it.

But soon,

the strength drained from the hand holding the hilt.

It couldn't be helped, because…

the stranger who had appeared behind her was the very man she had so desperately wanted to meet.

"…Huh? M-Mr. Jin Yuha?"

It was him.

Jin Yuha raised both hands and grinned broadly.

"Yep, it's me. Long time no see."

At his nonchalant words, Shin Sehee let out a deep sigh of relief.

"…Seriously, if you're going to come, at least make some noise first…"

"Were you surprised?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Heh. Guess it was worth coming secretly."

Suddenly, Shin Sehee's gaze fell to Jin Yuha's chest.

'…Huh?'

[ 53040 coin ]

A considerable amount of coins.

When she had checked before, Jin Yuha had only hunted low-level monsters while training that healer.

In other words, these weren't coins gathered from hunting monsters!

Shin Sehee, having instantly concluded her thoughts, asked him in a low voice.

"…Mr. Jin Yuha. It was you, wasn't it?"

Though much was left unsaid in her question,

Jin Yuha nodded as if he had nothing to hide.

"Yep, it's me."

"…"

At his nonchalant reply, she bit her lip firmly.

Jin Yuha was now expressing his intention not to form an alliance.

Nor with Lee Yuri.

He was declaring that he would go his own way in this battle.

Only with the healer he had just acquired, and just the two of them!

At this direct refusal, Shin Sehee's pride was wounded.

She decided to ask him directly.

Because, thinking rationally, what he had done was clearly inefficient.

"Why?! If you had teamed up with me or Lee Yuri, no, even if you had just teamed up with Kang Dohui, you could have achieved victory much more easily! Why did you do something like this!?"

She knew her voice had risen slightly, but she couldn't help it.

To that, Jin Yuha replied in a nonchalant tone.

"Hmm, to end the mid-term evaluation today."

"What? What do you mean by that…?"

"Do you want to know?"

Shin Sehee immediately nodded.

At that, Jin Yuha scratched his head awkwardly.

"…Well, those Demonkind bastards are here."

"D-Demonkind!?"

"Yeah, and if you die to Demonkind, you really die."

Shin Sehee's mouth fell open in shock.

Demonkind suddenly appearing during the mid-term evaluation.

It was too unexpected, too out of the blue!

However, she didn't do the foolish thing of doubting the veracity of his words.

Instead, she quickly thought things through and instantly came to a conclusion.

"…So, you used the chaos of the battle to get as many people as possible out of the way? To prevent them from dying by their hands."

"That's right."

"Then, couldn't you have told us beforehand? My party would have definitely helped if you had told us."

Shin Sehee said, her voice tinged with lingering disappointment.

"I was originally going to tell you. Today or tomorrow. But… hmm, thanks to you guys stirring things up in a surprising way, my plan changed."

"Stirred things up?"

"You gathered all the students in one place for a faction war. So, I thought, maybe I could get everyone out without a single death. I didn't expect that either."

"…So, I was helpful?"

"Yeah, very much so."

Jin Yuha chuckled and patted Shin Sehee's head.

"Ugh, th-that's, patting my head is a bit…!"

Shin Sehee shrank her neck, a shy expression on her face.

Jin Yuha removed his hand and stared intently at Shin Sehee.

"This is something that absolutely couldn't have happened originally. You can be proud. You truly did something amazing."

Ah.

'So, in the future Mr. Jin Yuha saw, a lot of students die in this mid-term evaluation.'

And she had changed that.

A sense of pride swelled in her chest at his words, recognizing her efforts.

"…And now, I have a slightly regrettable favor to ask you."

Jin Yuha spoke with a hesitant voice, unlike before.

She could tell why this man was acting this way now.

What favor he was about to ask her, why he had come to her now,

she could infer from the circumstances.

'…Hmph. He could just say it.'

The lingering disappointment she'd felt moments ago vanished as if washed away.

Shin Sehee looked at Jin Yuha with a relaxed expression.

'Hmm, should I surprise him a little?'

Shin Sehee suddenly reached out a hand,

grabbed Jin Yuha's sword, and brought it to her own neck.

"The favor of asking you to kill me. Right?"

And then she smiled sweetly, enjoying his flustered expression.