Chapter 32
After Leon’s group left.
Iri plopped down in her seat with a grumble.
With her arms crossed, she kept tapping her own forearm with a finger. Her body language made it clear just how furious she was, the anger shooting straight up to the tips of her hair.
“……Seriously, they’re nothing but trash.”
Saying she wanted to quit the Academy herself?
Wasn’t that basically saying they’d make her feel like quitting? What a ridiculous threat. Did they think she’d be scared by that?
To exaggerate a bit, she almost felt like she’d gladly pay to see just how fancy their harassnt could get.
But compared to what she’d gone through in the Fallen Sector, it would be nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
‘You picked the wrong person to ss with.’
She let out a hearty sneer inwardly.
Unfortunately, the food she’d gone through the trouble of getting had gone a little cold. As if venting her frustration, Iri began shoveling the food into her mouth without restraint.
Then—
She noticed sothing odd about Miyu.
“What’s wrong? Did sothing happen?”
“Um… well…”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Even the chanical tail attached to her rear hung limp, drooping lifelessly.
“Honestly…”
Iri let out a sigh.
She might not have Aaron’s ability to see right through people, but reading what was on Miyu’s mind wasn’t all that difficult.
“Don’t pay attention to guys like that. Just eat your breakfast. They can’t do anything to us anyway.”
“B-but…”
“I said ignore them, didn’t I? Think about it. If they were that great, would they have needed to co mobbing in like that?”
She had never seen a skilled person who needed to run around in a pack. If they had real confidence in their abilities, they wouldn’t rely on numbers.
“Besides, you’ve got the choice here. What if you just joined another group? They wouldn’t be able to treat you carelessly then.”
“Mm…”
Iri spoke with certainty.
Only then did Miyu’s face relax a little, as if she felt sowhat reassured, but there still seed to be sothing weighing on her mind. She spoke again, worry in her tone.
“B-but even if I’m fine, Iri, you…”
“? I don’t care. Let them try whatever they want. Like I’d just sit still for it.”
She would show them exactly how nasty the temper of a Fallen Sector native they so despised could be.
“Got it? So stop worrying so much and just act like usual. When the person who picked us cos back, they’ll be crawling at our feet, pretending none of this ever happened.”
At that mont—
A system ssage popped up in Iri’s vision. She thought maybe she’d received a mail, but it wasn’t that.
[System Error]
[Oh? You sure sound confident.]
[Looks like you still haven’t learned your lesson.]
[Let give you just a little taste.]
“…What?”
The sudden situation—
Before she could even figure out what was happening, an overwhelming flood of warning ssages filled Iri’s vision.
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
……
……
……
-----
At the sa ti—
“Uwaaaah!”
Bzzzzt!
Sparks burst from the back of Iri’s neck.
It was the spot where her brother’s keepsake, the Combat Module, was plugged in. Acrid smoke rose from the socket, and Iri, unable to bear the pain, collapsed back into her seat.
“I-Iri!”
Murmurs spread.
The sudden commotion threw the dormitory cafeteria into a stir. Even in her dazed state, Iri frantically scanned the surroundings, trying to find the culprit.
‘It… it has to be those bastards…!’
This was definitely a hack.
That study group must have had a skilled ‘Techno-Wizard’ among them.
‘I… I need to find that wizard, fast…!’
She had to locate the culprit and subdue them quickly.
But her vision was completely obscured by an overwhelming flood of system warning ssages. She couldn’t even make out what was in front of her.
And then—
“Kyaaaaaaaaah!”
This ti, her whole body grew hot.
It felt like her blood was boiling.
Her breathing beca increasingly labored, and her consciousness grew hazy. Her vision was still blocked by the wall of system warnings.
At that mont—
One ssage appeared at the very top.
-----
[System Warning: Security Vulnerability!!]
[You’re the one who picked the wrong opponent.]
[You should have done better from the start.]
[Looks like your Academy life is about to get a lot more fun.]
-----
“Da… damn… bas… tards…!”
“Iri! Iri!”
Miyu’s desperate cries sounded so far away. And then, Iri’s consciousness sank deep into darkness.
* * *
“Guess it’s about ti I head back.”
Three days after entering the hunting ground.
I decided it was ti to leave.
Originally, I’d planned to drag out my ti here a bit longer, but it didn’t seem like there was anything more worth gaining.
‘The types of [Arcane] that show up here, the rewards… from the start, this hunting ground just wasn’t suited to my specs.’
Since I couldn’t use my knowledge of the original work here, I had been overly tense, but once I actually entered, it turned out to be so dull I thought I’d die of boredom.
And for good reason.
The difficulty was far too low.
“Kieeeek! Kieeeek!”
“Shut up.”
Slash.
With a flick of my finger, the head of the Forest Goblin screeching beside flew off. Maybe it had been trying to convey sothing, but since we couldn’t communicate, it was nothing but noise to .
The rest of the goblins, seeing that, fell flat to the ground in terror.
Here in the Violet Hunting Ground, the ruling force was a band of Forest Goblins.
When I first encountered them, I had gone all out in caution—only to kill about 80% of their group in an instant.
Later, I realized that among the corpses were a Goblin Lord? Champion? I wasn’t quite sure, but so of them had clearly been of higher rank.
Once I’d taken out their leader, the rest began to obey . With the intelligence of a small child, they were perfect for running errands.
Ah, and my murderous urge had subsided as well.
I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because I had slaughtered so many goblins on the first day?
But if just killing monsters could quell that urge, then why, in the original story, had Aaron hunted only humans?
For now, I had no answer.
Anyway—
‘That’s why I got bored so fast…’
Left to themselves, the goblins brought food and hunted down any other [Arcane] they spotted nearby.
Because I’d beheaded them all in our first encounter, they seed to think I enjoyed eating animal heads.
When I told them to bring food, they brought back animal heads—so I killed them as an example. After that, they started bringing proper food.
Of course, so resisted.
One tried to stab my heart with a spear while I was sleeping. But I already had [Tungsten Skin], and their weapons couldn’t pierce my subdermal armor.
I killed the ones who disturbed my rest and threw in a few more for good asure. After that, no one dared to run around wielding weapons.
‘So then they changed tactics.’
On the second day, so of them brought poisonous plants they could eat but humans couldn’t, as if it were food.
On a hunch, I had them taste it first—they ate it just fine. Feeling reassured, I tried it myself, only for a system ssage to pop up warning “Poison.”
Thankfully, the filter from [Poison Immunity] kept safe, though my tongue went numb. I made another example of them with a fresh round of killing, and less than a tenth of the group was left.
‘This was never the place for .’
With only low-rank [Arcane] here, there was nothing worth farming, and the modules the goblins looted from other [Arcane] were all junk.
‘If the quality’s this low, no wonder there’s not even any distortion phenonon.’
The “mana” released by [Arcane] has the power to drive humans mad and warp reality.
Because mana affects the body at the cellular level, an ordinary human without nanomachines, if directly exposed, will have their entire body grotesquely transford.
That’s why Adaptees are essential when dealing with monsters—but the concentration here was so thin it didn’t affect in the slightest.
Even with civilian-grade nanomachines, you’d probably walk away just fine.
More than anything, the worst part was the food and sleeping arrangents. For —soone who had gone through winter field training in the army—they were tolerable, but for the refined body of Aaron Stingray, it probably felt like dying would be better.
Regardless, even if I had co here just to lay low and drag things out, I had no desire to continue living like this.
‘At least I won’t be returning empty-handed…’
I had gained two things here.
One was a module, and the other was a special device.
First, I took out the module to check it.
It was sothing I’d obtained this morning, when the goblins had tried to feed to a monster called a “Mimic” in their cave.
After wiping out both the Mimic and the goblins, the Mimic had spat out a module.
【Arcane】
[Lv.2 Mimic]
Changes appearance.
‘If I have this, I won’t need to hole up in a hunting ground anymore.’
With the ability to change my appearance, I could freely roam the city while hiding the fact that I was Aaron Stingray.
Of course, I’d still have to be careful not to expose my Civilian ID, but at least I wouldn’t have to live this kind of wild life.
‘And then there’s this thing…’
I hadn’t expected to find it here.
A tallic device sat in my palm, shaped like a disk with insect legs attached.
On the first day, after killing goblins left and right, one of them had dropped it.
Thanks to its distinctive design, I recognized imdiately what it was for—even though it was my first ti seeing the real thing.
‘Didn’t expect to find a Liberator here.’
The Liberator.
Also known as “the Emancipator.”
It’s the key item that triggers the “Rebellion of the Academy Androids” episode in Act 3 of Part 1.
‘This isn’t supposed to be here…’
Normally, this should be in the possession of the anti-technology cultists from the sect known as Ashita-kyo, not in my hands.
‘Why were goblins holding sothing that could completely overturn the scenario order?’
Was it because this dungeon was designed for players to prepare for the main scenario? If not…
‘Let’s not overthink it. I’ll find out once I leave.’
For now, I should focus on Act 1, the matter of Iri and the Titans.
‘Let’s head back.’
As soon as I decided that—
I summoned the Violet Groundskeeper.
A robot like sothing out of a children’s cartoon was projected in front of .
The goblins, startled by the sight, made a racket—so I killed them. I let the ones who ran away go.
[Greetings. How may I assist you?]
“I want to go back.”
[Please state your coordinates.]
“Trinity Academy. Sowhere deserted.”
[You will be transported to a random coordinate in a deserted area inside the Academy. Is that acceptable?]
“Yes.”
[Ending the hunt. Thank you for your efforts.]
With the groundskeeper’s farewell—
My vision shifted.
When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted by a dark corridor. Judging by the markings on the wall, I seed to be near the general dormitory wing.
‘Perfect timing.’
It had only been three days since I’d returned, yet the Academy’s closed-in interior felt oddly nostalgic.
But I didn’t have ti to get sentintal.
‘This isn’t the ti for that.’
If soone who’d been reported missing outside suddenly appeared here, it would cause quite a commotion.
‘It’s not ti for to show up yet.’
Carefully scanning my surroundings, I equipped the newly obtained [Mimic] module.
Replacent Rate: 57%
Overload Rate: 69% (Caution)
‘Looks like I can’t use this often.’
Changing my entire appearance had sharply raised the replacent rate, and the overload rate was no joke either.
Still, here in the Academy, there was little risk of being ambushed, so I wasn’t too worried.
“Module Online, [Mimic].”
When I activated the [Mimic] module and pictured the image in my head, skin rapidly ford over from the area around my heart. My height shrank slightly, and my facial bone structure changed.
I moved to a nearby bathroom and looked into the mirror. Standing there was a handso man who bore a strong resemblance to Aaron Stingray. Even my clothes had changed—no longer my usual pitch-black suit, but sothing with a touch more style.
The jet-black hair and gold-inlaid eyes reflected in the mirror made it clear the two of us were brothers.
‘Not bad.’
The change in physique made feel a bit awkward at first. I moved my limbs around to get used to the body, and finally tried my voice.
“Ah, ah.”
The voice had changed too.
At first it cracked a little, but soon a deep, resonant tone ca out. Wearing the most villainous smile I could muster, I murmured—
“My na is Benedict Stingray.”
The second son of the Stingray Family.
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