Episode 7
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 7
As if possessed, she selected ‘Yes’ on the payment window that seemed to be rushing her.
First, she paid for a bed large enough for two well-built men to lie on. In an instant, the single bed before her eyes upgraded to a king-size.
She checked the currency window again. The infinity symbol was still there.
♥ SYSTEM: Would you like to make another purchase? Yes | No ♥
She expanded the size of the room and paid for a terrace. Still no change. To match the now enormous room, she enlarged the small desk that could barely hold three books and added two more bookshelves.
The money wasn't going down. Collapsing onto the massive bed, she thrashed her feet and cried out.
“...Aargh! This feels so sketchy!”
It was like winning the lottery, sure. But it was too strange to just be happy about.
It was absurd enough to be shoved into a different game, but now a drug identical to one from her original world was being distributed here. And as if to support her, she’d been given an astronomical amount of currency.
Then there was what the half-destroyed notification window from <Panic in the City> had said as soon as she arrived.
SYSTEM: By accepting the status of a Minerva student, you have accepted the ‘Developer’s Quest.’ Your skills will be reactivated.
The ‘Developer’s Quest’…
A chilly wind blowing through the half-open terrace doors cut through her damp hair.
Drowsiness washed over her, likely from the sheer chaos of the day. Just as she was about to drift off, a thought struck her and she shot up.
“Inventory!!!”
If the passive skills from her original game hadn't disappeared, then her inventory should still be there too. She rummaged through the system window, which was covered in crackling static, and opened the inventory.
It was packed with all sorts of weapons and tools, including a magnifying glass, a microscope, a pistol, a sniper rifle, and daggers. She also found the experience potions she’d stored away after hitting the max level, having no use for them anymore.
And then there was something with a ‘new!’ tag on it, as if it had been recently added.
I never bought or picked up anything like this.
“What in the world is…”
Slowly reaching out to pull it from the inventory, Elysia’s expression turned grim, and she bit her lip.
new!
Item Description: TARGET_INITIALIZE_KEY
Elysia glared at the glass vial filled with bright blue pills, then shoved it back into her inventory with an irritated huff and closed her eyes. She could feel her whole body trembling, but she forced herself to ignore it.
Just sleep. I’ll think about it with a clear head.
*
Sleep? Like hell. She hadn't slept a wink. She’d spent the entire night taking the glass vial out of her inventory, then putting it back in, over and over again.
A target initialization key? What in the world was it for? And what was this Developer’s Quest? Was it their doing that I was suddenly transported to another game?
What, am I supposed to work for a company even in virtual reality? I’m trapped in a game because of a workplace accident, and I’m still supposed to be exploited in here? What happened to my labor rights?
A vial of pills… but why pills? Were they for me to take, or to give to someone else? The questions spiraled, one after another.
“Ma’am? Ma’am?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah?”
“You need to focus.”
Sitting next to her, Adrian started nagging. She’d been so preoccupied with the initialization key that she hadn’t managed to fill out her course registration form.
“Seriously, what’s so hard about filling out one form that you had to bring it back blank? Are you trying to get expelled?”
“Hah…”
This kid talks a lot. Way too much… Shaking her head, Elysia tuned back into his words and began scribbling on the form.
“By the way, what happened to you yesterday?”
“I was mistaken for a drug user and had to run thirty laps around the field.”
“What?! Th-thirty laps? Around that huge field? Wait, what could you have possibly done to get suspected of that on your first day—”
“That jet-black-haired president gave it to me as ‘punishment’…”
“...He did that?”
Adrian tilted his head, looking puzzled, and muttered to himself.
“That’s strange. He’s the type to just give a warning as per the school rules and let it go. Why would he do something like that?”
Blood rushed to her head, and the world spun for a moment. Elysia whipped her head around to look at Adrian.
“What? A warning?”
“According to the school rules, it’s one warning per infraction. Three warnings and you’re expelled… Since the students here are the children of prominent families, it’s not easy to hand out physical punishments. I don’t know why that senior would…
…Did I say something wrong?”
He shrank back, inching away from Elysia after seeing her eyes, which were so bloodshot she looked ready to tear someone limb from limb.
She felt like her non-existent low blood pressure had just been cured. What the hell? I thought he was just following the rules, but he was just messing with me because he thought he’d caught me doing something?
Adrian saw Elysia shoot to her feet with a death glare and slapped a hand over his mouth, thinking, Oops. But it was too late. She shoved the completed registration form under his hand and asked, grinding her teeth.
“Where is that bastard now?”
“...I don’t know anything.”
“If you don’t know, who does?!”
“Ha, haha… Ma’am, please, calm down.”
“Tell me, or I’ll punch you.”
Seeing Elysia raise a clenched fist, Adrian squeezed his eyes shut and yelled.
“The-the infirmary! The infirmary! He usually just assists, but the professor in charge is away on business today, so that senior is probably in charge of the infirmary!”
Just a student studying medicine, in the infirmary of all places? Not even an anatomy lab? A look of confusion crossed Elysia’s face.
“Well, that senior’s situation is a bit unique… After being injured on the battlefield, he learned medical knowledge, including surgery, while assisting a military surgeon. His knowledge isn't at the level of a mere student. So he helps the professor in the infirmary to get practical experience.”
“A common soldier learned surgery from a military surgeon? How?”
“No, really! It was allowed because he wasn't just a common soldier! Don't you know about the House of Sylvester? The Three Great Martial Families of Löwe? Wow, you really don't know. Seriously, what do you know?
Anyway, the need for professionally trained doctors was becoming a major issue at the time, and Evan-senior was… discharged and looking for a specialized medical research institution that offered a full scholarship. Their interests aligned. Minerva offered to fully fund his advanced medical research, and that’s how he ended up here.”
“Isn’t a Count’s family rich? Why would he need a scholarship?”
“Uh…”
Standing before the infirmary door, made of white-painted wood, Elysia recalled Adrian’s last words.
“He was kicked out of his family, that senior.”
…For Elysia, who was dead set on kicking that guy’s ass as soon as possible, this information was a bit unnecessary. It just made her feel needlessly uncomfortable.
But the discomfort was fleeting. It was pitiful that he’d been ostracized by his family and kicked out without any support. But that didn’t excuse him for giving her an unnecessary punishment.
Right, you’re so pitiful. But guess what? So am I.
She turned the handle and threw the door open. It slammed against the wall with a bang, and she quickly dodged out of the way as it swung back. Inside, a man in the same neatly ironed white shirt as when they first met was organizing vials of medicine.
The shoulder blades moving busily beneath the form-fitting shirt came to a sudden halt. Turning his head to see who it was, Evan ignored her furious eyes and asked.
“What is it?”
She took back the thought about him being pitiful. Seeing his shamelessly impassive face made a surge of anger rise in her, and she almost grabbed him by the collar on pure instinct. Suppressing a sigh, she asked.
“...Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“No.”
The answer came back sharp as a knife, and the anger she’d been holding back finally erupted. She let out a breath and muttered to herself.
Oh God, I’m going to kill this son of a bitch and go straight to hell…
Elysia strode right up to him. Grinding her teeth, she mustered her last ounce of patience and muttered quietly.
“I think you do. I just heard about the school rule regarding punishment for drug possession!”
“Ah.”
Evan let out a short, dry, and quiet sound of understanding, then replied in a chilly tone.
“If it’s about that, you should be thanking me.”
“Wow, what did you just say?!”
Elysia, muttering a curse out of habit, glared at the man. She was dumbfounded that someone like him could even exist. Evan looked back at her, his cool eyes showing his displeasure at her rough language.
“You should watch your words.”
“I’m curious what business it is of yours how I use my own damn mouth.”
“I don’t care if your mouth gets filthy, but listening to it is unpleasant.”
Unable to contain her anger, she slammed her fist on the desk. The glass vials on top of it rattled.
With a delicate touch, Evan caught a vial that was about to tip over and stared at her, looking tired. Despite the sudden loud noise, that face of his, like a stone wall, remained unchanged.
“Let me ask you one thing. Why do you hate me so much?”
“I don’t hate you.”
♥SYSTEM: Evan Sylvester’s Favorability -10♥
Elysia glanced at the favorability window and muttered.
“It says otherwise.”
“Says who.”
“...A reliable source of information?”
He lies every time he opens his mouth. You don’t hate me? It was written all over his face, and the system was dinging away, telling her the favorability was dropping. Don’t make me laugh.