Episode 2
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 2
Increased crime rate within a 1km radius. You might wonder what kind of ridiculous Detective X-nan-style skill this is, but in <Panic in the City>, it was at least a useful one.
In <Panic in the City>, the number of criminals—that is, enemies—the player apprehended was directly converted into experience points. That passive skill was designed to help the player easily gain the EXP essential for leveling up: the ‘Detective's Aptitude’ skill, which increased the frequency of enemy appearances.
Thanks to this skill, she’d had to struggle to find the producer of a suddenly appearing corpse, whether she was eating at a restaurant or watching a performance.
But why in the world was it activating here?
Elysia stared blankly at the people desperately looking away to avoid her gaze, her mind racing.
“Aren't you going to turn it in?”
…She tried to. The girl who had handed her the application form earlier snatched the paper from her hand with a rough tug. A sharp crinkling sound was accompanied by a sting at her fingertip.
Even though she saw blood seeping from Elysia’s right index finger, the culprit simply turned away with an indifferent expression.
Wow, did she trade her personality for her looks? What a bitch. The moment she grumbled inwardly, a bright red system window appeared before her eyes.
SYSTEM: HP -100 (900 / 1,000)
…What the hell? A hundred damage from a paper cut? It was supposed to be 100 damage per bullet, you crazy bastards! She hurriedly opened her basic status window to check her condition.
Elysia Hemming (LV.1): HP 900 | Defense 0 | Attack 3,000
Her garbage HP was surprising enough, but her defense was even more absurd. Zero? Were my base stats always this trash?
Belatedly, she recalled a memory from the past. Since it was just a character created for testing at the company, she had dumped all her bonus points into attack power for fun, joking, ‘The best defense is a good offense, right?’
I was insane. I must have been. Just as her mind was going blank, another system window popped up, adding insult to injury.
SYSTEM: Continuous Bleeding has occurred! You will take 50 HP damage per minute.
A cute little trickle of bright red blood oozed from the thin cut. This… this tiny bit of bleeding was causing 50 damage per minute… The world was spinning, and so was my temper.
Leaping to her feet, Elysia grabbed the girl’s shoulder without a second thought, spun her around, and gritted her teeth.
“Hey, you little punk.”
♥ SYSTEM: Threats aren't good for your Favorability. ㅠ^ㅠ Shall we try using nicer words? ♥
The female student, spun around by a powerful force, struggled to break free from Elysia’s grip, her face a mask of shock. But her opponent was someone with three years of experience brawling with all sorts of criminals in a city of crime.
As she struggled desperately to pry the hand off her shoulder, her eyes met a pair of ash-gray ones glaring at her, and a chill ran down her spine.
‘What the? How is she so ridiculously strong?’
She’d had a feeling this girl was trouble, but she never imagined a delinquent like this would be admitted to Minerva, the most prestigious educational institution on the continent.
And those eyes—they weren’t sane. The silver-gray eyes, which looked ready to chew someone up alive and swallow them whole, were contorted with rage.
The face of the woman grinding her teeth, ready to kill, was less pretty and more sharp and handsome. With blazing fury layered over it, she radiated a terrifying aura.
Unfortunately, however… the girl—a freshman in Minerva’s art department and the daughter of Viscount Reve—was a reckless pup who, despite being a coward, had a first-rate talent for mouthing off.
So, rather than tucking her tail between her legs, she chose to bark first.
“Well, who told you to hold on to the paper so stubbornly? When someone tries to take something, you’re supposed to let go!”
“What?”
Elysia scoffed in disbelief and swiftly grabbed the girl’s collar with her other hand. The girl’s haughty face turned pale with the humiliation of being grabbed.
N-No way, is she really going to hit me? Am I really going to get hit?
She had never been hit before, let alone feared anyone in her life. The flames blazing in those gray eyes looked like they would devour her whole.
Siene barely suppressed a hiccup and tried to compose herself.
But trying doesn’t always guarantee success. Calm, my ass. She was just as incapable of controlling her temper as Elysia was.
“A-Are you resorting to violence? Do you want to get expelled on the first day? How amusing. Fine, your very presence here is a disgrace anyway, so go on, hit me! I dare you!”
She’d blurted it out, assuming that the threat of expulsion would naturally make the other girl back down. Of course it would—this was Minerva, after all.
But her prediction was splendidly wrong.
“…Grit your teeth and turn your cheek to me.”
Elysia actually let out a snort of laughter at the rather cute threat, her eyes narrowing as she muttered.
“If I can beat the shit out of you, getting expelled doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Y-You’re insane…”
Just as a pale-faced Siene faltered and tried to step back, a boy shot out from the crowd of students that had circled around to watch.
“H-Hey, hey!!! No violence!!!”
He slipped his arms under Elysia’s from behind, desperately holding her back as he wedged himself between them, his own face pale. His thick, curly red hair was as fluffy as sheep’s wool.
Clinging tightly to Elysia, who was still struggling to reach for her opponent, he forced a friendly smile and asked.
“Hi! Sooo, which one of you is Elysia Hemming? Are you my junior, by any chance? Please tell me you are.”
“…I am Siene Reve.”
Adrian’s face fell into despair as he saw her give an elegant curtsy. His expression seemed to scream, Wow, don’t tell me this one is my direct junior?
Stammering, he asked again.
“T-This person is my… junior? The one who applied to the Department of Chemistry?”
“If it’s one of us, it must be her. I’m not Hemming.”
Raising and lowering an eyebrow, Siene glanced down sympathetically, as if pitying the senior who was about to welcome a rabid dog as his junior. She then gestured with an open palm toward Elysia, who was still trapped in his arms.
She had struggled so much that her once-neat short hair was now a complete mess. And the venom radiating from those gray eyes… she looked ready to kill someone with a single glare.
“Let go of me!!! Let go! I’m killing that bitch today and going straight to hell!!!”
Seeing the murderous glint in Elysia’s eyes as she thrashed her arms and legs, shouting without a hint of exhaustion despite being restrained, Siene subtly took a step back.
She was trying desperately to maintain a scornful smile, but honestly, she was terrified. To a woman from a noble family who had spent her entire life seeing only girls who covered their mouths when they laughed, ‘that thing’ was truly not normal.
Adrian tried his best to laugh, tightening his grip on Elysia as she tried to lunge forward.
“Haha, ha! I never thought I’d be meeting my first junior like this…!”
“Hey!!! Watch your back! I’ll separate your flesh from your bones! If you don’t want to die—”
“M-Miss Hemming? Please, calm down. Come on. Deep breaths, please, deep breaths…!”
Adrian felt like a zookeeper trying to teach a fish how to breathe on land.
There were a surprising number of similarities. First, she was completely incapable of taking a calming breath. Second, the way she was flailing about was just like a freshly caught carp.
If she had been smaller, it would have been easier to restrain her, but of all things, this woman had long limbs. Every time she flailed, the students would shriek and scramble out of her reach.
He wanted to go back in time and punch his past self for excitedly running over here at the news of getting a junior. A junior he could happily order around to do chores? Forget it. What he got was a mad dog that looked like it would grab its senior by the collar if asked to do anything.
“What sin did I commit to deserve this…?”
Staring blankly into the distance, Adrian watched his peers laughing and warmly greeting their own juniors.
Meanwhile, Elysia was laughing like a madwoman as she watched her HP drop by the minute.
Taking damage equivalent to a gunshot from a single paper cut, and getting continuous damage from a mere trickle of blood…!
Her level may have been reset, but this wasn’t the body of a human being. No, this was closer to a sunfish.
She felt like one of those weirdos who lie down in the subway, screaming their heads off as they reminisce about their glory days.
There needed to be a term for this phenomenon where the past felt glorious and the present felt like a gutter. She never thought the day would come when she’d miss the city of crime, where a moment of carelessness could get you a knife in the gut.
Sure, someone was found with a bullet in their head at least once a day; she’d had to identify murderers based on completely smashed skulls after they’d thrown the bodies off buildings to stage them as suicides; and she’d had to personally stop drug-crazed lunatics from grabbing women, but…
At least there, she never had to fear for her life after being attacked by a piece of paper. This was a matter of survival, but more importantly, it was a matter of pride.
“Aaargh!!! Give me back my experience points, you sons of bitches!!!”
“Calm down, please, calm down!”
Adrian, who was desperately clinging to the frenzied Elysia, was so startled when she suddenly stopped struggling and whipped her head around to face him that he let out a hiccup.
Y-Yes… he had told her to calm down dozens of times. But he’d been saying it almost out of habit, so when she actually listened and calmed down, he felt a surge of fear.
…Why is she suddenly listening to me? D-Don’t suddenly calm down…!
“Oh, uh… you’ve calmed down! G-Good job!”
“Hey.”
In this situation, it would have been terrifying in its own way if someone with such a fearsome expression had chirped, ‘Senior~! I’ll be in your care!’ But that didn’t make it any less shocking to be addressed so casually by someone he’d just introduced himself to as her senior.
Facing her blank expression, Adrian momentarily forgot that he didn’t need to be so polite to a junior and answered deferentially without thinking.
“Yes…?”
“Why are you speaking so informally? You look young.”
Adrian’s face went pale, but from her perspective, she was asking out of genuine curiosity.
Her temper burned out as quickly as it ignited. The rage that had made her grab someone’s collar just seconds ago had long since evaporated.
So much so that if she ran into Siene again, she would have forgotten the whole thing and would treat her with a placid expression.
But Adrian thought differently. She’s scary. Way too scary! He gently set aside any semblance of a senior’s authority and smiled, his eyes curving like a puppy’s.
“Oh, heavens, ma’am, did I do that?”
“…Huh?”
“A-According to the documents, you’re older than me! Of course, I should be the one to show respect! Haha, hahaha! I’m Adrian Campbellton, class of ‘48.”
It was standard for Minerva students to address each other strictly according to the Student ID System, but he wasn’t willing to risk his life for an old tradition.
Swallowing hard, Adrian made a vow. The hierarchy? It’s based on birth order, no question. At least, from today it is.
Class of ‘48? Elysia tilted her head, looking so much like a genuinely clueless freshman that he almost burst out laughing. He quickly schooled his expression.
If I think she’s cute, I might die. Let’s not get cocky.
“You’re… class of ‘49, ma’am.”
“So you’re my senior? Do I have to speak formally to you?”
This is a test, right? (It wasn’t; she was genuinely asking for his consent.) If I say yes, she’ll grab my collar too, right? (Also no.)
Even though Adrian wasn’t small, he’d had to practically hang off her just to hold her back.
The moment he told her to speak formally, she would probably grab him by the collar (again, she wouldn’t), punch him in the face (Elysia had a bad temper, but not that bad), and then stomp on his miserable, fallen body (also incorrect).
Haha, so long, image of a respected senior. I was feeling the pressure anyway, so this is for the best. Adrian laughed in relief and shouted.
“No!!! I was born to speak formally, ma’am!!!”
♥ SYSTEM: Adrian Campbellton’s Favorability +5 ♥
His favorability went up? I guess that means he’s sincere. Elysia, who had been eyeing Adrian suspiciously, grumbled at him as he still clung tightly to her arm.
“…Let go of my arm. We can talk after you let go.”
“Um… then can you promise me one thing?”
“What is it?”
Wincing, Adrian covered his face with both arms and pleaded.
“D-Don’t hit me…”
“Why would I hit you?”
With a baffled expression, she raised a hand to her forehead and neatened her bangs. Adrian let out a huge sigh of relief and gestured to his impossibly delinquent junior… ma’am.
“Come on, come on! Let’s go say hello, then.”
“Hello? To whom?”
“To our chairman!”