Chapter 19: Skip (Physical) (2)
Chapter 19: Skip (Physical) (2)
Hero & Academy.
As the name suggests, H&A—the game this world mirrors—is set in an academy.
Perhaps that’s why the tutorial at the very start of the game is the academy entrance exam itself.
Any experienced gamer would have realized it the moment they saw the entrance exam served as the tutorial: something was bound to go wrong during the test.
Sure enough, an event occurs where followers of the Evil God raid the academy, targeting the exam.
That is the core of the tutorial.
For players who had been wandering around learning basic controls, the cultists were convenient teaching tools in many ways.
They served to introduce the combat system and established the narrative conflict between the Good Gods and the Evil Gods by casting the cultists as the enemy.
There was just one problem… the developers might have been a bit too enthusiastic.
After wading through the fodder and reaching the heart of the raid, you encounter the final tutorial boss.
Pietro, Bishop of Confused Unity.
The moment you encounter him, an unskippable cutscene begins, and Pietro proceeds to explain the world-building through his own mouth.
For a full five minutes.
I’m not exaggerating. I timed it myself once; it clocked in at exactly 5 minutes and 12 seconds.
They clearly put effort into it since it was an important cutscene, and the quality was actually quite high… but so what?
I didn't want to be forced to watch a five-minute cutscene I’d already seen a dozen times.
Thanks to the developers' twisted favoritism, Pietro had held the number one spot in the "Most Hated NPC" user polls for years.
And that guy just died.
The moment I stepped out of the dungeon, I saw that familiar back and heard that tedious voice, so I stabbed him reflexively.
And he just went down.
"Is he really dead…?"
Poke, poke.
I nudged Pietro’s slumped body with my foot, but there wasn't even a twitch.
Besides, the kill notification had already popped up, so there was no room for doubt.
Once the realization that I had successfully pulled off a "Skip (Physical)" sank in, a surge of exhilaration bubbled up from deep within my chest.
"I did it…!"
It felt as if a long-held wish had finally come true.
My lips twitched, and a giddy laugh escaped me involuntarily.
Carrying that mood, I spun around and waved my hand.
"Hehe… Carla! Did you see that? That chatty cultist bastard, Pietro, died just like that before he could even get a few words out! He just went 'Gack!' and collapsed!"
"……."
In my excitement, I used grand gestures to brag about what had just happened.
But for some reason, Carla was trembling, her hands clamped tightly over her mouth, nodding frantically.
"…Huh?"
She looked like a terrified rabbit, just like when I first bought her.
As I tilted my head in confusion, Carla slowly approached and began wiping my face with the cleaner side of her sleeve.
Rub, rub.
Our distance naturally closed.
It was only after seeing my reflection in Carla’s ruby-colored eyes that I understood the situation.
"Ah."
A handsome black-haired, purple-eyed boy smiling brightly while drenched in blood. Yeah, that’s a specific look.
I glanced around, and sure enough, even the surrounding guards were looking at me with expressions mixed with bewilderment and revulsion…
Basically, they were looking at me like I was a complete psychopath.
To show I was harmless, I stood still and let Carla tend to me, opening my mouth in the softest voice I could muster.
"Ahem. I got lucky. To think the enemy the guards were struggling with happened to have his back to the dungeon entrance."
"……."
Carla nodded silently.
"Oh, by the way, this dagger is the reward I got for clearing the dungeon. Want to borrow it later? You said you were curious about the grace of the gods."
"……."
Carla glanced at me warily again before nodding once more.
"…What’s up? You were covering your mouth earlier, and you’re still acting weird. Why the sudden change?"
When I pressed her slightly, Carla finally answered in a cautious voice.
"Y-you said it earlier, Master… that you find cultists annoying because they talk too much…."
"Is that why you’re staying quiet? Don't worry about that. It’s not like you’re a cultist, Carla."
"Master…."
Carla’s eyes sparkled with a hint of touched emotion.
My conscience pricked me a bit.
I had manipulated things so thoroughly that even Carla herself believed she was the daughter of a cultist.
But the fact that Carla’s father was a cultist was a frame-up to begin with.
I awkwardly averted my gaze from Carla and looked down at the reward from the dungeon still in my hand.
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【Shining Lion Dagger】
A pure white dagger with a carving of a roaring lion on the pommel.
The blade, which feels more like bone than metal, occasionally emits a warm glow.
Enveloped in holy radiance, the dagger becomes sharper than usual.
…And the radiance shall shine brightest in the darkness.
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The Light attribute additional hit has a low proc rate, and the increased critical damage is a standard option for daggers.
However, the true value of this dagger lies in the final option.
Guaranteed additional hits and guaranteed critical hits against cultists.
Against cultists, this was essentially a lethal venom-coated blade.
Whether I used it myself or gave it to a party member, it was a perfect secondary weapon to keep on hand.
The problem was that since the options were strictly for cultists, it wouldn't work against the powerful monsters or Apostles of the Evil God that appear in the late game.
And since it was a bound item, if a mage or archer accidentally picked it up, it would become nothing more than a pretty piece of junk…
But this was reality.
Unlike the mages in the game who couldn't perform melee attacks at all, I could swing a dagger just fine—it was just a matter of proficiency.
Or I could use it in ways the original system didn't allow, like throwing the dagger with Telekinesis magic.
Either way, it was many times more versatile than it had been back when it was just a game.
On top of that, though it was an entirely unexpected reward, I had received the Sun God's Blessing trait from Righteous Light for killing Pietro.
'Status Window.'
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【Sun God's Blessing (C)】
The brightest existence in the sky. The Master of the Sun shares his radiance with you.
======================
Blessing-type traits are hard to obtain, but once you have them, they are useful for any class.
The rank of the blessing can even increase if you repeatedly perform deeds that the granting god favors.
And I got this here?
As I stood there grinning at my status window, a deep voice called out from beside me.
"Ahem."
A well-armed guard. Specifically, a middle-aged man in even more ornate armor had crossed the now-vanished barrier.
"I am Nilson Gardner, Captain of the Gepp City Guard. May I ask your name?"
"Ah, I’m Yandel. I saw some cultists on my way to the Academy and decided to dig a little, which led to this."
"Ho. An Academy student? I suppose that makes sense. You look young, but to break through a dungeon that quickly, you’d have to be from the Academy at the very least. But this woman beside you… a slave?"
Nilson, noticing the mark on Carla’s neck, asked with a voice mixed with curiosity and admiration.
It must have been strange to see a slave whose mana core wasn't destroyed and who was even properly armed.
As for his surprise… well, Carla’s beauty was far from ordinary.
It would be troublesome if rumors spread that I was the one who bought Carla at the auction yesterday, so I quickly waved my hand and gave the prepared answer.
"Oh, a student? No, no. I’m just an applicant on my way to take the entrance exam. This slave is a guard and attendant provided by my benefactor."
"An applicant…? That is surprising. To have such skill already, I wonder what you will become after graduating… Ah, I see. That explains why your benefactor would gift you such a slave."
"Haha… It’s only because they think well of me."
When I acted as if I had a powerful backer, Nilson’s attitude became even more polite.
Whoever it was, he likely assumed my backer was no ordinary person if they could casually hand over a slave of Carla’s caliber.
This was exactly the reaction I was aiming for.
It was a bit of know-how I’d picked up through experience.
Money is always good, but without the martial force or political power to protect it, I would just become a prime target for predators.
Nilson, making an effort to look away from Carla, continued with a friendly smile.
"Yandel, was it? Though your methods were a bit rough, you uncovered a cultist cell and even cleared the dungeon they were hiding. We won't make an issue of your use of magic within the city."
"I am simply grateful that you are overlooking my hasty mistake."
"Haha… Exterminating cultists is the duty of the faithful, is it not? There will be a reward for your hard work as well. However, there are a few things I’d like to ask for the investigation…."
"I’ll answer anything I can. That, too, is my duty as a loyal citizen of the Empire."
"Excellent."
I followed Nilson out of the underground passage as he nodded with satisfaction.
Carla looked at me worriedly, but there was nothing to fear.
Even though I had skipped the entire middle process and just collapsed the ground out of nowhere, I remembered all the details of the original tracking episode.
I just had to go and give them some plausible answers.
Wind Style: Talk-no-Jutsu… ON!