Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Fudge Day
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Grasping the sword, lost deep in thought—I must have stayed like that for quite a while.
"You need to let go of the holy sword and come out already. What are you doing in there?"
The homeroom teacher called out to me.
Her eyes saw me as some accident-prone troublemaker.
Well, fair enough. I'd just been standing there with my eyes closed, doing nothing but killing time.
"Come on out already."
The homeroom teacher urged me.
Yeah.
Time to go.
I'd decided to leave the holy sword here.
What was the point of pulling it out right now?
I turned to leave without a second thought, only to nearly yank the sword free in one fluid motion.
Why does that happen sometimes?
Like when you have your phone in hand but still pat your pockets looking for it.
It's so habitual and natural that you forget and just act on autopilot.
The grip felt so familiar that I thought I'd let go, but my hand was still clutching it tight.
Sring.
Not even a clatter.
Just a smooth sring.
The holy sword, firmly embedded in the stone moments ago, had risen as if hooked by something.
A fifth of it lifted, tilting at an angle.
"Huh...?!"
"That just..."
If not for Seong-chan and the other kids murmuring, I wouldn't have noticed and would have pulled it right out.
With superhuman reflexes, I whipped around. The sword was right there in my sight. At this rate, momentum and gravity would finish the job.
Crack!
I hurriedly reinforced my ankle with mana and twisted my body.
It was a bit awkward, but thankfully, the holy sword settled back into place.
Phew...
That was close to a hassle.
"You just..."
Before the startled homeroom teacher could finish, I cut in first.
"Ah, I thought it was coming out, but nope."
I played it off as coolly as possible.
"Pushed too hard, and now my ankle hurts."
Nothing happened.
"......"
"......"
And that was that.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
On the way back to the Academy.
The kids were whispering among themselves.
"See? He pulled it out earlier, right?"
"Nah, probably not. We might've just imagined it."
"No way. Looked like he did to me."
"Seo-ah thought so too. If he could, he'd have pulled it all the way."
I could hear everything, kids.
I rested my chin on my hand and stared out the window.
The homeroom teacher saw it too. This might get noisy.
Eh... no evidence, so it'll be fine.
-That's unexpected.
What is?
The sage popped up out of nowhere.
-You, not coveting the holy sword? What's gotten into you? You'd go nuts for any weapon.
Go nuts for weapons? What a misleading way to put it.
Sure, I liked weapons, but I wasn't irrational. What good would pulling the holy sword do me right now?
-You threw a fit wanting black dragon armor.
That was necessary at the time.
The holy sword wasn't something I needed now.
What would I even do with it?
Maybe use it as shiny interior decor.
-Since when do you care about that stuff?
Truth was.
There was another reason I didn't take the holy sword.
I clenched and unclenched my fist.
Light gathered.
The light taking the sword's shape gradually formed.
It was the holy sword.
As I said, the holy sword isn't pulled out. It's chosen.
-Knew it.
Sharp as ever.
-Stop pretending. You already pocketed it, huh?
Yeah. So what're you gonna do about it?
-......
Before the holy sword fully formed, I waved my hand.
The kids might see.
And if it vanished from the plaza suddenly, people would freak.
This was enough.
The summoning worked perfectly.
The moment I gripped the holy sword, it acknowledged me as its master, so now I could summon it anytime.
This holy sword was mine now.
Why pull it out in front of everyone?
We arrived at the Academy around lunchtime.
Fourth period today, so straight home after.
Grabbed some snacks and a ton of potato chips on the way back.
This afternoon.
Yura was finally doing Fudge Day.
But the broadcast was still hours away.
Might as well study magic.
Based on my last failure, I bought a more specialized textbook.
The title was.
Understanding Explosion Magic.
I set an alarm for Yura's stream and opened the magic book.
Forgot all about checking missed messages.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile.
Someone was burning up inside because Third Life hadn't checked his messages.
This was the limit.
Cruise thought that while watching the real-time inferno in his Mitube comments.
Cruise picked up his phone and found a familiar recent call.
[Hey? Bro?]
"Let's do an explanation stream."
Stifle controversies early.
This was the last line.
Cruise pulled out his prepared script and materials. Clear docs on how the incident started and what fueled it.
Plus two explanation videos made for Mitube.
Timing matters for clarifications, but doing it right matters more.
To avoid new drama, settle everything in the first one.
Cruise didn't just wait for a reply. He prepped everything possible while calling.
💬 Chat
— [Cruise has started broadcasting.]
『Bro finally turning on the stream』 『Bro, what's the controversy? Not job bashing, right?』 『lololl fans' heads exploded』 『Calling all jobs except Holy Knight trash? Real?』 『Explanation stream~ Seems pointless tho』 『Cruise, this controversy is all fake, right?』
Cruise greeted politely and began the explanation stream.
"Hello, viewers. It's Cruise."
A crisp bow. His posture screamed veteran. This wasn't his first rodeo.
"Lately, baseless rumors and falsehoods about me have spread, so I'm streaming to clear them up. Please look at these materials."
Cruise showed audiovisual aids. Screenshots from his stream.
"In a recent stream, a viewer asked for recommended early-game sword jobs, and I suggested Holy Knight. Here's the clip."
Point by point.
Calm explanation, not too fast or slow.
"Later, while playing, I met a user called 'Third Life' and did a normal PvP."
Thankfully, Cruise's explanation landed well.
A bit too well, though.
— Viewer
『So this 'Third Life' guy framed Cruise and nearly buried him... but no apology, just ghosted?』
A bit exaggerated, but close enough.
Cruise clarified it wasn't that, but some rabid fans twisted it their way.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
📰 Post
[Author: Controversy Fan]Title: What's up with Cruise's stream rn? Was casually watching before Yura's stream, but today's deep af Any controversy?
— Reply
Armchair Advisor deleted a community post last time, sparked something?
— Reply
↳ Reply
For real?
📰 Post
[Author: Pro Explainer]Title: Cruise Explanation Summary Did recommend Holy Knight, but zero bashing of other jobs Reporter feud with high mage? 'News to me' Promised fun content ahead, end.
— Reply
What? That's it?
— Pro Explainer
Yeah, controversy was overhyped but empty.
— Reply
Trash media attacking innocent citizen again
📰 Post
[Author: Time Bill Gates]Title: It was obvious from the start While Armchair Advisor was deleting posts he hated, reporters wrote that crap? lololl
— Reply
Did that happen?
— Reply
What? No gal lurking?
......
📰 Post
[Author: Silence]Title: But big drama like that Why so quiet? This ain't our usual vibe
— Reply
Armchair Advisor didn't hype it Boring af lately, no bait Wish Armchair Advisor was an idol, community's dead without him
— Reply
↳ Superstar
Drives stans and haters insane
The community had been quiet these past few days.
More like it had no choice.
All the kindling burned out, and the remaining spark—Third Life's admin drama—faded without the man himself showing up.
Now Cruise mentioned it, so users naturally latched onto the cold bait.
📰 Post
[Author: Question Mark Murderer]Title: Armchair Advisor targeted? Seems Cruise rabid fans locked on (Pic from other community bashing Third Life)
— Reply
What...! lol Cruise superfans swarm hard once targeted
📰 Post
[Author: Galrum]Title: Armchair Advisor getting wrecked hard Stream raids incoming
— Reply
Waiting for our turn, but he won't stream
📰 Post
[Author: God of Normalization]Title: This is how it should've been from the start Armchair Advisor's rap sheet: Yura backseat Fudge Day invention Million won bet Lecka busting Cruise sniping Admin ousting That's all I know Armchair Advisor should've been terrorized ages ago
— Replies
For real lol Upvote Karma But will he care? Ghosted forever
📰 Post
[Author: Heartbroken Hillbilly]Title: Armchair Advisor Fudge Day soon, right?
— Reply
Obvious Who else if not him? lol
Users hadn't seen Third Life in a while.
No Mitube, rare streams. No playground for chaos.
But they knew where to find him.
League of Worlds community users all knew.
Yura's Fudge Day.
Third Life would be there, they were sure.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Yura glanced at the clock.
Stream time.
Double-checked setup.
Title changed to Fudge Day.
Just hit start?
[Start broadcast?]
Yura hit yes without hesitation.
Screen flashed, familiar window appeared.
Yura shouted brightly.
"Yura!"
Stream started, viewers and chat flooded in massively.
Soon, spam and ASCII art galore.
Rules banned harmful chat, but viewers always dodged with shady-then-clean donations and spam.
Yura braced for it.
First rule broken.
-CruiseIsBest donated 1,000 won!- 【Where's Third Life?】
No mentioning other streamers.
For the next hour, Yura's stream was lawless.
And in lawless lands.
Yura fans.
Drop-ins hearing the news.
Cruise superfans.
All mixed in.
Third Life, closing his magic book and joining Yura's stream, muttered softly.
"What's going on here?"
Exactly what Yura wanted to say.
Yura thought to herself.
'Is this what Fudge Day should be...? What's going on?'
Two minutes in.
-ArmbandSlayer donated 1,000 won!- 【Armchair Advisor, explain! Explain!】
Totally unexpected.
A mess beyond imagination unfolded before her eyes.