Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: How to Make Them Grow Lazily (5)
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Yuria Isolde.
In [Stella Academia], she was always a top pick among the characters players recruited as companions.
There were two main reasons for that.
Title: Ha... Life sucks....
Ugh... Sbeung... Got fired from my part-time job again today after causing trouble...
I wanna hug Yuria tight and get some headpats...
Even a loser like me, Yuria-mom would love me, right...
ㄴ Sbeung lol
ㄴ Please think about Yuria's side for once....
ㄴ (Emoticon of Yuria with a cold expression)
Could you please stay away from me? You creepy unemployed guy.
ㄴ Yuria would never say that!
First off, Yuria's endlessly kind personality and cute looks had a huge following among affectionate players.
But that wasn't all.
Title: Honestly, isn't Yuria's performance GOAT?
She's a bit weak early on, but considering her late-game potential, there's no staple character as reliable as Yuria.
AoE damage, healing, buffs, debuffs... She's a jack-of-all-trades who can do everything.
ㄴ Agreed. By 3rd year, she's basically at the Four Emperors level.
ㄴ Her AI is so smart she fights on her own perfectly. Super convenient, no micromanagement needed.
ㄴ Yeah, she's definitely on another level from ice rocket Artel.
ㄴ Why drag Artel into this, you jerk?
ㄴ Artel fans hit with the pain ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Her steady growth curve from 1st year to 3rd year, making her a core party member, plus her utility with spirits.
Thanks to her outstanding performance, even the most hardcore min-maxers cherished her.
'I've used her a ton myself.'
I'd fought countless battles in the game with Yuria as my companion, so I knew it well.
Her talent was top-tier even among the main character-level cast.
Her character AI was especially excellent.
She always made the most efficient decisions in combat and covered for anything the player missed.
'And she synergizes well with other characters.'
That held true even now that it was reality.
I'd already glimpsed hints of that genius in her during our practical sparring sessions.
That was why.
Unlike Artel, who was undeniably a genius but had clear growth limits that required me to personally unblock her meridians,
'Just set her up right, and she'll handle the rest.'
For Yuria, it was far more effective to provide items or support that would catalyze her growth rather than hands-on training.
And the best support for a spiritist like Yuria...
No need to spell it out—it had to be a powerful 'spirit.'
However, at this point in time, handing her a high-rank spirit was next to impossible.
Spirits typically inhabited deep forests or sacred places untouched by humans, and due to game balance, you couldn't easily get high-rank ones early on.
'Normally, at this stage, the most you'd manage is a mid-rank spirit. And even that takes a ton of effort.'
That was why Yuria's performance in the comprehensive evaluation event during the 1st year 1st semester was somewhat lackluster.
However....
[Item]
[Spirit Summoning Scroll (Legendary)]
O spirits, heed the call!
Description: Use to summon a random high-rank spirit and attempt a contract. With some luck, you might get something even better...?
Price: 2000 Sloth
'Talk about convenient.'
My Myth-class trait let me breeze past those game constraints.
Normally, you'd have to go through hell to get something like this, but here I was, lying in bed and snagging it with a single click.
Not for nothing is it called the Sloth Shop. Lives up to the name.
That said, this [Spirit Summoning Scroll] had a slight risk.
A bit of an awkward situation—too much luck could actually backfire.
You might think that's nonsense, but spirits are ranked from low, mid, high, top, and then Spirit King.
Excluding Spirit Kings that require specific quests to contract, the highest you could normally get was a 'top-rank' spirit.
As a legendary item, this scroll had a slim chance of summoning a top-rank one.
The problem was that Yuria at this stage could only handle up to high-rank.
Sure, nothing like that happened in the original game, but given her revealed specs and growth potential, it was plausible.
But if a top-rank one appeared... even genius Yuria couldn't manage it right now.
With bated breath, I grabbed the scroll that appeared in the air.
Fortunately, this item displayed the summoned spirit's info on the scroll itself before use.
Of course, the lore said it was written in high spirit language that normal methods couldn't decipher....
But with my status window showing item info, I could check it.
'Alright then....'
I checked the info window floating over the scroll, tense.
But...
'...Huh?'
[Rank: ???]
An rank I'd never seen before popped up.
And that wasn't all that surprised me.
[Attribute: ???]
'...What?'
Even the spirit's attribute was question marks.
'What the hell is going on...?'
***
The next morning.
I barely avoided being late.
This time, it wasn't my usual intentional close call—it was genuinely razor-thin.
I'd spent the whole night tossing and turning, agonizing over this mystery ???-rank spirit.
After sparring hard with Artel last night, I'd woken Ker—who was sleeping soundly inside my mana—and asked if he knew about the scroll's script, but even he didn't know high spirit language well.
Exhausted, I slumped face-first onto my desk the moment I reached the classroom.
Yuria looked at me worriedly.
"Jeron, did you eat breakfast?"
"Urgh.... Overslept and skipped it."
She let out a small sigh and gave me a cute scolding.
"You can't do that! You've been losing weight lately, Jeron! You have to eat on time."
'Is that so....'
Now that she mentioned it, maybe.
Ever since falling into this world, I'd focused more on earning Sloth than proper meals, so it made sense.
"Actually, I figured that might happen, so I packed something for you."
Then Yuria pulled a small lunchbox from her bag and opened it.
Inside were neatly sliced fruits, sandwiches, and other light yet nutritious foods.
Oh. Touching.
"Here, say ahh...."
She speared a rabbit-shaped apple slice with a fork and brought it to my mouth.
Right then.
"Jeron, Yuria. What're you doing?"
Artel approached.
Yuria flinched in surprise and shoved the fork into my hand.
I took it and chomped down.
"Oh. Yuria packed me a lunch."
"L-Lunch...?"
At my words, Artel froze like she'd taken a huge blow.
What...? That was the reaction she sometimes had when witnessing magic superior to hers.
"Urgh. I'm such an idiot... I've just been taking from Jeron this whole time... I need to do something for him too...."
Artel muttered to herself.
Too quietly to catch it all.
Anyway.
Yuria had been helping me out in all sorts of ways like this.
Reading books for me, handling annoying errands, and so on.
She was indispensable to my lazy concept lifestyle.
'It's not just for the power-up—I wanted to give her a gift too.'
With that in mind, I pulled the scroll from my pocket and handed it to her.
She tilted her head.
"Hm? What's this, Jeron?"
"Bought it from an antique shop before. They said it summons a spirit. Thought it'd help you."
"R-Really? Is it okay for me to accept something this precious...."
"Don't get your hopes up. It's not that expensive."
If I'd said it was a legendary item, her personality would've made her refuse out of burden.
"Ehehe, thank you so much, Jeron!"
Even calling it cheap, Yuria hugged the scroll preciously with a touched smile.
But inwardly, I was a bit worried.
What exactly was that ??? rank? What if something dangerous popped out?
"Instead, don't use it alone—let's try it together at lunch."
"Okay!"
***
Lunchtime came.
Yuria and I headed to a suitable open area in the academy.
"Jeron, so how do you use this?"
She asked, holding the scroll.
"Just rip it."
At my words, Yuria carefully gripped both ends.
She took a small breath, then tore it.
Riiip-!
In that instant, a brilliant rainbow light burst from the torn scroll.
'...Ah, crap.'
I sighed the moment I saw the effect.
That was the animation for a top-rank spirit appearing in the game.
The ???-rank spirit was top-rank, or higher.
'This is bad.'
I looked anxiously at where the light faded.
And there...
Was a fist-sized, small white puffball thing.
'...?'
I was baffled. Yuria was baffled.
This was a top-rank spirit?
It looked even lamer than a slime.
Definitely a form I'd never seen in the game.
Yuria mustered her courage first and cautiously addressed it.
"Um, Mr. Spirit...?"
She tried communicating in the spiritist way, using her mana.
Then faint lines appeared on the puffball's surface.
( ._. )
...Dots and lines formed what looked like a face.
Hmm. How to put it.
Super low-effort face.
Yuria tried again.
"Um, Mr. Spirit? Will you contract with me?"
The puffball's expression changed.
( _ _ ) zzz...
"...."
"...."
Is this thing... sleeping?