Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: 500 Percent
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- Whoosh.
The dorm's personal training room.
I'd summoned a doll that looked exactly like a person and was practicing refining my mana.
- Pluck.
The mana thread stabbed into the doll's body.
And then...
- Sssslip.
The thread unraveled and vanished.
‘Roughly... 1 to 2 seconds.’
Hmm.
It looked weaker, so let's say it lasted about 3 seconds longer.
‘Yeah. 3 seconds.’
The mana thread had grown more solid, and the time until it unraveled had definitely increased.
‘This level... it's still usable, at least.’
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Tuner】
At your touch, mana will play its tune.
: You receive absolute correction toward 'mana.'
Even at the world's end, when all things crumble, you will tune the flow.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Absolute correction, huh... it's bigger than I thought.’
I hadn't expected to feel it this strongly.
‘Good, good.’
Even at this moment, I was steadily growing stronger.
Of course, only in terms of 'power.'
‘Ugh.’
When I tried to stand, my vision spun.
And I collapsed right back onto the floor.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Adel ]
Breakthrough Limit : ★☆☆☆☆
Attribute
: 「Abyss」
: 「Nothingness」
Stats
: Stamina : 11 (D)
: Strength : 2 (F)
: Intelligence : 27 (B)
: Mental Strength : 30 (A)
: Mana : ■ ()
Talents
: 【All talents are fixed at 'lowest' due to the 「Stigma」.】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘...Maybe I should've done some achievements.’
With a body like this, what's the point of just having strong power?
‘Hmm... I can get one from the group assignment.’
Achievements, achievements...
‘But right now, there's too little I can actually do.’
Swing a sword 1,000 times?
No way.
I'd somehow managed push-ups through sheer grit, but even now, just lifting a sword was a struggle.
‘Hmm... pass.’
Guess I should feed Leviathan.
I opened the kitchen cabinet, grabbed a can of tuna, and headed to my room.
“What is it, human?”
The loach in the fish tank—Leviathan—greeted me.
[More like, this is my room]
“Didn't ask, human.”
...Looks like I need to put water on the stove first.
***
“So... you joined your little brother's group?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Ooh... jealous~ I wanna team up with the freshmen too.”
“No one came even when you asked them to?”
No matter how much they called the student council the Carnel fan club.
There was still a clear hierarchy within it.
If student council president Carnel was number one.
Then secretary Violet was the next most popular.
So you'd think Violet would feel wronged if no one came to her...
“Nah? Tons came.”
“...”
So what am I supposed to do about it?
That was Carnel's thought.
“But~”
Violet glanced sideways with her eyes.
“I can't just leave the student council with only those guys, right?”
In that direction stood student council members brimming with enthusiasm.
“Just leave it to us, President!”
“We can do it!”
“Heh.”
“Trust only us!”
There was one weird one mixed in...
Nod.
Carnel reluctantly nodded.
“But Carnel...”
“?”
“What have you been doing since earlier?”
“What else.”
Pat. Pat.
“No... why are you doing your makeup so intensely?”
“Oh, Violet. This is basic etiquette for a noble's daughter.”
“Ah... I see. I'm not a noble, so I wouldn't know...”
Violet pressed her forehead, lost in thought.
“Come to think of it...”
Carnel... joined Adel's group...?
“...!”
Gasp.
Violet covered her mouth with both hands and eyed Carnel slyly.
Pat. Pat.
Carnel had been tirelessly touching up her makeup since earlier.
Pat. Pat.
She kept wiping and reapplying, dissatisfied with this and that.
‘Eureka.’
Violet's romance cells activated, spinning her brain at full speed.
‘Hmm...’
Swipe.
Today's Carnel was dressed differently from usual.
It was the uniform, of course, but she'd clearly put effort into the outer coat.
Her hair was even neater than normal.
Two hair ties crossed on her wrist...
“Ehehe...”
“...Why are you laughing so creepily?”
“Ehehihi. It's nothing~ Nothing at all.”
Ehehehi.
Red roses and lilies bloomed explosively in Violet's mind! Boom! Boom!
“So... any progress finding our little brother?”
“...”
“...”
A brief silence.
Violet was the one at a loss for words.
Her head snapped around jerkily.
“Huh...?”
Carnel, who'd been nonstop fiddling with her makeup today.
And... the truth dawned once more.
Carnel was convinced right now that Adel might be her missing little brother.
...And she'd joined that same group as Adel.
She'd even dolled herself up with unnecessary makeup.
‘Wait...’
Lightning struck Violet's mind, turning it blank.
‘Th-that... incest?!’
Gasp.
Violet clamped her mouth again with both hands.
But it was too late this time.
Her mouth was already wide open, and her imagination had run wild beyond control.
“Waaah! Nooo! Waaaah!!”
A wave of emotions churned inside her.
“...What?”
“Carnel...!! That's incest!!”
“W-what?!!”
Eh...?
Not that?
***
“Submit all magic tools and artifacts except weapons beforehand.”
“...”
“Is that mask... an artifact?”
One professor glanced at my mask and asked.
Then.
“Professor Alberto, I'll take this student.”
Delphine had approached me before I knew it.
“Adel. I've heard from the dean.”
...Heard what?
I haven't heard anything.
“You can't take off the mask?”
Ah.
That.
[Yes]
“Any special effects on the mask? If so, we'll have to apply other penalties.”
[No]
If anything, I'm the one suffering penalties.
Can't they give me a little... advantage or something?
“Hmm... Noted. Move along.”
I stepped forward at his words.
And there were Klaus and Carnel in front of me.
‘Huh.’
What's this.
Carnel's face... is a bit red?
“W-what are you looking at!”
Whoa.
I just stared, and that's her reaction.
“Adel... did you mess with the president again?”
Hey, Klaus.
‘Again’?
What does that mean.
[I didn't do anything]
But really.
I've been living nicely lately.
...Of course, I always have.
And then... the group assignment explanation began.
“Then, a simple rundown.”
The content was just as announced before.
“Full marks for investigating and hunting the beasts.”
Research the beasts' ecology and weaknesses, then hunt them directly at the end.
“Skip the investigation and just hunt, and you'll score below baseline.”
...If this were ‘Aka Calamity’-era Klaus, he'd have slaughtered the beasts without any research.
Too bad.
“And... there's a bonus here.”
This wasn't in the announcement.
“Among the beasts, one will have a golden wound glowing on it.”
“...”
“The group that hunts that one gets extra points.”
Hmm...
Can we just grab that one and chill?
Nah... probably not.
No way our president would allow it.
“Then, we'll distribute the brooches.”
Thud.
A star-shaped brooch dropped into my hand.
“Wear it as close to your heart as possible.”
Following Professor Delphine's instructions, I pinned the brooch to my chest.
“This brooch tracks your status in real time and is used to forfeit the assignment.”
Professor Delphine continued from the podium.
“If you want to forfeit, press the center for 10 seconds or more.”
She demonstrated.
The brooch pressed firmly.
A moment later, the central gem faintly glowed, rippling the surrounding mana.
“...?”
“What? Nothing happened?”
“Right?”
Hmm...
Is it only visible with 【Laplace's Eye】?
“Of course, this brooch only works inside the subspace.”
Professor Delphine released the brooch and spoke again.
“And keep this in mind.”
This time, pointing straight up.
“If you press for 10 seconds or more and get no response in 10 minutes... that's an anomaly in the subspace.”
“...”
“In that case, we recommend linking up with nearby groups.”
Tension spread among the students.
“Of course, the chance is less than 5 percent.”
The students' faces relaxed a bit.
But I couldn't smile.
‘Do they know?’
Less than 5 percent means it happens more often than you'd think.
And the odds of something happening in this group assignment...
“Then, Team 1, enter in order.”
Are 500 percent.
***
“Whew... I'm nervous.”
Right before entering the subspace.
Klaus was trembling beside me.
“Adel... think we can do it?”
[What]
“We're aiming for 1st place...?”
Note that 1st place was our president's set goal.
“Realistically, how with me dragging you down.”
Realistically, it'd be weirder if we couldn't with you.
Plus, our president is here.
“You're not nervous?”
[I am]
It was not a lie.
I'm just not showing it.
“Hmph, weak.”
“...”
...I really am weak.
I'd probably die from one hit from a beast.
For real.
“Team 17, enter.”
At Professor Delphine's firm voice.
“Gasp... it's our turn, Adel.”
Klaus made a fuss.
[Let's go]
With the portal to the subspace right in front of me.
I stepped forward, thinking of the story that would unfold beyond...
And...
[Save me, President]
I immediately encountered the less-than-5-percent anomaly.
“A-Adel?!”
- Caaaaw!!
‘I told you.’
The anomaly would happen with 500 percent certainty.
Though this wasn't the anomaly I had in mind.
Anyway, since it's ridiculous, let's call it an anomaly.
‘But what the hell is this situation?’
- Caw! Caaaaw!!
I'd been snatched by a bird-shaped beast.
“Adeeeel...!!!”
And kidnapped.