Chapter 6: I didn't mean for this to happen…..(1)
I stared into Ishmael's eyes.
She stared right back into mine.
"Wha——?"
At my dumb question, Ishmael repeated herself once more.
"I said there seems to be a lot I could learn from you."
"Me, me?"
"Yes. You."
Just what…… could that be?
As if she sensed my bewildered gaze, she opened her mouth.
"It's just…… I was told to seek knowledge from someone who seems to have something worth learning."
"But…… I'm E-rank."
"I know. That's actually why I think there's even more to learn."
"How so?"
"Because you enrolled in Arion Academy despite being E-rank. That means there's something special about you that others don't have."
"Is…… that so?"
"Even if you asked me about it, there's nothing in particular I could answer."
"Well, that's true, but……."
Hmm……. What do I do about this.
I've gone and attracted some strange attention.
"Uh…… hey. Ishmael?"
"Yes."
"What exactly is it you want to learn from me?"
"That…… we'll have to figure out step by step."
I opened my mouth to argue—
Beep beep beep!
Ishmael's phone rang first.
"Ah, one moment."
She immediately turned her head and began speaking in a hushed whisper.
"Yes. ……Again? Yes. I'll be right there."
Ishmael hung up the phone and waved goodbye to me.
"I'll be heading off first."
"Oh, oh. Sure, take care."
I watched Ishmael disappear into the distance and slowly went on my way.
—Perception (D~) Time until reuse: 5:22:48
Hmm…… That'll be cutting it close.
So what am I going to do next, you ask?
It wasn't part of the original plan.
But gaining Perception changed the story.
Before that, though…….
I ducked my head down sharply.
A small pebble passed through the space where my head had just been.
"Even an E-rank is still a Superhuman, huh?"
A cocky voice coming from the direction the pebble had flown from.
I silently turned around.
The fixed event you always encounter when you start as E-rank.
The Noble Punk Quintet.
A truly, truly annoying event.
A useless event that gives no real reward to speak of, yet takes an absurdly long time to fight through.
On top of that, there's no way to avoid it either.
No matter where you hide, they find you somehow.
If they can't find you today, they come tomorrow; if not tomorrow, the day after—and they'll come pick a fight until you have to battle them.
But once you shake them off, they never latch back on again.
So just deal with it quick and……
"Whether it's a lack of upbringing, or something else—to think an E-rank would even consider attending Arion Academy……."
"Exactly, it's really lowering the standards."
The guys said that as they slowly approached me.
I just stood there with a terror-stricken expression, completely frozen.
No—I had no choice but to stand there.
"Heh heh! You'd do well to quietly drop out. That is, if you don't want to die."
Their lips curled up another notch, apparently thinking I was frightened because of them.
Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not scared because of you lot.
No—I'm not scared at all.
I'm just flustered.
Rooooar!
With my enhanced Perception, I could sense it.
The Bloodlust radiating off the person walking over there.
A woman with dark brown hair.
With emotionless eyes, she opened her mouth.
"What do you think you're doing?"
A bone-chilling cold radiated from her voice.
At that voice, they spun around in startled surprise.
"Y-Yoon Se-a!"
"Ha ha…… n-no need to worry here! That vermin over there, we'll handle——"
THWACK!
Yoon Se-a threw a punch without a moment's hesitation.
In sync with it, the guy's head snapped to the side.
Not just snapped—his entire body was launched into the air and sent flying.
"Wh-what——!"
The others were no different.
One punch per person, and one person per punch went flying.
It took less than one minute for all five of them to be knocked out cold.
Soon she walked straight toward me, staring directly at me, and then——
"Eeek! W-wait, calm down first! L-let's talk it out! Y-yeah! Let's talk it out like civilized peopleee!"
As I stumbled backward, I tripped without even realizing it.
No, what's the problem here!
Coming at me with a face that terrifying actually scares me, you know!
"Han Tae-won."
"Y-yeah."
"If something like this happens again, just tell me."
"Huh?"
"Don't do anything dangerous."
Her two hands trembled.
Even though she wasn't clenching her fists.
Even though the strength had drained completely from her hands.
Her hands trembled.
It might have been her whole body trembling.
But……
"Understood."
What else could I say but that?
And so, thanks to Yoon Se-a, the tedious event came to an end, but……
It felt like a great wave had crashed over me and swept on past.
My head is spinning.
"Phew! For now, let's head back to the Dormitory……."
And so I trudged my way along.
.
.
.
.
Yoon Se-a came to a painful realization that she was powerless.
Back during the mirror incident, and now during this Simulation too.
She was always one beat too late.
If only she had swung her sword a little faster, if only she had pressed forward a little quicker.
She could have saved Han Tae-won.
Yesterday—the state Han Tae-won was in when he emerged from the mirror……
It was an absolute wreck.
His body was covered in wounds all over, and especially his knee—whatever had struck it, the wound was so deep it was nearly down to the bone.
There was also a shallow wound on his chest.
If she had broken the mirror even a moment later.
It was a wound that made her think his heart might have been run clean through.
Seeing that, Yoon Se-a…… became certain of one thing.
Someone inside the Academy wants Han Tae-won dead. Or they're trying to corrupt him.
It made no sense to begin with.
The Han Tae-won she knew could never become a Villain.
You could tell just by looking at what Han Tae-won had done in today's Simulation alone.
That image of him throwing himself forward, knowing full well he'd be in danger.
It was the image of a Superhuman that anyone could look up to.
And he was the same original Han Tae-won she knew.
Not the Han Tae-won who became the worst Villain.
Learning the truth she hadn't known before, she clenched both fists tightly.
……Truth be told, she already knew it herself.
That she had no right to resent him.
How could she resent him, when she had done nothing but stand by and watch whatever happened to him at the Academy?
So…… surely, until Han Tae-won became that way in the future.
There must have been some incident she didn't know about—or had chosen not to know about.
So.
"I need information."
She secretly followed Han Tae-won from behind and confirmed he had entered the Dormitory.
Then she called someone.
"Manager. Please prepare a few Artifacts for me. Right now."
.
.
.
.
—Perception (D~) 2:33:29
Good.
Having waited this long……
All preparations are complete.
I slowly slipped out of the Dormitory.
Not through the main gate—through a back gap in the fence.
Just in case Yoon Se-a might follow again, it'd be a problem.
If Yoon Se-a is serious about concealing her presence, even my Perception can't catch her.
So…… it's enough to simply leave in a way where we can't cross paths to begin with.
Ha ha ha! She wouldn't have seen this coming.
I slipped out of the Dormitory like that.
No—I even scaled over the Academy's outer wall.
There aren't even CCTVs here.
The only record of my movements is entering the lower-tier Dormitory and not coming back out.
So……
From here on, I can act as freely as I like.
I casually passed right by the subway station.
I'm deliberately trying not to leave a trail.
Taking the subway, surrounded by cameras on all sides, into the city centre?
That would render all my efforts so far completely pointless.
It's a long walk to get there.
But to build stamina, and to leave no trace behind.
Might as well do both at once.
That thought—I came to regret it within just 30 minutes.
"Hoo-aack! Hah! Heugh!"
I-I'm going to die!
Seriously!
This god-forsaken mountain, I swear!
I am going the right way.
I can say that with confidence.
But the one thing I'd overlooked was.
That this game, if you don't use fast travel, actually makes you move in genuine real time—making it an absolute garbage heap of a game.
Of course it had to be realistic in all the wrong places.
"Oh lord! I'm dying."
But I can't stop my feet.
The faster I go, the better.
The mountain path was steep to begin with.
And the undergrowth was so dense that the leaves were actually cutting into my skin.
After walking for who knows how long.
—Perception (D~) Now available!
The moment that notification window appeared, the city came into view.
"Made it."
From here I quickened my pace even more.
The closer to the city, the flatter the ground became.
And my destination wasn't here but deeper into the urban centre.
A dazzling street.
The streetlamps were well-maintained, so even at night it wasn't dark.
But I paid that street no attention whatsoever and walked straight ahead.
And then…… the Old Quarter appeared.
A place with some streetlamps that had gone out, dirty ground, and few people.
Where rats scurried about freely, and the sewers reeked to high heaven.
That kind of place.
Vivid neon signs would flash here and there.
There were places where doors were flung open and people were hurled out as if thrown.
But I ignored all of that and kept walking.
Where I was headed was neither the White Zone, nor the Grey Zone.
The Black Zone.
In other words, a den of criminals.
Wait?
Is it fine for a villain's den to be right in front of the Academy?
That question might cross your mind.
But of course there are no major Villains in a place like this.
They couldn't even get in to begin with.
Even Academy cadets sometimes can't freely obtain what they want.
When that happens……
Following the advice of seniors they know, each in their own way finds a route to the Black Market.
The underground market, in other words—and they go to obtain whatever materials or equipment they need.
Because in the Black Market, if it doesn't exist there, it doesn't exist anywhere.
I walked on in silence.
Because the Hidden Piece I had decided to obtain this time was there too.
After walking a little further, the entrance to a sewer large enough for a good fifteen or so people to walk through came into view.
The smell, and the filth caked onto it, were no joke.
But I walked in without hesitation.
After walking some distance through the sewer entrance.
A door appeared.
Naturally, being in the sewer, it was filthy.
But look closely.
It was dirty in a way that remarkably avoided the hinges.
No—it felt more like decorative pieces had been added to make the hinges look deliberately dirty.
I pushed that door without hesitation.
And an entirely different world unfolded.
A different world, literally.
I walked on without hesitation.
"Cheap! Great deal! D-rank gear for just 50,000 Points!"
"Elixirs! We've got Elixirs!"
"Selling secondhand weapons!"
A scene no different from a full-on marketplace.
Well, it was a real marketplace after all, so that made sense.
I took a Cloak out of my Inventory.
Not bought—found lying around.
As long as it could cover my face, that'd do.
I walked on like that.
Past the crowded areas, toward the gradually narrowing alleyways.
No matter how tucked away an alley was, there were always people passed out drunk or high on drugs.
But the alley I was walking through had none of that.
"Hmm hmm~."
I hummed softly to myself as I walked the path.
The alleyways slithered around me.
As if guiding me somewhere, paths appeared and vanished over and over.
Following the guidance of that path.
At its end.
Some kind of iron-barred gate appeared.
And beyond that iron gate, there was nothing but deep darkness.
On top of that, I could sense Mana from beyond that iron gate.
Mana that was anything but natural.
An unmistakably artificial form—and I found myself smiling without realizing it.
"I've arrived at the right place."
I carefully pushed the iron gate.
Creeeeak!
The iron gate opened with an ominous sound.
I walked without hesitation into the pitch-black darkness.