Chapter 88 |
Responsibility Without Pleasure
Please read this episode in dark mode for presentation purposes!
===
I blankly scanned the list.
It was so long I had to scroll several times.
-???-Grade Reward Selection Ticket-
[Choose one of the options below!]
1.Obtain Merit Points (10000p)
2.Damaged Item Repair Ticket x1
4.Item Grade Downgrade Ticket x1
5.Spatial Leap Ticket x1
6.■■■■ ■(???)
7.■ ■■(???)
.
.
.
28.■■■■■■(???)
29.■■■ ■■(???)
30.■■(???)
"......"
I stared at the status window for a long time.
A few items near the top caught my eye, and then...
"...What are the mosaicked ones below?"
Could I even call it mosaic?
From number 6 onward, the text was heavily corrupted.
Because of that, there was no way for me to tell what those rewards were.
'That's weird.'
It told me to choose, then hid the contents. What kind of logic was that?
No, was it even the system itself that had censored the text?
I had always thought the system was straightforward and easy to understand...
But the status window had acted strangely a few times before, so my suspicion naturally went there.
'Is there something behind this?'
I quietly thought it over.
So far, I felt like the system had generally been on my side.
It had never shorted me on rewards, and whenever there was something I did not know, it patiently gave me an explanation.
"Are those forbidden items?"
Items I was not supposed to obtain?
But if that were true, wouldn't the simple fix be not putting them in the reward list at all?
It was set up so I could select them normally, yet hidden like it was warning me not to pick them. What was that supposed to mean?
"Or maybe it's really just a simple error..."
A short murmur slipped out.
Maybe I was overthinking it.
If I wanted to check properly, there was only one way. I had to press one.
"It's not going to confirm instantly just from a click... right?"
My finger moved across the screen.
I clicked one of the nearest rewards, one with badly broken text.
Ding-!
[Would you like to select Reward No. 29 '■■■ ■■(???)'?]
[Yes/No]
The message popped up perfectly fine.
Other than the reward content itself, no corruption appeared anywhere else.
That made it hard to treat this as a simple bug.
Right as I was about to hit the back button,
[Are you sure you want to select this reward?]
[Yes/No]
[Are you sure you want to select this reward?]
[Yes/No]
[Are you sure you want to select this reward?]
[Yes/No]
the message suddenly writhed.
Then the screen turned pitch black.
The letters tore apart into something grotesque.
Crushed red fragments gathered and pieced together several lines.
The screen flickered.
"......"
Same pattern as the last few times.
Then it stopped rampaging, and the status window quickly returned to normal.
The screen shamelessly went back to its usual blue, as if nothing had happened.
I stared down at it.
"This..."
Something was different.
This was not like the previous rampages that only spewed nonsense.
Even in the chaos, I caught a few words I could understand.
The message the status window was trying to send me.
Never press it.
Find something out.
"If it's saying don't press it, that must mean those mosaicked rewards."
So there really was something there.
It also told me to find something, but there was not enough information to piece together what that meant yet.
I sank into thought.
My finger habitually tapped the edge of my mask.
"■■■. It mentioned this again too."
Was it a name after all?
Someone's name, or a word referring to something.
I ran through possibilities for a while, but nothing plausible came to mind.
"Viktor? The name I used in my past life? Neither feels right..."
Was it even a word used to refer to me in the first place?
The message was still floating in front of me.
[Are you sure you want to select this reward?]
[Yes/No]
I looked at it for a moment.
In the end, I clicked the back button.
No matter how suspicious it was, I could not ignore the status window's warning.
"For now, I'll take it seriously."
The system had helped me over and over.
Starting from the first day I got thrown into this world.
If the status window had not helped then, I probably would have been found as a corpse in some back alley long ago.
I had benefited from it this whole time, so I decided to listen to its advice this time too.
"■■■."
I needed to investigate that separately.
By coincidence, I knew a place where I might find related information.
"This worked out."
The event coming up soon.
It was not far from the school trip destination.
I could quietly slip out during the itinerary and gather information.
'What a mess. Such a mess.'
Why was there so much to think about?
I sorted my thoughts.
I had a lead now, so all that remained was waiting for the school trip to start.
There was nothing more I could do right away.
"I should finish choosing the rewards..."
I scanned the screen again.
Even if the corrupted ones were unsettling, refusing free rewards would just be a loss.
I excluded the mosaicked entries and checked the selectable ones.
"For now... only up to number 5 is visible."
-Selection Ticket-
1.Obtain Merit Points (10000p)
2.Damaged Item Repair Ticket x1
3.Broken Item Restoration Ticket x1
4.Item Grade Downgrade Ticket x1
5.Spatial Leap Ticket x1
Every option was eye-catching.
They were items I had never seen in the original game.
"I doubt the original had hidden items I never knew about, so these must be status-window originals..."
I slowly read each description.
The Merit Points alone were a full 10,000.
That was the amount you had to save 500 lives to earn.
Back during [Lunar Eclipse], I had poured in 6,300 points and raised my Agility stat seven ranks in one shot.
"Even if I spent like that this time, I'd still have 2,700 left."
Enough to raise one E-rank stat all the way to B-rank.
I definitely felt the difference each time the letters changed, but if I thought about it...
'What a waste.'
10,000 points looked huge now, but would it still look huge later?
Game events naturally scale up as the story moves forward.
As the scale rises, the number of people to save rises too.
That meant there would be plenty of chances to rake in points in bulk later.
"Besides, the school trip is coming up soon..."
In an academy story, incidents exploding during the school trip was practically a law of nature.
Same in the original.
Even this trip had a major incident waiting.
From that angle, choosing Merit Points now would be like throwing a precious selection ticket on the ground.
"You can stack Merit Points over time, but who knows when these other options will come back."
I excluded the Spatial Leap Ticket too.
I could already cover that with the map-clip bug.
And it was single-use, so compared to the other entries, it seemed less valuable.
"If I pick one..."
Yeah, this was the one.
Ding-!
[Would you like to select Reward No. 2 'Damaged Item Repair Ticket x1'?]
[Yes/No]
Damaged Item Repair Ticket.
Straightforward, and useful to me right now.
I clicked the [Yes] button without hesitation.
Right after, a clear mechanical chime rang, and a thin ticket dropped into my palm.
Ding-!
[Damaged Item Repair Ticket x1]
-Category: ???
-Grade: ???
-Attribute: ???
-Description: Can repair damaged items. This ticket is not bound by grade or attribute, and can be applied to any item whose condition is not intact. Tearing the ticket activates the effect.
'Good.'
I closed the reward list.
I planned to hold onto the one remaining selection ticket.
Not because I would never use it, but because I had thought of a more efficient way to use it later.
I could not execute that method yet, so I would have to wait until the right setup was in place.
"And the last one..."
Ding-!
[Sub Quest cleared!]
-Title: I Will Stand at the Flag.
-Objective: Win the practical exam 'Capture the Flag' overwhelmingly.
[You displayed an incredible performance and led your side to victory!]
-Reward will be provided. Please check your inventory.
This was the reward for winning the practical.
I carefully read the description of the received item.
Ding-!
[Unbreakable Flagpole]
-Category: Accessory
-Grade: B+
-Status: Clean
-Description: A flag that flutters powerfully. When activated, all allies within a 100m radius gain a 25% increase to stats. This effect also applies to subordinate entities controlled by allies (summons, spirit creatures, clones, etc.).
"Oh."
This one boosted allied morale.
A full 25% increase to all stats.
And it even said the buff applied to subordinate entities controlled by allies...
'That'll pair well with Alice.'
Alice, who commands the Nightmare Legion.
An item that could apply a full-team buff to her side.
Thinking about it that way, the ceiling was sky-high.
"Alice will keep growing."
Maybe this was the system giving extra credit for crushing the top student.
It was showering me with great rewards.
A satisfied smile formed on my face.
'Good.'
I had grown stronger again.
I never stop growing.
RGM, are you afraid of Viktor's growth?
RGM, are you afraid of Viktor getting stronger?
'Hehe.'
I looked down at the ticket in my hand.
Damaged Item Repair Ticket x1.
I planned to use this one immediately, no hesitation.
Its destination had been decided from the moment I pulled it.
Ding-!
[Black Mist]
-Category: Exclusive Weapon
-Grade: A+
-Status: Unstable
-Description: A weapon forged from contaminated Dragon's Scale. It has gone through refinement and purification, but still retains a somewhat rough feel.
Wiggles.
My exclusive weapon, currently wrapped around my hand in gauntlet form.
I had used it well until now, but that [Unstable] status had always bothered me.
I kept thinking it might be able to grow further, but I had no way to do it.
"Well, that's how it was in the original too."
Wiggles had capped here.
Countless players had tried to turn that [Unstable] state into [Clean], but nobody had ever succeeded.
Then the repair ticket description caught my eye.
"Not bound by grade or attribute, and can be applied to any item whose condition is not intact..."
Wasn't that a perfect fit for Wiggles?
I tried targeting it with the ticket just in case, and it showed [Applicable Target].
Barely containing my excitement, I changed Wiggles back to its original scythe form.
"Initiate. Scythe."
Shrrk-.
Wiggles turned into a pitch-black scythe and settled into my arms.
No need to drag it out, I tore the ticket right there.
Riiip-!
At the same time, a blue screen rose.
Along with the status window alert, intense light spilled out from the torn ticket.
Ding-!
[Ticket 'Damaged Item Repair Ticket x1' has been used!]
[Repairing designated exclusive weapon 'Black Mist (A+)'!]
[Item status will be converted to 'Clean'!]
Fwaaaash-!
A flash burst through the white hospital room.
The ticket effect swallowed my vision.
The light was so intense I could not see an inch ahead.
The other kids in the room with me sounded startled too.
"W-what's with this weird light all of a sudden...?!"
"Sir Viktor...?!"
Whether they panicked or not, the messages in front of me kept updating.
Lines I had never seen before poured out all at once.
Ding-!
[Exclusive weapon 'Black Mist' status has become intact!]
[Exclusive weapon 'Black Mist' grade has been upgraded!]
[Growth option has been added to exclusive weapon 'Black Mist'!]
[Exclusive weapon 'Black Mist' unique Skill No. 3 is now available!]
Ding-!
[Ego has taken root in exclusive weapon 'Black Mist'!]
[Exclusive weapon 'Black Mist' recognizes you as its guardian!]
A brief commotion.
Only after several more alerts did it finally quiet down.
At the same time, the light faded, and the ticket scattered into dust.
I slowly opened my eyes.
"Ugh..."
My eyes stung from the flash.
I was frowning, then suddenly went stiff.
"...?"
Squirm, squirm.
Something unfamiliar moved in my arms.
My gaze drifted down to my chest without thinking.
Then my eyes met a pair of black pupils.
The appearance of a child around ten.
An air of mystery, like a slice of the night sky.
Instead of a scythe, there was a young girl in my arms.
She blinked a few times, then broke into a bright smile and hugged me tight.
"Daddy!"
"Wha."
The title hit me out of nowhere.
Before I could even process the shock, the status window displayed her information.
Ding-!
[Black Mist]
-Category: Ego Weapon
-Grade: S-
-Status: Clean
-Description: A weapon with an ego. It serves and follows its user as both master and parent. Please give it a new name.
I could only freeze in a daze.
Daddy?
Me?
Then who's the mom...?
