I got into school for nothing - Chapter 136
I got into school for nothing (136)
Lesson 28. Picnic of Ruin - 3
Experiencing the spaceship traverse the dimensional wall firsthand was quite an enjoyable and wondrous experience.
Outside the window, a dazzling, deep blue, sparkling Milky Way-like landscape unfurled, and occasionally, they could spot other spaceships moving within it, just like theirs.
Ban Yuwon stared at the spectacle, his mouth agape, like a child seeing a movie for the very first time.
It was a magnificent sight that made one instinctively understand why a spaceship would bother installing such a massive window for a frontal view.
“That spaceship over there looks close, doesn’t it?”
Yumina, who had been meticulously examining and admiring the cup ramen Ban Yuwon had pulled out – an item chosen to commemorate this special day of extraordinary experience – finally succeeded in tearing open its lid and, with a refreshed expression, spoke to him.
“In reality, they are incredibly far away. It’s best not to assume that all the scenery you see within the dimensional wall is real. They’re merely residual traces of mana left behind by things that have entered the dimensional wall, like afterimages.”
“There are indeed powerful individuals who can endure the density of the dimensional wall and wander through space alone. However, not only might the distance be immense, but the timeframe could also differ, so it’s possible they are beings from the past.”
That’s basically a cosmic version of a trench coat flasher.
To think such a being would audaciously strip themselves bare and wander the dimensional wall, unafraid of being seen by an unspecified multitude in the future.
Feeling his romanticized view of outer space cool ever so slightly, Ban Yuwon tore his gaze from the window and finally decided to prepare his own portion of ramen.
“Two?”
“Yeah. I’m going to mix them. Gangongchamseu, eaten in outer space, is a delicacy. Plus, two of the characters overlap.”
“What is that incredibly powerful-sounding name?”
Dokgo Yeon asked with a look of deep interest when Ban Yuwon, who had only distributed one cup ramen to each of his party members, pulled out two for himself.
Though she didn’t like sweet flavors as much, she quite enjoyed spicy things, and among the cup ramens Ban Yuwon had just taken out, there was one with a fiery red packaging that caught her attention.
“It’s stir-fried jjamppong ramen mixed with jjajang ramen, with added tuna and canned ham.”
“Is that perhaps a diet for someone who needs to gain weight quickly for a special reason?”
“You’re seriously underestimating the potential of a growing adolescent.”
Of course, Ban Yuwon had no intention of eating it all by himself.
Besides him, weren’t there four other mouths to feed here?
Ban Yuwon opened the lids of both cup ramens and poured in the boiling water, and as he felt not only Dokgo Yeon but also the others send curious glances his way, he couldn't help but grin.
“Let’s all share it.”
“Sounds good. Though I'm sure this is being filmed too.”
“I thought it would be a good opportunity to let not only the whole world but also all dimensions know that Jjapaguri isn’t the only mixed ramen recipe in Korea.”
“What’s Jjapaguri?”
“Ah, I suppose we have to start there, my bad. I’ll buy some from Earth and make it for you later.”
While the noodles cooked, he opened a can of tuna, extracted the concept of ‘oil’ from it, leaving only the tuna meat, then opened a can of ham and cut it into appropriate pieces.
As he performed that minor task, Ban Yuwon reminisced about old times.
Back home, when he made this, he used to share it amicably with his sister.
...No, to be precise, his sister would always eat more, then cheekily ask Ban Yuwon, who would be trembling with indignation, why he hadn’t just cooked another one.
That pig — no, that nemesis — no, that sister, whom he hadn't seen in so long, was starting to make him miss her more and more. It truly was terrifying how distance could make one yearn so.
“Ah, are the noodles done?”
As he extracted the concept of ‘water’ from the cup ramen, leaving only the noodles, Ban Yuwon inwardly realized the convenience of his ability.
How bothersome it used to be just to drain the water from cup ramen! To think it could now be solved with a single wave of his hand!
“Could my ability be overwhelmingly well-suited for cooking?”
“Are you seriously calling that series of actions ‘cooking,’ Ban?”
Ban Yuwon ignored As Light’s jab, gathered the noodles onto a plate, topped them with tuna and ham, then dumped all the sauce in and stirred.
Although he usually ate quite well at Union Academy, the nostalgic aroma of instant food, rising sharply with the steam, made his stomach rumble instantly.
“Everyone, dig in.”
“A spicy-sweet aroma is rising. Well then...”
With one bite, a spicy kick hit first, swiftly followed by the distinctive sweet umami of jjajang.
Enjoying the plump noodles, just as it started to feel a little monotonous, came the rich, chewy ensemble of tuna and ham.
In truth, it was less harmonious and more just greasy, but that was precisely what made it so good.
“Me, too.”
“It feels wrong to just snatch Yuwon’s portion, so let’s share mine.”
As the ramens were mixed, the spiciness was appropriately mellowed, allowing even As Light and Rucell, who weren’t accustomed to spicy food, to enjoy it heartily.
Meanwhile, Yumina, who had been refraining from joining in to maintain her composure, finally tasted it when Ban Yuwon personally picked some up for her with chopsticks, and her eyes widened in surprise.
“You’ve all been sharing this delicious food every time you entered the Tower?!”
It seemed she was quite shocked by Earth’s instant food.
Indeed, looking around Union, while culinary culture had developed with great diversity, instant foods, oddly enough, were concentrated on preserved rations with clear purposes, like combat provisions.
While cookies and cakes were superior to those on Earth, there weren't many long-lasting snack foods.
“No, there isn’t much in stock, so we don’t eat it often, even inside the Tower these days.”
Dokgo Yeon, who had been savoring her ramen, heard his words and made a demand.
“When you return to Earth during vacation, please buy a large quantity for me.”
“While you’re at it, please get some spices that add a spicy kick to food.”
“You have a subspace now, Dokgo Yeon. Bring some from your homeland.”
Ban Yuwon said, pointing to the pretty, jingling jeweled bracelet hanging from Dokgo Yeon’s left wrist.
That bracelet, equipped with short-distance spatial movement and subspace abilities, had been shown to Yumina and undergone strict inspection to prevent any separate interference from an unwavering controller.
Dokgo Yeon scoffed at Ban Yuwon’s words and replied.
“This subspace is barely big enough to store a single mountain giant!”
“A mountain giant? That’s quite a literal naming...”
Just as they finished devouring all the ramen amidst pleasant conversation with the members, a faint vibration began to ripple through the spaceship.
“Ah, we’ve reached the exit coordinates.”
Immediately after Yumina whispered, the view outside the window filled with flickering blue light.
A jolt ran through the spaceship, and the next moment, their vision was steeped in black.
They had burst out of the dimensional wall and into outer space.
Just exiting the space of light brought a strangely tranquil feeling.
Though external sounds wouldn’t have been audible to begin with.
“Now, do you see that faintly sparkling star over there? That is Ur-Aha.”
Yumina added that stars that had achieved mana civilization could be graded by the brightness of their light when observed from the outside.
“It’s incredibly faint.”
“That means this special activity will be easy! Even if a nation in that world is on the verge of collapse, a team composed solely of Academy freshmen should be able to resolve it somehow.”
“That’s certainly true. In a world of that level, the strongest monster you’d find would probably be... an Ogre?”
The Ogre was indeed the monster from Earth’s fantasy novels and games: a colossal humanoid beast, easily exceeding 3 meters in size, whose entire body was packed with muscle, granting it brutish strength.
Ban Yuwon had seen one during the Gellas monster wave, but since he hadn’t been able to get close, he hadn’t been able to measure its Life.
Back then, he had been convinced that a one-on-one confrontation would inevitably lead to his death, but recalling everything he had experienced in the Tower since, he felt he wouldn’t be pushed back even in a direct fight now.
“Could an Ogre even appear...? Let’s go, for now. The place we’re heading to is Papitar, the nation representing Ur-Aha.”
As the star in their view gradually expanded, the spaceship decisively picked up speed.
The moment after Ban Yuwon muttered to himself, ‘Huh, that doesn’t look like Earth,’ the spaceship had already breached Ur-Aha’s atmosphere and was flying over Papitar.
Though the ground was still incredibly far away, making it hard to grasp the full reality, Ban Yuwon somehow spotted something dark brown swarming over the vast green expanse, moving like an ant colony.
“We should hurry. The number of monsters seems greater than I expected, doesn’t it?”
“Are all of those really monsters?”
Though too far to count precisely, it was clear their numbers surpassed several hundred thousand.
Quantity was power, and at this point, regardless of their low grade, this was hardly a number that Academy freshmen could possibly hold back.
To Ban Yuwon’s questioning gaze, Yumina also replied with bewildered eyes.
“Even I’m flustered... Of course, it usually takes a little time for special activity requests to be received and processed, but...”
Yumina’s hands moved frantically across the spaceship’s control panel.
On the ground, now seen in a quick close-up on the screen, an indescribably immense army of monsters was sweeping across the land, rushing forward.
However, there was one significant difference compared to the monster wave they had witnessed previously on Gellas: it was—
“There’s nothing but Orcs?”
The monster army was composed entirely of Orcs, a warrior race with pig-like heads and muscular physiques.
Even the monster wave Rebellion had faced just recently in Room 39, while mainly consisting of armored beasts, had included many other types of monsters.
Among the monsters that had later joined in, there were even some that looked like a cross between humans and zombies.
But this wave was different.
Orcs, Orcs, everywhere he looked, only Orcs.
Calling it an Orc Wave instead of a monster wave would be entirely accurate.
“Oh, oh no.”
Yumina turned pale, as if she had discovered something the others hadn't recognized.
“Let’s head to Papitar quickly for now. But if we make a single mistake... it might not be a national crisis, but a dimensional one.”
“Honestly, Professor, we kind of expected this much.”
“Actually, I too... from the moment the phrase ‘picnic’ was mentioned.”
“Aren’t you all being too much?!”
Since their party got embroiled in trouble everywhere they went, it was now more unsettling if nothing happened at all.
They were already at a point where they suspected a dimension might open and dimension pirates appear at any moment, so what else could be expected?
“Our team’s strength is no longer at the level of Academy freshmen. We won’t let Professor have to step in.”
Dokgo Yeon, who had been gazing at the screen on the control panel with them, placed her right hand lightly on her sword hilt, a proud expression on her face as if she had finished assessing the situation.
It was likely her own preliminary motion to bolster her fighting spirit.
If only she’d wiped the spicy sauce from the corner of her mouth, she would have looked even more dignified, but since it was cute in its own way, he decided to leave it be.
...More importantly, if he were to point it out directly, it was obvious she’d torment him for it.
...Which meant she really liked the Gangongchamseu!
“Uh, Dokgo Yeon? You have something on your lip.”
“...?!”
And the victim, as always, turned out to be As Light.
Ban Yuwon calmly fixed his gaze on the control panel, as if he had never seen Dokgo Yeon’s disheveled state from the beginning.
Only then did something else catch his eye: an even larger Orc leading the vanguard of the army on the screen.
It carried an unnaturally massive and crude greatsword, bravely bellowing as it led the horde, and even through the screen, he could sense its formidable aura.
“...? That greatsword, how is it...”
While the weapons of the other Orcs were all equally menacing, that giant Orc’s greatsword, in particular, looked alien.
He wished he could examine it directly, but even Ban Yuwon couldn’t perceive language concepts through a screen.
Yumina offered a wry smile at Ban Yuwon’s reaction.
“I knew Ban Yuwon would notice. That’s probably what made this wave so severe... Where on earth did they get that?”
“A single greatsword? What do you mean by that?”
“We’ll talk about that in a moment. We’re almost there.”
The spaceship, having streaked at high speed over the heads of the frantically charging Orc army and overtaken them, gradually lowered its altitude and flew like an airplane, finally landing on a large 'X' mark drawn on the ground.
“Well, shall we go out?”
“What about the spaceship? Ah, no need to ask.”
As everyone exited the spaceship, it automatically shrunk to a palm-sized object and was then absorbed into Yumina’s inventory.
The ground they had flown over just five minutes ago had been a wasteland overrun by the Orc army, yet this immediate area was a flower-filled prairie, giving Ban Yuwon a strange feeling.
Hadn’t Yumina said to go with the feeling of going on a picnic?
Perhaps if he hadn’t just seen the Orc army, Ban Yuwon would have thought similarly.
“Are you the ones from Union Academy?”
A middle-aged woman, who seemed to have been waiting nearby, approached them with soldiers.
She wore an extremely ornate dress and a small crown on her head, which was clearly an artifact at first glance.
However, the truly important thing, her level...
The woman, presumed to be royalty of this nation, and the soldiers escorting her... they were so weak that Ban Yuwon could roughly estimate their Life stats the moment he saw them.
He hadn't pierced through them with his Authority, but rather judged them based on the mana or aura they possessed.
“I am Queen Lyra of Papitar. Thank you so much for accepting our request... G-gasp, Rebellion!”
But no sooner had the woman, who was approaching them and introducing herself, seen Ban Yuwon’s face than she shrieked.
“I never imagined Rebellion would actually come to our country! Our entire royal family are your fans! Could I possibly get an autograph?”
“You know us?”
“Of course! His Majesty has access to the Union Net! The entire royal family watches you all together through the magical water mirror.”
He reflexively pulled out his device to check the Rebellion channel’s subscriber count, and though they hadn’t uploaded any particularly special videos, their subscribers had already surpassed 500 million.
And one of those subscribers was right here, in this world.
Ban Yuwon looked back at his companions with a dazed expression, and while they all wore similar looks, only Yumina was giving a thumbs-up.
No, this isn't the time for that, Professor.
“Right, do you know the true nature of the monster wave currently approaching Papitar?”
“You mean the Orcs? Actually, we received a report the day before yesterday, so we...”
At Ban Yuwon’s subtle cue, Yumina, finally recalling the current predicament, questioned Papitar’s queen accusatorily, but the queen merely replied as if it were a minor issue.
“This isn’t the time to calmly nod your head! How on earth did a Relic end up in the hands of an Orc?”
A Relic? Is she talking about an artifact?
As Ban Yuwon tilted his head, the queen, still seemingly failing to grasp the severity of the situation, replied foolishly.
“We received reports, but we truly don’t know where it came from; perhaps it’s a dimensional lost item... Ah, but with Rebellion’s power, you’ll be able to defeat tens of thousands of Orcs without any trouble, right?”
“It’s at least a million.”
The queen, who had worn a completely relieved expression ever since seeing Rebellion, had her eyes widen into saucers upon hearing those words.
“What did you say?”
“I said, a million.”
“Haaah.”
As Yumina emphasized it again, the queen fainted on the spot.
Ban Yuwon wanted to faint along with her, but the monster wave—no, the Orc Wave—was bearing down far too close!
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