I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 465

“…”

A strange… no, a familiar ceiling.

It’s already been three months since I got dragged into this damn game.

Of course I’d get used to the dorm ceiling.

The only difference from usual was—

‘My body won’t move.’

My body simply wouldn’t obey me. The result of getting pounded by Duke Zeppelin.

[Your energy channels have been distorted.]

[You cannot use mana.]

[Your nerves have been severely damaged.]

[You will be unable to move for three days.]

[Time remaining until recovery: 31 hours 42 minutes…]

The only things I could move were my eyes, nose, and mouth.

‘Three days of bedrest from just two hits… that skill is completely broken.’

Still, considering the opponent’s level, it was a miracle it ended with just this.

It was already the second day of my new life, staring at the ceiling.

Not being able to scratch an itch was rough, but there was something even worse…

“Mm? What? Do you want some water?”

“Keke, no. I’m fi—”

“Nope. Drink! Hydration isn’t optional for patients, it’s mandatory!”

Luna jammed the spout of the kettle right into my mouth.

Water filled my mouth in an instant, and the extra overflowed, streaming down my chin.

This was water torture, plain and simple.

“…Thank you. Thanks to you I won’t need a wash.”

Naturally, what came out of my mouth was gratitude, not a complaint. If I complained, water torture might get upgraded to fire torture at any moment.

“This is nothing. If you need anything else, just tell me!”

She settled into the chair beside the bed, sitting primly as she stared straight at me.

Looked like she intended to continue the “staring torture” she’d started yesterday.

‘Well, she’s probably doing it because she feels bad.’

It had been fine when she blocked Duke Zeppelin to help Teron. The problem was what came after.

Luna was strong for her age, but nowhere near strong enough to satisfy the Duke.

In the end I had to step in, and this is what I got for it.

Arms and legs shattered, a familiar ceiling to contemplate, and “care” that was basically harassment.

Of course, not everyone felt guilty like Luna.

“Ki-kik! F-finally the Demon’s lackey has fallen! Th-this is humanity’s victory!”

Rezé giggled. Every so often she poked my body with a finger to see if I reacted.

Whatever else, one thing was certain: the breakfast on the day I got up would be—

‘Rabbit stew.’

A heated pot. Water at a rolling boil.

Into that, I’d toss that damn rabbit.

I was pondering how to cook it so well that people would talk about it when—

Knock, knock.

“The Principal has sent you some fruit.”

“Lord Caron has sent you some tonic.”

Get-well-soon gifts arrived.

I decided it was best not to drink the tonic. There was a non-zero chance it was poison dressed up as medicine.

The look on Caron’s face when Luna insisted on nursing me through the night had been downright vicious.

Even remembering it now sent a chill down my spine.

“I’ll peel it for you!”

Luna took an apple from the luxury fruit basket Principal Dwener had sent and went to work with a paring knife.

It looked like she was throwing away half of it. Honestly, it might’ve been better just to eat the parts with the peel still on.

“Open wide. Ah~.”

…Was it just me, or did that apple have the Demon’s face carved into it?

I was crunching down on the demon-faced apple when—

Knock, knock.

“Duke Zeppelin has sent a gift.”

A servant bowed from the waist and began hauling in packages nonstop.

Once, twice, three times…

By the seventh trip, half the room was filled with gifts.

Health foods, tonics, snacks, accessories, and more.

The quantity was impressive, and each and every one was a luxury item.

“T-the carrots are shining!”

“Don’t eat them. They’re definitely poisoned.”

“Kkiing…”

Rezé’s idiot hair drooped.

She muttered, ‘But carrots are health food, so wouldn’t they neutralize the poison?’

As Luna dragged the gifts out into the hallway one by one, something dropped at her feet.

It was a letter, stamped with the seal of House Vyuern.

Luna practically shredded the envelope as she tore it open.

“I’ll read it for you. Let’s see…”

The letter was long, but the gist went like this:

Hey, it’s Duke Zeppelin. You still alive?

Thinking back, I might have gone a little, just a little, too far.

I’m sending you some trifling gifts. People call them luxury goods, but in our house, that level of thing is no better than pebbles on the roadside.

I’d like to give you proper compensation.

Let’s sit down and discuss it in depth. Contact me.

A slip of paper with a crystal orb code written on it slipped out and landed beside my head.

It must’ve been tucked between the sheets of stationery.

“What is this guy even saying! Who said we want to contact him?”

Luna ripped the crystal-orb code into ragged little pieces.

Then she turned to me with a proud smile, the very picture of, ‘I did good, right?’

And just like that, Duke Zeppelin’s personal crystal-orb code—said to be unobtainable even with money—vanished right before my eyes.

Knock, knock.

“Excuse us.”

“Z-Zero! I’m here!”

“What are all those things in the hallway?”

“Luxuries beyond one’s station are the fast lane to ruin, you know!”

“These snacks look good. May I take one?”

Alex, Raymon, Yuridia, Victoria, and even Adonis.

They poured in before I had any chance to stop them.

“What the heck. Don’t you know peace and quiet are the most important thing for a patient?”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t visit.”

“And who are you to come visiting, exactly?”

“Well… we’re your friends and comrades, aren’t we?”

When Yuridia said that with a bright little smile, Luna snapped her head away.

“…I can’t just kick guests out. Stay for a bit, then go.”

Everyone in the room could tell.

That Luna was happy.

As proof, she brought out a plate piled with apple slices.

“Wait a second! This apple… it bears the Demon’s visage!”

“Indeed! Is this an ambush? Everyone, fall back at once!”

On high alert, Victoria began chanting purification spells over the apple.

Watching that, Luna tilted her head.

“I carved that.”

“…?”

Yuridia and Victoria looked at each other.

Then, at the same time, they each picked up a slice.

“This is unbelievable! Such a beautiful carving! This is art!”

“Mhm! To reinterpret fruit as modern art… as expected of Miss Luna!”

Modern art, huh. I guess in the ‘I don’t get it’ sense, it fit.

“Oh, that reminds me. Did you hear? Instructor Ron resigned.”

“After committing such a fatal mistake… it was inevitable.”

“Still, who leaves without even saying goodbye? He could’ve at least given us a hint. Even a half-baked goodbye to match his personality.”

Luna grumbled.

‘So Ron’s gone?’

Honestly, Ron disappearing wasn’t that strange. In the game, he also vanished without a trace at some point.

However—

‘I don’t think it was at this point…’

Did a hidden piece trigger?

So much had changed in this episode that I couldn’t tell what exactly had set it off.

But there was no need to worry.

‘I’ve already created a connection.’

For Ron, who dreamed of becoming a rat, information wasn’t optional—it was essential.

He’d be the one to reach out to me first.

All I had to do was wait.

Zing…

I suddenly felt a gaze. When I turned my eyes, Raymon was there.

Resting his chin on the bed and matching my eye level, Raymon spoke.

“Z-Zero, don’t you need to use the bathroom? I’ll help you today!”

…I appreciated the offer, but why was he breathing so heavily?

I didn’t know the reason, but it seemed best to refuse.

“Keke, Alex’s help is more than enough.”

“T-today, I want to do it!”

Both our gazes turned to Alex.

Maybe my desperate eyes got through to him, because Alex smiled brightly.

“I don’t mind whoever does it.”

“You heard him! Let’s go to the bathroom right now!”

“Who said you could help? I’m doing it today. Get lost!”

Luna, you are even less acceptable than he is!

Not that it mattered. The two of them started going at it again.

Crash!

“K-kiiieeek! T-the premium carrot box!”

“Is this the arrival of a rival?”

“The presence of a rival only tempers love into something stronger.”

“These are good. May I have another snack?”

…I wish they’d all just get out.

---

In the dead of night.

My eyes opened before I realized it.

‘I’ve slept so much I can’t even get sleepy anymore.’

When I turned my head, I saw the top of Luna’s head.

She’d fallen asleep with her forehead pressed against the head of my bed.

It couldn’t be helped; she’d stayed up all last night insisting on nursing me.

‘Finally alone.’

A quiet, early dawn.

I didn’t particularly miss the noisy daytime… Not really. Maybe it could’ve been a little noisy.

“…”

I wasn’t sleepy, and my body wouldn’t move.

Bored out of my mind, I thought for a bit and remembered something I’d forgotten.

‘Nothing else to do, so I might as well do that.’

[Potential: 33]

[Available pt: 90]

The Potential gamble.

A hidden piece that grants a random S-rank skill if you push your Potential stat to 100.

I’d saved up the points for that gamble.

They’d been sitting there for a while, but with all the eyes around me, I hadn’t had a chance to try it.

‘If it’s a flashy skill, I’ll just make people suspicious for nothing.’

I needed at least enough time to smooth things over afterward.

And with everyone asleep, there was no better time than now.

‘My defensive skills are already plenty.’

[Wandering Storm], [Adonis Style Counter], [Absolute Defense].

I had defensive skills coming out of my ears.

What I needed most now was—

‘An offensive, survival, or utility skill for adventuring.’

I focused my mind and dumped 67 points into the Potential stat.

[Your Potential awakens.]

[You have acquired ‘Pain Reduction’.]

[Pain Reduction: S

— Reduces the amount of pain you feel.]

[Pain Reduction]. A passive skill that raises your defense.

In the game, it only increased defense, but since this was reality, it would also dull the pain.

For someone as pain-sensitive as me, it was an essential skill, one I’d wanted since the moment the game began.

If I had one complaint, though—

‘Why are you showing up now? You’re way too late!’

If only it had appeared instead of [Clean], [Hyper Sense], or [Digging].

My fight with Duke Zeppelin flashed through my mind.

The agony of my arms and legs being smashed to pieces.

I never wanted to experience that again.

‘Since it’s an S-rank skill, the effect should be huge. I mean… it’ll still hurt a bit, but.’

Thinking that, I was honestly grateful to get it, even now.

I lightly bit my tongue to test the effect.

“Mm…”

Luna rubbed her eyes and lifted her head.

She checked the time on the clock, then began to move busily.

She straightened my pillowcase and blanket, changed the water in the kettle, washed a towel, even massaged my arms and legs.

Even at this hour before dawn, she didn’t stop moving.

While kneading my arm, Luna lowered her head.

“You have to get better. If you’re hurt, I…”

Her voice was soaked in sadness.

Come to think of it, I knew the exact time I’d recover, but Luna didn’t.

For all she knew, I might have to live like this for the rest of my life.

First, I decided to ease her worries.

“Keke, I’m already awake, you know?”

At that, Luna, who had been sitting on the chair, practically jumped.

“You scared me! If you’re awake, you should say so!”

“Keke, can’t you tell just by looking?”

“Your eyes are closed whether you’re asleep or awake! How am I supposed to know!?”

Right. I’m the slit-eyed type, aren’t I?

–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!

If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame

Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt