Meeting (1)
“Hoo, I’m a little tired.”
Ugh, I’m so exhausted I could drop dead.
The moment I reached the dormitory I yanked off my clothes and was about to dive straight into bed when I froze.
I caught a whiff of the stench rolling off my own body.
…This is pretty bad.
After a record-breaking two-minute shower I finally dove into bed.
How long had it been since I last tasted the sweet embrace of civilization!
The Battle Royale event? Yeah, it was decent. I scored an S-rank item and even got head-pats from the headmaster.
But sleeping on bare rock? No thanks.
If I’d stayed one more day my back would’ve given out for sure.
My entire body still throbbed.
I wondered if the Golden Slime could transform into a massage tool. When I asked, it said the transformation was too complex.
Anyway.
“The demon race has already shown up…”
Along with the finger that ruled Tinesi Academy’s absolute evil, the group known as the demon race.
From the fight earlier, it was obvious these bastards were not the kind that should appear just one week after the academy entrance.
They were a cheat-tier species that only rampaged in the latter half of the story.
Why the hell did they appear so early?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out the reason. But I knew one thing clearly: this was bad news.
One weak one and one insanely strong one had already come. That meant there was a chance a million more insanely strong ones would follow.
Still, I really don’t get the reason.
There’s a saying that every result needs a cause and conditions.
Yet this time there were no visible causes or conditions—only the result of the demon race showing up.
Am I the only one who finds this weird?
“…Well, I’ll figure it out eventually.”
For now, sleep. I’m exhausted.
The next morning I woke up ridiculously early for no apparent reason.
Guess my body hasn’t fully adjusted yet.
Well, during the Battle Royale I had only caught short naps while staying on guard, so it made sense my body wasn’t completely recovered.
Anyway.
“The academy at dawn is rather refreshing.”
Gentle sunlight wrapped the entire campus. The air was crisp and cool.
Maybe I should ask Priya to train together at this hour.
I seemed to recall that jogging was good for basic strength and stamina.
With my hands in my pockets I strolled leisurely to the classroom, only to find it completely empty.
I sat in my usual seat and opened my status window.
Peerless (F)
↳ Wind Blade (A)
↳ Predictive Eye - Replica
Weakness Annihilation (S)
Golden Truth (F)
Thanks to the duel with the demon, all my stats had risen to D-rank or higher.
It’s a shame Weakness Annihilation didn’t trigger.
If it had activated against that demon, the stat boost would have been massive.
Unfortunately it never triggered. Maybe the demon thought we were equals right up until the moment it died.
Isn’t that a bit too stingy?
Just give me the activation since I won, damn it.
Whatever. I hadn’t opened the window just to check my stats anyway.
“Predictive Eye, Replica…”
Every skill I possessed had a rank attached. Only the Predictive Eye carried the modifier “Replica” instead of a letter grade.
I don’t remember seeing the word “Replica” in the original story either.
Another unknown element.
I reincarnated into a familiar game, so why were there so many unfamiliar details?
“Speaking of the Predictive Eye…”
In the original work there was a character who used it. It was only mentioned indirectly through documents, though.
“The Sword Saint…”
The very first graduate of Tinesi Academy and the strongest human in the entire world.
People said that if the Sword Saint were still alive, he would have slaughtered every demon and used their skulls for kickball.
A deus-ex-machina level of power.
So why did a demon have the Sword Saint’s Predictive Eye?
Thinking about it now wouldn’t give me an answer. Pass.
“Come to think of it, I never properly tested the Predictive Eye.”
During the fight with the demon I hadn’t had time to examine its effects carefully. One wrong move and my head would have flown off.
So I had simply used it on instinct.
I glanced around. No one was here.
Shall I try it now?
I tossed the golden ring on my middle finger. The Golden Slime returned to its original form.
“Kyu?”
“For a moment, you must become my opponent.”
“Kyu!”
The Golden Slime extended two tentacles.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then spoke.
“Predictive Eye, activate.”
It was an on-off type skill, different from the active skills I had used before.
My eyes sting a bit.
I hadn’t noticed during the battle because of the dopamine rush, but it actually hurt quite a lot.
“Then let’s begin. Attack me, Golden.”
“Kyu!!”
The slime thrust both tentacles toward me.
At the same time, the predicted paths of the tentacles appeared in my vision.
So this is how the calculations feel.
Some tentacles were drawn in deep, vivid color while others looked faintly shaded.
The deeper the color, the higher the probability of attack from that direction.
“More intuitive than I expected. Not a bad skill.”
I approached the Golden Slime while avoiding only the deeply colored tentacles.
“Caught you.”
“Kyu!”
I grabbed the slime without getting hit even once.
This Predictive Eye was way more overpowered than I thought.
There was no guarantee every attack would come from the vivid colors, but it seemed to have roughly seventy percent accuracy.
At this level there was no reason to keep it turned off—
-Drip.
Something suddenly ran down both eyes.
It wasn’t tears.
When I wiped it with the back of my hand, bright red blood smeared across my skin.
At the same time my right eye burned as if it had been stabbed with a hot poker.
“…So there was a side effect after all.”
It was hard to keep my right eye open.
So that’s why they made it an on-off skill.
If I use it a few more times I might actually go blind…
Still, I’d probably get used to it eventually.
“Golden, sorry but I’ll have to ask for your help.”
“Kyu!”
After the slime cleaned the blood from my face I sat back down at my desk.
Right then the classroom door opened and a head of blue hair entered. It was Elena.
“…What the, you’re early.”
“A ruler is supposed to arrive first. Welcome to my classroom.”
“Anyway, can I sit here?”
Elena set her bag on the seat beside me.
That was Priya’s spot.
…Well, she can deal with it herself.
A huge yawn escaped me.
Sitting still after so little sleep was catching up to me.
I tried to hold it back, but the yawns kept coming.
Maybe I’ll nap before the professor arrives.
When I laid my head on the desk, Elena’s face entered my view.
True to her model-student nature, she was quietly reading a book.
“Elena.”
“Hm? What?”
“Wake me when the professor comes.”
I fell asleep the instant I closed my eyes.
“…What the hell. He just says what he wants and immediately falls asleep.”
Elena slipped a bookmark into her book, then quietly rested her head on the desk as well.
Kiren’s face was directly in front of her.
He was sleeping soundly, using his arm as a pillow.
Elena waved her hand in front of his nose. There was no sign he would wake.
…Should I mess with him a little?
She slowly poked Kiren’s cheek with her right index finger.
No reaction whatsoever.
“Looking at him like this, he’s a bit…”
She had been about to say cute.
But Elena couldn’t bring herself to utter the word.
It was the first time she had ever thought something like that about a boy—about the opposite sex.
She didn’t know how to express it.
So she simply stayed in the same position as Kiren, quietly watching him.
At that moment she saw his left hand slowly move.
Wow, I slept well.
I stretched and checked my right hand. Both rings were still properly fitted.
Huh, strange.
I thought the Golden Slime woke me up.
Right before waking I had felt something soft and squishy against my left hand.
I was sure it had been the Golden Slime, but…
Must have been my imagination.
When I turned to look, Elena’s face was slightly flushed.
“Elena, your face is rather red today.”
“…”
“…Elena?”
She stared at me with a dazed expression.
…Maybe she was sick? Some infectious disease?
Tinesi Academy did have a disease system, and some of those illnesses had a twenty-percent fatality rate.
“Elena, are you all right?”
“Eek!”
I quickly pressed my hand to her forehead. No fever. She didn’t seem sick.
“Still, since your face is red, go to the infirmary later just in case.”
“…Yeah, thanks, Kiren…”
While chatting with Elena the classroom gradually filled with students.
Weakness Annihilation skill activated!
Strength: D+ → C-
A message window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
Weakness Annihilation activating at this timing? Why?
The answer came quickly.
“Did you hear? The top student supposedly took down a demon.”
“You didn’t know? The rumor’s spread across the whole school!”
“I knew from the start. As expected, he’s on a completely different level from us.”
In short, the rumor that I had defeated a demon had spread.
The students who heard it felt the overwhelming gap in power.
If I’d known this would happen I should have used more magic attacks.
I was a mage, yet my strength stat had risen higher than my magic power.
This wouldn’t do. For the time being I should only use magic.
While I was thinking that, Priya opened the back door and entered.
She looked around the classroom, spotted me, and started running over only to stop abruptly.
She must have noticed Elena sitting beside me.
“That’s my seat.”
“There are no reserved seats. First come, first served.”
A subtle tension flowed between the two.
I saw Priya’s hand move toward the massive sword on her back.
…No way?
At the same time Elena’s hand drifted toward her staff.
Right then—
“Kiren, Elena, and Priya. Come with me.”
The front door opened and an unfamiliar professor called our names.
Perfect timing, professor!!
The fact that he called exactly the three of us at this moment probably meant—
“It must be because of what happened on the island, right?”
“High probability.”
The headmaster had said they would respond to the demon incident, but I hadn’t expected it to be this fast.
We followed the professor into a room where several other students were already waiting.
And…
…Erien?
The silver-haired girl who had attacked me during the entrance exam was sitting there with her eyes closed.