The Monday after the disciplinary hearing,
Ex sat in the classroom before morning homeroom, sorting through everything that had happened.
『Base Stats
Stamina: 0.1
Intelligence: 1.5
Agility: 0.1
Magic Power: 0.1
Luck: 0.1
Charm: 0.1』
‘Only my brain is still alive. At least it’s alive and kicking.’
A sigh escaped him.
Then again, he supposed he should be grateful he had at least that much.
‘And there’s something weird about the status window.’
『[Remove ‘Author Points’] Required Points: …』
No number appeared.
It was as if the system were still calculating it.
The dots merely blinked on and off like a loading screen.
‘Did Elysia do something?’
All kinds of questions came to mind, but there was no way she could have known.
No matter how many possibilities he considered, he couldn’t come up with a single convincing explanation.
‘This is frustrating. I can’t get any information at all.’
It was frustrating, but he had no other choice.
All he could do was sigh and put it out of his mind.
More importantly, he needed to focus on what was about to happen.
‘Villain Number One should be making his move soon. What was his name again…? Fallon?’
In the original novel, Fallon and Leon would clash sometime in the near future.
The exact date had never been mentioned, so Ex had no idea when it would happen.
It was one of the many holes in the original story’s setting.
‘The event where Leon awakens as the Hero…’
That event was especially important.
It was the first time Leon, the only person capable of preventing the coming destruction, awakened to the fact that he was special.
Fortunately, there was nothing Ex needed to do.
It was a straightforward development where Leon realized his power through a battle against the villain. As long as Ex left things alone, the event should proceed on its own.
‘Assuming Elysia doesn’t interfere.’
In any case, his priority for now was getting stronger.
While he was considering how to go about it, morning homeroom began and Roxwell entered the classroom.
It was exactly the same as last week.
Without showing much interest in the students, Roxwell said only what needed to be said and immediately walked back out.
‘…I guess nothing major has changed.’
There had been quite a commotion after Roxwell suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed.
However, he had quickly woken up and resumed his normal routine, so it hadn’t turned into a serious problem.
The only problem was his attitude toward Ex.
‘Who are you?’
Roxwell had lost every memory he had of Ex.
‘Circe must be the same.’
It was bleak.
For a moment, Ex had thought Roxwell might become his only ally.
That faint hope had vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Who could have possibly expected Circe to steal a look at the notebook?
No matter how much Ex thought about it, that wasn’t the kind of thing she would normally do.
‘…I must have changed her. It’s the result of my interference.’
Circe was the kind of person who wouldn’t sincerely apologize to anyone except the Hero.
Yet she had apologized to Lola.
That alone proved she had already changed.
It was clearly a mistake.
A painful one.
There was no telling what sort of chain reaction this incident would create.
Ex had even more to worry about now.
In the end, the only thing he had gained was 16,100 Editing Points.
‘It’s obvious what I should use them for.’
If he invested them into stamina, intelligence, and agility, he could expect explosive growth.
Logically, that was the right choice.
‘But there are stats that won’t grow naturally…’
Magic power, luck, and charm.
Their prices were downright obscene.
But they weren’t stats he could afford to ignore.
‘There’s no point saving them if I die first. Surviving right now comes before anything else.’
So during a break, Ex secretly purchased upgrades for magic power and luck.
He spent 5,000 points on each.
He expected the total cost to be 10,000 points… but only 9,000 points were deducted.
『Base Stats
Stamina: 0.1
Intelligence: 1.5
Agility: 0.1
Magic Power: 1.0 [0.9 Added]
Luck: 1.0 [0.9 Added]
Charm: 0.1』
『Purchase Magic Power 2.0 = [Requirements Not Met]』
『Purchase Luck 2.0 = [Requirements Not Met]』
“…Oh.”
So that was what it meant.
The listed price had been for raising the stat up to 1.0.
Since he already had 0.1 in both stats, the system had refunded him 500 points each.
“This explanation is ridiculously unhelpful… Huh?”
He could feel magic power surging actively through his body.
He was certain he could cast Tier 1 magic with ease now.
The improvement wasn’t some vague number on a screen. He could feel that his abilities had genuinely increased.
‘I should eventually research how the stat increases translate into real-world effects…’
He considered the other stats.
‘Charm, stamina, agility… I can afford all of them. I can raise every stat to 1.0.’
After experiencing one upgrade, he found himself craving more.
He could afford them all, but he didn’t know what might happen later, which made him reluctant to spend everything so quickly.
Still, his hesitation didn’t last long.
***
『Base Stats
Stamina: 1.0 [0.9 Added]
Intelligence: 1.5
Agility: 1.0 [0.9 Added]
Magic Power: 1.0
Luck: 1.0
Charm: 1.0 [0.9 Added]』
『Editing Points Owned: 800』
‘Now I’m finally starting to look like a real person.’
With that thought, Ex headed out to the training field for Physical Training class.
The students staring at him looked puzzled.
“Was there always someone like that in our class? I’ve never seen him before…”
“Isn’t that Screamweed? He has the same kind of vibe.”
“Seriously? Why does he look so normal?”
Apparently, the charm stat affected how other people perceived him.
The students readily accepted Ex’s changed appearance.
At least he wouldn’t receive some pointless penalty over it.
‘It’s nice being able to walk without getting winded.’
He could feel the improvement in his physical abilities as well.
He was confident he could handle vigorous exercise now.
As he continued testing his body, class began and Roxwell appeared.
Roxwell always made them train on their own anyway.
That meant Ex could freely…
“Ex, come forward.”
“…Pardon?”
Roxwell called for him.
Ex had no idea why.
Confused, he walked to the front.
Roxwell shook his head, making his tied-back hair sway, then let out a sigh.
“Starting today, you’ll be training with me personally.”
“Pardon?”
“I have to raise your grades to first place.”
Roxwell clicked his tongue.
Then he immediately drew a blunt practice sword.
“Ask ‘the former me’ if you want to know why.”
The moment he finished speaking, Roxwell lunged forward and swung his sword.
‘He’s insane…!’
It was fast and sharp.
The trajectory was clearly aimed at a vital point.
Even if it was only a practice sword, getting hit would cause serious damage.
Clang!
Ex immediately drew Lung’s sword and blocked.
He hadn’t expected to spar, so he hadn’t brought a training sword with him.
But something felt strange.
‘The sword is heavy! Much heavier than before…!’
For some reason, Lung’s sword felt incredibly heavy.
Ex had been celebrating his improved stamina, but even that wasn’t enough to withstand Roxwell’s blade.
A powerful, brutal force pressed down on him without giving him a moment to breathe.
“I sincerely hope you can endure this. Understood?”
There was no time to answer.
Roxwell’s sword was already flying toward him again.
***
“That’s honestly kind of pitiful…”
“He’s been getting beaten for thirty minutes straight…”
“Maybe he wasn’t Screamweed. Maybe he was just a regular weed.”
Someone made a joke, but no one laughed.
That was how miserable Ex looked.
“Guh…!”
“Why are you lying there? Nothing is broken. Do you honestly think I would make such a careless mistake?”
“N-No, sir…”
“Then get up. Good grief… I have no idea why I told myself to raise someone like you.”
“Raise me…?”
Unable to understand what Roxwell meant, Ex asked him to explain.
Roxwell sighed and considered it for a moment before answering bluntly.
“…You don’t need to know.”
“Excuse me, but I’m the victim here.”
Clutching his sword, Ex forced himself upright on trembling legs.
As he thought over Roxwell’s reaction, Ex finally understood what Roxwell had meant the previous day.
‘So this is what he meant when he told me to trust him…!’
It was true that being pushed this hard would make Ex stronger.
Since he couldn’t increase his abilities through the status window anymore, this was his only remaining method.
‘But is this really right…?’
As he floundered in agony, the status window appeared before his eyes with spectacularly poor timing.
『Brutal Physical Training! Stamina permanently increased by 0.1!』
『Brutal Technical Training! Agility permanently increased by 0.1!』
‘…Apparently, it is.’
Ex collapsed onto the ground, and Roxwell stood over him.
Just then, the bell rang to signal the end of class.
Roxwell looked down at Ex and spoke.
“Starting today, you’ll be under intensive supervision.”
“I-Intensive supervision?”
“Come out wearing your training clothes two hours before morning homeroom. After classes end, return to your classroom and wait for me. We’ll train for another two hours.”
“Y-You mean four extra hours every day?”
“Do you have a complaint?”
He did.
Many of them.
“I-I look forward to your guidance…”
Ex surrendered to the tactless status window still floating before him.
No matter how painful or miserable it was, he needed those stat increases.
And so, Ex’s hellish training began.
***
After the disciplinary hearing, the attitudes of both the students and professors clearly changed.
The students no longer mocked Ex.
Instead, they went out of their way to avoid him.
It was all because of the ridiculous misunderstanding that he had been willing to endure Rebound just to kill his opponent during the duel, but he never got a chance to clear it up.
“It looks like everyone has finally learned the value of a commoner. Hmph, they’re far too late, though. The commoner has already decided to serve me as his master.”
“I never decided anything of the sort.”
Somewhere along the way, Lola had upgraded his title from lowborn to commoner.
The unexpected rise in social status left Ex with mixed feelings.
“You say that, but you threw yourself in front of me to protect me, didn’t you? If that doesn’t mean you’ve sworn to serve me as your master, then what else could it possibly mean?”
“Good grief…”
Only Lola’s attitude remained unchanged.
In fact, perhaps it would be more accurate to say she had grown even more arrogant and self-assured.
She strutted around triumphantly on Ex’s behalf whenever she saw the other students’ new attitude toward him.
And Ex was the one who had to endure the embarrassment.
The professors’ attitudes had also changed significantly, dividing them into two broad camps: those who supported Ex and those who despised him.
The reason some of them supported him was surprisingly mundane.
“Oh my, you’re Student Ex.”
“Ah, yes…”
“I heard you were the one who got rid of the Class Participation system. You have no idea how exhausting it was to score every student’s behavior one by one. Whenever I gave someone a slightly lower score, they would come straight to me and complain.”
Their reasons were thoroughly human.
The reasons of those who hated him were much clearer.
Most of them had participated in Seat Trading.
They resented Ex because they could no longer profit from selling seats.
Others claimed that an incompetent student like Ex damaged the academy’s reputation. Hans, the professor who taught Protego Swordsmanship, hated him for that exact reason.
Hans had resolved to treat Ex even more harshly when he attended his class.
And yet…
“…Student, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I-I’m fine… Cough…”
Ex looked so wretched that even Hans, who had made the firmest resolution of them all, found his determination wavering.
There wasn’t a single part of Ex’s face or body that wasn’t swollen.
He could barely walk, using his sword as a cane.
He looked like a defeated soldier who had crawled through a battlefield and somehow managed to survive.
“…You may rest if it’s too difficult.”
“No… I have to attend…”
“Why?”
“He said… he’d smash me to pieces if I skipped class…”
“Who did?”
“Professor Roxwell…”
“…”
It was embarrassing to admit, but Roxwell was an opponent Hans himself could never defeat.
Hans was currently a 5-Star martial artist, while Roxwell was a 6-Star martial artist.
There were even rumors that Roxwell was on the verge of reaching 7-Star.
All Hans could do was offer Ex an awkward word of encouragement.
“Stay strong. I’ll make whatever accommodations I can.”
“Thank you…”
Most of the professors reacted similarly.
The martial arts professors in particular felt genuine sympathy after learning that Roxwell had singled Ex out.
No one could stop Roxwell from running wild except the Headmaster, the Chairman, or Professor Lung.
In this world, strength was absolute authority.
Some professors even began to view Ex favorably after seeing how hard he struggled to attend class in such a miserable state.
‘This must be another effect of charm.’
The magic professors were especially interested in him.
They were fascinated by Ex’s rate of growth.
How had a Tier 1 mage used Tier 3 magic to defeat a Tier 4 mage?
How had he endured the Rebound?
Their curiosity about him had grown considerably.
Thanks to that, his classes proceeded quite smoothly.
However…
“Student Ex. You’re going to become my assistant professor, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry!”
“You can’t even escape from me~”
“Please spare me!”
Maria’s obsession had only grown stronger.
Ex was worried Circe might cause another incident because of it, but…
“…”
Unexpectedly, she remained quiet.
Recently, she often stared blankly into space as if lost in deep thought.
‘What could she be thinking about…? Is it because of the gap in her memories?’
Ex knew that expression meant Circe was carrying out some enormous calculation in her head.
There was no way for him to know exactly what she was calculating, which only made him more anxious.
As Ex watched Circe warily, Maria noticed where he was looking and answered the question she assumed he had.
“Is this because Student Circe became my assistant professor?”
“What? She became your assistant professor?”
“She applied before you did. I accepted her, of course. Why don’t the two of you make up while you have the chance? Or would you like me to arrange a meeting so you can reconcile?”
“No, I’m fine…!”
There had been a few twists and turns, but the story had ultimately returned to its original course.
Circe’s power-up should proceed without any further problems.
Relieved, Ex barely managed to escape from Maria’s embrace.
“…”
He failed to notice the strange look in Circe’s eyes as she watched him leave.
***
“Hmm. So it really is a cultivation method from the original lineage.”
“Pardon?”
Ex heard the unexpected remark during Introduction to Cultivation Methods.
Lung studied Ex’s cultivation method with clear interest.
“I’m talking about your internal energy. It’s accumulating in your dantian.”
“…Ah!”
The implications of that statement were enormous.
Lung took Ex’s hand and examined his energy meridians.
“You’ve entered the third-rate level already. That was fast.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“But an external force has interfered with your development. That isn’t good.”
“Pardon? What do you mean…?”
“Your essence, energy, and spirit are moving separately. You haven’t accumulated your power correctly.”
Ex flinched.
He immediately thought of the status window.
‘How could he tell…? Is this the experience of an 8-Star martial artist?’
Lung glared sharply at Ex.
“I understand why you might be tempted to walk the Unorthodox Path. When I first met you, you were weaker than anyone else. Naturally, your desire for power must be greater than most.”
Ex’s head lowered instinctively at the reprimand.
Lung sighed before continuing.
“The sword I gave you. Did it feel heavy when you swung it?”
“…Yes. It did. I’m definitely stronger than I was before, but the sword somehow feels even heavier.”
“That is what I meant when I called it ‘a sword created for the purpose of cultivation.’ The more misaligned your essence, energy, and spirit become, the heavier that sword will feel.”
“S-So that’s what it was?”
In other words, the sword would grow even heavier whenever Ex increased his abilities through the status window.
He couldn’t simply throw it away.
The sword was proof of the connection he had formed with an overwhelmingly powerful martial artist like Lung. More importantly, it was a precious gift from the man who had helped him.
Lung spoke sternly.
“It isn’t too late. From now on, you must accumulate your strength properly. For now, I’ll correct the imbalance myself.”
“Pardon? Correct it?”
“It may hurt. Endure it.”
Something suddenly flowed into Ex from Lung’s hand.
The next instant, searing agony raced along every nerve in his body.
“…!!”
“Oh, you endure pain surprisingly well. Yes, a man ought to be able to withstand at least this much.”
Ex was simply in too much pain to scream.
It felt as if his entire body were being branded with red-hot iron while burning needles were driven beneath every fingernail.
His face twisted in agony, and veins bulged violently along his neck.
It was his body’s desperate scream for survival.
The pain was so obvious that merely watching him was enough to make the other students wince.
Lung simply continued doing what needed to be done.
“…!! …!! …!!”
“We’re almost finished. Endure it for only another thirty minutes.”
“…!!”
“This is why you shouldn’t have sought power through the Unorthodox Path. Tsk, tsk…”
Ex swore that he would never increase his abilities through the status window again.
***
And so passed a hellish week.
『Base Stats
Stamina: 1.5 [Increased by 0.4]
Intelligence: 1.7 [Increased by 0.2]
Agility: 1.5 [Increased by 0.4]
Magic Power: 1.2 [Increased by 0.2]
Luck: 1.0
Charm: 1.0』
‘It actually worked… But why did my magic power increase?’
Was it because he had accumulated internal energy in his dantian through the Three Talents Cultivation Method?
He had discovered an unexpected effect.
Of course, the process had involved a great deal of pain, but it had also given him his greatest reward.
‘I can use magic power and internal energy at the same time.’
He could feel the proof of his tier engraved within his mind, the Mana Ring.
There was one ring.
That meant he was still Tier 1.
His dantian was at the third-rate level.
There was no exact comparison, but if he had to describe it, it was roughly equivalent to 1-Star.
‘Tier 1 and 1-Star.’
Even that much had already produced results far beyond what he deserved.
His future seemed to stretch out before him like a smooth, unobstructed road.
With the professors’ assistance, he would be able to grow even faster.
However…
‘But my entire week has become way too busy…’
On weekdays, Roxwell’s spars, which were closer to outright beatings, left his body in ruins.
On weekends, he had to study independently to prove his academic competence and complete all the assignments that had piled up.
‘If I do anything more than this, I’m actually going to die from overwork!’
According to the status window, his routine was effective.
It just wasn’t a life fit for a human being.
‘More importantly, when is the Fallon episode supposed to begin?’
As always, Ex endured another beating from Roxwell and attended Professor Hans’s class.
The lesson proceeded without incident, and soon it was nearly time for class to end.
“Good. That will be all for today’s lesson. Spend the remaining time training individually or sparring at your own discretion.”
Ex was swinging his sword alone when it happened.
『[Remove ‘Author Points’] Required Points: 50,500』
『Notification. The scenario will undergo major revisions.』
The status window appeared without warning.
The moment Ex read the notification, his anxiety shot through the roof.
‘The scenario is being changed? What does that mean?’
There was no way for him to determine exactly what had been altered.
His head tingled with unease, but he forced himself to remain calm.
‘First, I need to assess the situation.’
Ex tensed and waited for something to change.
He prepared himself not to be surprised no matter what sort of chaos the status window caused.
But even after some time passed, nothing happened.
Instead, he felt an inexplicable sense of wrongness.
‘…What is it? Something’s missing.’
It didn’t take him long to realize what it was.
‘No. Don’t tell me…! It didn’t do something that insane, did it?’
Ex immediately approached Hans.
“Professor, did a student named Fallon not come to class today?”
Fallon was supposed to be taking this class.
Ex had been attending it for some time and had consistently kept an eye on Fallon’s movements.
But now Fallon was nowhere to be seen.
It was possible he had simply gone to the restroom, but Ex couldn’t afford to dismiss the matter so carelessly.
Hans looked confused by Ex’s question.
“Fallon? Who is Fallon?”
The meaning of that answer was unmistakable.
Fallon had disappeared.
In other words, Leon’s growth event would never occur.
–TL Notes–
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Or maybe Ex take the class spot that Falon was supposed to take?