Ch.28Acceptance (2)

— ‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ values knowledge and wisdom above all else. She (though somewhat regretfully) sincerely congratulates you on your acceptance to Stellarium as her apostle.]

[— Notice: Receive your reward.]

Right after the message window appeared.

Woong.

Someone’s watch vibrated.

“…Looks like it’s here.”

Zernya was the first to react.

As if the argument from earlier was nothing, she shifted her attention away from us and pulled up a screen.

[Acceptance Letter]

[Name: Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein]

[We hereby notify that the above student has been accepted to our Academia program.]

Though the text was mirror-reversed, one word was clearly visible.

Acceptance.

As expected.

“Already…?”

Rustila’s eyes widened as she belatedly grasped the situation. To be honest, I didn’t know the acceptance announcements would come today either.

“Ah!”

Rustila’s face lit up brightly.

[Name: Rustila Kersil]

[We hereby notify that the above student has been accepted to our Academia program.]

She got in too.

“I was so worried about the written exam…!”

Rustila tapped my shoulder repeatedly with a radiant smile. Her face was as fresh as a flower blooming in a field.

With this, Rustila had fastened the first button toward achieving her dream.

“You worked hard.”

I really liked people like Rustila.

Because I was once that kind of person too.

– Jinsoo? Graduate school? What are you talking about?

– I’ve already been accepted.

– Jinsooooo!!

Wait, is that a different story?

Anyway.

Her determination to achieve her goals despite all the obstacles around her was truly praiseworthy.

Seeing Rustila’s smile made me feel good too. I thought she could finally show her true face.

But the gap remained.

[Note: Outstanding Scholarship Student]

Those words were additionally present on Zernya’s acceptance letter.

Outstanding Scholarship Student.

An honorable title given to those ranking from 2nd to 10th among all the new Academia students.

In other words, it meant her entrance scores were ridiculously high.

Certainly, while Zernya’s personality is terrible, she excels at studying.

Yes, at studying. Actually, she’s excellent at everything except for her character.

But what’s this?

“Huh…?”

Zernya’s eyes clouded over as she scanned the note section.

Swish.

She quickly turned off her screen. Then she looked back and forth between Rustila and me. Bewilderment filled her amethyst eyes.

Zernya maintained eye contact with me for an especially long time.

“…You, what’s going on? Did you get in?”

Silence fell.

Rustila’s smiling lips turned downward. Deception filled Zernya’s eyes. Having checked my acceptance status on my phone instead of my watch, I could only sigh deeply between the two girls.

[Name: Eidel Rheinland]

[We hereby notify that the above student has been accepted to our Academia program with outstanding grades.]

[Note: Top Scholarship Student (First Place)]

Should I tell them or not?

After thinking for a moment, I decided not to. The atmosphere was already suffocating enough, and I didn’t want to be held up by Zernya any longer.

She’d find out eventually anyway. There was no need to tell her now. I gave a bitter smile.

“You failed, didn’t you?”

Zernya asked with a sinister smile. Anxiety and doubt. Two emotions were visible in her eyes.

“I can tell from your face that you failed.”

Step.

She took a step closer.

“Who exactly are you?”

It was Rustila who stopped Zernya.

“Who are you to approach my friend and spout whatever nonsense you want?”

Rustila snapped at Zernya, uncharacteristically for her. Her sense of justice had come to my defense.

“I’m not interested in failures. Move.”

“…Aren’t you being too harsh?”

Zernya’s offensive and Rustila’s defense.

An awkward situation.

I just wanted to get out of here and rest a bit, but it seemed like the two girls would fight longer than expected.

I decided to claim the reward from the foreign god to gather my thoughts.

[— Congratulations. You can now utilize the ‘SAN Parameter’!]

SAN Parameter.

SAN stands for the first three letters of Sanity, meaning mental strength.

In other words, the SAN Parameter is an additional feature of the status window that allows you to view a person’s mental strength.

It’s an ability the protagonist gains in the latter part of the story. And from the point this ability is acquired, a thread of hope appears in the novel.

Characters who should have gone insane don’t, and those who should have died don’t die.

It’s that important a measure. A module that can change the future.

The foreign god Cartesia has given me such a function already in the early stages.

[— Using SAN Parameter (Lv.1).]

*****

[Rustila Kersil: 160 / 1500]

[Characteristic: Her maximum mental strength is about 500 higher than the average person.]

[Psychological State: She is happy about the situation given to her. She feels slight affection toward you.]

*****

*****

[Zernya Adelbein: 340 / 1000]

[Characteristic: She has ‘Distorted Self-Esteem’. (Lv.2 required for additional information)]

[Psychological State: She is unable to accept the current situation. She feels considerable curiosity about you.]

*****

The SAN Parameter has the same scale as Pron values (PN), and for convenience, it’s described that the higher the value, the higher the possibility of mental breakdown.

The current level is only 1. It’s just enough to know simple characteristics or psychological states.

There must be some way to level it up further.

When that happens, I’ll be able to get more information. More detailed emotional lines, or specific methods to lower stress levels.

Of course, all this comes at a cost.

[— Notice: 100 Pron has been paid for 1 minute of viewing.]

The longer you view information, the more people you try to see, the more detailed information you want to know, the more Pron is consumed.

This is where the paths diverge.

Do I go the “Solo Route” and use all the Pron I earn for self-enhancement?

Or do I go the “Companion Route,” protecting everyone’s mental state as much as possible and helping each other?

“……”

There’s no question about it.

I turned off the screen and looked at the two girls. They were already arguing with each other, ignoring me.

“Stop picking on Eidel.”

“Why are you interfering?”

“Because you’re bothering my friend for no reason.”

“Oh, so this was picking on someone. I didn’t realize.”

“You look like you don’t have any friends.”

“None of your business.”

In the original work, these two had a terrible relationship.

And reality seems to be following that path.

“Sorry, Eidel. Did you wait? Let’s go.”

Thinking that further argument was pointless, Rustila grabbed my arm and tried to leave the park.

And then.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Seeing this, Zernya quickly followed with a sullen expression.

“Did you get in or not? Just answer that!”

“Let’s run.”

Rustila walked even faster. It was more like jogging, or even running at this point.

My heart and lungs felt like they would burst. My blood vessels were screaming. Rustila’s running speed was beyond imagination.

While running at full speed, Rustila asked me:

“…Eidel, I’m curious too.”

In a whisper.

“I’ll tell you… when we get back.”

“When we get back…?”

I nodded.

[— ‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ nods at your wise choice.]

[— You have received a 100 Pron donation!]

“Hey, you two! Where are you going?!”

***

Rustila and I finally returned to our lodgings after shaking off Zernya.

Just as we were about to enter the first-floor lobby:

“Miss!”

The androids guarding Rustila swarmed around us like clouds.

“Oh my, Miss, where have you been?”

“More importantly, look at this sweat! You must go to the shower immediately. You might catch a disease if we leave you like this!”

“What were you two doing… Could it be?”

[— Paying 100 Pron to use ‘SAN Parameter (Lv.1)’.]

*****

[Rustila Kersil: 200 / 1500]

[Psychological State: She is getting tired of the androids’ interference.]

*****

Her mental strength value, which had barely changed during the argument with Zernya, had suddenly increased by 40.

Not good.

Now that her mental strength was visualized, Rustila looked even more pitiful.

I stepped forward on behalf of her, who was sighing deeply.

“Do we need your permission even for simple exercise?”

“For the young miss, yes.”

Zermel answered promptly.

“Miss Rustila is the only child of the Kersil family. We must protect her no matter what. By the master’s orders…”

“And yet you got beaten by me.”

“That’s!”

“If you’re going to hit, hit properly like our Sonia.”

The robots froze.

“Besides, Rustila has been accepted to Stellarium anyway.”

“Oh, the young miss has…?”

The androids gaped, pulling their artificial muscles. Somehow, being 4th generation, they had an uncanny valley effect.

“Yes, now Mr. Zermel has no obligation to protect or take care of her.”

“Even so, to say there’s no obligation to protect the young miss… Isn’t that too much of a stretch?”

“At Stellarium, she needs to practice standing on her own. She might collapse from studying too hard, catch a cold from not adapting to climate changes, or even bleed while practicing with a sword.”

“That, that absolutely cannot happen!”

“Then should she cancel her acceptance?”

The androids fell silent at my argument. They probably judged this was not a matter they could decide. Stellarium was too precious a school to cancel enrollment.

“We need to wash up, so please move aside.”

I’m sticky with sweat. I want to shower and rest quickly.

I waved my hand and pushed through the androids.

At the same time:

*****

[Rustila Kersil: 150 / 1500]

[Psychological State: Due to the current situation, she feels considerable… (Additional Pron needed)]

*****

Just as the minute was ending, I checked Rustila’s mental strength value and deactivated the parameter.

“Let’s go.”

Earlier, Rustila had been holding my wrist.

Somehow, this time I found myself holding Rustila’s wrist as we entered.