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

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

Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: The Narrow-Eyed Mastermind

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

It had already been several days since I started living with Jin Yuha.

Life was monotonous.

Or perhaps, it was the calm before the storm.

They gathered for training, ate meals together, and shared laughter, but for now, they merely observed each other, waiting for an opportunity. No one made the first move.

*Whirr-whirr-whirr-whirr-whirr-whirr—*

*Crunch-crunch—*

"Hwaaaah..."

Meanwhile, Im Gaeul, after finishing her joint training and showering, was munching on snacks while slumped in a massage chair. With holographic videos playing before her, just a flick of her finger away, what else could this be but paradise?

"It feels like it's squeezing out every last bit of my soul— So refreshing—"

Her utterly blissful expression, melting into languor, seemed to show just how satisfied she was with the current situation.

Of course, it was undeniable that she looked like the quintessential slacker, a complete lost cause in anyone's eyes.

*Tap-tap-tap—*

After swiping through videos for a while, Im Gaeul's brow furrowed.

"Ugh— There's nothing to watch on these shorts lately. It's all just Hunters showing off their strength or telling stories. Or doing weird dances."

What's more, their quality wasn't high, nor were they interesting. Their appearances were all somewhat lacking. It was no surprise she felt no particular excitement, having seen her juniors, with their absurdly stunning looks, wielding terrifying powers every day.

"Hmmm..."

*Ding—!*

"Oh, a new video from the Utopia channel?"

The channel, 『Utopia』, created by Shin Sehee, starting from this mid-term evaluation.

Within days of its creation, it had surpassed 3 million subscribers, and was now a massive channel aiming for 4 million. Its popularity was spreading globally under the banner of a party of Korea's most promising rookie Hunters.

"Hmm, I think that intern who just joined suggested this, didn't she? Let's see—"

So far, there were only three videos uploaded to the channel. They were edited footage from when Sophia and Reina filmed during the mid-term evaluation.

The first video was Jin Yuha's fight with Rebecca.

The second was Lee Yuri's heroics.

The third was the conversation between Chairwoman Lina and Jin Yuha.

The public had always been curious about the true world of Hunters, but filming inside dungeons was impossible, so that aspect had been given up on until now. However, with videos that properly scratched that itch, it was only natural for the reaction to be explosive!

Nothing but praise for Jin Yuha and the Utopia Party.

Initially, malicious comments questioning whether it was manipulated footage to exaggerate Jin Yuha's skills held a significant share. However, soon after, official news broke that the AA-grade demon, Rebecca, had been rendered beyond recovery and imprisoned by the Hunter Management Bureau, causing those comments to be flooded with dislikes, deleted, and their posters to flee.

"What kind of video was uploaded today?"

A video that had just gone live.

Im Gaeul played the newly released video.

As always, the video began with Jin Yuha. And there was a black-haired woman who appeared to be an academy instructor.

The two of them, coordinating their movements, wielded their swords and instantly subdued a dozen or so demons. Their swordplay was like a dance, a truly magnificent sight.

As the video played, comments appeared in real-time beside it.

─ Wow... Can sword-wielding really be that beautiful? Jin Yuha is insane, seriously. The person fighting with her looks like an instructor, and she's not falling behind at all.

─ You're right! An academy instructor! Who was that jerk raising conspiracy theories last time? What, that demons snuck in without Chairwoman Lina knowing? There's an academy instructor right there!

┗ Lolololol, there was never any real danger to the students' lives from the start. They just created an extreme sense of crisis and then appeared when everything was supposedly over.

┗ 22222222222222 LOL seriously. As if the Demon Empress wouldn't have known. It's all just to make the kids stronger.

─ But today, Yuha-nim's beauty is crazy again. Waaaaah...

─ No, but why is the instructor so pretty too?

Next, the faces of the students watching them were shown. They wore expressions of relief, but every single one of them was not in a normal state. Their tired and wounded appearances from the long battle were clearly captured.

─ They said the Velvet Academy exam was like hell. It really is tough, seriously. Look at how injured the kids are.

─ Yeah, yeah. Honestly, the Utopia kids are amazing, but even these regular students work their butts off, bleeding and sweating to protect our safety on the front lines.

─ Poor things. I want to heal them...

That's when it happened.

*Thump. Thump.*

The camera, which had been showing the students, shifted, and with the sound of footsteps, long, slender legs stepped forward.

The camera slowly panned upwards.

And what filled the screen was a woman with flowing blonde hair and a slender figure.

With a calm expression, she raised a bow towards the sky. And without an arrow, she drew the bowstring taut.

*Vwooom—*

The bowstring was pulled taut. A brilliant golden aura took the form of an arrow at her fingertips.

*Fwooosh—*

The golden arrow shot into the air.

Then, a brilliant rain began to fall from the dark sky.

"Huh...?"

"Wh-what is this!?"

"M-my body's recovering...?"

"Recovering...? Is it healing? Is there a healer who can use this kind of healing...?"

The camera, which had been showing the bewildered faces of the students, once again zoomed in to fully capture the blonde girl's face.

A radiant, smiling face.

Along with piano sounds like falling raindrops, a subtitle appeared below.

"Utopia's Healer, [The Saintess] Sophia."

The moment her identity was revealed, comments began to flood in like crazy. So fast that an ordinary person's eyes couldn't keep up!

─ ???

─ ???

─ What?

─ A healer in Utopia...?

─ Wh-what!? The healer spot in Utopia was supposedly open, and the waiting list was full! I was even preparing my resume!

─ Who is she? I've memorized pretty much every freshman list, but I've never seen her!

─ ...Sophia unnie?

─ Unnie, why are you here...?

┗ You know her?

┗ Yeah, she's a monster rookie in the modeling world.

┗ If you're not interested in modeling, you might not know her, but among those who do, she's considered a rising star, the next-generation icon... And Sophia is suddenly in Utopia? Wow, I'm genuinely shocked.

─ A model... No wonder, her figure is insane.

─ This confirms it: the condition to join the Utopia Party is looks!!!

┗ Damn it. I guess there's no choice. I, Kwak Pilsun, will have to join the Utopia Party.

─ Waaaaah, noona... What will the modeling world do without you, noona...? Without you, it'll be ruined!! Come back!!!

┗ Hey, forget modeling or whatever. Her abilities are insane, aren't they? Long-range area heal? Dude, we just gotta let her go. Give up.

Sophia, it seemed, had been a promising model even before joining Utopia. Those who had known her earlier were surprised, but the mainstream reaction was that her demonstrated abilities were so impressive that it was unavoidable.

─ So, is Utopia a full party now?

┗ Right?

Party Leader & Sub-DPS – Jin Yuha.

Main DPS – Kang Dohee.

Tank – Lee Yuri.

Special Mage – Shin Sehee.

Healer – Sophia.

Supporter – Hmm, who was that again...?

┗ Oh, that second-year.

┗ Yeah, Im Gyeoul, the narrow-eyed mastermind? I think that was her name. The one with no presence.

┗ Oh, right. I completely forgot, lololol.

┗ It's only natural not to know. Masterminds never reveal their true identity.

*Snap—*

At that moment, the snack resting on Im Gaeul's lips snapped in two.

A wave of indignation.

She furiously typed.

─ It's not Im Gyeoul, it's Im Gaeul ^^? Ahaha... Wouldn't that child be sad if you mispronounced her name like that, especially when she's working so hard?

┗ Welcome, narrow-eyed mastermind.

┗ LOL seriously. You! Narrow-eyed mastermind! How thoroughly have you hidden your identity!!

┗ Honestly, isn't it true she has no presence? Even Gukbap has surged in popularity, but Im Gyeoul is still quiet.

┗ Narrow-eyed silence.

┗ That's just a quiet kid with small eyes, lololololol.

*Plop.*

'It's not Im Gyeoul! It's Im Gaeul—!!'

She wasn't even hiding her identity. She was diligently grinding away every single day, pushing herself to the limit to update her stats for the top-grade magic stones that Jin Yuha had offered as a condition.

Yet, people couldn't even properly remember her name.

Suddenly, a sense of crisis washed over Im Gaeul.

'Even if I concede Yuha-hoobae, Sehee-hoobae, and Dohee-hoobae...'

Those three originally lived in a different world, so it couldn't be helped. But Lee Yuri, who had shared her lack of recognition...

'Even Yuri-hoobae's recognition increased with this mid-term evaluation video...'

And just yesterday, her slowly rising recognition suddenly soared as if riding a wave.

「Utopia Prevents Hunter Crime.」

An article had been uploaded about Kim Hyeji finally facing consequences for the crimes she had committed!

─ Wow, that bitch is trash. 3000 criminal records? Crime is just her lifestyle?

─ Honestly, I think people like that should just be treated as demons.

─ The police and the Hunter Management Bureau just stood by, but Utopia solved it.

The incident, which had begun with praise for Utopia as always, shifted its focus to Lee Yuri as a behind-the-scenes story was revealed through a comment.

─ Hello. I'm someone who went to high school with Kim Hyeji and Lee Yuri...

The comment detailed how truly wicked Kim Hyeji was, and then offered a heartfelt confession: even though the commenter had stood by when Lee Yuri was bullied, Lee Yuri had later stepped in to protect them when Kim Hyeji tried to bully them.

Lee Yuri had a story that stirred people's hearts. How she had turned the tables on those who bullied her in high school. How she had persevered despite poverty to enroll in the world's best academy. And how she became the tank for a party called Utopia.

After all, stories of overcoming and conquering trials always ignite people's enthusiasm.

As everyone else gained fame one by one and built their image, Im Gaeul remained completely out of the loop.

Of course, she hadn't participated in Jin Yuha's mid-term evaluation. Their school years were different, so what could be done?

'Even the new juniors who just arrived are surging ahead... At this rate, I'll be the only one...'

─ I'm sorry, sunbae, I know this is hard to say, but you'll have to leave the Utopia Party now...

Jin Yuha's face, speaking to her with eyes mixed with half pity and half apology, flickered before her.

"No... No!!"

Im Gaeul flung away her snack and shot up from the massage chair.

And just as she was about to head straight for Jin Yuha's room, she paused.

It wasn't because she thought she should inform the group chat.

The current situation was urgent and critical enough as it was.

However, the reason she stopped was that Jin Yuha's figure caught her eye through the large window next to the spatial transfer device. And it was Jin Yuha with Sophia-hoobae!

"...Ho-hoobae?"

***

"Where are you going?"

"Ah, you startled me."

Sophia suddenly popped out of the bushes just as I was about to step outside, having received a call from Instructor Baek Seolhee.

'How did she know? I even used stealth steps to sneak out...'

I looked at Sophia with a startled expression.

She was holding a camera in one hand, looking very suspicious.

"...I have somewhere to go."

I replied with a reluctant expression.

"Where?"

"That's..."

That's when it happened.

"Ho-hoobae—!"

"...Gaeul-sunbae?"

"Me too, me too, I'm coming with youuuu!!!"

She cried out in a tearful voice.

"Don't abandon meeeee!!"