Breaking Up With the Heroine in an Otome Game

60 – Villain Appearance (4)

060.

“Jinhyuk, do you have something to say?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s nothing. Don’t mind me.”

“…?”

Sensing something strange in my gaze, which was staring absentmindedly, Lee Siwoon tilted his head slightly and threw a question.

As a tiny question mark floated above Lee Siwoon’s head, I shook my head with a few fake coughs, trying to shake off my distraction.

Enough with useless thoughts; let’s think more rationally.

We can’t just leave Lee Siwoon and run away foolishly, especially in a situation like this.

“In this kind of situation, it’s more dangerous to act separately, right?”

Because if I had been wandering around separately from Lee Siwoon and encountered Yoo Dahee or a powerful villain, what would have happened?

hahahaha, that’s something.

Just thinking about it gives me a damn headache.

Unless you’re incredibly unlucky, such things don’t happen, but as you know, I was quite an unlucky person.

Misfortune, indeed.

“It’s not me who left Isiwoon alone and now has to face Yudahee all by herself.”

Yudahee might not commit murder, but with that sly smile, she’ll thoroughly ruin Isiwoon.

No more heroics for me.

“I really need Isiwoon for the future.”

Isiwoon has been growing steadily, and there’s an obligation (?) for him to take down countless villains with Soyeon in my place.

Yeah, no point in hiding anything.

Get on the bus, catch the bus.

I can’t afford to lose Isiwoon so pathetically.

Especially considering the events that will unfold in the future.

“Well, I’ve prepared for times like this. If I endure with Isiwoon, somehow things will work out.”

What have I prepared?

Hong Daye, the High Ranker Hong Daye, that’s what I’m talking about.

The decisive reason I risked my life during the performance assessment and defeated the Black Hand Long-Armed Monkey with the kids was because of Hong Daye.

It was to ask for Hong Daye’s help when the incident occurred at the academy.

Originally, due to the combined attack of the Minotaur and the Black Hand Long-Armed Monkey, Hong Daye would have suffered significant injuries and spent a long time in the hospital.

But thanks to our help, Hong Daye could continue her instructor life without major injuries.

Hong Daye was considered a formidable opponent, even as a former 10th candidate. As a member of Rebellion now, she wouldn’t be an easy adversary.

“To take out the phone, I have to use the space ring. Oh, of course, I could secretly take it out when Isiwoon isn’t looking, but considering the situation, I’ll have to bring out and use other items as well. Maybe it’s better to reveal it first?”

After organizing my thoughts alone, I discreetly created a crack in the air and pulled out a satellite phone from it.

Isiwoon’s pupils trembled slightly.

Out of nowhere, a crack in the air opened, and something like a satellite phone fell into my hand.

“Jinhyuk, what’s that?”

“My psychic ability. I tried to keep it quiet, but the situation doesn’t allow for it right now.”

“…I see.”

Isiwoon slowly nodded without asking any further questions.

Whether he believes me or just chooses not to dig deeper, well, who knows.

I hurriedly called Hong Daye.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Lee Jinhyuk.”

“Oh. But are you at the test site right now? How can you make a call…”

“I took a villain’s phone! But that’s not important right now!”

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

I deliberately acted as if I were in a hurry.

Since she was also an exam supervisor, it seemed like she roughly knew the situation, as she quickly agreed.

“We’re with the kids right now, and they’re all badly injured! Please help us, teacher!”

“…Where are you?”

“B-1 area! Quickly, before more villains come!”

“Okay, got it. Oh, and if you happen to encounter a girl with white hair and a big guy, don’t resist forcefully, just stall for time until Hong Daye arrives, understand?”

White hair would be Yudahee, and the big guy must be Crusher Ryan Jones? It would be nice if they didn’t run into each other until Hong Daye showed up.

“Yes, teacher!”

With the answer, I hung up the phone.

I didn’t disclose the exact location of the B-1 area, but someone like Hong Daye, with her skills, could roughly determine the general location just by being in the same area.

“Well then… Hey, Kim Yuseong, wake up. Hey.”

I slapped the cheek of Kim Yuseong, who was dozing off(?) without even knowing how the world was turning a bit away.

In the current situation, Kim Yuseong was also one of the precious forces.

I didn’t want to leave him sleeping like this.

“Uh, huh, what?”

“Hey, Kim Yuseong, wake up.”

“You, you’re Lee Jinhyuk…? Ah, uh, …Huh?!”

His eyes, which were confused a moment ago, regained vitality, and Kim Yuseong, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly stood up and scolded me.

Perhaps it was because he had taken a beating from my trap earlier, he looked a bit feverish.

“This, this guy! You won’t just stand still…!”

“Calm down, Kim Yuseong.”

“I-Ishyun? Why are you here?”

At that moment.

Ishyun intervened.

“It’s a critical situation right now. I’ll summarize it briefly, so pay attention.”

“Uh, uh…?”

I and Lee Siwoon forcibly woke up the two unconscious trainees, including Kim Yuseong, and briefly explained the current situation.

The children blinked their eyes in momentary confusion.

The sudden mention of an attack by villains seemed quite perplexing.

But when they saw the three villains lying defeated, they seemed to reluctantly accept the current situation.

“Villains attacking the exam venue? What on earth…”

“Well, what should we do? Shouldn’t we wait until the security agents arrive?”

“Still, since Siwoon is here, it should be okay. Look at those villains lying there. Siwoon took them down.”

The three children each showed different reactions.

The abrupt real-life situation made them uneasy, confused, and anxious.

Well, it’s understandable.

No matter how much they aspire to be heroes, they were still just trainees.

Moreover, they had never experienced a real-life situation, so it would be even more unsettling.

But you know what?

Shouldn’t we try to find Soyeon?

I feel a bit guilty, but I get really nervous alone, so I’d rather search with you guys if possible.

“Siwoon.”

“Why, Jinhyuk?”

“I saw Soyeon somewhere a little away before I fought with you.”

Of course, it was a lie.

Soyeon didn’t even see a shadow.

“She might be alone now. Want to look for her together?”

“…”

However, as a pure-hearted man, Siwoon, who has a crush on Soyeon, couldn’t ignore these words.

“Where is she?”

“I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but with this, we can roughly figure it out.”

I took out a portable radar and showed it to them.

As a product of magic, it was quite an expensive item.

It could detect the locations of people within a radius of several kilometers.

Of course, it was impossible to distinguish who was who, so if luck didn’t favor us, we could encounter villains.

That’s why I felt a bit overwhelmed alone and needed the help of Lee Siwoon and the other kids.

“Yeah, got it. Let’s search together.”

“Sure, what about you guys? Will you stay here or come with us?”

“Uh, well…”

Kim Yuseong seemed to ponder for a moment, scratching his chin and pursing his lips in thought.

After a while, Kim Yuseong raised his head, alternately looking at me and Siwoon. Then, he slowly nodded, expressing a positive intention.

“Ha… If it’s Soyeon, I’ve received a lot of help from her before… Well, I’ll go too.”

“Yuseong…”

“We can’t just wait here like scared rabbits. And you said you fought villains here? It must have been quite noisy. It’s dangerous to stay here.”

“Oh, um, right.”

The kids nodded as if understanding.

“Well, then, we’ll go with you.”

“Sure.”

Even though those two might not be much help, the more people, the safer, as it was a universal rule.

It’s not like herbivores gathering for no reason.

Unless they were really dangerous villains, they wouldn’t mess with a large group.

“Don’t worry too much. We contacted Instructor Hong Daye that we’re in B-1 area. As long as we don’t leave this area, she’ll come find us soon.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah.”

So, the five of us quickly moved to another location.

Since we informed Instructor Hong Daye about being in B-1 area, we couldn’t move too far.

I discreetly summoned the Crow Bow and Vigilante’s Sword from the spatial storage while the kids weren’t looking.

Given the circumstances, I had to give it my all.

I might have to answer for it later, but let’s worry about that another day.

Right now, securing Soyeon’s safety is the priority.

***

A certain plaza in B-1 area.

“Phew, phew… Roxanne, can you still hold on…?”

Jin Soyeon gasped for breath intermittently, quietly wiping away the blood droplets flowing down her collarbone.

Although she held her sword upright, the accumulated fatigue from the prolonged struggle weighed heavily on her.

My arms, they won’t move properly…

Her once beautifully cascading hair, spread out like a waterfall, now clung to her with dirt and blood.

From the tips of her hair, blood droplets fell silently to the ground.

What about the state of her clothes?

Her usually neat uniform was in shambles, the outer coat and shirt half torn, revealing a shyly exposed bra strap along her shoulder line. The lower hem of her protective inner pants had been scratched as if by the claws of a beast.

It was truly a sight to behold.

“Uh…huff, huff, I’m okay, but… others…”

In Jin Soyeon’s eyes, Roxanne didn’t seem fine at all.

Roxanne, too, had her elegant attire in disarray, but the damages were more severe.

The sizable pouch of stamina potions constantly jostling up and down indicated that she was reaching her physical limits.

“No more… reinforcements…”

From Noble mtl dot com

“Yes… huff, probably… seems like that.”

Originally, around ten trainees and safety officers had gathered to move together, but due to the unexpected attack by criminals with unusual skills, people were rolling on the dirt floor with injuries, big and small.

The criminals who had carried out the surprise attack were covering their faces with strange masks, and their movements were far from ordinary.

They were nothing like the third-rate criminals encountered earlier; those had fallen easily to the safety officers. These criminals were exceptionally powerful, nearly bringing down all the former pro-safety officers.

“…Can’t hold on any longer. This is bad. What do we do now?”

Even though they were only a handful of criminals, they had nearly defeated everyone. Although one of them had been neutralized by Jin Soyeon and her team, the situation remained dire.

“These guys are almost at the level of mid-tier heroes. With my current skills, what can I do?”

Jin Soyeon bit her lower lip slightly.

A drop of blood trickled down from between her lips.

There were only five people left who could fight. If Jin Soyeon, who was in charge of the front, were to fall, the others behind would be in danger.

She couldn’t afford to be defeated.

If Jin Soyeon fell, what would happen to the rest?

“Is there no way? Is there no sharp move we can make…”

No matter how much I ponder, a good idea doesn’t come to mind.

Really, is there truly no solution?

Is this the end?

For real?

“…If it were Jinho, he would have surely come up with a good plan.”

Jinho’s leadership and strategic planning skills were remarkably excellent.

If he were here, we wouldn’t have ended up in this situation in the first place.

The reason we ended up like this was not only due to differences in skill but also the absence of a clear hierarchical structure.

“I shouldn’t be thinking about wanting to see Jinho for no reason. But…”

In situations like this, he felt reliable.

Jinho’s calm gaze, warm touch, and encouraging voice had always been a source of strength for Jisoyeon.

Back at the academy, when Jisoyeon trembled like a coward facing monsters, it was Jinho who woke her up.

He never gave up on the fight against the black-handed long-armed ape, which she thought was impossible to win, and ultimately defeated it.

He was always the guiding light, shining on her from the darkness.

Several times when she was in danger, he appeared like a comet to rescue her from peril. Though she couldn’t say it directly, he had always been her hero, even from childhood.

Originally, the decisive reason why Jisoyeon helped people was because of Jinho.

“…Ah, if I knew it would be like this, I should have at least apologized.”

I’m sorry for not realizing that you liked me and for asking for a fake relationship.

I’m truly sorry for causing you only pain and for you silently enduring it. It’s really embarrassing.

“Jinho…”

Quietly calling his name, she was about to slowly let go of the thread of hope.

Whoosh.

Something fell among the villains.

It looks a bit like a grenade.

Huh? A grenade? Wait, what?

Suddenly, Kwaah!

“…!”

“…Ugh?!”

A powerful explosion and a bright flash robbed people of their sight and hearing for a moment.

What, what is it? A flashbang?

Jin So-yeon was taken aback. Who on earth threw a flashbang?

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Immediately, arrows and various spells rained down from beyond the bushes towards the villains.

Even in a state where their hearing and vision were impaired, the villains instinctively dodged arrows and spells.

However, children like Lee Si-woon, Lee Jung-hoon, Han Dong-won, and others leaped out like rays of light and ambushed the villains.

Yet, one person failed to dodge properly and ended up with Si-woon’s sword cutting into their shoulder.

The villains retreated to regroup from a distance.

“Ah, damn. They almost avoided it all. Even with the help of Han Dong-won’s acceleration ability and Yun Sang-yeon’s ability to nullify perception.”

“J-Jin-hyuk?”

In the bushes, there was a man slowly revealing himself, tightly gripping a black bow. It was none other than Lee Jin-hyuk.

W-Well, I never thought he would really appear at this timing.

While Jin So-yeon was surprised, more people started emerging from the bushes.

They were quite a number of trainees.

Lee Jin-hyuk, Lee Si-woon, Han Dong-won, Yuriya, Lee Jung-hoon, Kim Yoo-sung, and so on…

Roughly more than twenty people seemed to be there.

They were all kids who, while using a radar to meticulously search the surroundings for Jin So-yeon, happened to join in the middle.

“So-yeon, are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah. I-I’m fine. Thanks…”

“I’ll lend you my outer jacket. Put it on.”

“Huh? Uh, sure?”

Outer jacket…?

Jin So-yeon tilted her head slightly and soon realized her own situation.

Ah, right.

Her clothes were a mess, really!

Due to being torn here and there, there was quite a bit of exposure. Jin So-yeon blushed for a moment and accepted the outer jacket without hesitation.

Looking at it now, the chest part of her shirt was also quite torn, exposing her bra clearly.

Ah, h-how embarrassing…

While Jin So-yeon shyly felt embarrassed, Lee Jin-hyuk hesitated for a moment. If I give this, will Si-woon look at me unfavorably?

No, it’s not a big deal to give her an outer jacket when her childhood friend’s clothes are torn. Right?

“…So-yeon.”

“Siwoon, you’re here too.”

I Siwoon glanced at Jinsuyeon’s condition.

So far, it seemed like she had been through quite a bit, as she was covered in wounds here and there.

Unconsciously, Siwoon’s grip on Jinsuyeon’s arm tightened. Due to Suyeon’s injuries, I couldn’t see the outer layer of Ijinhyuk’s coat.

Were all these deeds the work of those villains? But I couldn’t rush in recklessly. They were formidable opponents. It wasn’t comparable to dealing with someone like Kim Hwaseung.

Probably a true villain.

“Ijinhyuk.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Ijinhyuk nodded lightly.

Those Rebellion members didn’t seem to be, but they looked quite strong.

‘Still, with this many people, we should be able to hold out until Instructor Hong Daye arrives.’

Including Siwoon, there were many children from the Great Mage’s disciples, such as Yuria, top-ranking newcomer Lee Junghoon, Han Dongwon, Kim Yuseong, and others.

Jinsuyeon and Roksannu were also there.

…Wait a minute. Roksannu?

Oh, right, Roksannu was here too, right.

I felt a slight unease about Roksannu being here.

Could those be the forces under Seong Yura? I worry that it might not have been sent to Roksannu on purpose…

“Ah, finally found you. You’ve all gathered here.”

For a moment.

Ijinhyuk’s heart sank with a thud.

Because that voice shouldn’t be heard here.

I thought we were lucky to have Suyeon safely join us, but it turns out luck was not on our side. Damn.

As the relieved atmosphere reversed, a girl with flowing white hair gracefully jumped down, scanning Ijinhyuk and his companions.

“Let’s see, Siwoon, Yuria, Junghoon… What, even Roksannu?”

The name of the girl, whose pristine white hair was now stained with sticky blood, was Yudahee.

She would later become the strongest figure in the world of the Romance Hero Academy and simultaneously be Jinsuyeon’s antagonist.

…But seriously, when is Hong Daye coming? Seriously.