Ch.372372 – A Common Occurrence

<372 – As Expected>

The Second Mad Hatter wasn’t just some pitiful student who had been trapped in the Responding Wall and then released?

This unexpected connection surprised even a veteran player like me.

“Hmm?”

Saying she wrote the letters in that mailbox means she was one of the Foundation’s young ladies and one of Jona’s previous mistresses.

So the Second Mad Hatter was a senior mistress!?

“Hmm. So this is how it can work out!”

It’s fascinating, but it all fits together perfectly.

Usually, a character’s background setting, affection events, or unique storylines often involve hidden people or objects related to that character.

Like the story behind certain items or secrets that surrounding characters are hiding.

Even Zhang’s <mask> is related to her unique storyline, right?

This setting—having a previous mistress hidden around me, the current Foundation mistress—is an event perfectly suited to my unique storyline as the playable character Oknodie.

‘Looking at it this way, I really feel like I’ve become a game character!’

Honestly, it’s fun.

There’s a deep sense of fulfillment in becoming part of the world I’ve enjoyed playing through countless times.

“Is it okay not to tell Jona?”

“Tell him what, mistress?”

[Please don’t tell him yet. I don’t want him to discover my identity. I don’t want to be reclaimed by the Foundation either.]

I wonder what would happen if I told him.

But she doesn’t want me to, so I’ll respect that.

“Mistress?”

“It’s nothing. I’ve made my decision. I’ll do it this way.”

My hand reached for the table, grabbed what I wanted, and immediately set fire to the mailbox exposed.

[Sudden Event <Pandora’s Box> Completed]

[You did not open the box with unknown dangers waiting inside.]

[You turned away from catastrophe for the sake of peace. A vague sense of foreboding rises and fades—the crisis you avoided today may someday eren another crisis.]

[There is no reward for this choice.]

[You have been afflicted with the status ailment <Insomnia> due to curiosity about the unread letter.]

Jona looked at me with surprised eyes.

Zhang and the Second Mad kinds did the same.

“Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

“I thought for sure you would open it, given the flow of things.”

-“Oh come on. Zhang, how can you be so clueless?”

As a veteran player, I can’t help but lecture these newbies with such poor judgment.

“Listen carefully. If you have a choice between taking a reward without accepting a chain quest, or accepting a chain quest but taking a penalty, you should always choose the latter!”

“Quest? Choice?”

“I believe the mistress is referring to the ancient wisdom that one who ignores immediate difficulties for sweet immediate rewards will come to regret it later.”

“As expected, Jona is so smart!”

That’s exactly what I meant.

It’s similar to the “wait” experiment with dogs.

How frustrating would it be if you couldn’t resist eating one piece of dog food right away, only to find out your owner was hiding a handful behind their back? You’d learn about it too late.

You’d be so upset you couldn’t sleep at night, whining in your kennel.

Chain quests have similar traps.

If you’re blinded by small gains, you’ll make the mistake of losing something bigger.

While new scripts make my mouth water, the reward for patience is greater!

Besides, either choice is a new experience for a veteran player like me.

Since the Second Mad Hatter confessed that she wrote some of the letters, I can secretly learn the contents of the letters, essentially removing the insomnia penalty.

Under such favorable conditions, there’s no reason to make the mistake of opening the mailboxox!

“Will you be okay? The Foundation won’t sit still.”

“It’s fine. I can pretty much predict what Papa will do!”

Now that I know the Foundation is behind all these seemingly unconnected game events, I can roughly predict what’s coming.

What events might be tied to the Foundation and threaten my academy life.

‘The way to torment a professor is to torment the students attending their lectures!’

It’s time for the Foundation’s mid-level ninjas—no, mid-level spies—to start operating.

From now on, my job is to identify the Foundation’s mid-level scholarship spies!

What should I do after finding them?

Should I quietly dispose of them one by one through “accidents” like in the game?

There was already content starting from the second semester of sophomore year where you had to identify and eliminate spy instructors from external forces or spy seniors from criminal organizations, so it’s not entirely unfamiliar.

Well, that’s not something to worry about right now!

“Anyway, are you satisfied with this, Jona?”

“Are you… really okay with this, mistress?”

“With what?”

“Can you continue our relationship without harboring any suspicion, even if your butler’s past and flaws remain buried in darkness?”

I don’t think I’ll have any suspicions, especially since the Second Mad Hatter who knows about Jona’s past is right here on my head.

kinds even if the Mad Hatter doesn’t know everything, I’m not the type to get angry about setting details.

“Did you have an ex-girlfriend among the young ladies?”

“I have never engaged in improper romantic relationships with any mistresses.”

“Have you ever flirted while helping the mistresses with weightlifting?”

“I would never joke about important training that builds the blood and flesh of the mistresses.”

“Then we’re good! No problem at all.”

“Still, I regret burdening you with this. Perhaps I am unqualified as a butler…”

“Don’t make that face!”

For a butler to make such a Titosoga-like expression of despair, like someone whose assignment got soaked in the rain.

It makes me feel like I’m some evil employer.

I feel particularly guilty because during my <I-Love-All-Strength-Build-Characters Marine> days, the butler would sometimes have that gloomy face.

I did occasionally ask him to gather materials I was too to lazy to collect myself, or to buy delicious food from around the world with capital funds, or to hoard stockpile enhancement materials while avoiding the empire’s eyes, but I always paid his salary plus bonuses.

Even now, I don’t understand why the butler acted that way back then.

I won’t make Jona make such a face.

“Capable characters usually have less-bishopful background stories. Even Irene, when she she no way, killed a soldier by freezing him with her immature ice magic skills when she was young.”

“…”

“But she grew up to become a wonderful cool beauty, so we can overlook such incidents. That’s how we learn the reason for her cold personality. Background settings are wonderful things, so how could I dislike them?”

Zhang’s gaze, from under her mask, is giving me a very sharp look.

“What?”

“Sigh. Whatever. It’s foolish to even ask anymore.”

Despite my mature attempt at consolation, Zhang’s response was quite unsatisfyingying.

Jona’s worriesful expression our deepened.

“I see… Your words of encouragement, mistress, I shall engrave them in my heart like gold and jade. I pledge to serve you more devotedly from now on.”

Jona spoke with a face full of determination.

I’m glad he seems motivated!

good!

* * *

‘Coward.’

After advising him to make his own decision, and he called us here after a night of contemplation, this is what we get.

“Leaving an important decision for a woman to make—what a cowardly man.”

“Wuu. Zhang~ Don’t speak badly about Jona_a!”

“You’re problematic Oknodie. Getting played by such a bad man. I worry about your future.”

“Jona is not a bad man!”

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”

Zhang turned away haughtily.

As she was about to leave, Jona called out to her.

“I heard you’re looking for a missing student named Dobby. If you’re looking for that student, you should visit the research labs of the remote professors.”

“…Sigh. Your Foundation really knows everything, doesn’t it? Did you know everything from the beginning and just pretend not to?”

I’m starting to understand where Oknodie learned her habit of wielding asymmetrical information as if standing above others.

“Oknodie.”

“What?”

“You can play with the hat later. Help me for a bit.”

“Hmm… if it’s only for 1 hour and 45 minutes!”

“What are you doing after 1 hour and 45 minutes?”

“Training a function when the cooldown returns!”

“Are you hiding again?”

“No. Observation!”

“You’re training such a strange function. Why suddenly observation?”

“My observation and discernment skills increased tremendously while playingaying with Papa. If I raise them a little more, I might unlock a new function special ability!”

Oknodie learned observation and discernment from that chairman…

This couldn’t be more ominous.

But digging into that landmine is for later.

For now, it’s time to find out which research lab is holding Dobby, who was the catalyst for this whole incident.

“Oh? The Second Mad Hatter says she has a guess about which professor it might be!”

“Mad Hatter?”

“The Second Mad Hatter is the second consciousness residing in the Dark Aptitude Evaluation Hat brought from the Foundation! I imprisoned the First Mad Hatter in the wall. never want to go see how he’s doing? We could say hello.”

“Not interested.”

“Hmph.”

“How does that Dark Aptitude Evaluation Hat guess which professor might have kidnapped Dobby?”

Then step forward holding the hat with both hands and making a serious thinking face, Oknodie suddenly exclaimed “I got it!”

“Professor Warerd kidnaps failing lower-class students who lack talent and perseverance for studies or training, with no expectation of achievement, into his lab around this until Dobby time every year!”

“…What does he make them do after kidnapping them? I don’t think such stupid students could handle the level of work a professor would require.”

“Last year, he made one wake up spirits needed for practical training.”

“Spirits?’t spirit summoning require quite a bit of talent? Isn’t that a talented student?”

“The person who wakes a spiritinely sleeping spirit gets beaten to a pulp by the spirit, and he needed someone to take the beating instead!”

“…”

A lab with a punching bag slave? What kind of place is Professor Warerd’s lab?

Zhang recalled the information she knew about Professor Warerd.

-Professor Warerd wears flowers in his hair!

-His figure is amazing…

-I wish all women dressed like Professor Warerd. It’s so nature-friendly.

-But his written exams are fucking hell.

-Seriously… he’s really nice but such an asshole professor…

-I heard Professor Warerd is recruiting first-years for his lab. Should I go? At least there won’t be written exams there.

-The seniors told me never to go.

-Why?

-They say he makes you eat stones.

-…

The expressions of students discussing Professor Warerd all started with excitement and ended with suffering.

Do I really have to visit such a professor’s lab…

As Zhang’s wariness toward Professor Warerd grew stronger than her pity for Dobby, she fell into serious contemplation about whether to go or not.