Ch.1515. The Consequences of Being Late

Thanks to the game system’s stamina, I didn’t get tired no matter how much I ran.

Yet somehow I was still out of breath.

“Huff, huff.”

As I arrived at the Student Council Hall, I felt an oddly fierce energy emanating from inside.

I cautiously approached, opened the door, and entered. Alkine, who was sitting alone inside, greeted me with a smile.

“Oh, you’re finally here. You kept me waiting quite a while.”

She was clearly smiling, but why did it feel so cold?

Why? Because I made her wait for a long time, that’s why.

I had no choice but to apologize with extreme humility.

“I’m sorry.”

“I was the one who suddenly called for you, so it can’t be helped.”

“No, that’s not it. Even though I just enrolled today, I’m a member of the Student Council with a badge. I should have responded promptly to the council’s summons.”

“Hmm.”

Perhaps my remorseful attitude improved her mood somewhat. The intimidating aura emanating from Alkine subsided considerably.

Alkine was already among the strongest. With the difficulty change making her even stronger, there was absolutely nothing to gain from upsetting her.

“Well… alright. This is partly my fault too for asking you to come without explaining the situation.”

“Thank you…”

“Enough. Groveling doesn’t suit you. Act normal now.”

Is that so? Well, if she insists. I immediately turned off apology mode.

“If it was urgent, you should have said so. So, why did you suddenly call me here?”

“…Was that attitude just now all an act?”

Seeing my demeanor change so quickly with just a few words, Alkine frowned and glared at me, her mood apparently souring again.

This is difficult… which approach am I supposed to take?

“Sigh, never mind. That’s not important right now.”

Alkine said this as she stood up and walked out of the Student Council Hall.

“Follow me. I’ll explain on the way.”

“Yes.”

I followed her behind the Student Council Hall.

Soon we reached the clearing where I had sparred with Grain, but Alkine crossed it and headed deeper into the woods.

The path was barely a path at all, just a gap between trees.

Normally, one wouldn’t have any idea where it led, but I knew exactly where this path went.

“A Rift appeared recently that we’ve been dealing with, and today we were planning to finish the job.”

A place where a Rift exists, managed and handled separately by the Student Council.

And the reason for going there…

“I was planning to take you along, but you were quite late.”

That must be it. Yes.

“Wait, why are you taking me?”

I asked because I couldn’t understand at all.

Dealing with Rifts is more dangerous than simply hunting monsters.

Just looking at the impressive lineup of Student Council members, even they struggle with Rifts.

Alkine surely knew this fact.

Even Celia, despite her abundant talent, wasn’t taken along during her first year because she was considered inexperienced.

As a result, Celia’s name only started appearing on Rift handling reports after she became a second-year.

But… why suddenly me?

I was confused and frustrated by this, but Alkine’s answer immediately cleared up my questions.

“The vice president said we should give you some experience to kill your arrogance.”

This crazy bastard.

But with his personality, it makes sense.

If it’s that guy who’s desperate to suppress any male who catches Alkine’s attention… I expected he’d try something against me.

Let me introduce him: Student Council Vice President, Diggers Zivchak.

His nickname… Diggers the Obsessive Maniac.

He’s a guy who’s hopelessly in love with the Student Council President while desperately wanting to possess her.

Don’t worry. If the president were weaker than him, it would be dangerous, but Alkine is the “strongest” among students.

She’s the possessor of overwhelming power that wouldn’t sound out of place even with chuunibyou-style expressions.

Moreover, Alkine placed him in the vice president position because she recognized his abilities, but she was well aware of his twisted obsession.

So she must have seen through his intentions with this proposal.

“You know that’s a lie, right?”

“I know. But I think it’ll be fine.”

“What exactly will be fine?”

She casually accepted a proposal that could have been easily dismissed by mentioning that I was a freshman.

This woman. She’s not just overestimating me, she might be thinking of me as something beyond that.

Of course, as long as I have dodge invincibility and parrying, I shouldn’t be in much danger, but aside from that, my stats are meaninglessly low.

However, she didn’t seem interested in convincing me any further.

“Let’s move past such trivial matters and continue with the explanation.”

“If you say so…”

So I decided to let it go too.

After a brief pause, Alkine continued with what she was going to say.

“Originally, we were going to gather and depart together, but while waiting for you, the Rift’s condition became strange. The rest of the members left first, and I decided to bring you separately.”

What? Wait a minute. What did you say?

“The Rift’s condition became strange?”

“Yes. In Grain’s words, it ‘crumpled.’ The state of Rifts is always unpredictable…”

Suddenly, a piece of information from the original story came to mind. And I immediately realized that this was happening now.

“Oh shit. President, we need to run right now!”

“…What?”

Before she could react, I started running toward where the Rift was located.

Alkine would catch up quickly since she’s faster anyway, but explaining the seriousness now would take too long, so showing through action was faster.

Damn it. Damn. Damn.

This is a real crisis because of me.

No, it’s because of you, Lilith!

No… well, forget it. What’s done is done.

All sorts of chaotic thoughts cluttered my mind. At the same time, I recalled what had just occurred to me.

Not long after the protagonist enrolls, while gathering information here and there, you can hear that the entire Student Council suffered serious injuries.

Thanks to Reina Trier’s efforts, everyone recovers completely and it passes like a minor incident, but if you dig deeper later, you learn it was quite serious.

A Rift suddenly becoming strange. All sorts of disasters and monsters several times stronger than normal began pouring out, and the Student Council, who were exploring the Rift, chose to retreat for safety.

However, an alien being in human form blocked their way back.

Information learned later reveals that it was a demon named Krumple, who can only be randomly encountered during Rift explorations.

If you translate this guy’s name directly, it matches Grain’s expression “crumpled.” It shows just how accurate Grain’s ability is.

Anyway, this guy’s ability is literally to “crumple” parts of his surroundings.

This isn’t a technique or magic but falls into the realm of “traits.” It’s a very special category like my [Irregular] that blocks my stat growth.

With passive defense penetration, it’s an overpowered ability that can’t be blocked by normal methods. If you rush in without knowing how to counter it, it’s perfect for total annihilation.

Without Alkine’s efforts… they would have all died on the spot, unable even to escape.

This isn’t my guess or anything like that. It’s actually written in the reports you can find in-game.

And the current situation?

The entire group except Alkine has entered that crumpled Rift.

Unlike the original where the Rift became strange while they were inside, they entered after it became strange, so I don’t know how the situation might have changed… but it certainly won’t be safe.

Literally, we’re screwed.

“Why are you suddenly running?!”

As I expected, Alkine easily caught up to me.

“There’s no time to explain! We need to enter the Rift and join them immediately!”

“I really don’t understand you. Fine! I’ll go ahead, you follow!”

And with that, she overtook me at a speed I couldn’t match.

That’s somewhat of a relief. Not that I’ll stop running.

I’m planning to join them too.

You might ask if someone like me would be any help?

I will be. That crumpling ability, for some reason, has attack patterns that can be parried.

Specifically, if you counter the crumpling pattern with a parry, it reverses the damage back to him.

A gimmick boss… that’s how you should think of it.

Anyway! I’m truly sorry for being late!

I’m coming now, so please, nobody die!

With that desperate thought, I headed toward the Rift location, even using dash cancel to move faster.

///

Inside the Rift. The situation was not good at all.

The space was distorted, and the terrain was beginning to collapse.

Magical disasters of unknown origin.

Hordes of powerful monsters pouring down.

And… the president who wasn’t by their side.

“Hold on. There’s something ahead.”

The vice president, who had the second most powerful abilities after the president, was somehow managing the situation, but it was natural that he fell short compared to the president.

“Stay calm. If we just hold out, the president will come.”

Only the hope that the president would find them. That was their only support right now.

And that hope had just been shattered.

“AAAAARGH!!!”

One of the vice president’s legs was completely “crumpled.”

It happened with no resistance, as if the human body had no bones, making one wonder.

When you see an incomprehensible scene, your thoughts often freeze.

Why does this happen even in such an urgent situation?

Crack-crunch-

“FUUUUCK!!”

This time, the vice president’s left arm crumpled.

Though he was a tough person who somehow managed not to lose consciousness… he no longer appeared capable of fighting.

And the figure who did this to the vice president… no, the monster merely in human form, turned its gaze toward the remaining members.

As if choosing who would be next.

Finally, their frozen thoughts began to move again, and one by one they started to take combat stances.

“F-fuck. It’s coming. Everyone get ready.”

“President. Please come quickly.”

Having already realized they couldn’t win on their own, their only hope remained the president, who might arrive at any moment.

“Keeek- keegeeek-“

With the monster’s spine-chilling cry, despair descended upon them.