chapter 5
Chapter 5: Steroids Know the Answer
After school. A girl came looking for me.
She was quite stylish-looking, enough to catch my eye.
Between her ebony hair that flowed down as smooth as silk, a single streak of stark white hair cut across from the crown of her head down to the side of her shoulder. The teardrop mole lightly dotted beneath her eye was charming, but made her look a little delinquent.
Her overall impression: a bob-cut street thug.
But there was a strange elegance peeking through her upright posture and relaxed air. If I had to compare it to something, she gave off the vibe of a mafia don's daughter.
"I heard you're loaded?"
Her way of speaking was pure back-alley thug, though.
I smirked and answered honestly.
"Yeah. Filthy loaded. Why? Want me to spare you a coin?"
"Bastard. You've got an edge to you. I don't hate that in a guy. A man needs to have some nerve."
"And I don't like girls who try to shake me down."
"Ah. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not here to take your money. I came to you for business."
"Business?"
"I'm a mercenary, if you can believe it."
Of course I knew that.
Aisha was 1 of the main characters who appeared consistently in the original game. Her appearance came much later in the story than now, though. She must have caught the scent of money and come running, as a mercenary would. A pretty interesting event.
A new friend is always welcome.
"I heard you're dueling the Young Master. I'll win it for you. Secretly. Without anyone knowing."
"Ho. Sounds like no one told you mercenaries are banned?"
"Would I come here to do business without knowing that? That's exactly why I said I'd do it secretly."
Aisha reached out toward a can lying on the ground.
The aluminum can stood itself upright, then tore and folded and unfolded, transforming into something that resembled a little metal doll.
And then. It crawled up the side of the trash bin on its own and leapt inside. Quite an entertaining trick. Like watching a puppet show.
"Puppet Circus. My unique ability to move another person's body as I please. If used by force, I can stop their movement for a moment at best, but if the other person consents to becoming my puppet, they can move perfectly like my own hands and feet. I can even use Magic or Martial Arts through the puppet."
"Interesting ability. So?"
"I'll fight in your place. By turning your body into my puppet. As long as you show me a little goodwill."
A proxy battle using the unique ability to control another person's body.
An intriguing proposal. Assuming she actually had the ability to pull it off.
"If I pay you, are you confident you can beat the Young Master of the esteemed Stretches Family?"
"Ha."
A Young Master of the Knight King's Family. The man said to be the centerpiece of the Golden Generation. Just as she was a main character, Stretches was a main character in his own right.
Would a late-game main character be stronger than an early-game main character, even at this early point in the story? There was no way to know.
As if to make my doubts irrelevant, she let out a scoff and spoke with a voice full of confidence.
"No matter how good an environment you grew up in, he's still just a greenhorn at this stage. I've lived a bit rough, you see. I haven't had so little experience that I'd lose to some sheltered kid who's never seen a battlefield."
"I'm moved."
"What?"
"Moved by that confidence. That's something."
I gave her a round of applause, paying her my respects. I genuinely meant it.
I pulled out 1 gold coin from my Inventory and tossed it to her.
"You're not thinking of settling it with just 1 gold coin, are you? I should at least get 10—."
"10 gold coins is a little steep for a performance fee."
"Performance fee?"
"You barked so earnestly to make me laugh, didn't you? 1 gold coin is plenty enough to toss for that."
"......What?"
"With a name like 'Circus' for your ability, you seem to have a real talent for clowning."
Sure, I had picked growth support Traits, so my pure combat power was low, but this was still an early-game event. How much experience did I have with this game? As if I'd be scared of a mere duel and go borrowing a mercenary's hands.
To begin with, if I hadn't been confident I could win, I never would have accepted the duel.
"Tch. If you're going to let your pride get the better of you just because there's a girl watching, you'll regret it."
"It's fine. I'll win."
"What kind of confidence—."
"Ah. And 1 more thing."
I declared my victory like a perfectly ordinary person and walked up to her.
And then, I placed my hand on top of her head, smiled brightly, and gently patted her ebony bob.
"Next time, I'd rather you come yourself instead of sending a doll like a coward."
"What?"
"I'm not interested in doing business with someone whose face I don't know."
[Comfort Doll]
[During any type of positive interaction, nullifies Mental Status Ailments of the corresponding NPC.]
[* Holding it when you're anxious makes you feel better.]
In that instant, her body crumpled lifelessly to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.
She had been lying there blankly like someone whose soul had been yanked out, but belatedly sat up, raised her head, and stuttered with an expression seized by fear as if she'd seen a ghost. She seemed like an entirely different person from just a moment ago.
"Wh, wha? How did—."
Well, she actually was a different person.
What was this girl's name again?
Ah. Right. It was definitely something like this.
"Good evening. Hadiza."
"......"
"Your cute little sister is waiting for you, isn't she? You'd better head on back."
Using her own sister as a puppet. What a rotten personality.
But it couldn't be helped. Because the Mercenary King Aisha was—an NPC who fell under the 'villain' category, even among the main characters.
.
.
.
The practical test. The event known in the original as the 'Combat Tutorial.'
Even calling it an event, there wasn't much to it—you just hit a few dummies to learn the basic controls and that was the end. That's how it was in the game.
"Instructor. I request a live sparring match against Demian Darmore."
But now that I'd transmigrated, a brand new event had suddenly appeared. It wasn't a bad thing for me.
Thanks to that, I'd also confirmed there were new Quests that hadn't existed in the original—and honestly, the fact that it was a new route was just, you know, incredibly interesting.
"Demian Darmore. Will you accept?"
"Sure, why not."
I gave an easy nod. My attitude seemed to unsettle the instructor, who asked once more with a tone tinged with concern.
"Are you truly alright with this? Sparring is not mandatory. The Life-Preservation Magic in the arena is active, so there's no risk of losing your life, but the shock and pain that occur during the match will be felt as they are. Even so, will you accept this match?"
"Yes. Eh, might as well play around a little."
"Tch. Then, having confirmed mutual consent, I will open the arena."
The Academy Arena.
That stage felt closer to sci-fi than fantasy. The blue light of magic circles cut across beneath the pure white floor like LED lighting, and as I stepped onto the stage, a translucent shield materialized around us, isolating the arena from its surroundings.
Seeing it in person, it's actually pretty cool.
Before the match, I stood face to face with Vein Stretches. Vein was still scowling and glaring at me, apparently unable to stomach who I was.
A straightforward guy.
Looking at someone so tightly wound up with pride and a superiority complex, a funny thought suddenly struck me.
"Hey. Vein."
"Tch. What is it? Have you decided to beg for mercy even now?"
"Now that I think about it, doesn't fighting like this feel a little petty?"
"Petty?"
"Yeah. Honestly, from my position, I couldn't care less about knightly honor or whatever. Honor might matter to you since you're from the Knight King's Family, but I'm from a family of money-grubbers, so I don't need anything like honor. There's nothing but losses for me in accepting this duel."
"Ha. So now, after all this, you're asking for a handicap or something?"
"No. I'm saying there needs to be something to gain when I win."
"Something to gain?"
"Right. So let's make a bet."
"......A bet?"
The status window had given me a Quest, but I still needed to squeeze out everything I could.
The possibility of me losing?
If you fret over every little thing like that, you'll never see your peak.
"If you win, then. Right. I'll admit I don't deserve to be a hero and withdraw from the Academy."
"What?"
"But, if I win... You have that knight's sword you received from the Knight King's Family, right? How about giving that to me?"
"......That's not something that can simply be given to another person. To begin with, someone without the qualification cannot even use—."
"Scared?"
"This bastard."
Ahh—this was what you call the incantation of courage.
Let me make a man out of you.
"Oh my. Your language is getting a little unrefined there, isn't it, Lord Stretches?"
"Ha! Fine. I'll accept your provocation. I have no reason to lose to the likes of you anyway."
He declared it in front of the crowd of students watching the arena.
Given the Stretches Family's emphasis on 'honor,' he wouldn't be able to take back what he'd said out loud. Well, it wasn't like I needed the knight's sword in the first place—I could probably trade it for some other unique item if it came to that.
The instructor, who had been watching the exchange between me and Stretches, apparently judged that we'd finished our conversation and reached for his whistle.
"Then, let the match begin—."
"Ah. Just a moment."
"Now what?"
"I have a few things to prepare."
I pretended to reach into my chest pocket as I opened my Inventory. And then, I took out the items I had gotten Lee Si-a to prepare for me.
[Intellect Boost Potion]
[Stamina Boost Potion]
[Agility Boost Potion]
[(......)]
[High-Concentration Lingering Recovery Potion]
7 vials of potion in all the colors of the rainbow appeared 1 by 1 between my fingers. Namely, a 7-piece doping potion set.
I bit off the caps with my teeth and chugged every last one.
"Ahh. Strawberry flavor."
"And here I was counting on him, and all he had was doping? Pathetic."
Doping. The act of temporarily and dramatically boosting one's Stats using Potions. Doping during a match was forbidden, but surprisingly, doping in advance before a match fell within the rules—just barely.
You'd think doping would always favor whoever had more money, right? Surprisingly—no. Potions have a 'cooldown,' you see.
As if on cue, the gracious Lord Stretches kindly offered an explanation on the matter.
"A Potion is no miracle elixir. It's nothing more than a stimulant that delivers short-term high effects by consuming residual mana accumulated in the mana circuits. Consuming a large quantity all at once is meaningless. If anything, the backlash will leave your mana circuits in a complete mess."
"As if I didn't know that."
In the game, drinking a Potion with a cooldown still active would inflict a debuff called 'Medicine Poison.' The effects were quite horrible, but it wasn't important enough to go into detail here.
What was important was the Trait I had.
[Potion Addiction]
[All 'Potion' effects amplified by 200%. Potion cooldown removed.]
[* Excessive abuse of Potions is, on the contrary, beneficial to your health.]
Potion Addiction. A Trait that removes the Potion cooldown and amplifies their effects. Thanks to this Trait, the side effects from doping simply didn't exist for me.
This Trait costs quite a lot of Trait Points, you know.
"You know that, yet you're consuming multiple Potions simultaneously? Are you in your right mind?"
"Yeah. Figured I'd need it to beat you."
Ahh—this was what you call a steroid user.
It can cause side effects like erectile dysfunction, myocardial infarction, and hair loss.
Except for me!