No Skipping Events
Card Belikman.
He was Jerion Academy's infamous blonde playboy.
Not only did he shamelessly flirt with every woman he saw, but he also constantly dragged trouble in his wake wherever women were involved.
In Act 1, he needlessly hits on Isabel, the childhood friend of the protagonist Lucas, and ends up in a duel with him.
Despite his looks, his skills were surprisingly decent, giving Lucas a run for his money. But after hearing Isabel's cheering voice, Lucas digs deep, taps into his strength, and defeats Card.
A textbook development, really.
I actually felt a slight sense of kinship with him.
After all, I was also one of those extras defeated by the protagonist.
But there was one key difference between us: while my fate was expulsion from the academy, Card stopped pestering Isabel and instead transitioned into the role of the protagonist's advisor, occasionally offering relationship advice.
Perhaps because of that, Card possessed a rather troublesome unique trait.
'Meddler.'
Card was a meddler.
Simply put, he just talked too much.
"Young Master Card, this is Young Master Hanon Airey. You will be sharing a room from today onward."
Hearing the introduction from the head maid, Marie, Card looked down at me.
Disguised as Hanon, my height was quite a bit shorter than his.
Perhaps because of that, Card casually rested his elbow on top of my head.
Oh? Look at this bastard.
"Yeah, I know. This guy's a celebrity."
Card smirked slyly.
"I am glad to hear you are already acquainted. Well then, I shall take my leave. Young Master Hanon, your luggage is inside, so please feel free to check it."
Marie didn't pry.
As the head maid of the dormitory, she treated everyone living here equally, regardless of any rumors.
Once she offered a polite bow and departed, Card waved her goodbye.
Meanwhile, I slapped Card's arm off my head.
Then, I strode past him into the room.
"Prickly little shorty, aren't we?"
Sorry, but that doesn't hurt.
My original height is actually three centimeters taller than yours.
After all, Vikamon's original body was a tall, strikingly handsome man—at least when it came to his face and height.
Ignoring Card's remarks, I inspected the bag resting on the bed.
My neatly packed belongings were all intact inside.
"Lil' Hanon."
Card's voice continued to drift from behind me.
As expected, this meddler had absolutely no intention of shutting up.
On top of that, he had already taken the liberty of butchering my name.
And of all things, he chose a nickname that sounded incredibly irritating.
"Call me by my real name."
"Heheh, why? It's got a nice ring to it. Or are you just insecure?"
I stared at him for a moment.
Then, I let out a brief chuckle.
It was fine. He would find out soon enough.
Not understanding the meaning behind my cryptic smile, Card blinked.
Then, he shrugged as if it didn't matter.
"I heard you had a massive showdown with Isabel."
Despite his appearance, Card belonged to the Magecraft department.
Because of that, he hadn't witnessed the events in the Martial Arts department firsthand.
"I heard you insulted Lucas the moment you arrived. Honestly, it's no wonder Isabel snapped. She and Lucas were incredibly close. They probably would've ended up as lovers eventually."
I finished checking my belongings and zipped the bag shut.
Everything was in order.
"Lucas is a total trigger button for Isabel. You really stepped on a landmine there."
Now, I needed to wash up and sleep for tomorrow.
I still had a mountain of things to do.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
For the first time, I froze.
My head slowly turned back.
Our eyes locked, and Card wore a knowing, sly grin.
"You did it on purpose, for Isabel's sake."
"I have no idea what nonsense you're talking about."
I brushed it off nonchalantly.
"Ever since Lucas ended up like that, Isabel has been incredibly unstable lately. She's popular, so everyone around her tried to look after her, but nothing changed."
Her childhood friend, whom she had grown up with her entire life, was dead.
At that point, a part of Isabel's soul had essentially crumbled away.
"She looked like someone who had lost her will to live, wasting away day by day. It was so bad that even when I talked to her, she didn't even get annoyed. She just gave hollow, empty replies."
Isn't that putting yourself down a bit too much?
But Card didn't seem to care about that as he clicked his tongue.
"Honestly, I was starting to think that if things kept going like this, she'd never recover. She might have even followed Lucas to the grave."
Card had seen right through Isabel.
No, perhaps it wasn't just Card.
Many people around her must have sensed that her condition was highly alarming.
"Isabel needed something, anything, to divert her attention. And that's where..."
Card pointed a thick finger directly at me.
"...you came in and gave her anger as a new driving force."
"You're overthinking it."
"Sure, maybe I am."
Card didn't bother to deny it.
Instead, he raised the finger he was pointing at me.
"So I'm just letting you know. Even if it's only for a little while... I hope you keep acting as that catalyst of anger for her."
I stared at Card blankly.
"Do you actually like her or something?"
Card did have a history of hitting on Isabel.
When I asked, Card chuckled softly.
"I love all women. Every single one of them is charming."
But as he said those words, there was no real sincerity in his eyes.
"But more than that, Isabel is my friend's childhood friend."
My friend.
I knew exactly who he was referring to.
The protagonist, Lucas.
He was talking about the boy who was no longer with us.
"Even if it's for my late friend's sake, I can't just stand by and watch his childhood friend fall apart."
Card truly considered Lucas a friend.
His friend had died.
He wanted to prevent his friend's childhood friend from meeting a tragic end as well.
Understanding his intentions, I tucked my bag away.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of taking back what I said."
"Oh, that's great to hear."
Whatever his faults, he genuinely cared about Isabel.
Aside from being a meddlesome flirt, Card had always been a good guy at heart.
"So, by the way, why are you wrapped in bandages? Don't tell me you're actually a girl crossdressing?!"
This bastard...
My expression turned dead serious.
"I'll whip it out right now."
I'll show him right this second.
My height might have taken a hit due to the disguise, but I would prove that I wasn't lacking in other departments.
"Ah, no thanks. I have zero interest in guys."
Seriously, this guy ruins all his good points with his meddling and endless chatter.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next day.
A quiet, blue-tinted dawn before the sun had even risen.
A time when everyone was still fast asleep.
A man ran through the forest, his steady, rhythmic breathing echoing in the quiet air.
Who was this man running through the woods?
Who else?
It was me.
I had already been running for an hour.
Yet, without a hint of exhaustion, I kept pushing forward.
I had a vague inkling of it before, but...
I looked down at my legs, which continued to stride forward without stopping.
Vikamon, this guy's stamina is a masterpiece.
These legs had been running for over an hour.
Yet, they showed no signs of giving up, ready to run even further.
Why on earth was Vikamon in the Magecraft department in the first place?
Vikamon Niflheim, the character I possessed.
During his time at Jerion Academy, he was enrolled in Magecraft.
Frankly, Vikamon had almost zero magical talent.
While he wasn't completely devoid of mana like Nikita, his magical aptitude was practically microscopic.
Having entered the Magecraft department with such pathetic talent, Vikamon achieved next to nothing in magic, and his grades consistently scraped the absolute bottom.
The reason Vikamon liked Nikita was...
...a mixture of kinship and admiration.
A person who, despite being born into a prestigious magic family just like him, possessed absolutely no mana.
Yet, without ever giving up, Nikita had climbed her way up to student council vice president through sheer effort.
Seeing her shine in stark contrast to his own miserable state, Vikamon had fallen for her.
That was why Vikamon had relentlessly tormented Lucas, who was Nikita's arch-rival.
He simply couldn't stand Lucas constantly disrupting the achievements Nikita had worked so hard to build. He just couldn't bear it.
But Vikamon was utterly powerless against Lucas, getting thrashed every single time.
Having awakened the Flame of Fighting Spirit, Lucas was a top-tier student even in the Martial Arts department.
There was no way Vikamon's pathetic magic could ever stand a chance against someone like him.
But the real anomaly was Vikamon's stamina.
Despite lacking anything like the Flame of Fighting Spirit, his physical endurance was absurdly high.
Even as a mage, he would spring right back up after taking a brutal beating from Lucas.
They called him 'Roly-Poly Vikamon'.
The gaming community often joked about him, wondering what kind of mage possessed that level of tankiness.
Consequently, the community had labeled Vikamon as:
'The Combo Practice Dummy.'
A character intentionally designed with a massive health pool so that beginners playing the Flame Butterfly Chapter for the first time could get used to the controls.
In other words, he was a punching bag meant to help players test out various skill combinations.
The problem was, who possessed this Vikamon?
Me.
Well, at least having great stamina was a massive plus. I could run a marathon easily. My legs were worth a million bucks.
Outstanding stamina is the ultimate asset.
Before entering Vikamon's body, I had trained in sports for a long time, though I had to quit in high school due to an injury.
I remembered how to move my body.
I remembered how to use my eyes.
And those memories, combined with Vikamon's physical endurance, yielded incredible synergy.
Is it because this guy's physical foundation is so solid?
Honestly, my physical coordination had already returned to its peak.
Since I had such great stamina anyway, I had been building it up even further by going for morning runs every day since I possessed him.
As the old saying goes, play to your strengths first.
Stamina is power.
And so, I ran today as well.
Just then.
Whoosh!
The sound of something heavy slicing through the air reached my ears.
Whoosh!
A clean, rhythmic, and repetitive sound. Moreover, the weight behind it was incredibly heavy.
My gaze naturally drifted toward the source of the noise.
There, a girl stood catching her breath, her hair tied back in a high ponytail. A girl with long, blue hair. She had a delicate, airy aura about her.
But one look at what she held in her hands would instantly shatter that illusion.
Gripped in her hands was a greatsword as massive as her own height.
The moment I saw it, I realized exactly who she was.
The 1st-year Greatsword Ironwoman, Aisha Bisbel.
I didn't know who gave her that nickname. But one thing was certain: it fit her perfectly. I had never seen anyone swing a greatsword with such brutal, absurd force.
Come to think of it...
...back when I was playing as Lucas, there was only one chance to trigger Aisha's morning event.
The event occurred in Act 4, after getting caught up in a haunting incident at the girls' dormitory. While sneaking back to the dorms in the early morning, you would hear the heavy sound of something swinging.
If you chose the option to 'Follow the sound,' you would encounter Aisha during her morning training and exchange a few words.
The catch was that this delayed you just enough to get caught sneaking out by the head maid, resulting in dormitory penalty points. It was essentially a trap event.
Lucas had a strict curfew and time limits, but...
...this was reality now.
As long as I got prior permission from the maid on duty, going out for a morning run was incredibly easy. Thus, I had encountered an event that wasn't supposed to happen until Act 4 much earlier.
It's an event I don't need to pay much attention to right now.
I decided not to bother striking up a conversation with Aisha and simply kept running.
WHOOOOOOSH! CRASH!
...Right up until a greatsword came hurtling down, nearly crushing me into the dirt.
"...What the hell?!"
Looking at the greatsword embedded deep in the shattered stone pavement, I broke out in a cold sweat. If that had hit me directly, to hell with saving the world—I would have died right then and there.
"O-Oh my gosh! A-Are you okay?!"
Aisha's panicked voice echoed in my ears.
Watching her rush toward me, I let out a quiet sigh.
Geez, trying to kill me just because I wanted to skip an event is a bit much, don't you think?