The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 5

Card Bellick.

He’s a notorious blonde troublemaker at Zeryon Academy.

Not only does he have no reservations about flirting with girls, but he also constantly gets into accidents involving them.

In the first act, he bothers the protagonist Lucas’ childhood friend, Isabel, for no reason, which leads to a fight with Lucas.

Despite his appearance, his skills are unexpectedly decent, and Lucas struggles quite a bit.

However, when Lucas hears Isabel’s encouraging voice, he gathers strength and defeats Card.

“It’s a textbook scenario.”

I feel a slight sense of kinship with him.

After all, I, too, was one of the extras who got defeated by the protagonist.

But there’s one key difference: I ended up expelled from the academy.

On the other hand, Card, instead of bothering Isabel any further, becomes the protagonist’s advisor and often gives him advice about romance.

Perhaps because of that, Card has one troublesome trait.

“Meddlesome.”

Card is a meddler.

In other words, he just talks a lot.

“Master Card, this is Master Hanon Airei. Starting today, you’ll be sharing a room.”

Upon hearing the introduction from the head maid, Marie, Card looked down at me.

Disguised as Hanon, I’m much shorter than him.

Maybe that’s why Card casually rested his elbow on my head.

Oh, this little punk?

“Yeah, I know. He’s a celebrity around here.”

Card flashed a sly smile.

“It’s a relief you know each other. Well, I’ll be going then.

Master Hanon, your luggage is inside, so feel free to check it.”

Marie didn’t press for more details.

She’s the head maid of the dormitory.

Regardless of rumors, she treats everyone in the dorms equally.

So, after she made her polite exit, Card waved her off.

Meanwhile, I lightly pushed his arm off me.

Then I walked straight into the room.

“Feisty little runt.”

Sorry, but that doesn’t bother me.

My real height is actually 3 cm taller than yours.

In my original form as Vikarmern, I’m a tall and handsome guy with good looks and height.

Ignoring Card’s comment, I checked the bag on the bed.

Everything was neatly packed as it was.

“Konon.”

Card’s voice continued from behind me.

As expected, this meddlesome guy had no intention of stopping.

And now, he’d gone ahead and changed my name as he pleased.

Of all things, he chose a name that sounded absolutely ridiculous.

“Call me by my proper name.”

“Heh, but it sounds nice, doesn’t it? Or are you just not confident enough?”

I glanced at him for a moment.

Then I let out a short laugh.

That’s fine. He’ll find out soon enough.

Card blinked, not understanding the meaning of my cryptic smile.

Then he shrugged like he didn’t care.

“I heard you had a big fight with Isabel.”

Despite his appearance, Card belongs to the magic department.

So he didn’t witness what happened in the martial arts department.

“As soon as you arrived, you insulted Lucas, right? No wonder Isabel lost it. She and Lucas were really close. They probably would’ve become lovers at some point.”

I finished checking my luggage and closed the bag.

No issues.

“To Isabel, Lucas is a trigger. You sure knew how to press that button.”

Now I need to wash up and sleep for tomorrow.

There’s still a lot to do ahead.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

For the first time, I paused.

I slowly turned my head back.

Card, grinning slyly, met my gaze.

“You did it on purpose for Isabel, didn’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I brushed it off nonchalantly.

“With Lucas like that, Isabel has been in a pretty bad state lately. Even though she’s popular and everyone’s been looking out for her, nothing has changed.”

Her childhood friend, who grew up with her all her life, died.

From that point on, it was as if a part of Isabel’s heart had crumbled.

“She looked like someone who lost the will to live, slowly wasting away. Even when I talked to her, she didn’t reject it like she usually would, just answered me passively.”

It sounded like he was lowering himself, but Card didn’t seem to care as he clicked his tongue.

“To be honest, I started to think that if this kept going, Isabel wouldn’t recover and might even follow after Lucas.”

Card had seen right through Isabel.

Actually, maybe not just Card.

Many people around her must have sensed that Isabel’s condition was getting worse.

“Isabel needed something, anything, to divert her attention. And then—”

Card pointed directly at me with his thick finger.

“You gave Isabel the driving force of anger.”

“You’re overinterpreting it.”

“Of course, it could be an overinterpretation.”

Card didn’t deny it.

Instead, he raised the finger pointing at me.

“So I’m just telling you this. Even if it’s just for a while, I hope you continue to be Isabel’s source of anger.”

I gazed at Card quietly.

“Do you… like her or something?”

Card had a history of hitting on Isabel.

When I asked, Card smirked.

“I like all women. They’re all charming.”

But there was no real sincerity in his eyes as he said it.

“But before that, Isabel is the childhood friend of my friend.”

My friend.

I knew exactly who he was referring to.

The protagonist, Lucas.

He was talking about Lucas, who was no longer here.

“I can’t just stand by and watch my dead friend’s childhood friend fall apart.”

Card truly considered Lucas his friend.

His friend had died.

And he didn’t want to see that friend’s childhood companion go down the same path.

Understanding his intentions, I packed my bag and shoved it aside.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of taking back what I said.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear.”

Whatever it was, he was also concerned about Isabel.

Aside from being a meddler and hitting on women, Card was a good guy at heart.

“So, so why are you wearing bandages? Don’t tell me… cross-dressing?”

This punk?

I gave him a deadpan look.

“I’ll drop my pants.”

Right here, right now.

Even if I’ve lost in height due to this disguise, I’ll prove that I haven’t lost in other areas.

“Oh, I’m not really interested in guys anyway.”

As expected, this guy’s constant meddling and chatter just ruins his score.
* * *

The next day.

It was still before sunrise, the quiet dawn bathed in a blue hue.

A time when everyone was still asleep.

A man was running, breathing steadily as he moved through the forest.

The man running through the forest?

Who else could it be?

It’s me.

I had been running for an hour now.

Not feeling tired, I kept going.

‘I had a vague idea before, but…’

I glanced down at my legs, which continued to move without stopping.

‘This Vikarmern guy’s stamina is something else.’

These legs have been running for over an hour.

And yet, they’re still capable of going even further.

‘Why was Vikarmern ever in the magic department?’

Vikarmern Niflheim, the person I’ve possessed.

Back when he attended Zeryon Academy, he was part of the magic department.

To be honest, Vikarmern barely had any magical talent.

He wasn’t as talentless as Nikita, but he only had the bare minimum.

With such limited abilities, he achieved almost nothing in magic, and his grades in the magic department were at the bottom.

‘The reason Vikarmern liked Nikita was…’

It was a mixture of empathy and admiration.

She, like him, was born into a magical family but had no magical power whatsoever.

And yet, Nikita persisted through effort and rose to the position of vice president.

Seeing someone in the same situation, yet so different, made Vikarmern fall for her.

That’s why Vikarmern relentlessly tormented Lucas, who was Nikita’s rival.

Lucas constantly disrupted the achievements Nikita had worked so hard for.

Vikarmern couldn’t tolerate it.

But Vikarmern was no match for Lucas.

Lucas, having awakened his fighting spirit, was one of the top students in the martial arts department.

How could Vikarmern’s feeble magic stand a chance against someone like that?

But the real issue was Vikarmern’s stamina.

Even without the fighting spirit that Lucas had, Vikarmern had unbelievable endurance.

Even after taking Lucas’ relentless attacks, this guy would get right back up.

‘Wasn’t he called the ‘Bouncing Vikarmern’?’

People in the community would often talk about how ridiculous it was for a mage to have such endurance.

That’s why the community rated Vikarmern like this: A practice dummy character for skill combos.

He was a character designed with extra stamina to allow beginners playing Blazing Butterfly for the first time to practice various scenarios.

The problem is, who’s the one that ended up possessing this Vikarmern?

‘It’s me.’

Well, at least having good stamina is something.

I’m great at marathons.

These legs of mine are worth a million dollars.

“Good stamina is the best advantage.”

Before I ended up in Vikarmern’s body, I had been quite active for a long time, even though I had to quit due to an injury in high school.

I still remember how to move my body.

I remember how to use my eyes.

And that memory, combined with Vikarmern’s stamina, was generating quite a bit of efficiency.

“Maybe it’s because this guy’s body is in such good shape.”

Honestly, I was already getting back to peak form in terms of body usage.

So, with this stamina, I’ve been running every morning since the day I possessed this body, aiming to build it up even more.

There’s an old saying: build on your strengths first.

Stamina is national power.

And so, I run again today.

Then.

Whoosh!

I heard something being swung through the air near my ears.

Whoosh!

It was a very clean, repetitive sound.

And the sound itself was quite heavy.

My gaze naturally followed the direction of the sound.

There stood a girl with her long hair tied back.

A girl with long, dark blue hair.

She gave off a delicate, ethereal vibe.

But when you look at what she was holding, you’d quickly realize that impression was a mistake.

In her hand was a massive greatsword, as tall as the girl herself.

And the moment I saw it, I knew exactly who she was.

The Iron Maiden of the Greatsword, Aisha Bizbell.

I don’t know who gave her that nickname, but one thing’s for sure: it suits her perfectly.

I’ve never seen anyone swing such a ridiculously large sword before.

‘Now that I think about it.’

When I played Lucas, there was only one chance to see Aisha’s morning event.

It happens in Act 4, after you get caught up in a ghost story at the girls’ dormitory.

While sneaking back to the dorm in the morning, you hear a heavy swinging sound.

If you choose to follow the source of the sound, you’ll meet Aisha during her morning training and have a brief conversation.

The problem is, it delays you long enough to get caught by the head maid, earning you a demerit for staying out overnight.

It’s a kind of trap event.

‘Lucas had a curfew, but…’

This is reality now.

As long as I get permission from the duty maid, I can go for a morning run easily.

So, I ended up seeing an event from Act 4 earlier than expected.

“There’s no need to worry about this event for now.”

I decided not to speak to Aisha and kept running.

Whoosh! Boom!

Until the greatsword flew right at me and nearly smashed me into the ground.

“…Holy crap.”

I was shocked, staring at the greatsword that had shattered the stone pavement.

If it had hit me directly, forget any apocalypse—I would’ve been dead today.

“Ah, ahhh, are, are you okay!?”

Aisha’s panicked voice reached my ears.

Seeing her running toward me, I let out a quiet breath.

Look, just because I tried to skip an event, is it really necessary to try to kill me?