Ch.264School Trip (3)

*Ding!*

I was shocked that my communication with the boy immediately reached max. No way. Is this even possible?

Usually, communication requires at least three meetings to diligently raise it to max level. But it happened after just one encounter.

‘Persuasiveness of the Reincarnated Hero.’ It must be because of this special ability.

Anyway, this was quite fortunate for me. I could rapidly raise communication levels and quickly make a game-ending psychorobo for Sasith.

“Seriously… Sasith. You should bow to me three times.”

I muttered unconsciously. Honestly, with all this support I’m providing behind the scenes, shouldn’t I be the true heroine instead of Prill? That’s what I was thinking today.

———-

And then the first week of September arrived. Starting from the second week would be the school trip season.

“School trip… School trip!!”

“School trip?”

“School!! School trip!!”

Students were now communicating by simply uttering the words “school trip.” What’s fascinating is that they somehow understood each other. Honestly, while my eccentric character persona has solidified… the kids in our class were plenty eccentric themselves.

“The September dungeon will appear soon,” Sasith said.

“Ah. Let’s clear it quickly tonight.”

Now dungeons were just obstacles in the way of our school trip. We decided to complete it by the end of today.

‘September dungeon… it’s short anyway.’

With sufficient specs, the difficulty level was quite low. Besides, this wasn’t a game but reality. So there were things I wanted to test.

“Thumbs-up Man is joining us tonight too. He seemed really excited,” Kana said.

“Oh. That’s great. Hehehe.”

Thumbs-up Man always chooses to do the most admirable things.

“I’m so excited about the school trip that I can’t sleep,” Umi said.

“You seem to sleep just fine though…”

After our storm night, she was sleeping soundly. Just look at her face. It’s glowing with health.

*Thwack!*

Umi immediately hit me. She always hits me first whenever unfavorable topics come up.

———-

The contest was also reaching its middle stage.

My novel was fluctuating between 4th and 5th place. Honestly, I was aiming for 1st place… but I was satisfied with this too. I’d be making decent money now.

And I finished my existing work. It felt a bit rushed, but readers found it acceptable enough. Now I could focus on my current project.

“Hmph. An overwhelming 5th place…”

I immediately gave it meaning.

“No. Not an overwhelming 1st place… what’s with ‘overwhelming 5th place’?”

Mika immediately objected.

“I’ve decided to boost my self-esteem by attaching the word ‘overwhelming’ to everything from now on.”

I declared.

“That’s so lame…”

Mika looked at me with distant eyes. Tsk. That’s what successful authors are like. They don’t understand those beneath them. You need to look down to maintain your self-esteem and somehow preserve your mental health.

“It IS an overwhelming 5th place!! Look!! This overwhelming gap between 5th and 6th!”

I shouted loudly.

“Well, 5th place should at least get you an honorable mention. That’s pretty impressive.”

Mika seemed to acknowledge me after all.

“Hehehe. You should have said that from the beginning. Mika, it’s not good to withhold compliments because of your inferiority complex.”

I said with a smile.

“Who feels inferior to you?!”

Mika shouted loudly.

*Sigh*… She’s been talking back to me lately? I’ll have to discipline her tonight with my biological club.

After completing my routine of visiting the kendo hall and writing, all that remained was conquering the dungeon.

“Alright. Let me use the bathroom before we go.”

I immediately went to the bathroom.

A while back, Eri and Umi had dismantled the door handle with the intention of having their way with me. Since it didn’t really affect daily life, I just left it as is.

“Hehehe. An overwhelming bowel movement.”

I muttered as I sat on the toilet.

“How long are you going to keep attaching ‘overwhelming’ to everything?!”

Mika shouted loudly. Yet the corners of her mouth were twitching. Mika secretly enjoys absurd humor. Noted.

Anyway, after finishing my business, I used Kirtan as a cushion and watched television.

Being an awkward late hour, there weren’t many good programs to watch.

After killing time, it became midnight.

*Whoosh!*

I could immediately sense the boundary with the other world thinning.

“Alright!! Let’s go!!”

I immediately strapped the demon sword Tomato to my waist.

Then, I waved my hand.

*Whoosh!*

As my hand became enveloped in black mist, the Pinocchio Sword appeared. I immediately grabbed it.

Carrying these two swords is my dream. Now I’m looking more like a samurai.

“Hehehehe. Master, I like this black mist effect when the sword appears.”

Though I had corrected him before, Pinocchio’s chuunibyou sensibility hadn’t disappeared.

Well… if Pinocchio is happy, that’s fine. With that thought, I gathered the party members.

———–

*Whoosh!!*

The September dungeon was near the train station.

Near the station, there was an alien railway line that shouldn’t normally exist.

And there was a massive train. It was an antique-looking train that seemed like it would take you to a magic school.

“Wow!! I’ve always dreamed of a train like this!!”

Umi’s eyes sparkled.

“This is the dungeon.”

I said.

It was a linear dungeon where we had to navigate through the train’s platform interior to reach the conductor. Yes, a linear dungeon that casual gamers love!! With sufficient specs, we could break through quickly like Guan Yu attempting to cut down six generals with one strike.

There’s a forced battle with a mid-boss in each compartment, but considering the short length of the dungeon, it was quite manageable.

But… I decided to attempt an even more extreme gaming strategy here. This was a method possible because this was reality, not a game.

I’m not just a casual gamer… I’m an ultra-casual gamer.

But before that, there was something I needed to do.

A green door appeared at the entrance of the dungeon. First, I should raise some communication levels. I planned to make a decent psychorobo for Sasith.

“Little Sasith. Follow me.”

I waved at Sasith.

“Treating me like a child…”

Sasith said with an incredulous expression.

Well, Sasith knew I could make excellent psychorobos. He followed me without much complaint.

——–

“Come here!!”

I immediately entered the Soul Room.

“Mr. Bluebeard! I’m here to make a psychorobo!”

I called out to Bluebeard.

“Ah… I see you’ve completed the communication. Good. Your progress in strengthening through bonds is going very smoothly. Keep it up.”

Bluebeard chuckled.

I had already gotten Sasith’s permission to achieve communication levels on his behalf.

“Thank you… sho—WAIT!!!”

Sasith was about to thank me but got angry instead.

“Because of your strange bluffing, aliens visit my house every day!! They say a portal to the galaxy has opened now!”

Sasith was furious.

*Thud!*

I placed my hand on Sasith’s shoulder.

“That’s the weight a hero must bear. Sasith, everyone follows and admires you because human charm radiates from you. The Sulfur Uncle must have been the same.”

I deliberately smiled wistfully.

“Uh, ahem… h-human charm? What are you saying…”

Sasith tried to act cool, but the corners of his mouth were trembling. Hehehe. Such an easy guy.

“Now, let’s make a psychorobo.”

I pulled Sasith along.

“Sasith. Combine Pupufung with Dark Detention Magician.”

I said.

“P-Pupufung?”

Sasith seemed hesitant. It was a psychorobo he personally liked. Though its expiration date was approaching, he always kept it in his roster, reviving it with scrolls after combinations.

“Let it go.”

I patted Sasith’s shoulder.

“……..”

Sasith looked at Pupufung’s kind face, then steeled his resolve.

“Alright. Fusion!”

Sasith shouted loudly.

Following the combination formula, the psychorobo reward from communicating with the schoolboy was synthesized.

“I will… burn all plagues.”

A man in black clothes holding a large lamp appeared. He wore a top hat and a mask shaped like a crow.

Yes, it was a medieval plague doctor. Due to their mysteriously cool appearance, they appeared too frequently in fantasy works. They would definitely show up if a dark fantasy tag was attached.

But they do look cool.

“Ooooh…!”

Sasith couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. Yes, I knew Sasith would like it.

But… this plague doctor was quite useful. He not only possessed fire-type skills by default but also had a powerful DoT and debuff technique called Plague Cloud. Just spreading the plague cloud would make him pull his weight. He also had other utility skills, making him a decent psychorobo.

‘Well, we have enough damage dealers.’

Honestly, our party had too many damage dealers, which was concerning. Using Sasith as a debuff agent wouldn’t be a problem.

——–

Anyway, after creating the psychorobo, we stepped out of the Soul Room.

At that moment, a brilliant idea occurred to me. A strategy to cure Pinocchio’s chuunibyou suddenly flashed through my mind.

“Sasith. Summon the plague doctor.”

I said to Sasith.

“Can’t be helped…”

Though he spoke as if it was troublesome, Sasith was already beaming. Now you can’t even hide your expressions…

“Come forth! Plague Doctor!!”

Sasith immediately summoned the plague doctor.

*Whoosh!! Flutter!!*

Crows flew through the air from all directions. As the crows covered the surroundings like fog, the plague doctor appeared, his cloak fluttering.

The lamplight flickering beyond the pitch-black cloak was an added bonus.

It was overwhelming chuunibyou power.

“……….”

Pinocchio, disassembled from sword mode, stared at the plague doctor with a dejected expression.

“The black mist coming from my body… was just disinfectant smoke… Master.”

Having hit a wall against overwhelming chuunibyou power, Pinocchio quietly returned to his sword form.

Chuunibyou… instantly cured!!!