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

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Counterattack (4)

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Waaaaah—!!

"Kill them! Kill them! Kill them all!!"

"Healers, what are you doing?! Give the Chief more healing!"

"...I, I used all my mana fighting just now."

"Then squeeze out whatever strength you have left! Can't you see the Chief is holding them off alone!?"

Amidst the fierce battle between the Demons and the students.

*Thwack—!*

A blade emerged from a student's chest.

The student, suddenly stabbed in the back, barely managed to turn their head and saw the face of the betrayer who had plunged the knife into them.

Then, the student's eyes widened in horror.

"Ugh—?! Ch-Cheonhwa?! Wh-Why are you...?"

"You'll understand later. I have no regrets."

Shin Se-hee replied in a calm voice.

Taking advantage of the chaos, she mingled among the students, systematically eliminating the exhausted ones, one by one.

This was what Jin Yu-ha had asked of her.

To grant his request that the students not die by the hands of the Demons.

Since Lee Yu-ri was fighting at the front, using magic was not an option.

And Kang Do-hee joining the battle would be an overkill of power.

Therefore, she personally moved to dispatch, with her own hands, the students who could no longer continue fighting and were at high risk of dying to the Demons.

"Gasp!?"

A male student witnessed Shin Se-hee's action moments ago and clapped a hand over his mouth.

Shin Se-hee turned her head and spoke as if there was nothing to hide.

"Just now, this student tried to stab a fellow comrade in the back amidst the chaos. That's why I had no choice but to step in."

"...Ah."

"But, this is a secret, okay? It could lower morale."

*Shhh.*

Shin Se-hee gently placed her index finger on her lips and smiled faintly.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

His face flushed at her angelic smile, the male student nodded his head up and down vigorously.

Shin Se-hee, having just handled the situation, soon saw her bright face harden.

'This isn't good...'

Shin Se-hee's eyes darted around, assessing the shifting battle.

For now, the weasel-like Demon, who had seemed stronger than all of them combined, had been taken on by Kang Do-hee alone, which was certainly a relief.

But the current situation was extremely precarious.

There were fifteen Demons remaining here in total.

And Lee Yu-ri was handling all fifteen of them by herself.

At first, the Demons were helpless against the students' coordinated attacks,

but as if their accumulated experience hadn't gone anywhere, they gradually began to skillfully deflect the incoming attacks.

Furthermore, the effect of Lee Yu-ri's Taunt skill was gradually diminishing,

and the students' healing skills, which had been focused on her, seemed to be running out of mana, cutting off intermittently.

*Boom!*

*Crash!*

Explosions erupted.

These were attacks a dimension above the students' level.

Until now, Lee Yu-ri had cleverly evaded the attacks, keeping the Demons engaged.

But there was no telling how long that would last.

'If things continue like this, casualties are only a matter of time...'

Shin Se-hee observed the situation with deeply thoughtful eyes.

It was then.

"Kyaaaah!"

Taking advantage of Lee Yu-ri's weakening skill, one Demon unleashed a sword energy attack.

A deep sword wound was carved into a student's stomach, and blood gushed out.

Shin Se-hee's expression hardened.

She couldn't step in and deal with it herself now.

Because claiming that the injured student had tried to attack a comrade would seem too forced to the other students.

'Should I just have the students who are about to die killed by other students nearby? If I use the excuse that they'll die anyway, and tell them to at least gain some coins...'

Then, those who were defeated by students could be summoned back to the airship for treatment.

However, Shin Se-hee had no choice but to shake her head.

It was not a good move.

Of course, it would be an immediate emergency measure, but it would cause chaos among the students,

and if they started secretly attacking each other to earn coins, their precariously maintained unity would crumble in an instant.

'What should I do? Is there a good strategy...'

As Shin Se-hee bit her lip in thought, it happened.

"...SHIELD OF SACRIFICE!!!"

Lee Yu-ri, exhaling a tired breath, raised her shield and shouted.

Above her head, a colossal blue cross unfurled its wings.

'Wha...?'

Did Lee Yu-ri have another skill besides Taunt?

'No, come to think of it... Definitely, during the team sparring in the first entrance exam.'

Her train of thought was interrupted by the voice of the dying student.

"Huh? W-What is this? My b-body?"

The student, who had been dying from the sword energy attack, sat up with a bewildered expression.

The deep wound carved into their stomach had completely vanished!

***

*Zing—*

A burning, scalding pain spread from her abdomen, as if she'd been branded.

"Gah!"

Lee Yu-ri gritted her teeth.

The skill she had just used was 'Shield of Sacrifice'.

A skill that transferred others' damage to herself.

It was a skill she had forgotten about, having had no use for it since the team sparring with Jin Yu-ha.

After all, there was no one particularly lacking in skill in the Utopia party,

and if they just followed Jin Yu-ha's commands, no one would suffer a deep injury while clearing a dungeon.

But now, thanks to that skill, a student's life had been saved.

"Huuuh—."

Lee Yu-ri exhaled a long breath, planted her feet firmly on the ground, and raised her shield.

*Boom!*

*Zzzzzzt—*

The heavy impact made her shield tremble.

"Oh? Hey, Miss Shield Girl, aren't you a little weaker now?"

"Aha! Hey, she's bleeding from her stomach."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"No, you just tried to finish off that kid behind her."

"Yeah, kept throwing rocks at me, it was annoying as hell."

"But that kid's fine? And she's bleeding from her stomach."

"Huh? Really? So that means, no way..."

The Demons quickly caught on to the correlation and smirked.

Meanwhile, Lee Yu-ri's expression hardened.

After that, the Demons,

ignoring Lee Yu-ri standing before them, began attacking the students behind her.

"Kyaaaah!"

"Aargh!"

"Urgh!!"

"Leave the kids alone and fight me, you bastards!"

*Clang—!*

Lee Yu-ri slammed her shield, veins throbbing in her neck, but.

"Why would we? Why bother? We can just take out the kids behind you, can't we?"

Even though they were caught by her Taunt skill again, the Demons lowered their weapons and shrugged, as if simply waiting for the skill to end.

'Damn it!'

"Shield of Sacrifice!"

Even though she knew she was playing right into the Demons' hands, Lee Yu-ri had no choice but to shout again.

"Shield of Sacrifice!"

"Shield of Sacrifice...!"

"Shield of Sacrifice...!"

.

.

.

.

The situation did not improve.

As much as Lee Yu-ri used her skill, no students died.

But the burden on Lee Yu-ri's body continuously increased.

Lee Yu-ri, who had transferred all the students' damage to herself,

was a truly desperate sight, bearing others' wounds all over her body.

Then. Even the students who didn't understand the full situation couldn't help but feel that something was terribly wrong.

"Chief Lee Yu-ri...!!"

"Stop, stop it!"

"Chief! Why, why are you going so far?! We won't die anyway!"

"We're fine! We really don't need to earn any more coins!"

The students cried out the ridiculous title of 'Chief' to try and dissuade Lee Yu-ri, but.

"...Shield of... Sacrifice."

With a trembling voice, she once again transferred the students' wounds to herself.

"Gah!"

A hole appeared in her back, as if she had been deeply stabbed, and blood gushed out.

Her arms no longer moved, but she still held her shield forward.

Her ruptured ankle ligaments still kept her rooted deeply to the ground.

Her trembling body looked like it could collapse at any moment.

She had bled so much that her ears rang and her vision blurred.

'But, I can't give up here.'

Lee Yu-ri glared at the Demons with resolute eyes.

"Wow~ You're really something, aren't you?"

As the battle continued one-sidedly, a relaxed air appeared on the Demons' faces.

"Is this what they call the sacrifice of a hero?"

"Hmph— truly noble, noble indeed."

"Those kids don't even seem to understand what's going on, is there any point in doing all this?"

"Your shield is wobbling, and your hands look like they're losing strength. Are you alright, kiddo?"

The Demons mocked Lee Yu-ri to her face.

*Hmph—*

But Lee Yu-ri forced a wry smile and let out a bitter laugh.

"...You damn Demons... You couldn't even get past a single student's shield, yet your mouths are certainly alive, aren't they...?"

Her voice was barely a whisper, on the verge of breaking.

But the meaning within it was fully conveyed to them.

The Demons' expressions soured, as if they were fed up.

"Ha, you really want to keep going?"

"Kiddo. You seem to be mistaken, we've been going easy on you until now. We were just curious to see how far you could go."

"And it looks like you really don't have much left, do you?"

"B-Bullshit..."

Lee Yu-ri cursed, her trembling hands gripping the shield tightly as she raised it again.

"I c-can do this... all... day!"

The Demon, whose expression had soured, raised his whip as if he would no longer hold back.

"Ha, fine, let's see how far you can go..."

*Whoosh—*

The whip soared towards the sky.

"LET'S SEE!!!!"

*Swishhhhh—!*

The whip tore through the air, hurtling towards Lee Yu-ri's head.

She had to dodge.

But her feet wouldn't move.

Lee Yu-ri bit her lip tightly.

'Jin Yu-ha...'

It was then.

*Swishhhhhh!*

*Snap───── Thud.*

A sword, flying from somewhere, severed the whip and plunged into the ground at Lee Yu-ri's feet.

"...Who is it?"

And then, a clear voice pierced Lee Yu-ri's fading hearing.

Lee Yu-ri slowly lifted her barely open eyes and looked up.

There, Jin Yu-ha was glaring at the scene, his expression more furious than ever before.

"WHO TOUCHED MY GOB-BAP!!!!!!!!"

Lee Yu-ri couldn't help but feel the corners of her lips curl up.

"You idiot. You're really, really late..."