Chapter 17

“Sweetheart…”

“……”

“How… how could you do this to me…?”

“Ah, yeah. Let’s break up.”

Hayden, slightly out of it, clung to me. I peeled him off and coldly declared our breakup.

He then slumped down without resistance and leaned against a nearby pillar. Truly, just like a glass-bodied mage.

‘I’m exhausted too, you bastard.’

To get straight to the point, Hayden got thoroughly worked to the bone. If he’s spouting nonsense like that to me, you can guess how bad it was, right?

Just like yesterday, we did 100 laps around the training ground, 1,000 push-ups, 1,000 sit-ups, and 1,100 jumping jacks.

At least today, the class stayed sharp when shouting the count, so the number of jumping jacks decreased. Though it was still just as hard.

‘He surprisingly didn’t fall behind.’

Today, Theodore was again the only one who fell behind—surprisingly, because Hayden hadn’t. Even with that frail body, he’s still a future companion of the protagonist, I suppose?

Anyway, Hayden was dragged by me at first, then by the red cap, and had no choice but to finish Basic Training 1.

!Sudden Quest Success!
: You took an academy class together with Hayden!
Check your success reward. (Click!)

The quest success notification popped up the moment class ended. I didn’t check it right away and closed it.

‘Didn’t want to get distracted.’

I was curious about the success reward—the hint for the next quest. But somehow, I felt that if I checked it, my attention would be entirely consumed by it.

Just in case you’re wondering, I’m still a fresh new student who’s only been at the academy for three days. I’m busy adjusting to the academy as it is.

And so two days passed.

Fortunately, there was no class harder than Basic Training 1. If there had been, the students probably wouldn’t have survived.

“Should I check it now?”

Having finished the last class of the first week, I decided to check the quest rewards. Tomorrow was the weekend, so whatever hint for the next quest appeared, I was guaranteed time to think it over at ease.

• Hayden Tracker: You can determine Hayden’s current location. Permanent.

When I clicked the success reward, that appeared first. I dismissed it immediately. I’d already tried it once, and honestly, it wasn’t a reward I cared much about.

‘I’ll only use it occasionally on days with Basic Training 1.’

With that thought, I checked the next reward.

Would you like to check the ‘Hint for the Next Quest’?

I pressed the confirm button without hesitation.

Then, in an instant, the system window turned red, and a single number filled the screen.

5

5…?

“Is that it?”

I stared blankly at the screen. I’d braced myself for something big since it was a hint, but this was all?

Just as I let out a hollow laugh and was about to close the system window—

4

The number changed.

5 and 4? What is this.

Still nothing came to mind—

3

Huh?

2

…No way.

1

Finally, the number changed to 1.

And at the same time.

[Sub Quest]
: Defeat a monster alone! (Rank 4 or higher)
On success, Level System Activation / On failure, World Destruction

‘What the fuck?’

The system has finally lost its mind.

* * *

Rank 4 monster.

Level System Activation.

World Destruction.

Since checking the quest, my head was full of nothing but these kinds of words. Thanks to that, my mood was absolutely foul from the very first weekend morning since the semester started.

Just thinking about it brought on another throbbing headache.

It’s all because of this insane quest.

Time Limit: 48 hours

And it even had a time limit.

Damn it.

‘Did they give me the skill draw ticket for this?’

The moment I regained my senses after losing them to the insane quest, the first thing I thought of was the skill draw ticket.

Even this reckless system must have thought I couldn’t clear the quest with my current stats.

If possible, I wish they’d give me a more sensible quest instead of this kind of arrangement.

Anyway, I eventually regained my composure. I recovered quickly since I’d already been through something like this on the first day of transmigration. It’s not like the system’s been crazy for just a day or two.

‘But this delayed attack still pisses me off when I think about it again.’

Whose idea was it to do a countdown for a hint about the next quest? Just you wait.

Grind—

Gnashing my teeth, I first pulled out the item draw ticket I’d received as the sudden quest reward.

Item Draw Ticket (D→C)
: Can randomly draw a C-rank or higher item.
(Use)

But the rank was a bit strange.

It was originally D-rank, but it went up to C-rank?

I clicked that part just in case.

[ View ‘Rank Change’ Details ]
: You who successfully completed the quest!
As a reward, the rank of your item draw ticket has been upgraded.

So this quest was successful…

‘I must have made quite a strong impression on Eleanor.’

Yeah, there’s no impression as strong as someone else’s embarrassing past.

But looking back, that declaration of war doesn’t even qualify as an embarrassing past. Maybe because the system raised me too strong.

I laughed like an enlightened monk and pressed the draw.

• Good Friend to Meet (C): For one day, intimacy with a designated target increases slightly. Single use.

As expected, the item was nothing special.

I had no expectations either, so I just put it away and immediately continued to the next draw. It was the skill draw ticket I’d been eagerly anticipating just days ago.

Whoosh—

The effect was the same as the item draw ticket—dozens of cards spun around.

The only difference was that the cards were blue. Then, before I knew it, only one blue card remained and the rest disappeared.

I pressed the card carefully, nervous inside.

Check Shot C
: Fires multiple arrows at once to check unspecified targets. Enemies within a 3m radius are temporarily unable to approach. (Cooldown 5 seconds)

What?

I was a bit flustered because a surprisingly good skill came out. It was already surprising that a C-rank skill came from a D-rank skill draw ticket, but what surprised me most was that the skill was actually useful.

‘Am I perhaps being tamed by the system…’

Having been backstabbed by the system so many times, I was even thinking that.

Because this skill could be fully utilized even by Lucy, whose ranged accuracy is a complete mess!

Since it’s Check Shot, there’s no need to hit, and it temporarily prevents enemies from approaching, so it was practically a defensive skill. And if I got really lucky and hit, it would deal damage too.

‘Well, it probably won’t work on enemies stronger than me.’

Still, it was better than nothing.

Having finished the draws, I was about to close the system window when I decided to spend the remaining 1 point too.

Status Window
▸ Mana: (D-) → (D)

I decided to invest in mana since I’d probably be using skills a lot.

Some might think that, considering efficiency or cost-effectiveness, it’s better to invest in Strength, which is already A.

But unfortunately, this system isn’t that lenient.

‘From B-rank onward, more points are required.’

It pours out quests and rewards to the protagonist like that, so this kind of pacing control was inevitable.

It seems like a setting hastily added because the protagonist had already reached all C-rank stats in the very early part of the novel… I decided to be understanding about this part. What can I expect from a strong-start terrible-ending novel?

“Even taking that into account, it dragged on quite a bit.”

Of course, I read all 999 chapters except the last with excessive immersion, but it definitely wasn’t the cathartic progression hinted at in the beginning. No wonder all the early readers who expected that left.

The author needlessly raised the points needed for rank-ups, and later dragged it out by adding all sorts of titles and a level system.

I shook my head and walked on.

I didn’t have time to waste on idle thoughts like this. With the time limit being short, I had to move as quickly as possible.

‘I need to find a rank 4 monster appearance area near the academy…’

As I said again, Krangbuiyer Academy is an imperial academy supported by the imperial family.

Which means this area is a very ‘safe’ region.

There weren’t many rank 4 or 5 monster appearance areas nearby to begin with, and even the closest was at least half a day away. Above all, officially, you couldn’t enter monster appearance areas without being knighted or having an equivalent awakened individual.

But with a few tricks, it wasn’t impossible to get in.

Besides, I knew someone who fit those conditions perfectly. Though we weren’t close.

“Come to think of it, I drew a good item after all.”

Good Friend to Meet.

I plan to give that a try.