Academy's Drunk Fighter-Chapter 18: Training (End)

"Uuuhh..."

I finally escaped training just in time for lunch.

There’s not a single ounce of strength left in my body.

So this is what it feels like to really die?

The only good news was that it was still the first week, so I could go straight back to the dorm after lunch.

“My academy life... where the hell did it go.”

Forget getting close with heroines or main characters—I just wanted to live comfortably, maybe learn a bit of magic or something, and enjoy a stable life.

Guess there really is no such thing as a free ride in this world.

“Haa...”

Still, maybe it’s because of how young this body is, but my stamina does bounce back decently fast.

In my past life, recovering felt more like forcing a dead battery to charge—completely inefficient.

Thunk.

Patting my waist, I grabbed the container of porridge I brought in advance and headed to the cafeteria to sit down.

This was my first visit, and the cafeteria was filled with all kinds of delicious smells.

Some people were slurping down noodles, others cutting into steak, and some were savoring various desserts—but my lunch looked pitiful by comparison.

Curry porridge.

Up until yesterday, it seemed kind of decent. But now, compared to what everyone else had, the drop in quality was undeniable. I didn’t feel like eating it anymore.

“......”

Still, what choice did I have?

I mean, it’s my fault for waking up in this kind of cursed body from a broke-ass household in the first place.

If there’s a next run, please, just let me start in a rich family.

Splurt.

“Mm...”

Even the sound it makes is gross, but when I put it in my mouth and start chewing, it’s not... terrible.

This kind of price-to-performance ratio doesn’t come easy. Seriously.

Right when I was about to tear up from how “delicious” it was, someone sat across from me.

“Esha.”

“Oh, Noah?”

“You can just call me senpai. We’re in the same academy anyway.”

“Noah-senpai.”

“Why are you eating alone? Don’t you have any friends?”

Ugh, that hit me right in the chest.

“Ah... unfortunately.”

Honestly, even if I had friends, I probably would’ve chosen to eat alone.

It’s not that I can’t make friends. I just don’t. Yeah. That’s totally it.

“That’s good, actually. The people I usually eat with are busy today, so I had to eat alone too.”

“Is that... a good thing?”

Oh, right—we did say we’d eat together earlier.

Training was so brutal I completely forgot.

“How’s the academy? Nice, right?”

“Should I say it’s nice... It’s not really what I imagined.”

“R-Really?”

I was expecting something more cheerful, blooming with flowers and youthful energy. But here, the atmosphere’s so intense it feels like the flowers would burn to death before they could bloom.

“Well, it can’t be helped. The academy did just start, after all.”

Even if things mellowed out later, I doubt it would make much difference for me.

“Ah, more importantly—are you eating that for lunch again?”

“I don’t have money... so I don’t really have a choice.”

“...Then, want some of mine? I packed a little from home to eat with lunch.”

“Huh? You don’t use the cafeteria, senpai?”

If I recall correctly, Noah’s family is pretty damn wealthy. Was there a reason she wasn’t eating here?

“Uh... it’s not like I have that much extra money to use the cafeteria whenever I want...”

“...?”

Did I misremember something?

She just smiled at my confused expression.

“Plus, buying food myself ends up being way cheaper, too.”

“Mmm...”

Is this some budgeting thing I don’t know about? Whatever. I’ll just roll with it.

“Are you sure I can eat this, though? From what you just said, it kinda sounded like I shouldn’t.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not that poor that I can’t share.”

It’d be rude to refuse now, wouldn’t it?

So without declining, I took a bit of her side dishes and mixed them with my porridge before eating.

“Mm, this is good, senpai.”

“Glad you like it.”

I was munching away at the porridge when Noah opened her mouth.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“About that chocolate you brought... is there something special in it?”

“.........”

Flinch.

The moment she said it, I felt my entire body twitch.

My tiny heart started to pound, and my head rapidly went blank.

I couldn’t figure out why she was asking that.

So what was she hoping for? A confession? Or was she hoping I’d deny it?

Maybe I was overthinking it. Yeah, maybe I was just losing it.

So I asked back, carefully.

“Why do you ask...?”

“Well, it smelled kinda weird, that’s all...”

Knowing her personality, being honest ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) here would probably keep things from escalating.

Even if I got punished, I might not get expelled.

“......”

But humans... always screw up.

Even though my brain was telling me to just tell the truth, my mouth said something else.

“There’s nothing special about it. I just eat it ‘cause it tastes good.”

“Really?”

Those eyes stared right at me.

I haven’t felt this nervous in a long time. Not since boot camp. Not even during job interviews.

Honestly, even back then, I wasn’t this tense.

Maybe she already knows everything about the chocolate and was just waiting for me to confess.

And if that’s the case... maybe I just blew my chance.

“Actually—”

“Hmm, alright. Got it.”

Just as I was about to say the truth, Noah cut me off.

She smiled like it was no big deal and went back to casual chatter as we ate.

“.........”

‘What the hell? Is that it?’

It didn’t feel over—more like she just accepted things half-heartedly. But I couldn’t quite figure out why it felt that way.

Still, it seemed like I got through it okay, so I went back to slowly eating.

“Ah.”

“Esha...!”

I saw something square falling above me.

Thunk.

A lunch tray landed right on top of my head.

“Oh.”

KABOOOM!!!

Of course, my [Fajing], which had already cooled down, reflexively triggered and fired straight toward where the tray came from.

“Kyaaaaah!!!”

And when I looked up—

“...Who?”

I definitely recognized the character from somewhere, but I couldn’t tell if it was from a side story or just someone with a minor role. Her face wasn’t coming to mind.

Still, unlike that Yoon Siwoo bastard, I was pretty sure I’d seen this girl at least once in the game.

She just stood there, staring at me like the soup all over her head was grossing her out.

“Uh... hello?”

“Hello, my ass—!”

Wait, why’s she mad at me?

You’re the one who dropped your tray on my head.

I thought stuff like intentionally dumping your tray on someone only happened in cliché novels.

“Do... do you have any idea how expensive this outfit is?”

“How would I know that?”

“......!!!”

I’m wearing bargain-bin clothes from the supermarket right now—how the hell would I know anything about brands?

And yet, she was glaring at me like I just burned down her house.

“You threw it at me on purpose, didn’t you? You think I’m just gonna let that slide?”

“Aren’t you... the second-year student council president?”

At that moment, Noah—still sitting in front of me—spoke up to the girl behind me.

“Even if it wasn’t on purpose... no, more importantly. If you’re the student council president, shouldn’t you act like one? Anyone can see I’m the victim here!”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Well...!”

Noah slowly stood up from her seat.

And went silent.

“......”

In the middle of the cafeteria, which instantly went ice-cold, the girl just stared at Noah with a terrified look, unable to say a word.

And from where I sat, watching the whole thing from a step back—

‘Holy shit. She’s scary as hell.’

That was honestly terrifying.

The sweet Noah I’d gotten used to was nowhere to be seen. What I saw instead was the ruthless precision I remembered from the game.

At the very least, within what she considers fair boundaries, she judges everything with brutal clarity.

And right now, it was painfully obvious to anyone watching that this girl had intentionally tried to dump her tray on me, and I’d reflexively countered with [Fajing].

Just witnessing it gave me chills.

“Ugh... uuuu...”

The girl could only grit her teeth and stumble away with the help of some nearby students.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. But seriously, I have no idea why she dumped that tray on me.”

The hallway’s wide. I don’t stand out that much. It’s not like she had a reason to go out of her way to spill it.

Noah gave me a quick explanation of the situation.

“Oh, that? Apparently, someone started a fan club recently.”

“A fan club?”

“For that freshman ranked number one. What was his name again... Yoon Siwoo? I heard it’s for him.”

“Aha.”

What the hell, is he an idol or something? That kind of world has nothing to do with me, so I just quietly listened to Noah’s explanation.

“She’s probably one of them.”

“And that has what to do with her dumping soup on me?”

“Rumor is... you fought with Yoon Siwoo, right? She probably did it because of that.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

They’re retaliating over a sparring match? One they weren’t even part of?

What the hell’s going on in her head?

“Senpai, are you... in the fan club?”

If she said yes, that’d be kind of depressing.

“Nope. No time, no interest.”

“Thank God.”

“Right?”

It was only now that I realized—not everyone at this academy is here to work hard.

Some people just want to screw around, and they’ll find a way to do it no matter what.

Then again, after busting your ass in training just to get in, maybe you start thinking it’s okay to slack off a little.

And maybe that’s where the path splits for good.

“.........”

“Whew, finally done eating. I’m gonna head out now, okay?”

“Alright.”

After Noah left, I packed my stuff and made my way back to the dorm.

****

Right as I was nearing the dorm, I saw a weird guy handing out flyers.

“Ah, would you like to take a look at this?”

[Don’t you ever feel like your life is meaningless?]

Just from the look of it, it screamed cult recruitment.

With Central Academy so close, you usually didn’t see these people around. So what the hell is this guy doing here?

“Uh, I don’t believe in religion.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to. Just take one.”

“I don’t really read this kind of stuff...”

“Please, just take it. That’s all I ask.”

“Uh... okay.”

I couldn’t be bothered to argue, so I just stuffed the flyer in my pocket and headed home, collapsing the moment I got inside.

“Fuaaah... nothing beats home.”

The creeping soreness in my muscles was a little worrying, but for now, I was going to enjoy this rest with everything I had.

“Puhah!!”

I cracked open one of the bottles I had stashed in the cool cabinet and chugged it, then lazily unfolded the flyer I got earlier.

[Don’t you ever feel like your life is meaningless?]

[Don’t you feel weak?]

[Don’t you feel worthless?]

[Have you been sad lately?]

[Then maybe it’s time to join us.]

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

“Woooow... yeah, that’s definitely a cult...”

The slow buzz creeping in made my head floaty.

“Mmm...”

Part of me wanted to call the number at the bottom... but sleep hit me faster.

“...Wait, haven’t I seen this somewhere before...?”