308 – The Name You Call Me -3-

“I’m fine.”

I said in a calm voice to the trembling Mikhail.

No matter how much Mikhail swung his sword, he wouldn’t hurt me.

Even if he imbued his sword with aura.

Even if he aimed for my vital points in a moment of carelessness.

Mikhail’s sword couldn’t reach me.

“Stop it!”

“I’m really fine.”

The gap between her and me.

“I.”

There was a wall.

“Because I’m strong.”

-Kagagaga!

Mikhail’s body was swept across the floor by the greatly swung sword. Unable to easily control his body due to the intense impact, Mikhail staggered, and I let out a bitter laugh and lightly loosened my wrist.

“Shall we start the after-hours lecture?”

“Just kill me! I don’t want to hurt you.”

—

—

“Are you saying that you can defeat me?”

“That’s not what I mean! I just don’t want to hurt you….”

“Don’t worry. I won’t charge you for the extra lesson….”

I lightly swung my sword.

-Ka-kak!

And Mikhail received the sword, holding back tears.

The reason I care about Mikhail is not just because he’s a friend, but also for the selfish reason of wanting to make this world I live in a peaceful place.

Ruine, Mikhail, Yuria, and the Crown Prince. These four were the central figures in the novel. I had no choice but to treat them favorably.

The name of the novel I possessed is ‘The Strongest in the Academy Like Me,’ but what can an extra, not even a supporting character, do? Flattering them was the privilege of the possessor, so I enjoyed that privilege to the fullest.

“Counterattack.”

“Please! Just…!”

“I said do it.”

Unfortunately, Ruine crossed that line, but there were things to be careful of in a world where the protagonists existed openly.

“Hold your sword straight.”

“…Don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.”

“No.”

I spoke firmly to the trembling Mikhail.

“This is necessary.”

So that things don’t go according to Yung’s plan.

Yung must have drawn this picture.

A picture of choosing death for a precious person. Because he drew such a provocative picture, he must be staying in this battlefield where sword strikes are pouring in from time to time.

“Good… This is the picture. More desperately… More…!”

But there was something Yung overlooked.

“I will start again.”

“…Stop it!”

“Hold your sword tightly.”

It must be the fact that I am someone who can beat Mikhail without any burden. Rather, it was not a bad experience as it was an opportunity to relieve stress and train her even more strongly.

From the beginning, I am a selfish person.

To lighten the weight that the possessor has to bear, I put the burden on them.

—

—

In countless creations, the possessed sacrificed themselves to move towards a happy ending, but I didn’t have such a merciful heart.

I was overwhelmed with just the happiness of the lady.

I had to stop Hannah’s wandering.

It was overwhelming just to make the people inside the fence smile, and if the main characters wavered, I had to move for the sake of the broken peace.

“…”

Mikhail had to stand firm. As an extra, I could relatively enjoy life.

“If you don’t come to your senses, your arm will be cut off.”

“Ugh…”

“Yes, like that…”

The more adversities Mikhail overcame, the less danger he had to bear. How could I hate him? I couldn’t show my hatred, that was my position now.

But.

No, really…

“Please stop!”

Now that she had come into my fence, what could I do? I wiped my sword with a bitter smile.

Mikhail, who was breathing heavily, looked at me with tearful eyes and said.

“Stop it now… It’s all my fault. Please stop…”

“Listen.”

“Ricardo!”

“I said listen. How long are you going to live hiding?”

I was standing here, feeling a mix of love and hate towards Mikhail.

Anger from the academy.

Memories from the slums.

And compassion as a person.

I was holding the sword with complex emotions.

Mikhail looked at the sword that wouldn’t fall from his hand with resentful eyes and said.

“I… I… can’t do it anymore.”

Mikhail forced his body to move and expressed his sorrow.

“I can’t do it anymore!”

Heavy tears began to fall from Mikhail’s sobbing eyes. If he could, he would have said he wanted to cut off this arm right away, Mikhail lowered his head to the floor with a pitiful look.

“Why… do I have to keep hurting you?”

—

—

“Misa.”

“Why do I have to be trash to you!”

“Misa…!”

“I know! I know too! Damn it, I know I’m trash! Frustrating! Stupid! I know I’m trash that only sighs…!”

It was difficult.

“But…”

If I reveal the information I’ve hidden like this, I won’t know what to say when I come to my senses later.

“But… I was trying to change a bit…! Sniff..”

Moreover.

‘I think… I remember.’

I felt like I realized something from the past.

‘Since when.’

I bit my lip as I watched Mikhail belittle himself. I thought things had gone wrong.

Originally, I planned to kill Jung and return to normal, but seeing the mask of Misa, which was born out of Mikhail’s consideration, start to break, things began to get complicated.

The words she uttered.

“Why… do I always hurt you!”

“…”

“I couldn’t even talk about it…! I couldn’t even make excuses for why I did it…!”

Because they were words that couldn’t be spoken without recalling past memories, I bit my lip and clenched my fist.

‘Too early.’

Mikhail probably wasn’t ready yet. My lips dried at the sign that this relationship might break earlier than I thought.

Mikhail shouldn’t break down like the status window showed. For the future of the novel and for Mikhail as a person, I had no idea what kind of result it would bring.

“Stop it.”

“I wanted to change too….”

“Misa, stop it!”

“Now… I wanted to stop…!”

Memories sometimes become a huge burden.

-Kwagagagak!!

“Stop now…”

Mikhail seems unable to think about that burden.

—

—

If so.

-CRaaaCK…

Mikhail had to end this ill-fated relationship with his own hands.

Because.

It was for Mikhail’s sake.

I loosened my grip as I watched Mikhail’s approaching sword.

*

Mikhail felt that this moment was like hell.

-It’s okay.

Ricardo’s smile, receiving the sword with a calm expression, felt so pitiful.

Even in the moment of knowing everything, all he could do was hurt him.

Striking down with the sword.

Insulting with harsh words.

Kicking away kindness cruelly.

He learned the sword and tried to become stronger to return as a better person to the child in his memory, but the result of his efforts turned into thorns that pricked like a cactus, so he couldn’t smile.

His efforts were drying him up. How could he dare to smile?

“Stop it now….”

It would be better to just stop.

The efforts he had stubbornly endured seemed to make his faded memory of himself even more ugly.

The burden keeps piling up.

The burdens on his shoulders have become so heavy that they have reached the limit of what he can bear, and they keep piling up again and again.

There is no more place to stack them.

-Because I am strong.

Now his legs were trembling to the point of collapsing to the ground, what more could he do to say such words?

“…”

At that moment.

A cold voice pierced Mikhail’s ears strongly.

“Wait a moment.”

“…”

“Perhaps.”

—

—

“…”

“Do you think I’m your friend or something, Mikhail?”

“Huh…?”

“It seems like you’re mistaken.”

Ricardo’s voice was cold.

“You weren’t like this before.”

“…”

“It’s honestly hard to get used to this change.”

Ricardo spoke with words that sent chills down Mikhail’s spine, like holding cold ice in his mouth, while staring directly into his eyes with his sword pointed at him.

As if to say it wasn’t true.

With a pounding heart, Mikhail looked straight into Ricardo’s eyes and asked in a trembling voice.

“…You’re that kid.”

“What?”

“The one who cried with me in the slums… Lee Minhyuk.”

“Who is that man? Lee Minhyuk? What a peculiar name.”

“What are you talking about… Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“You seem to be under a huge misconception…”

Ricardo’s sword pressed in harder, lightly grazing Mikhail’s side.

“I’ve been Desmond since birth.”

“…To me, you were definitely.”

“That’s a lie.”

“What?”

“I said it’s a lie.”

“A lie?”

“I lied to see if I could gain anything.”

Ricardo asked Mikhail in a cruel voice.

“The person in your memory, were they as violent as me?”

“…No.”

“Did they beat people recklessly, annoy them?”

“No…”

—

“Look.”

Ricardo sneered as he glared at Mikhail, who had a bewildered expression on his face.

“You’ve got it all wrong.”

“…”

“Did you have a nightmare or something?”

“Really, no?”

“No.”

-Bang!

Ricardo kicked Mikhail hard in the abdomen, then sighed in frustration and shook his hair.

“I thought there would be something valuable, but this is just getting involved in a strange incident.”

“…”

“Think about it. If I were the person you remember, would I have grown up like this? That person wouldn’t have grown up to be a grumbling thug. He would have become a cool adult.”

Ricardo’s gaze was not looking into his eyes. He kept looking at something above his head, repeatedly hardening and relaxing his expression.

Mikhail didn’t notice Ricardo’s change. To Mikhail, it felt like a fierce storm was coming right now.

He hadn’t thought of that.

That all of this was a lie.

What the blue window showed.

The archbishop’s lie.

He couldn’t think that everything was a lie.

“Don’t be fooled!!!!”

Yung’s shout hit Mikhail’s ears hard.

“Don’t be fooled…! I know exactly! That b*stard is the same b*stard from back then!”

“What do you mean the same?”

“Kid… don’t ruin my script.”

“Let me have some fun too.”

“You…!!!”

Mikhail’s body couldn’t move according to his will.

Whether it was the truth or not.

He couldn’t stop this hand.

The moment Ricardo’s sword and Mikhail’s sword clashed.

‘Wait a moment….’

Mikhail could belatedly realize the flaw in Ricardo’s words.

‘Did he call me Mikhail…?’

The straight pronunciation of ‘Lee Minhyuk’ he had used.

At some point, he started calling himself ‘Mikhail.’

‘From the beginning….’

“Liar..”

“I realized it too late.”

‘He knew it.’

As the strength left the connected swords, Mikhail’s sword slashed strongly through Ricardo’s body.

“Crybaby kid.”

-Slice.

“You grew up well.”

***

‘…’

I squinted my eyes and looked at the still Mikhail.

‘Did he awaken…?’

Mikhail was walking towards Yung with a cold expression.

Honestly.

The cult leader’s orb was a bit scary.

‘Can’t be late for bath time.’