Chapter 7: This is Han Ji-yeon!
The classroom, which had been silent, started buzzing with chatter about me.
Who was that girl just now? She was super cute, wasnât she? By the way, did she steal her dadâs clothes or something?
âUghâŚâ
I kept my head buried on the desk, but thinking my ears were probably red too, I covered them with my arms, completing a look where only my hair was visible.
I want to stay like this forever.
No, not just stay like thisâI want to run home and never leave.
Itâs too scary. No, itâs too embarrassing. Iâm so humiliated I could die.
When other kids did their introductions, they didnât get this much attention. Canât they just let me slide by like everyone else?
Why am I getting so much attention�
Sure, I bit my tongue and squeaked during my introduction, and maybe I got a bit⌠okay, a lot embarrassed afterward, but canât they just let it goâŚ?
âRight⌠Itâs not me whoâs weird, itâs them. Yeah⌠Iâm normalâŚâ
Itâs definitely everyone else in this class whoâs weird, not me, for being so talkative on the first day.
The class is just set up in a way that makes me look abnormal, but if you consider the whole school, people like me who struggle with speaking are probably the norm.
Theyâre just a bunch of weirdly outgoing kids who happened to end up in this class, making me feel like the odd one out.
I tried to calm myself with these near-excuses of thoughts.
I was trying to calm myselfâŚ
âPhew⌠Calm down, calm downâŚâ
âWell⌠there sure are a lot of unique kids here, huh? But isnât that what makes it fun? Letâs get along well for the next year!â
âUghhhâŚâ
And with the teacherâs final blow, I was completely sunk before I could even do anything.
After that, I was half out of it. If I kept my wits about me, I felt like Iâd break for realâŚ
When break time came, I bolted to the bathroom, locked myself in a stall, and stayed there until it was over.
âIdiot⌠moron⌠loser⌠dumbass⌠trash⌠the only thing Iâm good for is reading novelsâŚâ
I muttered these things to myself to try to calm down.
âBlockhead?â
â?!!â
But even in the bathroom, I got caught, and I couldnât help but lose my mind from the shame.
I want to go back to my life before possessionâŚ
*
Class 1-1⌠There it is.
After the entrance ceremony, filled with all sorts of thoughts, I arrived at Class 1-1, the class the protagonist was assigned to in the original story.
Considering Han Jiyeonâs reactions, I started thinking I might need to consider taking the pure-love route.
Sure, this mess happened because I read harem stories, but at my core, Iâm a pure-love fan, so I could go that route if needed.
But I couldnât even think about a pure-love route with someone who might stab me at any moment, so I quickly gave up on drifting into that path.
How can it be pure love without love?
Iâd rather die when my limbs get cut off than resort to such pathetic measures just to survive.
Anyway, I arrived at the classroom and headed for the leftmost seat in the back.
Iâm not the type to listen diligently in class. In fact, thinking back to my school days, I got scolded for sleeping more than once or twice, so I picked the leftmost seat where I could nap comfortably.
And it seems I wasnât the only one with that ideaâa girl with black hair was already there, sleeping.
She wasnât even resting her head on her arms; she was just faceplanted on the desk. Sleeping like that must hurt her neck.
âHehe⌠HeheheâŚâ
Judging by her sleep-talking giggles, she must be having a happy dream.
It was a voice that genuinely lifted my mood.
Her voice was so pleasant, almost angelic, that I couldnât help but wonder what kind of happy dream she was having to make such joyful sleep-talk.
Oh, sheâs waking up.
She stopped sleep-talking and started lifting her head.
A smile bloomed on her face.
But I couldnât focus on that smile.
âŚWhy is Han Jiyeon sleeping here?
The girl who had just been sleeping was Han Jiyeon.
I was embarrassed. I knew very well that Han Jiyeon wasnât this kind of characterâshe was supposed to be someone who focused intensely on studying.
She was a character I genuinely liked and saw as real, so of course, I had memorized her actions in the story.
â??!!!?!â
Han Jiyeon, who just woke up, looked at me with a startled expression and then stared straight ahead.
The more I thought about it, the more her actions seemed too unusual.
Sure, Han Jiyeon had a tsundere personality, but she wasnât petty.
Even though she was the first heroine to be captured, she wasnât some sloppy-minded heroine who could be won over before the auto-capture button was even pressed.
I decided to change my approach.
First, Iâd observe Han Jiyeonâs actions and adapt to her changes. Since things were already so off from the start, I figured relying solely on the original story wouldnât work.
First⌠I should watch Han Jiyeon and build up my own strength as much as possible.
In the novel, the protagonist gives the heroines a lot of opportunities to grow, but I didnât think that way.
The heroine getting stronger led to me getting stabbed, so I thought I needed to get stronger myself to avoid that danger, not make the heroine stronger.
âHello, everyone! Today is the first class, so letâs keep it simple!â
The teacher, who was one of the heroines, came in, and the first class began.
Of course, I didnât listen to the class properly.
It was just orientation, and since I already knew all the class content from the novel, I could focus on observing Han Jiyeon without worry.
Glance.
â!âŚâ
Han Jiyeon glanced at me once, immediately noticed I was looking, and quickly faced forward again.
Sheâs cute.
Her trembling hands and unfocused, swaying eyes were adorable.
Hmm, this is my real heroine.
Soon, it was time for introductions.
In the original, I wouldâve just brushed it off, but since I was observing Han Jiyeon, I was curious how sheâd act differently, so I watched with interest.
âOkay, since itâs the first day, letâs start with introductions! Starting from the student on the right, letâs go slowly!â
The teacher spoke, and one by one, students shared their names and abilities.
I also gave the protagonistâs name and specialty appropriately.
And finally, when it was Han Jiyeonâs turnâŚ
âItâs Han Ji-yeonâŚ!â
I couldnât help but stare blankly at something beyond my imagination.
Was that the Han Jiyeon I knew? Did I mishear her name?
I donât know about much else, but seeing Han Jiyeonâs blushing face afterward was pretty fun.