NOVEL NEXT Chapter 75
<75 - Room of Secrets>
As they headed towards the Main Building, the excitement of Jiang and Hestia began to grow.
Just by stepping out of the dormitory, they had managed to bypass such a strict security system.
At the special hour of 2:22 AM.
What could be waiting in the secret room that they could only reach at this time?
The existence of a secret room where Oknodie was waiting was too exhilarating.
‘Even if I can lose in a test of courage, I can’t lose in stealth.’
Jiang was overflowing with pride in his abilities.
Ghosts?
Undead?
Professor Sadako?
Such things were a little, just a little, beyond reach.
But he had always excelled in stealth actions, even when there was nothing like that around.
‘This time, I’ll show Oknodie just how great I am.’
In the Night-time Activities for Adventurers Course, he often embarrassed himself as an assassin, but just how impressive he truly was as an assassin compared to Oknodie.
“Someone’s coming. Quick, hide behind that tree.”
While they were openly walking down the tree-lined street, a group’s presence approached from the main road.
“My body is too big to hide it all.”
“Don’t scream, just stay still.”
As Jiang poked Hestia’s body with his finger, a crack of pain twisted through her bones.
With outstanding endurance, Hestia suppressed a scream, about to scold him for his actions when she noticed her arm had noticeably shrunk in thickness.
Startled, Hestia looked at Jiang, who was smiling mischievously with a gleam in his eye.
“It’s one of the transformation techniques used by assassins from the Eastern Region. It’s a physical alteration called [Muscle Reduction].”
It reduces and alters the size of bones and muscles.
A technique that can artificially replicate the effects of Mana Refinement Technique.
It was a useful skill that could be deployed even when hiding due to a large body.
‘It hurts way too much.’
Hestia’s eyes welled up with tears.
Even though her body was accustomed to pain as a mercenary, it was hard to endure such agony.
Suppressing a moan was her only option, let alone tears.
She knew that there were transformation spells in magic, which could cause temporary body alterations when used on humans, but why was she learning such painful techniques instead of one that could be performed without pain?
‘Isn’t this actually a torture technique?’
As she was pressing down on the pain that honestly deserved such suspicion, something stumbled into view with a zombie-like gait.
‘Z-zombie?!’
Jiang freaked out.
A zombie? Why? Could it be that Professor Sadako had appeared?
“Midnight lecture is driving me insane, driving me insane, driving me insane.”
“I will kill the professor. That’s my only thought…”
“Professor, I’m taking other classes besides your lectures! Please don’t assign the task that takes a week! I feel like I’m gonna die…”
“Boil the magical reagent of the green-blue tri-element at a ratio of 1:2:3 for 30 minutes on high heat, and then grind the leaves of the mana-enhancing weed into it and simmer for an hour on low heat. If the professor takes all of it, what am I supposed to do, what am I supposed to do, what am I supposed to do?!”
“I will kill the professor, I will kill the professor, I will kill the professor…”
Fortunately, it wasn’t the appearance of Professor Sadako.
It was the zombified appearance of upperclassmen who had been overworked by the harsh academy schedule.
“…”
Isn’t it more dangerous than relieved?
Is that the future of a first-year student?
Jiang seriously considered fleeing the academy.
How would Oknodie have reacted?
‘Phew. They were just pitiful upperclassmen!’
She would surely say that with a bright smile.
That child is now a bit scary.
The Oknodie I knew wasn’t the real Oknodie.
What is the real Oknodie?
Does such a person even exist?
Shivers.
Creepy chills ran down his arms.
“Hey… it hurts so much… let me go quickly…”
“Oh. Sorry.”
The longer Jiang’s [Muscle Reduction] was extended, the more pain it caused.
Hestia’s eyes were filled with resentment.
“Why do you have such a painful technique?”
“It’s originally a technique used for torture.”
“… Do you want to die?”
It was really a torture technique.
“What were you expecting from a technique used by an assassin?”
“You should be aware that you’ll experience some serious trouble someday.”
Sticking out his tongue, Jiang moved ahead once more.
In reality, [Muscle Reduction] wasn’t a torture technique.
It was just that her mentor developed it as a torture tool considering its potential misuse, and she ended up inheriting the torturous variant from him.
‘There’s no reason to explain all that.’
Arriving at the Main Building with Hestia’s minor complaints, thankfully, there was no laser beam security system.
First-year students who needed to be isolated for safety weren’t hanging around the Main Building.
‘What could possibly be dangerous for first-years in the academy at dawn?’
Up until now, he had only thought of the zombies used for Professor Sadako’s practical classes or the assassins who infiltrated to steal academy secrets.
But now, it somehow seemed like an isolation measure from the upperclassmen who looked zombified.
Or perhaps it was a regulation established through some introspection to protect first-years to prevent professors from forcing them to attend midnight lectures.
‘Either way, it’s scary.’
They reached the entrance of the Main Building, but since it wasn’t 2:22 AM yet, the two hid for a moment nearby.
“The seniors look so frail. Is it lack of exercise? Weak lower bodies? It seems so.”
“… Don’t you lack a bit of empathy?”
“I don’t want to hear that from an assassin who uses torture techniques on classmates.”
They saw groups of upperclassmen pass by three more times after that.
Snickering for no reason, talking to the air, upperclassmen passing by.
For reasons unknown, they saw upperclassmen carrying huge boulders over their shoulders, crossing through the forest beyond the Main Building.
“Isn’t that a monster?”
“Don’t go, Hestia. The seniors will handle it.”
“Are you scared? Why do you keep looking back?”
Suddenly, a thwack of a poison dart hitting the back of a monster that burst out of the Main Building.
With a thud, the monster collapsed, while a senior hauled it away, cursing.
“I’m starting to get a little scared of this academy.”
“Same here.”
Even though Hestia and Jiang weren’t particularly close, they realized that in the unsettling dawn of the academy, the only people they could trust were each other.
“It’s 2:20 AM. Let’s head in.”
Sticking closer together than ever, the two entered the lobby of the Main Building.
At precisely 2:22 AM, Hestia took Jiang’s hand and ascended the Central Stairs leading to the second floor that Oknodie had mentioned.
Could this be half a joke?
Feeling suspicious, Hestia wondered…
“Eh? What’s this place?”
“No way. There really was a secret room.”
At the end of the stairs, instead of a second-floor lobby, a closed door awaited.
“Oknodie, have you been waiting long?”
“Wait, I don’t sense anything inside.”
Ignoring Jiang’s words, Hestia flung the door open.
Inside Room 222, dozens of paper strips were hanging from nails, covering the walls.
It felt eerie, as if she had entered a shaman’s or dark sorcerer’s cursed room.
“What is this place?”
Jiang inspected one of the paper strips hanging on the wall.
141-1: Professor Plato often cooks [Protein Soup] for students when they call out to him for it.
“What’s this?”
Dumbfounded, he flicked the paper with his finger, revealing the spinning backside of the strip.
141-2: Cadets who have ingested Professor Plato’s [Protein Soup] five times will face the unavoidable fate of being dragged into the lecture [Let's Become Iron Men] when they reach their third year.
“… What in the world is this?”
Good news on the front.
Bad news on the back.
It was written about professors, lectures, objects, places, and events.
It was terrifying enough to make one not want to laugh it off as a joke, and even more chilling if true.
“Oh, everyone came first, huh?”
At 2:22:57 AM.
Oknodie spoke cheerfully as she closed the door.
Jiang jumped back like a startled cat.
“W-what, what, what?! Oknodie, why did you lure us into this suspicious room?!”
“I don’t recall calling Jiang? I just let Hestia know that such a room exists!”
Hestia nodded.
“Oknodie was bored at dawn and wanted to play here, so she called me. I feel so sorry for making you wait here alone for two whole days.”
“No, I never waited!”
“Oknodie is really so kind-hearted. If she said she couldn’t sleep at night waiting, it would hurt her feelings, so she kept the truth hidden.”
Jiang thought Oknodie’s awkwardly smiling face looked as if she really had dozed off at night and just couldn’t come out.
“So what is this place for?”
“It’s the Room of Double-sided Strips!”
He had not asked for the name of the room.
“… Right, the Room of Double-sided Strips. But why does this room exist?”
“It’s a room that gathers the secrets of the academy made by seniors for juniors!”
“So, does that mean there are victims who have gone through all of this? Is there a senior who got dragged into [Let's Become Iron Men] just for drinking [Protein Soup] five times?”
“If you don’t believe me, you might as well ask Professor Plato directly tomorrow.”
“No way. That’s scary.”
Jiang thought about it.
Considering the personalities of the professors written here, they probably wouldn’t let a student who uncovered their secrets leave easily.
When he finally becomes a third-year student and says, “I will take the lecture [Let's Become Iron Men]. Of course, I will keep the secret too,” they may present him with a soul contract to sign!