Chapter 57_Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy

After the professor told us to take a break and left, I immediately got up from my seat.

 I had already nned my course of action in my head, so there was no hesitation.

 When Soul Academy begins, there are specific tasks that yers need toplete.

 First, you need to choose the courses you will take.

 Attending sses in Soul Academy rapidly increases your proficiency in the rted subjects, making course selection one of the most crucial aspects of the game.

 I didn’t have to think twice about this.

 The courses a blunt weapon tank should take are already determined.

 Next, I needed to gather useful items that could be obtained at the start of Soul Academy.

 After all, Soul Academy is still a game.

 So, you can’t get overpowered items right from the start.

 Even the mace I’m currently holding, Luel’s Mace, is something you normally wouldn’t acquire until your second year when you can leave the academy.

 However, among the less remarkable items, there are some that are quite useful early on.

 I was nning to go collect those now.

 "Where are you going?"

 Startled by the voice behind me, I stopped and turned around to see Freyr following closely behind me. She really surprised me.

 Since when has she been following me?!

 <You didn’t notice?> ''Of course, I didn’t! Why didn’t you tell me?!'' 

 Grandpa! Do I seem like such a terrible person to you?

 I may be using harshnguage because of the skill, but I’m not a bad person!

 Sure, I find Freyr a bit annoying, but I don’t show it openly!

 "Hmm?"

 Freyr’s voice snapped me back to reality.

 Sigh. What can I say to someone who doesn’t even realize they’ve done something wrong?

 It’s all Grandpa’s fault for not telling me.

 ''The library.'' "Library."

 "The library? Why are you going there?"

 ''What’s wrong with me going to the library?'' "What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with me going to the library?"

 "It’s boring there."

 Is that it?

 I guess the library is boring.

 I can’t argue with that, especially considering I used to use the school library as a ce to nap.

 "Instead, why don’t youe with me to the training grounds? It’ll be fun."

 ''Sorry, but...'' "Hah. Useless swordswoman, unlike you, I’m not that free."

 "Too bad. Okay."

 Freyr answered and then turned around to leave.

 She walks so quietly that I didn’t even hear her following me earlier.

 <So, why are you going to the library? You’re not the type to study.> ''I do study when I need to!'' <Do you now? I clearly remember you falling asleep the moment you opened a book.>

 Th-that was because I didn’t have a solid foundation!

 If I’m taught well from the beginning, I can study just fine!

 <Enough with the nonsense. Just tell me why you’re going to the library.> ''...To get an artifact.'' <Did you receive a revtion from Armadi?> ''Yes.''

 In reality, Armadi hasn’t done anything for me, but it was easier to use that excuse with Grandpa.

 It was more convenient than trying to exin that I’m someone who got transported into a game.

 <Hmm. So Armadi is looking after his apostle, it seems.> ''...Yes.''

 It annoyed me that my knowledge was being credited to Armadi, but I had no other choice.

 Damn it. One day, I’ll reveal that Armadi is just a useless, ipetent, sadistic deity.

 When I opened the door to the library and stepped inside, a familiar scene greeted me.

 I used to leave my character here all day when I was raising a magic-based character.

 I’m d I decided to be a tank.

 If I had chosen a job that required too much thinking, I’d have had to endure all that hardship myself.

 Better to have a tired body than a tired mind, right?

 I entered the library without asking for directions and headed straight to where I needed to go.

 If I look at the third row from the bottom of the C62 shelf… there it is.

 "A Dissertation on the Fountain of Mana."

 Seeing the title, I immediately opened the book to thest page.

 There it was, just as I had expected.

 [To the junior who has read this dissertation.] [Thank you for taking the time to look into my foolish research. I’ve hidden a special mechanism in this book just for you. If you write a specific word in the nk below, you’ll receive an amazing gift. The clue to this word is that it’s the key term in all my dissertations! Good luck!]

 <ul>

 <li>Ding</li>

 </ul>

 [Kerta’s Gift] [Solve the book’s riddle] [Reward: ???]

 Great.

 Kerta’s Gift is one of the hidden quests in Soul Academy that you can obtain by searching the library.

 The quest seems insignificant, but when the game was first released, this quest was a nightmare for yers.

 Kerta, who left a significant mark on the field of magic, wrote hundreds of dissertations, and finding themon word among them seemed almost impossible.

 Many yers who loved solving puzzles gathered to offer their opinions, but the quest wasn’t easily solved.

 As time passed and yers grew tired, many began to specte that the quest was bugged.

 Then, someone finally managed to clear the quest and posted proof.

 People were shocked.

 Because the person who cleared the quest wasn’t some veteran yer but a newbie.

 The excited veteran yers swarmed the newbie with questions.

 How on earth did you clear it?

 The newbie responded simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 "Isn’t the key to a dissertation obviously the author?"

 That’s right. The answer to this damned puzzle wasn’t academic at all.

 It was a nonsense riddle.

 That moment was truly deting.

 I ended up cracking open a bottle of soju that night because of how empty I felt.

 "Kerta Bulcan."

 [Quest Cleared!] [Reward granted.]

 After writing that name, a magic circle lit up behind the bookshelf, and a ring popped out from its center.

 When I used the appraisal skill on the ring, a message window appeared before me.

 [Kerta’s Ring] [A ring inscribed with numerous magic circles on the underside. It radiates a mysterious power.]

 Since my appraisal proficiency is low, the description isn’t fully revealed, but the ring has the following effect:

 It reduces the mana consumption of all skills by 20%.

 It’s not an amazing effect, and in theter stages, when stats are maxed out, it bes obsolete. But right now, it’s different.

 At this point, I can only use Armadi’s Touch five times before running out of mana.

 For someone with such poor mana reserves, Kerta’s Ring is a valuable item.

 Moreover, this ringter bes a trigger for an important quest.

 I should definitely hold on to it.

 As I slipped Kerta’s Ring onto my thumb, it resized itself to fit my finger perfectly.

 As expected of a ring crafted by a great mage!@@novelbin@@

 Admiring the ring on my finger, I nced at the clock hanging in the library.

 It’s almost 4 PM.

 Is time really flying by this fast?

 Realizing I didn’t have any time to waste, I quickly moved on.

 After that, I moved nonstop, exploring various parts of Soul Academy.

 I was busy epting quests and searching for hidden items scattered around the academy.

 Of the two, the process of receiving quests involved a lot of hardship and obstacles.

 The problem was my reputation and the Mesugaki speech.

 In the game version of Soul Academy, it didn’t matter who you talked to; they would give you a quest. But in reality, it’s different.

 People don’t even bother asking someone as unreliable as me for favors.

 On the other hand, finding items was easy.

 Who knew it would be so wonderful not to have to interact with anyone?

 After roughly finishing what I needed to do in the academy, I headed to thest ce on my list—the training grounds of Soul Academy.

 Since it was the first day of the entrance ceremony, most of the people training here, bathed in the sunset, were those who had already been attending the academy.

 Most freshmen are probably having dinner with new friends in the academy’s cafeteria or struggling to n their schedules.

 But, of course, not everyone is like that.

 There are always outliers.

 Freyr, who had suggested Ie to the training grounds, was training alone in a corner, swinging her sword.

 She was so focused that her lifeless eyes were solely fixated on the sword in front of her.

 What was even more impressive was that there was a circle of sweat beneath her from all the sword swings.

 Has she been swinging her sword since the moment I turned her down?

 She’s a training fanatic.

 I feel a bit of a connection with her.

 I spent every day like that back in the Allen family’s territory.

 Perhaps sensing my gaze, Freyr paused her swings and looked at me nkly.

 Then, life returned to her eyes, and she quickly lowered her sword and dashed over to me.

 "Did youe to spar?!"

 ''I said we’d do it tomorrow.'' "Useless swordswoman, is your memory as short as a goldfish’s? I said tomorrow."

 "Then why are you here?"

 ''I’m here to meet someone.'' "I need to find a useless senior."

 "A useless senior?"

 A kind senior who guides the protagonist using the training grounds for the first time.

 But he’s also a pitiful NPC who always got beaten up by yers because he drops a good skill if you beat him in a fight.

 As a seasoned yer of Soul Academy, I came here to mess with him.

 Since it’s evening, he should be showing up at the training grounds around now.

 Ah, there he is.

 I spotted him in the center, holding a wooden sword and looking around.

 I immediately approached him.

 When he saw me approaching, he hesitated and took a step back in surprise, but I spoke to him before he could run away.

 ''Excuse me.'' "Hey."

 "Yes?!"

 ''You’re a third-year senior, right?'' "You look like a fool, so I’ll ask. Are you a third-year senior?"

 "...Yes, I am."

 ''Would you spar with me?'' "You seem like a decent warm-up, so how about it, fool senior? Spar with me?"

 The man’s forehead bulged with veins as he heard my tant provocation.

 Good. He’s mad enough not to back down.

 "Hey."

 Just as I was thinking that the quest was going to go smoothly, Freyr, who had followed me around, spoke up.

 "Why are you sparring with this weakling? It won’t be fun. Spar with me instead."

 ''I refuse...'' "No. This fool senior looks like the perfect warm-up today. Useless swordswoman, go y by yourself."

 "Bullying the weak is wrong. The strong should fight the strong."

 ''That’s why...'' "That’s why I..."

 As I tried to convince Freyr to go away, I noticed the man ring at me with a heated expression.

 "Do all freshmen think they’re special?! I’m a third-year senior!"

 <ul>

 <li>Ding</li>

 </ul>

 [Shatter Senior''s stomach]

 [Take down a third-year senior.]

 [Reward: Skill ''Underdog'']

 I didn’t mean to provoke him, but things are going well.

17kNovel

Chapter 57