04. My Head Feels Like It's Broken.
04. My Head Feels Like It's Broken.
What did people usually think of when it came to ranged combat?
Classically speaking, it had to be the bow.
Nocking an arrow onto the string and loosing it.
Or else, moving into the modern era, it could also be the gun.
A product of humanity that developed purely through science.
And if it was neither of those──there was the blessing that descended from the heavens, Holy Magic.
Holy Magic, which developed primarily based on the blessings bestowed by the main gods, branched out into many diverse schools.
Some wielded healing, others used elemental systems like fire or ice.
In short, it was case by case depending on the main god.
And in that respect, in the case of Yuno, the Apostle of Hera....
"I mainly use a bow. I learned a bit in the past, so I can shoot to some extent."
'Yeah...I know...'
Since your basic weapon was the bow, after all.
Later on, depending on the growth method, she could also carry a gun or a staff, but for now, Yuno's weapon was the bow.
"So, you know? How amazing this bow is──"
Yuno showed me the bow she held in her arms and went on about whether she'd won an award at school with it, how it was a bow gifted by her teacher.
When I'd seen it through the dialogue window once before, I got the feeling that she was a child who was truly passionate about the bow and respected her teacher.
"Um, was it... boring?"
"Ah....well....."
I kind of wished she'd just buzz off.
Well, it wasn't purely a bad thing that a girl whose illustration was drawn well enough to be a heroine was showing interest in me.
But you're a heroine. A heroine with the childhood friend setting, right next to the Protagonist.
On top of that, the Protagonist was already a regressor who'd apparently taken one out before the story even started.
If he saw me near Yuno and realized I was one of the Three Major Villains, that very moment would put a happy ending far out of reach.
Even if I did absolutely nothing, my future would surely be twisted in the long run.
"Mm...sorry. I'm not very eloquent."
"Ah, I see....."
I subtly kept my distance and avoided Yuno.
I was sorry, but it couldn't be helped. For one thing, even for the mission, I had to defeat her, and getting entangled with the Protagonist was something I refused entirely.
Later on I was fated to get tangled up whether I liked it or not, but my heart wanted to postpone it as much as possible if I could.
And so, I outright took a step sideways away from Yuno.
"Sorry. I'm sorry! So please don't outright avoid me like you hate me!"
"..........??"
Immediately, Yuno followed me sideways.
Why on earth was this girl acting like this?
I should have had absolutely nothing going for me, no affection grind or contact points or anything, so her chummy approach was only baffling.
"Ah, it's... I mean....."
She herself seemed aware of it, as she stammered without being able to explain properly.
Yuno let out a short breath and then spoke to me as if she'd made up her mind.
"I thought you were incredibly amazing after watching your fight with Mars!"
She said she'd been deeply impressed by how I'd seized victory against Mars, the daughter of the Ares Guild that everyone who knew anything knew about.
"And you come out for morning exercise every day, right? Waking up earlier than anyone else, running persistently without resting even once, without doing it half-heartedly....."
"...........?"
"Ahh, I mean! I'm absolutely not saying it in *that* kind of way, okay? I have a boyfriend to begin with...!"
"Uh... yeah."
So she had a boyfriend.
Probably the Protagonist.
Was his name Yupiter or something like that?
'Anyway, that's really...something.'
Her way of speaking was exactly like a childhood friend from a 90s Japanese production.
When I saw it in the game, I just accepted it as-is, but hearing it voiced directly was a feeling that was really... something.
It felt like watching an actor performing sincerely right before my eyes.
The problem was that it wasn't an act, but sincere.
"Student Cadet Aseuran, forward!"
"Yes, sir."
"Hwaa~~~am...ugh."
I turned my head forward and watched what was about to happen.
"Accuracy──B"
Hitting a target by shooting from a set distance.
"Range─C"
Hitting a target that got progressively farther away.
"Dynamic Vision─D"
Clay shooting.
"Power─D"
Throwing with full power at a scarecrow dummy.
"Student Cadet Aseuran, total score 11 points-C"
"Kk-eu-eung...."
There were 3 events in total.
None of them looked easy.
For an ordinary person trying to hit a target right now, hitting the target at all would be the first problem, but on top of accuracy, they were testing range and dynamic vision too.
'When it comes to shooting,'
The only experience I had was some BB pellet shooting at a game center, or firing a few rounds in the military.
And even that wasn't enough to earn leave for a perfect score, the very definition of average of average.
"Student Cadet Yuno, forward."
"It's my turn. I'll be back?"
In contrast, in Yuno's case....
"Accuracy──A"
Perfect scores were the baseline for her.
"Range─B"
Her range was also excellent.
"Dynamic Vision─D"
The one drawback was that nocking an arrow took time.
"Power─B"
Given time, she showed reasonably good results....
"Student Cadet Yuno, total score 15 points-B"
"The fuck."
How was I supposed to beat this?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't find a way to win.
"Hwoo... how was it? Did you watch well?"
"...You were amazing."
"Right? All that special training was worth it!"
"..........."
None of the cadets who followed after that could surpass Yuno's score.
There were cadets who barely reached a B, but none could break through the wall of 15 points.
A truly unprecedented record.
At the same time, I suddenly recalled which class she came from and asked Yuno the reason.
"You...why are you in Class C?"
"Because I thought it would be nice to be in the same class as Ter!"
"So you followed your boyfriend."
I felt like I understood why she was in Class C despite possessing such freakish skills.
Right now the Protagonist would be at his initial stats, so at best he'd be C-rank.
If she followed her boyfriend, she ultimately had no choice but Class C.
Of course, she could go back up through the Re-adjustment Exam a month later, but that was something to see when the time came.
"Student Cadet Chrono, forward."
"I hate this....."
What was important right now was breaking Yuno's record.
[Emergency Mission]
[Apostle of Hera]
-This is an emergency mission issued by Cronus.
1. Challenge the Apostle of Hera to a duel and win (0/1)
Reward: 10 Contribution Points/ Mild Anticipation
On Failure: Tremendous Disappointment
"Do your best! Chrono!"
".....Euhm."
No, not just breaking it.
I slowly turned my head toward Yuno and spoke.
"What if I break your record?"
"Huh? Are you suggesting a bet now?"
"Yeah."
"Euhm....I'll buy you bread at the snack bar later!"
"Okay."
A rule perfectly befitting student cadets.
I stepped forward and stood before the teacher.
"Student Cadet Chrono, your weapon?"
"Um...do you have a gun, by any chance?"
"Did you leave your weapon behind?"
"Well....."
Come to think of it, I didn't have a weapon.
I'd come with the thought of shooting a gun, but thinking about it, I didn't have a gun to begin with.
A dilemma I hit before even starting.
While I was agonizing over what to do, the teacher spoke to me.
"What. You were holding it in your hand."
"Huh?"
I was holding something in my han—
I was holding a pistol in my hand.
'It definitely wasn't there just a moment ago...?'
As I stared quietly at the pistol in my hand, a window appeared above it.
[Scythe of Cronus]
-This is a scythe imbued with the divinity of Cronus.
-Time is relative, but it never disappears.
-Trait: Indestructibility (Infinite Durability)
-Trait: Transformation (Can change its form)
"Ah....."
So it really was a scythe.
As I examined the pistol that gave off a dark aura in my hand, the teacher told me not to waste time unnecessarily and sent me forward.
"Hwoo-ooh....."
The first test.
Shooting a target from a set distance.
The distance was a total of 100m.
I held my breath, recalled my memories from the military, and pulled the trigger.
"Accuracy──C"
"...Tch."
Not bad.
It wasn't so bad.
But the problem was that I did relatively worse than Yuno.
Yuno's score was A, mine was C.
A difference of 2 points total.
"Range─D"
Shooting the target from far away was even more disastrous.
Since what I was holding was a pistol, there were naturally range limitations...
...With this, the total gap was 4 points.
"Clay shooting, ready."
".......Ready."
It involved tracking clays launched from a launcher with my eyes and shooting them.
Pung— and a clay shot out, which I aimed at with the pistol and hit.
Taang!...Taang!...
".....Ss-eu-euhp."
For now, it was manageable shooting.
Since it was a weapon created by a god, there was no need to reload, so I didn't have to think about magazine count.
But even setting that aside, the reality was that my reactions were slowing as the clay's speed gradually increased.
'This...at this rate...'
I'll lose.
I'll definitely lose.
If I couldn't widen the gap here, the result was certain defeat without even needing to calculate.
Taang! Taang!...Taang!
"One miss."
"Kk-eu-eung...!"
A mistake occurred.
If I missed two more times, it was over.
My mind grew frantic, telling myself I couldn't make a mistake, but the clays before my eyes passed by too quickly.
'If only they'd slow down just a little...'
A futile delusion.
I gripped the gun again and strained my nerves toward the flying clays.
And finally, when the clay was launched into the sky.
Hwoo~oo~oo~oong~~
".....Huh?"
The clay had slowed down oddly.
What had been zipping past just before suddenly slowed, so I managed to shoot and hit it.
'This, did something break down?'
I stole a glance at the teacher.
"Daa.a.a.ahh.h.e.u.u.mm....."
".........Ah."
It had slowed down.
No, perhaps I had become faster.
Either way, it was good. What mattered right now was that the clay's speed had been halved.
Taang!...Taang!.....Taang!...Taang!
"Oh...ohhhh...!"
The clays gradually sped up again, but not to the point where I couldn't adapt at all.
And like that, only when they passed by at a speed as fast as when the clays were first thrown did a miss finally occur.
"Dynamic Vision─A"
"Yesss...!"
I'd caught up.
Just 1 point left now in total.
If I scored an A-rank in the next power test for 5 points....
'...It's still a tie, huh?'
Had I been screwed from the very start?
Damn it, if I'd just scored 1 point higher in either accuracy or range, I might have won.
But the fact that now, no matter how hard I tried, it would only be a tie was bitterly painful.
"But still...at least I didn't lose."
Maybe they'd go a little easy on me.
The teacher pointed at the scarecrow dummy and continued.
"You have 3 opportunities total. The highest power will be recorded."
Power test.
Unleashing the strongest single blow against a scarecrow dummy treated with special divinity.
I loaded the gun and then agonized over how to best draw out its power.
[Time Limit: 1s]
'With 1 second...'
What exactly could I do?
I closed my eyes and thought.
A way to wring out ultimate efficiency with only 1 second of time left.
Something that could maximize the gun's power.
Power. Power was, in short, force.
"Force is... mass times acceleration."
F = ma
With that, all my worries ended.
I raised my gun and aimed right at the scarecrow in front of me.
"Hwoo-oohhh....!"
Focus.
Just focus completely.
The mass of the bullet was a fixed value.
Therefore, the variable was purely the speed of the flying bullet.
I pulled the trigger and, simultaneously, fed my ability into the bullet.
And then...
Tu-kwaaaahhhh!!!
"Uh...?"
The bullet fired out of the pistol.
At the same time, with a tremendous roar, the pistol flew from my grip and toward my head──eurgh...?
Kwajik!
".......Eugg."
My vision was becoming tinged with red.
All the strength was draining from my body, too.
And my head throbbed and hurt so much that...
"Student Cadet Chrono? Student Cadet Chrono!"
Just, screw everything.
[Apostle of Hera - Success]
-Cronus smiles at the Apostle's passionate fighting spirit through injury.
Reward: 10 Contribution Points / Mild Anticipation
Additional Reward: Recovery Speed Acceleration (Minor)
"Eh, auuh....."
I'd passed.
So just let me sleep.
My head felt like it was breaking.
...Maybe it really was broken.