Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Phantom Thief Appears (4)
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‘…No way that’s possible.’
Of course, it was nonsense.
The world is vast, tastes vary, and unique preferences exist aplenty.
But no one could possibly have a fetish for having their achievements stolen.
Something must be a misunderstanding.
Honestly, I had no clue.
I hadn’t properly checked the situation back then—just mechanically landed the finishing blow and bolted.
‘Whatever, doesn’t matter.’
Explaining it all in detail sounded exhausting.
Besides, they’d offered to repay the favor first—no reason to turn that down.
I’d find a use for it someday.
[Jeron: Good]
I fired off a curt reply.
Then I scanned the surroundings again, refocusing on my original goal.
Finding the Vipir Fruit.
‘There it is!’
After zipping through the trees on shadow wings for about five minutes.
I finally spotted my target.
A dark, bumpy fruit hidden among the vines.
It looked like a rotten potato—or maybe a poisoned berry.
No one unfamiliar with it would dream of putting that in their mouth.
But I plucked one without hesitation.
‘The real treasure’s inside.’
I squeezed the skin until it split, revealing dazzling golden flesh within.
One bite, and sweet, tangy juice flooded my mouth.
‘…!’
The flavor hit like a lightning bolt, eyes snapping wide.
Peach and pineapple mixed, with a fizzy carbonation kick.
‘No wonder they call it a fruit of the heavens.’
Tasting what I’d only seen in game text felt surreal.
So good, I almost felt guilty hogging it.
‘Gotta bring some back for the teammates, who’re probably grinding away right now.’
I started gathering fruits, stuffing them into my subspace pouch.
That’s when it happened.
Ding!
[Sloth +200!]
‘Huh…?’
The sudden system window froze my hand.
Way more sloth points than expected.
Sure, while everyone else sweated through the exam, I was leisurely picking fruit.
The system had every right to judge it slothful.
I’d even done it half on purpose.
‘But 200? Really?’
I figured maybe a few dozen at best.
The system’s sloth calculations were a mystery sometimes.
‘Eh, more the better for me.’
I shrugged and pocketed the rest.
Scored some points, tasty snacks, and a fat sloth haul.
Plenty of break time earned.
‘Time to move to the next phase.’
So far, I’d inflated scores by sniping extra teams’ boss finishes.
But this freebie tactic wasn’t over yet.
The strategy splits two ways based on team strength.
Weak team? Keep sniping to the end.
But with our team’s power, we could aim higher.
The island’s four ultra-rare ‘Field Bosses.’
Catching those changed the score scale entirely.
‘So, last-hit theft ends here.’
But.
Don’t get me wrong—I wasn’t turning over a new leaf to live honestly and diligently.
No quitting thievery.
Now, time to steal something else.
***
Base camp’s central control room.
Stella Academy’s 1st Year faculty gathered, eyes glued to the situation board.
Surveillance magic circles dotted the island.
Their live feeds projected across dozens of floating illusions in midair.
All to preempt cheating or freak accidents.
The academy’s exam oversight was airtight, flawless.
The design was solid from the start—issues were rare.
Most cadets competed fiercely within the rules.
All but one.
“…….”
Dozens of projections, but professors fixated on one screen.
Jeron Airgia’s.
Jeron on-screen was downright bizarre.
He’d dawdled blankly at the start, then sprouted black wings and swept the battlefield.
More precisely, he cherry-picked others’ near-dead prey.
“…Is this okay?”
One professor finally spoke up.
Jeron’s method strayed far from the exam’s intent.
They’d added complex contribution formulas precisely to block that.
“Any errors in scoring? No way a last hit alone racks up those points….”
Scores auto-calculated via manastone tablet.
Eyes turned to one man.
The tower’s chief mage, specially consulted for this exam.
The tablet’s designer.
He shook his head firmly.
“No. The computation circuits are flawless.”
“Then how….”
“It’s not an error—it’s mastering the formula perfectly.”
He adjusted his glasses, continuing.
“The new manastone tablets weigh not just damage, but pivotal war-shifting moments heavily. Like curses, debuffs, and lethal strikes syncing perfectly.”
He replayed Jeron’s first snipe in slow motion.
“See? Enemy iced by another’s spell—he slips in a curse, chains to crit. That’s the high contribution trigger.”
Professor Kate spoke.
“So, not cheating—exploiting rule loopholes?”
“Exactly. But calculating that in real-time? Near impossible. I can hardly believe it.”
The tower mage clicked his tongue.
To him, this transcended tricks—pure mastery.
Predicting spell clashes, weights, system gaps—in seconds.
Beyond expectations.
‘Ciel Ifrit. Another genius her equal.’
No, maybe surpassing her right now.
Two such prodigies per generation?
Magic’s future shone bright, but….
‘The world’s unfair.’
He felt oddly deprived.
“Huh….”
Magic professors sighed, grasping Jeron’s brilliance post-explanation.
Professor Kate smiled faintly, pleased.
Martial and sword faculty, less magic-savvy, marveled elsewhere.
“Not just that—look at his pathing. Like he’s omniscient, overseeing every cadet.”
“Hyper-sensitive aura sense…! A 1st Year covering the whole island!”
Jeron moved like from a god’s-eye view.
Else, no pinpointing dying monsters so flawlessly.
“Stealth beyond elite.”
Assassin faculty eyed his invisibility.
All marveling at Jeron’s facets—except one beaming most.
“Kyahaha! With that skill, he could steamroll to first, yet picks this route. White-hair never disappoints.”
Professor Sierra grinned, chin on hand, glued to the screen.
Less monitoring, more spectacle-watching.
Then.
Jeron parted vines, finding something.
“Hm? What’s that?”
Professors zoomed the projection.
Ugly, bumpy fruit.
He bit in casually.
“…….”
Recent praisers shut up.
Mid-exam, beasts everywhere.
Others bled for every point.
Jeron? Casual fruit mukbang.
Even nodding approval, pocketing more.
Like a market auntie shopping.
Silence blanketed the room.
“T-That….”
“Such talent, wasted on fruit pilfering.”
“Heh… unbelievable.”
Professors speechless.
Beyond their common sense.
Then.
Jeron stopped munching, moved again.
“Hm? On the move.”
“Where to now?”
Wings out, slicing forest.
Eyes tracked his path on the map.
Eyes widened.
“Wait, that direction….”
“Blue Crystal Cave?”
A specially brutal zone for top teams.
Packed with elite beasts.
“No way he’s soloing that?”
“Even a prodigy wouldn’t….”
But Jeron beelined straight in.
***
Blue Crystal Cave entrance.
Artel and Yuria finished their zones, linked up, swept surroundings, now waiting.
Per Jeron’s orders—hold the mouth, no deeper.
“…First place? Unreal. Jeron at full throttle’s this nuts.”
Yuria checked the manastone tablet.
Their team topped total scores.
Jeron’s share dominant.
“But is this okay?”
Time ticked; anxiety crept.
Rivals closed in; Jeron’s score stalled like start.
No contact either.
“Not hurt, is he?”
Yuria fretted.
Artel murmured low.
“More likely napping somewhere.”
“Oh. Yeah, possible.”
Yuria nodded agreeably.
Mid-slaughter, he’d lose interest, snooze in shade—no surprise.
That’s Jeron.
Chatting thus.
Boom! Boom!
Deep vibrations from inside.
Like giant stomps.
“……!”
“What’s that?”
Artel and Yuria tensed, peering in.
Darkness rushed something fast.
Whoosh!
Black shadow wings flared—Jeron burst out.
Pristine, no battle signs.
“Ah! Jeron!”
Yuria waved gleefully.
He landed leisurely, tossed Artel something.
“Uh…?”
Artel caught a weird fruit reflexively.
“Tasty. Found on the way.”
“When’d you even….”
Artel stared, dumbfounded at it.
Jeron lobbed Yuria a fist-sized blue gem.
“Eek?!”
Yuria fumbled it safe.
Radiant blue crystal.
Eyes bulging.
“W-What’s this?”
“Scores points too. Hang onto it.”
“Where’d you get it…?”
“Stole it.”
“Huh?! Stole? From who?”
Jeron scratched his cheek, sheepish grin. No answer.
“…Owner’s pretty pissed, though.”
Then.
Roooar! Roooaaar!
Vast, menacing quakes shook the ground.
A colossal shadow loomed over Yuria.
“Uh… uhhh…?”
Yuria trembled, peering past Jeron.
A rock giant filling the cave.
Blue Crystal Cave boss. The ‘Blue Guardian,’ furious-charging.
Artel clutched his throbbing head, muttering flatly.
“Jeron, what the hell’d you drag in.”