Chapter 3
If there’s one thing I regret after entering this world, it’s that there’s no status window.
You know, in possession-of-game-anime scenarios, it’s a given that when you shout “status window,” a window pops up right away.
It’s normal to ponder how to grow while gazing at it. So why don’t I have a status window?
On the first day I possessed Lucy’s body, I firmly believed that I would have a status window, and I went through all sorts of struggles.
I thought to myself, spoke it out loud, yelled, wrote it down, and even asked the maid, wondering if I had to use the local language to ask about the status window.
I tried everything possible, but even as I writhed in shame, the status window refused to show up.
Now, three days later, I’ve partially resigned myself to this reality.
Yeah, I suppose it’s possible that the status window might not appear.
But that doesn’t mean the skills I had when I created my character just vanished into thin air.
Right? They didn’t disappear, did they? They didn’t disappear except for that pesky Mesugaki skill, did they?
Anyway, assuming my skills are still intact, I had a set task.
Get stronger to defeat the monsters lurking in the dungeon.
With Lucy’s current body, there’s no way she could even take down a single goblin that appears in the dungeon.
How could I possibly clear the dungeon when my body’s wheezing and panting just from climbing three flights of stairs?
Honestly, when I first made the Mesugaki character, I’m grateful I loaded it up with skills for fun.
What kind of disaster would have unfolded if I had decided to play like a hardcore veteran this time?
What if I hadn’t added any skills to benefit this weak little Mesugaki body and just poured in a bunch of penalty skills instead?
Yikes. If that were the case, I would’ve turned the frills in Lucy’s room into a rope.
While I was lost in thought, I pulled out the elixir the butler had given me and laid it out on the dresser.
The elixir in the glass bottle didn’t look delicious, no matter how I looked at it.
If I had to make a comparison, it looked like powdered medicine mixed in water given to a child who couldn’t take pills.
“If you consume this elixir, expect to feel excruciating pain in your body.”
No way.
Can’t you tell just by looking at it? It’s a lie to scare me!
Let’s not focus on that.
I opened the cap of the stamina-boosting elixir and took a cautious sniff.
Nothing!
It had no smell whatsoever.
It was as if I was just staring at plain old water inside.
And that made me even more anxious.
Because you know how the night before a storm is eerily calm? Could this odorless elixir end up giving me some extreme experience the moment I take a sip?
After hesitating for a moment, I realized I had no other choice.
I had to drink it anyway.
“Don’t be a child!”
With resolve, I downed the liquid in the bottle in one gulp.
Surprisingly, the elixir didn’t taste like anything at all.
Is this really an elixir? It’s too tame for an elixir!
The change came suddenly.
Had only a second passed since I gulped down the elixir? My body contorted painfully.
It wasn’t just a spot or two. Agony hit me all over!
It felt like some invisible force was squeezing my muscles, as if my flesh was being torn apart!
The pain was so intense, I couldn’t even scream. All I could manage was to roll around helplessly on the floor.
How much time passed?
When I finally came to, I was crawling on the floor.
“What the heck?! What’s going on?!”
There was no mention of pain when taking elixirs in the game!
So why does it hurt so damn much?!
What’s going wrong? Is this truly an elixir?
There’s no way the butler gave me poison disguised as an elixir to mess with me.
If anything were to happen to me, Benedict would probably slit his own throat to take the butler down with him before he let it happen. He wouldn’t take such a risk!
As I stumbled to my feet, I glanced at Lucy’s reflection in the mirror.
Her hair was a wild mess, and her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying.
Her hands were shaking, while her legs wobbled, threatening to give way at any moment.
Her clothes were askew as well.
Was this really the Mesugaki who looked like a total brat?
“Seriously?!”
Swear words just kept slipping out of my mouth.
The pain I had just felt wouldn’t leave my mind.
Once, I accidentally burned myself badly.
It wasn’t on purpose—I was camping, making a bonfire, and tripped over something, rolling right into the fire.
Getting my flesh charred was horrendous. It felt like someone was repeatedly slicing into my body.
The flames died quickly, and I hadn’t suffered serious injuries, but the memory of that day remains as the worst pain in my life.
And today, that worst pain has been surpassed. The agony I just went through was far worse.
Sucking in air, I grasped my face with both hands, taking deep breaths.
My heart screamed for me to throw everything away and lay down on the bed.
Thinking about how absolutely horrendous this all was, I wanted to shut my eyes and dream of the happy times from before.
But I couldn’t allow that. I had something I needed to do.
It was strange. If I were still my old self, I would have crumbled by now.
I was never what you’d call strong.
But today was different. My heart loudly insisted that I must go on.
“It’s okay. I won’t die. I’m not dead. It only hurts. It’s okay.”
Taking control of my breathing, I finally raised my head.
There were still other elixirs left, but first, I needed to check something before downing them.
I had to figure out if they were really elixirs or not!
After suffering such atrocious pain, how infuriating would it be if they weren’t even elixirs?
The easiest way to find out was to try and move my body myself.
Since I just downed the stamina-boosting elixir, if it truly worked, my stamina should have increased.
The verification method was simple:
Climb from the first-floor lobby to the third floor!
Before taking the elixir, just reaching the top floor would have left me utterly exhausted, but now, a different result should arise if my stamina improved.
As I exited my room and headed downstairs, a maid greeted me.
But I ignored her. I couldn’t muster the energy to respond.
Right now, moving my body felt like an uphill battle!
Upon reaching the first floor, I painstakingly made my way up the stairs, step by step.
“Light as a feather!”
It felt remarkably lighter than usual, as if I’d shed some heavy sandbags!
Was it just my imagination?
To be certain, I pushed all my energy into sprinting up the stairs as if I was racing against time.
Normally, I would have collapsed from exhaustion after climbing just one flight, but this time felt different!
Even upon hitting the third floor, I only felt mildly winded, not the usual wreck I was!
The elixir worked its magic. No doubt about it.
Confirming this, I returned to my room and stared silently at the two elixirs resting on the dresser.
If I drank those, I would definitely be in a world of hurt.
When I didn’t know anything before, it didn’t matter, but now that I was aware of the pain, I was terrified to even touch them.
Nevertheless, for the sake of my future, I absolutely had to consume those two elixirs.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have swallowed all three right away! Then I wouldn’t have to worry about this!”
Going back and forth in a staring contest with the still glass bottle, I shook my head vigorously and stood in front of the dresser.
And then, I snatched the glass bottle!
To be precise, I attempted to grab it.
My hand wouldn’t budge!
Was my body still remembering the previous pain? My trembling hands adamantly refused to take the elixir!
“It’s okay.”
I recalled the pain I had just experienced.
“It’s okay.”
The agony of my whole body twisting and tearing, feeling as if it was being reassembled anew!
“It’s okay.”
It was not okay at all! If I had to endure that kind of torture again, I’d go insane before the academy exam even arrived!
I can’t. I just can’t!
“Huh?”
At the moment when the terror of pain seized my entire being, the word “fear” unexpectedly vanished from my mind.
I didn’t overcome it. It felt like someone reached into my brain and stole my emotions away!
What just happened?
After everything had scrambled my thoughts, one possible idea popped into my head.
Overcoming fear…
The skill I had plugged in when creating the Mesugaki character.
That skill activated! That had to be what wiped out the fear in my mind!
So other skills besides Mesugaki were also activating without any issues, huh?
Never did I expect to confirm it like this.
Awesome! That’s great!
Thanks to that, the hesitation in my thoughts faded away.
I’ll probably regret it later.
“Drinking this won’t kill me, right? It’ll just hurt like hell.”
Suffering a moment of agony in exchange for the future? I can handle that!
After pulling the caps off both elixirs, I downed every last drop in one go.
Again, like before, I didn’t detect any taste from the elixirs.
And soon enough, pain surged back, and when I came to my senses, a whole day had gone by, and it was already evening.
—
I unintentionally lost an entire day, but without a doubt, the effects of the elixir had firmly settled in my body.
My stamina and strength had markedly increased compared to before.
Even after multiple trips up and down the stairs, I felt perfectly fine, and I could now easily push open those heavy doors in the mansion that I had struggled with before!
Having now passed the first hurdle I had in mind, I headed off in search of supplies to move on to the next stage.
My weapon, of course!
The game, Soul Academy, had a solid balance among its weapons.
While some had great performance and others fell short, there were no utterly useless pieces.
So when choosing my weapon, I only worried about how well I could handle it rather than its stats.
One hand will definitely hold a shield.
With Iron Wall being the peak of shield skills, not using a shield would be borderline criminal.
So now I had to choose a one-handed weapon for my other hand, and there were only three options:
The spear, the sword, and the blunt weapon.
But no matter how I thought about it, the sword was off the table.
Not that there’s anything wrong with the sword. What’s not to like about a cool-looking high-performance sword?
I just had no confidence in my sword skills.
The nearest sword I’ve ever swung is a kitchen knife!
And let’s be honest—I rarely even cook, so I’ve barely held one a handful of times!
Could someone as inexperienced as me handle a tricky weapon like a sword? Not a chance!
And the spear was similarly dismissed for the same reason. Spears may be the best weapons for beginners, but this only holds true in broad open spaces.
Most battles in Soul Academy take place in narrow corridors.
Could I handle a spear in that kind of setup?
I could clearly picture myself hitting a wall and flopping over without being able to do anything!
So that left me with only one choice.
“What weapons are you looking for, Miss?”
A mace and a shield!
“Huh…?”
“Are you deaf? I’ll say it again. A mace and a shield!”
The soldier guarding the armory double-checked to make sure he heard me right.
I guess it seemed odd for a girl like me to ask for a mace.
Sure, it might not seem like a fitting weapon for someone my size—less than 150 cm tall (about 5ft)—but to me, it didn’t matter whether it suited my image or not!
So, hand it over to me—immediately!
The soldier didn’t question me three times, perhaps not wanting to upset the sassy young lady.
Instead, he dashed inside and swiftly retrieved the shield and mace in the armory that were in the best shape.
“But, Miss Lucy… These are a bit heavy.”
“Just hand them over!”
“You’re a real nuisance, aren’t you? Just give it to me if I said so!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The shield and mace handed to me by the soldier felt solidly hefty in my hands.
Wow. They’re heavy! If this had been me before, I probably would’ve dropped them before I could even hold them!
But right now, I had the elixir coursing through my body!
“This is light work!”
I stood upright, holding the mace and shield without any trouble, which made the soldier blink in astonishment.
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