yet it was difficult to understand. Rather than an arrow, it was like an extremely well-trained bird of prey, deftly weaving through the gaps between the giant plants...
“Uwaaak!”
Crack! It tore its target apart.
At that moment, Chae Nayun felt a rush of catharsis and clenched the popcorn in her hands. Popcorn burst out of the crumpled tub like hail and rained down onto the seats in front of her.
“Ah, shit, what the hell!”
“Fuck. Who— Ah. It was Nayun.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. You guys can eat that.”
“...Huh? Uh... y-yeah, okay.”
The kids sitting in front began munching down the popcorn. Chae Nayun watched them for a moment, then turned her head toward Yoo Yeonha.
“Hey, Yoo Yeonha. Did you just see that?”
At Chae Nayun’s admiring words, Yoo Yeonha gave a small smile.
“I guess he didn’t feel like letting it slide this time.”
“...Huh? What are you talking about?”
Yoo Yeonha’s gaze remained fixed on the stadium as she muttered. Chae Nayun followed her gaze downward.
Ah. Kim Hajin had just thrown his bow down onto the ground. He looked rather irritated.
“The bias was pretty bad. He looks really angry.”
“Yeah, seriously. Guess he’s got more of a temper than I thought... But from the middle on, it was honestly ridiculous. What, were they discriminating because he’s ugly?”
“...H-hmm.”
Yoo Yeonha barely held back the laughter rising inside her. She didn’t think Kim Hajin was that ugly, but still, compared to Moreng, he was definitely ugly.
“It’s not looks discrimination. Grand Duchess Ahaein was probably involved. Moreng is her nephew.”
Ahaein was the foremost authority on phantom beast magic, and a top-tier combat force who had been granted the moniker “One-Man Army” by the Magic Tower Alliance. Apparently, she could summon and control as many as seven high-rank phantom beasts. Since high-rank phantom beasts were usually intelligent beings, it was hard to even grasp just how impressive that was.
“Didn’t Mage Ahaein naturalize ages ago? Why does she have relatives?”
“Old relatives. Her older sister is apparently still a French citizen. Moreng is that sister’s son.”
Because Grand Duchess Ahaein was a celebrity who proudly occupied an S-rank spot in Yoo Yeonha’s personal dossier, Yoo Yeonha knew all of her family relations by heart.
“...Yoo Yeonha, how do you know all that?”
That was what Chae Nayun was curious about. Yoo Yeonha, at least when it came to “people,” seemed to know everything.
“You should learn some of it too, you know?”
“Too much of a pain.”
Chae Nayun cut her off shortly and looked at Kim Hajin. The referee asked Kim Hajin whether he would challenge 375 meters, but Kim Hajin shook his head. Then he turned his gaze toward the audience seats.
For an instant, their eyes met.
Kim Hajin’s eyes looked at Chae Nayun. Though his gaze was withdrawn soon after, Chae Nayun felt a strange sensation all over again.
“...”
She carefully brought a hand to her chest. Its beating was different from usual. For some reason, that felt unusual, and she suddenly remembered the advice her master had given her.
He was no longer a useless burden, and from now on, she would only come to see his good points...
“No way. Like I’d be crazy enough to...”
However, Chae Nayun simply laughed it off.
Soon, the host’s shout rang out loudly.
—Kim Hajin of Veritas Class succeeds at 350 meters and records first place in the final rankings!
Clap, clap, clap, clap— The match ended with the audience’s applause.
Chae Nayun was about to get up and leave when she saw Kim Suho heading toward the waiting room.
Chae Nayun asked Yoo Yeonha.
“Hey, Yeonha. Wanna go to the waiting room?”
“No~”
Yoo Yeonha stretched languidly.
“I’m busy. I have to go work now.”
She had a lot to do today. The analysis results for the wild ginseng Kim Hajin had thankfully invested in would be sent over in the afternoon, and there was also the regular meeting of the information guild “Fallen Blossom.”
At today’s meeting, Yoo Yeonha hoped to gain even the slightest clue related to Kim Hajin’s past. Only then would she be able to repay his kindness to some extent.
“What kind of cadet does this much work?”
“I know, right~”
Answering quietly, Yoo Yeonha headed toward the dormitory.
“...”
Waiting room, dormitory, waiting room, dormitory.
Chae Nayun, who had been looking back and forth while debating, soon let out a deep sigh and slowly walked toward the dormitory as well.
* * *
“Uh, uh...”
Now that the archery competition had ended, the five-star mage was flustered, unable to continue speaking.
Despite an enormous amount of bias, Kim Hajin had ended up winning.
Then what sort of reaction was he supposed to show here?
No matter how much Ahaein was in front of him, he absolutely could not brazenly say something like, “I shall punish that impudent cadet who dared defeat your nephew—!”
“Pfft.”
Contrary to his expectations, however, Ahaein merely smiled.
“What are you so frightened of? With that much difference, losing was only natural.”
Only then did the mage’s breath finally clear.
“H-haha... Well. Is that so?”
“It is. In any case, I am envious. Is that what aptitude and talent are?”
In her youth, Ahaein had dreamed of becoming a Hero. However, no matter how hard she tried, her body would not develop. Her physique and talent were specialized solely for being a mage, and so, with no other choice, she had to become a pure mage.
“Tell my nephew to come show me his face. I’d like to comfort him and have a meal together.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Ahaein rose from her seat. The five-star mage bowed his head deeply while stealing a glance at her.
Thanks to the killer heels hidden beneath her cloak, her height barely exceeded 164 centimeters, but her actual measured height was only 151 centimeters. (Rumor had it that she was originally even shorter, and had slightly stood on tiptoe during the physical examination.) On top of that, her tiny face had not a single wrinkle, and her eyes were bright and round like a child’s.
The five-star mage secretly wondered.
Just who on earth would think this Ahaein was an adult of thirty years? Who would connect her appearance with the moniker “One-Man Army” without hesitation?
But aren’t Westerners usually tall? Why is Her Grace so short? She’s about the same height as my son in fourth grade. No, she might even be shorter.
...It was then.
Ahaein abruptly turned around. With a sharp gaze unlike any she had shown before, she pierced the mage’s heart.
“You. What were you just thinking?”
“Y-yes? I-I wasn’t thinking anything at all. I merely thought the gold stars embroidered on your cloak were beautiful...”
“Tsk.”
Ahaein lightly clicked her tongue. The mage felt an inexplicable chill. In truth, the mana released from Ahaein’s body had lowered the temperature inside.
“Do not stare at me standing for so long. I do not like it.”
After snapping that at him, Ahaein left the observation deck.
The mage’s mind went blank for a moment.
“Uh...”
For now, the only thing he knew was that the points he had built up, even to the point of skewing the final match, had converged back to zero.
* * *
Sunday, 3 a.m. An hour so late that any good little child should have long since fallen asleep.
Rachel opened her eyes on a wide bed. Perhaps because she had squeezed them shut too tightly while trying to sleep, her eyes hurt.
She let out a sigh and sat up.
The spacious interior of the penthouse filled her vision. The empty house was large. But as large as it was, it was also empty. She had no talent for decorating a home. So she had left it exactly as it was when she moved in. All it had were the basic furnishings: a sofa, a bed, and a TV.
Perhaps that was why it felt even wider and emptier.
“...Sigh.”
Recently, insomnia had coiled itself around her. Of course, insomnia had been a chronic ailment she had carried with her ever since “that incident,” but these days, its severity had become far too serious.
Whenever she lay down to sleep, worry and anxiety wrapped around her entire body, and recent embarrassing or humiliating events surfaced so vividly that she felt suffocated.
Especially the mock artifact scramble.
The mock artifact scramble had been a class full of wounds. Even if her opponent had been Kim Suho, she had never expected to lose so helplessly.
Moreover, in her match against Chae Nayun, it had essentially been a loss as well. Against that girl, who had only recently switched to being a swordsman.
If not for Kim Hajin, perhaps the promising talent named Rachel would have fallen miserably.
Kim Hajin...
Let’s not think about him for too long.
With no other choice, Rachel picked up her smartwatch. There were only 37 people in her contacts, and not many she could reach out to. She had lived a life without friends, after all. Still, she entered the one group chat she had. There were a staggering 153 messages.
[Kim Hajin was insane today, for real. Hey, how the hell did he curve that arrow? lololol]
[Right? With the song and today too. Hajin super-carried the two events he went out for, didn’t he?]
[Oh, right. Hey, Jamer? You here??]
[...What.]
[Why aren’t you saying anything?]
[I’m sick. Don’t talk to me.]
[Hey, Hajin’s official video is up lololol It already hit ten thousand likes lololol]
Talkative Jin Hoseung had attached some kind of link.
What is it?
Suddenly curious, Rachel wiggled her fingers and pressed it.
In an instant, an SNS screen appeared as a hologram.
Its contents were as follows.
[The Cube Cadet Live Performance Going Viral Lately—“If”]
“...Ah.”
It was the song Kim Hajin had sung back then. Rachel was about to turn off the watch again, but then she subtly stopped her hand.
Although the lyrics had been a little burdensome, the song itself was worth listening to again and again.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Rachel cleared her throat with ahem, ahem, then pressed the play button as if it were an accidental mistake.
After a low piano melody.
—If...
His voice spread sweetly.
The music echoed as it filled the empty space.
Rachel pulled the blanket over herself and quietly closed her eyes.
Listening to music does make me feel calmer somehow.
But compared to the live version, the sound quality seems a little worse. The live version was so clear and nice. Should I go buy a Bluetooth radio tomorrow? Bluetooth. Blue tooth. Bluetooth... Speaking of Bluetooth, it reminds me of Roman history... Brutus, you too...
Rachel’s thoughts, which had been flowing wherever they pleased, gently cut off.
* * *
On Sunday, with the final class competition event, “Dungeon Speedrun,” all the class competitions came to an end.
First place was naturally Veritas Class, where the top-ranked cadets were concentrated, but it was not an overwhelming first place.
Games, art, dance, cooking, and so on... In fields unrelated to actual combat, the other classes steadily racked up points, so the gap with second place was only 30 points.
Still, first place was first place, and Veritas Class held a rather grand after-party. It was thanks to Shin Jonghak’s sponsorship.
“Delish, delish.”
Of course, I didn’t attend and am spending time with Evandel at home.
Beside me, Evandel is tearing into chicken, and I’m looking over documents.
==Probationary Mercenary Mission==
[Difficulty: D]
[Reward: 300,000,000 won or equivalent goods]
[Mission Objective: Kill Siemens, the closest aide of the southern Turin branch head of the Collaion Mafia.]
[Siemens is a mafia member infamous even in southern Turin for committing all kinds of crimes, including murder, rape, blackmail, and human trafficking. There are also rumors that he is a Djinn.]
==
These are the documents sent by the Jeronimo Mercenary Group.
“...Collaion, huh.”
What kind of coincidence is this? Collaion is a mafia family directly connected to the mid-stage main story.
“A probationary mercenary can do something like this?”
As I looked at it, I became somewhat skeptical.
With the thought of “I’ll write my own story” in mind, I had accepted the Chameleon Troupe’s test for now, but isn’t this difficulty too high?
No, really, the mafia in this world is several times more troublesome than the mafia in modern times. In particular, Italy’s mafia system has become far more solid than it was before Outcall, and its cohesion has taken on an almost national form. All because the government’s restraining power weakened due to monsters.
If he’s the closest aide of a branch head in that mafia force... he’s probably a low-rank grade 1 or 2 Hero? Around that level.
“A Djinn, huh...”
Still, if he’s a Djinn, wouldn’t the guilt of killing him be a little lighter?
Also, there’s a high chance that “assassination” is my specialty. If I use sniper mode, I can snipe from up to 2 kilometers away. Since the destructive power would drop sharply if the distance is too great, I’d have to shoot from around 1 kilometer, though.
However, of course, I had no intention of starting right away.
Outside the Cube was the wild. Even challenging it after making every possible preparation wouldn’t be enough.
“Let’s see~”
[Constitution (0/3)]
And so, right now, I intended to create this thing called a “constitution.”
End
“Constitution (體質).”
Its dictionary definition: the physiological nature or health-related characteristics of the body one is born with.
In this world, constitution included that dictionary meaning as is, while also having aspects similar to talent. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think of it simply as “the body’s talent.”
Having excellent recovery ability. Being more receptive to mana. Possessing superior organ function, and so on—all of these were types of constitutions.
However, the constitution I intended to create now was a little more complicated.
===
[Mana-Incapable Body (魔力不能體)]
□Mana Incapability
─A body unable to release the mana within it outside the body. The mana inside the body remains only inside the body.
===
Mana-Incapable Body (魔力不能體).
In other words, a body that couldn’t use mana.
At a glance, it was easy to think of it as a negative constitution that you wouldn’t take even if it were given to you.
But not for me.
Not that it was good, but since I was a body that couldn’t use mana anyway, there was no “loss.” The mana of the Stigma and the mana of my physical body were clearly separate things.
That was what mattered.
There was no loss.
So I could give it up.
However, by universal standards, “being unable to use mana” was an enormous flaw. That made this “high risk.” By placing the negative restriction of being unable to use mana, I could draw out a better counterbalance—in other words, a stronger positive effect.
===
□Vitality Conversion
─Mana accumulated inside the body does not simply disappear, but becomes vitality and is stored in the body. The accumulated vitality increases physical stats by up to 2 times, but is consumed in place of stamina whenever the body moves.
===
This was the positive effect.
So, to put it simply, if I ate well, slept well, and saved up strength, all my physical stats would gradually increase up to double.
However, if I collided with something once—bang!—all the vitality I’d saved up so far would be consumed, and my stats would plummet in real time, so it had no sustained practicality. It would merely allow me to withstand, just once, a “surprise attack” that would instantly kill me if I were hit while my stats were at 2.
I had thought up this constitution to prevent the greatest danger I could face: a surprise attack. There was a limit to how much I could trust luck. Just look at the state of my stats right now.
===
[Strength 2.570]
[Endurance 2.580]
[Agility 3.265]
[Perception 4.220]
[Stamina 2.670]
[Mana 1.930]
===
They hadn’t increased by even 0.2 compared to a month ago. At this rate of growth, there was a high chance they would still remain at around 4 or 5 even after ten years. With average values like those of a low-tier Hero, I could never survive the main story.
That was why this constitution was the best possible choice and focus.
Without hesitation, I saved—
“Ah, but just in case……”
On the off chance, I pulled up another constitution.
[A Body Friendly with Mana]
[You do not have enough SP.]
Couldn’t you at least tell me the approximate cost?
I had only thought it, but a reply came back.
[Approximately 5500 SP is required.]
“……Yeah. Not doing it. No way.”
I changed it back to Mana-Incapable Body and pressed save.
[500 SP will be consumed. Would you like to save?]
Perhaps because of the restriction that I couldn’t release mana, the required SP was far lower than I’d expected. Around 500 SP—well, even if I used it, I’d still have about 350 left.
Besides, a video of me singing was spreading on SNS right now. My SP was rising little by little in real time.
I tapped the Enter key.
“……Huh?”
But what was this?
All of a sudden, a mass of golden light spread out from the laptop screen, and messages popped up like mushrooms after rain.
[The special stat “Accumulation of Luck” activates!]
[Golden letters pour down and form a sentence!]
And with that, a new sub-constitution appeared.
===
□Saiweng’s Horse (塞翁之馬)
─At a certain probability, an “extremely small portion” of accumulated vitality leads to a permanent stat increase. (Stat increase