SOS! I’m Being Forced to Be a Villain - Chapter 56

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 56

“…You were trying to open a box?”

“Damn, that’s what I said! What, did you think I was holding a knife and going crazy trying to kill someone or something… Ugh, urgh.”

My body trembled with a shudder. I quickly turned my head to check the source of the pain, and saw Kwon Tae-min wrapping my bleeding wrist tightly with cloth he’d gotten from somewhere.

It felt like he was interrogating me, saying ‘If you were just trying to open a box, then why did you get hurt?’ He probably wasn’t actually applying pressure to my wrist with that kind of ulterior motive, but I couldn’t help feeling intimidated by the groundless suspicion.

Moreover, I couldn’t bring myself to push Kwon Tae-min away. Not only because I couldn’t overpower him, as I’d experienced dozens of times before, but more because I was afraid of the tremendous pain I’d feel if he accidentally pressed too hard. I wanted to stay as docile and still as possible, leaving the wound alone and getting to the infirmary as quickly as possible.

Watching Kwon Tae-min tie the cloth in a tight knot, I fidgeted my fingertips anxiously. Seo Jung-hoo, who hadn’t taken his eyes off me, asked additionally.

“Why pull the blade all the way out? Even getting yourself hurt in the process?”

“Because the damn box wouldn’t open no matter what! And I didn’t mean to get hurt, it was an accident…”

I couldn’t finish my sentence and shut my mouth.

The blade, exposed only about the length of a finger joint, sliced through the tape effortlessly. There was no difficulty in the process. Seo Jung-hoo, who had quickly succeeded in opening the box lid, pushed the blade back in and set it down with a thud.

“Yeah, Baek-hwa. Want to say that again?”

The corners of Seo Jung-hoo’s eyes curved thinly.

“What was that about the box?”

“What the hell, you crazy…”

Was this also because Seo Jung-hoo was the main character, because he was the damn main protagonist receiving the System’s favoritism?

‘Those bastards…!’

“What’s so wrong with me using a box cutter in the first place? It’s not like I brought a kitchen knife, and it’s not like I pointed a blade at your faces like last time!”

“Right, you didn’t point it at our faces.”

Seo Jung-hoo’s eyes brushed over my cloth-wrapped wrist, then looked at me again.

“Let’s go to the infirmary.”

“I was going to go anyway…!”

“Kwon Tae-min.”

Before I could even feel any suspicious uneasiness, my body was lifted into the air as always.

Kwon Tae-min wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up effortlessly, as if picking up a doll. It was a humiliating situation that I never got used to, no matter how many times I experienced it.

Worried I might fall, I grabbed onto Seo Jung-hoo’s shoulder in front of me. But even so, my legs kept struggling relentlessly.

“You crazy bastards… Put me down right now! I told you on Saturday…!”

“Mind your own business.”

I froze at the low voice from behind me. Then Seo Jung-hoo in front added.

“We’ve heard you loud and clear already, so you can stop saying it now. How many times have you said that? You think we just ignored it all?”

“Then just…!”

“What if you collapse again while walking? Let’s go to the infirmary first and talk there. Got it?”

They said they’d heard what I’d told them countless times, but their actions remained unchanged and selfish as always.

I remembered the motorcycle from Saturday that had rushed toward me and barely managed to avoid me. Biting my trembling lips hard, I dug my nails into Seo Jung-hoo’s collar and gripped it.

“…Starting today, no matter what happens, I’m going home alone.”

Both of them stopped moving abruptly after starting to lead me forward. However, despite the few seconds of awkward silence, Seo Jung-hoo calmly turned around.

“First, let’s go to the infirmary…”

“Just try following me. I won’t let any of you off easy.”

Seo Jung-hoo, who had been about to take a step forward, finally stopped in place. He took a deep breath and slowly turned his head.

“Is this because of what I said last Saturday? I’m sorry. If you’d just give me a chance, I’d like to sincerely apologize.”

“I have no intention of giving you any such chance. I have no intention of forgiving you or making up with either of you.”

“…Why all of a sudden?”

A cool, monotone voice interjected. I felt the grip around my waist tighten and loosen faintly.

“I thought you didn’t hate going home with us that much.”

Kwon Tae-min’s shameless question was absurd. I let out a loud, deliberate laugh for them to hear and rolled my eyes sarcastically.

“How would you know whether I like it or hate it? Are you magicians? Mind readers?”

It’s not like I ever said I liked it.

“Don’t you know better than anyone how desperately I resisted? Or did you want to rationalize it that badly?”

They put forward the justification that Yu Baek-hwa is someone who collapses from excessive stress, so they need to help her. Even while making such efforts, seeing her condition worsen, they refuse to consider that they might be the cause.

“You know that’s really disgusting and selfish, right?”

The smile on Seo Jung-hoo’s lips finally crumbled. The hand he’d extended to support me couldn’t quite reach and hovered around in the air.

Seo Jung-hoo moved his lips for a moment, then smiled brightly again.

“First, let’s go to the infirmary. There we can…”

I removed my hand from Seo Jung-hoo’s shoulder. Instead, this time I grabbed Kwon Tae-min’s hands around my waist and deliberately dug my nails in.

“Let go. Let go and get lost, both of you.”

“…Going home alone is dangerous.”

At Kwon Tae-min’s pathetic rebuttal, I put even more force into my fingertips.

“How old do I have to be for it to be dangerous to go home alone in broad daylight? Has that useless head of yours finally decided to stop working?”

“Yu Baek-hwa.”

I looked up. I glared at Seo Jung-hoo with fierce eyes.

“What. What other bullshit are you going to spout…”

“You have some other reason, don’t you.”

My body trembled with a start.

“It’s not simply because you hate and find us disgusting, not because going home with us is uncomfortable, but there’s another main reason, isn’t there.”

His crumpled face relaxed and his eyes shook finely.

“Can’t you tell us about it?”

I wanted to tell them. I desperately wanted to tell everyone about it too. I wanted to report that some crazy entity was threatening me with my life as leverage, and if possible, live alone with all dangerous factors removed.

But I couldn’t, could I.

It was the System’s fault, but on the other hand.

“Because of you guys…”

“Yu Baek-hwa, what did you say?”

Seo Jung-hoo asked back at my quiet muttering and tilted his head slightly. Glaring at him, I screamed.

“Damn, I said it’s because of you bastards! Because you keep trying to cling to me, that monster is trying to kill me…!”

Wait, wait a minute.

I belatedly came to my senses and covered my mouth. This was on a completely different level from just being startled because a nerve had been hit.

The hand covering my mouth trembled violently. Soon a red System window appeared like a warning over my vision that was losing focus and becoming hazy.

All words and actions that reveal the truth and reality of this world to subjects who become protagonists in the novel are forbidden.

A threatening, undulating, clear warning message. And I had already half-violated that message.

Monster. That was clearly a word referring to the System. Not human, not anything else, but a monster-like entity from outside this world.

My vision spun, perhaps from the surging stress. As my head swayed as if it might fall backward at any moment, Kwon Tae-min, who had been anxiously watching me, carefully set me down. But now that my feet were on the ground, it wouldn’t make much difference.

I barely managed to maintain my balance with simultaneous support from Seo Jung-hoo in front and Kwon Tae-min behind. But my overwhelming breathing that made my chest rise and fall rapidly wouldn’t calm down at all.

“Are you okay? Yu Baek-hwa, can you hear me?”

“Just carry her to the infirmary…”

My eardrums rang dully. After staggering several more times, I violently shook off their hands.

Fortunately, instead of wrestling with me, they obediently let go.

“…Calm down. Calm down, and then let’s go to the infirmary.”

I staggered while letting incomprehensible words go in one ear and out the other. Backing away like that, I suddenly spun around and ran out.

I quickly escaped the art room. Deliberately ignoring the ear-splitting noise pouring from behind, I focused only on getting away and escaping this place.

I swiftly turned corners and jumped down the stairs three or four steps at a time. Of course, with my terrible stamina and physical abilities, it was quite difficult to flee. Because of that, I nearly fell several times, but I managed to hold on by grabbing nearby fixtures and catching my breath repeatedly.

Before long, I reached the infirmary. The school nurse, discovering me with my face flushed red and soaked in sweat, hurriedly prepared a bed for me.

Lying down on the mattress that was more hard than soft, I squeezed my eyes shut and gasped for rough breaths. At least for this moment, I didn’t want to think about anything at all.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————