episode_0022

* * *

On a cool afternoon breeze, around two thousand freshmen gathered at the center of the field. They were all students who had come together to participate in the final gateway of the entrance exam, the ‘Hurdle Stage.’

However, when I designated Choa as the first player for this final gateway, her face stiffened.

“Why am I the first?!”

“Cheer up, Choa. You can do it!”

“N-no…! Being first is too much pressure.”

I know very well why Choa finds being first so burdensome.

But right now, I must make her understand that this is for the best.

Because with Choa’s low basic stamina, there was no round more suitable for her than running.

The reason they say the first hurdle is the easiest is that only ‘hurdles’ themselves, as in ‘obstacle hurdles,’ appear.

If they were to participate in any other stage, significant issues would arise.

Moving hurdles or even living hurdles.

For example, goblin heaps appearing as hurdles or giant pigs from the hill becoming hurdles.

There were even trapdoors leading some students to detention rooms.

With various random events occurring frequently, the weakest member of the party should be assigned to the first game.

Especially challenging among them is the last game.

The underwater hurdles.

As piles of crocodile robots swarm in, many students end up giving up on completing the race due to sheer terror.

“Well, Choa. How about being the anchor?! The last position is crucial. Our rankings are determined by your finish alone. And the terrifying swarm of crocodiles…!”

“Ah, oh no…!? Oppa, seriously! How do you know all that information…?”

I knew Choa’s past and her motivations better than anyone else.

A sense of responsibility and duty heavier than anyone else’s.

And because of that sense of duty, she was betrayed by a vampire she cherished.

After evoking that sense of duty first, I emphasized the crocodile swarm to highlight the fear.

Even though I employed all my persuasion skills, it seemed somewhat challenging.

Because despite being a veteran user of this game, there was one difficulty.

That was the ‘probability variable.’

In other words, even if you choose the same route in the game, different branches and outcomes occur each time.

Of course, if the affinity level is high, there’s a hypnosis app, so you wouldn’t have to worry about such dilemmas.

“Sigh, in this case… There’s really nothing we can do, right!?”

Choa hesitated more and more.

Even I didn’t know what the outcome would be.

The heroines’ ‘persuasion’ also falls within the realm of ‘probability.’

But my concern was whether I could persuade Choa by changing that probability through effort.

‘Then, with sufficient persuasive power in future probability branches, I should be able to do as I please.’

Based on the original work’s experience, the likelihood of Choa obediently following my current words was only about 10%. This was because she was in the early stages where her affinity level was too low.

And negative probability responses had already emerged.

The change occurred then.

[Choa’s affinity temporarily increases, affecting the probabilities significantly.]

It was indeed a good decision to intensively tutor Choa.

“Ah, like I’d listen just because crocodiles are scary! I’m not listening to you because I want to, okay!”

“…Uh, or maybe not. Why are you getting mad…?”

From the start, the fearsome ‘crocodile swarm’ was also a kind of courage test.

Therefore, I believed Choa would absolutely not want to run in the last position.

In the end, Choa accepted the baton I handed over with a calm expression and said,

“Anyway, I’ll be back!”

“Yeah! Fighting!”

Arisa and Ryona also shouted along.

“Choa! Fighting!”

Soon, Choa disappeared into the crowd that started off like marathon runners.

*

The hurdle stage consists of four levels in total.

The first hurdle is the distance from the academy’s main gate to the right gate.

Just had to jog around one corner for 1KM…

I was the second runner waiting to touch the baton at that right gate.

But even when Choa arrived, it was too late.

“Heh, heh, heh…”

Come to think of it, I counted about a thousand passing athletes… Did she just come in last place?

“Ugh…”

That guy.

Choa, sweating profusely, collapsed with a groan after handing me the baton.

“Haex… Haex… I’m a bad brother for making Choa do difficult things…”

Mumbling.

It felt like there was some resentment towards me, but for now, I grabbed the baton and started running recklessly.

“All for your sake… darn it.”

Ryona, being in the same 2-star grade as her peers, had significantly higher [Agility] stats. Therefore, she could achieve the highest grade scores in individual categories and possibly break the best record.

But Choa was different. She was still the weakest in the whole school.

Already having an F-grade in magical power, if she got an F-grade in the hurdle stage as well, even considering passing the B-grade written exam, she would end up in the E-grade Hero class.

“No, no.”

Avoiding just one F-grade didn’t make getting an E-grade any better. It would only increase Choa’s stress, leading to a faster game over.

Helplessly, my foot slipped on the ground and soon stepped on a rune.

“[Intermediate Rune Lv.6 activated!]”

Through the rune, I managed to pass some students who were ahead but still fell short of catching up with the lagging group.

“I need to learn more skills!”

Reactivating skills had cooldown times ranging from ‘hours’ to ‘days’ depending on their potency. However, since they could be freely deleted and reinvoked, I decided to tidy up by removing one unnecessary skill.

“[A+ / Cysteine Law Swordsmanship Lv.5 has been deleted!]”

As the Law Swordsman lineage boosted agility by 10, I left it for now. Then, to consider which skill to call upon, I checked the Hypnosis Catalog.

+

1. Arisha von Cysteine (Affection: 90.0)

2. Han Choa (Affection: -1.0) (+40)

3. Ryona Reyna (Affection: 58.9)

4. Lirice Lyrius (Affection: -11.96) (+10)

5. Uriel Mercia (Affection: -30.0)

+

Why are everyone’s affections like this… I’ll think about it later.

After checking the essential skills for the relay, I immediately called upon them.

“[Summoning the Skill List of ‘Second Slave, Han Choa.’]”

“[Summoning the Skill List of ‘Third Slave, Ryona.’]”

“[Summoning the Skill List of ‘Fifth Slave, Uriel.’]”

I summoned the skills of the three angels except for Lirice.

+

1. A+ / Law Swordsman Lineage

2. B / Intermediate Rune Lv.6

3. S / Vampire Instincts (Trait Skill)

4. A+ / Agile Movement (Trait Skill)

5. A+ / Angel’s Wings (Active Skill)

+

In fact, Lirice also had a movement skill called ‘Mine Transformation.’ However, it required serious stamina consumption and focused more on strength than agility.

Therefore, what I chose was an unknown power that Choa had not yet awakened.

-Keurk, keureuk?!

S-rank special skill, 『Vampire Instinct』.

Though Choa is currently the weakest in the entire academy, whenever she senses her life is in danger, she unleashes her latent abilities.

That’s right, her true power.

She enters a state where she temporarily releases some of the abilities of the ‘True Vampire.’

Therefore!

“Gyaaaah!”

Suddenly, screaming out loud,

When hordes of undead creatures start appearing and reversing towards her from behind, not the front.

-Kerarak!

As if threatening the lives of the undead, numerous goblin swarms begin to appear in front of her. That moment could be considered my chance.

I began to unleash multiple skills all at once like a raging locomotive.

[Vampire Instinct activated! All stats have increased by 50. Bloodlust intensifies.]

[Swift Movement activated! Movement speed increases by 50%.]

[Angel’s Wings Lv.3 activated! Your steps become as light as feathers.]

Patsutsutsutsuchik ─ .

With the message, the surging magical energy that had risen like an island suddenly wrapped around my legs and flowed over the ground.

With a lightness akin to soaring through the sky.

I dashed towards the front where the confused undead were gathered.

“Th-this… speed!”

“Who on earth is that guy?!”

Shouts and cheers erupting.

Now pushing aside hundreds of undead. And the leader started to come into view.

Before I knew it.

The undead in front of me amounted to just two?

‘I ran so hard… but in the end, am I third?’

Even though I poured all my skills out, the fact that I didn’t come first left me somewhat unsatisfied.

But there’s no deep regret.

After all, this pushed Choa’s lagging rank up by a good 996 places.

I could expect a high score in the individual evaluation.

Above all, I believe in our comrades.

“Puppy~!! ♥”

As I energetically run, the second runner welcomes me with a bright smile.

Ryona Reyna.

Passing the baton to her, she starts running like sliding on the road.

“Well done, Puppy! Now leave it to Mamang~ ♡”

After Ryona leaves.

Liris and Yurie, who were the only ones ahead of me, looked at me panting.

“Haa, haa… Oh, you… feeling unwell!”

“I-is that so? Aren’t you feeling bad? Haa… haa…”

[Liris saw you as if she was being followed and scolded you. Subservience level increased by 2.]

[Yurie felt uncomfortable looking into your eyes. Affection level decreased by 2.]

…

Quite amusing.

Before turning dark, known by the nickname ‘Ice Princess’ and cold to everyone, ‘Arisha’ is now treating me warmly.

While Yurie, revered as the academy’s goddess and angel of all, seems to pick fights with me at every turn.

And. She seemed to see me solely as a rival.

“Hmph! It was my mistake. I was relieved because the magic level was F-grade. To be caught this easily. I must try harder!”

[Yurie slightly acknowledges you. Subservience level increased by 1.]

Already in first place, Yurie resolves to do even better.

Breathing heavily, I glare ominously at Yurie.

“If you look at me like that…! What are you going to do?”

Well.

It’s just, a remote assistant, right?

Swallowing my words, I

At that moment, taking advantage of the distraction, the accompanying assistant seized the opportunity and quietly headed towards a seemingly quiet alley in the residential area.

=====================

▼ Ryona touching the baton and Yurie resolving while looking at the protagonist…!