The Heroine Stole My Regression

54 – Preparation (1)

In a corner of the dormitory room, I opened my eyes, hastily gathered my clothes, and headed outside for a morning run.

The chilly air had softened noticeably. A faint warmth permeated the cool breeze.

It was true spring.

I slowly stretched, making my way towards the trail. In the distance, Yoo Hana was running towards me.

Good thing I’d walked while stretching. I started running just as she drew close.

And a few minutes later.

“Haa…”

We stopped, gasping for breath.

“Personal best, eh?”

Yoo Hana moved closer, extending her watch.

The subtle scent of her sweat-dampened skin wafted over. A rich, strangely clinging fragrance rising from her flushed, heated skin.

Instinctively, my breath hitched for a moment. My gaze, previously fixed on the watch, wavered naturally.

Yoo Hana, seemingly oblivious, pointed at the screen with a bright expression.

“Look, see? Definitely faster, right?”

I exhaled a short breath and averted my eyes.

“Seems so.”

It was also why I enjoyed morning runs. Consistent effort inevitably led to improvement.

We caught our breath for a moment, then slowly started walking again.

Reaching the fork in the road, we naturally paused.

“See you later.”

“Yeah.”

Yoo Hana lightly waved her hand and headed in the opposite direction.

I watched her retreating figure for a moment, then turned back towards the dormitory.

Back in my room, I took a shower. The hot water streamed down my skin, seeming to empty my mind, if only for a short while.

Emerging from the bathroom, I roughly toweled my hair and changed.

Checking my reflection out of habit, adjusting my clothes, then glancing at my watch.

A familiar routine. A familiar morning.

The start of a perfectly ordinary day. Hard to believe I’d been through all that just yesterday.

Yet, in the mirror, my reflection betrayed me: my fingertips were trembling, just slightly.

Without thinking, I clenched my fist, then released it.

Confirming the sharp sensation in my fingertips, I exhaled a soft breath.

“Hah…”

Finally, the trembling ceased.

I opened the door, feigning nonchalance, and stepped out of the dormitory.

The walk to the lecture hall.

I’d missed the last few classes, but it was all for valid reasons. No chance of being marked absent.

I opened the classroom’s rear door, cautiously making my way to my usual seat in the back corner.

My personal sanctuary.

As I sat waiting for class to begin, the front door swung open and someone entered. Johann.

Haven’t seen him since I thoroughly trounced him in that sparring match. It’s been a while.

‘Looks fine.’

On the surface, anyway.

I don’t even know what came over me back then, I just suddenly lost it….

His gaze lingered on me for a moment.

Then, he quickly turned away, heading towards his own little group.

I, too, looked away, staring at the ceiling as I sank into thought.

Three weeks until the Demon’s attack.

A little over a month until the inter-academy exchange. In the end, I have to prepare for both events simultaneously.

Though, if I were to prioritize, the former is undeniably far more important.

Within the school, prepare for Yoon Chae-ha’s growth and the exchange. Outside, prepare for the Demon’s attack.

Giving it my all, inside and out, it might just be manageable.

Just as I finished that line of thought, Instructor Do Han-sung entered through the front door.

“Ah….”

As soon as he appeared, a sigh rippled through the students.

“What’s gotten into him?”

Had he assigned homework last time? Lost in speculation, I stared ahead.

Dohanseong stood there, that irksome smile playing on his lips, gaze fixed on the digital clock mounted on the lecture hall’s left wall.

The clock showed precisely nine o’clock.

Confirming the time, he spoke with an unhurried air.

“Everyone, please check Gaon’s database.”

A collective groan welled from the students.

“As announced in the previous class, today is the day for the midterm written exam results.”

Ah, so that’s what it was.

While the practical exam would be combined with the final, the written exam grade was separate.

I, too, activated my watch to check my score.

Gaon, cruel as ever, lined up the scores, starkly ranked.

And those rankings were visible to all.

There was hardly any need to scroll.

My name was easily found toward the top.

[1st] Gang Arin

[2nd] Jeong Haein

…

[6th] Yohan

…

[10th] Ha Sion

…

[18th] Yu Hana

…

[27th] Cheon Yeoul

Before the students frantically turned on their watches, the instructor spoke with leisurely ease.

“My students are doing quite well, it seems. Three of you are even within the top ten.”

All eyes swung in unison to the three.

But I was distracted, my mind elsewhere.

“Huh?”

It wasn’t that which startled me.

Kang Arin, me, Ha Sion, Yoo Hana, all placed appropriately in the rankings.

But Cheon Yeo-ul.

‘Twenty-seventh?’

Her being in the upper echelon… frankly, the number seemed implausible.

Instinctively, I turned my head to find her.

Cheon Yeo-ul, sitting far off, saw me and flashed a V sign.

Her fingers fluttered playfully, as if to ask, “Did I do well?”

I chuckled softly and nodded once.

We’d been doing private tutoring, but I hadn’t expected it to yield such results.

If mere tutoring could achieve this, she wouldn’t have struggled in the first place.

I unfolded the detailed score sheet. Overall, the marks were higher than anticipated, but not quite befitting someone aiming for the top spots.

Cheon Yeo-ul scored exceptionally high in the Artifice score, in other words, the subject that covered Saint Arts.

High enough to overshadow all her other scores combined.

And that subject…was the one I had personally tutored her in.

‘Impressive.’

I glanced at Cheon Yeo-ul again. Noticing my gaze from afar, she gave me a slight eye smile.

Lately, she seemed to be selectively choosing things to impress.

Like readily accepting the paladin request. And after just a bit of tutoring, she must have studied immensely on her own.

A ranking like twenty-seventh couldn’t be achieved without effort. There was an evident trace of hard work.

The lecture hall was filled with the groans of students who had checked their rankings.

“Everyone, you don’t need to be too disheartened.”

Instructor Do Han-seong calmly continued.

His expression remained characteristically dry.

“We still have ten more to go. You can always make up for it next time.”

“…….”

It was meant to be a consolation,

But the prospect of having to endure this ten more times was hardly good news for the students.

I casually checked my watch.

9:05 AM.

The announcement of the written exam results was done, and it was time to get down to brass tacks.

– Tap.

The instructor rapped on the desk.

“Alright, let’s begin the lesson.”

The students’ sighs seemed endless.

*

Lunch was over. An uncharacteristically peaceful day.

Though the inside of my head was a war zone, of course.

I stood in the hallway, gazing at the club recruitment posters plastered on the wall.

This week truly must be the final deadline. Actually, it had already passed, but the period was extended for the Kalos students who’d come due to the exchange program.

I need to join, need to join, need to join, and yet I’d been putting it off until now.

‘Where should I go….’

The posters were densely packed with a wide array of clubs.

Some familiar names caught my eye.

Frontier.

I already rejected them once. Not here. Johan’s probably in there anyway.

This time, I needed a club that Yoon Chaeha and I could join together.

I considered my options for a moment, running through potential candidates.

First, the Magic Research Society.

“This is a bit….”

It takes two to tango, after all. I don’t dislike magic.

If I had to say, I actually quite liked it, but if you were to ask whether I wanted to ‘research’ it… absolutely not.

That’s probably how Yoon Chaeha feels too. She enjoys straightforward fun more than research, that’s for sure.

Neither of us would last long there.

Eliminated.

Second, the Archery Club.

Not bad.

It would certainly improve our concentration, a fundamental skill for mages.

I also knew how to use a bow, so it wasn’t a bad option…

I’d probably get scolded by Sion, though.

“If you’re going to the archery club, shouldn’t you take me too? Why are you going alone?” I was sure to hear that nagging from start to finish.

And Yoon Chaeha probably wouldn’t be all that interested anyway.

This was put on hold.

The last, the third option.

The board game club.

[Lexium]

Board games in this world are different from what we know. There are basic board games like chess and Monopoly, but also…

If you unfold a gadget, a dungeon pops out, a game where you have to conquer it. A kind of ‘instant dungeon.’

It’s an expensive game, not easy to experience casually, but this is Gaon. The school’s club support money would be enough to cover it.

Yoon Chaeha would find it interesting too. Moreover, I could awaken her spatial sense, a basic requirement for mages, with field chess or instant dungeons.

If I stimulate her competitive spirit with this… it could be quite a good growth experience.

“This is it.”

I checked the recruitment manager’s contact information on the poster and sent a message.

[Jeong Haein]: Hello, this is Jeong Haein, a first-year. I’m messaging you regarding club enrollment. Are there perhaps two spots available?

One spot is for me, the second is for Yoon Chaeha.

The possibility of Yoon Chaeha not following me was nonexistent.

She crossed over to the academy out of pure curiosity alone. She’ll definitely chase me to the club.

That’s how it was in the original work too.

I turned off the watch screen.

With this, the postponed assignment was finally over.

I was tired in many ways because there were so many events ahead. But if I get through this hurdle, it’s peaceful until the final exam. At least, on the surface.

So, overcoming this hurdle is the most important thing.

I looked up at the ceiling and let out a short breath.

I can overcome it, right?

Even if I tried to forget, the scenes from that ordeal, which I couldn’t shake from my head, remained deeply ingrained, tormenting me like an etched mark.

The Trial of Aldebaran was over, but I was still undergoing trials.

Just then.

[『Mind Like Still Water (明鏡止水)』 awakens the spirit! ]

The ripples in my mind subsided.

My blurred vision cleared.

I took a long, deliberate breath, once more steeling my resolve.

“Hah…”

Surely, I could overcome this.

No, I *had* to overcome this.