Chapter 18: Academy Life, Starting with Personality Excretion [R-18]

*

“Mmm~ This jeyuk is fucking delicious.”

It was lunchtime, right after the scarecrow assessment.

The spicy stir-fried pork at the Essol Academy cafeteria was on another level!

Today, I also bought Hena’s seafood pasta, paying her back for the money I borrowed yesterday.

After spending a total of 9 Coins, I was left with 45.

“You really didn’t have to…”

“I’m just repaying the favor.”

“A favor? …For my chest?”

Well, letting me touch her chest was a favor in its own right, but…

“…”

“If you’re going to get that shy, you shouldn’t have said it…”

“It’s embarrassing…”

“I meant the favor of covering for me when I was about to be expelled.”

The reason I could even enjoy this academy life was, in large part, thanks to Hena.

From her perspective, I was just some guy who would have disappeared if she’d just left me alone.

Was that also because of gaslighting?

“Why did you decide to defend me?”

“…”

“You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”

It wasn’t a debt I could repay with a single meal, so I planned to do a little more for her.

I also felt like I needed to be by Hena’s side.

But whether having me, the protagonist of an eroge, stick close to a girl with what the Goddess called a “fucking pervert body” was a plus or a minus, I still wasn’t sure.

I couldn’t help but worry that one of Ona-Aka‘s random erotic events (the ones designed to get you hard) was waiting for me.

“Can I sit here?”

Just then, Yuuna slid into the seat next to me.

“Aren’t those your friends over there?”

They were staring at you with baffled expressions.

“I decided to eat with Hena today.”

“Then why sit next to me?”

“…”

Her glare seemed to ask, Can’t you just let it slide?

“Should I not sit here, then?”

“Please, have a seat, Your Highness. I offer this tribute to appease your anger.”

I spooned some of my precious jeyuk onto her plate.

“Hmph. I have mapo tofu, is that okay?”

As if on cue, it was time to trade side dishes.

“I’m not a picky eater.”

“I… can’t eat spicy food…” Hena mumbled.

“Then how about some dumplings, Hena? Ah, just give me one without shrimp.”

“Okay, I like dumplings.”

We each sampled from one another’s trays.

The mapo tofu was pretty good, too. I’d have to get that next time.

“Are you two ready for the next class?” Yuuna asked.

“What’s the next class?”

“You’re really just coasting through life, aren’t you, Kim Sang-hyeok?”

“Was that a little too ‘D-rank’ of me?”

I belatedly opened the academy app and saw that we had a dungeon exploration in the afternoon.

“We’re going outside?”

“Outside? What are you talking about?”

Yuuna, seeming to recall my background as a shut-in who refused to attend school, explained in detail.

Amazingly, the academy apparently had a system that could generate dozens of dungeon entrances right on campus.

Am I the only one attending this academy who didn’t know that?

“Isn’t that dangerous? What’s the benefit of having dungeons at the academy?”

“It allows students to grow in a safe environment. There’s nothing more dangerous than jumping into this field with nothing but your bare hands.”

“So it’s a relatively controlled environment?”

“Yep. Compared to the dungeons that appear in various remote regions, the ones generated within Essol Academy have less variance. That’s a key characteristic of the land in Korea.”

‘Less variance.’

In other words, the chance of something dangerous happening inside was low. That’s what it seemed to mean.

“Is it different in other countries?”

“It’s dangerous. Sometimes, transcendent-grade magical beasts roam around in an untreatable state, so the list of countries with travel bans gets updated every month.”

“So they need competent Hunters everywhere.”

The status of Hunters must be no joke, then.

It also meant you could expect to earn a significant income.

‘It’s all starting to make sense.’

The protagonist of Ona-Aka grows stronger by collecting onaholes.

Thinking about why I was given such a cheat-like ability, it must have been to turn the D-rank trash protagonist into a respectable Hunter.

All for the ultimate goal of this eroge: the harem.

The Hunter industry must be full of heroines.

Technically, Yuuna was also a pro Hunter, which made her one of the heroines from that sphere.

The conclusion was that this was one of the game’s official routes.

‘This has to be it.’

The ramblings of my roommate—the Ona-Aka player, the very person who sent me here—were proving helpful at times like this.

Considering that guy had been glued to it for over 200 hours, Ona-Aka wasn’t just a simple eroge. It was a simulation game that involved the concept of developing the protagonist and heroines…

In that case, the “Hunter Route,” which required honest growth, was perfect for me.

I’d already given up on the hope of a decent, respectable office job. High risk, high return. Being a Hunter who makes a lot of money was the best.

I just had to avoid disgusting events like the “Villain Route” or becoming “The Worst Villain in History, Onahole Man”… or whatever.

“Anything else you’re curious about?”

When it came down to it, Yuuna just had a personality that liked taking care of others. She was trying to help me without a hint of annoyance.

The slightly smug look on her face was almost endearing.

“When you say there’s less variance, does that mean Korean dungeons are easy?”

“Of course. That’s why there are so many prestigious academies in Korea. It’s an environment where only relatively weak dungeons appear. In a place like Russia, where dungeons start at a minimum of A-rank, fostering new talent is extremely difficult.”

It made sense. A level 1 slime should appear before a hero who’s just started their adventure.

If a level 80 dragon showed up right away, everyone would get wiped out.

The fact that Korea was a good environment for getting stronger step-by-step was a welcome piece of news.

“But still, where have you been hiding all this time? You’re asking me things you could find out just by watching the news.”

“I was at home watching anime.”

Heh. I smoothly dodged Yuuna’s interrogation.

The moment I mentioned anime, she immediately lost the will to question me further.

Yeah, I was watching anime at home. What are you gonna do about it?

“What anime?”

Just then, Hena reacted.

I never expected to find a female academy student in front of me who was interested in anime.

“Yeah, what anime? What anime?”

If I told her I’d never seen any of this world’s anime, she’d probably be very disappointed.

What should I say…?

“It’s an anime full of cute girls, so you probably wouldn’t know it, Hena.”

I tried naming a genre a girl would never watch.

“Is it by any chance… A Generic Isekai Pure Love Story?”

But it seemed I had underestimated Hena’s nerd cred.

For the name of a cute-girl anime to pop out of her mouth just like that.

Is she one of my people?

The dormant weeb inside me stirred slightly.

“What? I like the sound of that title,” Yuuna chimed in.

“It’s a super popular series. It was number one on Anip for the year! You have to watch it if you haven’t!”

So, even in this world, pure love stories were mainstream.

I had been worried that in the world of Ona-Aka—a game that reigned as number one in the eroge industry with its insane perversion levels—everyone secretly preferred things like hypnosis, NTR, and tentacle porn.

Realizing that pure love was a universal value, I felt a strange sense of relief.

“You haven’t seen it yet? Then, do you want to watch it together at my place? I have the collector’s edition, from episode 1 to 152. Let’s binge-watch it together!”

“No, that many at once is a bit…”

Hena, you weren’t the type of character to speak so brightly and energetically!

“Then let’s just sample it first. Episode 1… no, ‘that scene’ is in episode 3. So at least up to episode 3. The animation and direction in episode 3 are the best since Director Sakamoto was in charge. The heroine is so cute it’s dangerous for your heart…!”

As Hena’s anime talk went into overdrive, I lost my words and just watched her.

Even Yuuna couldn’t get a word in, so she just nibbled on her mapo tofu, looking back and forth between me and Hena.

‘So this is what she’s into…’

For some reason, the character trait made sense.

Looking only at her figure and the face hidden by her bangs, I had wondered why she was designed as a nerd-concept heroine.

Turns out there was a plausible reason.

As a considerable otaku myself, I felt a sense of kinship.

I also knew how disappointed she would be if I refused her plea to just “sample” it.

“Alright. Let’s give it a try together.”

“Really? Really? When? What time? What minute? I-I already know how it ends, but I’ll stay quiet like I’ve never seen it before!”

“This weekend?”

“Y-Yes! This weekend!”

Just like that, I ended up scheduling an anime viewing session with a female classmate (with presumed K-cups).

Well, if the genre was pure love, I had no reason to refuse.

After making the choice, the ridiculous thought crossed my mind: Was that a dating sim choice?

“Ehehe.”

If it was, she was looking at me with an expression that said she was already thinking about marriage.

This was worrying. She seemed like the type of girl who would get tied down by some loser and have her life ruined.

I have to look after her.

That doesn’t mean I’m looking for a chance to grope her breasts.

If we have a normal friendship, there’s no reason for that.

I admit I jumped the gun a bit when we first met, but…

As long as I’m careful, I should be able to maintain a decent relationship without creating any more random eroge events.

‘As if we’re going to fall for each other in a dungeon.’

I’d be lucky if I didn’t just drag down these two heroines, who were both stronger than me.

*

Afternoon class.

Class 2-F moved back to the indoor training facility. Everyone had retrieved necessary items for dungeon clearing from their lockers.

Hena was holding a dark brown, wood-carved staff, and Yuuna, unlike during the last sudden exploration, was thoroughly equipped with a custom belt worn over her uniform and gloves to protect her hands.

Still, in my eyes, going into a dungeon in a uniform that left her bare thighs exposed looked both precarious and tough.

The important thing was that their level of preparation was better than mine.

I was the only one standing there in just a hoodie, with nothing.

“What the. Kim Sang-hyeok, you don’t have any personal gear?” Yuuna asked, surprised.

“…”

I did have a lewd magazine in my locker featuring the idol Lizna May, who looked just like the student council president.

Would that be helpful?

I suddenly felt like some pitiful student who couldn’t afford expensive equipment due to family circumstances.

And that pitiful aura must have triggered Yuuna’s class president senses.

“…We still have time, so follow me!”

Grip.

Yuuna grabbed my hand and pulled me along forcefully.

“Wh-whoa. Hena, I’ll be right back.”

I left the training facility and followed Yuuna around a corner in the hallway, where a female student who looked sleep-deprived was guarding a door.

“Yuuna? What’s up?”

“Chen, can we take a look at some gear?”

“Kim Sang-hyeok? Isn’t he D-rank? It’s a bit early for him.”

“Well, he doesn’t even have basic equipment.”

This was kind of embarrassing.

The student called Chen looked me up and down from head to toe, then sighed.

“It’s not like you’ll know how to use anything anyway. …But go on in.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

When the door Chen was guarding opened, I was stunned.

A weapon arsenal…?

An incredible variety of weapons and armor were displayed by type. Students who looked like they were from the “Artisan” track were inspecting gear, checking inventory, and performing various other tasks in each section.

“This is Academy Workshop B. It probably has the largest selection of weapons available.”

“You can buy weapons here?”

“Yep. How about something like this?”

Yuuna immediately picked up a sword.

Honestly, I had no confidence I could wield a sword as well as Yuuna just by picking one up.

But more importantly…

‘It doesn’t work with Personality Excretion.’

I hadn’t used it enough to be an expert, but Personality Excretion worked well with impact weapons.

It wasn’t suited for sharp weapons.

While I could probably induce Personality Excretion to some extent with just contact, it felt best when I delivered a shock to the enemy’s body.

That’s why I’d put so much effort into my movements when hitting the scarecrow.

It would be harder to do that in a real fight.

“Take a look around.”

Just then, a weapon caught my eye.

The modern king of all weapons. A gun.

In my head, I imagined myself as the John Wick of the Personality Excretion industry—a professional killer from some action movie.

‘Personality Excretion double-tap, Personality Excretion Mozambique Drill…’

Fucking badass.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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