I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 470

Tadadat-!

A rugged forest where sunlight filtered through sparsely. Still, paths did exist.

Paths that had formed naturally over time from beasts, caretakers, and instructors walking through the area.

They weren’t perfectly flat, but they were good enough for running.

Especially for someone with a well-trained body.

‘At this pace, I should arrive in two hours.’

I focused on running while recalling the map stored in my head.

Linking up with Luna and Rezé at the designated location. That was the first objective.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had nothing else to do along the way.

“No! Y-you…!”

“Ugh! What rotten luck. Running into Zero of all people!”

“Shut up and just attack! He’s only a first-year like us!”

Securing headbands.

Since I was aiming for a top three spot, collecting headbands was essential.

I charged straight into the center of where the three stood. It looked like I was willingly letting myself get surrounded.

“Ugh!”

“Gah!”

“Kek!”

The ones sent flying were the kids.

One hit per person. I subdued them easily without even using any secret techniques.

‘I’m pretty strong, after all.’

Yes. I was strong.

It was only the end of Chapter 2, still early in the game. Yet my current stats and skills were on par with a character starting Chapter 5.

Then why had I struggled so much until now?

It was only because the opponents I’d faced had been ridiculous.

‘Starting with high-ranking demons, then Caron, Lucia, Adonis, Lowell, and so on…’

Most of the new hidden pieces I found involved fighting strong opponents.

Talk about bad luck.

Well, thanks to that, I could enjoy the luxury of being the strong one in a test like this.

Whoosh-!

A log as thick as a person’s body flew straight at me.

An hour had already passed since the exam started. More than enough time to set up decent traps.

‘There was even a class on installing traps and magic circles.’

These were proper, professional-grade traps.

While I was thinking, the log drew much closer. I could easily dodge by stepping aside, but I shouldn’t.

Additional traps were hidden on both sides.

Tap!

I jumped lightly and landed on top of the flying log.

“No way!”

“H-how did he notice!?”

“Was the camouflage bad?”

“No it wasn’t! My camouflage was perfect!”

The two kids hiding far away wore expressions of disbelief.

Just as the one who set the trap said, I hadn’t actually spotted it.

‘I simply felt it with my body.’

Tingle-!

The Hyper Sense skill that alerted me to traps, magic casting, or someone hiding.

It was one of the skills I obtained through potential gambling early in the game.

Whoosh-.

The log that had reached its highest point paused for a moment before beginning its descent.

Naturally, the log swinging with momentum was heading straight toward them.

“I-it’s coming this way! Activate the traps!”

“Damn it! I didn’t account for this situation! All the traps are set below…!”

The accelerated log shot between them like a bullet.

They drew their weapons, but it was already too late. I already held two headbands in my hands.

I left the two collapsing to their knees behind and continued running for several minutes.

“Wind Cutter!”

Magic flew from atop a tree. A powerful gust of wind sharp enough to slice my body apart.

However.

Pssht!

The wind vanished midway.

“W-what?!”

“Keke. Maybe the wind just changed its mind?”

“Don’t mess with me! You did something, didn’t you!”

Correct.

Wandering Storm. A broken skill that blocked all long-range attacks.

But knowing the answer didn’t mean they could avoid my attack.

“Ugh…”

It ended in one strike again. After collecting the headband from his head, I searched his body and found one more.

‘That’s nine already. This is too easy.’

In tens of thousands of playthroughs, I’d never had enemies this easy and quick to defeat.

‘This is why skill combinations matter.’

Trap nullification, long-range attack nullification, and skills so strong in close combat that it’s tiring to even mention them.

All the suffering until now had been worth it.

Others found fun in challenging difficult or impossible bosses. That was my reason for playing games too.

“Keke. Farming weak opponents. That’s also one of the joys of gaming.”

Since this was the first time I was enjoying the luxury of being overwhelmingly strong since arriving here, I planned to savor it fully.

“Run! He’s coming!”

A group of kids started screaming and fleeing.

How should I hunt them this time?

I was running across the treetops, fully enjoying the view that only the strong could see.

“It’s Cockroach Zero!”

“How can a person’s face look like that?”

“Kyaaak! It’s too scary!”

“…?”

They weren’t running because they were scared of me. They were running because I was disgusting?

So this wasn’t a view only the strong could see, but one only a cockroach could see?

No way.

“Keke. Why are you all running away?”

“T-the cockroach touched my back!”

“Burn the clothes!”

“Don’t come near us!”

The kid I touched stripped off his clothes, threw them on the ground, and started running.

Aha, I see. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to give up their headbands.

Crack.

“So you wanted to die by my hands?”

The primary goal of linking up had long been erased from my mind.

Ruthlessly slaughtering the group in front of me. That was the top priority for this episode… no.

‘The top priority of this entire game!’

The opponents were a four-person group consisting of two boys and two girls.

What stood out was that they had decent specs, good enough to use occasionally as party members when there weren’t any useful ones available in the game.

“Hic! What if my face ends up like that?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll still love you even then.”

…They were couples. Two couples, in fact.

“Tsk!”

Suddenly, one kid turned around and pulled out a massive shield.

Bang!

He planted the shield firmly into the ground, leaned his body and legs forward, and glared with sharp eyes.

I could feel his resolute will to stop me.

“Everyone go ahead! I’ll hold off the cockroach!”

“Steve! But…”

“Don’t worry. You think I’ll go down that easily? I’ll catch up soon, so go first and wait for me.”

“…You better come! If you make me a widow… I’ll curse you for the rest of my life!”

“What? You’re saying you’ll marry me?”

“I-idiot! Who said I’d marry someone like you? Just come back alive first. Then I’ll think about it…”

The three kids except Steve ran away.

It felt like watching a youthful school story full of friendship, love, and emotion.

Of course, my evaluation of it was.

‘…They’re really enjoying themselves.’

They were dating instead of studying? And marriage was no joke.

Marriage is a serious thing in reality!

…Of course I’ve never been married, so I don’t really know what’s real about it, but it somehow pisses me off.

‘I’ll add a new genre for them.’

A youthful school story filled with friendship, love, and emotion.

What if we mixed in suspense and horror?

A gory horror story with blood and flesh flying everywhere. That would make for a very entertaining piece.

“Kekeke… Why don’t the writers create something this fun? I just don’t understand.”

“…Crazy bastard.”

As I charged forward, Steve, who had hidden his body behind the shield, tensed up completely and braced for impact.

But there was no collision. Because I had already passed right by his side.

“Keke. I’ll go on ahead.”

“Y-you heartless bastard!”

It wasn’t that I lacked romance. It was just common sense.

Taking out the fragile dealers or healers first. That was the basics of small-scale combat.

Steve was a tank. With high defense and stamina, his mobility was poor.

‘He also has to retrieve the shield he planted in the ground, so it’ll take time.’

Plenty of time to deal with the rest.

I was running after their traces when—

Tingle!

Hyper Sense activated suddenly. I threw my body forward, and a moment later an arrow flew in and embedded itself where I had been.

“Tsk! As expected of the cockroach! True to the Survivalist name!”

It was one of the kids who had run away. At the same time, a boy jumped out from the bushes and swung his sword.

A sharp, clean strike.

If my stats weren’t high, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge it.

As I bent my waist backward to avoid it, I sensed a presence from below.

“Die!”

A girl holding a dagger in each hand.

She swung the daggers in an X shape. Her target was my lower body.

In my current position with my waist bent back, there was no way to avoid an attack aimed at my legs.

‘If it wasn’t me.’

Whoosh-!

“…!”

I put strength into my legs and jumped lightly, dodging the dagger attack.

The kids’ judgment was quick. They pulled their weapons back toward their bodies to attack again.

But that was a mistake.

I curled my body like a backflip and rotated, then extended both legs in the air.

Crash!

“Ugh!”

The boy blocked with the flat of his sword, but the girl couldn’t.

The girl who took the kick was slammed into the ground.

“Fran! Are you okay?”

“…Don’t make a fuss. It’s nothing.”

Since there was no aura mixed in, the damage wasn’t severe.

However.

“He dodged that?”

“As expected of the tentative number one. This won’t be easy.”

The mental shock was another story.

It had been a series of movements so clean and beautiful that it felt like a single technique.

I was surprised too.

To think I could actually execute in reality the movements I had only imagined in my head.

‘Maybe I… am stronger than I thought?’

Was it because this was a game? The application range of stats seemed higher than expected.

Enough admiration. Time to get to work.

“Hand over all the headbands you have. If you do, I’ll spare your lives.”

“You’re joking, right? Lives in an exam?”

“Keke. For me, this exam is murder.”

Perhaps they felt something ominous from my smile. The kids flinched.

“…Fine. I’ll give you all the headbands we collected, including mine. But spare these two.”

“Lance! What are you saying!”

“Y-yeah! Just give him mine instead! We can’t do this without you in our party!”

Another youth drama had begun.

But this time it didn’t last long. Because someone cut off the flow.

“Huh? Isn’t that Steve behind us?”

“He’s alive?”

“Steve! Are you okay?”

“Huff… I’m fi— Wait, n-no, not okay…”

“…Looks like you’re fine. You’re just out of breath from lack of exercise.”

“Happens all the time. That’s why I keep telling you to exercise.”

Everyone scolded Steve, but they weren’t serious.

Because the faces of the kids that had been clouded with shadow just moments ago had brightened up.

“What the… what’s going on?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? We’re in a crisis.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We do the perfect strategy we always use. While you take the hits, we take them down.”

“…Is that really a perfect strategy?”

Steve planted his shield firmly into the ground.

“Alright! Let’s do this!”

“Come at us! Cockroach!”

“Enemy of humanity!”

“With the power of love!”

I could feel their resolute will.

Even though they must have felt the difference in strength, they still chose to fight.

Youth and romance.

It was such a beautiful attitude that it deserved applause.

In recognition of that spirit, I would specially…

“Turn all of you into zero points.”

I activated Eye Opening.

It meant I would face them seriously.

“Why! In this kind of situation, aren’t you supposed to say something like ‘I’m moved by your friendship’ and let us go?!”

“I would have done that. If you guys weren’t couples.”

“Who said we’re couples! There’s no way I’d be dating an idiot like him!”

“Huh? What? Didn’t you say you’d marry me earlier?”

“I-it was a joke! Though I might do it someday!”

Enough. I couldn’t watch any more youthful love comedy. This was a fantasy game.

I closed the distance to Steve in an instant and clenched my fist.

Steve hurriedly leaned against his shield and took a defensive stance, but.

“Do you know?”

I hadn’t dodged him because I lacked confidence in breaking through a tank.

I had only done so for efficient and safe hunting.

Vyuern family style first secret art.

Force Burst.

Cruuunch-.

With the sound of metal being crushed.

The shield crumpled.

–TL Notes–
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