Ch.179179 – Affection Boosting Item

<179 – Affection Boosting Items>

After the mosquito incident, the disease treatments I had stockpiled in anticipation of an epidemic became surplus inventory when curses appeared instead of diseases.

After transferring all my inventory to Arcadia and Giselle’s black market operation, I’ve nearly finished collecting my initial items.

“Oknodie. Don’t think about going off alone to strange places and causing trouble this weekend. Just stay put and study.”

“Tch. Last time I went with Hestia and Titosoga. And I went to the forest with Dorothy.”

“You need to prepare for midterms too.”

Isabelle had good reason to worry.

Midterms were approaching.

After the curse resistance incident, everyone kept giving me looks that said “when does this kid ever study?”

Honestly, I didn’t really need to study.

But for the sake of managing affection levels, I occasionally spent time with close friends pretending to study.

[You secretly played with mana while pretending to study.]

[Solo Play Experience +1]

[You successfully created numbers and letters with mana.]

[Solo Play Experience +1]

[You successfully hid your mana letters and numbers from Isabelle who was suspiciously wondering if you were goofing off instead of studying.]

[Hiding Experience +1]

Isabelle never suspected I’d transform the numbers and letters into tattoo form and hide them under my clothes on my skin.

When I got home, I extracted the mana from the letters I’d been playing with all day and fed them one by one to baby mandrake like treats.

“Is it tasty?”

“Waaah.”

Baby mandrake tasted the letters and then flicked its roots to throw them out of the bottle.

“How could you!”

“Waaah.”

It should be eating anything I give it with delight after being fed nothing but culture medium.

Why is it rejecting mana?

I suspect it’s been secretly eating snacks behind my back.

“Be honest. What did you eat when I wasn’t around!”

“Waaah.”

Baby mandrake turned its head away, playing innocent.

Suspicious…

It definitely ate something.

I don’t know who it takes after, but its acting skills are extraordinary.

“Just know that if you get caught eating something weird, there won’t be any culture medium for you!”

“Waaah.”

This peaceful daily routine continued during lecture time.

Lecture content I already knew.

Assignments I’d already memorized.

Even repetitive training that required grinding was quickly dispatched with maximum efficiency, making me think I should start building up specs in other areas.

Stat-building work.

Food encyclopedia work.

Collection encyclopedia work.

Curse resistance work.

After various tasks, the next area I want to challenge is…

Affection management!

‘When you gather affection bonuses, there are surprisingly many helpful ones.’

Originally, for each character, there are some whose affection rises easily and others whose doesn’t, so typically you’d spend a year roughly screening and selecting people to target.

Isn’t a grateful friend whose affection rises by 10 when given a precious affection item better than an ungrateful one whose affection only rises by 1?

But for some reason, in this playthrough, the distinction was already clear without needing to wait a year.

‘Is it because I’m a petite cute girl character instead of a muscular male character?’

Still, if I want to tackle weekly events with friends from the second semester, I need to diligently raise affection levels.

During summer vacation, there might be characters whose affection drops.

If I neglect affection work, I might suddenly find myself in a situation where I regret it.

“Oh right.”

To raise affection, I need affection boosting items!

Affection levels do change when you do things the other person likes or engage in conversations about their interests.

But raising them through such natural events takes too much time, and personalities and interests partially change randomly with each playthrough.

-Liliah, let’s eat together! I brought sweet and sour pork!

-…What’s wrong with this sweet and sour pork?

-Huh? You like the sauce mixed in, right?

-Who said that!! I’m a dipper, not a mixer!!

-Gasp!!

There’s even the possibility of a character who was a mixer completely flipping to become a dipper—such random variables!

It’s dangerous to presume someone’s preferences before careful observation and preference surveys.

However, with affection items, if they match the person’s taste, affection rises significantly, and even if preferences change, a minimum increase is guaranteed.

“Heehee. This should be enough, right?”

I went to the school store and bought a bagful of <Concentration-Boosting Doping Potions That Help Even Freshmen Study Well> and headed to the lounge where my friends usually study.

“Ah, Morb! Perfect timing. Take one of these!”

“…Oknodie? What is that…”

“It’s a concentration-boosting doping potion that helps you study better!”

“…Should I help you carry them?”

“It’s fine. This isn’t even a lot compared to what I usually carry!”

Veteran players typically shop in bulk, stuffing their inventory slots until they’re bursting.

Everyone does that, right?

Fill your item slots to the maximum to optimize farming value, then after clearing out all your items to organize your inventory, restock with necessary items.

Future-use items go to storage.

Give away gifts immediately.

Use consumable items promptly, and also…

“…Hang in there. I might not be much help, but I’ll train really hard from now on.”

“Yeah. You hang in there too, Morb!”

“Oknodie!”

“Yes?”

“…I’m really going to work hard. So someday…”

“Huh??”

“…It’s nothing.”

Oh right, what am I thinking?

I was on my way to give presents!

I should hurry!

* *

Morb had lost trust in Oknodie for a while.

The weighted training equipment that gradually gained more and more parts until it became a cursed training set.

In his harsh daily life, he would sigh at the thought of another hellish day beginning when he opened his eyes, not even wanting to get up from the floor.

He had long given up sleeping in a bed.

The bed was too fragile to support his full set of weighted training equipment.

‘Is she actually just using weight training to avoid supervising other training because it’s bothersome?’

The days of harsh training made him doubt Oknodie’s sincerity, even though she took time out of her schedule for him!

“Ah, Morb! Perfect timing. Take one of these!”

“…Oknodie? What is that…”

Is it Christmas already?

Like Santa, Oknodie was hugging a bunch of items in her small frame.

The overwhelming quantity made Morb wonder if he should reach out to help her.

“It’s a concentration-boosting doping potion that helps you study better!”

“…Should I help you carry them?”

“It’s fine.”

She was always strong for her size.

She was unlike other children.

That’s just how Oknodie is.

As the scale of common sense was tipping toward acceptance,

he saw something he shouldn’t have seen.

The label attached to the surface of the item in her arms.

‘This is… a doping potion?’

He knew of its existence.

A potion that prevents drowsiness and increases concentration.

A potion to drink when too many assignments pile up or when training must continue through the night.

Seniors he’d met during club activities, lectures, and weekly events had told him about it.

That doping potions would be something he’d rely on for years to come.

At the same time, everyone warned him.

Never become addicted to doping potions.

-Side effects? There are many. First, you’ll develop insomnia and won’t be able to sleep without drinking sleep potions. It’s the dirty trick of those alchemists.

-Are they allowed to sell such things? There’s no alternative. If you want to avoid side effects, drink more expensive potions. Alchemists are total scumbags who sell defective products at full price and proper products at higher prices.

-Remember this. The alchemy club is full of the worst trash even in this academy, and the alchemy guilds and potions made by such people are the worst inventions. So think carefully if you want to dope.

Is getting good grades at the academy important enough to rely on drugs that should never be started, drugs that lower your quality of life despite being helpful?

The senior’s words made Morb think a lot.

Actually, if you live within your means, problems don’t arise.

If you only do what you can, you won’t get addicted.

If you accept the limits of your talent, there’s no suffering.

But.

Such potions.

The most talented child in this academy was hugging a bundle of them.

“This isn’t even a lot compared to what I usually carry!”

It was shocking.

My goodness.

Her outstanding skills weren’t simply in the realm of talent or effort.

She hugs an armful of potions that inevitably cause side effects when consumed.

A potion that should be consumed carefully over multiple doses even when taking just one bottle, yet she’s not satisfied with just one and carries so many.

Oknodie’s backing that he’d only heard rumors about.

It must be the doing of that Foundation.

She must have become such a small child because she was tortured with abuse-like training at such a young age, unable to sleep properly!

“…Hang in there. I might not be much help, but I’ll train really hard from now on.”

“Yeah. You hang in there too, Morb!”

“Oknodie!”

“Yes?”

“…I’m really going to work hard. So someday…”

I’ll rescue you from the Foundation’s clutches.

He didn’t have the courage to speak such presumptuous words.

He was far too weak now.

Too weak to even defeat Oknodie who was abused by the Foundation.

“Huh??”

“…It’s nothing.”

But if he starts with this potion.

If he begins training more intensely with the resolve to suffer from insomnia for the rest of his life.

Someday he might catch up to Oknodie’s skills and become even stronger than her.

Then he will say it again.

That he will rescue Oknodie from the Foundation’s clutches!