chapter_0002

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
2

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
2

Holding my head that felt like
it was about to shatter, I opened my eyes, greeted by a message
window.

[Enrol in the Academy.]

[Success: ???]

[Failure: Game Over]

I haven’t forgotten.

So stop pressuring me. Give me
some time to calm my uneasy heart.

I closed the message window
and got up, taking in the scenery of the room.

A gaudy room with frills all
over the place that was making me lose my mind.

I wanted to rip off all those
frills and throw them away, but if I did, the people in the mansion
would probably say something like, “Our lady has completely lost
her mind.” So, I held back.

My reputation is already rock
bottom, and I don’t want to find out if there’s something even
lower than that.

I ring the bell next to my bed
to call in my servant.

“Excuse me, My Lady.”

As soon as I rang the bell,
the door opened as if on cue, and a maid entered, pushing a tray.

When I first possessed this
body, I didn’t know about this, so I recklessly opened the door and
went outside.

I still remember the look of
horror on this maid’s face from that time.

She didn’t know what to do, so
she just slammed her head on the floor, and I wondered why she was
doing that.

Today too, the maid’s face
showed evident signs of nervousness.

When she stopped in front of
me, I could see her gripping her trembling hands tightly and bowing
her head.

“Did you ring, My Lady?”

‘Yes.’

“You fool. Can’t you
tell?”

I wanted to speak in a gentle
voice to soothe her, but the body I possessed moved its mouth on its
own and produced a sharp tone.

I saw the maid’s shoulders
flinch as she kept her head lowered.

Damn Mesugaki skill, it’s
acting up again.

When I chose the Mesugaki
skill, I wasn’t aware of the special hidden effect it had.

It forces the user to act and
speak in a Mesugaki-like manner.

Whether I wanted to or not, I
was always forced to use an arrogant tone and display overbearing
behaviour.

‘It’s okay. You can lift your
head.’

“Hmph.
Do you plan to keep staring at the ground?”

“No! I mean…”

Watching the maid’s eyes
dart around nervously, I ran a hand down my face. I should’ve just
said nothing.

“I’m sorry! I will start
brushing your hair immediately!”

Even my thoughtless actions
were interpreted as criticism, and her voice reflected her urgency.

I instinctively wanted to
respond, but I quickly covered my mouth with my hand and sat down at
the vanity.

The mirror reflected the image
of Lucy Allen, the character I had created.

Long, dark pink hair and
mischievous eyes.

She looked more beautiful than
the playful brat I had seen in the customization screen.

If only I weren’t her, I
might have admired her pure beauty.

But being her, all I could
think was how miserable it was.

It has been three days since I
became Lucy Allen.

At first, I was so bewildered
that I acted out in all sorts of ways out of confusion. But now, a
few days later, I have somewhat calmed down.

Through this, I learned many
things.

First of all, it was a fact
that Lucy Allen, this brat, had already become the household’s public
enemy even before I took possession of her body.

While I had no choice but to
adopt an arrogant attitude because of the [Mesugaki] skill, Lady Lucy
Allen was a brat in thoughts and actions. She mistook her father’s
power as her own and acted like a tyrant in the household.

The number of personal
servants who had been replaced exceeded ten, and dozens of people had
fled the mansion because they could not withstand her bullying.

The teacher responsible for
her education had changed four times already, and the current one
always kept a resignation letter tucked in their pocket.

At this point, calling her a
‘brat’ seems too polite. A more fitting term would be ‘a bitch,’
don’t you think?

If Lucy’s parents had been
normal people, they would have taken better care of her upbringing,
but her father, who cherished his only daughter, was far from normal.

I said I committed various
crazy acts on the first day, right?

But even after witnessing them
with his own eyes, he simply chuckled and indulged her(me)!

Seriously, he shouldn’t be so
lenient no matter how precious his daughter is to him!

No matter how I look at it, it
seems clear that Lucy became a Mesugaki largely due to her father’s
influence.

A brat who grew up indulged by
her doting parents.

It’s truly detestable. If I
had met someone like her in real life, I would have had some harsh
words.

And now, that person is me?
Damn it. Life is just unfair.

Because of the ridiculous
behaviour of the original owner of this body, my reputation is at
rock bottom.

If it wasn’t for the noble
title, it wouldn’t be surprising if a revolution for my head broke
out at any moment.

Given these circumstances, my
reputation is undoubtedly at its worst not only in the mansion but
elsewhere as well.

I’m not sure yet since I
haven’t been out in social circles, but there are probably voices
criticising Lucy Allen’s misdeeds all over the place.

More than 80% of the reason
for starting as a noble in Soul Academy is because of the reputation
stat, yet I’m starting at rock bottom.

I’m not usually someone who
cries easily, but I’m on the verge of tears.

When I enter the Academy, I’ll
probably face all sorts of criticism, right?

Because most of the characters
in Soul Academy value good tendencies and noble obligations.

Facing the contemptuous gazes
of various heroines… Actually, that might be kind of nice?

No, no, it’s not. It only
seems fine because it’s beyond the screen. In reality, it’ll
definitely hurt my feelings.

But there’s a more important
problem than this.

It’s uncertain if I can even
get admitted to the Academy.

Reputation and all that, I
might somehow manage to overcome if I just set my mind to it.

But Academy admission is a
completely different matter.

Since Soul Academy starts with
the character already being a student, I didn’t know how the
admission test was conducted.

So the moment that message
popped up, I immediately started researching the Academy’s admission
test.

Soul Academy’s admission test
is divided into a written test and a practical test.

The written test totals 400
points, and the practical test totals 200 points.

A combined score of 600
points. Usually, the passing line is 427 points, and the highest
cut-off score recorded in the Academy’s history was 453 points.

But you know what?

In the dialogue of the
characters in the game, it was mentioned that the protagonist’s
cohort was the best in history, so they raised the highest cut-off
score.

So, at the very least, it’s
453 points.

Considering the fuss they made
in the game, it’s safe to say it’s over 460 points.

You might think it doesn’t
matter how high the cut-off score is as long as you do well on the
test.

I thought the same at first.

I used to know everything
about the settings of Soul Academy. No matter how difficult the
written test was, I thought I could overcome it with a bit of
studying.

That was my misunderstanding.

What I knew was only the game
settings. It had nothing to do with what was taught at the Academy.

How would I know the
achievements of the third king of the Soladin Kingdom?

What was it again? The Meskaki
Flame Magic Equation? How would I know something like that?

There were various other
subjects on the Academy test that completely baffled me.

I never thought I’d be so
thrilled to see maths equations. At least I was somewhat familiar
with those.

Of course, being familiar
didn’t mean I could solve them. I was a liberal arts major, and it
had been more than ten years since I had last studied maths.

I couldn’t understand a thing.

There was only one thing
certain.

This wasn’t something someone
like me, who had transposed into this world, could resolve by
studying for the Academy exam in just three months.

If I had the brains for that,
I wouldn’t have spent over ten thousand hours on a game that didn’t
even have news of a sequel…

On the other hand, the
practical exams were relatively familiar.

Two subjects. Combat duel and
exploration of dungeons created by the Academy.

These were tasks I had done
countless times in the Soul Academy game.

But that didn’t mean they
would be easy.

I am an ordinary person who
has never even thrown a proper punch. How well could someone like me
fight?

I was so scared of catching a
chicken that I trembled, and now I had to face off against others
with long weapons and hunt monsters in dungeons.

It’s easier said than done. In
practice, I’d be so scared that I wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Sigh.

Honestly, if it weren’t for
that message window, I wouldn’t have felt so pressured.

As a noble’s daughter, there
were plenty of ways to live well without necessarily enrolling in the
Academy.

However, that message.
Especially the words “game over if you fail” were the
problem.

In games, “game over”
typically signifies a high chance of death.

I said “high chance”
because I wanted to deny reality, but in fact, game over would likely
mean death.

It’s frustrating enough to be
stuck in a Mesugaki’s body without knowing why, but to die a
meaningless death three months from now?

No way. Absolutely not.

No matter how urgent, the fact
remained that passing the exam through normal means was impossible
for me.

That’s why I desperately
searched for a way to survive, and eventually, I found a method.

The special selection for
practical exam excellence.

The Soul Academy had a system
where the top three performers in the practical exam could pass
regardless of their written scores.

Though, this was also nearly
impossible.

Others taking the academy exam
had been preparing for years.

Naturally, they would be much
more experienced in combat than I was.

But there was one thing—just
one thing—that I was confident I could do better than anyone.

Dungeon exploration.

Who am I? I’m a veteran with
13,000 hours in Soul Academy!

I knew every type of dungeon
that appeared in the academy exams by heart.

I could draw the maps of
dungeons with my eyes closed!

As long as I had the minimum
combat abilities, I was confident I could achieve outstanding results
in dungeon exploration.

So, it was clear what I needed
to do in the three months leading up to the Academy exam.

Power up.

Even if I was terrible at
fighting, I needed to gain such overwhelming power that it could
cover all my weaknesses.

And this was a field I was
confident in.

What do you think I focused on
the most while playing Soul Academy for years?

To spoil the answer, it was
character build development.

Regardless of which character
I played or what strategy I used, enhancing my stats was essential to
clear the game.

Even though many methods are
restricted because I haven’t entered the academy yet, it doesn’t
matter.

I still have plenty of ways to
improve my stats.

“Miss, it’s done.”

When I came back to my senses,
the maid had finished arranging my hair.

Already?

Lucy Allen’s (my) hair is
extremely long.

Even though Lucy’s (my) frame
is small, her hair reaches down to her waist, which can’t be light.

Yet, the maid had managed to
tidy it up neatly in no time.

How is this possible? I
couldn’t even dare touch my own hair.

‘Really impressive.’

“Not bad, for a Sloppy
Maid.”

Even though I spoke out
unconsciously, worried I’d made a mistake, luckily the words came out
softer than typical Mesugaki demeanour.

Thinking she wouldn’t be
scared this time, I turned around and saw the maid looking at me with
a stiff expression.

Why is she like that? Was my
tone off again?

My worries were unfounded.

The maid quickly regained her
composure and bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Miss!”

After finishing my meal, I
immediately stood in front of the study door where Lucy’s father was.

Facing an important and
difficult task where I had to stake my dignity was making me uneasy.

However, I had no choice. This
was the easiest and most efficient method available to boost my stats
right now.

After taking a deep breath, I
knocked on the door of the study.

“Dear Father~”

Operation: Mesugaki-Style
Cuteness is a go.

Damn it. I felt like throwing
up just hearing myself say that.

Please support the series on
NovelUpdates

Read Here
for premium chapters