Became a Swordsman Genius in a Pretty Girl Game

376. An Ordinary Guy (4)

My face was zoomed in close, and a woman’s scream erupted.

– Eek! Eeeekyahah!!?

Then the phone goes flying into the air.

– My, my! Pay, payments!

Thunk.

On the screen, I lightly snatched Lee Yuri’s phone from mid-air.

Only then did I realize what was happening.

‘Ah. It’s Ichika’s ability.’

The act of visualizing memories.

Didn’t we use it before to nab that mind-b*stard who snuck into the academy entrance ceremony?

We visualized the memory from Yuli Lee’s perspective.

‘…Even if time flows slowly in dreams. Did you really make this in a single day?’

I glanced at Ichika.

I hadn’t noticed until now, but I could sense deep exhaustion on Ichika’s face.

The dark circles under her eyes were like ink smudges, and her usual indifferent gaze was replaced with a faint haziness.

‘She pushed herself too hard…’

Since there’s no way to constantly recover mana except during combat.

She used that mana to stretch out the time.

I turned my gaze back to the screen.

The scene where I met Yuli Lee to fill in the dealer’s spot, us speaking formally to each other.

Looking at it now, it felt so awkward.

In my memory, I thought I spoke quite naturally.

But there I was, fidgeting constantly, legs trembling, pupils shaking with anxiety.

‘Right, that day was just a week after I possessed this body…’

Back then, I seemed pretty tense with the reality that I had to take down monsters with my own hands.

I could feel the subtle trembling in my sword-wielding hand, the cold sweat soaking my back.

But the screen clearly showed me trying so hard not to show any of that.

After that, unimportant scenes were cut out appropriately.

Only the moments that held our story were meticulously edited. It was so seamless, like a professional film director had crafted it.

The scene where I first sense Neyki, then the looks of shock on Yu-ri and her friends’ faces.

Next, Yu-ri, alone eating a plastic-wrapped meal, then choking and pounding her chest when she suddenly sees me appear.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A snort.

Pounding her chest while wearing full steel armor.

Still looks so idiotic.

“That… idiot…”

Next to me, Yu-ri covered her face and groaned, as if embarrassed by her past self.

The tips of her ears were stained bright red.

*Whip*—

The plastic bag clutched in Yu-ri’s hand on screen is snatched away by my hand.

– I… I can’t eat this much. It seems like Yuna gave me more since it’s that guy…

– B-but, you must be tired today… You need to replenish your energy…

– I’m a guy. Gotta watch my figure.

.

.

.

After that, scenes of me engaging in battle, and Yu-ri nearly dying after stepping into an unknown area and being surrounded by goblins.

– Tsk…. If I had gone to the academy with Jin Yoo-ha, we could have gotten pretty close.

– “Then, we can go to the Academy together, can’t we, Kookbap?”

I appeared, a playful smile tugging at my lips.

A low murmur of admiration rippled through the party members at the sight.

“Uhm…”

What can I say.

Is this Yuri Lee’s memory being filtered?

In the video, I genuinely looked like a hero, swooping in to save her.

A radiant figure, seemingly bathed in a glow.

I couldn’t have been *that* cool in reality.

It must be that moment’s emotion, imprinted in Yuri’s mind, that’s being reflected in the footage.

‘This is so embarrassing…’

Seriously, acting so high and mighty after just taking down a few goblins.

Now, I could go in there with my limbs tied up and still wipe the place clean.

The documentary the party members prepared was like that.

The tutorial boss battle.

The company dinner.

The one-on-one combat class.

The strategy and tactics class.

The emergence of Soo-yeon Shin.

The launch ceremony of the Utopia party.

Encounter with the Darkness Guild in the Thorned Prairie.

A showdown with Ryujinju at the Hunter Management Bureau.

Bloody battles against the Fiends that emerged during midterms.

The kidnapping of Lee Yuri’s family during break.

The dispatching of the first demon.

Swimsuit Festival.

Bloody combat with the Incubus Apostle in the Jukai Forest.

A request to exterminate a Kaiju in America.

A journey with my mentor.

Battle with the Fire Dragon in the Winter Palace.

The Library Quest.

A duel with the Shindohwa in China.

Training in the Forest of the Sword Saint.

Clearing of the first Demon Realm Gate.

Individual stories of each party member.

Clearing of the second Demon Realm Gate.

And finally, the clearing of the third Demon Realm Gate.

Events unfolded in chronological order.

Even after skipping and condensing the trivialities, there had been far too much.

A glimpse of my first days at the academy, seen from Lee Yuri’s perspective, flashed past.

At first, it seemed like Shin Se-hee and I would never click, but eventually, she seemed to give up, almost begging, and then came the scene where I was appointed her operator.

Kang Do-hee kept her distance, clearly not thrilled with a man getting the position via affirmative action, but I stubbornly closed that gap. The process of her cold facade melting away, bit by bit, was laid bare.

In my master’s eyes, I was flailing with my sword, my skills pathetic.

But even that seemed admirable to him, the look in his eyes in the video showed it.

Then came the scene of me training in actual gates with Senior Ga-eul, learning how to use mana stones.

My goofy side was already in full bloom even back then, huh.

During mid-terms, in Sophia’s memory, the moment I got kidnapped, there I was, set up in a cave, even bathing.

I guess that moment was special to her.

From Ichika’s perspective, there was the moment I saved her as she was dying from a demon’s curse.

Though the part where she mistook me for an incubus and attacked was a little funny.

In Alice’s memory, I was etched in her mind as the one who found and rescued her when she was in despair, captured by a Demon Tree.

And so, as each person was added, the process of creating our current, perfect utopia…

Honestly, it sent shivers down my spine.

‘So, this is how my party members see me…’

The Jin Yuha in the video was nothing short of a hero of this world.

Always working hard, always standing at the forefront, more reliable than anyone, never backing down from any danger.

But,

at the same time, that hero always looked precarious.

Every day, teetering on the edge of life and death, playing a dangerous game,

plunging in like they had two or three lives to spare.

“JIN YUHA!!!!!!”

Each time, the party members’ anxieties and worries spilled out in rough voices.

‘So, this is how they were looking at me.’

A sharp ache pulsed through my chest.

The moments when Lee Yuri screamed my name, kicking off and holding her shield to block in front of me.

The image of Shin Sehee, left behind, anxiously biting her nails while awaiting news of my return.

The days when Kang Dohee, staring at the broken training equipment, would let out long sighs,

The looks of concern from senior Ga-eul as she watched my sword training,

The scene of Sophia, holding my hand and praying as she treated my injuries,

The moments when Ichika, even as her mind went blank mid-battle, never lost sight of me,

The days Alice swung her sword until her hands bled, trying to keep pace with my swordsmanship.

The moments my mentor berated himself for teaching me a sword technique that should never have been taught.

Things no one had ever said to me, laid bare within the video.

Unconsciously, I raised a hand and pressed hard against my chest.

Thump— Thump—

A heavy pulse resonated.

To make this video, everyone had not hesitated to reveal their own shameful memories,

The sincerity they poured into creating it, working through the nights, choked me up.

Everyone had shown their true faces.

All for the sake of comforting just me.

Even though what’s happening now is just a happening, a mistake made from words blurted out in a trance.

That feeling, that one feeling, was conveyed with such fervor.

‘…It was this obvious. And I only realized it near the very end. No, I still hadn’t grasped it.’

How much my party members think of me.

How much they were giving of their hearts.

I hadn’t even begun to fathom that weight.

‘I… I was surrounded by people this precious.’

Even now, all of my party members’ attention is focused on me, not the video.

Yuri Lee’s tense eyes,

Sehee Shin’s worried gaze,

Dohee Kang’s forced nonchalant expression,

Gaeul Sunbae’s gentle touch,

Sophia’s love-filled eyes,

Ichika’s quiet affection,

Alice’s boundless belief.

All those emotions were driving deep into my heart.

A surge.

Unknowingly, my eyes turned red.

I bit my lip hard, but even still, my throat tightened.

How am I supposed to put these feelings into words?

How am I supposed to convey this feeling?

It’s become the opposite, I can’t grasp it at all.

Yeah, these people are way too much for me.

After sobbing for a good while, the words I finally managed to choke out were…

“Ah… This kinda thing, tell me beforehand… Seriously, I don’t know how I’m supposed to react…”

Such an uncool line.