I Became the Childhood Friend Who Commits Sui**de

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“Alright. You’re accepting it way too easily, it’s not fun at all.”

“······.”

“We’ll be comrades from now on, right? Let’s just forget everything and move on smoothly.”

Is he being serious?

Just seconds ago, he was trampling on everything with glee.

But I had my answer ready.

“Yes. Of course.”

“Good. Honestly, I could mess with your mind and treat you like a puppet. That would make things uncomfortable for both of us, right? So let’s keep things pleasant.”

Those words are no idle bragging.

The Vice Principal actually shattered Yu Hana’s mind in the original story.

If she hadn’t been restored through resurrection, she would have just been used like a puppet and then tossed aside.

The Vice Principal snapped his fingers with a disturbingly pleasant smile.

Then, Kim Shinwoo and Han Si-hyun, who had been glaring at each other, collapsed like toys with their batteries removed.

“Rest assured, I’ll spare those two and the Student Council President, just as promised. So stop whining and get up.”

“…Whining?”

“Can’t you stand up just because you hurt your side a little?”

Are you just going to completely ignore the wounds you made?

That thought quickly vanished.

The pain and suffering I had felt just moments ago completely disappeared.

Not just that.

All the bruises on my body, which had made it hard to even open my eyes, had vanished.

I finally realized the reason.

It was all an illusion.

It’s a power that makes me chuckle.

In terms of danger, it surpasses the Mine and ranks among the most formidable in the original work.

Even though it requires a tenuous mental state and facing the Vice Principal’s gaze, his sensation manipulation is on a different level compared to other abilities.

Not just sight, but hearing, smell, taste, and even touch.

He perfectly distorts all five human senses and manipulates them as he wishes.

In other words, for the person affected, it feels like a god ruling all things.

Ultimately, the only way to counter his power is to simply not meet the prerequisites.

“…Ugh.”

The wound on my side, caused by Han Si-hyun, did not disappear.

But I could endure this level of pain.

Enduring the ache, I stood up.

“Now, let me tell you what you need to do.”

He spoke.

“Leave the Academy.”

*

“…Huff!”

What a terrible nightmare.

Or was it not a nightmare?

Shinwoo opened his eyes and immediately looked around.

A familiar space filled with white.

It’s the hospital room.

And one where Hana stayed before.

Hana.

With that name naturally surfacing, I recalled the events just before I lost my memory.

For now, my body felt fine.

What happened? The film cut off, and my last memory didn’t come to mind properly.

I was definitely fighting with Han Si-hyun.

This isn’t the time for this.

In a hurry, Shinwoo kicked off the bed and dashed outside.

He burst into the examination room without knocking.

Inside sat Rachel, her expression dark.

“Teacher!”

“…Oh, you’re awake.”

“What happened?!”

“Ah, that’s what I want to ask.”

She paused to catch her breath, unsure of where to start.

“In the science lab, the Vice Principal discovered the three of you collapsed.”

“The Vice Principal…?”

Shinwoo visualized his figure.

A middle-aged man wearing an eye mask whom he had randomly run into in the hallway recently.

He had even bumped into him when running around looking for Hana.

Hadn’t he honestly answered “the science lab” when asked where he was hurrying to?

Maybe that exchange led the Vice Principal to find us.

…But why three?

There had definitely been four of us there.

Shinwoo decided to ask the most urgent thing first.

“How’s the President?”

“It was quite a dangerous situation. Fortunately, there were no injuries to his heart, but he lost too much blood, and if we had been any later, he would have crossed a point of no return.”

“…That’s a relief.”

At Shinwoo’s murmur, she sighed deeply.

“Well… He’s alive, but there are no signs of him regaining consciousness.”

“What?”

“We need to monitor his condition further. But if he doesn’t wake up… he might be declared a vegetable.”

“······.”

If only we could have taken him earlier.
Before the Vice Principal discovered us.
If only we had handled things peacefully without fighting Han Si-hyun.
Such hypotheticals are all meaningless.
Because ultimately, all this stems from Yu Hana.
That’s why Shinwoo couldn’t blame Si-hyun.
He himself wasn’t innocent either.

“Han Si-hyun…”

“She woke up before you. She’s fine.”

That was at least a fortunate turn of events.

To be honest, I still have no idea why I don’t remember anything before collapsing.

If I had to pinpoint a reason, one thing comes to mind.
That Si-hyun defeated me and thoroughly subdued me.
Given her strength, it was highly likely, especially considering the circumstances.

But if that’s the case.
If that assumption is correct.
It’s actually the first thing I wanted to ask, but I forced myself to look away out of fear of the answer.

Now, delaying it isn’t an option.

With a trembling voice, Shinwoo cautiously asked.

“W-What about Hana…?”

“······.”

The answer didn’t come right away.

From just that, Shinwoo felt his heart burning.

Is it as I expected?
Did Si-hyun ultimately not forgive Hana…?

He clenched his fists tightly, trying to hide his agitation.

Despite attempting to mask his feelings, it was no easy task.

His heart couldn’t be controlled, and as it raced, a question came instead of an answer.

“Is Yu Hana really a Mine?”

“…That is.”

“The Vice Principal and Han Si-hyun have already given their statements. I’m just asking in case. Is Yu Hana really a Mine?”

He recalled the scene from the science lab.

It’s still hard to believe that it’s real.

Yu Hana stabbing the Student Council President in the chest.
Han Si-hyun witnessing that scene.

The unresolved conflict.
The fight.
And the wound Hana sustained from Si-hyun’s blade.
The dark red blood oozing from the wound.

There’s already evidence. The crime scene has been uncovered.
Objectively speaking, there’s no room for suspicion aside from personal connections.
Yu Hana is indeed a Mine.

Yet Shinwoo couldn’t bring himself to speak the truth.
He ultimately couldn’t utter a word.

“Just by your reaction, I can understand. …What on earth happened?”

“Hana… Is she dead?”

“No. She’s alive.”

At that moment, the weight pressing down on his chest seemed to lift.

Of course, he knew it was already too late.

Still, just knowing she was alive.
That alone brought Shinwoo a little comfort.

“Not yet.”

“…What?”

*

“Leave the academy.”

“…You want me to leave? From here?”

“Yeah. The old folks have already started to get suspicious. Especially if they notice this mess, they’ll try to protect you by whatever means necessary.”

A murder attempt on the Student Council President.

This was definitely not something that could be brushed aside like last time.
Especially if it’s discovered that I’m the culprit.

“Either way, you need to contact the Black Goat. So you will leave the academy and hide in our hideout.”

“…Are you coming too?”

“No. I’ll stay here and sort things out. Someone else will be in charge of guiding you.”

The Mine’s hideout.
I had a guess about where it was.
It’s a place that appeared in the original work.

But since I don’t know the exact location, a guide will be necessary.
If I leave the academy like this, it’ll really mean betraying humanity and siding with the Mines.

“Tonight, you just need to get into the black van at the back gate of the academy. The rendezvous code is Sand Crocodile.”

“······.”

“Now get lost. Stay quiet like a mouse until night, and there will be silence until then.”

Which means it’ll get noisy afterward.
Does he plan on revealing that I’ve sided with the Mines?
The probability of that is high.

After all, there’s no way to explain the incident in which the Student Council President almost died.
Additionally, this would be a means to ensure I can’t return to the academy.
They can’t openly welcome the Mines either.

I have no lingering attachments.
The original work has long since been destroyed.
I can’t predict what the future holds.

So ultimately, I have to leverage the information from the original work as much as possible to actively shape a better future.

And for that, I’ll be stepping into the mouth of the tiger.
There’s no grand cause behind it.
It’s just what I intuitively feel is right.
And there’s one personal desire I harbor.

“…Really. I’ll be able to see Sophie again, right?”

“Yeah. For real.”

“If it’s a lie…”

“You can tell the Black Goat. I’ll keep my promise.”

I don’t trust him.
I just believe in the Black Goat’s obsession with promises and betrayal.

No matter how powerful this man is, the King of the Mines is still the Black Goat.

It’s time to leave.
As I tried to exit the ravaged science lab,
I glanced back slowly one last time.

My gaze lingered on the fallen Kim Shinwoo.

“…I’m sorry.”

I guess I really am not fated to live as your childhood friend.

*

“The Messiah has sided with the Mines…”

“They say there are already three witnesses who have seen her corrupted blood.”

“It’s still too early to be certain. It may be a filthy ploy by the Mines.”

“However, we can’t dismiss the possibility that she has truly fallen. In the current situation, it would be more reasonable to view it that way.”

“I didn’t expect them to act so quickly. It’s a good thing we were prepared in advance.”

“Right. With a forger, we can easily create a fake Messiah.”

“That countermeasure is merely temporary. It’s not perfect. So I believe prioritizing the recovery of the Messiah is the right course of action.”

“Well… If she has truly become a Mine, we shouldn’t take it lightly. If they know how to use the Messiah…”

“Our proposed new world will come to an end.”

“What if we eliminate the Messiah?”

“Hm. It’s indeed quite a risky gamble, but it’s likely safer than handing her over to the Mines.”

“Then how about this? We aim to recover the escaped Messiah first, and if there’s fierce resistance, we immediately switch to targeting the forger and dispose of the Messiah.”

“It seems the time has come to bring out the weapons we’ve prepared.”

“Send them the Spear of Longinus.”