Chapter 25: Reversal (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25: Reversal (End)
Before I knew it, the Main Quest was only a day away.
It was a peaceful sight.
Normally, the Academy would have started in the worst possible atmosphere, with many students dead due to the terror attack. Now, it felt like a typical coming-of-age novel.
However, that would all end if I failed tomorrow.
If an Academy professor were to kill students and flee just to satisfy his own delusions and desires, the trust and reputation of the Academy—which I had worked so hard to protect—would hit rock bottom. Furthermore, the reality of losing a fellow cadet would leave the others cowering in fear.
As a reader who hates “grimdark” stories, that’s a development I simply cannot tolerate.
“Hey, Loser~”
And so.
“I didn’t really notice before, but your eyelashes are really long, Loser. Your skin is so pale, too.”
Even if his first prey is this unpleasant Butt who doesn’t know the meaning of personal space, I intend to save her.
Our dear Butt, completely unaware of the fate awaiting her tomorrow, was busy playing another one of her trivial pranks on me today.
“I think you’d look way better if you just tidied up your hair and wore contacts instead of glasses. Why do you walk around looking like such a loser?”
Butt giggled as she snatched my glasses away without permission.
For the record, those are safety glasses, so they have nothing to do with my actual vision.
I’d been wearing them ever since I first transmigrated for some reason, but they weren’t exactly a necessity.
Regardless, it was a fact that this girl, who didn’t realize how dangerous it was to snatch someone’s glasses, needed a lesson.
“You…”
“See?”
But before I could say anything, Butt beat me to the punch.
“You look way better without the glasses.”
Perhaps thinking I couldn’t see well without them, she peered at me closely, observing my face before breaking into a silly grin, her cheeks tinged with a strange flush.
Shit.
Yeah, honestly, I want to ignore it, but Butt’s attitude has been a bit weird lately.
It’s not quite at a level where I can put a specific name to it yet, but should I say I feel a strange sense of goodwill?
No matter how much I think about it, there hasn’t been a single event between us that would make us conscious of each other like that. This is all because that idiot Lilac went around blabbing about what I said.
Tsk.
When I looked at the culprit, he was grinning ear to ear as if something was hilarious.
I’ll let it slide since I need you to put in some work tomorrow, you brat.
“…Are you mad?”
Thinking my scowl was directed at her, Butt held out the glasses with a rare display of timidity.
As I took the glasses back in silence, her fidgeting made it clear that she actually cared about my reaction quite a bit.
I know.
I know that the pranks and the constant talking are her own way of showing favor.
Only a moron like Lilac would fail to notice that.
“I’m not mad.”
“Really!?”
She started hopping up and down, looking far too happy over that single sentence.
“Hehe, our Loser is so nice.”
Nice, my foot.
Even now, I’m letting a monster be because of various reasons, even though I could deal with him before a horrific incident occurs.
You can’t call someone “nice” when they’re ignoring a person they could at least give a warning to.
“Ah, I wish I was in the Holy Fire Class too. Then Yu-hak, Lilac, and Loser would all be there.”
I can’t exactly call it a substitute, but I’ll at least make sure you definitely don’t die.
“Be careful.”
“Huh? Of what?”
“Of everything.”
“How vague.”
Soon after, Professor Cathy entered the room, and Butt scurried back to her own class.
“See ya later, Loser!”
That “Loser” thing, seriously.
Every time I try to think well of her, she ruins the mood.
Judging by the intense urge rising from deep within my soul, the saying “you can’t spit on a smiling face” is definitely a lie.
* * *
Normally, Professor Cathy would leave after a quick greeting, but today she seemed to have an announcement.
“As most of you know, Points will be distributed to you soon.”
Ah, right. I forgot about that because of the Main Quest.
“I’m sure you all know, but for the sake of formality, Points are scores you can gain or lose through all activities at Leilan Academy. To put it simply, you can think of it as a merit and demerit system.”
That was it.
To explain it very simply, Points were a merit and demerit system.
Troublemakers who caused accidents or those with poor grades would lose points. Conversely, honor students who consistently did volunteer work or resolved incidents during their enrollment would gain points.
If these points went into the negatives, various penalties were imposed. According to the settings, I recalled that if someone dropped below minus five hundred points, they couldn’t even graduate.
Of course, there was no such character in the original story, but now that students who were supposed to die are surviving, who knows?
“Of course, since it’s a merit system, there are proper rewards. You can spend Points like cash within the Academy, and you can also use them to rent Special Weaponry that would be difficult for you to obtain right now.”
Special Weaponry primarily refers to Mana Weapons created by master artisans, but it also occasionally includes Artifacts found in dungeons from the Otherworld.
In fact, the ‘Will of the Saint’ is also a type of Special Weaponry, even if its effectiveness is a bit weak.
[-The Will of the Saint recoils.]
Well, you might think it’s useless then, but it’s just that the Will of the Saint has very few compatible users. Most Artifacts are often described as weapons powerful enough to bridge the gap in Talent if used correctly.
Even if it’s just a rental until graduation, one could use it to make money or clear other dungeons. Above all, the greatest benefit of the merit system lay here:
“Yes, and it doesn’t end with just a rental. Considering both the shop and your grades, the top three students will be granted the right to keep their rented equipment upon graduation. It’s a chance to get the weapon of your choice for free.”
Of course, they say “free,” but with Cheon Yu-hak and Lilac in the same year, it might be wiser to just dump money and buy it rather than trying to break into the top three.
“Oh, and Cadet Lilac and Cadet Cheon Yu-hak, who played a major role in preventing the terror attack, will be awarded additional Points.”
Oh, that’s good. This didn’t happen before because things were so chaotic, but I guess that’s the Academy for you.
Since things aren’t messy from a terror attack, the rewards are clear.
Lilac was looking over here looking strangely uncomfortable, but whatever. I wasn’t going to lose sleep over a few points.
I didn’t need points when I could just intercept the settings my friend abandoned or the fortuitous encounters the villains were supposed to take.
As I always say, a transmigrator has their own way of doing things.
* * *
After school at the Academy, there’s usually a fair amount of activity.
Some use the well-equipped training facilities, some enjoy special activities that could be considered clubs, and occasionally, cadets seek out professors for direct consultation or advice.
Kim Ga-eul was one of them, receiving a consultation from a certain professor.
He was popular among the cadets due to his handsome face and polite demeanor, so there were usually many people waiting for a consultation. Fortunately, she was able to see him immediately today.
“So, have you made up with the cadets you fought with, Miss Ga-eul?”
Jin Gyeong-tae, the professor in charge of Basic Monster Taming.
As always, he wore a kind, gentle smile.
“No, not most of them. But the one I was really mean to said he forgives me.”
“That’s a relief. If the person involved forgives you, the atmosphere around you will gradually improve as well.”
“Actually, it’s not that I want to be close with my old friends again. I just didn’t realize they’d cut me off so easily.”
“Hmm, this might sound like an old man talking, but just as that friend forgave you, I hope you can forgive your friends too. I think being able to make mistakes, fight, and still reconcile is a privilege of youth.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. When you get older and become an adult, you have so many things to worry about and relationships to manage that even if you want to apologize, you can’t. Or conversely, you can’t get close to the people you want to be close to. Of course, cadets have their own struggles, but adults are political creatures, so it’s much worse.”
“…Hearing you say that, Professor, I think you might be right.”
“Haha, it’ll be hard to decide today, so let’s just think about it for now.”
He pulled an Illusion Butterfly from his robe.
The beautiful butterfly fluttered its wings, scattering sparkling powder.
“Ah, I think I smell something nice.”
“You’re right. If you inhale too much, you’ll lose consciousness, but in small amounts, it has a relaxing effect. It’ll work even better if you drink it with the tea I gave you.”
It was true.
As she sipped the tea, her heart felt much lighter.
“By the way, who is this friend you said you bullied? Forgiveness isn’t an easy thing. I’d like to see their face if I get the chance.”
“Oh, you actually know him, Professor. It’s Kang So-hyun from the Holy Fire Class.”
“…Pardon? Ah, yes, I know him. I remember him because he has an excellent attitude in class.”
“Exactly. And he’s really nice. He even told me to be careful today.”
“…Be careful?”
“Yeah. When I asked what I should be careful of, he just said ‘everything.’ It was a bit vague, but seeing how he’s worried about me, I guess he really did forgive me.”
“So he told you to be careful, no matter what.”
Kim Ga-eul was quite quick-witted.
If she hadn’t drunk the tea laced with sedatives or inhaled the scales of the Illusion Butterfly, she would have noticed that his voice had turned slightly cold.
However, she was currently in a very defenseless and relaxed state.
“Uh… I suddenly feel a bit sleepy.”
“I see. He must be a much more capable friend than I thought. I was going to hold out for one more day, but come to think of it, he’s been strangely wary of me since the first day we met.”
Kim Ga-eul tried to open her heavy eyelids, but the more she struggled, the deeper her consciousness sank.
“How on earth did he know? I never once let it show. No, did he even really realize? I’m curious, but it would be troublesome if he actually did.”
Picking up the already sleeping girl, he carefully opened a secret space within his laboratory.
“I wanted to find two or three more by tomorrow, but it can’t be helped. I’ll have to be satisfied with all of you.”
Inside, the cadets who had come to seek consultation with him today were bound.
“Professor…?”
“Oh, I guess you’re not completely asleep. For now, please get some rest. I have to start the lecture once you wake up.”
“Lec…ture?”
“Yes. It’s a lecture I’ve personally wanted to give for a very long time.”
He was still smiling with that same kind face.
* * *
Kim Ga-eul woke up to an irritated noise nearby.
“What is this…!”
A somewhat burly cadet was tied to a chair, shouting.
No, to be precise, only one cadet was shouting, but there seemed to be quite a few others, including herself, tied to chairs and unconscious.
Her head throbbed as if she had been smelling strong perfume for too long.
“Dammit…! What is this? Why is this happening!”
He seemed to possess a physical-type Talent and tried to use it to break free, but it appeared his Talent wasn’t working.
At his shouting, the others began to wake up one by one.
Different years, different genders—there seemed to be no common thread between them.
The room quickly became noisy.
They argued about where they were, who had played such a prank, and what the purpose was, but obviously, talking amongst themselves wasn’t going to provide any answers.
“Ah, is everyone okay?”
“Ah! Professor! You’ve come to save us!”
“No, I was captured too.”
“What…?”
“I’m joking. Cadets these days like these kinds of jokes, right? Ah, only the part about being captured is a joke. The rest is true. I didn’t come here to save you.”
Her head hurt, but the situation was starting to make sense.
If her understanding of the situation was correct, it was catastrophic.
“In fact, I’m more like the culprit who restrained you. However, I just want to have a class with you, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
“A class…?”
“Yes, a class. It’s a bit late, but let’s have some fun. I’ve been waiting for today for a very long time.”
His tone and expression were the same as usual, but was the ominous feeling because he was the kidnapper, or because the “class” he was about to give didn’t seem like it would benefit them at all?
“Stop joking and let us go!”
“That’s right! Professor! We have a curfew!”
They began to deny reality.
“Calling it a joke makes me a bit sad. I prepared so hard. Do you really want to go that badly?”
“Of course!”
“Is that so?”
As he gestured, the wall began to move.
To be precise, it wasn’t the wall, but something hanging on the wall was wriggling, making it look that way.
“I’ll ask one more time.”
A centipede-like monster, larger than a human, was crawling along the wall.
“Do you really want to go?”
There was no one left who could answer.
* * *
[-Achievement Unlocked: ‘Butterfly Effect’. Due to your influence, the Main Quest has started early.]
“What the fuck?”
“Huh? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“What the—!”
I didn’t know what was happening, but running was more important than explanations.