Ch.87Midterm Exams (5)

Time flowed on, and it became early to mid-May. In the small open space behind the school, Sasith had gathered all members of our special activities club.

“As everyone saw during yesterday’s monster hunt, the May dungeon has appeared,” Sasith said.

“Ah. That’s right,” I nodded.

Each dungeon had a predetermined concept, and May’s dungeon concept was a spaceship. A massive floating structure hovered in the air. Even the monsters inside followed the alien theme, wearing spacesuits.

Ideally, we should have tackled it as soon as May began, but dungeons become more difficult starting in May. Between preparing for that and studying for exams, we hadn’t found the time.

‘If this were just a game, we could have gone in headfirst without preparation.’

I clicked my tongue as I muttered to myself.

However, this was reality. If you died while charging in recklessly, you wouldn’t go to a save and load screen. You’d just really die.

‘The recommended specs aren’t enough…’

I thought coldly. We needed to have safety specs that would let us win even if we fought sloppily.

The average level of our party members was in the late 20s. I planned to raise that to the mid-30s and get proper equipment before challenging the dungeon. Some of the money I earned from the webnovel would have to go toward equipment costs. But what could we do? If we didn’t do something, the world would end.

By the way… had I finally escaped being the weakest in terms of level? My heart swelled with pride. Now I wasn’t just tanking because there was nothing else I could do—I felt like I had truly become a main tank. Plus, I could perfectly execute orders. These were specs that would make even famous raid groups want to recruit me.

‘Above all, we need to finish our exams first.’

Yes, that was important. Before being heroes who save the world, we were students. We needed to avoid failing grades so our summer vacation activities wouldn’t be affected.

“We’re students too. Let’s talk about tackling the dungeon after we take our exams and get our results,” Sasith said.

“Can I be in charge of equipment purchases and orders?” I asked Sasith.

“Sure. I delegate that to you,” Sasith replied.

“Deeeeelegaaaate!!!” I immediately had a fit of excitement.

“Geez, this guy’s starting again…” Taiga said with a smirk.

Delegate… it felt like someone important had entrusted me with a crucial mission. The power trip was incredible. I’m the type who lives for this kind of authority.

“Anyway, is everyone studying well for the exams?” Sasith tactlessly threw out the question.

“………..”

Taiga and Umi’s expressions stiffened.

“You know you can’t participate in activities during summer vacation if you fail, right?” Sasith said.

“I’ll take responsibility and teach them, Leader,” I said to Sasith.

“Learning from your lover… that doesn’t seem like a very effective method,” Sasith immediately hit a sore spot.

Honestly… he was right. We were spending half our time studying and half doing naughty things. But what could I do? My girlfriends were too pretty and cute. Plus, their sex drives were incredible. We couldn’t help but be all over each other every day.

Despite that, their academic abilities were improving. Going from level 1 to level 10 is always incredibly fast. Since they had so little knowledge to begin with, we could cram information without worrying about capacity. It wasn’t tutoring so much as mental loading and unloading work.

“We just need to avoid failing, right?” Umi grumbled.

“B-But wouldn’t it be better to have at least some academic foundation for your future career?” Sasith stated the obvious. He was quite the straight-laced young man.

“I, I!! I can make a living as a model, you know? And if that doesn’t work out, I’ll be Shota’s wife!!” Umi exclaimed.

Wife… that sounds nice, but it’s no different from being a parasite. Was she planning to mooch off me?

But… what if the parasite is super pretty and sexy? That’s a win then. Suck me dry to the bone. And give me plenty of children while you’re at it. Those were the frivolous thoughts running through my head.

“Well… that’s true,” Taiga, who had been taking a more sensible route lately, conceded.

“Even if you don’t go to university… you need minimum academic qualifications to enter vocational school or community college,” Taiga said.

“Taiga, do you have something in mind?” I asked her. It was my girlfriend’s future career, so of course I was curious.

“Ah. I want to learn motorcycle and car maintenance. I already know how to build my own machines, so I want to build on that,” Taiga smiled brightly.

Well… that was so like Taiga.

“Will you make me my own monster machine someday?” I smiled at Taiga.

“There’s already a monster right here, so why bother?” Taiga laughed as she groped the hard, heavy thing hidden in my pants.

She was becoming more and more mischievous by the day.

“Hmph…” Umi puffed her cheeks. She seemed jealous. If you’re jealous, think properly about your career. I’ll praise you like crazy if you do.

“Well then… I’ll trust you with the exams,” Sasith said. Well… Sasith was good at studying. He was among the top students in the school. Good at studies, good at sports, handsome… and a cool guy. He was the protagonist personified. In reality, he was just pretending to be cool, but appearing that way was what mattered.

But why doesn’t he date? Sasith was strangely detached when it came to women. Was he asexual or something? It was surprising to see someone so indifferent in this otaku game world full of beauties.

‘Surely… he’s not gay?’

Maybe he’s secretly after me. That would be too much. There’s nothing more annoying than BL drift in a male-oriented work.

——–

A week later, exam day arrived.

“Well, this is your first exam since becoming high school freshmen, right?” The homeroom teacher came in and distributed the papers and answer sheets.

Is this a Japanese thing…? There were no OMR cards. We just had to write our answers on the answer sheet with a pen. It seemed like a lot of work to grade by hand. But there weren’t many questions—about 15 in total. Instead, there was a high proportion of short-answer questions.

“When you become a high school freshman, there are many firsts,” fifteen minutes before the exam started, the homeroom teacher chatted as usual, trying to ease the students’ tension. He was a bit eccentric, but actually quite good as a teacher. He had a good reputation among students.

He couldn’t date because of his appearance, but otherwise, he was an ideal human being. Seriously… someone please take our teacher away. Please.

“This exam will be a first for you… and some of you might experience your first love, first heartbreak, and other firsts.”

The teacher said with a smile.

“It reminds me of when I was a freshman. After the exam, I wasn’t invited to the after-party where everyone went, so I went straight home and graded my own paper. I got a perfect score. Then I just played games for days on end. I definitely had a first experience then too. For the first time, I got all characters to level 99 with 99 stats. The feeling when I one-shot the final boss…”

The teacher spoke with a distant look in his eyes.

Teacher…!!!

“But you know, whether it’s level 99 or 999 damage, it doesn’t really mean anything. How is it different from pressing 999 on a calculator? So don’t waste your youth like I did—enjoy it.”

The teacher said with a wistful look.

Teacher… please!!! Don’t throw tear gas before the exam!! You’re making me cry.

“Well then, I’ll distribute the exam papers now.”

The teacher immediately handed out the test papers.

The exam lasted for three days. Just like in my original world, we could go home early after finishing the exam.

After three days of struggle, the exams were finally over.

Honestly… it was too easy. My pen never stopped moving. This was my victory, having mastered the high school curriculum in preparation for my possession.

Anyway, as soon as the exams ended, the students erupted in cheers.

“It’s over!!!!!”

“It’s finished… in many ways.”

“Let’s go celebrate!!”

The students shouted boisterously. Whether they did well or not, they were happy the exams were over. I know that feeling.

The class seemed to be planning some kind of after-exam party, showing their unity.

“Umi, Eri, and… Natsukawa? Want to join the after-party?”

The class president scurried over. He couldn’t call Taiga by her first name. Even though she was behaving well in school now, her former title as a delinquent hadn’t disappeared. That’s what frightened him.

The fact that he called those three… it was definitely at the request of the boys. They wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to the three beauties in our class. Whether they were taken or not, the presence of beautiful girls always raised men’s spirits.

“No, we already have plans,” Eri smiled and linked her arm with mine.

“We have important cuddling time scheduled with our boyfriend,” Umi also smiled as she claimed my right side.

“So… we’ll be going now,” Taiga said, hugging me from behind.

“Oh… I see.”

I could feel the resentful gazes of the male students around us.

“Damn, Arigiri Shota… did he save a country in his past life or something?”

“A country? He must have saved at least a galaxy to deserve that.”

“Somehow… I feel empty inside.”

It seemed like we had ruined the after-party mood, but there was nothing we could do about it.

I headed home with the three of them.

And as we approached the house, I discovered someone collapsed at the entrance.

“Y-You…!!!”

It was Sobutaku. He was the second-in-command of Taiga’s biker gang, and now the current leader.

With his distinctive mohawk, protruding teeth, and a face that looked like it belonged in a Death Note!! There was no way I wouldn’t recognize him.

But…! The crest of his mohawk had been cut off. It had been turned into an undercut.

The hairstyle wasn’t the only thing that had changed. His body was covered in bruises.

“Hey!! Sobu!!! What happened?!!!”

Taiga immediately helped Sobu up.

“Boss… I’m sorry…!”

Sobu said in a trembling voice before immediately passing out.

“Let’s take him inside and treat him,” I said.

“Ehhh…? Then we can’t cuddle at home.”

Umi seemed displeased about letting an outside guest in.

“Umi… you’re a psychopath.”

A monster created by lust—that was Umi.

“Hey!!! I’m joking!! There’s nothing you won’t say to your girlfriend!!!”

Umi immediately started hitting my back repeatedly.

Anyway, we took the patient inside.