I got into school for nothing - 224
I got into school for nothing (224)
Lesson 44. A Strike Through the Gap - 4
It was a relief, perhaps; as proof that the Chain Room sequence had ended, they were able to safely acquire a treasure chest in Room 160, Eden.
What's more, excluding the one Ban Yuwon had forcefully created before, it was the very first golden chest!
Although its frame was made of bronze, even just this was more than enough to be grateful for.
[The Seal concept's depth of the Seal Ring has reached 650.]
“So what’s this?”
Ban Yuwon, who had absorbed the concept sealing the chest into his ring and was smiling contentedly, tilted his head as he looked at the artifact that had appeared inside the chest.
Judging by the faint light it emitted, it was certainly no ordinary item, yet its material, no matter how he looked at it, was fabric.
As Light’s reaction, on the other hand, was different.
From the moment he saw it, his eyes were glued to it, refusing to budge.
“This is...”
“Oh, you know what it is?”
“It’s an Arming Doublet. An Arming Doublet, that is. You can’t wear metal armor directly on bare skin, so it’s worn underneath as a simple protective layer...”
“I see.”
Since As Light was the only member who wore armor, it was no surprise he recognized it first.
As Ban Yuwon reached out and picked it up, As Light’s gaze followed it faithfully.
“...Tsk.”
“Ah, ahh.”
As he swung the Arming Doublet back and forth, As Light’s eyes swayed like a cat chasing a laser pointer.
After repeating that a few times and teasing him, Dokgo Yeon’s fist fell on Ban Yuwon’s head like a mace.
“Stop messing around.”
“But it was fun...”
“I want to receive that.”
As Light said with serious eyes.
Before Ban Yuwon could even reply, Dokgo Yeon scoffed in disbelief.
“I’m astonished by your brazen audacity. What gall do you have to...”
“What’s wrong? As Light did contribute quite a lot this time. While it was a struggle, the Chain Room sequence continuing was ultimately thanks to As Light.”
“Are you alright?”
Receiving such a genuinely worried gaze about his mental state, he actually started to worry himself if there was truly something wrong with him...
Ban Yuwon, who was having his head prodded here and there by Dokgo Yeon as she searched for alien tentacles that might be controlling his mind, gently pushed her away and then touched the Arming Doublet all over to check its texture.
Upon examining its concepts, not only did it possess a robust ‘Defense’ concept, enough to wear it alone, but it was also an incredible artifact with various attached abilities such as body fatigue recovery, wound regeneration, and the garment’s own regeneration capabilities.
Furthermore, it seemed to also provide supplementary abilities to both the body and mind...
Which meant.
“This is a good item.”
As Ban Yuwon, still touching the Arming Doublet, flashed a triumphant smile, As Light’s expression turned uneasy.
“It’s a very, very good item. ...Ban Yuwon, if you’re going to give it to me, I’d prefer you didn’t touch it like that.”
“Refrain from making remarks that could cause misunderstandings. Especially since your current appearance risks overly stimulating certain demographics.”
“?”
If he didn’t understand, that was fine.
Ban Yuwon obediently handed the Arming Doublet, now appraised and with simple adjustments made, over to As Light.
“Take it.”
“...Are you really giving it to me?”
His contributions in this Chain Room were significant, and since As Light was the only one who could truly make use of the Arming Doublet, it was a fair distribution.
However, As Light, who had actively asked for it, seemed quite surprised upon actually receiving it.
“This is a treasure. It’s an item that will increase my current power by at least 20%. But can you really just hand it over so readily?”
“As much as 20%? That’s good. What’s the problem?”
“We agreed to compete for something important to each other in a month, didn’t we?”
As Light’s eyes unnecessarily gleamed with seriousness.
“But to offer an artifact without hesitation, do you look down on me? Or did you see my performance this time and give up on confronting me early?”
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, then give it back.”
As Ban Yuwon reached out, As Light quickly hid the Arming Doublet against his chest.
First, he desperately asked for it, then became serious upon receiving it, and now hides it when asked to return it—it seemed to perfectly reflect As Light’s current state of mind.
Ban Yuwon snorted and said.
“If you’re going to use it, stop overthinking and just use it without complaint. I’m not looking down on you, nor have I given up; I’m simply distributing the spoils to a comrade.”
“...Alright then.”
In the end, As Light took the Arming Doublet.
While it was called an Arming Doublet, the sight of him easily handing over such an excellent defensive item that anyone could use with a little modification might have prompted complaints from the other members, but Rucell had been quiet from the start, and by the time Dokgo Yeon saw it go into As Light’s possession, she too seemed to realize something and calmed down.
“Then, let’s head out now. The time limit is cutting it close.”
“Anyway, we managed to clear 30 rooms in three days.”
“I’m too tired to even count how many multi-shifts occurred.”
Considering that Mira and Shatie, two of the top third-year students this year, were only tackling around Room 300 by the end of the first semester, Team Rebellion’s exploration speed was beyond common sense.
The fact that Ban Yuwon’s Tower exploration included elements that other teams rarely experienced meant that not only did the difficulty of each individual room increase, but also that factors like Chain Rooms and multi-shifts, which “increased difficulty but accelerated exploration speed,” were added.
“Ah!”
When they emerged from the Tower, Yumina, as always during the first semester, was waiting for them, and many others were watching them exit.
The reason, of course, was that their ranking was updated the moment they left the Tower.
Even at the end of the first semester, their exploration had concluded at a level not much different from Aire and the Ortima team, who were proudly leading the first-years in solo exploration. But having leapt past them to reach Room 160 in just three days of exploration, how could everyone not pay attention?
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard! We have class tomorrow, so let’s disband for today and get some good rest.”
Yumina, who greeted the party with a wide smile, said while clapping her hands, then subtly pulled Ban Yuwon towards herself.
Whenever it was Sunday after an exploration, she would almost always ‘kidnap’ Ban Yuwon under the pretext of a debriefing, so there was nothing unusual about it.
“You’re trying to steal our master again...”
“Beast, if you still have energy, let’s spar.”
“Kyaaang!”
“Hmph, I’ll be leaving then.”
Rucell, who hadn’t been able to achieve her intentions throughout the exploration due to various disruptions, showed her fangs at Yumina, but Dokgo Yeon sighed and dragged her away. As Light sent a peculiar gaze towards Yumina for a moment, but soon left the spot with a snort, a sound he had grown completely accustomed to lately.
Ban Yuwon, left alone with Yumina, had to leave the place with her to avoid the gazes piercing him from all directions.
“What happened?”
The location for the debriefing was a restaurant they had once visited with Yumina, located on the top floor of Union Academy’s first annex.
Sitting opposite Yumina in this place of memories, where half a year had already passed, Ban Yuwon felt that her gaze was particularly intense today.
“The usual things, you know. Getting involved with Constellations, multi-shifts continuing in the Chain Rooms, destroying a fake Tower of Babel lookalike, and gradually exploring the Authority of the Tower of Babel.”
“I’ll have to watch the video.”
Tikke’s video editing skills had reached the divine realm.
Yumina, who was fast-forwarding through the video that had just been uploaded to the channel, narrowed her eyes.
“It looks like a lot of parts were cut out.”
“The part where we entered the sanctuary was completely edited out. Thanks to that, a scenario was created where As Light bravely rescued me while I was trapped in the Tower...”
As Light’s fans, who were already quite numerous, seemed to be cheering immensely.
Moreover, because that Tikke unnecessarily captured two-shots of As Light and Ban Yuwon, the situation he had worried about was indeed unfolding.
“If the truth ever comes out, the channel is going to explode...”
“Sometimes, Yuwon, I get confused about what you really want to do at Union Academy...”
While they were watching the video, their meal arrived.
Over the past six months, Ban Yuwon had encountered and killed a variety of opponents, acquiring their corpses, so even the rarest monster meat, when cooked, no longer had any special effect on him.
He let out a bitter smile at the thought of how remarkably far he had grown in such a short time, as Yumina, who had finished checking not just the edited video but all the original footage, let out a soft sigh.
He couldn’t fully discern Yumina’s emotions with his own eyes yet, but despite that, he could tell that her sigh carried quite a heavy emotion.
“Yuwon, this ‘Starlight Player’...”
“The ego residing in the staff I showed you before. She claims she was originally a Constellation, and when I mimicked the magic she wields, it seems the Constellations noticed.”
“...”
Ban Yuwon, too, recalled the events of yesterday and frowned anew.
At the time, he had ruthlessly rejected their demands solely with the thought that he couldn’t hand over his comrade to the Constellations.
Looking back, it was quite odd that just by learning about Starlight Magic’s existence, the Constellations unanimously surmised Stella’s presence and made such bold demands of Ban Yuwon.
Though he couldn’t be certain, Stella must have been quite a prominent figure among the Constellations.
Indeed, that’s why the Constellations must have conspired against her in an organized manner.
“Yes, I knew...”
Yumina said in a whisper.
“Professor... you also know the Starlight Player?”
“She was an entity that controlled Constellations.”
It was a statement that made immediate sense.
After all, if someone wielding Starlight Magic, which weakens the power of Constellations, didn’t control Constellations, who would?
However, Yumina’s words carried a subtle nuance. It didn’t sound like Stella simply *could* control Constellations, but rather that Stella *was meant to be* the one who controlled Constellations.
“You heard correctly.”
“That’s an interesting story.”
Today’s main dish was a sauté of an unknown high-tier monster.
The meat, perfectly grilled with just the right amount of saltiness, boasted a heavenly texture, and the juices bursting in his mouth were exquisite.
Ban Yuwon savored it meticulously as he asked her.
“So, it sounds as if Stella’s abilities... or perhaps her very existence, was artificially created.”
“Isn’t there an institution here that trains the universe’s greatest talents?”
“She was a student?”
“And she was also the Principal’s sponsored individual. ...Just as I was.”
Ban Yuwon put down his fork.
It was so delicious that he hadn’t even realized he’d devoured it instantly and was still trying to use his fork.
“It seems there’s still more to the story, big sister.”
“I never thought I’d be telling you this so soon... Perhaps it’s thanks to a confluence of several miracles.”
Yumina raised her glass and imbued it with her mana.
Mysterious mana filled the red wine in the glass, and gradually, sparkling crystals began to form within the liquid.
It was as if a red universe was contained within it.
Ban Yuwon articulated the identity of the mana, which he had somewhat anticipated.
“It’s Starlight. Stella used to boast that it was a unique magic only she could use.”
“There’s a way for others to use unique magic, or Authority. You know that, don’t you?”
“Well, yes.”
That is, a contract with a Constellation.
She was the Starlight Player’s contractor.
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