episode_0026

The next day. As soon as I finished dinner, I headed to the Academy Hospital with Lager.

“Where’s Lina?” Lager asked, looking puzzled at the absence of the girl who always stuck by my side like glue.

“Well, there’s no reason for Lina to come. She’s not close with Dakota or anything.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“And she’s apparently busy starting today. She’s determined to reach Tier Orange this time.”

Promoting from Tier Purple to Orange required stepping up two levels, so it wasn’t going to be easy.

Moreover, Lina was an orphan with no parents or family. To give herself a sense of stability, she would push herself to reach Tier Black as quickly as possible, even if it meant pushing herself too hard.

As someone who was barely at the Yellow Belt level, I made a mental note to cheer for Lina with all my heart.

“But Lager, why can’t you advance more than two levels? Why not three or four levels?”

“It’s not that you can’t.”

Lager paused for a moment and then began to explain, “You have to experience it yourself to understand. Tier measurements are based on facing monsters that match each tier, and the difficulty increases significantly with each tier you climb.”

“So, even if you fly and crawl as much as you can, facing monsters two levels higher than your current skill level is not easy?”

“That’s right.”

It seemed similar to the idea that when facing opponents with a two-level difference in martial arts, you could easily be at a disadvantage for various reasons. In soccer terms, it could be compared to the likelihood of a third division team beating a first division team.

Certainly, it would be difficult to defeat opponents with a three-level difference in skill unless you had exceptional talent. It was not an easy task for a third division team to secure a victory against a first division team.

Well, of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

As we chatted about this and that, we arrived at the hospital’s administrative department.

“Um, I’d like to request a visit.”

“Today’s deadline has passed. I’ll schedule an appointment for you tomorrow. Please note that the reservation must be confirmed by the patient’s consent.”

What? It seemed like Dakota had passed through the administrative department very easily at that time.

The Lead Manager of Tier Red had different powers after all. People were strong and had to be watched, indeed.

In the end, my evening schedule was empty. My steps felt heavy with disappointment.

“Now what?”

Lager’s tone was sarcastic, as if he was asking the obvious.

“I have to prepare for the Tier measurement.”

“Are you going up two levels too?”

“It’s better to aim high. Besides, if we want to save the world, we have to be strong, right?”

It made sense. If the protagonist was weak, they wouldn’t even be enough to sacrifice their own body, let alone save the world.

I also had to work hard from now on to be of help to Lager, but the widening gap between us made me lose my motivation, to be honest.

It felt like trying to catch up to someone who was too far ahead when I used to run long distances in school.

And most importantly.

“But how do I prepare for that?”

I didn’t know.

Lager looked at the tablet in my hand for a moment and then fell into thought.

“Well, I haven’t created a profession that fights by drawing, so it’s a bit vague how you should develop your abilities.”

“What kind of professions are there?”

“Physical and magical.”

“Since it’s not about hitting monsters with a tablet, being a mage seems more likely, right?”

“That seems to be a more plausible option.”

Lager would probably be in the physical category.

And as for someone who could help with the magical category…

“Ah!”

There was someone. And they were very close by.

*

“Ale! What’s going on here?”

On the 3rd floor of the main building, I met Lena as expected in the magic training center. Lena buried her face in my chest and greeted me warmly with a smile on her face, which I never expected.

“What’s with the sudden affection?”

“We have someone to train with now. That’s why I’m so happy to see you!”

It felt like running into a close friend at the gym. Lena, with a look of excitement like a well-behaved puppy, looked up at me with her face nestled in my chest.

“What should we start with?”

“Well, I don’t really know, so I’ll just follow whatever you do.”

“Hmm. It might be tough for you to adjust to my schedule.”

“I’m just trying it out, that’s all.”

Since I didn’t know anything, there was nothing to complain about or worry about. It’s just training, so how bad could it be?

The magic training center was more similar to a yoga or Pilates studio than a gym. Lena was dressed in yoga attire, as were the other students.

The only difference from a typical yoga studio was that everyone was wearing sunglasses similar to the 3D glasses you get at the movies. Whether sitting in lotus position or focusing on a Pilates pose while strapped to a strange contraption, all the students were wearing sunglasses. Some students were even doing the crane pose with sunglasses on. It was truly a rare sight.

“Is this the dress code?”

I sent a worried glance to Lena, wondering if I should start with the crane pose like the other students.

Lena chuckled and shook her head.

“No, we’ll start with seated meditation for now.”

Meditation. Just hearing the name made me feel bored and sleepy. Even when drawing, I have to get up at least once every 30 minutes because my butt starts to ache. Can I really do meditation?

I followed Lena into the locker room. There, the strange sunglasses that many students were using were neatly arranged.

“Pick one.”

“Can I just pick any?”

“That’s the idea. Just take one as long as you don’t take it with you.”

“Okay.”

I picked one of the many sunglasses with a vague sigh and walked out with Lena.

We walked around the training center wearing sunglasses, but there were no strange phenomena unfolding before our eyes.

We found a spot in the corner of the training center and sat down to meditate. It was a good choice to wear pants today. If I had worn a skirt, I would have been more self-conscious.

“Close your eyes, Ale.”

I followed Lena’s instructions and closed my eyes tightly. For some reason, I took a deep breath.

And the next moment.

“Huh?”

Even though my eyes were closed, a blue silhouette gradually appeared before me.

Lena seemed to be seeing the same thing, as she calmly instructed me on the next step.

“Now, draw a line inside the person’s body in front of you. The denser the better. Draw it as long as possible without breaking it. Imagine filling the veins as you draw.”

Filling the veins. There are all kinds of metaphors. I mumbled to myself and started drawing wavy lines inside the person’s body that appeared in front of me.

But it was difficult.

I couldn’t even move a few centimeters smoothly.

Snap.

It broke.

“Huh?”

Confused, Lena approached me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

“The sight you just saw was visualizing your ‘mana’ inside your body.”

“So, the reason I couldn’t draw the line for long and it broke was because…”

“Yes. It’s because you don’t have enough mana in your body.”

It was then that I realized why the summoning robes I conjured didn’t last long and disappeared so quickly.

It was because I lacked the mana to sustain the objects drawn on the tablet.

However, when I think about it, even with just this tiny bit of mana, I could summon a gun and blow up the fox’s body or shoot bullets at the humanoid monsters.

Maybe with a little more practice, I could unleash incredible synergy.

“Now, do you have a rough idea? Fighting!”

Lina patted my shoulder, then moved away from me.

Suddenly, when I opened my eyes, Lina was attempting a Grand Meditation in front of me.

“Uh, uh?!”

With a loud bang, Lina fell down.

It seemed that even the Grand Meditation was too difficult even at the Purple Tier level.

*

And the next day arrived.

Rae and I went back to the hospital at the same time as yesterday.

“Did you get permission for the visit?”

“Yeah, I got a text earlier.”

“I thought we might be turned away again, but thankfully not.”

Rae still seemed reluctant to meet Dakota. It seemed that the intense and awkward moment with Dakota was quite burdensome.

I would probably feel the same way.

“7th floor. Room 703.”

The receptionist confirmed the reservation schedule and guided us smoothly.

As I rode the elevator up, I pondered how to approach Dakota.

Originally, if Dakota and Rae were getting closer, I would have welcomed them with open arms.

But the situation had changed a bit while Dakota was hospitalized.

The possibility of returning to the original world had arisen, and to make that possibility a reality, I had to perform as the “heroine.” In other words.

It meant that I was hesitant to cheer Dakota on to act as the original heroine in the novel.

Of course, there might be other guys around.

Even so, I felt much less emotionally resistant to aligning with a guy with a girl inside. I had a strong desire to return to the original world, but I didn’t want to pretend to be a heroine to a 100% male character.

Anyway, even now, I couldn’t score any points with Rae…

But now, I had a reason not to easily yield to Rae.

[7th floor. The door is opening.]

With the announcement, the door opened, and I stepped out of the elevator with Rae. Room 703 was right after walking a little to the right from the elevator.

Knock knock.

At the dry knocking sound, a small voice from inside the door said, “Come in.”

I slowly opened the sliding door.

On the other side of the door, Dakota, dressed in a patient gown, spread out her disheveled lavender hair and moved her lifeless lips to greet us.

“Long time no see.”

“Uh, yeah….”

It had been almost ten days since I last saw her.

I didn’t do anything wrong, but I was very hesitant about what to say.

She must have a lot on her mind.

But as I hesitated, she spoke up.

“Gordin, while I appreciate you taking the time to visit, could you please step aside for a moment?”

“Why?”

“Ail and Chloe and I have something to discuss.”

She took the lead.

I swallowed a gulp of saliva for no reason.

What did she want to talk about?