Chapter 11: Yukinyon Dreams of Ordinariness
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 11: Yukinyon Dreams of Ordinariness
“See you tomorrow, Yukinyon~!”
At the red-haired girl’s farewell, Yukina stopped in her tracks.
“Yukinyon?”
“Eh? You don’t like Yukinyon? Then… Yukinyang?”
The girl casually tossed out nicknames as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
No one had ever made a nickname for Yukina before, nor had anyone ever treated her with such familiarity.
To be honest, it was a childish nickname, but rather than thinking it silly, Yukina was momentarily dazed by the novelty of the friendliness. A moment later, a faint smile touched her lips.
“Yukinyon… it’s fine. I like it. It sounds like a fire-breathing dragon.”
“Aha! So Yukinyon likes Pocket Monsters too? Ah, I’m gonna be late for my part-time job. I’ll text you!”
“Uh… bye, Mary.”
Yukina had actually meant something else, but Mary ran off before she could explain.
Though their conversations were often slightly out of sync, Yukina was happy with this ordinary life of hanging out with friends.
Recent trends, videos seen online, boyfriends, part-time jobs, desserts you had to wait an hour in line for…
Compared to the life she had lived, it was trivial, but Yukina loved those mundane conversations and ordinary moments.
Friends…?
As she walked alone after parting with Mary, Yukina’s expression hardened.
This was just a mission. A disguise to steal the Source within Yggdrasil.
She didn’t need friends. She was just pretending to be a normal student.
She was someone who would disappear from Yggdrasil once the mission was over anyway. When they eventually found out they had been deceived, how much would those friends hate her?
Yukina found the thought of their disappointed faces more terrifying than the prospect of failing her mission.
With a rigid expression—completely different from the one she wore with her friends at school—Yukina watched a black sedan pull up beside her.
The car stopped naturally, and Yukina climbed into the back seat as if it were routine.
It was a luxury sedan, but the interior reeked of stale cigarettes, leaving an unpleasant impression.
“Did you find the Source?”
The man already sitting in the back asked. Yukina replied in a stiff voice.
“I haven’t found it yet.”
“Right. It’s still early, so that’s expected. But if it takes too long, people might start thinking you lack motivation.”
The man, who looked as rugged as a mountain bandit, exhaled a cloud of cigar smoke and looked at Yukina.
The smoke hit her directly in the face, but Yukina didn’t flinch, staring straight ahead in a formal posture.
“I will speak to the Boss myself. I am searching the locations where the Source is expected to be one by one, but the security is tight, so it is taking time.”
“Do you know what the standard excuse for incompetent bastards is? ‘It’s taking time,’ ‘Give me a little more time,’ ‘Just wait a bit longer’… I thought you’d be different, but I guess not.”
The man sneered, scanning Yukina from head to toe.
She wore a white uniform that subtly accentuated her figure.
At Yggdrasil, they called it a uniform, but since it was a school, outsiders referred to it as a school uniform.
The man placed his hand on her thigh, exposed beneath the skirt, and stroked the pale skin as he spoke.
“Do a good job. We aren’t a charity that raises parasites who just waste food.”
“Uh… Big Brother…”
“I know, you bastard! What the hell do you take me for?!”
When the man in the passenger seat tried to cautiously intervene, the thug-like man kicked the back of the seat in a fit of rage.
Every time he kicked the seat and his body jolted, his hand gripped Yukina’s white thigh, shaking her along with him.
The man kicked the seat until he was out of breath, then brushed the cigarette ash off his clothes, looking annoyed.
“Fuck, I can’t even fuck her because of that damn magic. Just looking at her face, her physiognomy says she’s the type who can’t live without a dick. What a waste.”
The man in the passenger seat hadn’t tried to help Yukina out of concern for her.
Yukina was a mage raised by the Organization.
Being a criminal organization, they hadn't raised her normally; she was cultivated with maximum efficiency in mind, devoid of humanity or law.
By preserving her virginity, Yukina accumulated mana. If she were to have a sexual relationship with someone, she would lose all of it.
In a way, Yukina was in a better position because of it. It was the only reason she wasn't being outright raped.
Most of the mages raised by the Organization alongside her had died during the process, and even those who survived were often disabled or had strayed far from the category of human.
The man, becoming more obsessed with the flower he couldn't pluck, kneaded Yukina’s thigh.
Even as he touched her as he pleased, she couldn't utter a single complaint.
“I just shouldn't poke her pussy, right?”
Am I a genius or what? The man grinned, praising himself.
There were plenty of places on a woman’s body to stick a dick. There was no need to be obsessed with the pussy.
As the man’s lewd gaze swept over Yukina’s body, she felt a sickening sensation, as if insects were crawling all over her.
However, she showed no sign of it and simply stared ahead.
Because I am just a tool…
The man’s hand, smelling of tobacco, stroked her chin before his thumb toyed with her bright red lips.
Yukina suppressed the urge to vomit at the lover-like skinship and remained still.
Perhaps finding her lack of reaction even more arousing, the man swallowed hard and slowly leaned toward her.
“Big Brother… didn't the Boss say not to touch her at all…?”
“… …”
At the man’s fierce glare, the subordinate in the passenger seat shut his mouth.
But the man soon burst out laughing.
“Right, right. It’s a joke, a joke. You think I wouldn't listen to the Boss? He’s the Big Brother I respect most.”
Only then did the man’s hand leave Yukina’s thigh. Instead, he grabbed a short dagger and plunged it into the neck of the man in the passenger seat.
“Gurgle—! Ack, cough—”
“But listen here, you piece of shit. Who do you think you are? Are you the Boss’s lover or something? Huh?! Hey! Answer me! I said answer me!”
The thug-faced man grabbed the head of the dying subordinate, who couldn't speak with a blade in his throat, and shook it violently.
Blood splattered everywhere, but the driver didn't even flinch, focusing solely on the road.
Inside the car with its dark-tinted windows, no one knew what was happening as the luxury sedan drove through the peaceful streets.
Blood stained her snow-white uniform, but Yukina maintained her rigid expression, looking only forward.
She hated this place.
A vulgar space where violence and murder were treated as mundane and natural.
But Yukina couldn't run away because the Organization was taking care of her younger brother… no, holding him hostage.
She had come this far to protect her brother, and she had been conditioned as a slave since she was a child.
“Ah—fuck. My cock went limp, so I couldn't even do it. Dammit, I just bought these shoes yesterday.”
As soon as the car stopped, the man got out, caring more about his shoes than the murder as he scraped his feet on the ground with vulgar movements.
From the open passenger door, the lifeless body of the subordinate slumped out, and Yukina stepped out of the car as well.
Without sparing a single glance at the corpse, Yukina headed to the Boss’s room and delivered the exact same report she had given to the man in the car.
“Any tails?”
“It doesn't seem like they've noticed my identity yet.”
“There are many high-level mages at Yggdrasil. Continue to act with caution.”
“Understood.”
Unlike the man in the car, the Boss had no interest in Yukina’s body.
However, in contrast to his calm voice, there were four naked men kneeling beside him.
The men, covered in so many wounds it was a miracle they were still alive, were trembling violently as they struggled to maintain their posture.
They would likely be killed one by one in a cruel fashion, according to the Boss’s hobby.
Knowing their inevitable end, Yukina turned around immediately when the Boss dismissed her.
The car ride had only been provided to ensure a quick report; Yukina had to find her own way back.
After changing out of her blood-stained uniform, Yukina pulled her hood low and stepped outside.
Feeling as though she was steeped in the scent of cigarettes and blood, she brought her sleeve to her nose and sniffed, but she couldn't smell anything.
She considered taking a taxi but decided to walk for a bit to clear her head.
A young boy walking while holding an ice cream in one hand and his mother’s hand in the other.
He looked so energetic, as if everything in the world was wonderful.
People eating in a restaurant.
Some were looking at their smartphones, others were chatting with their companions. And everyone was eating heartily.
An office worker hurriedly catching a taxi to go somewhere.
He looked desperate, as if there were some problem, but his effort radiated a sense of vitality.
An ordinary street. An ordinary time.
Why couldn't she have this ordinariness?
Yukina closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and turned into an alleyway.
She rounded a corner, hid, and then grabbed the collar of the person following her, pinning them against the wall.
“Who are you?”
“Uh, huh? It’s Seo Yeon-woo… We’re in the same class.”
“I know that. I’m asking why you’re following me.”
At Yukina’s chilling gaze, Yeon-woo blinked and slowly raised both hands.
“Want some… chicken skewers?”
“… …”
Is he insane?
He was handsome, but he looked like a pampered brat who had never faced a single hardship in his life, unlike her.
She had thought his combat style during the test was quite decent.
But that was as far as her favorable impression of Yeon-woo went.
Why was this disgusting young master, who knew nothing of suffering, here? Had her cover been blown?
And what was with the chicken skewers?
Staring blankly at the chicken skewers that smelled unnecessarily delicious, Yukina looked up and glared at Yeon-woo.
“These are really good. It’s a bit far from Yggdrasil, but I come here to buy them sometimes, and I just happened to see you. Do you live around here?”
“Where I live is none of your business.”
Yukina frowned, hiding her anxiety.
Should she kill this guy here, or did he really just find her by chance?
In contrast to her chaotic thoughts, Yeon-woo’s nonchalant attitude also grated on her nerves.
“Well, that’s true. Anyway, want some? These are seriously delicious.”
The smell of the chicken skewers continued to unnecessarily stimulate her sense of smell. Yukina glanced at them and then took a step back.
“Get lost. And don't mind me.”
“At least take this. I bought an extra one to give to you.”
“I said I don't need it.”
Slap—
Reacting to the hint of him trying to grab her shoulder, Yukina swung her arm, and the chicken skewer in Yeon-woo’s hand fell to the ground.
The two stared silently at the chicken skewer lying miserably on the pavement.
“I—I told you I didn't need it.”
She spoke stiffly, but a hint of fluster leaked into Yukina’s voice.
Yeon-woo chuckled inwardly at her child-like reaction, not knowing what to do. Yukina looked back and forth between the chicken skewer and him before fleeing the alleyway.
Why did I do that? I should have apologized. No, why apologize? It doesn't matter. Focus on whether I was caught or not. How much was that chicken skewer?
With a complicated heart, Yukina hurried away. Yeon-woo leaned against the wall and leisurely ate the remaining chicken skewer in his other hand.
* * *
“I told you she’s a good kid.”
What kind of criminal organization member gets flustered over a dropped chicken skewer?
Seeing Yukina’s behavior, which I had only seen in the game, in person was so cute I almost wanted to hug her.
Of course, if I had hugged her, I’d probably be the one lying on the ground bleeding instead of the chicken skewer.
Being able to see the glimpses of Yukina’s personality from her events in daily life—this is absolutely the best.
Anyway, I’ve made a rough connection, but the problem is I don't know when that specific event will happen.
In the game, the event just triggers automatically when you go to that location, but now that it’s reality, I have to find the right time myself.
Even with Yukina, I only met her because I was lucky. How am I supposed to know when to meet her if I just wander the streets? I don't have that kind of time.
I really need to unlock Masayoshi’s Perk soon.
If I have his perk, the heroines' locations will be displayed, so I need it right now.
Should I buy him a truckload of adult magazines? I don't think being that reckless will work.
Well, it’ll work out somehow. For now, let’s focus on Yukina.
Yukina is a member of a criminal organization who infiltrated Yggdrasil to steal the Source.
Though calling her a member is a stretch; she’s basically a slave.
The Source.
The reason for Yggdrasil’s existence and a massive resource that many covet.
The setting is that students' skills improve quickly thanks to the Source.
However, it’s not a rare resource, so the government selects promising talents and raises them into great mages.
The reason students of this period, including Akito, grow explosively is thanks to Yggdrasil’s Source.
There are only a few magic schools in the world with a Source, and the government manages them with great importance.
Excellent mages serve as teachers to protect Yggdrasil, and the security around the school is good.
Oh, Yggdrasil. A school with incredible security capabilities that gets breached every single day.
Oh, Yggdrasil. An autonomous school where incredibly skilled teachers exist but are never there when needed, leaving the students to solve the problems.
Oh, Yggdrasil. A great school that would have suffered a mass death and vanished tomorrow if it weren't for Akito.
I know it’s a plot device to highlight the protagonist and move the story along, but seeing the great Yggdrasil get ransacked every time makes me doubt if this is really an elite training institution.
Among players, it’s notorious for being a "shit-tier school" that Akito only entered because he was fooled by its reputation.
Now then, shall I work hard to interfere with Yukina and save Yggdrasil?
Vrrr—
Agh—this was such a cool moment. Who’s calling at this timing?
“Yes, hello?”
“Where are you? Aren't you coming? Aren't we training?”
“Ah, sorry. I’ll be right there. 30 minutes, just give me 30 minutes.”
“Be here in 15. Unless you want to die.”
Before saving Yggdrasil, I’d better go soothe Frey, who’s pissed off because I’m late.
I really need that Masayoshi Perk.