NOVEL NEXT Chapter 72
<72 - The Return of the Horror of 5th Period>
Wednesday, 5th Period (5:00 PM – 7:00 PM).
The return of Professor Sadako’s lecture time.
In the [Night-time Activities for Adventurers] classroom, a huge rocky wall that looked ominous was leaning against a coffin.
Shudder shudder.
Professor Sadako, with her long hair and spine-chilling laughter, welcomed Titosso and Jiang as they shuffled into the lecture hall.
“Welcome…”
“O-where’s Oknodie?”
“Right here!”
“Yikes! Why did you jump out of the coffin?!”
“Just wanted to surprise you?”
[You hid in the coffin for 3 minutes and startled a friend.]
[Hiding Experience Points +3]
[Fear-Inducing Experience Points +3]
Precisely, she had come early to collect those points, hiding for 3 minutes.
When she asked if it was alright to hide in the coffin, the professor’s look was a mix of surprise and approval, as if to say, “Oh my, necromancer potential?” But, whatever, it’s probably fine.
Professor Sadako doesn’t train junior disciples anyway!
“Um, Professor Sadako, I’ve been curious since earlier. Why is that gigantic rocky wall set up back there? There wasn’t anything like that in the last lecture.”
“The third-year students brought in the terrain they created during practice for today’s lecture.”
“Third-year seniors? That can’t be a good sign.”
Jiang had seen what kind of lectures involved ‘seniors’ in the [Ranged Weapon Mastery] course she participated in.
During the practical exam in the Non-Combat group, the seniors from [Genege's Tactics] treated her like a racehorse.
The results were unknown, but considering the way they treated her, it was perfectly normal to worry about what kind of terrain would be prepared for first-years.
“You figured it out in just three days of enrollment. There’s nothing but trash among the third-years.”
“Professor. So, why is there a coffin here?”
“I brought it to let the corpse inside loose.”
“……”
“Living Dead. Minions of the corrupted night. The spoils that don’t rot roam the fields.”
Shudder shudder.
Despite the fear of what kind of smile was hidden beneath all that hair, Professor Sadako laughed again.
“I-I want to drop this class…”
Titosso was trembling so much her legs were shaking.
She looked pitiful clinging to the light stand.
“That would be unfortunate. Just entering and exiting gives you 10% of the practical assessment score.”
“Ten percent?!”
“If you reach the exit by yourself within the 30-minute time limit, you’ll receive a maximum escape success reward of 500 points.”
“Five hundred points!!”
“I was going to allow a light to be carried for the faint-hearted, but if you don’t want it, there’s nothing I can do.”
“I’ll be first!”
Was it because she realized the importance of points? Titosso raised her hand enthusiastically.
“You can go first.”
“Titosso can do whatever she wants!”
Jiang and I waved her on.
Titosso entered through the entrance.
As we waited, imagining Titosso wandering timidly with the lights off, we heard a scream that could tear the air.
Yaaaah!!
“…Isn’t she dead? With a scream like that?”
Even Jiang, the assassin, was startled by her intense scream.
Chills ran down Jiang’s spine as she rubbed her arms with her palms.
“Stay away! Stay away! Stay away!! Yaaaah!!!”
The high-pitched shriek rose up.
With strength in her belly and weakness in her throat, she was squeezing out an impressive sound.
With a three-octave range up to D6, stretching to C7, that scream echoed deep and far beyond the rocky wall before cutting off abruptly.
“I want to go back.”
The resolve to earn grades and points had evaporated for Jiang.
Her facade as a wicked assassin shattered as she looked like a scared puppy dragged to a slaughterhouse.
“It’s a time-over.”
Professor Sadako lightly held an orb in her hand as it shimmered softly in black light.
Shortly after, the unnatural footsteps of the undead came out, dripping.
Pale zombies, preserved well enough to retain their former shapes, came out holding Titosso and the light like patients on a drip.
“Harabuji… save me…”
Ignoring Titosso’s sleepwalking request mercilessly, Sadako turned to us.
“Okay, who’s going in next?”
“Ah, whatever, I’ll go first!”
It looked a bit scary, but once you’ve experienced it, it isn’t that terrifying of a lecture.
“Alright… what degree of difficulty will you choose?”
“The highest!”
Sadako pulled the lever for the coffin against the rocky wall to the maximum extent with a satisfied expression.
Crash bang boom shudder rumble!
Just like pressing a button on a vending machine, we heard whoosh as corpses tumbled out of the coffin behind the rocky wall.
“Go in.”
“Y-yes.”
“O-Oknodie? Are you crazy?!”
With that, we sent Jiang’s astonished farewell as she entered through the rocky wall.
Inside was pitch black.
All around, the meaningless sounds of the dead made incoherent moaning noises.
I couldn’t see a thing ahead, but if I crawled around on my knees, I started to get the hang of it.
Five meters ahead, a zombie.
The right at the next intersection was a faint sound indicating a blocked wall with zombies behind it.
All things considered, this was an easy-peasy lecture!
[You successfully escaped the highest difficulty rocky wall zombie maze within 10 minutes.]
[Auditory Experience Points +15]
[Detection Experience Points +10]
[Nighttime Activities Experience Points +5]
[You perfectly escaped the highest difficulty rocky wall zombie maze without encountering or exchanging attacks with a single zombie.]
[You have acquired the title [Night Visitor].]
[500 points awarded for completing the challenge [Passing the Highest Difficulty].]
Night Visitor: You passed through the trials of the night without stirring up friction with the corrupt denizens of the dark.
Title effects: Increased undead detection ability.
Title effects: Increased ability to sense in darkness.
Compared to the hard battles against the cheating characters in the Ranged Weapon Mastery course, this felt more natural and rewarding with much less effort.
Surely, practical assignments that can be completed easily are the best in the world!
“Was that surprisingly manageable?”
“Yeah, it was super easy.”
“…Alright then. I guess I’ll try too.”
Jiang stood at the rocky wall entrance, her legs trembling as she hesitated.
“Go in.”
“Professor? Aren’t you going to ask about the difficulty?”
“No reason to ask.”
“You’re not one of those narrow-minded types that thinks an assassin should challenge the highest difficulty by default, are you?”
“I don’t think that way.”
Professor Sadako responded kindly even to a student spitting out casual words.
“Humans… they’re such insignificant beings that if they die, they all turn into cold corpses…”
“Who cares about class or aptitude.”
“It won’t matter once they die anyway.”
Shudder shudder
Jiang squirmed nervously as she felt like she might pee herself.
How terrifying is it to have such a lack of narrow-mindedness toward humans, who die easily?
“Don’t you think a reasonable level of differentiation is a fundamental quality of humanity?”
“Are we done with the nonsense?”
“…Can I just go to the bathroom for a sec?”
“You had plenty of time to go to the bathroom. Hurry up and go in. Everyone’s waiting inside.”
“Wait, wait. What about difficulty? You haven’t adjusted it yet, have you?”
If she could lower the difficulty, maybe it would be bearable.
Sadako mercilessly shattered Jiang’s hopes.
“Closing the lever doesn’t mean the corpses go back in. Once the difficulty’s up, it can’t go down.”
“…Oknodie!!”
“I gave you first dibs, didn’t I?!”
In the end, Jiang entered the rocky wall at the highest difficulty.
*
And within five minutes, she emerged, having slain eight zombies, shrieking wildly.
“It was scary!”
“Yikes!! You running toward me with blood on your face is even scarier!”
Titosso, who had woken from her faint, screamed at Jiang, who was covered in the blood of the dead.
“Seems like you had a lot of fun.”
“Malicious professor! It wasn’t enjoyable at all!”
“Even kids are saying things now. It felt wonderful breathing in the same confined space as fresh, young-skinned ones.”
“…That’s creepy.”
“I’ll be sure to kill you next time and savor your guts, so take care until then.”
Jiang made a resolution.
No way in hell was she coming to this miserable class next week.
“…Um, Professor… what was the purpose of this class again? I can only remember screaming and fainting…”
Fear instills manners.
Titosso, who had also carelessly talked back like Jiang, asked cautiously with a completely frozen expression.
Ignoring Titosso’s look of grievance, Professor Sadako responded as if it was obvious.
“You learned about Night-time Activities for Adventurers.”
“But we just entered a maze swarming with zombies.”
“And through the fear of dying if caught, you naturally learned how to survive in the dark.”
Titosso was left dumbfounded, her mouth flapping open.
Professor Sadako’s cold hand gently patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry… you’re still first years. We won’t confine you in a coffin for two days or bury you in a grave for failing the practical.”
“Is that what happens from second year onwards?!”
Professor Sadako remained silent.
That was a bit scary for me too.
But hey, if you do well, you won’t end up in a coffin, right?
“I spent 3 minutes in the coffin, and it was nothing to worry about!”
“Do you think that’s comparable to two days? What kind of training can lead someone to say such things with a bright face?”
Even Jiang, the assassin, had a look of disbelief.
What’s going on with her?
If she’s scared, can’t she just not fail the practical?
“The lecture’s over. Aren’t you glad you skipped dinner?”
Professor Sadako nodded in satisfaction as she looked at my face, losing color like Titosso and Jiang.
“I know. You had some leeway at your level.”
“I’m fine as I am right now!”
“No. Lectures should be prepared according to the individual levels of the students.”
“I wish they’d set the bar to the level of inferior students.”
Sadako pretended not to hear Titosso’s half-hearted mumbling.
“You can look forward to it. After the next lecture, you’ll definitely gain confidence in Night-time Activities.”
A vague premonition hit me.
Next week, this class would become one just for me!