NOVEL NEXT Chapter 260
<260 - Fooled Again>
[You have performed a minimal act of conscience by merely keeping the first-year students alive while not stopping them from entering life on hard mode.]
[Completed the unexpected event [Rescue the First-Year Students in Crisis!]]
[You are awarded 1000 points as a completion bonus.]
[Negotiation Experience +3]
[Naughty Child Experience +1]
[Completed the weekly event [Great Sports Day].]
[You are awarded 10,000 points as a survival bonus.]
[Mana Control Skills Experience +50]
[Throwing Skills Experience +50]
[Action Prediction Experience +40]
[……]
[……]
[Stealth Experience +10]
[Good Child Experience +10]
The long Great Sports Day finally came to an end.
The lower class students of the first year eagerly swept the ground with dustpans and brooms, tirelessly cleaning for 10 points per bag.
Of course, those who had earned points in the games were so shocked by the skills of the upperclassmen that instead of wasting time on manual labor, they focused on their studies.
“It feels like if I just attend all the lectures this semester, I won’t have the confidence to become a second-year.”
“I need to build my skills instead of just attending lectures.”
“Did you hear? Among the third years, there’s a senior who took a five-year break to earn points and just barely advanced!”
“Is that for real? Then how old will someone without talent be when they graduate from the academy?”
“I don’t know… 20? …Maybe?”
“It’s not like I’ve seen anyone that old.”
“Maybe you haven’t seen them because you haven’t wandered around the upperclassmen area? It’s forbidden to enter anyway.”
Conversations revolving around how hard some lectures were, how delicious lunch was, and how much they disliked their professors had shifted dramatically after the sports day.
Everyone was now seriously contemplating their futures, specifically about grade advancement and graduation.
This included Titosso and Jiang.
“How about you, Jiang? Did you earn a lot of points this time?”
“About 90,000 points?”
“Whoa! How did you earn so many points? Did you engage in some dark chess betting with hidden points?”
“Not like that. You earn bonuses from the academy for completing hidden challenges in each category. Like stabbing everyone with daggers to eliminate them… except me.”
“Eww, you’re kidding, right?”
“Does Titosso think I look like someone who jokes?”
“…Is it too late to practice stabbing my abdomen with the light stand from now on?”
“That’s not a weapon, you know! It’ll break!”
For a moment, the humor faded, and both of their concerns turned towards Oknodie.
“Oknodie seems really busy these days. Is the pressure getting to him?”
“Probably. In the end, he was too overwhelmed by the third years and had to forfeit.”
Given safety reasons, the first year—who faced the third year in a tiebreak for second and third place—naturally secured third place without any surprises.
Maybe due to this impact, Oknodie, who disappeared mysteriously after class, attracted the attention of not just the two of them but many students.
Everyone felt their own shortcomings and worked hard to either strengthen their strengths, fill gaps in their weaknesses, or seek opportunities to earn points.
But Oknodie was too different from other students.
“Oknodie, wanna go to the forest to search for a magic item dense with nature mana from the [Fundamentals and Understanding of Mana Usage] lecture?”
“Sorry, I already found that!”
“The assignment from the [Ranged Weapon Mastery] class was to hunt prey for a sturdier bow?”
“Already did that too!”
“The assignment from Professor Sadako to retrieve registration forms hidden in the cemetery at night?”
“Of course, I already finished that!”
No matter what lecture or assignment came up, Oknodie seemed to complete everything as if he knew it was coming.
“…You already found it? It’s not even been three hours since the magic item search assignment was given?”
“I finished the ranged weapon mastery one 15 minutes ago.”
“The registration form was just sent over as a substitute assignment via a note from the magic watch…?”
Suspiciously, Oknodie had predicted what assignments would come and completed them all!
“How did you grab the registration form that was just hidden?”
“I stole it from Professor Sadako’s grave on the way back! She’s nocturnal, so she isn’t at her grave at night!”
“Wow… Professor Sadako lives in her grave, huh…”
Titosso and Jiang were shocked for all the wrong reasons!
Anyway, while Oknodie was diligent, strangely he invested an extraordinary amount of time in just one lecture.
The notorious class held on Mondays and Wednesdays during the second period (11 AM – 1 PM), [Developing Insight] by Professor Bronze de Estrada, was the subject of concern.
“Titosso, I’m convinced there’s something going on in the Developing Insight class.”
“Why’s that?”
“Think about it! The professor of Developing Insight is called the world’s greatest rogue, right?”
“Wow, really?”
“I’ve heard that he once stole answer sheets from another professor’s notes and gifted them to a student attending his own class. If there’s precedent, it can happen again.”
Titosso’s eyes widened.
“Could it be that Oknodie’s suspicious level of thorough information and preparation comes from…?”
Jiang nodded seriously.
“Professor Bronze is definitely leaking other professors’ lecture contents to Oknodie!”
“Why would that professor do that? Other professors are skilled in their own right. Wouldn’t doing so cause a major issue?”
“Maybe he’s confident in his skills. Absolutely sure he won’t get caught. Of course, I think he wouldn’t just give Oknodie a freebie.”
“Then?”
“Maybe Oknodie is secretly attending a special heir class under the rogue’s disciple. If he cares for his disciple, he might share that kind of information.”
“Whoa! Really?”
“Helping his heir to focus more on his class instead of wasting time on unnecessary assignments from other professors. It’s just like what they say in the East, [Mutual Support].”
“Like scratching each other’s backs when it itches?”
“…Are you itching right now?”
“A little bit?”
Jiang, with a contemptuous look, scratched Titosso’s back with the blunt side of the dagger handle.
As Titosso wriggled and giggled, and calmed down, he became interested in Jiang’s story.
“So, are we going to ask Professor Bronze to let us observe the heir class?”
“That won’t be easy. Students usually try to raise just one exceptional heir rather than three in a house crowded with top-notch beasts and summons.”
“True!”
That was undeniably correct.
“So let’s entice Oknodie.”
“Us, entice Oknodie?”
Titosso bit his finger while pondering.
To entice that Oknodie…
“Should we use food?”
“We’re not Isabel or Jezel. We can’t make it ourselves, and we can’t use points to bribe.”
“Then what do we do?”
“There’s a method only you can use.”
“Just me? Really?”
Titosso tilted her head like a baby bird.
Jiang became even more confident seeing this.
“You’ll ask Oknodie to persuade Professor Bronze to let him attend the heir class. With Titosso’s secret charm.”
“Secret charm!? I don’t have anything like that…”
“You can do anything. You’re cute enough!”
Given her lack of confidence in her social skills, Titosso—a shy one who was often dragged around even to light stands by her sister—couldn’t grasp her cuteness potential.
“I can’t believe that. I’m not cute at all. I’m slow-witted, weak, and…”
“Just trust me. By the assassin’s measure, Titosso’s cuteness has at least an A rank!”
“What kind of lethal standard is that!?”
“Just trust me. Oknodie wouldn’t possibly miss the cute hostage effectiveness I, as an assassin, perceive. It’ll surely work.”
With Jiang’s strong assertion, the two’s delightful plan finally began.
“Oknodie. If you don’t allow me to observe, Titosso will start crying right in front of you!”
“Show me!!”
“Why do you want to see me crying…?”
“Because you’re cute…?”
Titosso felt embarrassed.
Am I really that cute…?
“Hehe. But I can’t cry, not even a bit. I’m not sad.”
“Isn’t that going to make you want to cry more?”
Jiang pointed the sharp dagger toward her.
The sunlight gleamed off the dagger’s edge, and Titosso made a wretched face.
“Jiang, that’s too much… Don’t hurt your friend!”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t have to go that far if I can grant the request. I don’t know if it’s a good deed for you guys, though!”
“Sorry for threatening, Titosso. But it worked!”
That much was for sure.
Oknodie stepped forward of his own accord.
“Since I’m on my way to meet the professor anyway, let’s go together.”
“But Oknodie, what heir class do you attend when it’s just you and Professor Bronze?”
“It’s not an heir class. This is just the result of a negotiation.”
“Negotiation?”
“Listen. Let me tell you how cleverly I’ve dodged the graduate student route!”
Oknodie excitedly shared his story.
– So, you don’t want to become a disciple?
– No! I don’t want to!
– If you really want to refuse, do this. Then, I’ll let you go for today.
– Really? Just this? You promised?
Instead of becoming a disciple, Oknodie had to finish Professor Bronze’s daily assignments to be released!
“Though I get called here twice a week outside of regular lecture hours, I get points and get released each time after completing daily assignments!”
Titosso and Jiang tilted their heads.
So he’s diligently completing weekly assignments.
What’s different from being a disciple?