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

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Observation

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Chairwoman Lina clutched her head, a growing sense of déjà vu intensifying lately.

"Whew... It's happening again."

Normally, she would have dismissed such a feeling of déjà vu as just a random sensation and moved on.

However, the experience of having once broken free from déjà vu kept making this current sensation irritating.

'No matter what I do, it feels like I've done it before, and this sense of repetition won't fade.'

She poured the strong vodka next to her into a glass and gulped it down.

But her body, brimming with pure mana, didn't even register it, like a single drop of ink dissolved in the ocean.

Chairwoman Lina glared at the document on her desk.

"Incident Report: Student Choi Aram's Demonization and Resolution"

A document detailing why one of the students underwent demonization and how the resolution process unfolded.

She had skillfully ordered an investigation into the package delivered to Student Choi Aram,

and in doing so, successfully found traces of a demon seed.

As a countermeasure, she reinforced item inspections and installed additional demonic energy surveillance arrays.

Yes, it was a tremendous relief that it concluded with just this one incident report.

However, her eyes couldn't leave a certain name at the very top of that report.

Jin Yuha

"...I don't know why, but whenever I'm with that fellow, the feeling is strangely different..."

She wasn't quite sure how it was different yet, but a distinctly different sensation always arose when she spoke with him or when he was in her presence.

'Should I call him here?'

The thought briefly crossed her mind, but she quickly shook her head.

No matter what, it wouldn't look good for her, the Chairwoman of the Academy, to keep summoning a single student.

'And who knows what that impertinent jackal will demand next.'

That brazen fellow, who, with his slick face, had asked for her help unconditionally just once, claiming he had dealt with the demon.

Recalling his impudent face, a sudden surge of indignation welled up within her.

'Wasn't taking five spatial pockets enough?! Do you know how much each of those costs?!'

Then, her gaze fell upon the desk calendar lying nearby.

"Now that I think about it, today's Seolhee's major class, isn't it?"

Pshhh—

She first lowered the height of her chair, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she sprang up from her seat.

"Hmm, I should probably check in on Seolhee's class at least once. She is my personal secretary, after all."

Muttering such excuses to herself, Chairwoman Lina embarked on an academy patrol for the first time in a while.

* * *

'Hmm, is this the place...?'

Training Ground C.

It was a training ground enclosed by high walls on all sides, with security measures in place to prevent external access.

Originally, this place was used by Baek Seolhee when she practiced her sword alone.

'It might interfere with their training, so I should cast a perception-dampening spell before entering.'

Lina drew a small magic circle with her fingertip.

Then, a grayish mana enveloped her body.

Swish—

And then, using Blink, she phased through the wall and entered the training ground.

SWISHHHHHH—!

The moment she stepped into the training ground, Lina's eyes widened involuntarily.

A sharp sound, like wind being sliced, pierced her ears.

Baek Seolhee was unleashing a savage sword strike towards Jin Yuha.

'...W-wait a minute!?'

It had been a while since Lina had seen Baek Seolhee's sword, but no matter how she looked at it, that was not a strike a master should aim at a student.

CLANG—!

Jin Yuha gritted his teeth and parried the blow, then kicked up sand from the ground with his foot.

Whoosh—!

Immediately after, a sharp thrust pierced through the rising sand.

Jin Yuha, wielding his sword as if to kill his opponent, like an archenemy.

This, too, was not a sword strike a student should aim at a master.

'A-and... w-what is this killing intent...?'

Lina gulped, overwhelmed by the dense killing intent permeating the air.

Surely, today was only their second class, wasn't it?

Could Jin Yuha have turned into a demon or something?

The Chairwoman looked between the two with a flustered expression, but they simply continued exchanging sword blows.

"That sword is still beyond you."

"...Haa. I haven't formally learned swordsmanship yet, so I'm just using what I picked up by observing."

"...By observing?"

SWISHHH!

Clink!

Clink!

CLANG!

Swords clashed, producing clear, ringing metallic sounds.

Eventually,

SWISHHH!

Halt.

Baek Seolhee's sword stopped at Jin Yuha's neck.

"You died again just now."

At that, Jin Yuha let his sword drop from his hand and grumbled.

"You said you'd only defend, Instructor..."

"Attack is always the best defense."

"..."

"Let's take a short break."

"Ah, Instructor, here. For you."

"Mm."

Jin Yuha pulled out a towel and a bottle of cold water from his spatial tattoo and offered them to Baek Seolhee. Baek Seolhee accepted them as if it were nothing.

By all appearances, a harmonious master-student relationship.

Their attitudes were so amicable, it was hard to believe these were the same individuals who had been trying to kill each other with swords just moments ago.

Lina stared at them with a bewildered expression.

'What in the world... What is Seolhee trying to create...?'

As the Velvet Hunter Academy was under her management, Lina knew what the appropriate level for first-year students was.

However, this class was far, far beyond a student's level.

"No... More importantly, wasn't this class supposed to be an introductory swordsmanship major...?"

The words slipped out of Lina's mouth before she could stop herself, unable to contain her bewilderment.

At the same instant, Baek Seolhee's eyes sharpened.

SWISHHHHHHHHH—!

Baek Seolhee immediately drew her sword and unleashed a sword aura.

The Chairwoman recoiled in alarm, extending her palm forward.

CRACK—!

Then, the sword aura shattered before her.

"It's me, it's me! Seolhee! It's me!"

The Chairwoman revealed herself, flustered. At that, Baek Seolhee relaxed her expression and sheathed her sword.

"Chairwoman? My apologies, I wasn't aware."

Baek Seolhee bowed her head and spoke, but Lina couldn't shake the feeling that Seolhee had known all along.

"Chairwoman...?"

Jin Yuha turned his head, his face surprised.

Lina felt a needless sense of awkwardness and cleared her throat.

"Ahem, y-yes. I just came to observe for a bit."

"...Observe?"

"Mm. Seolhee is my direct subordinate, after all. I was just curious what kind of class she was teaching."

"Ah..."

Jin Yuha nodded.

"So, how... are you, a-alright?"

After witnessing the class just now, Lina's initial indignation towards Jin Yuha had completely vanished, and she asked him with a worried voice.

"Pardon?"

At Lina's question, Jin Yuha tilted his head with an unperturbed expression.

"No, I mean, is the class manageable? Like, isn't it too intense, or too difficult...?"

"Yes, well. Although it's a bit challenging, thanks to the Instructor's very kind guidance."

At his words, Lina's brow furrowed.

Kind?

Had she misunderstood the meaning of the word?

Where in the world was the kindness in what just happened?

What was even more astounding was Baek Seolhee, who even nodded slightly with a satisfied smile at his words.

Lina initially thought Seolhee had gone berserk.

That she had gotten overexcited about taking on her first student and gone too far.

But she was wrong.

'These two... They're both out of their minds.'

Both master and student were going wild.

Moreover, since it was a class held in a confined space with only the two of them, she couldn't even gauge the reactions of others.

Just then,

the Chairwoman suddenly realized.

The strange sense of déjà vu that had been bothering her was no longer present.

Lina promptly sat down.

Baek Seolhee and Jin Yuha furrowed their brows, looking at her.

"..."

"..."

"Ahem! Would it be alright if I observed the class for the rest of the day?"

"Well, I don't mind, but..."

Jin Yuha said so, then cast a lingering glance towards Baek Seolhee.

"It would be a hindrance."

Baek Seolhee replied with a clearly displeased expression.

"...I'll just watch quietly and then leave."

"It's problematic."

'This iron wall!'

Lina, who had been huffing at Baek Seolhee's stubborn refusal, suddenly thought of the incident report she had been working on earlier.

"Ah, right! I came to gather the necessary data for the incident report!"

"...Incident report, you say?"

"Yes, I need to write about Jin Yuha's abilities."

"...Those Hunter Management Bureau bastards. We definitely sent them the data..."

Grind—

The chilling sound of teeth grinding.

In that instant, Lina was terrified.

If she didn't stop Seolhee here, some of those Hunter Management Bureau guys wouldn't be showing up for work tomorrow.

And all the responsibility would fall on her.

"I-I'll give them a stern talking-to! Calm down, calm down! I'll just confirm a few things and then leave, so please continue your class!"

Lina urgently tried to calm Baek Seolhee.

"Haa, alright."

And so, with Chairwoman Lina observing,

Jin Yuha and Baek Seolhee's class continued.

"Student Jin Yuha."

"Yes, Instructor."

"You asked to be taught grappling, didn't you?"

"Yep."

At that, Baek Seolhee touched her lips, organizing her thoughts for a moment, then spoke.

"Hmph, with swordsmanship, we can ensure safety even when going all out... but with martial arts, controlling strength might be difficult."

"Uh... Then how...?"

"So, it would be best to teach it slowly, with segmented movements, systematically from the basics. Would that be acceptable?"

"Ah, great. Please do that."

"Then, I'll start by showing you the basic posture."

Baek Seolhee lay down on the floor, looking up at the sky, and Jin Yuha knelt beside her.

"In that position, try to pin my body down with your upper body."

Jin Yuha slowly leaned forward, covering Baek Seolhee's body.

"First, I'll teach you how to escape when you're restrained like this."

Baek Seolhee said in a blunt voice.

"First, lift your hips to make a bridge."

Baek Seolhee arched her lower back.

"And then, the technique where you shift your hips immediately to the side to escape. This is called a 'shrimp escape.'"

With that, Baek Seolhee smoothly slipped out of Jin Yuha's hold.

"This time, let's switch roles."

"Yep!"

.

.

.

"A little more. Pull your waist in tight. Put strength into your lower body."

"...Yep!"

"Use your hips properly."

"...Yes!"

"You're pressing down as if stamping. Really press down firmly."

'W-what in the world?!'

Chairwoman Lina sat in the corner, eyes wide, swallowing hard as she watched their training.

'I-is this really okay...? Is this content suitable for a class between people of different genders...?'

Jin Yuha and Baek Seolhee practiced various techniques with consistently serious expressions.

However, since they were teaching the basics of Jiu-Jitsu, their movements weren't particularly intense, and everything was done slowly, in segmented steps.

Because of this, there were many times when it just looked like they were simply embracing each other.

'Is this class truly acceptable...?'

With the handsome male student and the cool yet elegant Baek Seolhee, sweating profusely and their faces close together like that...

She even felt a strange sense of impropriety.

'No... More importantly, wasn't this class supposed to be an introductory swordsmanship major...?'

Chairwoman Lina continued to ask herself questions that no one would answer.