Chapter 42: Transmission Disruption
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 42: Transmission Disruption
Who was the weakest team among the participants in this game?
Everyone would point to our party.
Isel is a Tier 5 wizard, but Yernil and I are just rookies.
It didn't matter that I was a Magic University rookie or that we had an advantage.
On the other hand, the other teams were all packed with senior wizards stronger than Isel. There was even Meldini's team, which was cowardly(?) composed of three Tier 7 professors.
However…
“I think we should be near our destination soon.”
We were advancing at an incredible speed. Faster than any other team.
It was because the three of us had perfect chemistry.
I devised the strategy, Isel provided convenient maze-exploration spells like 'Spurring Steps,' and Yernil acted as our ultimate trump card.
“It's a fork in the road, Isel. A little 'Wise Guidance,' please.”
“Left.”
Isel, momentarily setting aside her cleric roleplay and reverting to a Tier 5 wizard, pointed the way.
And as we moved, I searched for and analyzed any visible clues, spotting dangers in advance.
“It would've been more fun if we'd left the navigation to the roleplay, too.”
“They tried that once, but the guests got annoyed.”
“Really?”
“They said it was frustrating not being able to use the magic they have. They asked if they could just get through the maze quickly and use their heads for the actual events.”
“...”
Wizards... they're all about convenience and efficiency. That's the problem.
Hmm.
No, wait.
On second thought, aren't TRPGs originally analog games played sitting at a table with pen and paper?
You don't actually walk around in a TRPG, do you?
If they introduced the maze concept for a bit of visualization and immersion, then maybe providing some convenience for navigation is actually the right way to do it?
I'm not sure.
This wizard TRPG is a bit confusing.
“Everyone, stop for a moment.”
I stopped Isel and Yernil.
Back in the real Labyrinth, Back Attack, who had a keen eye, would find the traps for me. This time, I had to do it myself again.
If we had just walked over it, it would have triggered an event, and we would've been ruled as injured.
Then we would've had to use a bunch of Isel's healing magic in her cleric role. We might have even had to use up two message slips.
But since we didn't step on it, let's make a preemptive strike with a message.
“Yernil, let's use one message slip.”
Yernil took out a slip and a pen.
She wrote what I told her and sent the message.
[Rogue Yernil has disarmed the trap.]
The judgment was a Great Success.
“Let's go.”
*
Of course, there were times when this method of progression ran into problems.
Because of transmission disruption.
“Let's cast a cleric's blessing on the sarcophagus to remove the curse and proceed.”
[Isel used a blessing spell on the undead sarcophagus to remove the curse.]
Isel, in her cleric role, sent the message just as I'd instructed, but the message got lost in the Labyrinth.
And the random reply that came back was…
[The blessing landed on herself! Isel gains an advantage on her next message transmission success rate. Overcome with joy by her own blessing, Isel began to sing a hymn and dance in front of her party members for 3 minutes. Refusal will result in a penalty for ignoring inspiration.]
“Sing and dance?”
“Isel has to?”
“Aargh! Father!”
Isel buried her face in her hands and screamed.
“Yernil, come over here. I think we're about to see something fun.”
“...”
Isel's face turned bright red!
“Do I really have to do this?”
“It says there's a penalty if you don't, Isel.”
“This is driving me crazy...!”
Isel agonized with her face in her hands, then suddenly took a deep breath.
Her expression turned solemn, though her face was still beet red.
And then, she suddenly brought her hands together in front of her and started bouncing on her knees!
“May the grace of the Ho... Holy Spirit descend upon me—. A pure body and mind—.”
“...”
I almost dropped my wand.
What am I seeing right now?
She's moving like a kid doing a dance at a talent show...?
“Eternal love and faith—.”
“...Pfft.”
“Aargh! Don't laugh!”
Isel yelped.
“You're not very talented at this, are you.”
I guess no one can be perfect at everything.
“Isel, want me to sing with you?”
Yernil, who had been watching, must have felt sorry for her, because she started to help, even clapping her hands.
Thanks to her, it got a little better. Before, it sounded like a monk chanting a sutra, but now it actually sounded like a song.
“Three minutes are up!”
Isel trembled with shame. She gave Yernil a brief word of thanks, and as for me...
“...H-Hurry up and lead the way!”
She snapped at me, strangely.
“Don't be so embarrassed. It was pretty good, in its own way.”
“Please keep it a secret.”
“Just imagine Professor Meldini doing something like that somewhere in this maze. You were much better than that would be. You did well.”
And then, about ten minutes after we set off again.
Damn it.
This time, it was my turn.
[Caleb's message has been lost in the Labyrinth!]
[A playful nymph full of laughter has appeared. If you make the nymph laugh, she will follow and help the party until the next event. Ignoring her will result in a penalty.]
It seems karma really does come back to bite you.
I should have been nicer to Isel earlier.
“Quick, tell a joke! Any joke!”
Isel urged me on excitedly.
An illusory nymph descended before my eyes, fluttering her wings. I couldn't waste time.
Alright. Watch this.
“What's the favorite song of Edward Berten, the head of the Berten family?”
“...?”
“The answer is... Message Tran-'song'.”
The nymph who was full of laughter was now a nymph completely devoid of it.
“Oh. Oh dear...”
Yernil sighed.
“That's so bad... even Professor Dalstream wouldn't laugh at that, let alone some old guys...”
Isel clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
[The nymph is angry!]
“Hey! Caleb!”
“Dammit, kill this nymph!”
Yernil, whose message transmissions are never disrupted, is a god.
*
“I just had a genius idea.”
Yernil suddenly exclaimed.
“As soon as you write on the slip, the judgment box appears, right? Even before you send the message.”
“Yes.”
“It appears a bit high above your head, but I can jump and put the slip in! The slip!”
“...”
“Can't I just put it in the Great Success slot that way?”
“You can't.”
Isel immediately shot down the ridiculous idea.
“Why not?”
But honestly, I was curious too. What principle even summons and operates that judgment box? There was nothing like it in the game.
“The judgment box automatically scans its surroundings to observe and block any cheating. If you were to jump with the slip in your hand, the box would probably disappear that very instant.”
“Ah...”
“If you're curious, you can test it out,” Isel said.
“We've arrived now, so we have slips to spare.”
It was true.
We had finally reached the center of the maze. In first place.
“It's the scroll!”
Yernil pointed to a small altar in the center of the area.
An escape scroll was visible on the altar.
“Just touch the scroll with your wand and use 'Message Transmission,' and we're done.”
Just as she was about to run over in excitement.
“Caleb!”
Something truly surprising happened.
I turned at the voice that suddenly came from behind me and saw Meldini.
It was the team with the highest chance of winning among all the participants.
Meldini, Enver, and Hailey.
A party formed by three Tier 7 professors.
“Hello, Professor.”
I greeted him calmly, but to be honest, I was a bit flustered.
Was it because we wasted too much time on messages lost in the Labyrinth?
I thought we'd tackled the events at full speed and would have a significant lead on the other teams, but I guess I was wrong.
Is the wisdom of three professors really not to be underestimated?
“We were following you!”
Never mind.
“As we were chasing you, at some point we only came across events that were already solved. You must have been the ones who solved them. So we just kept running! And yet, we couldn't catch up to you inside the maze and only met you here at the escape spot.”
Meldini exclaimed in admiration.
“Truly amazing! How are you all so fast?”
“But why were you following us?”
If this had been Meldini's strategy, it would have been absolutely brilliant, but that was unlikely.
Because most of the senior wizards here would think the professors' party was better at progressing than ours.
In truth, even with Yernil's advantage, our team was the underdog here.
So, for Meldini to use 'Wise Guidance' at the forks not to find the escape scroll but to track us was a very irrational choice.
Could it be...
“Professor Enver here suggested it! He said that since we were a party of three professors, we should find and help the students rather than take the game too seriously.”
I knew it.
Meldini's party wasn't aiming to win in the first place.
“We have our Magic University's new freshman here, and the graduate who finished with the highest scores!”
Meldini pointed at us. At me, and then at Isel.
“Even with the advantage given to that young elf lady, we thought it wouldn't be easy for the three of you to progress, so as educators, we agreed to find our students and help them out!”
In short, they thought we were the worst team here and chased after us to help, but ended up getting a free ride instead.
'And Enver never intended to play the game in the first place.'
He probably just entered the maze to find our party, join up with Isel, and then the two of them would observe me together.
Since many elements in this game are similar to the Labyrinth, he must have thought he could gauge my knowledge as a possessor.
“So we were truly surprised.”
The female elf professor took over the conversation and praised us.
“We never imagined you would be the first to arrive.”
Her name was Hailey.
A gentle-natured female elf professor who belongs to Isilof's faction.
Come to think of it, that three-person team has members from all three major factions: Isilof's, Meldini's, and the Possessors'.
What a funny picture.
And…
“Certainly impressive.”
Enver clapped dryly, but he seemed somewhat disappointed.
Was it because he didn't get to see me solve the maze himself?
“Isel. How was it?”
He feigned ignorance, pretending to be on awkward terms with Isel as he asked.
“What was it like, adventuring with the most famous freshman since you?”
“He's smart.”
Isel answered without saying too much or too little, giving no specific information.
“His situational analysis and judgment are excellent. I believe he can become a great wizard.”
“Right, right!”
Meldini was ecstatic.
“I think so too! As expected, Isel has a good eye!”
“So, can we take the escape scroll and claim victory now?”
Seeing the mood, I tried to wrap things up, but Meldini slowly shook his head.
“You could, but Caleb... since we've all come this far, how about we settle this with one last message transmission showdown? Hmm?”
“...”
“Even if we win, we'll give the prize money to you! Hahaha!”
“Caleb, don't feel too wronged.”
Professor Hailey also agreed with Meldini.
“It's true that we didn't strategically follow you with the goal of winning, so arriving here now is, from our perspective, a great stroke of luck and a coincidence.”
“...”
“But regardless of the circumstances, the fact that we're here together means we can compete for the scroll with our remaining message slips.”
A fair point.
“Caleb! Give it a shot! It's not like we're fighting with real magic. You might even win. Let's have a go with the message slips!”
Right.
This is how my adventures are supposed to go.
Things were going way too smoothly.
“If we lose.”
It's not a life-or-death Labyrinth battle, just a game. I should concede.
“The professors can have the prize money.”
“Ooh!”
Meldini was overjoyed.
“I knew I judged you correctly.”
“...”
“As you all know the rules, no direct attacks on each other. We must fight between our roles using only message transmissions,” Isel said.
“We know.”
“I know.”
And then, sudden silence.
In the tension that filled the room over something so trivial.
“Shall we start right away?”
I asked Meldini.
“Let's begin.”
“Yernil! Grab the scroll!”
*
Before the words were even out of my mouth, Yernil bounded towards the altar.
But at the same time, Hailey shouted.
“Shorthand! Using transcription magic to snatch the escape scroll!”
She was the wizard on their team. A magic pen scribbled a message on a slip at incredible speed.
“Message Transmission.”
The slip landed in the Success slot.
Snatch!
When Yernil grabbed the scroll, it was no longer the escape scroll, but a blank one.
A string of magical characters flew through the air towards Hailey.
In her hand was a small card. Just as we had obtained 'Banshee's Tear' and 'Two-Handed Sword,' Hailey also had an item card.
A blank scroll.
Zzzt!
The moment the escape scroll's spell transferred into the item card, the card transformed into an old parchment scroll.
“They took it!”
The escape scroll was now in Professor Hailey's grasp.
“I feel a bit sorry for beating students like this, but.”
She aimed the tip of her wand at the scroll.
“It's a game and a lesson, so I understand. Message Transmission!”
But her magic didn't work.
“Huh?”
The judgment box was floating above my head.
[Caleb uses a silence spell on Hailey.]
[Great Success!]
The moment I confirmed she was the wizard, I had grabbed a slip and scribbled furiously.
“Even if I'm silenced, I can still talk, right? My character is silenced, not me. So shouldn't the magic still work?”
Professor Hailey looked down at her wand, puzzled, and Meldini shouted.
“It seems 'Message Transmission' is blocked because it's part of the game rules! Give it to me!”
He quickly took the scroll. And…
“Message Transmission!”
The moment he chanted the spell on the escape scroll.
[Meldini's message has been lost in the Labyrinth! The escape scroll will reappear on the altar in 60 seconds.]
“What the...?”
A shocking reply came back.
[To overcome the self-loathing of losing the scroll, Meldini has decided to sing and dance joyfully for 10 seconds. Refusing to do so will result in the loss of one message slip as a penalty.]
“...”
“...”
“...”
Silence fell upon the room once more.
I can't believe I'm actually going to see the Meldini Dance.
Isel was at least cute, but I really don't want to see the professor do it...
“Ahem. Care to dance with me?”
Meldini offered his hand to Professor Hailey.
“I'll pass.”
“Isel?”
“Absolutely not!”
Having already gone through the ordeal once, Isel was horrified.