Ch.5555 – The End of a Grueling Monday

When I open my eyes, I’ll be back in my family castle instead of this uncomfortable academy with its hard beds and no servants.

Ever since entering the academy, noble students would imagine this every night.

But to think that imagination would actually come true.

“Welcome home, Lady Titosoga.”

“Waaah, Head Butler grandpa. I had such a hard time!”

“My, you must have suffered greatly.”

The head butler grandfather from her family castle patted her back with a kind smile.

The beds were uncomfortable, the food tasteless, and this and that were so difficult.

The head butler smiled awkwardly at her endless complaints.

“If I were to listen to all of Lady Titosoga’s grievances, the sun would set.”

“But I still have so much more to say!”

“Let’s save the rest for next time.”

“Why? Can’t you listen just a little longer?”

“Because it’s already night.”

“What?”

“Look. It’s dark enough outside to attend the Adventurer’s Night Activities lecture.”

Titosoga stepped back in shock at the darkened window.

Behind her back, a cold, stiff hand like a dried-up dead tree touched her.

“G-Grandpa…?”

No. Grandfather’s hands aren’t this cold.

His hair isn’t long enough to cover my shoulders.

He doesn’t smell like preservatives that make me feel sick.

Then what is this?

Who’s behind me right now?

A strange woman’s voice whispered eerily into her terrified ear.

“Class has begun. If you don’t get up, I’ll bury you in a grave.”

“HYAAAAAAAH!!”

Titosoga screamed and opened her eyes.

Behind her stood the terrifying woman in white funeral clothes.

Though she wanted to run away in panic, an even more unexpected reaction came from the opposite direction.

“Hey, can you sit down quickly? I want this scary lecture to end soon so we can leave.”

“Come sit over here!”

A masked girl scolded her to quickly take a seat, while Oknodie, the famous youngest top student in Group A, patted the seat next to her.

“Uh…”

Feeling like she was causing trouble by not sitting down quickly, Titosoga sat down as if in a trance.

Before she knew it, she found herself attending the lecture between the professor using her lamp as lighting and the attentive students.

“Adventurers know the dangers of night, so they mainly operate during the day… but depending on time and place, they sometimes have no choice but to move at night…”

“For instance, when extremely dangerous monsters chase adventurers in the darkness…”

“Or when escaping to the surface from a collapsing cave…”

“Being chased by endlessly rising undead in darkness where the sun has disappeared…”

“…Ah, I’m envious. How fresh must the intestines of terrified fleeing adventurers be.”

Titosoga thought with a smile on her face.

‘Head Butler grandpa. I’m coming to see you again now.’

The professor was so terrifying that Titosoga fainted with her eyes open.

* * *

I felt it as soon as I heard her name.

This girl’s name is similar to mine somehow!

Looking at the name engraved on the lamp confirmed it.

Titosoga (Ttosog-a).

“Ddosok-a” (Got fooled again).

This girl must be easily deceived!

‘Well, normally people don’t bring such a lamp to the academy just to become popular.’

It’s the same level of naivety as believing you have to take your shoes off to board an airplane, that guns can be purchased at the PX, or that you’ll suddenly get a boyfriend or girlfriend and life will become happy once you enter university!

There’s no harm in befriending such a pitiful person.

[You have seen the terrifying red light.]

[Mental stat +2 for 10 minutes.]

I don’t know about becoming popular, but the lamp’s performance is unexpectedly excellent.

Compared to eating intelligence-boosting snacks 10 minutes before an exam for stat doping, getting a quick flash of light is much more convenient.

It doesn’t even increase fullness when doping – it’s a new item in the stat-boosting world that even veterans don’t know about.

“From the next lecture, we’ll learn about responses to specific night situations and experience them firsthand. No materials needed… but try not to eat dinner before coming.”

“Why?”

“For some reason, students tend to spill a lot during my lectures. Urine is fine, but I’d appreciate if you could hold back vomit…”

“…”

“I just dug up some embalmed corpses from the cemetery nearby, why are you all so squeamish…?”

Hmm…

This professor is definitely not good for mental health!

“Since it’s the first day, that’s all. Dismissed.”

At least the lecture is short and intense.

It felt like 2 hours but was only 20 minutes!

“Oknodie. Are you coming to listen again on Wednesday?”

“Of course I am.”

“Actually, you’re pretending not to be scared when you really are, right?”

“Is Zhang scared?”

“No? Not at all? I just wanted to suggest we go together because it would be boring to go alone next time?”

In society, we’ve agreed to call that “being afraid to go alone.”

Titosoga grabbed Zhang’s arm as she tried to pretend she wasn’t afraid.

Zhang stared at the hand holding her arm through her mask and asked.

“Grabbing an assassin’s arm means what I think it does, right? Sealing one arm while using that opening to smash my head with your lamp…”

“Not at all!”

Titosoga, who had shouted in surprise, asked again in a timid voice.

“Um… would you like to drop the lecture together? Honestly, it’s too scary…”

Titosoga, who had somehow retrieved her lamp from Professor Sadaco, suggested dropping out together.

Zhang raised her head thinking it was a great idea, but after glancing at me, she kicked a random stone instead.

“No. I’d gladly give up if I were the last one, but it’s hard to admit there’s a student with better courage than me.”

“Oknodie. Let’s all three drop out together. She says she’ll drop out if you do.”

“Why? I’m enjoying it.”

“You find that enjoyable?! An undead professor is blasphemy. Both the Central Empire and the Southern Pantheon would consider it an unholy creature that offends the gods?!”

“Professors give grades, but gods don’t.”

“!!”

If you’re at the academy, you should worry about professors and collect credits and points instead of worrying about gods!

“After graduating from the academy, your reputation will plummet, so what will you do then…? Are you planning to live at the academy forever, Oknodie…?”

“What a terrible thing to say! Don’t treat me like a graduate student. I’m definitely planning to graduate from the academy!”

You went too far with your words.

Apologize!

“S-sorry. I don’t really understand, but I clearly upset you. I apologize.”

“Hmph. That’s fine. Be more careful next time.”

* * *

After the 5th period that runs from 7 to 9 PM, there’s a 6th period lecture from 9 to 11 PM… but attending that stunts your growth.

That might be fine for a 230cm giant super-armored muscle man who’s already fully grown, but it’s problematic for a 133cm Oknodie!

So after finishing a long day’s schedule, I returned to the dormitory completely exhausted.

“You’ve been training hard until late.”

“I just came back from lectures.”

“…Until this hour?!”

Isabelle was shocked at how such an inhumane schedule could be created, but it’s better to suffer intensely for 4 days than to fill all 5 days with lectures.

Monday-Wednesday, Tuesday-Thursday, Friday-Saturday.

Most lectures are held twice a week on fixed days, so according to my plan, my schedule is packed into Monday through Thursday.

“Ugh. I’m tired.”

I tossed off my uniform and entered the shower room attached to my personal room.

Shhhhhh.

You might wonder what shower heads are doing in a fantasy world, but when the developers asked “Would you prefer scooping water from a basin for a cold wash, or showering with warm water from a shower head?”, users accepted the conveniences of civilization without complaint.

Appropriate conveniences are essential for a pleasant fantasy life.

Well, before being a fantasy, this is fundamentally a game world.

“…Something feels off.”

It’s a well-balanced body, but too short.

I can see my chest, but it doesn’t feel erotic at all.

After looking at my reflection in the mirror while showering, I just finished and got out.

Whirrr

As I was drying my hair with a hair dryer (magic item), a voice suddenly came from the wall.

-I’m bored.

The “Responding Wall” interpreted the hair dryer’s sound as a question and used it as an excuse to say what it wanted to say.

This is an event that triggers when the residents of women’s dormitory rooms 111 and 112 don’t talk to the wall all day.

“Big sis is busy~”

By the time I dried off and put on my underwear, it was already 9:30 PM.

“Hmmmwaaah…”

Having used my brain all day, my tired body naturally yawned.

-At 2:22 AM, if you climb the central staircase to the second floor of the main building, you’ll reach a hidden room.

The wall, desperate for communication, voluntarily revealed a hidden piece to lure the player.

“Yeah, I know~”

It’s bedtime for good children.

Lying down on the fluffy bed feels like paradise.

After wriggling around under the blanket, I fell asleep pleasantly.

* * *

Hestia blinked her eyes in bed.

Tick. Tock.

The sound of clock hands turning repeatedly echoed in her ears.

-At 2:22 AM, if you climb the central staircase to the second floor of the main building, you’ll reach a hidden room.

Though she wanted to sleep, the sudden words from beyond the wall kept bothering her, making it impossible to fall asleep.

‘What kind of room appears when you climb the central staircase to the second floor of the main building at 2:22 AM?!’

Hestia was also suffering from the Responding Wall’s revelations.