Breaking Up with the Heroine of the Female-Oriented Game - Chapter 136

Chapter 136

To You (1)

***

The next day, afternoon.
Inside Yoo Seolhyun’s reception room.

“……”

“……”

After discussing various things, Yoo Seolhyun and I decided to request the cooperation of Lee Siwoon, Kang Daehan, Roxanne, and others to catch(?) Soyeon.

But before that, we called Baek Yoorin a few hours earlier.

Because there was something I absolutely had to ask Baek Yoorin.

However.

“You’re… alive…?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Did you come back to life…? Or were you pretending to be dead…?”

“No, well, I was revived. Through a relic.”

“I see…?”

Baek Yoorin just stared at me with a blank look.

Despite hearing that I had died and come back to life, she seemed utterly indifferent.

Should I say she looked exactly the same as usual? A dry face, an indifferent expression, a bored tone of voice, and so on. It didn’t seem like a big deal to her.

No, what’s this?
I thought she’d be quite surprised.
The reaction is more lukewarm than I expected?

Baek Yoorin, you even saw my coffin being closed.
Why are you so nonchalant?

“You don’t seem very surprised?”

“…I am surprised though?”

Blinking her eyes for a moment, Baek Yoorin suddenly tilted her head side to side as she answered.

However, saying you’re surprised with an expressionless face is not convincing at all.

Anyone looking would think she’s saying “What’s for lunch today?” That’s about the level of expression she had.

“Anyway, it’s… fortunate that you’re alive again?”

“Ah, well, I guess so. Thanks.”

Seeing Baek Yoorin speak so calmly, I felt a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of my neck.

“By the way, Baek Yoorin.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Are you just believing what I say? That I came back to life?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Yoorin simply nodded up and down as if it was obvious, without adding any further words.

“No, it could be a lie. Didn’t you think I might be an impostor?”

“An impostor…?”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Then… it doesn’t matter, right?”

Baek Yoorin just calmly looked up at me with indifferent gray eyes and answered nonchalantly.

I was slightly taken aback by how Baek Yoorin was accepting this more calmly than I had expected.

If I were in Baek Yoorin’s position, I wouldn’t have been able to believe it easily.

After all, saying someone came back to life after a few months would sound like a joke.

In fact, when I first met Yoo Seolhyun, didn’t she look at me with very suspicious eyes?

So why is Baek Yoorin accepting the fact that I came back to life so simply?

“In the first place… inviting me to this mansion… means I’ve already been vouched for by Yoo Seolhyun, right…?”

“Ah, well, that’s true.”

“Given Yoo Seolhyun’s… personality… it’s obvious she would have thoroughly checked whether you’re real or not… Wouldn’t it be a waste of time for me to doubt you now…?”

“Hmm.”

That’s right.
It is right, but.
Humanly speaking, shouldn’t you be a bit more surprised?
Of course, she did say she was a little surprised earlier, but still.

“So what’s going on…? You said you had something important to say?”

At Baek Yoorin’s question, I shook my head and threw away useless thoughts.

The reason I called Baek Yoorin today is simple.

It was to clearly hear why she ended up fighting with Soyeon.

And above all, I needed to find out clearly about Baek Yoorin’s current situation.

To make plans for the future.

“I heard the news. Soyeon attacked you, right?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Yoorin quietly raised her head as if recalling that time.

“It seems she attacked you after finding out you were affiliated with Rebellion… is that right?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Yoorin nodded obediently.

I secretly let out a deep sigh.
As expected, it seems Soyeon saw my secret notebook.
Did she find out about all the Rebellion members I had written down in the notebook?

‘If that’s the case, wouldn’t he have been attacked too, not just Baek Yoorin?’

Because there’s one more Rebellion member hiding at Union Academy besides Baek Yoorin.

…That self-proclaimed hero maniac.

“Can you explain in detail what happened after that?”

“…Alright.”

Baek Yoorin nodded willingly and began to open her mouth.

“First, I corrected Jin Soyeon’s misunderstanding. That while I was affiliated with Rebellion, I had betrayed them and joined Lee Jinhyuk, your side now.”

“…Did Soyeon believe that?”

“No.”

Well, that’s obvious.

It wouldn’t be convincing to suddenly say you’re an ally in the middle of a fight.

“So I sold out one Rebellion member.”

“Who?”

“There was one guy who talked a lot. Kim Seohan.”

The hero maniac Kim Seohan.

He’s the one who broke the shield opening device during Union’s first performance evaluation, putting me, Soyeon, and the other kids in a difficult situation.

Until now, I deliberately didn’t touch him because it would have been unnecessary trouble.

“Jin Soyeon also seemed to know to some extent that he was a Rebellion member… Well, anyway, I tried to trap Kim Seohan together with Jin Soyeon…”

At this point, Baek Yoorin made a slightly regretful expression.

“…But we narrowly missed him.”

“Then your identity being exposed…”

“I did hide my face for now… but it seems she’s still suspicious of me…”

Twirling the ends of her purple hair, she continued speaking as if slightly troubled.

“Kim Seohan eventually quit the academy and disappeared due to Jin Soyeon’s continued attacks, but despite being attacked by Jin Soyeon, I’m not receiving any more attacks, so…”

“……”

“She might suspect that I’ve joined Jin Soyeon’s side… that I’ve betrayed Rebellion…”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

Well, because the reason Soyeon attacked you is probably because of my notebook.

“Well… anyway, because of that my position has become a bit difficult… It seems Yoo Dahee is also suspicious of me…”

“I see.”

“If it’s Yoo Dahee, she probably has evidence that I was active in Rebellion… like photos of me with other members… If she spreads that to the media or on the internet, I might get kicked out of my family…?”

Baek Yoorin seemed to be looking up at me with the same indifferent expression as usual, but I could tell her complexion was very slightly clouded.

“Ah, it’s not just about my family… I might get expelled from the academy too… and maybe even end up on the wanted list if things go wrong…”

Baek Yoorin, who had been quietly muttering to herself, eventually shrugged her shoulders lightly.

“…Well, I don’t really care though.”

Baek Yoorin saying she doesn’t care even if she gets kicked out of her family, expelled from the academy, and ends up on the wanted list.

It seems she’s not afraid of her daily life being ruined.

“I was somewhat prepared for this when I joined Rebellion, and it’s not wrong that I was active in a villainous organization.”

“……”

“And my family doesn’t really like me learning swordsmanship anyway… It was a shackle I had to break someday…”

“……”

Suddenly, Baek Yoorin rolled her gray eyes and stared intently at my face. My figure was reflected in her pale eyes.

Baek Yoorin took a step closer and spoke with a slightly raised voice.

“…I only need you.”

“Huh?”

Uh, what? Suddenly?

I blinked my eyes as if a bit bewildered by her words.

Just as I was wondering what she meant by saying such a thing, Baek Yoorin began to add more.

“I’ve already memorized all the swordsmanship, forms, and techniques you taught me… I made quite a lot of progress, more than I expected… When I thought you were dead, I wondered what I would do from now on… But you came back alive like this, right…? Then…”

Baek Yoorin paused for a beat and moved her lips again.

“…You have to keep your promise, right? The promise to teach me swordsmanship suitable for me to reach the realm…”

“You’re still the same.”

Ah, what was I thinking.
You made me unnecessarily surprised by suddenly saying you only need me.

Well, this is like Baek Yoorin.
Looking at it this way, I could freshly feel how obsessed Baek Yoorin is with swords.

Even if she gives up everything else, she’s fine as long as she has a sword, huh…

Well, the reason she joined Rebellion in the first place was to break through the realm she had been stuck at for a long time.

“…Well, I came prepared for that. The next sword technique and form.”

I took out a notebook I had kept in my pocket.

I barely got any sleep last night trying to recall memories related to the Self-Reflection Sword Revision that appeared in the IF novel.

“Oh.”

Baek Yoorin let out a short exclamation.

Somehow her eyes seemed a bit wider than usual.

Her expression of looking bored with everything in the world hadn’t changed, but her cheeks seemed slightly flushed.

Hey, you, you seem happier than when you realized I was alive?

“Come to think of it, you said you made progress, right? How much?”

“…Hmm. About the highest rank?”

“Already?”

“…Yeah. It’s all thanks to you.”

Even though it’s the end of the first year, to already be at the highest rank level.

As expected, Baek Yoorin is Baek Yoorin.

I only taught her a few sword-related settings that appeared in the IF novel, but she’s growing well on her own.

“Anyway, what are you planning to do from now on?”

“Me? Well… It depends on what Yoo Dahee does, right…? If she thinks I’m a traitor and spreads the information, I’ll have no choice but to quit the academy and hide for a while.”

“…Then how about this.”

I looked straight at Baek Yoorin and said:

“Would you consider being my bodyguard?”

“…Bodyguard?”

“Yeah. I’ll give you a generous compensation. If you end up cutting ties with your family, you might be short on money.”

“…Money, huh. Well, I think I could find money somehow.”

Right, I’m sure you could.
With skills comparable to the highest rank at your age, anyone would want to take you.
But if it’s revealed that you were part of a villainous organization, you’ll only be able to get jobs at illegal places.

In that case, it’s better for me to keep you with me.

I’ve been needing a bodyguard anyway.

Also, as long as I’m giving Baek Yoorin information related to swordsmanship, she will never betray me.

Even if it’s just until we take down Yoo Dahee, I needed to maintain a positive relationship with Baek Yoorin.

Because the current Baek Yoorin can be considered a very powerful force.

“…Guard, guard, hmm.”

Baek Yoorin showed signs of contemplating for a moment.

“…If things really go wrong and it becomes known that I was affiliated with Rebellion, wouldn’t I just be a burden to you?”

“There are many ways to hide your identity, so don’t worry about it.”

“Really? Then… I might take you up on that offer later if things go wrong.”

Knock knock.

Just then.

“May I come in?”

A familiar voice rang out clearly from beyond the reception room door.

It was a voice that gave the impression of being soft like sheep’s wool and warm like sunlight. Ah, it’s been quite a while since I heard this voice. It seems Roxanne has arrived.

“Is it that time already?”

“Come to think of it… you said you invited the others too…?”

While chatting about this and that with Baek Yoorin, it seems the arrival time for Lee Siwoon, Kang Daehan, and Roxanne has already come.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

The reception room door opened with a click.

Beyond the luxurious door, handsome and beautiful men and women came into view.

It was Lee Siwoon, Kang Daehan, and Roxanne.

It’s actually a bit nice to see them after such a long time.

“Seolhyun, are you here? What’s the occasion for inviting us like this today…? Ah?”

“Huh? No, you’re…?”

“W-what’s going on?”

The three people whose eyes met mine flinched for a moment.

“Long time no see, everyone.”

“Y-you are…?”

Roxanne, whose eyes were wide open as if quite bewildered.

Her expression seemed to be a mix of confusion, bewilderment, surprise, and so on.

The shaking of Roxanne’s pupils, as if an earthquake had occurred, was vivid.

“Have you been well?”

I deliberately just greeted them casually, waving my hand naturally like when I first reunited with Yoo Seolhyun.

“…J-Jinhyuk?”

Hey, Baek Yoorin, look at that.
That’s what a normal reaction looks like.
When someone you thought was dead is alive and well and greeting you, shouldn’t you be at least this surprised as a matter of courtesy?

End of Chapter