Ch.252Final Exams and Field Trip Preparations (1)

“Wake up!!”

I immediately slapped Pinocchio, who was about to fall into his chuunibyou delusions.

“Guhk!!”

Pinocchio collapsed after receiving a hard slap to the face.

“Are you under some delusion that you’re special?! You’re not!! You’re just a nobody!! Pinocchio! That fact will never change!!”

I shouted loudly.

Honestly, if he didn’t have infinite durability, he would’ve been abandoned long ago!!

“But…..”

Pinocchio tried to protest with teary eyes.

“Hey!!! Look at you talking back!!! You empty-headed punk!!”

I smacked Pinocchio’s head again.

“Gack!!”

Pinocchio collapsed immediately.

Geppetto… you were too soft-hearted to properly discipline this guy. I’ll make sure he gets a proper education. I nodded to myself with that thought.

And after some time, Pinocchio bowed his head at a perfect 90-degree angle toward me.

“I apologize. I overstepped my boundaries.”

What a perfectly respectful greeting!! This is how you show proper remorse!!

“Good. As long as you understand.”

Somehow… hitting Pinocchio felt like it healed my childhood trauma…!! Like the unconscious fear I felt toward my father was being cured…!!

Anyway, I used that to enhance the Pinocchio Sword.

——–

Afterward, I cleared the daily level dungeon and headed to the weapon dungeon.

I decided to focus on the dagger dungeon since I had raised that proficiency the most.

The dungeon’s concept was still infiltrating an orc fortress.

However, I had absolutely no reason to use stealth.

I just slowly walked toward them with a single dagger in hand.

“Chwirruruk!! A human!!”

“Chwiiiiik!! Human!!! A human to sacrifice!!”

The orcs immediately rushed toward me.

“Why is your battle cry ‘chwiiik’?!! That’s respect for author Lee Yeongdo!!! Nice to meet you!! Comrade!!”

I charged toward the orcs with my dagger.

Whoooosh-!! Whoosh-!

Axes and blades flew toward me one after another.

Claaang-! Clang-! Clang-!!

By now, I was skilled at deflecting weapons with my dagger.

Stagger-!

The orc in front of me lost his balance completely.

“Hyaaaaaah!!!!”

I swung my blade with all my might.

Slaaaash-!!!!!

The orc’s waist was completely severed in two by my dagger.

“Come at me if you want to die!!”

Caught up in the moment, I arrived in the middle of the orcs with my dagger.

———

The process of beating up orcs was never boring, but something felt lacking.

My proficiency wasn’t increasing much despite my efforts.

“I miss you… Anakin.”

There was no one like Anakin who specialized in grinding proficiency. Each orc wasn’t giving much proficiency.

That’s when it happened.

“Please save us!! Please!!”

“Someone help!!”

In the center of the altar where the orcs were performing dark magic rituals, there were civilians tied up.

These guys… I thought they were just neutral NPCs in the dungeon… but nothing in a dungeon is meaningless. This must be some kind of significant object. That was my reasoning.

I managed to shake off the orcs and headed toward the altar.

“Ah!! You’ve come to save us!!”

“Please!!! I have a wife and children waiting!!”

The people shouted loudly. Damn, they’re noisy.

“Alright! You’re all free now!!”

I immediately untied the ropes.

“Oh… may the gods bless you!!”

“Thank you!! Hero!!”

The people stood up as soon as they were freed from the ropes.

“…….”

But these guys just stared at me.

“The outside is crawling with orcs, right? If we go alone, we’ll be slaughtered!!”

“Please!! Help us!!”

They grabbed onto my pant legs.

“Our role ends here…..”

Crack-!

However, the people suddenly surrounded me and tied me up.

“So strong!!!! Incredibly strong!!”

I couldn’t help but complain. Wait! With strength that could fight orcs, why were they captured in the first place?!

“Please!! Help us!! Hero!!!”

The people held me tightly while speaking.

“Fine!! I got it!”

I finally answered like that.

This… reminded me of a famous zombie game I played long ago. There were missions to rescue survivors everywhere, but they were such a burden that you had to take care of everything for them—an exhausting game.

“Everyone follow me closely!”

I immediately said to them. Surely they can’t be as burdensome as in that game. I led them out like the Pied Piper. I figured once I got them outside the fortress, they’d escape on their own. That was my expectation.

———-

However, these people were more burdensome than I thought.

“Kyaaaah!! An orc!!”

“Please!! Please help us!!!”

They would collapse in fear whenever they saw orcs.

“Geez!!! Really!!! Don’t stop running!!”

Inevitably, I had to take the initiative to defeat enemies and clear the path.

“Kyaaaah!!!”

Despite moving extremely slowly, most of them were caught and killed by orcs.

“Argggh!! My blood pressure!! My blood pressure!!!”

I had to maintain my sanity while clearing the path.

———

In the end, out of ten survivors, only two relatively quick ones survived.

“Thank you!! I can find my way from here!!”

“May the goddess’s blessing be with you, hero!!”

The two survivors walked out of the fortress on their own. They showed not even a hint of sympathy for those who couldn’t keep up. They seemed to have a dry mindset that those who can survive should survive.

Ding-!!

At that moment, there was a change in my dagger proficiency.

‘Dungeon Mini-game: Rescue Squad’

‘Each survivor you rescue increases dagger proficiency by 10. Guiding panicked survivors is difficult, but the reward is worth it. Do your best to rescue survivors.’

So that’s what it was. Anyway, my proficiency increased by 20 at once. Considering that I had to hunt orcs until I was drenched in their blood just to increase proficiency by 1, this was an incredible reward.

If I went around the dungeon rescuing survivors, my dagger proficiency would quickly reach 1000. The rescue process might be difficult, but it would be better than slashing orcs all day.

Anyway, I had found my dungeon strategy going forward.

———

The next day, Kirtan and I woke up late.

I felt something warm covering my body and thought it was a blanket, but it was Kirtan sleeping defenseless in my arms.

Seeing Kirtan sleeping so soundly made me sleepy too.

‘I should sleep more too.’

While sleeping, I decided to suckle on Kirtan’s breast. Men are creatures always seeking traces of maternal love. I fell back asleep while fondling Kirtan’s breasts.

——-

“Young man!! Young lady! Wake up!”

However, shortly after, we both woke up to the grandmother’s call.

“Coming!!”

Kirtan and I had no choice but to quickly get dressed and head downstairs.

Grandmother had prepared a hearty breakfast.

And the old man was there too, holding my beloved sword, Tomato.

“Old man!! You fixed it!”

I said to the old man.

“Yes. I poured all my techniques into reforging it.”

The old man said with a proud smile.

Shing-!

The old man drew the sword from its scabbard.

Ping-!

Tomato’s distinctive red blade entered my eyes.

“Look at the blade. This wave pattern from the perfect blend of carbon and iron!!! This is what makes a Japanese sword!!”

The old man exclaimed confidently.

“I’ve achieved both sharpness and durability!! With this, the blade shouldn’t be damaged easily!!”

The old man then handed the sword to me.

Shing-!

Just looking at the blade gave me a chilling sensation. My face was reflected in the transparent wave pattern of the sword.

Tomato was already a famous sword, but now it felt like it had become even more legendary.

“Old man!! Thank you!! This is an amazing sword!!”

I immediately expressed my gratitude.

As a swordsman, I could tell right away whether a sword was good or not. This sword was nothing short of a masterpiece.

“Hmph. This is what happens when I give it my all.”

The old man said with a proud expression.

“I should thank you too. Thanks to you, I was able to handle a legendary sword that only existed in records. There’s no greater honor for a swordsmith.”

The old man said seriously.

At that moment, the grandmother shouted loudly.

“Don’t draw swords at the dinner table!! It brings bad luck!”

The grandmother scolded the old man.

“Ah. I’m sorry, Sumire.”

The old man immediately shrank down and sat at the table.

Anyway, we enjoyed our meal leisurely. Afterward, we returned home in the afternoon.

———-

“Shota. You’re late. You didn’t answer your phone. I was worried.”

Eri, who was hanging laundry leisurely at home, said to me.

“Ah… various things happened.”

That’s all I could say.

“Looks like you got involved in something dangerous again.”

Eri spoke as if she knew everything.

“Yeah. That’s right.”

I could only scratch my head and admit it.

“But my body and mind are both safe.”

I said, exaggeratedly shrugging my shoulders.

Then, I hugged Kirtan.

“Kirtan protected me.”

I decided to give Kirtan credit.

“Oh my. Thank you, Kirtan.”

Eri sincerely thanked Kirtan.

“Ha! Protecting my husband is a wife’s duty!”

Kirtan laughed heartily as she spoke.

At that moment, Umi approached me.

“Shota!! So now everyone’s had their turn for dates!! Let’s go somewhere fun again!!”

Umi seemed to have been waiting just for this.

“Before that.”

I immediately stopped Umi who had gone into play mode.

“Final exams are coming up. You need to study. If you fail because you’re dating me, I won’t be able to face Master and Ms. Asuna.”

I said firmly.

“Gack…..!”

Umi immediately made a disgusted face.

“Study. You shouldn’t burden Shota.”

Kana tried to establish her hierarchy over Umi through academics.

“S-studying… I hate it.”

Umi said with a genuinely disgusted expression. Really? That much?

Inevitably, I took drastic measures.

“Anyone who fails is banned from lovey-dovey time with me. You’ll have to endure without cuddling. Is that okay?”

At those words, the expressions of girlfriends who weren’t confident in their studies hardened. Good. This created the tension I wanted.