Even If My Identity Gets Exposed, It's Fine, Right?

From the moment the lecture ended, I knew exactly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what I had to do. "The concept post got copied!"

The northern Monster Wave was over, and the merit ceremony had wrapped up this afternoon. Naturally, the community wasn't staying quiet. And sure enough.

Woooong—

Notifications on my magic panel had been nonstop since lunch, so I'd turned them off for a bit...

"Whoa."

The second I switched them back on, the panel exploded with alerts. I let out a short gasp of admiration. Just the Grace Academy board had dozens of concept posts already, and the capital unified board, plus the ones for groups that sent aid north...

"How many are even piled up here?"

I cleared out the notification window first, then tapped the concept post with the most recommendations.

"...Hold up."

"Why's my name popping up here?!"

The other posts were similar. Who the hell is this guy to snag a merit without even showing his face? He just sleeps in class—when did he pull this off?

"Wait, hold on."

When was that photo of me sleeping in the lecture hall even taken?

"Was there any reason my name should come up in all this...?"

I'd figured GameMakerCute would get some reward.

'People actually went north because of it.'

I hadn't expected a plaque and Imperial Merit Points, though.

But my real name showing up...

I zoomed in on the photo. Her face commanding from the wall, receiving the medal before the duke. And the caption: "Lady."

"...Senior Ariel?"

Thud—Crash—

"Urk... No way, seriously—"

The creator of the Fireball Shooter I'd met at the Academy City's experience booth.

"Senior Ariel... was Lady Ariel Valkar?!"

I shoved the panel right up to my face. Sure, I'd thought she was some big shot from the north back then. But a duke's daughter? No clue.

"Why the hell would a lady come all the way to Academy City... Oh."

Past memories flashed through my head.

'Suspicious doesn't sit well with me.'

'Pretty cocky for a junior.'

'Heh. We'll see. Anyway, I'll remember you, Junior Chase.'

The woman fiddling with the machine right in the middle of the event... was the lady of the north.

"Hold up."

That means...

"What I said to the lady..."

I slapped my hand over my face.

'Why you gotta make it weird? We're practically strangers.'

'...I get called weird a lot?'

"Gyaack!!!"

I thrashed on the bed, unleashing wild flailing. Only when the innocent pillow was on the verge of bursting did I calm down and grab the panel again.

"Whatever... what's done is done. Senior... Lady already name-dropped me officially."

What could I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even do? Nothing came to mind, so I hugged the near-exploding pillow and scrolled the panel again.

"Oh."

This info actually caught my interest. After all, I had 4,000 Imperial Merit Points in hand.

'Split between two names, but still...'

Artifacts, recommendations, company jobs—fine. But...

"Manors and titles too?"

Not lightweight stuff. I scrolled down further.

"Yeah. No sense of scale for 4,000 points..."

Communities were full of rumors about who got points, but actual rewards were all hearsay. Just speculation in the end.

Bang bang!!Kwaang!Thud thud!

The dorm door shook hard—I nearly dropped the panel.

"Chase!! You in the dorm right now?!"

"...Yaruru?"

I opened the door, and Yaruru bounded straight into my arms, hopping excitedly.

"We did it!"

Still clutching her magic panel, panting hard...

"Aren't you a bit too hyped? Calm down."

"Huu... Yeah! Aren't you happy, Chase?"

I blinked, hand on her shoulder.

"Happy about what?"

"The Monster Wave's over!"

"...Did we do anything?"

My dazed voice made Yaruru's eyes sharpen.

"We did northern defense, went to the briefing, gathered data—you know!"

Oh. That.

"Of course I'm happy."

She'd helped me a ton, after all.

"...Eung!"

Yaruru's eyes sparkled as she strode into the room.

"And congrats on your merit, Chase!"

"Pfft... Thanks."

No jealousy or negativity in her clear eyes—just pure joy. Made my conscience sting instead.

"Not bummed?"

"Huh?"

"Only me and GameMakerCute got the points."

She shook her head vigorously.

"If someone recognizes my effort, that's enough—you know!"

"..."

"More importantly! Something else big—you know!"

Yaruru plopped on the bed and shoved her panel in my face.

"Compiled Imperial Merit Point uses...?"

The screen blared the title in her speech style, huge.

"Asked profs for this, boards for that, and this is random chatter I sorted—you know!"

"...Oh."

"You're always tired and busy, so I did it for you—you know!"

"..."

No idea what image she has of me, but I couldn't ignore her effort. I took the panel and started reading the organized notes slowly.

As I scrolled, Yaruru ticked off fingers.

"Artifacts first—you know."

"Yeah."

"Auto-defense gauntlets, water bottle holds 1,000 liters... Elixirs are good too—you know!"

"Do I really need 'em?"

"Uuum... Fatigue recovery potions too—you know."

"...I'll keep looking."

Way better than community rumors, with her personal memos sprinkled in. Even a map of the empire with blue highlights everywhere.

"And imperial direct territories too—you know."

"No way all these spots are...?"

"Checked the library myself—you know!"

"...Thanks."

She grinned.

"This much is nothing—you know."

Then I noticed the key omission and asked.

"But can I get this stuff with my points?"

"..."

"Yaruru?"

Her face went blank at my question.

"Forgot..."

I burst out laughing despite myself. Yeah, that's Yaruru.

"Well—I'll find out when I go claim 'em."

"Right—you know!"

Yaruru fiddled with the panel and pulled up another screen.

I pored over the screen carefully.

"..."

"Chase, you okay—you know?"

"Huh?"

"To claim rewards, you gotta reveal you're GameMakerCute—you know."

"Yeah. That's what I was worried ab—"

"Why the face—you know?"

"You, w-, youyou, you—."

"You knew?!?!"