episode_0060

I don’t want to get up.

As I lay face down on the pillow, thoughts of not wanting to get up filled my head.

Sleeping on the ground covered with leaves during the ordeal. It was a bit uncomfortable, but not a big problem.

I’ve slept on rocky ground many times before. I didn’t set up a proper bed.

But sleeping on a bed was definitely the most comfortable. Nothing in the world could match the softness of a bed… um…

…

…come to think of it, it’s the second most comfortable.

A sudden disturbing thought popped into my head, and I quickly shook my head. The red that was floating in front of my eyes dispersed.

Lately, my head has been acting strange. Maybe I should get a mental check-up. It might be a side effect of fear manipulation.

If I stayed like this, I might end up rolling around all day, so I forced myself to sit up.

The comfortable feeling was fading away. With tears in my eyes from the sad parting with the bed, I got up.

Saturday morning was quite leisurely. It was because I didn’t have a tight schedule.

“Sigh…”

I stretched my stiff body with a simple exercise. A refreshing feeling spread through me.

After enjoying the feeling, I went into the shower and splashed cold water on myself.

Thanks to that, I felt quite awake. But I didn’t like continuously being hit by cold water, so I compromised with lukewarm water from the middle.

“Am I okay now?”

As I was about to splash my face with a handful of water, my hand hesitated. Yesterday’s incident came to mind, and I gently wiped my eyes.

It wasn’t tears, but bloodshot eyes that were streaming with tears.

I pretended it was nothing, but I thought I was going to faint for real. I almost went crazy thinking my eyes were damaged in an instant.

Not being able to see ahead is not useless. My eyes will eventually recover. I have to take care of them as if they were precious treasures.

The role of vision was replaced by spatial perception. Thanks to that, not only did it not interfere with my daily life, but I could see better than the people who walked around with their eyes open.

Being treated like a person with physical discomfort was piercing my conscience.

Even if I told others about it, their gaze towards me didn’t change much.

I want to regain my sight.

My understanding of spatial perception has increased, and I grasped the basic mechanisms.

I read the space as a whole. I also read what else was layered on the space. That’s why I can perceive the world with a vision similar to the eyes.

But it’s different from real eyes. Because I have seen the world with my eyes, I could tell.

The world seen with eyes and the world felt with spatial perception are different.

I wanted to see the world with my eyes.

“But for now, spatial perception is more useful.”

From my perspective as someone who wields weapons and engages in battles, spatial perception is overwhelmingly superior to vision.

Square? There’s no such thing in spatial perception. It’s just where my surroundings are perceived.

There are times when I inevitably get caught up in the process of seeing the world with my eyes. Spatial perception doesn’t have that…

“It did.”

Memories of when spatial perception was completely blocked in the tower came to mind.

My expression crumpled.

The ability that almost killed my owner on the first day. The ability that I struggled to recover after being used to cut costs.

After the freshman welcome party, I had managed to restore it and use it well… only to betray my owner when it became important, and once again, and again! A treacherous ability that deceived its owner.

It’s an ability with a serious flaw somewhere.

“…Flaw?”

As I chewed on the word flaw while thinking about spatial perception, I felt a sense of discomfort.

The first day. A nightmare-like day that I didn’t even want to think about.

I almost died from the overload of spatial perception. Excessive information pounded my brain, almost causing it to explode from overload.

Whose fault is it?

Setting aside the reasons, the accident on the first day was due to the exceptional performance of spatial perception. It wasn’t because the performance was lacking.

If I could handle the burden of spatial perception, I could have fully utilized the ability like omniscience.

In that sense, the one with the flaw was not the spatial perception, but me. There was nothing wrong with spatial perception other than its exceptional performance.

It might be unfair to blame spatial perception.

However.

“Isn’t that… strange?”

If I only had spatial perception, I would have been incompetent and moved on, but I also have two other unique abilities besides spatial perception.

Allure of the Eight Directions and Affinity for Magic.

They were abilities acquired along with spatial perception. But I didn’t struggle to control them.

Both of them had good performance. If either one of them was missing, the current growth trajectory would have been impossible.

However, the exceptional performance of spatial perception has never caused harm to me.

Why is it only spatial perception that is like this? They were all abilities given equally, so why is spatial perception so uniquely different?

“Sigh.”

What’s the point of trying to figure out such a trivial thing? I shook my head at the looming sense of gloom. I ran a towel through my damp hair.

.

.

.

Si-yoram encourages camaraderie among students. If you look for school benefits, there is also a lot of support for social activities.

Therefore, if you stay in Si-yoram, various camaraderie events happen frequently.

In other words, small sub-quests pour in.

Although the rewards for the main quests are nothing to scoff at, in the first round, I explored various sub-quests.

Getting involved with certain student NPCs, triggering sub-quests there, and solving them would lead to other sub-quests.

Depending on the quests, the favorability of characters would rise and fall, relationships with various characters would intertwine and continue in different directions…

Such fluctuations were quite enjoyable. It was so satisfying to see the unsavory characters transform drastically due to my intervention.

After enduring a miserable first round where Si-yoram collapsed after graduation and struggling to survive, I focused on leveling up to prevent that from happening.

Therefore, the first round had a different kind of fun compared to other rounds.

I got lost in the past for a moment.

I shook my head, recalling memories, and then operated my smartwatch after a long time.

The most prominent among recent records. The chat room for the entire 1st-year students designated for announcements blinked.

[Si-yoram 121st Batch Chat Room (581)]

▶ Baek Arin: [Announcement!] As previously announced, there will be a post-event gathering tonight at 6 p.m.! The venue is the 3rd Assembly Hall! No dress code and attendance is optional! (◍˃̶ᗜ˂̶◍)ﾉ” (Today 8:03)

▶ Baek Arin: [Emphasis!] Fun events and prizes are also prepared! We hope for many participants! ₍⑅›ܫ‹₎っ🎁 (Today 8:04)

…

Baek Arin took charge of the post-event gathering. With the title of Senior, and being familiar with organizing such social gatherings.

“Should I go?”

I hesitated for a moment.

In this industry, connections are crucial, and Si-yoram itself values that, providing many opportunities for students to make connections.

From the relaxed atmosphere of the freshman welcome party to the post-event gathering after big events like this.

The mentor system that arranges meetings with other grades and clubs that will be activated from the next semester.

And even the annual festival that takes place once a year.

There are many systems that seem not to be, but still have a friendly camaraderie aspect.

While I didn’t know about other rounds, in the first round, I managed favorability here and there while enjoying sub-quests.

Thanks to the favorability I had built up in various ways, I also benefited.

That was the story of the game. It all ended with the right amount of text or input when the situation was given.

In reality, I was completely lacking in the ability to manage favorability…

“Still, it’s probably better to go, right?”

Setting aside my personality flaws, in situations like this, just showing your face can often build subtle likability.

It’s a bit embarrassing to call it likability, but as long as it’s just a fleeting memory when we meet again later, that’s enough.

Decision made.

I’ll just show my face briefly. The professors did say to rest well over the weekend, but they probably won’t say anything about going out for a bit.

I checked the time.

The gathering is at 6 PM tonight. It’s only 10 AM now, so there’s plenty of time left. I should probably study or do something productive in the meantime.

Even I find it burdensome to roll out of bed right now. Thanks to the bloodshot eyes from yesterday, there’s also a bit of fear.

I heard that patients are supposed to listen to the doctor quietly. I didn’t want to lose my eyesight either.

With that thought in mind, as I was pulling up data on my smartwatch, my attention was drawn to the wish egg sitting on the shelf.

“I wonder when that will hatch.”

In the original work, it hatches on its own if you wait patiently. The time it takes and the items that come out vary with each chapter.

In the 3rd chapter, there was a method artifact that allowed for additional acquisition of unique abilities, while in the 11th chapter, there was the Celestial Elixir that increased the speed and limits of stat growth.

I’m not sure of the mechanism, but it seems that the wish egg spits out the most suitable type of item upon acquisition.

So, what will come out now?

Usually, by this time in each chapter, the direction was somewhat clear, but in my current confused state, I have no idea what will come out.

Will it be a normal elixir? I’d prefer that. At least I could hit the average.

“Ah… an elixir?”

As I was thinking about that, the elixir I received from Hong Yeon-hwa suddenly came to mind. The thought of repaying the debt. The effects I gained from it.

And the moment I took it, I started bleeding and hallucinating.

“…If an elixir comes out, can I take it?”

I gazed at the wish egg with uncertainty. If I just randomly take the elixir that comes out, I might face a disaster like last time.

I was fortunate to come out unscathed last time, but it could easily have turned into a cold corpse.

Nothing is easy. Even an elixir processed for safety cannot guarantee one’s well-being. Eating raw, unprocessed elixirs could be dangerous.

I sighed deeply and checked the time on my smartwatch.

[PM 4:50]

Switching between studying and contemplating the future, I realized it was already 5 PM.

“I should just show my face and come back.”

I’ll just get the attendance stamp and head back. It’s impossible for me, with my personality, to feel comfortable there.

I changed into my student uniform. After idly fiddling with the wish egg for a moment, I left the dormitory.