NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55
<55 - The End of a Grueling Monday>
When I open my eyes, I would rather be in the cozy confines of my hometown castle instead of the stiff bed and uncomfortable academy with no butlers.
Since enrolling in the academy, noble students have been imagining such a scenario every night.
But for that imagination to become reality…
“Welcome, Miss Titosoga.”
“Ugh, Harabuji, my steward! I’m so exhausted!”
“You’ve had a tough time, haven’t you?”
The steward from the hometown castle smiled kindly as he patted her back.
Uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, tasteless food, and all sorts of other complaints led to a never-ending tale of woes, leaving the steward chuckling awkwardly.
“At this rate, Miss Titosoga, if I keep listening to your grumbling, the sun will set!”
“It’s still quite early!”
“Let’s save the rest for another time.”
“Why not just a little longer?”
“It’s already night.”
“What?”
“Look! It’s dark enough outside for you to attend the Night-time Activities for Adventurers Course.”
Titosoga jumped back in surprise at the dying light outside the window.
An icy, stiff hand like that of a dried-up tree suddenly touched her back.
“H-Harabuji…?”
No, Grandfather’s hands aren’t that cold.
His hair isn’t long enough to cover my shoulders either.
There’s no smell of preservatives in the air.
Then what is this?
Who—who is behind me right now?
As terror gripped her, a stranger’s voice whispered hauntingly in her ear.
“The lecture has begun. If you don’t wake up, I’ll bury you in a grave.”
“Gyaaaaah!!”
Titosoga screamed and opened her eyes.
Standing behind her was that terrifying, grim-looking Sinister Lady.
She wanted to bolt at once, but unexpectedly, a reaction from the opposite side took her by surprise.
“Hey, are you going to sit down or what? I want to finish this terrifying lecture and get out of here!”
“Come sit here!”
The masked girl urged her to hurry and sit, then the youngest and most famous top student Oknodie from Group A patted the seat next to her.
“Um…”
Feeling like a nuisance for making everyone wait, Titosoga sat down as if in a trance.
Caught between a professor giving a lecture and attentive students, she inadvertently started listening to the lecture.
“Adventurers primarily operate during the day because they are aware of the dangers at night, but… there are times when they must engage in night activities…”
“For instance, there could be extremely dangerous monsters chasing adventurers in the dark…”
“Or you might need to urgently escape from a collapsing cave…”
“Or you could be chased by endlessly rising undead in a darkness where the sun has vanished…”
“…Ah, I’m jealous. I wonder how fresh the guts of adventurers fleeing in terror would be.”
Titosoga thought with a smile.
“Harabuji, I’m coming to see you again soon.”
Because the professor was too scary.
Titosoga fainted while still awake.
Upon hearing the name, she felt it.
This girl’s name is something like mine!
Seeing the name written on the lighting stand solidified her certainty.
Titosoga Ttosog-a.
“Gotcha!”
This girl is easy to fool!
“After all, usually, one wouldn’t bring a lighting stand to the academy just to become popular.”
Getting on a plane requires you to take off your shoes, and firearms are bought at the PX, just like the lie that entering college means you suddenly get a boyfriend or girlfriend and happiness comes pouring in – it’s a level of naivety!
You can never lose by being friends with such a poor, gullible child.
[You have seen the Red Light of Terror.]
[Your mental state increases by +2 for 10 minutes.]
I’m not sure about becoming popular, but the lighting device performing unexpectedly well certainly contributes.
Raising one stat by taking a snack that boosts your intelligence right before a test is hardly as convenient as a quick exposure to bright light to enter!
Even doping won’t boost your fullness, it’s the new hot item in the stat doping scene that veteran players don’t even know about!
“From the next lecture, we’ll learn about responding to specific night situations and then have a chance to experience it practically. No preparation items needed… And please, try not to eat dinner beforehand.”
“Why?”
“Students listening to the lecture tend to spill a lot. Urine is fine, but I’d appreciate it if you could hold back on vomiting…”
“…….”
“Really, I just dug up a corpse that had been preserved from the grave, is that too much to handle…?”
Hmm…
Truly, it’s not good for mental health with such a professor!
“Now, since it’s the first day, we’ll end here. Dismissed.”
But the lecture was short and impactful.
It felt like 20 minutes instead of 2 hours!
“Oknodie, are you also coming for the lecture on Wednesday?”
“Of course.”
“Are you pretending not to be scared while actually being terrified?”
“Jiang, are you scared?”
“Not at all! I’m not scared! I just didn’t want to go alone next time because it would be boring!”
In society, it was decided that going alone was scary.
Titosoga gripped Jiang’s arm, who met her gaze through the mask and asked.
“Grabbing the arm of an assassin means you’re planning to seal one arm and then smash my head with that lighting stand in the gap, right?”
“Not at all!”
Titosoga shouted in surprise, then timidly lowered her voice to ask again.
“Uh, um… How about we just give up on the lecture together? Honestly, I’m so scared…”
Having somehow retrieved the lighting device from Professor Sadako, Titosoga suggested a dropout.
Jiang’s head perked up at the brilliant idea but then suddenly seemed cautious and kicked a nearby stone.
“No way. If it’s just me, I’d gladly quit, but it just seems wrong to admit that a student has more courage than I do.”
“Oknodie, let’s all give up together. If you drop out, she’ll drop out too.”
“Why? I find it fun.”
“How can this be fun?! An undead professor? It’s blasphemy! A desecrated creature that the gods of the Central Empire and Southern Shrine would undoubtedly scorn?!”
“The professor gives grades, but the gods do not.”
“!!”
Once you’re at the academy, you shouldn’t mind the gods but should watch the professors while stocking up on grades and points!
“Once we graduate from the academy, our reputation is going to plummet. What are you going to do then? Oknodie, are you planning to live in the academy for life?”
“Don’t say such dramatic things! Don’t treat me like a grad student. I’m definitely planning to graduate from the academy no matter what!”
That was a little too harsh of a thing to say.
Apologize!
“Sorry, I don’t know well, but I must have made you angry. I apologize.”
“Hmph. That’s enough. Just be careful in the future.”
After the 5th class running from 7 to 9 PM, there is a 6th lecture from 9 to 11 PM, but… it doesn’t help you grow taller.
It might be okay for a 230cm giant muscle character, but for a 133cm Oknodie, that’s a problem!
As such, I returned to the dormitory, completely worn out from a long day.
“You worked hard training late into the night.”
“I came right after the lecture.”
“…You’ve been out this long?!”
Isabel was shocked at how someone could plan such an inhumane schedule, but suffering for four days instead of cramming for five is undoubtedly more enjoyable.
Monday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday.
Most classes are held two times a week on designated days, so if my plan goes as intended, the schedule gathers all on Monday through Thursday.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
I tossed my school uniform aside and entered the shower room attached to my personal space.
Whoosh.
It might sound odd to have a shower in a fantasy, but as the producers asked users whether they wanted to bucket-dump cold water over their heads or enjoy hot showers, everyone embraced the marvels of civilization without a word.
Convenience is essential for an enjoyable fantasy life, especially since it’s basically a game world.
“I… feel unsettled.”
I’ve got a balanced body, but I’m just too short.
Sure, my chest shows, but it doesn’t feel erotic at all.
While looking at my reflection in the mirror during my shower, I just finished and stepped out.
Whirring.
As I was drying my hair with a hairdryer (a magical item), a voice suddenly came from the wall.
-I’m bored.
The Answering Door treated the sound of the hairdryer as a question, blurting out what it wanted to say under the guise of an answer.
This event happens in Dormitories 111 and 112 when residents fail to chat with the wall all day long.
“Sis, I’m busy~”
After drying my hair and getting dressed, it was almost 9:30 PM.
Yawn.
After using my brain all day, my tired body instinctively yawned.
-If you head up the Central Stairs to the 2nd floor of the main building at 2:22 AM, you’ll reach a hidden room.
The door, longing for communication, revealed a hidden piece of information as it lured players in.
“Yeah, I know~”
Good children should go to bed.
Lying down on the fluffy bed, it was pure bliss.
Tossing and turning in the sheets, I drifted off to a pleasant sleep.
Hestia blinked awake in her bed.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The sound of the clock ticking echoed in her ears.
-If you head up the Central Stairs to the 2nd floor of the main building at 2:22 AM, you’ll reach a hidden room.
Even though she wanted to sleep, the words suddenly heard from beyond the wall kept her awake.
‘What exactly is in that room if I go up the Central Stairs at 2:22 AM?!’
Hestia, too, suffered from the divine leak at the Answering Door.