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Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
1

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
1

Most people, after enjoying
all the content a game has to offer, move on to another game.

In today’s world, there are so
many fun games. It is much more entertaining to experience the thrill
and emotions of multiple games instead of just one or two.

However, it’s different for
hardcore players. Those who have invested hundreds, thousands, or
even tens of thousands of hours into a single game.

They’ll exclaim, “Ah,
this game is so boring. There’s absolutely no content,” yet
they’ll keep going back to the game in search of something else to
do.

That’s because the game has
already become an integral part of their lives.

How do I know this in such
detail?

Because I am one of them.

There’s a game called Soul
Academy that dominated one year and became the GOTY (Game of the
Year).

Like other GOTY games, Soul
Academy had excellent graphics, great music, engaging story, and
overall, it was an incredibly fun game that was truly deserving the
title of a god-tier game.

I still can’t forget the
impression I had when I first encountered this game. That initial
impact, even after several years, is what keeps me playing Soul
Academy.

Having spent over ten thousand
hours on a single game, Soul Academy, I had already enjoyed
everything the game had to offer.

This didn’t just mean I had
seen all the endings.

I had completed all the
achievements ages ago, tried concept playthroughs, no-gear
playthroughs, speed runs, and even attempted to finish the game using
only certain skills. I had done everything that was possible within
the game.

I even dabbled in almost all
user-created mods. Regardless of whether they were good or bad, I
tried everything that was available.

In such a situation, unless a
DLC or a sequel for Soul Academy is released, there was nothing left
for me to do in the game.

Out of habit, I opened the
game and stared at the title screen before shutting it off again.

Then, I went onto the
community forums to see if there were any new updates about a sequel
to Soul Academy.

As always, the developers of
Soul Academy remained silent.

I knew by now that they
probably had no intention of releasing a sequel. Yet, I couldn’t
completely abandon hope.

Ten years have passed since
the release of Soul Academy.

In the beginning, everyone
eagerly anticipated a sequel to this game.

It wasn’t just any ordinary
game; it was Game of the Year and had generated massive revenue.
Naturally, we all thought there would be a sequel.

Everyone did.

Every game developer does.

But the developers of Soul
Academy always stayed silent.

They didn’t even drop tiny
hints.

One year, two years, several
years passed by like this.

Even the trolls who would
flood the forums with “Soul Academy 2?” whenever a minor update
came out eventually got tired and disappeared.

What was once called a
god-tier game became a forgotten game as time passed.

Like all communities of
forgotten games, the Soul Academy forum had died long ago.

You’d see the same few people
around, and a few posts would go up each day, if at all.

The only time the forum became
somewhat lively was when a rare newbie appeared.

When an unsuspecting newbie
showed up and asked a question, the regulars would shout, “Smells
like a fresh newbie! Let’s crush them!” and chase them away from
this dying game. That was the only remaining function of this
community.

But today was different. For
some reason, the Soul Academy community was unusually active.

What’s going on? Did another
naive newbie show up? That wasn’t it either. This time, a user had
come to advertise a mod they made.

“I made a Mesugaki Mod, want
to try it?”

Mesugaki Mod? What could that
be?

Unable to suppress my
curiosity, I clicked on the post and read through the carefully
written details. I was genuinely surprised.

The quality of the mod was
impressive.

Usually, fan-made mods are
mostly trash. Out of a thousand, you’d be lucky to find ten that
are worth anything.

But this user’s mod was
different.

You could tell they had put a
lot of effort into the character modelling.

A character with twin-tailed
red hair, mischievous eyes, an annoying grin, and even protruding
teeth. Just looking at the character made you want to give her a
flick on the forehead. It perfectly captured the essence of a
Mesugaki.

The skills tailored to the
Mesugaki concept were also quite good.

Mesugaki

[This damn brat always
disrespects others with provocative language.

This kid who feels joy from
seeing others get angry doesn’t seem to realise they can be taught
a harsh lesson at any time.]

[Physical abilities are set
lower than usual.]

[The more the opponent gets
angry, the higher the character’s stats become.]

[It becomes difficult to gain
favour from other characters.]

[It becomes easier to get hit
by enemy attacks.]

[When cornered, the
character’s stats plummet dramatically.]

It was a skill set with
obvious strengths but even more glaring weaknesses.

You could see the effort put
into setting it up to match the concept.

Ordinary users would dismiss
this as trash, but veteran players tend to get excited about these
things.

It becomes easier to get hit
by enemy attacks. The more you provoke the enemy and make them angry,
the higher your stats go.

The concept is clear. This is
designed for tanking!

I also checked the user-made
video where they played with the mod, and I got a good feeling about
it.

Yelling things like “Weakling~
So pathetic~” in front of a monster felt a bit off, but for
those of us starved for any content, it was hardly a penalty.

I scrolled down to see
feedback from other players who had tried it.

Most praised the quality,
though some users didn’t like it because of the heavily otaku-based
concept. But that wasn’t a problem for me.

Because I am an otaku!

I immediately downloaded the
mod and applied it to the game.

Whoa. Is the game not
crashing? Who’s the creator of this mod? I’ve never heard of them
before but they’re amazing.

If they ever open up for
donations, I should definitely support them with some money.

When I got to the character
creation stage, I applied the Mesugaki trait right away. As a result,
the character next to the stats window changed to a Mesugaki’s
appearance.

Can’t tweak the customization
here? That’s a bit disappointing.

Due to the penalties of the
[Mesugaki] skill, the character’s stats were way below average.

At this level, I’d even
struggle against a bare-handed goblin.

That could be amusing in its
own way, but let’s take it easy for the first playthrough. Hardcore
can wait for the second round.

Since my plan is to develop as
a tank, I added [Iron Wall] for damage reduction with a shield,
[Unyielding Will] to prevent instant death, and [Overcoming Fear] to
reduce the penalties of the Mesugaki skill.

Given the character’s base
stats are so low, let’s also add [Genius] to increase stat growth
by 1.5 times.

Also, looking at the skill
description, starting as a commoner feels like it would get me
executed by nobles, so let’s start as a noble.

Considering the penalties of
the Mesugaki skill, this setup seems just right.

Alright, let’s begin.

As I smiled at the thought of
finally playing a fresh game after a long time and clicked on the
character creation button, light started emanating from the monitor.

Oh.

This…

Wait a minute.

I’m screwed…

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