Chapter 19

You’re coming with me?

I looked at Eleanor with a slightly bewildered heart. Eleanor’s face was quite serious.

“I know the Krag Forest better than anyone. It’s dangerous for people going in for the first time together.”

“I’m fine with it… but are you sure?”

“I was the one who allowed you, so the responsibility is mine as well.”

Truly, noblesse oblige in the flesh.

There’s a reason Eleanor’s nickname is “the warrior with blue blood.” Among the protagonist’s companions, she was the most noble of nobles.

“Thank you, Eleanor.”

“W-Well, like you said, we’re friends… aren’t we?”

Eleanor said that with a stoic face while her ears turned red. That made me needlessly embarrassed.

I’d only said “friends” in the sense of people attending the same academy…

‘The C-rank item must be working well.’

Seeing as she treated even the person who just threatened her as a friend.

If this were a dating sim, I think I’d have just cleared Eleanor’s affection route.

‘I’ll definitely repay this debt later! Trust me, okay?’

Anyway, we decided to depart for the Krag Forest tomorrow and parted ways. Since we had to leave at dawn tomorrow, there was a lot to prepare on this end too.

‘And there’s one more person to meet.’

I immediately moved toward my next target.

* * *

“Huaaah…”

I collapsed the moment I entered the dormitory. Somehow I seem to be in this state every time I come back.

‘Did I run around too much since holiday morning…?’

Before transmigration, I barely went outside except on school days. Here, I was living unusually busily.

Today alone, I’d already targeted two people, then went to the library and a private training room. Because there was something I needed to check.

‘It was more useful than I thought.’

The Check Shot skill.

Perhaps because it was a skill hardly bound by accuracy, it exceeded expectations. And since it was C-rank, its mana consumption wasn’t as heavy as the S-rank Sharpshooter. My mana rank going up probably contributed too.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t practice against actual monsters.”

Like the homeroom professor did, I wanted to practice by summoning monsters, but training rooms with illusion magic circles required advance reservations. If I’d known, I would have signed up in advance.

Clicking my tongue in regret, I opened the quest window.

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

It’s a ‘sub’ quest, not a ‘sudden’ one.

It seemed to be a subordinate quest prepared for the main quest. Which means the failure penalty would be the same as the main quest’s.

But that wasn’t why I’d reopened the quest window.

“Level system…”

In the original, this was a system that activated when the protagonist achieved all stats of A or higher.

‘It’s Blooming.’

Actually, there were clear limits to the stats an awakened individual could raise through effort. At most, one or two ranks above their innate stats.

But there are always people born with talent.

(Though naturally they don’t have status windows) If you could check their status windows, a few individuals who achieved all stats of A or higher underwent something called ‘Blooming.’

‘From this point on, they can exert power beyond their own stats.’

Even with the same stats, an awakened individual who had Bloomed and one who hadn’t were on different levels. Even in the latter part of the original, those mentioned as having Bloomed—including the protagonist—could be counted on one hand.

This Blooming was displayed in the status window as a ‘level system.’

Simply put, the higher your level, the stronger you become.

‘But they’re going to activate something like this already?’

I haven’t even gotten all of Lucy’s stats to D yet!

I pressed the success reward just in case, but there was no particular change. Right, of course it wouldn’t tell me kindly.

What’s certain is that this system isn’t just messing with me. If anything, it seems desperate to make me strong somehow.

Of course, the penalty is world destruction, but paradoxically, the goal seems to be preventing world destruction.

“No, but if you want to prevent destruction, should you really be giving out reckless quests like this?”

Ha, I thought I’d regained my composure, but I must still be in shock. That damn countdown.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got, so I deliberately turned my attention elsewhere. It was the book I’d picked up at the library earlier.

《The World’s Easiest Monster Dictionary》

Yes, I brought it because it said “easy.”

I knew most common monsters, but I wasn’t familiar with monsters that didn’t appear in the original. The system had obviously filled those in appropriately.

As Eleanor said, I shouldn’t let my guard down just because they’re rank 4 monsters. Though awakening seemed to have given me an instinctive sense of how to move my body, I was still a novice who’d never dealt with a real monster.

Since the quest condition was to defeat a monster alone, I couldn’t rely on Eleanor’s help either.

‘For now, I just need to read up on rank 4 monsters.’

I vigorously opened the book.

And that day, I realized that rank 4 monsters were more numerous than I’d imagined.

* * *

I’m currently standing near the back gate with half-lidded eyes.

Because I’d been reading that supposedly easy monster dictionary yesterday and ended up with only three hours of sleep.

‘Easy… and numerous…’

I tried to recall the hazy rank 4 monsters, then gave up. I think it’s better to trust our top entrant after all.

As I waited for Eleanor, I sensed someone nearby. Was it Eleanor? Still half-asleep, I turned my head. And then I had no choice but to snap my half-closed eyes wide open.

“Theodore?”

It wasn’t Eleanor standing there—it was Theodore.

“Lucy, am I invisible to you?”

Ah, Hayden was there too.

…But that’s not the important thing!

“Why are you two together?”

For reference, the only person I’d called was Hayden.

“Misunderstanding, Lucy. We didn’t come together—that guy just followed me unilaterally.”

“Theodore did?”

I naturally ended up looking at Theodore. He subtly avoided my eyes and muttered quietly.

“Sorry, I happened to overhear…”

“Overhear what?”

“About what you discussed yesterday. Our cozy date.”

The answer came from Hayden. He naturally draped his arm over my shoulder and winked one eye.

He really is consistent in many ways.

‘Anyway, it seems he overheard that we’re going to the Krag Forest…’

I’d included Hayden in this plan because of the travel distance to the forest. One of Hayden’s skills was ‘Teleport.’

If we rested once or twice along the way, we could probably reach the Krag Forest within an hour.

‘If I help you, what will you do for me, Lucy?’
‘What do you need?’
‘Hmm…’

Hayden paused, then suddenly grinned—

‘A date ticket with Lucy?’

—and demanded something absurd. But since it wasn’t a difficult condition, I readily accepted.

Anyway, after Eleanor, I’d also secured Hayden’s cooperation—and Theodore had apparently overheard it by chance.

Theodore spoke to me in a worry-filled voice.

“Sorry for butting in on my own. But I was worried…”

Have I gotten too close to Theodore unexpectedly?

Our affectionate and fragile protagonist tried to follow me all the way to a monster appearance area. What am I supposed to do about this?

As I was worrying, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Let’s depart for now.”

It was Eleanor, who would be the center of today’s schedule.

Eleanor approached my side and removed Hayden’s arm from my shoulder. Then she continued.

“Today we’re only going as far as the forest entrance anyway, so it should be fine. That much I can handle.”

“Really?”

“At the very least, everyone should be able to look after themselves. Especially that one.”

Eleanor’s flashing golden eyes targeted Hayden precisely. But Hayden just shrugged his shoulders, unbothered.

‘Isn’t this combination appearing way too early compared to the original?’

Originally, this was a combination you’d only see by the second year. The sly Hayden, Eleanor wary of him, and Theodore not knowing what to do between them.

‘Well, I’m having fun at least.’

Seeing the relationship between these two—which I’d only seen in text—in person, honestly, I couldn’t help but find it interesting. Besides, I loved this kind of chemistry!

“No unnecessary physical contact during today’s monster hunt.”

“And if it’s necessary contact? For example, if Lucy is in danger—”

“That won’t happen. I’ve decided to take responsibility for Lucy’s safety.”

“Or, if Lucy gets so scared she clings to my chest—”

“That’s truly a nonsensical example.”

Crunch, crunch—

I chewed on imaginary popcorn and enjoyed their war of nerves. Theodore seemed to find it amusing too and just watched quietly.

In the end, we departed several tens of minutes later.