I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game-Chapter 312: And

A few days after Shin Se-hee's press conference.

I was sitting at home on the couch with my party members, watching the news on TV.

"Jin Yu-ha, look at this. It’s all over the news!"

Lee Yuri, who was munching on snacks next to me, turned her phone toward me.

[ Africa, Demonic Gate! Cheonhwa’s Warning Becomes Reality. ]

[ Decision to Clear the Demonic Gate Independently. Utopia’s Support Declined!? Is This Baseless Arrogance or Confidence? ]

[ African Authorities Announce the Formation of a Western Alliance with the U.S. and U.K. to Defeat the Threat. ]

"Tsk, is this really a good idea?"

"What if they all end up dead?"

└ "Come on, Utopia took care of it with just one party, and now three nations have joined forces. There's no way they’ll fail, right?"

└ "Yeah, exactly. If Utopia's party did it, they should be able to handle it too."

"Wait, what? Seriously... Utopia offered to help, so why are they refusing?"

└ "Even if Utopia is capable, you can't rely on them for everything."

└ "Why not?"

└ "What, you want Utopia to cook their food, clean their rooms, and bathe them too?"

└ "If Jin Yu-ha did all that for me, I'd love it."

└ "LOL, why not?"

└ "Hah, other countries need to develop their own strength, you idiots."

└ "Waaah! I don’t care! Yu-ha should do everything for me! Feed me! Bathe me! Clean my room!! Do everything!! Waaaah!"

"Pfft! The internet is seriously too funny these days," Lee Yuri laughed out loud, nearly spilling her snacks as she read the comments.

"I doubt we’ll be getting any requests from Utopia for a while," Shin Se-hee said as she sipped her coffee.

"Hmm, you think so?"

[ "We, the Western Alliance, will not stand idly by in the face of this national crisis!" ]

On the TV, hunters from various nations, equipped with dazzling gear, were holding a military parade, delivering speeches to the cheering crowd that surrounded them.

"Yes. If we had taken a stance without the Academy’s support, it might have been different. But since we involved the Academy, it’s not a welcome development for them," Shin Se-hee explained.

"So, they’re in for quite a tough time, huh..."

In other words, those people on the screen are likely headed for disaster. No matter how much information I’ve shared about the Demonic Gates, experiencing it firsthand is an entirely different story.

The Demonic Gates, by nature, require at least a three-star ranking to survive.

That’s why I’d gone through so much effort to raise our ranks in the first place.

Swoosh.

Suddenly, Shin Se-hee’s hand gently rested on top of mine.

"The initial casualties are inevitable. Jin Yu-ha, please don’t let it weigh too heavily on your heart," she said, her voice calm but serious.

"Huh?"

I turned my head to look at her.

Shin Se-hee’s gaze met mine—serious, sincere, and unwavering.

"If we hadn’t involved the Academy, they would’ve tried to exploit it as a weakness. So..."

"...?"

I looked at her, slightly confused.

"I mean, I already know that. It doesn’t really bother me, honestly."

"...Huh?"

Now it was Shin Se-hee’s turn to look surprised. Actually, it wasn’t just her—the entire party was staring at me in disbelief.

‘Wait... do they really think I care about those people dying?’

Hah.

I let out a small, ironic laugh in my head.

What do they even think of me? Do they see me as one of those self-sacrificing heroes from another world, someone who’s always ready to charge at the demon lord, driven by ideals of righteousness and selflessness? Those kinds of "noble" heroes who flip out at the mere thought of anyone making sacrifices?

If that’s the case, they couldn’t be more mistaken.

"Look, I honestly don’t care what happens to those people."

I shrugged as I spoke.

"R-Really?"

Despite my words, the party still looked at me with doubt.

Seriously, what kind of person do they think I am?

"Sure, it’s a bit unfortunate, but on the flip side, it’ll wake people up to the danger. I think it’s actually a good thing."

"Then why did you take so many risks before?" Senior Ga-eul asked, her arm draped over the back of the sofa.

Even Ga-eul? The one I thought was less concerned about these things?

‘...Maybe they think that because I’ve always rushed into situations when things got dangerous?’

It seemed like I needed to clear up some misconceptions with my team.

Ahem.

"The reason I took risks before was because if we didn’t eliminate the threats early on, they’d grow into something that could endanger us in the future. It wasn’t out of some lofty sense of duty or heroism."

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.

Well, I guess this is the first time I’ve ever talked about this with the entire party.

"Honestly, if I were to put it bluntly, my priority is us—our Utopia team, my master, and... well, Lina too, I guess? And your families, of course. Because if your families were in danger, it would hurt you. As long as the people around me are safe, I don’t really care about anything else."

That was the truth. The reason I fought, the reason I pushed myself, was because of them.

When I first ended up in this world, I had one simple goal: survive.

I had thought about becoming a streamer or making money somehow because, in this world where the roles of men and women are reversed, that seemed like an easy path.

But then I realized that if the player didn’t act, this world would fall apart. And as a mere one-star "trash" character, Jin Yu-ha, my chances of surviving were close to zero.

So I worked to keep myself alive. And that small, narrow goal had gradually expanded.

Lee Yuri, Kang Do-hee, Shin Se-hee, Senior Ga-eul, Sophia, Ichika, my master, Director Lina... and now even Alice, who had just joined Utopia.

These people had become more than just my comrades—they were like family to me.

‘...Wow. Admitting that feels really embarrassing.’

My face flushed with heat from the embarrassment, but I figured it was time to open up about these things to them.

"I don’t have a family."

They already knew that. But what I was talking about now wasn’t about Jin Yu-ha, the character, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° but about my previous life before I came to this world.

"I grew up as an orphan, never knowing my parents, so... as you can guess, it wasn’t easy."

In my past life, I had grown up in an orphanage, always on the outskirts of society, never quite fitting in.

I had formed some relationships here and there, but none of them had been deep or meaningful.

In my previous world, orphans weren’t as common, even with the "gate disaster" looming, so there was still a lot of prejudice and hardship associated with being one.

"And so, without anyone to rely on, I was just scraping by, day by day... until I met all of you."

Yes. What had saved me was the game, Velvet School Life. They might think we met at the Academy, but for me, it was long before that.

When nothing else in life brought me joy, this game—and the characters in it—were my only source of solace.

Each character’s story, their struggles, their growth.

It might sound ridiculous, but watching them overcome their challenges brought me comfort, and I was able to feel emotions again through them.

So, I had been indebted to them for a long time already.

A regular guy from modern society who would’ve been terrified of even a kitchen knife was now throwing himself into life-threatening battles—all because I had met them.

"Uh... I might not really understand what having a family is like, but... I think of all of you as what people call family. And... I don’t want any of you to get hurt or suffer. That’s why I do it."

Wow. This was the first time I’d ever spoken about my feelings so openly. It was even more embarrassing than I had imagined.

‘But... why is everyone so quiet?’

I cleared my throat, sneaking a glance at the party members.

Sniff—

The one to break the silence was, surprisingly, Kang Do-hee.

"...Kang Do-hee, are you... crying?"

"Who’s crying!?" she shouted.

"H-Hey! I’ll be your family! I’ll be your family!!" Senior Ga-eul suddenly wailed as she threw her arms around my neck from behind.

Then the rest of the party started closing in on me one by one.

"Jin Yu-ha!" "Jin Yu-ha!" "Jin Yu-ha!" "Master!"

"...Instructor. I mean, Senior."

‘Alice... you too?’

Although she only grabbed my arm tightly, the problem was—

‘Ack! I can’t breathe!!!’

I tapped Senior Ga-eul’s arm, trying to signal that I was suffocating, but my desperate call for help seemed to go unnoticed.