Chapter Index





    <75 – Secret Room>

    While heading to the main building, Zhang and Hestia’s expectations grew increasingly larger.

    Just leaving the dormitory required breaking through such a strict security system.

    The special time of 2:22 AM.

    What could be waiting in the special secret room that could only be reached at this time?

    They were extremely excited about the existence of the secret room where Oknodie was waiting.

    ‘We’re both assassins, and while I might lose in courage tests, I can’t lose in stealth operations.’

    Zhang was overflowing with pride in her skills.

    Ghosts?

    Undead?

    Professor Sadaco?

    Those might be a little… just a little bit too much.

    But stealth operations are what she excels at even without such obstacles.

    ‘This time I’ll show Oknodie exactly what I can do.’

    She had often shown embarrassing performances as an assassin during the adventurer’s night operation lectures, but now she would show how amazing her assassin skills really were.

    She would show Oknodie just how skilled an assassin she was, no less impressive than Oknodie herself.

    “Someone’s coming. Quick, behind this tree.”

    While they were boldly walking down the tree-lined path, taking advantage of gaps in security, they sensed a group approaching from the other side of the main road.

    “Your body is too big to hide completely.”

    “Don’t scream and stay still.”

    When Zhang poked Hestia’s body with her finger, Hestia felt pain like her bones were twisting.

    Suppressing her scream with remarkable endurance, Hestia was about to get angry when she noticed her arm had visibly shrunk in thickness.

    Seeing Hestia’s surprised expression, Zhang smiled with a cold gleam in her eyes.

    “It’s one of the secret techniques of assassins from the East. A body modification called <Bone Contraction>.”

    It reduces and transforms the size of bones and muscles.

    A body manipulation technique that artificially mimics the effects of mana refinement.

    A useful technique that can be deployed even when your body is too large to hide.

    ‘It hurts so much.’

    Hestia shed a few tears.

    Even though she was a mercenary accustomed to pain, this was almost unbearable.

    She could barely suppress her groans, let alone her tears.

    She knew there were transformation spells in magic that could temporarily modify a person’s body without pain.

    Why would someone learn such a painful technique instead?

    ‘Is this actually a torture technique?’

    While she was enduring what genuinely felt like torture, something with a zombie-like staggering gait appeared on the main road where they had been standing.

    ‘Z-zombies?!’

    Zhang was terrified.

    Zombies? Why? Could Professor Sadaco have appeared?

    “Night lectures are driving me insane driving me insane driving me insane.”

    “Kill the professor. That’s all I think about…”

    “Professor, I’m taking other classes too, please don’t give us assignments that take a whole week to complete, I feel like I’m going to die…”

    “If the professor takes all the awakening potion made by boiling cyan-green-red three elements in a 1:2:3 ratio over high heat for 30 minutes, then adding ground thistle stems and magical wormwood leaves and simmering for an hour on low heat, what am I supposed to do what am I supposed to do what am I supposed to do??”

    “Kill the professor kill the professor kill the professor…”

    Fortunately, it wasn’t Professor Sadaco’s appearance.

    They were senior students with zombie-like appearances, overworked by the academy’s harsh schedule.

    “…”

    This wasn’t something to be relieved about—wasn’t it more dangerous?

    Is this the future of first-year students?

    Zhang seriously considered escaping from the academy.

    How would Oknodie react to this?

    ‘Phew. They’re just poor seniors!’

    She would definitely say that with a bright face.

    That girl is a bit scary now.

    The Oknodie I knew wasn’t the real Oknodie.

    What is the real Oknodie?

    Does someone named Oknodie actually exist in the first place?

    Creepy.

    Her arms were covered in goosebumps.

    “Hey… it hurts too much… release it quickly…”

    “Ah. Sorry.”

    The longer Zhang’s bone contraction technique was applied, the longer the pain lasted.

    Hestia’s eyes were filled with resentment.

    “Why do you have such a painful technique?”

    “It was originally used for torture.”

    “…Do you want to die?”

    So it really was a torture technique.

    “What did you expect from an assassin’s technique?”

    “You’ll get what’s coming to you someday.”

    Zhang stuck out her tongue and took the lead again.

    Bone contraction isn’t actually a torture technique.

    It’s just that her master saw the potential for torture in the original bone contraction technique and developed it as such, then passed this torture version to her.

    ‘There’s no need to explain all that.’

    With Hestia’s minor complaints, they reached the main building.

    Fortunately, the main building wasn’t equipped with laser beam security systems.

    This was because first-year students who needed to be isolated for safety were in the dormitories, not around the main building.

    ‘What exactly are first-years being protected from in the academy at dawn?’

    Until now, she had imagined zombies wandering around for Professor Sadaco’s practical lectures or assassins infiltrating to steal the academy’s confidential information.

    But now she wondered if the measures were to isolate first-years from the zombie-like senior students.

    Or perhaps it was a rule established after some soul-searching to protect at least the first-years from professors who would mercilessly force them to attend lectures in the middle of the night.

    ‘Either way, it’s scary.’

    They reached the main building entrance, but since it wasn’t 2:22 yet, the two hid nearby for a while.

    “The seniors look really weak. Lack of exercise? Weak lower bodies? Something like that.”

    “…Don’t you lack a bit of empathy?”

    “I don’t want to hear that from an assassin who uses torture techniques on classmates.”

    The two of them saw groups of seniors passing by three more times.

    Seniors who laughed “hehehe” for no reason and talked to themselves as they passed by.

    Seniors who were carrying huge rocks on their shoulders, heading toward the forest beyond the main building for unknown reasons.

    “Isn’t that a monster?”

    “Don’t go, Hestia. The seniors will handle it.”

    “Are you scared? Why do you keep looking back?”

    Poison needles stabbing into the nape of a monster that had rushed out of the main building.

    A senior cursing “shit, shit” while dragging away the monster that had collapsed with a thud from the paralyzing poison.

    “I’m starting to get a little scared of this academy.”

    “Same.”

    Hestia and Zhang, who hadn’t been on good terms, realized that in this unsettling dawn at the academy, they could only rely on each other.

    “It’s 2:20 AM. Let’s go in now.”

    The two entered the main building lobby, sticking close together.

    At exactly 2:22 AM, Hestia took Zhang’s hand and climbed the central staircase to the second floor of the main building, as Oknodie had told her.

    Hestia had been half-suspicious that it might be a joke, but…

    “Huh? What’s this?”

    “It’s true. There really is a secret room.”

    At the end of the stairs, instead of the second-floor lobby, a closed door awaited them.

    “Oknodie, have you been waiting long?”

    “Wait, I don’t sense anyone inside.”

    Ignoring Zhang’s words, Hestia flung the door open and entered.

    Inside room 222, numerous paper strips were hanging on nails covering the walls.

    It felt eerie, as if they had entered a shaman’s room or a black magician’s curse room.

    “What is this place?”

    Zhang examined one of the paper strips on the wall.

    141-1: Professor Platton sometimes makes <Protein Soup> for free when students beg him.

    “What is this?”

    Flicking the paper with her finger in disbelief, she saw the back side as it spun around.

    141-2: Cadets who consume Professor Platton’s <Protein Soup> more than 5 times are destined to be dragged into the <Become an Iron Man> lecture in their third year, an unavoidable fate.

    “…What is this, really?”

    The front side contained good news.

    The back side contained bad news.

    Professors, lectures, objects, places, events.

    Information about all kinds of elements was written down.

    It was too creepy to laugh off as a joke, and even more chilling if it was true.

    “Ah, you all came early?”

    2:22:57 AM.

    Oknodie closed the door, speaking in a cheerful voice.

    Zhang jumped like a startled cat.

    “W-w-what is this! Oknodie, why did you lure us to such a suspicious room!”

    “I don’t remember inviting Zhang? I just told Hestia about this room!”

    Hestia nodded in agreement.

    “Oknodie wanted me to come here because she was bored at dawn and wanted to play. I’m just sorry I made Oknodie wait here alone for two days already.”

    “No, I never waited!”

    “Oknodie is always so kind-hearted. Hiding the truth to avoid hurting me, even though she waited without sleep.”

    From Zhang’s perspective, Oknodie’s awkward smile made her wonder if she really had fallen asleep and couldn’t come out.

    “So what is this room for?”

    “It’s the Room of Double-Sided Strips!”

    That’s not what I was asking.

    “…Right, the Room of Double-Sided Strips. But why does this room exist?”

    “It’s a room where seniors have collected secrets of the academy for their juniors!”

    “So there are actual victims who experienced all this? There are seniors who were dragged into the <Become an Iron Man> lecture in their third year just because they drank <Protein Soup> five times?”

    “If you don’t believe it, why don’t you ask Professor Platton directly tomorrow?”

    “No thanks. That’s scary.”

    Zhang thought to herself.

    Judging by the personalities of the professors written about here, they probably wouldn’t let a student who discovered their secrets go easily.

    They might even present a soul contract stating: “I agree to take the <Become an Iron Man> lecture in my third year. Of course, I will also keep the secret.” Who knows!


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