NOVEL NEXT Chapter 128
<128 - Mentoring>
[You helped with Arcadia’s [Charity Project] and achieved some results.]
[Rescue Design Experience Points +3]
[Good Child Experience Points +1]
Helping to create Arcadia’s Training Tools boosted my Good Child function.
I took off running to participate in an event I had never seen before, and while the rewards were just okay, it was quite fun in its own way.
Hidden events are definitely worth checking out!
[Linked Event]
To ensure the success of Arcadia’s charity project, it’s essential that the lower-class students wear the training tools for their training.
Please help the seniors so that one lower-class student can avoid failing!
Honestly, I wasn’t thinking of helping up to this point.
I only helped the lower-class students to aid Arcadia, not because I particularly wanted to help them.
Though this is still for Arcadia, the time and effort required are on a completely different level.
The benefits I could gain from personal training or other tasks during the same time are significantly greater.
‘While the long-term event sounds appealing, the rewards are expected to be low!’
Antidote stashing vs receiving a thank-you from a lower-class student.
No matter how I think about it, the former seems more beneficial.
However, spotting a familiar name on the list changed my mind.
[Rescue Applicant - Mob]
A male student who attends the long-range weapon training lecture with me.
I found Mob on the list, someone I had encountered in the Secret Training Ground with Jiang.
Thinking of the friendship and devotion Mob had shown me, ignoring this would truly be a trashy thing to do.
“Arcadia. I’ll help him!”
“Mob. Ah, he’s the friend you attend the long-range weapon training lecture with?”
“Wow. You remember Mob too, Arcadia?”
“Well, since I’m also taking the lecture on handling ‘guns’ in the long-range weapon training.”
I had almost forgotten for a moment.
Arcadia is a character whose major stats change every session unpredictably.
The [Noble Young Lady Arcadia] focused entirely on social activities.
There’s also [Commander Arcadia], branching from politics to military command.
And [Martial Artist Arcadia] expands from military command into martial arts.
This session’s Arcadia is a combination of all of them, [All-Rounder Arcadia].
It would usually be so, but…
For some reason, I hit the jackpot with [Multi-talented Arcadia] who excels in every area.
It feels like I won a ticket for not just a 0.1% rare event but even a 0.01% unique event.
‘If everything turns out too well, the backlash later can be terrifyingly strong. Is this really okay?’
Arcadia’s gaze upon me seemed a bit hazy, and occasionally, I felt a lack of spirit, as if she were plunged into deep worry.
Surely, she wouldn’t suddenly succumb to blackening or turn into a yandere kidnapping someone, right?
“I’ll hand over the training tools as soon as they’re made. For now, please let Mob know that he’s matched with a tutoring mentor!”
“Okay.”
Whatever it is, Mob’s education takes priority for now.
*
Mob has been very worried lately.
“Things seem ruined. I can’t even use the training ground because of the mosquitoes!”
“Not really? I’m more worried about the practicals than the assignments.”
“Ah, you fool. Who told you to mess up the practicals in a lecture on long-range weapon training? It’s all fun and games for a moment, but the suffering lasts forever.”
“I don’t regret it. Even if I could go back, I’d still do the same thing for Oknodie.”
“Sigh. You think the top student in the upper class, who even set the record for the youngest top admission, would care about you? You’re just being nosy.”
I became hurt by my friend Jakku’s wake-up call, having joined and left the hunting club together.
“Is that really the case? Does Oknodie think nothing of me?”
Even if it’s not true, it doesn’t matter.
His grades are quite risky.
At this rate, I can’t be sure I’ll remain in the Academy for the second semester.
Struggling to keep up with my studies.
One day, even if I vanish without a trace, Oknodie will climb higher and higher.
The memory of attending the same lectures at the Academy feels like a distant past, and as Jakku pointed out, the day might come when I regret that event.
I didn’t want to accept that.
I knew we weren’t equal.
The gap between the top student and the inferior student is vast.
And yet, he called me a friend.
Oknodie’s bright smiling face became a great comfort to me.
– You, if you keep this up, next semester will be tough, huh?
A few days ago, Jiang had already warned me.
If I continue as I am, sticking close to Oknodie will be impossible.
I can’t just rely on my own effort.
I need something more than that.
When you’ve got nothing more to lose, sometimes you’ve got to grab at straws.
I realized it was time to leave a request with the oddly named organization, the Dark Trading Company, for the [Lowerclassmen Rescue Project].
Of course, if they try to make me do some dubious tasks once I get in, then I’ll have to back out then.
“Hey, Mob!”
“Oknodie? How did you get here…”
“I’m your tutor!”
But it turned out that Oknodie had come to teach me.
My mentor from the Dark Trading Company is actually Oknodie.
What I’m feeling right now is immense gratitude!!
‘Thank you, Dark Trading Company!!’
Jakku next to me gasped.
“That’s amazing. Fate can be cruel. How did you end up in a position where you’ll be trained by a girl who’s desperately trying to maintain some dignity?”
“Jakku, be quiet and go away.”
“Come on. Did I say anything wrong?”
“Hurry.”
It’s a different matter to carry gratitude toward Oknodie than it is to let her see it on my face.
Feeling embarrassed and flushing, I pushed Jakku away, and Oknodie asked with a big smile:
“Have you talked to your friend?”
“Sorry. He’s a friend I leaned on during the hunting club, remember? He tends to meddle in other people’s affairs a lot.”
“It’s okay! More than that, your risk of failing is due to the huge deductions you received in practical evaluations in the long-range weapon training lecture, right?”
“I don’t want to admit it, but… that’s true. That was indeed the deciding factor. I was already lagging behind, and then the deductions hit hard, so there was no way to hold on.”
“I know Mob works hard. We’ve even seen each other late at the Secret Training Ground!”
“Thanks, Oknodie. For seeing me in a good light.”
“Not at all. Hehe.”
“So, about this mentoring… where do you plan to start teaching me?”
Oknodie is the top student.
While she’s smart enough to be the top, being smart doesn’t guarantee teaching ability.
After all, isn’t it common for geniuses to struggle with that?
“Just do well! Or follow the textbook!”
Without a genius-like intuition, it’s incomprehensible, and too rigid a method yields different results.
“Don’t be so nervous! I’ll start with the easy stuff!”
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
“First, could you tell me about the lectures you’re taking?”
Mob freely shared his list of lectures.
Lower Class Common Required Lecture: Academy Survival Rules
Lower Class Common Required Lecture: Class and Job Selection
Knight Department Required Lecture: Let’s Challenge Title Making
Knight Department Required Lecture: Learning Linked Skills
Knight Department Required Lecture: Basics and Understanding of Armor Defense
Knight Department General Lecture: Long-Range Weapon Mastery
Adventure Department General Lecture: Adventurer Supply Studies
“Mob’s an aspiring knight student, huh?”
“Yeah. My skills aren’t that great, though.”
“What’s your specialty?”
“I’m confident in shield skills. Back in my hometown, I was the best at taking down monsters with a shield.”
“??”
Oknodie looked puzzled.
Don’t they take down monsters with shields in the city?
“Then how about a light skills test? Let’s have a duel.”
“Is that really okay? If it’s close combat, I could get hurt.”
“Pfft. If you don’t get hurt, that’ll be a treat!”
I sprang at Oknodie, attempting to prove my skills, but my shield bent within five seconds, and the sound of armor getting struck echoed as it shattered off.
While I stood there dazed at the sudden event, Oknodie shouted.
“This time, let’s go slow!”
When we decided to fight slower, I began to realize what was happening.
Both strength and skill were on different levels entirely.
When I exerted a power of 10 in the same action, Oknodie exerted 20.
Before my strength could reach its peak, Oknodie’s moves caught me off guard.
Closing the distance with her foot or swiftly withdrawing.
Circling out of my sight or poking at my body parts, draining my strength away.
I was almost toyed with as the vast gap between upper and lower class students became painfully clear.
“Hm. Not bad!”
“Really? I got owned!”
“Well, I’m the top student! It’s only natural to lose unless you’re as strong as Hestia or Son Ohchun!”
Anyway, after the assessment, Oknodie decided how she’d teach him.
“Mob, your basic stat supplementation is lacking!”
“I’ve been training quite hard!”
“Supplementation doesn’t just come from training!”
Oknodie looked quite discontent as she surveyed me.
“How’s your usual diet?”
“Fish, crackers, and dried meat.”
“And?”
“I eat one of those three.”
“…You don’t eat the school meal?”
“Oknodie, do you know? The school meal costs 5 points, but crackers are sold for 1 point at the store.”
“…Sigh. This is why newbies who don’t even know about farming can’t do it.”
After the skill evaluation, it was time for serious mentoring.
The content of the first lesson was set.
“Mob. This week is a monster collection week!”