"Author-nim."
[Yes?]
"When are you planning to use the spy?"
[...Do I have to use it now?]
I couldn’t help but slap my forehead at the author’s genuinely curious tone.
So that’s why you’ve been leaving Laira alone for days—you weren’t building up to something.
I thought maybe you just enjoyed getting beaten up by Laira in our sparring sessions since she hadn’t made a move in all that time.
She kept challenging me to spar every day, and I was starting to wonder when it would end... but turns out, you just forgot.
"Of course you have to use it, right? You said you set it up to take some time on purpose. It should be about ready by now."
You were the one who said you’d handle the plausibility, and now you’re asking me?
[Ugh, but...]
"But what?"
[I don’t know how to use it...]
Sigh.
A deep sigh escaped me.
"Author-nim..."
[W-what?! I don’t have much experience writing, okay?!]
"Neither do I?"
[Hmph.]
There she goes, sulking again.
Fighting with the author wouldn’t get me anywhere, so I guess I have no choice.
I’ll have to teach her myself.
I’ve only ever written a self-introduction before—is it really right for me to be helping the author like this in such a half-baked way?
Well, there’s no other option. I’ll just have to make do.
"Let’s see, today’s date is..."
[It’s the end of April!]
"...Perfect timing, then. We can start soon."
[Huh? ...Start what?]
What else?
It’s an event no student could miss.
"Let’s prepare for an exam."
[An exam?!]
Why are you so surprised?
Exams are usually held around late April to early May, aren’t they?
"There are four exams a year, right? So of course we’d have one around this time."
[F-four times...?]
"Don’t worry. Since this is a practical-focused Academy, there’s plenty of material to work with."
What should we do this time?
A tournament? No, that’s too grand for the first one. We should save the good stuff for right before summer break.
Field training? No, that’s more of a mid-story event.
...I guess there’s only one option left.
"A dungeon. Let’s use the power of a dungeon here."
[A dungeon?! Really?!]
She’s excited.
Does she want to see a dungeon that badly?
When I asked, the author’s response was overflowing with enthusiasm.
[Of course! Dungeon practicals! A staple of Academy novels! The fun part where the protagonist shines!]
She’s really into it.
But then a doubt crossed my mind.
I just thought of it myself, but...
Isn’t this setting a little off?
"Author-nim, do dungeons even exist here?"
[Do dungeons exist?]
The author’s voice was full of confusion.
She seemed to have no idea what I was talking about, so I decided to explain further.
"Wait, now that I think about it, dungeons are usually... in Hunter stories, right? Like, with Gates opening and all that."
[Ah...?]
"This world has magical beasts, heroes, and villains, though. The tone is a little different from Hunter stories, so dungeons might not... Maybe we should think of something else."
There’s no helping it.
Dungeons are a great setting, but if they don’t fit the world, we can’t use them.
It’s a shame—it’s such a good idea—but we’ll have to scrap it...
[No!]
"...Huh?"
[No! I want to see a dungeon! I’m definitely using it!]
"No, the setting—hell, the entire worldview doesn’t even fit—"
[Just shove the worldview in!]
Shove the worldview in?
Right now?
...How?
[Uh, uh... Right! Hundreds of years ago, a Gate opened and the Hunter era began!]
"...Huh?"
[So, like... the world is already a Hunter setting, but the Gate incident ended ages ago. And now it’s way later in the timeline!]
"What does that even—"
[The Gate opening created mana, and superhumans have had mana for a long time now. Humanity evolved to adapt to mana, so when they awaken, they each get an Ability. And...]
The author started spitting out settings at lightning speed.
A Gate incident from 500 years ago, Abilities that didn’t exist before, dungeons left undestroyed.
[Dungeons are left intact because they produce byproducts! Like mining for minerals, we mine byproducts from monsters in dungeons! ...Ah, and I’ll decide where the monsters live right now! The monsters took over the ancient human lands lost in the Gate incident 500 years ago! The reason they’re fighting humanity is obviously to reclaim their territory!]
She didn’t even take a breath.
Just how badly did she want this?
What made it worse was that none of the settings actually clashed.
She could pull it off.
Did she just become serious because she really wanted to see it?
She should’ve been this dedicated all along.
"Sigh... Fine. I get it."
[...! Does that mean—?]
"Let’s do it. Dungeon practical."
[Yahoo!]
If I asked her if that even made sense, would she lose all motivation?
That was the one thing I couldn’t let happen.
If she wanted it this badly, I had to let her.
What else could I do?
...I felt like a parent who ends up giving in when their kid keeps begging.
"The exam is a dungeon practical..."
Laira scratched her head as she stared at the notice on the bulletin board.
A dungeon practical.
Her past self would’ve been shaking in fear.
But she was different now.
Even that guy who used to mock her couldn’t beat her anymore.
There was something deeply satisfying about landing those punches with a hint of resentment.
Every time she hit him, he’d flinch at her glare, but he never fought back properly.
"Since that bastard took down a Rank 3 monster, I should be able to handle a Rank 2 easily."
The days when she envied someone for defeating a Rank 3 monster were long gone.
Ever since she took the elixir, her strength and stamina had been steadily increasing.
Before she knew it, Arte Isis—that woman—couldn’t even lay a finger on her and just kept losing.
Not that it was surprising, considering she’d beaten her effortlessly the very day she took the elixir.
"...Ga-nim, so what do we—"
A voice approached from afar.
A voice she’d never forgotten.
As if she ever could.
"Arte. Hello."
"...Ah! Laira. Hello."
"You look well today. How’s your thigh? I might’ve hit you a little too hard yesterday by accident."
"It’s fine. Thank you for your concern."
Tch.
Her expression didn’t even change.
She was sure she’d hit her hard enough to leave a bruise.
Not even a flicker of reaction.
...Annoying.
"Laira, who do you want to team up with for this exam?"
"Me?"
"Yes. It’s random, regardless of class."
"Hmm."
It didn’t matter who it was.
With this power, there was nothing I couldn’t do.
I couldn’t imagine losing to any student in the same year.
…Besides, I had no business left at the Academy anyway.
The organization had given me my first order.
On the day the Academy students went outside, I was to deliver a warning.
Webermensch would step into the light.
To take the first step in announcing Webermensch’s greatness to the world—by sacrificing the Academy students as offerings.
The whole world would come to know of Webermensch’s existence.
I was still a probationary member, so I hadn’t heard the full plan.
But I had heard their ideology.
It was more convincing than I expected.
"…Laira?"
She was urging me.
I wanted to snap her neck, but I held back.
If my identity was exposed before the declaration of war, everything would fall apart.
I scratched my head roughly and decided to answer her question.
…What was it again? Oh right, who did I want to take the exam with?
It didn’t matter who.
They’d all just be sacrifices for Webermensch anyway.
If I had to choose, a weak one would be easier, wouldn’t it?
As I thought that, the guy in front of me caught my eye.
Smiling so carefree.
"Ah, there is one person."
"Huh? Who?"
"You."
He might not be that weak, considering he took down a Level 3 beast alone…
But now that I had this power, I didn’t think I could lose to him.
I just didn’t like him. Personally, I’d prefer if he became the sacrifice to make my name known to the world.
"That’s great!"
"Great?"
"I wanted to be with you too, Laira. Since you’re strong, if we take the exam together, we’ll definitely get good results, right?"
"Yeah, same thought. If it’s you and me, we’ll get great scores."
His grinning face was somehow infuriating.
Annoyance surged, and I scratched my head again.
Ugh, seriously.
I had no idea what he was thinking.
That bastard—he’d been maliciously beating me all over for days, and yet here he was, smiling like nothing happened.
I’d held back, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
A normal student would’ve been bedridden by now.
…Unless he didn’t feel much pain?
No, that couldn’t be.
He was just enduring it, that was all.
Forcing his unmovable body to keep going, his body must’ve already hit its limit.
With the exam coming up, he was probably just pushing through.
"I hope we’re in the same group!"
"…Yeah, same group would be good. We’re friends, right?"
I spat out the words I didn’t mean.
Friends? Him and me?
Ha. What a joke.
It was just empty flattery.
If we ended up in the same group, I’d kill him.
Him—the one who dismissed all my effort as mere talent.
Ah, how good would it feel to see that annoying smile wiped off his face?
I stared at his face, still grinning as he scratched his head.
"Friends, that’s great! I think the same way!"
…I still had no idea what he was thinking.
It pissed me off.