10. After the Raid, the After-Party
10. After the Raid, the After-Party
Name: Chrono (Class B)
Rank: ---
Strength: 11 (+2)
Stamina: 13 (-1)
Agility: 15 (+1)
Intelligence: 35 (+3)
Divinity: 20
[Apostle of Cronus] [Rank: E (EX)]
- Controls time [Time limit: 30s/30s]
- Can increase rank through missions [46/50]
"......?"
It was a familiar ceiling.
I raised my body to look around──yeah right, my arms were asleep, th-that, ah, aagh!
"Fucking hurts...!"
"Well, you broke your arms that badly, so of course it hurts. Wouldn't it hurt?"
"...Nurse...?"
I thought it felt familiar; apparently I was in the infirmary.
I forced myself up using my back muscles and checked my condition.
"Both arms... no, my hands are all..."
"Burns, fractures, the state is even worse than the last time you were in ranged combat class."
She fixed me up as best she could, but the soreness probably remained.
The teacher approached me and handed me two small pills and a cup of water.
"Painkillers. Take these and lie down a bit longer."
"...Thank you."
I obediently took the medicine and lay back down.
Maybe from the medicine, the pain felt a little better, though it was likely the placebo effect.
Anyway, if it felt even a little better, that was fine. What did it matter if it was real or fake if the condition improved?
"Ahh... I'm dying, seriously..."
"...Sorry."
"Oof."
That startled me.
I turned my head at the voice from beside me and saw Mars lying on the bed next to mine.
"You got hurt because of me, right...?"
"...Well."
Strictly speaking, that was true, but it was also awkward to just say yes.
If she had been rampaging without a single thought, that'd be one thing, but she was exuding an aura of 'I messed up. I'm sorry,' so how could I curse her out?
In the first place, it was my fault for not being careful even though I knew she had that kind of personality.
I waved my hand lightly and dismissed Mars's apology.
"Just don't do it again in the future. And I'm not the only one who got hurt."
"Even so..."
Mars, too, seemed to be in bad shape, with bandages wrapped all over her body.
As the vanguard, she'd have been more hurt, not less.
I didn't want to make a hurt kid's heart fester, so I glossed over it.
"It's not called a dungeon experience for nothing."
"...Thanks, Chrono."
No. Don't thank me.
From now on, I was never, absolutely never, eeeever going to team up with you.
'And'
She was apologizing to the wrong person in the first place.
"You should apologize to Yuno, not me."
"..............."
My getting hurt could be written off as an inevitable accident during the raid, but Yuno getting hurt was entirely Mars's responsibility.
"You say you went over to help her, and then you grabbed her by the collar and shook her? Where did you learn that kind of manners?"
"Back then!...I was so flustered... but you heard my voice and reacted right away, didn't you?"
"And you're calling that an excuse now?"
"Ugh..."
Mars lowered her head.
But thinking about it, something was still hard to understand.
'Why did she ignore Yuno's words but listen to mine?'
Was our bond rank really that high?
No matter how I looked at it, there didn't seem to be any reason for it to increase, yet Mars had been unusually friendly towards me.
It was nothing but burdensome for me, but since I was curious, I asked.
"Why are you pretending to be so friendly with me?"
"...What?"
Mars's face hardened.
Sorry, I phrased that a bit weirdly.
"I was wondering if we were that close."
"...Weren't we close?"
"Were we?"
"We teamed up together!"
"That was because we lost the bet."
".........."
Her face said 'now that I think about it...'
After hesitating for a moment, she spoke to me.
"Because you... are stronger than me."
"......?"
Me? Stronger than you?
Was that greatsword on your back just for decoration?
Even just comparing our stats right now would make it crystal clear who was stronger.
As if noticing my eyes narrowing, Mars shrieked and said.
"When we first sparred, you threw me! And! And this time, you did everything yourself!"
You're strong!
You are strong, so why are you acting like this!
Watching her scream and throw a fit, I thought of a way to show her my frailty.
'...Will this do it?'
And the method was very simple.
"Sharing info, target Mars."
"Huh...?!"
The bracelet on my right wrist.
A status screen that displays the target's physical information in numbers, commonly called a status window, which was usually hidden from others.
However, you could share it if the other person allowed it. This was like a reward based on bond rank; around rank 3, you could share information with each other.
In the game, it was shared through the game system, but it was interesting seeing it happen like this.
"This is... your status...?"
"Pathetic, right? I told you before. I'm really weak."
"............"
She didn't deny it.
Even Mars seemed to think my state was hopeless.
"Now you know, right? In a pure fight, you'd definitely win, so stop deluding yourself about me being strong or whatever. And, you know. Didn't Jupiter beat you before too? You'd be more comfortable sticking with him."
He's the Protagonist, after all.
I turned off the bracelet, cut off the info sharing, and laid my body back down on the bed.
Maybe because I'd just woken up, I didn't want to do anything.
I'd just lie here and sleep.
I struck a 'the outside of the blanket is dangerous' pose and waited for sleep to come.
"...Chrono."
"..........."
But the lady next to me didn't seem to want me to fall asleep.
Mars asked me a question.
"With stats like these... even a graze would be a fatal wound."
"Yeah."
That's why I was so freaked out.
"Even someone like me could kill you with one punch."
"You know well."
That's why, when I first saw the mission, I screamed for the god to stop messing around.
"But still... how could you... stand in front of me, in front of the Champion?"
"...Are you misunderstanding something?"
"Answer me properly."
"...Grrr."
She talked about blocking or winning...
I confessed honestly to Mars.
"Rather than dying without doing anything, it's better to at least do something."
"...Is that so."
Mars clenched her fist tightly, then broke into a wide smile.
"Mm! As I thought, you're my friend! I've decided!"
"No, why?"
I'm fucking weak, you know?
Even after I showed you my status window, why haven't you changed?
Mars sprang up from her spot and immediately opened the infirmary door and went outside.
"...I can't understand."
Well, she was originally a character you weren't supposed to understand.
Who could understand the heart of an unyielding general?
I just accepted it and glossed over it.
I closed my eyes and finally took a comfortable rest.
"Therefore, Chrono's treating today!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Waaaaah..."
But I didn't know the price of that rest would be this.
*************
I sold 3 lowest-grade magic stones for a total of 60,000 won.
It was definitely enough money for a reasonably cheap buffet.
"But do people actually come out to eat just because of that, normally?"
While I was being tortured by morning training outside the school dormitory as usual,
Mars kidnapped me after it was over while I was lying down and panting.
The reason for the kidnapping was just one.
To keep the meat promise we made before.
Because of one wrong word, I ended up dragged to a buffet...
"Chrono, don't stop your hands."
Pig pig.
Cow pig.
Eat in order: tenderloin, sirloin, pork neck, then offal.
"You're too skinny for a guy, you know? You need to eat meat and build muscle to raise your stats and get stronger!"
"...If that logic held, why are elephants so strong?"
"That's... you're right, actually?"
Why are they so strong?
They're herbivores that don't even eat meat.
Ignoring Mars, who fell into a momentary existential crisis, I picked up my chopsticks. Yuno, sitting beside me, placed meat on my plate.
"Eat a lot!"
"...Thanks."
The meat was just so-so.
You shouldn't expect much from buffet meat quality.
"Mm... delicious!"
'But why is she even here?'
Yuno was munching away, eating lettuce wraps.
Since it was week 3, a time set aside for autonomous action and perfect for raising bond ranks through dates and such, why was she leaving the Protagonist behind and hanging out with us?
I swallowed the meat in my mouth and asked Yuno.
"Is it okay to leave your boyfriend and come hang out with us?"
"Hmph! As if I care about Ter anymore!"
Yuno raised her voice and turned her head away.
A voice half joking, half serious.
"...Lately, even when I get close, he doesn't even pretend to know me."
The dejected voice that followed sounded definitely like her bond rank was plummeting, even to me.
Well, anyway, a few tail wags and back pats from the Protagonist would fix it right up.
"Give me the tongs. You should eat now too."
"Huh? I've been picking at it occasionally?"
"Whatever. I'll cook."
I snatched the tongs and placed the meat on the grill.
Ssssss, the sound of meat cooking.
As I adjusted the ventilation hood above to suck out the smoke and cooked the meat, Yuno rested her chin on her hand and stared at me intently.
"...What are you looking at?"
"Hmm? Nothing?"
".........."
She seemed to be staring without any particular thought.
Then I shouldn't mind it.
I finished cooking the meat and placed it on Yuno's plate.
"Hey! What about mine!"
"You can get your own food."
"...You know the most hurtful thing to do to someone is to mess with their food, right?"
"If you feel so wronged, cook and serve yourself."
"Ha! You think I can't cook?"
"Yeah."
"............"
I raised you, so I know.
Your cooking proficiency had a Mai-nus modifier.
It meant that if you roughly cooked meat, it turned into charcoal. That said it all, didn't it?
"You're terrible at everything except monster hunting."
"What are you saying? I'm good at sports too, you know?"
"When I see you knock over a wall with a soccer ball and burst a basketball, no one would call that being good at sports."
"...How do you know that?"
Because I know your story──but I can't say that.
I shrugged and answered.
"It was obvious from the way you use a greatsword."
"Wow... you really leave people speechless."
Annoying bastard.
Mars picked up the meat with her chopsticks and ate it, huffing.
In the middle of it, the happy expression she made when the meat entered her mouth... was she simple, or did she have a good personality?
She'd never really had a good personality, so I figured it was just simplicity.
"Phew... that was good!"
"I'm so full..."
After finishing the meal, we came outside.
I planned to go straight back to the dorm and laze around, but
"What should we do to play now?"
"Karaoke! Let's go to karaoke!"
"Karaoke sounds good!"
"...Hiiiek...!"
Save me.
Was my opinion being ignored?
Ultimately, pushed by Mars, we headed straight to a coin karaoke at once.
"Ter?"
"Yuno..."
Coincidentally, we met the Protagonist.
...Please, really save me.