The First Real Test
It was hopeless.
There was no other word for it.
I had trusted the heavens with my fate, but I never asked for the skies to crush me into the abyss.
Did none of my friends come along? That sounded almost believable.
Even if the stigma forced it, I was still here. Huh.
I shot them a cold glance, full of meaning.
Lydia Straw, who bowed her head the moment our eyes met.
Laura Crown, who quickly looked away as if she had been pricked.
And Ayla Seed, grinning ear to ear as she stared right at me.
Sweat pouring down my face, yet none of them ever dodged my gaze. That took real guts.
“…”
The thought of bolting crossed my mind, but I couldn’t.
No reason at all.
Because the reward was too good to miss.
Like every game event, the prize for winning was outrageous.
A ring that raised my stamina.
At the very start of the semester, I only had one point, but that was still a lot.
Raising stats was already hard enough.
In real life you needed to train or condition to gain them, and even here in the game it was tough to carve out time.
Plus my reputation inside the academy had skyrocketed, so I got all sorts of favors.
I couldn’t lose.
I had taken enough of the game’s pain already.
This level of cheat would be nothing.
I opened my mouth while thinking that.
“Let’s settle it.”
As Albert had said, the reason we were teaming up was simple.
Because we were doing team battles.
In Dark Fantasy Saga, once we left the tutorial and entered combat, we had to form a four-person squad.
That counted as basic training.
As long as we didn’t completely botch the coordination, we could still win.
I had believed that once.
-ting!
A bright sound rang out as the coin flew.
-thud!
“Ugh!”
It smacked straight into Lydia’s forehead.
Her head snapped back and she toppled over.
“Shit, dodge already you idiot!”
Laura shouted in annoyance, right before a gust of wind slammed into her side. She crashed to the ground.
“You have to be careful! If you get inside punching range it’s dangerous, right?”
“Then you should’ve been the one being careful when you swung!”
“That’s true, but how do you carefully swing a fist? You can’t just toss a coin!”
Laura exploded in fury at Ayla, who was grinning without a single word.
“…”
I hadn’t expected any flashy combos or warm camaraderie.
That was all just wishful thinking.
But this…
I looked at the total mess and spoke.
“No answer.”
The three of them froze and stared at me.
“…”
What was I supposed to do?
Improving party chemistry was impossible without combat.
Oh.
I crossed my arms and glared at the three of them.
“I’ll beat you all to a pulp. Come at me.”
Dark Fantasy Saga had a system for inter-character relationships.
Good chemistry meant mutual support. Bad chemistry meant sudden backstabs.
So Ayla would get a surprise fatal strike from her “allies.”
Anyway, Dark Fantasy Saga offered the simplest way to fix bad blood.
-boom!
“Kyaaah!”
Wind howled as Laura rolled across the ground, only for Ayla to leap in.
“Now! Support!”
“Ye-yes!”
I yelled desperately in reply to Ayla as Lydia poured holy power into her feet.
A shield formed beneath her.
“Kehk!”
Ayla tripped on the shield and fell.
At the same instant I kicked her side.
“Eek…!”
Ayla clutched her side while rolling across the floor.
“Y-yo, you got hit again…!”
I looked away from her labored breathing and locked eyes with Lydia, who stared at me in stunned silence.
“Again.”
That was the answer Dark Fantasy Saga had given. The most brain-dead method possible.
Bad chemistry? Just stay in the same party and fight.
It would naturally improve.
How was something this simple even a thing?
But it was exactly what I needed right now.
Even if it was a cheap trick, teaming up inside the academy raised intimacy.
The only problem was finding a suitable opponent to fight.
So if I had poured every point into mental strength at the start, I could have forced synergy with bad-chemistry characters and then beaten them until their bonds grew.
I was using the same method.
In theory it should have been impossible since I had invested every point into mental strength, but I looked down at my wrist.
A dull ache was already blooming there.
Cursed Swordsmanship made this possible.
With this I could beat all three of them and raise intimacy.
I had no choice.
If I went out like this today, I wouldn’t even get the win, just endless mockery.
I swung my blade again and drove Ayla straight into the ground.
“You can’t win by coming at me one by one.”
“…”
Laura Crown finally rose, covered in dirt from head to toe.
Lydia was breathing hard as she stood as well.
“…”
“Let’s try it again.”
Ayla rose while clutching her side and met my eyes.
Now we were finally communicating.
“Come on.”
I nodded at them, my body aching but theirs must have hurt even more.
I’d keep drilling you until you couldn’t stand. Since we were already doing this, we’d win.
The spar continued until the sun set.
Laura started dry-heaving from overexertion, so today’s session ended there.
“…I’ll do the same thing tomorrow.”
I watched the scene and turned to leave first.
Of course.
Now those three would complain while getting closer to me, right?
Eventually we’d all like each other… share meals… and even the sparring.
They wouldn’t just vanish the second I left, would they?
I turned back to check, only to see the three of them split off into separate paths without a single word.
Lydia limped, Laura dry-heaved, and Ayla clutched her side as they headed in different directions.
Not even a thanks.
“…”
Were these girls from this era actually like that?
Individualists, maybe?
I shrugged and kept walking, when a dull thud jolted my wrist and ankle.
“…tsk.”
I furrowed my brow at the fresh ache.
At the same moment the status window popped up.
Taking superior potions and resting would fix this.
The real problem was I had none.
Regular potions had barely any effect, and superior ones were too precious to waste.
Where was that superior potion?
I stood in front of my dorm room and nearly tripped over something solid.
What?
I crouched and examined it.
“…Potion?”
Superior grade.
As if someone had read my mind.
“…”
In the gathering darkness, I narrowed my eyes and found a note attached to the potion.
“For my friend whose memory I do not have.”
Neat, precise handwriting.
“…”
A friend whose memory I do not have?
Aiden’s childhood friend, then?
That made things awkward. I knew nothing about Aiden’s childhood friend.
Yet the handwriting felt strangely familiar.
Why? I had seen it somewhere during Dark Fantasy Saga.
Maybe at the shop.
“…”
The shop owner was Aiden’s childhood friend? No, the shop owner was just a shop owner.
I laughed to myself, downed the potion in one gulp, and tied it to the doorknob.
Whether it was kindness or not, I had to accept it.
Since I couldn’t thank them properly, this would have to do.
I confirmed the empty bottle was properly tied, entered my room feeling noticeably better.
The next day the doorknob held another superior potion.
“Keep going strong today.”
Neat and simple.
A week passed.
And the first real test began.
“…”
“…”
The crowd exchanged glances.
Some looked tense, others determined, still others confident.
Each one prepared in their own way and chatted.
“I heard the Dukes’ family put together a team this time.”
“Really?”
“And some stigma holders’ kids teamed up too…”
Their topic was obvious, but the talk was only about the top contenders.
And among the contenders, one name kept coming up.
“…Aiden Starfive’s party is quite something.”
“…”
The people who had been muttering suddenly shut up.
“Dangerous” fit better than “great.”
Over the past week Aiden had been beating the three of them senseless.
One day he had even faced Ayla Seed, whose face was covered in bruises, and another time he had watched Lydia float and then crash.
Everyone saw it as one-sided bullying.
“…”
Why were they just taking it? Why were they letting Aiden beat them?
That had been everyone’s question.
But the question vanished.
-creak.
With an ominous footstep, it ended.
The controversy’s star had arrived.
Aiden Starfive walked forward with an expressionless face, followed by the three of them.
“Is that normal?”
Someone muttered, and the others had no choice but to agree.
It looked like a hero who had reversed the odds.
Their bond or their emotions twisted by suffering.
With that bizarre atmosphere, the four of them appeared and each began their preparation.
Aiden Starfive polishing his sword, Laura Crown preparing coins, Lydia Straw meditating with eyes closed, and Ayla Seed fidgeting with her gloves.
The only common thread was silence.
No jokes to ease tension, no disagreements at all. Perfect non-interference.
“…”
The students’ gazes never left the four of them.
[It seems everyone is here.]
Principal Gildar’s voice echoed as his magic-amplified form appeared.
[From now on, we begin the first real test.]
The test had begun.