IRHWSDD 09

Turns Out I Was the Weakest in School

Crash! Bang!

Something fell loudly.

On the hallway floor sat a thin blond young man. It seemed he had been secretly listening to the conversation.

The man with sly, drooping eyes like a raccoon was Chad, the vice president of the student council.

The eyes that had widened in shock when he fell slowly returned to their usual half-lidded, lazy charm.

Unlike Matian’s solid build, Chad was tall and thin. His slightly loose uniform looked stylish on him.

“……What are you doing, Chad?”

Matian held out his hand. Chad grabbed it, stood up, and complained with a sulky face.

“I heard the part about Rukna losing his memory. I answered in advance so you wouldn’t have to ask, Matian.”

“Even if you knew, eavesdropping isn’t good.”

“I can’t ignore something I’m curious about. Managing ‘students of interest’ is also my job.”

“Ha…”

Matian let out a short sigh and left Rukna’s room.

Chad followed lazily and waved weakly at Rukna.

“Hey, Luka! If losing your memory is hard, tell me.”

“Ah, huh?”

Luka? Was he calling her?

Rukna stared quietly at Chad, who shortened her name however he liked.

“We’re the student council. If a ‘student of interest’ has trouble, we’ll help with anything.”

Chad winked and left while whistling.

A student of interest? Rukna tilted her head.

‘Do I really need help?’

Rukna looked down at her uniform and bit her lip. Dirty footprints were stamped on it like seals.

It had been four days since she tried to adjust to life at the academy.

During that time, she learned many things about this body.

First, Rukna was famous as the academy’s eternal last place.

It seemed she had no friends. In four days, no cadet had spoken to her except the student council.

Second, Rukna was registered as a “student of interest” and was under the student council’s watch, disguised as care.

It also seemed she had been constantly bullied by a certain group.

And finally—

Right now, she was surrounded by what seemed to be that same group.

The boys, who looked like boiled potatoes, stared down at her with mocking faces.

After seeing only handsome men since coming to this world, seeing these boiled-vegetable types made things feel strangely real.

“Yo, Rukna Golden. Long time no see?”

“Ah, hi. Haha…”

“Hi? Did he just say hi to me? Guys.”

Hans turned back to his group and snorted. They burst into laughter with him.

“You ran away and came back with guts? You’re just an adopted brat with not a single drop of Golden Count blood!”

Hans’s fat finger poked Rukna’s forehead.

Each time he poked her, her body moved back.

Clang. Her back hit the long hallway lockers. There was nowhere left to escape.

“W-Why are you doing this to me?”

“You said you lost your memory. Did you really forget? Do you even know what day it is today? Huh?”

His small knot-like eyes widened as he pressured her.

‘How would I know that?’

She tried to act brave, but her shoulders shrank inward.

She had only heard about school bullying before. Facing it herself made her hands and feet shake.

“Why didn’t you buy the wild rabbit bread and two bottles of milk from the shop in front? We’re hungry because of you!”

Wow. Even in a medieval fantasy world, bread errands exist.

Rukna looked up at him in disbelief.

Her previous life as Kim Hayoon hadn’t been easy, and this new life wasn’t smooth either.

“So what if you lost your memory? You still have to do what you’re told. Or else!”

Ugh.

Her body shrank instinctively like a shrimp dropped into boiling water.

“Hahaha! Look at him!”

Ah… it must have looked too pathetic.

Rukna slowly lowered her arms from her face and straightened her bent back, but the potato gang was still laughing hard.

‘Go ahead and laugh. Even I think it’s funny. So how funny must it be for you?’

She bit her lip and called for the Holy Sword.

‘Hi, Bisbi. Help me.’

「I’m sorry, Master. Your 모습 just now was too embarrassing. The great Holy Sword will briefly check heaven’s answer.」

‘Heaven’s answer?’

「I will reconfirm whether you are truly my master. Then this embarrassment will calm down. Estimated inspection time: 14 minutes and 58 seconds.」

‘What kind of Holy Sword feels embarrassed?!’

Hey, Bisbi. Bisbi?

No matter how desperately she called in her mind, there was no reply.

Just then, the student council she had seen yesterday passed down the hallway.

Matian, properly dressed like a student council president, wore a gentle smile.

Chad walked lazily beside him, yawning with his uniform loosely hanging.

Behind them followed Bolton, the giant-like secretary, and Aaron, the small treasurer about Rukna’s size.

They were busy discussing student council matters as they walked.

As the council approached, Hans’s group suddenly threw an arm around Rukna’s shoulder, pretending to be friendly.

“Smile.”

Hans gritted his teeth and pressed down on her shoulder.

Chad waved at her.

“Yawn. Hi, Luka. You have a lot of friends today.”

At Chad’s greeting, Matian’s gaze, which had been on another cadet, quietly turned toward Rukna.

Though his lips held a smile, the blue eyes looking at her were still cold.

“Well, I’m not really—ugh.”

Rukna tried to speak honestly but groaned.

Hans’s arm tightened painfully around her shoulder.

‘You bastard!’

She tried to pull his arm away, but it wouldn’t budge.

Meanwhile, Hans smiled and waved at Chad.

“Hi, Chad. I’m playing with Rukna right now. Let’s hang out later.”

“Sure, sure. Take good care of Luka, Hans.”

Chad stretched and continued walking.

Matian and the others followed, disappearing at the end of the busy hallway.

The moment they vanished, Hans grabbed Rukna by the collar.

“You still haven’t learned, have you? Your lips look like a girl’s and they’re as loose as a pig’s bladder.”

“Ugh, I can’t breathe. Let go!”

Rukna scratched the back of his hand hard with her nails.

His skin split, and Hans frowned.

“So you didn’t just lose your memory. You lost your manners too. Want me to help you find them again?”

With that, he opened a cleaning supply cabinet at the edge of the hallway.

He pulled out a long mop—

And shoved Rukna inside.

“What?! Open this right now!”

She banged her fists against the metal door, but it wouldn’t open.

From outside, they had wedged the mop across the handles like a lock.

‘This feels strange.’

For no reason, she couldn’t breathe. Her limbs trembled.

An unexplainable fear rose from beneath her feet and tightened around her.

‘The original Rukna Golden must have been afraid of closed spaces.’

That must be why Giselle had sent her in an open carriage.

Even if the soul had changed, the body still remembered its fear.

“O-Open… open it.”

She tried to take deep breaths while pounding on the cabinet.

But beyond the thin metal door, she only heard faint laughter fading away.

“Open… it…”

It became harder to make a sound.

Her breathing grew rough and fast.

She called for the Holy Sword again, but there was no answer.

Was this panic disorder? Or claustrophobia?

Her mind slowly turned white.

Dong. Dong.

The bell from the tower rang in the distance, announcing the next class.

Then—

Clack. Thud.

Something slipped from the metal door.

The cabinet that wouldn’t open no matter how much she hit it slowly creaked open.

A thin beam of white light slipped through the narrow gap.

‘I’m saved!’

She wanted to jump out immediately—

But she hesitated.

She didn’t want anyone to see her in such a messy state.

She tightly clasped her shaking hands, took deep breaths, wiped the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve, and steadied her legs.

‘Okay. Stay calm and thank them properly.’

She stepped out of the cabinet.

And—

‘What is going on?’

There was no one there.

The hallway was completely empty.

‘Did it open by itself?’

All that remained was the mop, broken in half, and a faint scent of perfume in the air.

‘I’ve smelled this before.’

She sniffed like a puppy, but couldn’t remember whose scent it was.

‘Why would they help me and leave without a word?’

Leaving silently meant they didn’t want credit.

After all, getting involved with someone who was bullied brought no benefit.

So they must have secretly helped her and left.

“Still… thank you.”

She murmured to the empty hallway.

Then she thought of Hans and his group.

‘I won’t let this happen twice.’

She bent down, picked up the broken mop, and used its sharp end to carve her name into the corner of the cabinet door.

The door was already covered with random scratches and graffiti, so one more name didn’t stand out.

But to her, it meant something.

A mark that she had survived here today.

Did they think she would break over something like this?

Do they know how expensive my life is?

‘I will survive no matter what!’

She threw the stick away, dusted off her hands, and ran toward the classroom.

The dirty smell of the mop clung to her clothes.

But that was something she could wash away.