Chapter 69
Chapter 70
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: This Status Window is Mine
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Morning sunlight filtering through the window dimly filled the room.
Was it because I'd spent the whole night analyzing that mysterious status plate?
After flipping it over, shaking it, and staring at it until I was exhausted, my eyes refused to open easily.
I lay there for a moment, catching my breath, then stretched with great difficulty.
'I'm tired...'
Waking up after just one or two hours of sleep always made it especially hard to get up.
I stared blankly at the ceiling,
then slowly turned my head to check the floor beside the bed.
The status plate that had kept me up all night was still lying there in the same spot.
'...It's still here.'
A short sigh escaped my lips.
Deep down, I'd hoped to see some results the moment I opened my eyes.
I glanced at the clock on the nightstand.
It wasn't quite time to be late yet,
but I didn't have enough time to get ready leisurely either.
Normally, I'd have already washed up, gotten fully dressed in my uniform, and had time to spare.
No way... she slept until now?
Or maybe it's taking her longer than expected to notice the changes in her body.
'Even if that girl's an idiot, would she really be this slow?'
I recalled Marian from the entrance exam.
Clearly—
the moment she swung her hand in the air,
the person had changed.
From a sturdy, robust warrior,
to a powerful mage who could cast spells but was frail themselves.
I remembered how the girl, who had been wheezing after using high-level magic,
had recovered completely with just a few gestures, as if nothing had happened.
If it was to that extent—
her body's condition must have changed the instant those numbers were altered.
I looked down at the status plate still rolling on the floor.
For now, I'd returned ownership of the status plate to Marian.
I'd simply not given the plate itself back.
If Marian waved her hand in the air like she did during the entrance exam, she could've retrieved it in an instant.
And yet—
the status plate was still sitting there plainly in my room.
'...What's going on? Did I make a mistake somewhere?'
There couldn't be a problem with Eclipse.
Eclipse had the restriction of once per month per person,
but in exchange, its accuracy in stealing what I desired was exceptional.
So there were two possibilities.
She hadn't noticed yet,
or the changes I'd made didn't mean much.
I sighed and headed to the bathroom.
'I'll get ready first, and check later. It won't be too late.'
Splashing cold water on my face cleared my mind.
My hazy head started to function properly bit by bit.
The anxiety I'd felt until then faded away as well.
'She probably just overslept.'
Marian was the type who often skipped breakfast and then devoured my cookies.
It was probably the same this time.
No matter how I thought about it, the changes I'd made couldn't have been meaningless.
Honestly, even I thought they were extreme.
'If she hasn't noticed that..., then that girl has no brain at all.'
With a slightly more relaxed mind, I got dressed in my uniform.
The moment I was tying my necktie—
a faint light flickered from the floor, and the status plate vanished.
I smirked, lifting one corner of my mouth.
As expected...
Marian Laverin was just like Ruena.
The type who sleeps so deeply that even if someone carried her off, she wouldn't notice.
'That girl hasn't pulled out that status plate much since the entrance exam.'
In the past fortnight, I could count on one hand the times Marian had taken it out.
In a situation like that, why pull it out now?
She must have panicked and grabbed it because she felt the changes in her stats.
'Just as planned.'
The morning that had only felt tiring now felt refreshing.
Recalling the original values in my head, I headed to Ruena's room.
Sure enough, Ruena was still sound asleep today as well.
She was clutching the blanket tightly, sleeping so deeply that she wouldn't notice if someone carried her away.
I went straight to the bed and yanked the blanket off forcefully.
"Get up."
"Auuuuh... "
"I'm not kidding today. We're really late. If you dawdle, you won't get breakfast."
"...Liaaaar."
"Not lying. I overslept."
At that moment—
Ruena's tightly shut eyes slyly opened a crack.
She glanced at the clock, then looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.
It wasn't quite tardy,
but I'd woken her up much later than usual.
A moment later—
Ruena sat up with movements much quicker than normal.
"Celen oversleeping for once...?"
"...Huh? ...Just felt a bit tired."
"What? Tired? Are you okay? You're not sick or anything, right?"
Ruena looked at me with eyes full of worry.
I checked the clock again.
It was later than usual, but only by about 10 minutes.
Me oversleeping was as rare as Trisha treating me like a big brother.
Still, making this big a fuss over just 10 minutes.
'She oversleeps every day.'
But—
The words of reproach I'd been about to say died on my lips.
Ruena had anxiously placed her hand on my forehead.
"At least you don't have a fever... "
"...Hey."
"Fever's not a big deal anyway. Are you really okay, Celen? What do we do? Should we go to the infirmary?"
On top of that, her face looked like she might burst into tears any second.
It was absurd, but her genuine worry made me avert my gaze without realizing it.
At that moment—
Ruena suddenly jumped out of bed.
"No. Wait a second. I'll call our family doctor right now...!"
"I'm not sick. I'm fine."
In the end, I quieted her fussing with a light flick to her forehead.
Even though I'd hit her gently, Ruena groaned in pain,
then kept scrutinizing me with a crumpled-up frown.
Feeling awkwardly embarrassed for some reason, I stared up at the ceiling.
"...I told you I'm fine."
"Still, you almost never oversleep, Celen. Normally—"
"I was just that tired. And it's only 10 minutes. Ten minutes."
"......Are you really okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
I shrugged with a smirk.
Only then did Ruena's expression relax, and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Good... "
"Why are you worrying so much?"
"What? If I don't worry about you, who will?"
The immediate, matter-of-fact reply.
For a moment, my thick skin nearly cracked, so I hurriedly pushed Ruena's back.
Ruena headed to the bathroom, looking puzzled.
"Ahh—?"
"No time to fool around. Hurry up and wash."
"Celen, you're really okay, right?"
"I said I am. If you move slow, I'll get even more tired, so hurry."
"Ah, okay. Got it. I'll get ready as fast as I can!"
A moment later—
Busier-than-usual sounds came from the bathroom.
She seemed to be taking my words at face value and rushing.
'This is pretty nice.'
I should pretend to oversleep more often and use it.
I ignored the burning sensation creeping up my neck and thought that.
'Anyway, time to check.'
I used Eclipse to summon Marian's status plate.
Sure enough—
the values had changed.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Name: Marian Laverin Level: 23 Class: Hero 【Parameters】
HP (Vitality): 3200 MP (Mana): 200 STR (Strength): 310 INT (Intelligence): 3 DEX (Dexterity): 60 AGI (Agility): 50 LUK (Luck): 88 It was completely different from the values I'd changed,
and even subtly different from the initially recorded ones.
'The bottom value went up a bit...?'
Clearly, 'LUK (Luck)' had been 33.
But now, for some reason, it had jumped to 88.
I stared intently at the last entry.
'Marian must have changed it. Does it have some special meaning?'
Well, that—
I could just ask her directly.
Since I'd confirmed I had Marian on a leash.
One corner of my mouth lifted involuntarily.
I caressed the status plate, then unhesitatingly pressed '↺'.
And then—
I changed MP (Mana) back to 53,900.
After that, I transferred ownership back to Marian.
'Wonder how long it'll take her to notice this time.'
Right then—
Ruena emerged from the bathroom much earlier than usual.
Her hair was neatly dried too.
"I'm out!"
"...Hey, you can dry your own hair."
"Oh? W-Well... I thought you were sick today, so I got so startled that I'm fully awake now... "
"...Ahh, I see."
Ruena rolled her eyes and smiled awkwardly.
It was obvious at a glance—
she'd been dumping it on me because it was a hassle.
I was about to scold her when I let out a long sigh and held out the status plate.
"Ruena."
"Yeah?"
"Can you see this?"
"This?"
Ruena tilted her head, looking confused.
She stared blankly at my hand for a moment,
then started looking around left and right, trying to figure out what I meant.
That confirmed it.
Not visible in mirrors, nor to other people.
I smirked and tossed the status plate behind me.
Ruena, still busy looking around, soon tilted her head again.
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Hurry up and put on your uniform."
"Ah, okay."
Ruena went to get changed,
and soon after, the status plate I'd tossed disappeared.
Marian must have retrieved it.
My mouth curved up again.
After that, I repeated similar actions a few more times.
This square status plate was only visible to me or Marian anyway.
Thanks to that, I could tweak it very comfortably amid the crowd.
Thievery in broad daylight.
Could there be anything more comfortable and luxurious?
Of course—
not for the victim, apparently.
During class.
Pretending to take notes, I observed Marian sitting in the back.
Normally, she'd be nodding off,
but now she was gripping her pen tightly, visibly tense.
I leisurely peeked into Marian's inner thoughts.
「Wh-What is this? Why are the status window values... I didn't touch them, but they're suddenly changing? And why is only MP going up—! Is it a bug? But Sis said she's never heard of a bug like this—?!」
I didn't know what a bug was,
but it seemed to have thoroughly shaken both Marian and her sister.
The performance exceeded my expectations.
After that—
I subtly adjusted the values while avoiding Marian's line of sight.
With each tweak, Marian's expression grew more deathly pale.
「I'm screwed! I only have 10 reset stones left—! What the hell is this? How is this even happening—?!」
Her increasingly panicked inner thoughts were a bonus.
Finally, all classes ended.
I told Ruena I had something to do, then leisurely followed Marian.
Marian Laverin was completely out of it.
I pressed '↺' once more.
At that instant—
Marian, who had been staring at the ground, snapped her head up.
「Wh-What...? No way, again—?! ...H-Huh? What? Why isn't the status window appearing—?!」
Of course not.
I hadn't transferred ownership back to her this time.
I smirked and approached her.
"Hey, Marian."
"...Ah, uh... Huh? Celen?"
"Looking for this?"
With a friendly smile, I waved the status plate right in front of Marian's eyes.
At that moment—
Marian's face drained of color, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.