Ch.6161. Synthetic Crack

Something about the Student Council building feels like it’s been a very long time, but in reality, it’s only been a few days.

As I arrived in front, someone opened the door and came out.

The person who appeared naturally, as if knowing we were coming, was Grain, the senior one year above me who often treated me to meals.

“Oh, Senior Grain.”

“It’s been a while?”

As she said, it had been a while. I’d barely seen Grain since the previous Vice President’s disappearance.

“Celia, you two… seem to have gotten quite close in the meantime.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“To me it is.”

She and Celia must have met occasionally, as the atmosphere wasn’t particularly awkward.

While we were having this light conversation… suddenly Grain’s gaze fixed on my clothes.

She stared at what I was wearing for a moment, then asked in a slightly flustered tone.

“Hey. Where did you get those clothes?”

“They were a gift.”

More precisely, I said I needed them and they were brought to me.

“Who gave them to you?”

Hmm… the servants brought them, so I’m not sure who prepared them. The Emperor? The Empress? I don’t know.

But why is she so fixated on my clothes?

“You’re wearing them without knowing anything, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

Even though I know all about equipment by performance tiers, I don’t know anything about actual clothing like this.

I figured it wasn’t ordinary clothing. After all, it was prepared by the Imperial Palace.

I thought it might be something too extravagant for commoners to wear, but judging by her reaction, it seems even more extraordinary than I imagined.

I decided I shouldn’t wear it after today since it would be annoying if more people recognized it.

Grain finally took her eyes off my clothes and said:

“If you ever ask me to buy you food again, you’re dead. Seriously.”

“Well… okay.”

I wasn’t planning to ask anyway since I’m not particularly in need anymore.

“Anyway, enough of that…”

Perhaps thinking we were wasting time with idle chat, Grain quickly got to the main point.

“You came to help, right?”

“Yes. Professor Reina told us to go to the Student Council. Is anyone inside now?”

“No one’s there. I was alone.”

She was alone in the Student Council building?

The question I briefly had was immediately answered by Grain.

“I got careless and was injured. I just got back from treatment and was resting. The others returned to the Rift.”

From what I heard, it seems she wanted to go with them, but was told to rest instead.

If they’re telling someone who’s been completely healed by Reina to rest, how badly was she injured?

“It wasn’t that serious an injury. I almost had my upper and lower body separated, but…”

“Senior… we agreed to call that a serious injury…”

“That’s right. You almost died.”

When Celia and I firmly rejected her nonsense, she laughed awkwardly.

“Ahaha, this is a bit embarrassing.”

“It’s not something to laugh about… really.”

She’s laughing casually as if nothing happened, but if Professor Reina hadn’t been there, she might have actually died.

If the wound had been any deeper, even the time it took to reach Professor Reina could have been dangerous.

We almost lost a major character here.

“Could you stop looking at me like I’m dead? I’m alive, you know?”

“Ah. Sorry.”

“Ludion’s gaze is too obvious. But he’s just worried, so don’t take it too badly.”

“Oh, yeah… But why are you defending him?”

The conversation briefly went off track, but the conclusion was this:

The Rift is currently open, and all the other Student Council members are exploring it.

So our next destination was naturally decided.

“Then we should go straight to where the Rift is. Celia.”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Just the two of you?”

“Yes. Why?”

Grain seemed momentarily confused, but then seemed to realize something and calmed down.

“Um… well… I guess there’s no reason why not.”

She was one of the few people who knew I had defeated a demon before.

If she remembered that, there would be nothing to question.

In fact, wouldn’t I seem reliable?

“Hey, I have a favor to ask. Could you take me with you?”

…Was I too reliable?

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“I’m really fine. Really. So… right, I bought you meals before. Take me with you as repayment.”

This is… it’s hard to refuse when she puts it like that…

Well, if she’s desperate enough to bring up buying me meals before, maybe she doesn’t need rest that badly.

“Alright. Let’s go together.”

“Really?”

“What, did you think I was lying about going together?”

“Thank you so much. I’ll take back what I said earlier about killing you if you ask me to buy you food.”

“You don’t need to take that back.”

She’s so happy about it. How depressed would she be if we left her behind?

Even if something dangerous happens, Celia is with us, so it should be fine.

“…Hmm. Being so kind again…”

“Don’t worry, Celia. I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him, or any interest at all.”

“W-what are you saying? It’s not like that!”

“Sure it’s not. You can’t fool my eyes.”

“Ugh.”

So I went along with it, and they started whispering to each other.

What’s so funny that Grain keeps snickering?

Just then, Celia suddenly darted forward.

“Let’s get going already!”

“Yeah, we should. But it’s not that way. It’s this way.”

…And so we followed Celia, who corrected her direction, toward the Rift.

While walking toward the Rift, Grain carefully spoke up.

“I think I was too arrogant.”

A sudden moment of self-reflection.

Well… honestly, I think she has reason to be confident. It’s just that her abilities are more specialized for non-combat situations, which is why we’re in this situation now.

Of course, her abilities could be used in combat too, but if we’re going down that road, there’s nothing that couldn’t be applied somehow, so I’ll skip that.

Roughly speaking, when others are wandering around without any information or direction, she’s like someone with a minimap with radar functionality.

It’s actually more complicated than that… but even simplified, the difference is that significant.

So, to be honest, I respected the Student Council for continuing their exploration without her.

They could have made things easier by taking her along after her treatment, but they left her behind to rest.

In the end, it was probably Alkine and the two men who follow her who strongly influenced the decision, but either way, I appreciated how they prioritized her recovery.

“At this level, my abilities would just get in the way.”

Unlike their good intentions, she seems to have taken it quite negatively.

Come on, you shouldn’t talk like that when you have such an overpowered skill. You’re even on the Student Council. People would call that humble-bragging.

But telling her that wouldn’t make any difference.

As a human, when her self-esteem is low, she won’t accept any compliments.

So I’ll have to show her directly how ridiculously overpowered her ability is.

Well, she’s probably already using it effectively on her own… but who am I? I may be getting overshadowed by the increasingly powerful people around me, but I’m still a veteran player.

Even if I don’t understand the principles, I’ve memorized how to use abilities to perfection.

If I help her use her ability to tackle the Rift effectively, her damaged self-esteem should recover somewhat.

‘I’ll backseat game her and claim some contribution points.’

Of course, it wasn’t entirely for her sake; that thought was also in the back of my mind.

I don’t know if utilizing Grain’s ability will count toward my contribution, but it’s worth trying. If it doesn’t work, that’s unfortunate, but if it does, that’s great.

With these thoughts, we soon arrived at the Rift.

But… the Rift was much larger than I expected.

“I forgot to mention. This Rift is a ‘Composite Rift.'”

“There’s such a thing?”

I’ve never heard of that before. Was there a setting I didn’t know about?

Apparently not, as Grain shook her head.

“No. This is the first one. The term ‘Composite Rift’ was coined by the President after hearing what I said.”

Composite Rift. As the name suggests, it’s a Rift formed by multiple Rifts merging into one.

She just named it literally. That’s Alkine’s naming sense for you.

While I was thinking this, Grain continued her explanation.

“I was quite shocked when I first saw it, but the inside isn’t much different from a regular Rift. It’s just a bit wider.”

“How many Rifts merged together?”

“Probably three.”

Three…

“Then are there three Rift Stones as well?”

“How did you know? That seems to be the case. Though we haven’t found any yet.”

As soon as I heard that, I immediately thought about my inventory.

[This feature is currently locked.]

[Unlock condition: Clear 5 Rifts with 40% or more contribution (2/5)]

If each Rift Stone counts as one, I could unlock it immediately if I handle all three by myself.

“Let’s go in right away.”

“Huh? Why the sudden rush?”

Barging in while the Student Council is busy exploring and taking care of everything myself to unlock my inventory?

It might be too conspicuous and look really suspicious… but can I really pass this up?

‘I definitely can’t resist this.’

Let’s go unlock that inventory~