Chapter 21 – Midterms (2)

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

======================================

What exactly had I just heard?

Out of nowhere, Leon casually asked me where I had come from. What was the intent behind that question? Was I supposed to interpret it geographically?

“……”

Silence fell over the meeting room. I steadied the faintly trembling corners of my mouth and answered in as even a tone as I could.

What was this?

That serious gaze, that faint dryness in his eyes as if he were trying to measure me. I had no idea what intent was behind the question, but for me at least, it held a double meaning.

One was my background in this world as it plainly stood, and the other was the fact that I had come from another world entirely.

To begin with, the fact that he hadn’t asked during the introductions and had instead waited until all the other team members had left before asking meant there had to be some sort of reason…

For now, I decided to conceal the complicated feelings inside me and stay silent on that point. As my eyes narrowed more and more, Leon rubbed his cheek and apologized with a relaxed smile, easing the seriousness from his face.

“Sorry for suddenly saying something weird. I just wondered if maybe you were like me.”

Like him, huh…

Thanks to game-like convenience, Korean was the common language in this world, but various races still undeniably existed.

Even among the academy cadets alone, their hair colors were all flashy, but their appearances still differed a great deal depending on race.

Naturally, with a name like Kang Geom-ma, my appearance was that of a typical black-haired East Asian, while Leon, with his blond hair and blue eyes, was unmistakably Western. Unless that bastard’s eyesight was worse than 0.1, there was no way he couldn’t tell that difference.

Well, demonoids counted as a race too, but those were so varied that trying to classify them was pointless.

Wearing a faint smile, Leon broke the brief silence first.

“Pretend you didn’t hear what I just said. I’ll get going first.”

Saying that, Leon gave my shoulder a couple of light pats. If I let this bastard leave right now, I felt like the sense of wrongness would keep me up all night. My large hand caught Leon by the shoulder as he turned away.

“Leon, where did you come from?”

The sharpness in my voice jumped out reflexively. I tried to hide my flustered state, but there was no way any light tone was going to come out. I had no choice but to ask directly. The silence seeping into the walls thickened further.

At that, Leon smiled calmly, as though to loosen the stiffened atmosphere, and answered.

“Germany.”

After leaving behind a See you later, he walked out of the meeting room. I stared blankly at his back and thought.

What the hell was with that bastard?

* * *

After the meeting ended, I sat on the edge of the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling without even eating dinner. The reason was simple: I had no appetite whatsoever.

Was I just imagining it?

The unpleasant feeling wouldn’t go away. No matter how many times I retraced this and that in my head, no clear conclusion presented itself.

When Leon first asked me that, I had naturally thought that he too, if not from Earth specifically, was someone from another world.

There was no rule saying that the setting of being inserted into a game had to apply only to me. If anyone deserved a setting like that, it would make more sense for the protagonist than for a mere extra like me.

But the sharp instinct honed by manifesting the Blessing of the Sword God denied that possibility entirely. It felt as though something intangible was whispering to me that Leon was unquestionably a being of this world.

More than that, the Leon I saw today was perfectly the protagonist in every way, from the way he spoke to the way he acted. Even if you sat an actor down and told him to play the role, I was sure that level of perfection would be impossible.

Did he really ask where I was from? Was it really just nationality? It left too bad a taste in my mouth to decide that so easily. That line, I just wondered if maybe you were like me, kept catching in my mind and making the back of my neck burn. Lost in those thoughts, I buried my face into the bed.

Even during the time I played the game, protagonist Leon had always been a character full of hints and mysteries. Maybe it was the developers’ intention, but despite being the protagonist, he maintained an almost enigmatic atmosphere even toward the player.

…If only I’d known it would turn out like this, I should’ve at least checked the rough plot summary on NamuWiki. To think the day would come when I so desperately wanted a spoiler addict. I clicked my tongue bitterly and then abruptly rose to my feet.

Did I really need to think about it this hard?

Back then, if things had gotten tangled like this, I probably would’ve been mentally wrecked in all sorts of ways. But now, strangely enough, I was judging the situation with a calm head. The drained emotions weighing down my body vanished in an instant.

I’d already decided that getting entangled with Leon would end with this one midterm. If it really looked like I was going to keep getting dragged into it, I could just go to Media and stop it even if I had to.

I didn’t like the idea, but if I brought up top-student privileges, she’d probably grant one or two requests. Besides, Media had shown me a strange sort of fondness and had declared herself a reliable ally. There was no reason I couldn’t use that.

Even so, if my luck turned out to be so godawful that I kept getting entangled with him again, then next time I planned to handle it with my own hands.

Media herself downplayed the role as an honorary post, but the position of headmaster was, in name and reality, the highest office in Hoakin Academy, the greatest prestigious academy in the world.

In other words, at least within this place, most matters could be resolved with a single word from her. There was the academy council of elders as a check against her power, but those old fossils were famous for refusing to step in unless things were truly serious.

After organizing my thoughts, I opened my status window against the white wall.

Flash.

== ==

[Blessing of the Sword God]

If it cuts, it would be severed.

◎ Rank of the Flesh: (5▶7) ▷ The size restrictions on swords were eased.

◎ Rank of the Mind: 3 ▷ An aura of intimidation settles into words and actions.

◎ Rank of the Weapon: 1 ▷ Unlock conditions had not been met.

☆ Synchronization Rate: 2.5▶6.8% ▷ Unlock conditions would be fulfilled upon reaching 7%.

★【???】

[※ The blessing only activates for swords no longer than 35+(1) centimeters and narrower than 8+(1) centimeters.]

== ==

The ranks of Mind and Weapon were unchanged, but thanks to the fact that I’d still been training my body steadily in spare moments, the Rank of the Flesh had risen slightly.

As for the Rank of the Weapon, once I obtained Murasame, the reward for this exam, it would surely rise too.

Those upper three categories were intuitive and easy enough to understand.

Hm.

I narrowed my eyes and looked carefully at the status window. For some reason, only the rate of increase in Synchronization Rate felt abnormally steep. And the unlock condition was now right around the corner. I didn’t know what determined the rise in Synchronization Rate, but at this pace, the unlock condition would soon be met.

Since the number was written with an awkward decimal, I’d been thinking of it as something like experience points.

Still, there was something suspicious about it. All I’d really done so far was spar with Chloe using wooden swords and fight the subspace duel with Nox, but compared to how stingy the growth was in the three categories above, the Synchronization Rate alone felt strangely out of sync.

Maybe it wasn’t experience after all?

But more than anything, the thing I found most suspicious was the entry below Synchronization Rate. Unlike Synchronization Rate, which at least had changing numbers, this one was completely unmoving and offered nothing but three question marks without a single clue. Even if I touched it, it only gave a short beep and offered no further information.

Well, it seemed like some kind of hidden ability…

Then, lowering my gaze unconsciously a little more, I noticed that the bottom of the status window was sparkling. I moved my finger upward the way you scroll on a phone screen.

== ==

[Blessing of Painlessness]

The pain disappears completely.

[▷NEW! Activation time has been adjusted after fulfilling the minimum number of manifestations.]

== ==

“Huh?”

Stunned, my hand unconsciously touched the newly appeared line.

== ==

[※ Duration: 30▶40 seconds]

[※ Cooldown: 12 hours]

== ==

“Wow.”

An exclamation burst out of me before I knew it. The brutal activation time of thirty seconds had increased by a full ten seconds.

Judging by the fact that number of uses had been the condition, it seemed that the more I used it, the more it fulfilled the count and satisfied the next stage.

All that rolling around was worth it after all.

At this point, with the exam right in front of me, this was by far the most useful growth I’d achieved. It was a blessing the previous Kang Geom-ma had manifested, but even so, I couldn’t help feeling proud of myself. A short laugh slipped out.

As soon as growth potential was granted to the life that had felt so stale only a few weeks ago, it felt like blood was flowing through my body again.

I climbed out of bed and took out the sashimi knife I’d stuffed in my bag. When I drew it only two-thirds of the way, the edge was chipped like saw teeth.

I pulled out the rest and checked their condition too. Aside from one single blade, the rest looked like they couldn’t even cut a leaf. I’d had to stop by Daiso and buy a few more as spares.

But first, this exam had to earn me a good-quality weapon. After all, the true attitude of a player was that you could skip meals, but never pass up an item.

* * *

A few days passed, and the day of the exam arrived.

During the second meeting, team leader Leon assigned each member their role.

Ever since the first meeting, questions about Leon had kept crossing my mind, but I didn’t want to dig into that with the exam right in front of us. At the very least, even if I waited until after the exam was over, it wouldn’t be too late.

Separate from those thoughts, Leon assigned roles with exceptional judgment, perfectly matched to the traits of each individual team member.

Rachel, who specialized in close combat, would take the front of the formation, while Chloe, using speed and presence suppression, would handle scouting. Surprisingly, the guy who looked like he’d be the martial type, Speed Weapon, was in the healer position.

Leon, who had to direct the group as the commander, would take the center as the control tower, while I, through sheer luck, had been put on rear support. Simply put, my job was to stay in the back and keep an eye on things in case anything went wrong.

Since it was my first exam at the academy, I made sure to eat a solid breakfast before heading to the training grounds. The menu was a salmon sandwich. Among ready-made foods that didn’t require me to use a kitchen knife, it was the height of luxury available to me.

After finishing the sandwich, I took out the rose knife I’d borrowed from Chloe and the Daiso sashimi knife I’d bought before enrollment and looked down at them.

Looked like today would be the last time for these too.

I’d have to buy new ones, but for some reason an uncomfortable feeling welled up in me. Even if to someone else it was just a cheap blade, ever since long ago, every time I had to grind or replace a knife, I felt a kind of pity for it. And this sashimi knife was the first blade I’d bought after being thrown into this world, so the attachment was doubled.

Shaking off that brief sentimental feeling, I packed them away.

When I entered the training grounds with light steps, a gate shaped like some kind of triumphal arch, which definitely hadn’t been there yesterday, towered over half the broad dirt field.

Where there should have been an open passage, a violet subspace shimmered like a curtain. While I was standing there blankly admiring its imposing form, I heard my team members calling my name from the right.

“Over here, over here!”

“Geom-ma!”

“You came?”

All the team members had already gathered. I gave a silent nod and went over to them.

Wow.

As soon as I got closer, I couldn’t help but be impressed. Rachel had slung the S-rank weapon Fangtian Huaji over her shoulder. Its crescent-shaped, chilling blade and its sheer presence, easily over two meters long. Seeing it in person made my mouth fall open.

Chloe’s weapon was the katana I’d seen before. As for Leon, because the timing was still before he’d been chosen by the holy sword and demonic sword Balmung, he had a double-edged blade with antique ornamentation hanging at his waist. While I was admiring their weapons one by one, my gaze naturally shifted toward Speed Weapon.

…?

The punk-looking bastard had a flute hanging around his neck that looked like a recorder.

“A recorder?”

The words I’d muttered to myself slipped out aloud. At that, Speed Weapon glared at me savagely without a word. Standing beside him, Rachel leaned in and whispered for him.

“That thing may look like that, but among healing-type weapons, it’s one of the very few S-ranks.”

“That is?!”

When my eyes widened into circles, Rachel giggled as if my reaction amused her.

For some reason, in Miracle’s Blessing, the drop rate for support-type weapons had been brutal. Even heavy spenders would burn thousands only to finally pull an A-rank at best.

To think I’d actually get to see an S-rank healing-type weapon.

Still, its looked were pretty awful. It really did look exactly like the kind of recorder you used in elementary school. People say looked were part of performance too…

As I rubbed my chin and inspected the recorder this way and that, Speed Weapon turned his whole body sharply away, clearly displeased.

I’d assumed from the name alone that he’d be some talkative exposition freak, but from his impression onward, he really was a character who kept smashing my preconceptions.

I turned my head and looked over the faces of my classmates filling the training grounds.

Noisy, boisterous groups chatting at ease were few and far between, our team included. Most of them were swallowing nervously with tense expressions.

“It’s almost time.”

Leon said that while glancing down at his wristwatch.

“Everyone, don’t get too tense. Let’s just do our best with what we can do.”

At Leon’s words, full of firm resolve, all the team members nodded.

At that very moment.

[The 2034 first-year first-semester midterms will now begin.]

That familiar intellectual voice announced the start of the exam.

[The subspace gate will now activate.]

Ziiiiing.

[Activation complete.]

At those words, the violet curtain rolling within the gate rose like a wave and swallowed us whole.