94) Chapter 15. ……It Was Warm (7)

If I think about it logically, I shouldn’t step forward.

I’m just a minor, after all.

Regardless of whatever “mental age” I might claim, there’s no way to prove that in this world.

A minor, and currently just a civilian—if I recklessly jump in, I’ll only get in the way of the teachers and instructors who are the actual professionals.

And we don’t even know what’s happening yet.

“What do we do? Did someone get hurt?”

Soi asked.

“Maybe. A mountain is still a mountain. It’s not tall, but there are places steep enough to call cliffs, and some slopes are sharp. If someone rushed, they could slip.”

Hyeonji answered.

Right. Logically, that’s the most reasonable explanation. People scream on mountains when they run into wild animals, slip, or fall.

I heard there aren’t any large wild animals on this mountain. Not because it’s managed, but because the academy’s mountain rises abruptly in the middle of farmland and villages. For a wild animal to get here, it would have to come from far outside, and it would be obvious.

There’s no way the academy would bring students here without checking that.

So maybe someone just fell.

If it’s just a fall—

“…….”

I stopped mid‑thought.

Just a fall… so what?

Was I hoping it was just a fall?

We don’t know how badly they might be hurt. Even if the academy always has teachers who can heal students, someone getting seriously injured is never a good thing. And judging by how loud that scream was, it wasn’t a light stumble.

“Should we go help?”

Soi asked again.

The kids all looked at me.

As if I were the leader of this group.

Other groups might have chosen a leader. Maybe they even competed for it, thinking it would give extra points.

But we didn’t.

For some reason, the kids just naturally gathered around me from the start.

“I…”

I don’t want to go.

What if it really is a villain?

I’m still learning how to use my ability. I’ve learned a lot through sparring with classmates.

And like I said, if teachers and instructors are already handling it, me interfering could make things worse.

And the fact that the kids gathered around me was also a problem. If I move, they won’t let me go alone.

If it were just me in danger, maybe. But I can’t drag the others into danger.

“……We…”

But even as I thought that—

Why do I keep worrying? Why do I keep thinking we should go help?

It was probably guilt.

Because I didn’t say everything. Because I didn’t lower myself and tell them the truth. Because of that, the teachers and instructors couldn’t prepare a perfect solution.

And if someone got seriously hurt because of that—

“…….”

My eyes met Hyeonji’s.

Whenever I thought of her father, a thought often came to mind.

Maybe it happened because I didn’t read the novel carefully enough.

A heroine with a past like mine would definitely have talked about her mother. Even if it was resolved before the main story, it would’ve made a perfect side episode.

But I didn’t know it.

Maybe it was because I didn’t want to see scenes with Seo Rua.

Maybe I skipped them because I didn’t want to see a “non‑virgin heroine,” because I hated that kind of setting in a harem story, because I scrolled past every time her name appeared.

Maybe the answer to the character’s past was right there. Maybe if I had known, Hyeonji’s father wouldn’t have ended up like that.

“……We…”

I don’t want that to happen again.

But I also don’t want to put these kids in danger.

And I hate myself for being so indecisive that I can’t choose anything even now.

But someone answered in my place.

“Alright, let’s go then?”

It was Soi.

She nodded once, then turned her body.

“H‑hey, Soi?”

I said in surprise, and she looked back at me with a small smile.

“You want to go help, right? Then we should go.”

“Ah.”

No.

This isn’t good.

Soi getting hurt would be terrible. Because I owe her too much.

Soi gave me a family.

Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun are good people. They raised me like their real daughter even though we share no blood.

But the reason I could truly be happy in that house was because of Soi.

If the person who would be with me the longest, who would see me the most, had hated me, that house would’ve been hell.

“I know that face. That’s the face you make when you’re worried about me. You’re scared I’ll get hurt because I said we should go. Right? It’s obvious. We’ve lived together for years.”

“I can see it too.”

Chae‑yi cut in, lips jutting out.

“I’ve known you since we were super little.”

“You didn’t grow up in the same house. And there was a long time you didn’t see each other properly.”

“…….”

Chae‑yi looked like she had a lot to say, but she shut her mouth.

“And if someone needs help, we should help.”

Hyeonji, who had been quietly listening, spoke.

“If someone hurt their leg on a mountain, they might not be able to go up or down. Even if teachers and instructors are around, we might be closer.”

“Ah, uh, I… I think so too…”

Jinwoo said, looking conflicted, as if unsure whether she was allowed to voice her opinion.

Maybe she thought that since she couldn’t keep up with us physically, helping someone would be even harder.

“Alright, then let’s go.”

Soi said, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward.

I was dragged helplessly.

Ah, it’s happening again.

Even though I know everything, even though I think I should act on my own—

I leaned on Soi again.

What was I even bragging about in front of Jinwoo earlier?

*

Should I call it a relief, or simply the expected outcome?

By the time we arrived, teachers and other students were already gathered around a child.

It wasn’t a sheer cliff, but it was a steep enough slope that rolling down would be dangerous.

Thankfully, the child wasn’t injured badly enough to lose consciousness.

“Ugh!?”

But their ankle was twisted in a very wrong direction.

Soi and Chae‑yi gasped, and Hyeonji turned her gaze slightly away.

There wasn’t visible blood, so it wasn’t gruesome, but it wasn’t easy to look at either.

As for the child’s name… honestly, I didn’t know. I recognized most of my classmates’ faces, but I hadn’t memorized all their names. And they were wearing gym clothes, so there was no name tag.

Even if there had been a name tag, even if I had memorized it, I still wouldn’t have known this child would get hurt.

In the original story, side characters didn’t have names. Even when they died or got injured, it was just “a classmate died,” and the protagonist suffered.

That was why the teachers wouldn’t have believed me even if I had tried to warn them.

“Ah, Rua.”

Among the teachers surrounding the child was the principal.

“W‑we heard something happened…”

“That child’s foot—”

The principal began to explain with a wry smile—

“N‑no! That’s not it!”

The child cried out urgently.

“Something was there! Something grabbed my leg!”

Even while crying from pain, the child insisted.

The other students tilted their heads, as if they hadn’t seen anything.

The teachers exchanged puzzled looks.

They must have already searched the area. Maybe they had been watching from above.

“I see.”

But the principal didn’t dismiss the claim.

Her gaze lingered on me for a moment before she looked down at the child again.

“You didn’t actually see a hand, right?”

“Uh, well, no, but…”

A strange atmosphere spread among the students.

Faces that clearly didn’t believe it.

Of course. It sounded like an excuse someone would make after falling and feeling embarrassed.

“Then tell me in more detail what it felt like.”

At the principal’s words, the certainty drained from the child’s face.

With everyone staring, they must have wondered if they really imagined it.

“…….”

But the moment I heard it—

I knew.

A villain did this.

Because in the original story, it was described the same way.

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Pub: 01 May 2026 09:55 UTC

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