I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game-Chapter 300: Is that bastard laughing?

The next morning.

“Ughhh...”

Min Tae-hoon groaned as he got up from the dormitory bed. His entire body screamed in agony after the grueling training session the day before.

To be honest, he felt the same desire to give up as the other male quota members who were rising from their beds with dead eyes.

‘I don't even need to endure this kind of training...’

It had been so exhausting that he even had nightmares, something that hadn’t happened since he became a Demon.

‘Hah, a dream about Jin Yoo-ha kidnapping me in the middle of the night? Seriously.’

In the dream, Jin Yoo-ha had tied him to a chair, not leaving even a sliver of space for escape.

It must have left quite an impression on him, that first encounter with Jin Yoo-ha.

And frankly, it made sense. Yesterday, when Jin Yoo-ha had stared at him...

He had felt an instinctive fear, like a frog caught in the gaze of a snake.

Even though he had tightly concealed his demonic energy, Jin Yoo-ha had noticed something was off. Now, Min Tae-hoon could understand why Jin Yoo-ha was known among the Demons as the "Sword Demon," a title following in the wake of the infamous "Butcher Girl."

‘None of the other instructors at the academy noticed anything, but he sensed something was wrong by himself.’

Remembering that handsome face made a cold sweat break out on his back again.

But then, Min Tae-hoon shook his head.

‘Still, even Jin Yoo-ha couldn’t resist the power of my lies.’

Yes, the power he possessed was not something any mere mortal could withstand.

With that thought, his confidence began to rise again.

‘First, I need to narrow down the candidates for sacrifices.’

And the first prey would be the male quota members groaning around him.

 Early in the morning, Jin Yoo-ha stood before the new students just as he had the day before.

“Good morning. Let’s warm up and move right into the second day of training.”

The second day’s training, relentless as ever, was even more grueling than the previous day’s.

It was a brutal test of physical and mental limits. Sweat poured off them, and their bodies felt like they were drowning in exhaustion.

But no one could open their mouths to complain about the unfairness of it all—because Jin Yoo-ha was right there beside them, completing training that was several times more intense than theirs.

The only one who managed to keep up with him was Alice.

Even the special admission students were on the verge of collapse, so how could the male quota members last?

Whereas they had barely lasted thirty minutes the day before, this time, the male quota members couldn’t even hold out for ten minutes.

In contrast, Min Tae-hoon continued training with the special admission students until the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° end.

After the morning training concluded, the special admission students and male quota members naturally split into their own groups for lunch.

Once it was just the male quota members together...

“This is bullshit. How is this even real training?”

They wasted no time in airing their grievances.

“Jin Yoo-ha’s doing this on purpose, right? He’s trying to humiliate us.”

Once full of admiration for Jin Yoo-ha, any trace of that feeling had disappeared from their eyes.

“I’m a healer, for god’s sake! What’s the point of putting me through this stamina training? This is just nonsense.”

“Exactly. He got to where he is by getting all the best resources and building up his body. Did you see how he looked down on us like we were pathetic?”

“Hey, keep your voice down. What if someone hears you?”

A more timid male quota member nervously glanced around, lowering his voice.

But those who had already succumbed to rage weren’t listening.

“Screw it, let them hear. Does anyone here not know that Jin Yoo-ha got a boost by cozying up to Chunhwa and Dog Warrior?”

That shut everyone up.

It was common knowledge. The story of how Jin Yoo-ha, an unknown male quota student, suddenly skyrocketed to fame by associating with Chunhwa and Dog Warrior, the academy’s most promising talents, had spread far and wide.

“Honestly, think about it. He trained with Chunhwa and Dog Warrior, got all the best gear, and even got equipment boosts. If he didn’t become strong, that would be the strange part.”

“He was born with a pretty face and leeches off amazing women. What a playboy.”

A mood of agreement spread among the male quota students.

Frankly, it was hard to believe a man could stand side by side with women like that without serious backing.

“Ugh, it pisses me off just thinking about what bullshit he’s going to pull during afternoon training.”

At that moment, Min Tae-hoon, who had been quietly listening to their complaints, finally spoke.

“Then why don’t we get stronger too?”

Their expressions immediately darkened. No one here had a favorable opinion of Min Tae-hoon. After all, he had been the only one able to keep up with Jin Yoo-ha’s training.

But their eyes shifted when he continued speaking.

“Sorry, but I used a little trick.”

“...A trick?”

Min Tae-hoon lowered his voice and leaned in.

“Yeah, my parents gave me a drug.”

“...!!!”

“It’s a drug that can make even men incredibly strong.”

At his words, the others’ eyes widened in disbelief.

How dare he secretly use something like that? They felt betrayal rising in their chests.

But, as if expecting this reaction, Min Tae-hoon smirked and continued.

“I can give you some, too.”

“What!?”

To prove he wasn’t lying, he pulled out a box from his pocket and opened it, revealing dozens of small, black pills inside.

“But even for me, relying on the drug is starting to reach its limits.”

“...What do you want?”

They weren’t stupid. They knew that making this kind of offer meant Min Tae-hoon wanted something in return.

But Min Tae-hoon stepped back with a sly smile.

“You said something interesting earlier.”

“...Interesting?”

“Yeah, about how Jin Yoo-ha got strong by getting close to Kang Do-hee and Shin Se-hee. So why don’t we do the same and get close to the special admission students?”

“The special admission students? Chunhwa and Iron Wall?”

“Us?”

The male quota members exchanged glances.

“Yeah, honestly, Chunhwa seems like the type who’s easy to get along with. She’s straightforward and doesn’t seem like she holds grudges. Iron Wall, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to know anything about men. If we push hard enough, she’ll probably give in.”

Hearing Min Tae-hoon, of all people, lead the way with such crude jokes, the male quota students began to bond over their shared sentiments.

“I can’t rely on this drug forever. We need to find our own way to ride the wave. And women love a good reversal. Just imagine it: a weak guy suddenly transforms and starts following them around. They’ll be thinking, ‘Was this guy always like this?’ and start falling for us.”

“Okay, fine, we get it. Just tell us what you want.”

One of the larger male quota students, clearly eager for the drug, pressed him for an answer.

Grinning, Min Tae-hoon distributed the pills among the male quota members.

“What I want is simple.”

Though they didn’t know it, the pills he handed out contained the seeds of demonic energy.

Once they ingested it, their emotions and the demonic energy would interact, creating the perfect vessels for summoning a Demon.

“Alice.”

From the moment he first saw her, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off that woman.

Elegant, self-sufficient, and utterly aloof—she only had eyes for Jin Yoo-ha. And it seemed Jin Yoo-ha, in turn, paid her more attention than he did to the other students.

But what if he could steal her away from Jin Yoo-ha?

Alice wasn’t meant to be a sacrifice to summon a Demon.

She was meant to be his prize.

Min Tae-hoon planned to corrupt Alice and, with her help, escape after summoning the Demon.

Summon the Demon, win the girl. A perfect two-for-one deal.

“You can have Chunhwa and Iron Wall. Just help me when I go after her.”

Of course, this was all just a cover to give them the demonic seeds.

In truth, Chunhwa and Iron Wall were also intended to be sacrifices.

Unaware of this, the male quota members nodded in agreement, grinning as they did.

“...This Demon bastard is smiling.”

“Leave him. He’s having a nice dream, isn’t he?”

At the Utopia hideout.

The entire Utopia party, minus Jin Yoo-ha, was gathered around a large screen displaying Min Tae-hoon’s dream.

“...Wow.”

“I honestly hate those male quota freshmen more than this Demon bastard... They’re the worst.”

“This is what those newbies actually said about us behind our backs, right?”

Kang Do-hee asked, and Ichika nodded in response.

“Yeah, my ghosts caught everything and relayed it to me. It’s important to base things on reality so the dream feels authentic.”

So, all the words those male quota members were saying in the dream were things they had actually said.

The only difference was that, in reality, Min Tae-hoon had taken a personal day and left the academy early.

To think those bastards dared to talk trash about Jin Yoo-ha...

Kang Do-hee’s fingers twitched with the urge to teach them a lesson.

Im Ga-eul let out a long sigh.

“I really thought at least one male quota student this year would be decent, or at least half as good as our juniors.”

Even Im Ga-eul, who always wore a gentle smile, had a hardened expression.

To think that the male quota students of this academy could say such things... It made her all the more aware of how different Jin Yoo-ha was from the others.

The reason they were all gathered to watch this?

Oddly enough, it was because of Ichika’s reservations.

Out of nowhere, Ichika had canceled all her dream appointments.

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a secret from Jin Yoo-ha...?”

Lee Yu-ri scratched her cheek and asked Ichika.

“We didn’t have much of a choice. There’s no better way to make a Demon summon without any casualties.”

Shin Se-hee chimed in, agreeing with Ichika.

“B-but, Ichika... you didn’t get caught, did you? With what we did in the dream?”

“No, I only showed him the schedule.”

“W-what!? You showed him that...?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t show him the actual details.”

Ichika replied nonchalantly.

‘This girl. She did it on purpose!’

The entire Utopia party stiffened.

No one wanted their private fantasies and desires to be exposed to Jin Yoo-ha.

“R-really, Ichika? You didn’t say anything, right?”

Im Ga-eul, who had the most to lose, asked nervously.

“Yeah. I didn’t tell him that there’s a certain senior who wanted to defeat him in a dream by pretending to be a teacher, even going so far as to write out an entire script, and who nitpicked every little detail from the lines to the setting, trying to make it perfect.”

“S-senior...?”

It was the first time anyone had seen Ichika talk so much.

Clearly, she had a lot of pent-up frustrations.

“Cough, cough!”

“Ahem!”

“I-I won’t do it again!”

Everyone awkwardly cleared their throats. After all, no one was completely innocent.

“Alright, fine.”

Ichika smiled mischievously.

‘I think it’s not so bad to like the same person as these people.’

And with that, Ichika quickly became one of the top-ranking members of the Utopia party.