Thanks to the tear-jerking action show by Senior Burte Glass, I learned that the Man’s Representative had sent assassins.
“Let’s take care of this right now.”
“There should be some leftover cores from the Director.”
“Hey, you don’t have to go that far!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at Isabel and Jezel’s commotion. Seeing everyone worry about me made me realize they no longer thought of me as Fake Oknodie; a sense of relief washed over me, feeling like I had regained my true place.
It felt like when my boss scolded me… but somehow it was comforting, like getting that sweet scratch on an itch when I overheard some juicy gossip about them.
Jezel and Isabel’s feedback about the counseling service was very satisfying!
Customer satisfaction was off the charts!
“The Man’s Representative has only been hit first and is venting their anger.”
“Even so, they sent assassins and infiltrated the Academy. This is no ordinary matter. The risk is even greater given that homunculi could have fallen to the assassins.”
“Exactly! That’s why I asked the professor for help! The security in the Academy has been totally compromised lately. So, they agreed to take a look!”
Jezel seemed relieved that a professor was stepping in, but Isabel looked even more anxious.
“A professor is still just a professor. Which one did you ask, Oknodie?”
“All the professors who looked bored!”
“?”
When a person hears something shocking, their brain refuses to comprehend it. No way. That can’t be possible! It must be a hallucination. A mental auto-censorship kicks in.
Boom Kaboosh…
Just then, an explosion occurred from afar. Isabel hurried over and saw a clone repeatedly healing and disappearing in the crater of the massive explosion. The brightness of the scene was painful to behold, and I wondered if Titosso was firing a Titos Beam from somewhere, but Titosso herself arrived, dragging a Light Stand along.
“We have a professor at our Academy who shines as brightly as you, Titosso?”
“I don’t know! Who on earth is that?!”
“It’s Professor Aktrus!”
I casually nudged the profile inside the Mana Board, and Titosso and Isabel eagerly examined it.
━━━
[Professor Aktrus]
Full Name: Aktrus de Solis
[Main Positions and Roles]
– Fourth Year Supervising Professor: Responsible for the students’ final year, tasked with bringing their magic skills to the highest level.
– Explosion Studies Professor: The foremost authority on explosion magic, teaching both theory and practice.
– Creator of Fusion Magic Studies: Established innovative studies merging various magical powers into one.
…
…
– Ultimate Magician of the Empire: Recognized as the most powerful magician within the Empire.
– The most powerful magician in the history of the Empire.
– Former Minister of Magic: Led the Empire’s Magic Department, overseeing magical policy.
– Former Elder of the Magic Department: Participated as a member of the highest decision-making body of the Magic Department.
…
…
– Legend of Magical Duels: Won all 30 magical duels, proving overwhelming prowess by killing opponents in 13 of them.
– All-White Man: A figure with immunity from any legal penalties.
– Pope of the Sun Church: The highest leader of the Sun Church that worships the one true god, Sofemia of the Sun.
━━━
A true powerhouse fitting the title of the Empire’s ultimate magician. Just looking at his history makes it clear that he wasn’t appointed by some decree by the Seonhwang but rose to professorship purely based on his skills.
“What is this…? Is he even human?”
“Goodness. To think such a powerhouse still exists in the Empire.”
“Hey, Oknodie. Am I going to learn from this person when I get to the fourth year?”
“Absolutely not!”
Titosso’s face blossomed into a smile at my words.
“Phew. Really? I thought I was going to die from the pressure!”
“After special request, Titosso was told to give private lessons starting this year!”
“…Is this for real?”
“Yeah! It’s the real deal!”
“I hate you, Oknodie!”
Titosso, wielding the Light Stand haphazardly, started to float in the air. Surprised, she flailed around, but Professor Aktrus glared at her with a strict gaze that could prick a drop of blood from her.
Isabel was astonished by the way Titosso’s incoming tears were abruptly stopped just by that look.
“He silenced Titosso’s tear attack just with his gaze!”
“Titosso needs to break her habit of thinking any crying will solve her problems!”
Titosso’s face displayed betrayal.
“Oknodie, how could you do this to me!”
“Titosso, second year. Are you dissatisfied with the teachings I provide?”
“Hic! Professor… um, I mean… is it rude to wonder if it’s too early for a second-year student like me to be taught by a fourth-year professor?”
“Be quiet.”
“Uhh…”
In a fluster, Titosso was taken away by Professor Aktrus, floating into the air.
“Is this really how it goes?”
“There’s a dedicated professor for Isabel, so you don’t have to feel envious!”
Isabel gasped as if she had heard something unbelievable.
“Me? Why?!”
“Cooking with Demon Realm Cuisine professor’s class on specialized demon dishes!”
“!!”
“Possible illegal acquisition of visionary cuisine from a family of expedition members!”
“Ugh, to bribe me with such a delicious opportunity. There’s no way I can refuse…”
Watching my classmates grow ambitious filled me with pride. With my fast growth rate, I need to work hard not to fall behind.
“I might even graduate next year, and if I do it alone, it’ll be lonely. So you all need to catch up!”
“Graduation… right. We’ll graduate someday. What are you going to do once you graduate, Oknodie?”
Isabel asked about the post-graduation plans. Hmm, what about that? Is it time to seriously ponder that? Even though it’s a year and a half away, it does get the gears in my head turning.
“Are you going to rebuild the Foundation again?”
“Not really!”
“Then?”
“Perhaps I’ll be wandering around rebuilding a shattered world?”
“…A shattered world?”
“Well, as long as a Principal Omoshiroi exists, we can’t graduate in the true ending!”
Players’ interest in the game drops quickly when they graduate. The world is continually struck by disasters caused by the Principal, leading to a trend of graduates inevitably returning to the Academy.
That can’t really be called a true graduation. Once the Principal is gone, next up is a hundred-dimensional crisis.
Even a veteran player like me would be on edge during fierce battles. The world being smashed and needing reconstruction is an unavoidable trend.
As long as there are remnants of humanity left to rebuild the world, I’ll consider myself fortunate.
‘Still, this clear chance is the brightest it has ever been across all playthroughs!’
Especially in this playthrough, my hidden finishing moves are numerous. The one with the highest expectations is precisely this one.
A top-class ghost resembling Lin who can be summoned by merely brushing my finger against the ring.
Fake Lin.
A monster imitating the form of Sing’s younger sister.
As it identifies itself as Sing’s younger sister Lin, its concentrated potential grants it even greater power.
Having gobbled up all sorts of ghosts I’ve dealt with so far, Fake Lin’s abilities have grown significantly as well.
As a result, it now possesses a particularly odd talent.
“Lin! Try this on!”
I traced out the name and appearance of the Man’s Representative on the ground. Lin gazed curiously at my doodle, then emitted ominous mana from the tip of her finger.
[Curse Magic]
The curse reflects the effect back to the caster if it fails to activate. Even during the curse’s activation duration, any counter is reflected back onto the caster. The stronger the curse, the longer the duration, and the more considerable damage it inflicts, the stronger the backfire as well.
A curse that can’t certainly kill the enemy might be able to kill the caster anytime.
[Backfire]
[Returning Curse]
Sure enough, empowered by the Man’s defenses, the curse cast on the Man’s Representative returned. But Fake Lin was already dead.
She received a racial affinity bonus that mitigates curse effects by 90%.
Moreover, she had a related feature as well.
[Pass the Buck]
The unique ability of Fake Lin, which she learned by observing my tendency to slyly pass on troublesome, annoying, exhausting, and dangerous tasks to those around me!
She shamelessly transferred the backfiring effects of the curse onto me, despite not recognizing the grace I had bestowed upon her.
However, that was exactly what I wanted.
[You are cursed.]
[You strongly resist the curse.]
[The curse’s duration rapidly decreases.]
[The curse’s power visibly diminishes.]
By swiftly resisting the curse due to a massive amount of mental power and player knowledge, I experienced the curse’s effects quickly diminishing, aided also by the magic circle!
[I overcame the curse.]
[Curse Resistance Experience +15]
It had been challenging to build curse resistance, as I had no one to randomly cast curses on, except for Professor Sadako’s pet tree. Now, I finally had a practice target.
Fake Lin casts a curse.
The Man’s Representative overcomes the curse and rebounds.
Fake Lin uses Passing the Buck to send the curse to me.
I overcome it and increase my curse resistance.
Just repeating this process allows me to comfortably boost my curse resistance while sitting down!
This will prove to be incredibly helpful for training curse resistance during the forthcoming hundred-dimensional incursions.
After all, what are the divine punishments bestowed by the gods?
They’re all just curses.
In other words, boosting my curse resistance makes the effects of divine punishment lessen as well, and various penalties could be significantly reduced or completely eliminated!
“Today, let’s just cast a light curse that blinds the target!”
Of course, if there’s even a brief lapse in defense, the Man’s Representative is done for— but since they’re an antagonistic NPC, I’m not too worried about it.
Thus, I headed to the classroom, ready to gain tons of functional experience again.
“Oknodie. Shall we go together…”
“Ouch.”
Turning around at the voice calling from behind, I stumbled over the stairs as the curse of blindness was still in effect. I should have sensed with mana instead of through my eyes, right?
I quickly adjusted my stance, got up, and greeted as usual, only to find the Mob staring at me, dumbfounded.
“The, that just now…”
“Shhh! It’s a secret!”
The Mob nodded, looking like they were about to cry.
