NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41
<41 - Stop Fighting Already>
1.
“Cleaner? Isn’t that strange? At first, I thought they soaked the sheets wet or something. As you can see, a beast person like me can be in heat quite frequently.”
Zhenya, a resident of Room 110 next to Oknodie in Room 111, slipped her claws out and back into her furry paw.
“I sniffed around and realized it’s not heat. I was suspicious, so I spied and heard strange noises in a different sense.”
“Strange noises?”
“They were having a disconnected conversation.”
“A disconnected conversation? Between Oknodie and Hestia, the berserker next door?”
“They both talked as if there was another person present. Such pitiful little losers with no friends.”
Talking to oneself, huh.
Isabel felt her heart shatter.
‘Oknodie is young.’
No matter how much she tries to be a guardian, she won’t feel like a peer friend.
With only elders around and no friends of her age, it was certainly possible for Oknodie to become emotionally disconnected and talk to imaginary friends in her room.
But how should she deal with her heart breaking upon discovering this fact?
“But what is that stat stone? They often asked me to raise their favorability in exchange for stat stones.”
“Ugh… the stat stone is just a name for the stone that child cherishes.”
“Collecting stones, huh? Awww! Just like the kids in the village. What a cute hobby.”
If she just approached Zhenya, this cat beast person, and gave her a stat stone, they could become friends.
For a fleeting moment of resentment, she soon realized something.
“How old are you, Zhenya?”
“I’m 15!”
“Oh… That makes it a stretch for her to be Oknodie’s peer friend.”
Though 15 is still pretty young, it falls short when compared to Oknodie’s genius.
‘How pitiful it is to have no peers because you are too exceptional.’
Isabel felt a pang of sympathy.
Raising the favorability of the Answering Door was sluggish.
“Is there anything you want?”
“Come over to my house.”
When asked about favorability items, the Answering Door was slyly throwing out dangerous suggestions.
The Answering Door was at 111.1.
It was an invitation to come inside the wall.
Of course, you shouldn’t go in.
There are reports from veteran players that the only way to escape that door is for someone else to go inside instead.
Absolutely, no matter what happens, you must not enter that door.
“Oknodie, you’ve been spending more time alone lately. Do you have anything going on?”
“I’m just doing this and that.”
“If you’re worried about anything, feel free to tell me anytime. I’m on your side.”
Isabel was particularly kind today.
The same goes for Arcadia, whom she saw at the tea party.
When is that?
Children’s Day hasn’t arrived yet, has it?
“I have something to brag about instead of worries!”
Instead of asking how to raise the favorability of the wall, let’s boast.
She opened her rather heavy stone pocket.
“You collected stones?”
“Look. I’ve gathered quite a bit, right?”
Isabel seemed speechless as if moved by this secret collection.
“If I eat this, I’ll be too full to eat, so I’m just gathering them for now.”
“How many have you collected?”
“Eight.”
She had scraped together five stat stones just from around the dormitory and nearby.
[You’ve stolen a stat stone from the guard’s guard post.]
[Stealing Experience +10]
[Sneaking Experience +3]
[Magic Detection Experience +3]
[Observation Experience +2]
[You’ve stolen a stat stone from a bird nest in a tree.]
[Climbing Experience +5]
[Stealing Experience +3]
[Observation Experience +1]
[You’ve found a stat stone in a suspicious pile of dirt where dogs were playing.]
[Digging Experience +9]
[Avoiding Experience +4]
[Trickery Experience +3]
[Stealing Experience +3]
[You’ve found a stat stone embedded in the wall of the dormitory building.]
[Climbing Experience +13]
[Stealing Experience +7]
[Balance Experience +7]
[Climbing Experience +3]
[Night Activity Experience +3]
[You’ve stolen a stat stone from the head teacher’s bedroom in the dormitory.]
[Stealing Experience +8]
[Lock Picking Experience +3]
[Sneaking Experience +3]
By stealing from the guard’s post, the bird’s nest, a suspicious dirt pile, the dorm wall, and even the head teacher’s bedroom, she had collected most of the stat stones possible for a new student before entering the academy on the island.
Truly, the omnipotent skill of stealing.
I’m glad I cultivated it!
“The reason the head teacher has been looking so gloomy since morning while staring out the window and sighing is because of that.”
Isabel suddenly grabbed my ear.
“Ow! That hurts.”
“I did it to make it hurt. No matter how nice a stone is, how can you steal something someone else cherishes?”
“That can’t be! The head teacher’s gloom isn’t because of a stone!”
“Really?”
As her grip on my ear loosened, I quickly swatted her hand away and jumped back.
“Oww. Isabel, I was counting on you! How could you do something so harsh?”
“If anyone hears a story about you going into someone else’s room and stealing stones, they’d misunderstand. Why is the head teacher gloomy then?”
“She’s depressed because she doesn’t have a boyfriend!”
It’s true.
[Event: Head Teacher’s Concern]
The head teacher has a worry.
It’s that she’s losing opportunities to meet men during her flower of youth at the academy!
Let’s introduce her to a nice man, as she’s losing her confidence as a woman.
Players can confidently introduce themselves!
No, that’s basically the point of the event.
Players who enjoy the “Not Yet Married but Turned Out to be Beautiful” trope actively target the head teacher’s favorability and share strategies.
This is a common route for those who enjoy playing games like adult games!
It’s not my taste, so I’ve never targeted it.
Sigh. Worrying ended up in loss.
“Then let’s go to the training ground. What I mentioned…”
“Okay. Let’s keep this a secret between us.”
On the way to the training ground, there were a lot of people.
How each person spent their time before the entrance ceremony was different.
A first-year student from the thief guild wandering around the academy grounds, exploring the buildings.
A druid first-year student slumped on a bench basking in the warm sun, dozing off.
A sadistic girl fetching a new ‘dog’ and making it ‘sit’ and ‘bring’ while tossing a frisbee around with it.
Zhezal, who was acclimatizing by asking the instructor how to gather and use [Points].
“Wasn’t that frisbee girl making that person do something strange?”
“It’s okay. That person is a sadist.”
“…Oknodie, where did you learn such words?”
“Sadist? That’s common knowledge. Kids know all about it.”
“…Next time you meet your butler and maid, be sure to call me. I have something I want to say.”
“I’ll think about it.”
She jumped from one differently colored paving block to another for about ten minutes.
Isabel nudged my shoulder and pointed out.
“We’re here. That’s not the way to the training ground.”
[You played a game of hopping over paving blocks for 10 minutes.]
[Balance Experience +3]
[Rhythm Experience +2]
[Long Jump Experience +1]
[Solo Play Experience +1]
Hehe, fun!
As we were excitedly about to enter the training ground, we noticed a crowd gathered in front of it.
Voices were rising among the people; it seemed a brawl had broken out.
“Looks like a fight. Should we just walk past?”
“I want to watch!”
“…You’re not the type to miss out on entertainment, are you?”
Running over with excitement was fine, but a problem arose.
She was too short to see the front…!
As I bounced up and down behind the examinees, Isabel chuckled and slipped her arm under my armpit.
“Ahahaha! That tickles!”
“Don’t move. It’s hard to hold you.”
“Ugh… uhm…”
“No strange noises allowed.”
“Wah, it’s really ticklish.”
In the end, instead of lifting me under my arms, I was given a piggyback ride just like Son Ohchun did.
“Stay still; my neck hurts.”
“Yup!”
I placed my hand on Isabel’s head and stretched my neck high, and the center of the commotion came into view.
But this isn’t good; the situation looks bad.
“Is that the mercenary? The only upper-class student from the Western Mercenary Union.”
“That’s right. A woman with such brutish muscles can only be a mercenary. She doesn’t even know the Mana Refinement Technique, unable to compress muscle. How pitiful, haha!”
“How ridiculous. Her physique looks just like a gorilla.”
“Yup, she’s a berserker too.”
“Ugh. Aren’t they the ones who got kicked out because they killed their allies as well as the enemies?”
“Actually, while I’ve never seen them go berserk, weren’t they crazy enough to eliminate all rivals?”
“Eww~ so creepy!”
[Event: Group Competition (2)]
Berserker Hestia.
One of the upper-class students from Group A, she’s being tormented by the upper-class students of Group B, trying to monopolize the facilities of the training ground.
If she gets angry, she might literally tear someone apart!
But if people get torn apart, wouldn’t the Group B students perhaps be a little wary of Group A?
It’s up to the player to decide whether to help Hestia or leave her be!
[Berserker Hestia].
The chapter boss’s early awakening trigger event has been activated.
‘What is this? A new method of suicide?’
If Hestia really goes crazy, she might tear limbs apart for real!