7. True Madness
Lunchtime had arrived at the Awakener Academy.
The Academy grounds housed quite a few high-quality restaurants, and amazingly, all meals were free.
This was to fuel the students who were working hard every day to protect a world rampant with monsters, villains, and all sorts of bizarre dangers.
If the hard-working students ever went hungry, it would truly be a disaster.
This was a very important issue.
The Academy, in its pursuit to produce as many heroes as possible…
Rolled the students around like a snowball down a snowy mountain.
Wouldn’t it be cruel not to provide decent food to these students, who were physically and mentally worn out?
What if someone was cutting a steak while someone else was licking their fingers because they didn’t have money?
Being discriminated against for food was truly heartbreaking.
In such an environment, it was certain that the title of becoming a hero would be skewed.
Even a tree growing straight would curl if it lacked nutrients.
What was intended to be a snowball to raise heroes in the academy could instead turn into a large avalanche that threatened humanity.
That’s how intensive the academy’s classes were.
One of the things that calmed these students’ minds was the abundant meals provided for free.
Of course, now with the Guild Association, the students’ financial situation was well taken care of…
But even here, a villain aspirant refused to take part in the lunch break where eating together could increase the chance of becoming a hero.
“Phew, D-rank mission wasn’t so bad?”
Our protagonist, Roxer, was sitting in the plains of the Galerus mountain range marked with drops of blood.
His face was full of satisfaction as he gazed at the corpses of orcs and goblins with neatly severed weak points.
The D-rank solo mission was to subdue five orcs, and the F-rank mission was to kill two goblins.
Even so, Roxer attacked a troop consisting of goblins and orcs.
He didn’t know when ‘that wasn’t so bad’ turned into ‘I nearly died’, but…
“I still have some time… should I try a few more F-rank solo missions?”
Roxer had a feeling of regret on his face.
Usually, others would have returned to the Academy to have a hearty bowl of rice soup.
But whether it was because his stomach was full from the meal-replacement potion or he was addicted to the fast heartbeat…
Roxer kept looking at the collapsed orcs and goblins and reminiscing about the thrill of the battle.
As if by instinct, he knew exactly where to strike and from where the enemies would come, even with his eyes closed.
The more he swung his sword, the more he seemed to understand how to wield it.
Roxer was relishing the sense of accomplishment that he was effectively growing due to the effect of ‘Masters Without Masters’.
‘So, is this why talent is as important as effort.’
He wondered if even effort needed a certain talent.
You need talent to do well, and doing well makes putting in the effort enjoyable and fruitful.
He realized this is why choosing the right career path is important as he looked at the white sword in his hand.
Thanks to his enjoyment of battle and the real-time growth of his body, he felt a surge of achievement.
That sense of achievement alone was more than enough reason for him to swing his sword.
Because becoming stronger is something like that, naturally.
Perhaps even without the addiction to the heart rate, he might have become a lunatic who voluntarily swings his sword even once more during lunch break, all because of this sense of achievement.
“Hmm…. Or should I browse some grade C missions?”
Roxer, who was slowly starting to enjoy becoming stronger, got up from his seat.
‘Surely, from grade C solo missions, there were not only subjugations.’
Not only subjugation missions but also investigations, infiltrations, escorts, villain exterminations, and so on.
Grade C missions that allow a variety of experiences, ignoring the difficulty level.
The valuable experiences that cannot be gained from simple battles will surely greatly aid his growth.
‘No matter what happens, I must go to the guild association.’
He was in a situation where he had to clear five grade C solo missions as a penalty for skipping academy.
Although his mood had dropped a little due to his reduced heart rate.
‘I also had to do two public F grades missions, right?’
Perhaps it was because he had so many things to do.
Like a veteran who had discovered a lot of new content, he happily ran to the guild union.
In this way, Roxer who received two grade D solo missions and one grade C solo mission.
The Grade C solo mission was an ‘investigation’ mission submitted by the travel club of the academy he was considering joining.
The request content was that a few weeks ago the awakened academy’s travel club went to a weapon fair.
As soon as they entered the exhibition hall with ancient weapons, where weapons are not allowed to be taken in.
Villains appeared from somewhere and an attack occurred.
The villains that appeared then skipped the battle and
with incredible speed, they stole not only the weapons of the exhibition but also the weapons entrusted to them and ran away.
It was a situation that blows one’s mind and gets their fuse blown, from a student’s perspective, who always carried weapons in various ways in case of emergency.
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The students had to wait to enter the exhibition hall where they could not carry weapons.
It was certain that the agile rat bastards who dumped all their skills into the agility started the operation right then.
“Actually looking at it, it’s worse.”
‘Is it because the difficulty has increased?’
Roxer remembered the content of the original work while clicking his tongue.
A world called the underworld which is known to get hit right away if looked lightly upon.
Among the villains who are in the underworld, there was a group of villains specialized in thievery.
He remembered that the ones called ‘invisible hands’ were the ones who caused this incident.
Of course, because it is a grade C solo mission, they are not asking him to catch them.
“Just hand over the information with proof.”
It was a request for an ‘investigation’ mission regarding those villains.
All Roxer had to do was properly investigate the information he knew, as long as the proof was clear.
They would surely be selling the stolen goods at a black market.
Since he took the solo mission, all he had to do was find if there were any items stolen from the students.
He also had access to his laptop through the status window, and since it was the laptop he used to play the original work.
He had access to the black market and secret sites he had established in the original work.
Although it was slightly regretful that it was not a battle.
With Roxer’s terrible reputation, he couldn’t enter the travel club that takes up a large part of the main storyline.
That’s why he took the mission put up by the travel club.
If he could provide reliable leads to find their precious weapons.
They might even accept him as a peripheral member of the club.
He is now part of the main story, joining the travelling club that gets entangled in all sorts of events and incidents.
He’d have the chance to experience all types of combat and situations, all for the purpose of growth.
Even without eating anything, Lockser was filled with anticipation, his mouth watering.
It was a bit concerning that the protagonist and major heroines all belonged to this club.
‘With the chaos, they wouldn’t even have time to pay attention to me.’
He thought that all the events and incidents would keep them distracted, allowing him to fly under the radar.
Lockser, engrossed in making himself content, strolled in while humming a tune just before lunch into the classroom and sat down in a corner.
He pulled out a laptop that was invisible to everyone else.
His peers found his behaviour quite strange.
This guy, who had always shown a variety of human spectrum without any concept of boundaries, suddenly stopping attending the academy entirely for a few days without any prior indication.
It wasn’t enough that he managed to defeat a gem golem all by himself, he was also now quietly attending classes.
‘What happened to him?’
‘According to the professors, he destroyed the core of a gem golem….’
‘Did he actually defeat it with his skill? Or was it a lucky final hit?’
‘And, why is he so quiet?’
Although they had many questions and were dying to pelt him with a multitude of queries.
He just smiled to himself, looking at something with his slightly gloomy eyes.
One can’t help but wonder, ‘Is he really crazy?’ considering Lockser’s eccentric behaviour.
They didn’t dare bother him, fearing what could happen if provoked.
Eiren, who always received Lockser’s unabated stalking, was extremely anxious.
‘What is happening? Why is he behaving this way?’
Eiren glanced towards him, her green eyes visible under the light brown hair which bobbed up and down, reminiscent of a cute brown puppy.
The guy who flirted and acted just like a boyfriend around her, without ever being official.
He had not given Eiren or Rica, always by her side, a second glance all day.
Even Rica, who had always either checked or followed Lockser’s movements, was now maintaining her silence.
According to the rumours, last Saturday, he had avoided Rica and snuck into the male bathroom at the guild union building.
Despite always stalking her, he would run away using spatial movement whenever Rica scolded him.
The question was, why did he run to the men’s bathroom with his own two feet?
Eventually, unable to contain her curiosity, Eiren wrapped her arms around Rica, who sat beside her with her dark hair.
The two of them created a small space, leaning into each other and touching foreheads.
Rica was already uncomfortable due to Lockser acting ambiguously regarding a promise he’d made when they were younger.
‘Really, why is he behaving like this too?’
Seeing Eiren pull her into a hug out of nowhere and looking at her with puppy eyes.
‘…How cute.’
With her usual cold demeanor, Rica, who was tender at heart, felt momentarily comforted by Eiren’s adorable behavior.
“Hey, Rica. Did something happen with Lockser?”
However, innocent Eiren had no way of understanding Rica’s feelings.
Rica’s mood plummeted instantly.
The guy who usually blurted out everything to her without any rhyme or reason had suddenly acted without any communication.
It wasn’t enough that he had changed.
Having skillfully concealed his swordsmanship up till now, he had clumsily, albeit accurately, targeted the Cannibal Rabbit’s fatal spot – its head.
When she was expecting praise, he seemed startled as if he had seen a ghost; it was quite a huge blow to her.
Even when Lockser stalked other girls, she upheld their promise.
Without saying anything to her, it wasn’t enough that he had changed abruptly.
Not only did he not uphold their promise, he didn’t even remember it, acting vague.
After defeating the gem golem all by himself, he wouldn’t even glance at her.
As if he’d been using her all this while.
“I don’t know.”
Rika, who was clearly upset with her emotions condensed.
She thought the promise she made back then was just a baseless excuse for a prank.
Seeing the rare, flushed face of Rika, Erin began to wonder if there really was something between Rika and Roxor.
Rika, feeling Erin’s suspicious gaze, protruded her lips with a cold expression.
“Why do you even care about that guy?”
“I… I don’t care! It’s just weird!”
“When has he not been weird?”
“No! He’s been really weird!!”
“Is it my business? Are you interested in him or something?”
As Rika retorts sulkily, Erin fumbles like a puppy that has lost its treat.
Seeing Rika acting like this, despite usually treating her softly like a cold yet gentle eye…
Surely, certainly, inevitably, there was something going on between Roxor and Rika.
Could it be that Rika just couldn’t stand Roxor’s stalking anymore and exploded?
Ever since a few weeks ago, when Erin went to a travel club and got her weapon stolen by a villain…
Even while Roxor was messing around, he promised to find it for her, or buy her a new one.
She had been harsh to him then because he had demeaned her staff that she had loved from childhood.
‘Cursing him out for being a guy with a brain full of dog sh*t was a bit harsh then…!’
Since that annoying bastard became quiet, that’s kind of nice.
“No way!! Interest! I couldn’t care less about that crazy stalker!”
“Then don’t.”
Erin, irritated for some reason, strongly denies this, rubbing her head on Rika with a disgusted expression.
With Roxor messing around her in circles…
Now she’s so annoyed because Roxor is quiet for a change!
“Why are you saying that to me… Tell that to him.”
“Uuugh! Don’t you start on me tooo-!”
“Ugh, you’re not even a puppy. What will you do if you like such a guy?”
“I’m not a puppy!! I don’t like him!!”
Especially since unconsciously she seemed to consider Roxor as if she trained him.
Like a puppy whose food bowl was taken away.
She snapped at Rika who was sitting emotionless like a proud cat.
Taking advantage of her nature—she’s as kind and loving as a puppy.
Roxor treats her as if he’s her boyfriend, pretending to take care of her.
Like training a puppy with snacks, he treated her.
And since then, whenever Roxor doesn’t come, she sometimes thinks ‘why isn’t he here?’.
“If that’s the case, then you can try to speak to him directly.”
“I hate that! It will look like I miss being stalked!!”
“You can just ask him about the jewel golem.”
“Well, that’s true…! You’re right…!!”
Erin got angry at herself for acting like a puppy waiting for its master.
Especially since the master she was waiting for was the guy who stalked her.
Meanwhile, Roxor, sitting at the very back, was smirking evilly.
‘hehehehe, we’ll be using our bodies next period…! Shall we roll around?’
Excited at the thought of physical activity, he shut his laptop he was working on.
Around him, people were looking at him, he smeared a grisly smile.
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