Episode 26. There’s a reason for everything to go bad (1)
One of the difficulties of the first semester, the midterm exam, is coming up. The students’ desperate fight to overcome this crisis was a tough struggle as there were two subjects for the exam.
The written test and the practical test. Even if you prepare for just one, the difficulty level is high enough that you will have to devote the entire exam period to it.
Take notes on the lecture content and borrow books from the library to memorize. After repeating it a few times, smoke will rise from the circuits in your brain.
Even if I just prepare for the practical exam, it’s like this, so there’s no answer when you tell me to prepare for the even more difficult actual exam.
There is a concern that the class will change based on grades. It may seem like a chance for the lower-ranking cadets, but if they could have advanced, they would have done so a long time ago. Jumping over is like trying to reach for the stars in the sky.
Above all, the upperclassmen do not sit still and do nothing. They work as hard as they work.
Those who are meant to succeed will succeed, and those who are not meant to fail will not. Even sufficient effort without overworking is nothing more than a laughing stock in the face of the talent of upperclassmen.
Then, would such complaints from lower-class students be viewed favorably? The answer is yes.
All I hear is criticism: they lack willpower, they are low-level people who blow their tuition, they are scumbags who don’t work hard enough to die.
It was impossible for everything to be positive for the stressed out underclassmen.
Work yourself to the point of death? Isn’t that called overwork?
Eventually, the anger that comes from feeling pessimistic about oneself naturally turns towards the upperclassmen. The number of bad students who are suffering from this inferiority complex is incalculable.
Later, they become the cause of the final chapter of Chapter 2’s outbreak during the final exam. A prince of a small country caught between them ends up waking up the ‘nine-tailed fox’ who should never be awakened.
* * * * *
Written and practical exams. Those hurdles were no cause for concern for Jenny Chainsilver, who had not spared any effort.
Anyone who saw him solve problems like water flowing would think he was an excellent student.
“Did you do well on your test?”
“So-so.”
After the test was over, she approached the cadet in the last row and talked to him.
Radon Crowler, he was waving his test paper around as if he had done well on it.
I had previously invited Radon to study with me, but he refused, saying, “Studying for exams? What’s important about theory? What’s important is practice.”
I wondered what I would do if I messed up. I was worried and anxious, which was unusual for Jenny, but when I actually got my grades, I got a pretty good score.
“When do you say you won’t study at all?”
“It would have been more profitable to cast a fishing line at that time. But it seems like you’ve been worrying more recently?”
“We’re not that far apart anymore, so it’s natural for you to worry.”
Jenny spoke confidently, her shoulders squared. Radon, who was watching that part, smiled and said.
“Haha, you’re the only classmate who worries about my exams.”
“Is that so… … ?”
“And what brings you here today? Why did you come to me first instead of the other girls you were hanging out with?”
“Ah, that’s… … .”
I don’t know the details either.
Jenny’s face was about to turn excited as she pondered what to say.
“Did you do well on your exam? Jenny Chainsilver.”
At that moment, Krona Delaware appeared at a perfect time and spoke to me.
The typical attitude of a young lady who boasts about her test paper. A cute and differentiated school uniform with frills attached to the hem of the skirt.
And with a few followers by her side, she looked like a stereotypical aristocratic lady.
“And you… … .”
“Radon Crowler. Haven’t you seen him in the newspaper before?”
Crona let out an exclamation of ‘Ah!’ as if he remembered who it was.
“I appreciated the picture then, but now I would like to say a few words.”
Crona looked at Radon like a criminal and cleared his throat with a cough.
“Ahem, Radon Crowler. Don’t act so cocky just because you’ve become close with Jenny recently. There are rumors going around that you’re trying to influence upperclassmen like us.”
“rumor?”
“Yes, students like you tend to show up without anyone noticing.”
Radon sighed as if he was dumbfounded by Crona’s sharp gaze.
But it’s just a joke and not true. Only Crona seems particularly enthusiastic about the fire that hasn’t even started yet.
Because Crona… …
“Do you like Jenny?”
“What, what did you say!!”
As if Radon’s one word had set off a fuse, Crona suddenly became excited and started talking nonsense.
“Don’t talk nonsense! We are rivals after all! We are arch-rivals who can never become friends!!”
“Ahem… … I was just wondering, but drinking kimchi stew is a good idea.”
“Huh? Kimchi… what?”
Radon snickers in front of Crona, who is snarling with a lion-like face. His expression is like that of a grown man watching a child’s antics.
Then, Radon turned his head away, leaving behind an unknown message.
“Jenny, I’ll go first.”
“huh.”
Radon, who seemed to be busy, didn’t stay for long in conversation. It was a shame that we both had a lot to do during the exam period.
But these days, I’m more interested in radon.
One week from the end of the written exam to the actual exam. While training in the forest, I saw Radon fishing in the lake.
‘This is where I first encountered Radon.’
I don’t have any more regrets from back then, but why do I still care so much?
It may be natural to be concerned about Radon spending his free time during exam period, but such common sense-based expressions are insufficient.
I hid in the grass and watched Radon swing his fishing rod. As expected, his movements were as precise as swinging his sword, and it felt like fishing itself was a form of training.
The fishing line that had been submerged was already shaking. Feeling the weight, Radon mistook it for a big fish and pulled it in, but it was Mary who was biting the hook.
‘uh?’
Radondo and Jenny, who had been hiding, also had expressions like ‘Why are you coming out of there?’
Regardless, Mary simply replied that she swallowed the earthworm because it looked so tasty.
After a while, he dived back into the water, saying that he had eaten well. Since it was none other than Mary, it wasn’t a big deal.
With only seven days left until the actual test, I went back into the mountains to train. This time, my intention was not to examine radon.
The midterm exam is different from the last practical exam in that you have to fight monsters directly. So, I came out to practice against low-level monsters that live in the forest.
But strangely, my gaze turns towards the lakeside. Why has it been like this lately, when I shouldn’t be paying attention to that guy?
But today, there was no radon on the lakeside. Sometimes, I thought, this kind of thing happens, and it was a moment to focus on training again.
“What are you doing here?”
“Mom!”
I ended up getting flustered because of Crona Delaware who suddenly spoke to me from behind. Crona smiled broadly as he looked at Jenny like that and said.
“Who are you waiting for so long?”
“Wait! Who am I… … .”
“She was hiding in the grass for a while, staring at the lakeside. Like a poor girl stalking someone she’s interested in.”
“Shut up! Even exaggeration should be done to a certain extent.”
“Hoo hoo hoo.”
When Jenny got angry, Crona smiled like a fox.
Crona’s goal is to train monsters just like herself. That’s why there are currently no devout students following her around.
“I guess you thought that since your opponents are monsters, there is no better place to practice than here?”
“Even if it wasn’t that in particular, it was a place I came to often.”
“Are you going to stalk me?”
“hey……!”
Jenny was giving off the vibe that she was going to freeze everything. Crona was having fun teasing Jenny like that, but he decided not to waste his energy today.
Boom!─
Suddenly a dull noise was heard from the middle of the forest.
“What are you talking about?”
The two surprised men immediately became alert. In this forest where footsteps are rare, it would be easy to predict what would make such noise.
They quickly ran towards the direction of the sound. There, a giant rock golem was pounding the ground with its blunt hand.
A golem is a monster that doesn’t cause trouble unless you touch it. The cause was easy to find.
“Jenny! Over there!”
A girl was being chased by a golem. The girl with long, white hair was looking up at the golem helplessly.
They were not the ones to leave this situation alone.
[Chain Silver – Frozen Flower]
Jenny was holding a special weapon, a blue sword, in her hand. In an instant, she cut down the golem and put the sword back.
Ice spread between the veins, instantly freezing the golem. He was finally able to use Silver Age as a skill.
“Come out! Sunred!”
A phoenix-shaped spirit appeared, responding to Crona’s sensitivity.
The upper body of the golem, frozen by Sunred’s torso slam that charged forward while creating a gust of wind, melted like ice cream.
A monster of that level could be defeated with their own strength. As long as there was a barrier in the academy, exponentially stronger monsters would be unable to enter.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
They hurriedly ran to the child to get his identity. And they couldn’t help but be surprised. It was because he had beast ears and nine tails on his body. He must have been wary of his strange appearance, but they didn’t know it yet.
The child, who seems to be a number with no name, will soon be given the name ‘Angela Whitegreen’ by them.
And later on, a new character was added… … and she was to be reborn as the nine-tailed fox, the final boss of Chapter 2.
* * * * *
I decided not to go fishing at the lake starting today. You might say that I’m taking it easy during the exam period, but fishing is like a training to me.
Because the mechanics of ‘fishing’ and ‘cheating’ are the same, the skill proficiency continues to increase.
________________________
Race: Human
Grade: 1
Occupation: Swindler (Experience: 40/100%)
– Stamina: 15
-Strength: 15
– Intelligence: 10
-Gentleness: 20
– Horsepower: 30/30
[List of Professional Skills], [List of Life Skills], [List of Combat Skills], [List of Magic Skills]
________________________
With the current stats, you could easily get a decent score.
What I’m going to do for the rest of the time is to learn how to hold a wooden sword and practice swordsmanship. That’s why I’m currently training in the gym on the first floor of the Liber Hall.
An event must have occurred along the lakeside by now.
The story of Jenny and Crona, who were training in the forest, meeting a white girl and beginning to build a relationship.
Chapter 2 begins in earnest as other characters come into contact with the girl.
To avoid that intervention, I decided to refrain from fishing on the lake for the time being.
I was currently testing my skills at the gym.
______________________
[List of professional skills]
n Cheating
– Sense Lv5, Behavior Detective Lv5, Acting Lv5, Fake News Lv3, Don’t Lie Lv1
[List of Life Skills]
nFishing
-Bait handling Lv7, Swinging Lv6, Fishing line control Lv6
nUnclassified
-Cooking Lv3, Cleaning Lv2, Creation Lv3
[Battle Skill List]
N swordsmanship
-Uplift Lv3, Counterattack Lv3
N Fantasy Sword Technique
-Steel Fishing Rod Lv4, Spinning Lv4, Threat Detection Lv4, Tricky Hit Lv3, Switch Lv2, Illusion Summon Lv1
[List of Magic Skills]
-Howling Thunder Lv2, Summon Bug Lv1, Aura Mastery Lv2
_______________________
Thanks to the proficiency I’ve gained through fishing, my skills have also improved somewhat.
I needed someone to test it out with, but I couldn’t find anyone. Perhaps it was because I traveled alone so much.
slap!-
Then something eerily flew from behind.
Just before it flashed past my head, I was able to use my ‘Crisis Detection’ skill to catch it with my hand.
“Don’t worry. It’s non-lethal, so it won’t hurt even if you get hit.”
A girl’s voice was heard from behind. As she said, the arrow I caught was not sharp.
And I could recognize who she was.
A black ponytail and cold red eyes.
Unlike the other female cadets who are full of innocence, her appearance reveals her free spirit.
And she was the one with the dirty-looking brown muffler around her neck, Class 1-A, Combat Department, ‘Ruska Mad-Eye’.
A delinquent cadet, she was one of the additional characters introduced after Chapter 2.
“Radon Crowler. You must be my sparring partner.”
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
