Chapter 21: Midterm Exam (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 21: Midterm Exam (2)
What did I just hear?
Out of nowhere, Leon casually asked me where I was from. What was his intention? Was I supposed to interpret it geographically?
“…….”
Silence settled over the meeting room. I forced my slightly trembling lips into a neutral line, trying to play it cool.
What is this?
That serious look in his eyes—a faint dryness, as if he were sizing me up, lingered in his gaze. I didn't know what his intentions were, but to me, the question carried a double meaning.
One was simply my background in this world, and the other was whether I had come from another world entirely.
There had to be a reason he didn't ask during the introductions, choosing instead to wait until all the other team members had left...
For now, I decided to keep my complicated thoughts to myself and remain silent. As my eyes narrowed, Leon let go of his serious expression, scratched his cheek, and apologized.
“Sorry for bringing up something so random. I just wondered if you were similar to me, Geomma.”
Similar, huh...
Although Korean was the universal language in this world due to game logic, various races still clearly existed.
Even among the academy cadets, while everyone had dazzling hair colors, their physical features varied significantly depending on their race.
Naturally, with a name like Kang Geomma, my appearance was that of a typical black-haired Asian. In contrast, Leon, with his blonde hair and blue eyes, was distinctly Western. Unless the guy had terrible eyesight, there was no way he couldn't tell the difference.
Well, Majin were also treated as a race, but they were so diverse that trying to categorize them was pointless.
Wearing a faint smile, Leon broke the brief silence first.
“Just forget what I said. I'll head out first.”
With those words, Leon patted my shoulder. If I let him leave now, the lingering unease would keep me up all night. My large hand reached out and grabbed the shoulder of the turning Leon.
“Leon, where did you come from?”
A sharp voice slipped out of my mouth reflexively. I tried to hide my fluster, but I couldn't manage a casual tone. I had no choice but to ask directly. The silence hanging in the room grew even heavier.
Then, as if to lighten the tense atmosphere, Leon smiled nonchalantly and replied.
“Germany.”
Leaving me with a “See you later,” he walked out of the meeting room. I stared blankly at his retreating back and thought:
What is up with that guy?
* * *
After the meeting, I skipped dinner entirely and sat on the edge of my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. I simply had no appetite.
Was I just overthinking?
The lingering unease wouldn't go away. Even after retracing my thoughts over and over, I couldn't reach a clear conclusion.
When Leon first asked me, I was absolutely certain that he, too, was someone from another world—even if it wasn't Earth.
After all, there was no rule saying the possession-in-a-game trope only applied to me. It would make much more sense for a main character to have a backstory like that than an extra like me.
However, my sharp intuition, honed after awakening the Blessing of the Sword God, completely rejected that possibility. It felt as if some intangible force was whispering to me that Leon was undoubtedly a native of this world.
Furthermore, Leon's behavior today, from his speech to his actions, was perfectly aligned with his character as the protagonist. I was certain that even the best actor couldn't pull off such a flawless performance.
Did he really just ask where I was from? Simply my nationality? Jumping to that conclusion left a bad taste in my mouth. His words, “I just wondered if you were similar to me,” kept nagging at me, making the back of my neck burn. Lost in a sea of thoughts, I eventually buried my face in the bed.
Even during my gameplay days, the protagonist Leon was a character shrouded in mysteries and lore. Whether it was the developers' intention, despite being the main character, he maintained an air of mystery even to the players.
...If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have at least read a brief summary on Kkeomuwiki. To think the day would come when I'd desperately search for a spoiler-monger. I clicked my tongue bitterly and sat up abruptly.
Is there any need to overcomplicate things?
In the past, I probably would have lost my mind over this tangled situation, but now, I was analyzing things with a strangely calm mind. The listless emotions weighing me down vanished in an instant.
Either way, I had already decided that this midterm exam would be the only time I'd get involved with Leon. If it looked like we were going to be forced together again, I could just go to Medea and stop it.
Though I didn't like the idea, if I brought up my privileges as the top student, she would probably grant me a favor or two. Besides, Medea had shown a strange fondness for me and claimed to be a reliable ally. There was no reason I couldn't exploit that.
And if my luck was so terrible that we got tangled up again anyway, I would just handle it with my own hands when the time came.
Although Medea herself downplayed her position as a mere honorary title, the role of Academy Principal was, without a doubt, the highest authority here at Joaquin Academy, the world's most prestigious institution.
In other words, at least within these walls, a single word from her could resolve almost anything. Although the Joaquin Council of Elders existed as a check on her power, those old fogies were famous for rarely stepping onto the front lines.
Having sorted out my thoughts, I opened my status window against the backdrop of the white wallpaper.
Flash—
* * *
[Blessing of the Sword God]
If you cut, it will be severed.
◎Body Rank: (5▶7) ▷ The sword's required dimensions are relaxed.
◎Mental Rank: 3 ▷ An aura of intimidation infuses your words and actions.
◎Armament Rank: 1 ▷ Unlock conditions have not been met.
☆Synchronization Rate: 2.5▶6.8% ▷ Unlock conditions will be met upon reaching a 7% Synchronization Rate.
★【？？？】
[※ The blessing only activates when using a sword with a length of 35+(1) cm or less and a width of less than 8+(1) cm.]
* * *
While my Mental and Armament Ranks remained the same, my Body Rank had risen slightly thanks to the physical training I squeezed in whenever I could.
As for my Armament Rank, it would surely rise once I obtained Murasame, the reward for this exam.
Those three stats were intuitive and easy to understand.
Hmm.
I narrowed my eyes and stared closely at the status window. For some reason, only the Synchronization Rate was rising at a steep pace. On top of that, the unlock condition was right around the corner. I didn't know the criteria for increasing the Synchronization Rate, but at this rate, I would reach the threshold soon.
Since the value was written in decimals, I had been treating it like experience points.
However, there was something suspicious about it. All I had done so far was spar with Chloe using wooden swords and spar with Nox in a subspace, yet compared to the stingy growth of the other three stats, the Synchronization Rate felt like it was operating on an entirely different level.
Is it not like experience points?
But what raised the most suspicion was the entry right below the Synchronization Rate. Unlike the rate, which at least showed some fluctuation, this one remained completely static—just three question marks without a single clue. Even when I tapped it, it only emitted a dull beep and refused to provide any further information.
Well, it's probably some kind of hidden ability...
Meanwhile, as my gaze drifted slightly downward, I noticed the bottom of the status window was flashing. I swiped my finger upward, just like scrolling on a smartphone.
* * *
[Blessing of Painlessness]
Pain completely vanishes.
[▷NEW! The minimum activation count for the blessing has been met, adjusting the duration.]
* * *
“Huh?”
Dumbfounded, my hand instinctively tapped the newly appeared text.
* * *
[※ Duration: 30▶40 seconds]
[※ Cooldown: 12 hours]
* * *
“Whoa.”
An exclamation escaped my lips. The abysmal duration of 30 seconds had increased by a whopping 10 seconds.
Judging by the activation count requirement, it seemed that the more I used it, the more the count accumulated to satisfy the next stage.
All that rolling around and getting beaten up was worth it.
With the exam right around the corner, this was practically the most useful achievement. Even though it was a blessing awakened by the original Kang Geomma before me, a brief chuckle escaped my lips from a sense of personal pride.
Now that a path for growth had been opened in a life that had been nothing but tedious until a few weeks ago, I felt the blood pumping through my veins.
I got off the bed and pulled out one of the sashimi knives I had stuffed into my bag. When I unsheathed it about two-thirds of the way, I saw the blade was chipped and jagged like a saw.
I pulled out the rest to check their condition. Except for a single knife, the others looked like they couldn't even cut a leaf. I really needed to stop by Daixo to buy a few more spares.
But first, I had to acquire a high-quality armament through this exam. After all, starving is fine, but missing out on items is unacceptable—that is the true mindset of a gamer.
* * *
A few days passed, and the day of the exam arrived.
During our second meeting, the team members were assigned their respective roles by our leader, Leon.
Although doubts about Leon kept crossing my mind after that first meeting, I didn't want to dig into them with the exam right in front of us. It wouldn't be too late to ask after the exam was over.
Regardless of my suspicions, Leon demonstrated exceptional insight, assigning roles that perfectly suited each member's traits.
Rachel, who specialized in close-quarters combat, took the vanguard of the formation, while Chloe handled scouting duties based on her speed and presence concealment. Surprisingly, Speed Weapon, who looked like he would be a brawler, was assigned to the healer position.
Leon, who had to lead as the commander, took charge at the center, while I was luckily assigned to rear guard duty. Simply put, my job was just to secure our line of sight from behind.
Since this was my first exam at the academy, I ate a hearty breakfast before heading to the training ground. The menu was a salmon sandwich. It was the greatest luxury I could enjoy among ready-made foods that didn't require using a kitchen knife.
After devouring the sandwich, I took out the rose knife I had borrowed from Chloe and the Daixo sashimi knife I had bought before admission, looking down at them.
This will be the last day for these, too.
I would have to buy new ones anyway, but a strange sense of discomfort welled up inside me. Even if it was just a cheap blade to someone else, I had always felt a pang of sympathy whenever I had to sharpen a knife. And since this sashimi knife was the very first blade I bought after being thrown into this world, my affection for it was doubled.
Shaking off the brief wave of melancholy, I packed them up.
As I stepped into the training ground with light steps, a gate resembling some sort of triumphal arch—which hadn't been there yesterday—loomed large, taking up half of the spacious dirt ground.
In the passage that should have been wide open, a purple subspace shimmered like a curtain. While I was staring blankly at its imposing figure, I heard my teammates calling my name from the right.
“Over here, over here!”
“Geomma-kun!”
“You're here?”
The team members had already gathered. I nodded silently and headed toward them.
Whoa.
As I drew closer, I couldn't help but marvel. Rachel had her S-rank Armament, the Sky-Piercing Halberd, slung over her shoulder. Its crescent-shaped, razor-sharp blade and its imposing length of easily two meters made my jaw drop when I saw it in person.
Chloe's armament was the katana I had seen before. Since Leon had not yet been chosen by the holy and demonic sword Balmung, he wore a double-edged sword with antique decorations at his waist. My gaze, which had been scanning their armaments with admiration, naturally drifted toward Speed Weapon.
...?
The punk-like guy had a flute that looked exactly like a recorder hanging around his neck.
“A recorder?”
The thought in my head slipped out of my mouth. At that, Speed Weapon glared at me fiercely without a word. Rachel, who was standing next to him, whispered to me on his behalf.
“That thing, despite how it looks, is one of the very few S-rank healing armaments.”
“That is?!”
When my eyes widened, Rachel giggled, finding my reaction amusing.
For some reason, in Miracle Blessing, the drop rate for support-type armaments was notoriously abysmal. Even heavy spenders had to burn thousands of dollars just to pull an A-rank.
To think I'd actually see an S-rank healing armament.
But it really lacked style. It looked exactly like a recorder used in elementary school. And they say aesthetics are part of the performance...
As I stroked my chin and examined the recorder from various angles, Speed Weapon turned away sharply, clearly displeased.
Based on his name alone, I had expected him to be a talkative, exposition-spouting character, but from his appearance onward, he was shattering quite a few of my preconceptions.
I turned my head to scan the faces of my classmates filling the training ground.
Only a few teams, including ours, were chatting casually and noisily; most were swallowing hard, looking visibly tense.
“It's almost time,”
Leon said, looking down at his wristwatch.
“Everyone, don't be too nervous. Let's just do our best.”
At Leon's words, which were filled with strong determination, all the team members nodded.
At that moment.
[We will now begin the first-semester midterm exam for the first-year class of 2034.]
The familiar, intellectual voice announced the start of the exam.
[The subspace gate is now activating.]
Whirrrrr—
[Activation complete.]
At those words, the purple barrier shimmering within the gate swallowed us like a tidal wave.