Chapter: 55
Oh right. I completely forgot about this!
The biggest reason I crazily pushed myself to enroll in Soul Academy. I was just so overwhelmed by everything that happened a moment ago.
Even while reading the message window, I didn’t have high hopes.
Considering the useless god’s connection with the system, it’s highly likely that this is also tied to the useless god.
I mean, what kind of great reward would a stingy brat like him give for clearing a quest, especially when he just made me his servant?
[The ‘Emotion’ skill is unlocked.]
[A new main quest ‘You Were Born to Be Loved’ is available.]
What?!
Wait a second.
What?!
The new quest isn’t that surprising. I never thought the entrance exam would mark the end of the quest.
But the Emotion skill? Now that’s different.
The Emotion skill existed in the game too.
Since Soul Academy aimed for a ridiculous level of realism, sometimes the item descriptions would lie.
And sometimes NPCs would take advantage of that.
That’s where the Emotion skill comes in.
The higher the skill level, the easier it becomes to discern the true value of items.
In fact, there were some top-tier items in Soul Academy that you could only discover by maxing out the Emotion skill.
But how does this skill apply in real life?
In the game, it just auto-activated when you hovered the mouse over an item.
I pulled out Ruel’s mace to check the skill, but something didn’t click.
My other skills would give me a distinct feeling when activated, but this one felt… off.
Is it because my proficiency is still low? Or is there another way to activate it?
Thinking it might be like other web novels, I stared at Ruel’s mace and murmured “Emotion.”
Before I knew it, a new message window appeared in front of me.
[Ruel’s Mace]
[This mace was used by the holy knight Ruel. It seems to radiate a divine aura.]
[????]
So this is how it works?
Since I just learned the skill, my proficiency is low, so the description isn’t crystal clear. But hey, grinding it out will work!
This is amazing.
Useless god!
Finally, you’re giving me what I need!?
If only you’d done this earlier, I wouldn’t have to call you the useless god!
Alright, I’m feeling good!
From now on, I’ll add “-nim” after your name!
Useless god-nim!
Thank you!
Getting one of the skills I needed the most took a little of the gloom that was hovering over me away.
Now, time to check the quest.
[You Were Born to Be Loved]
[Raise the favorability of two Soul Academy students to above 70 by the final exam.]
[Reward: ???]
[Failure: GAME OVER]
Huh?
For a moment, I thought I had misread, so I splashed my face with water and checked the quest window again.
But doing so wouldn’t change reality.
I’m sorry, useless god-nim.
I just added “-nim” to your name, but it looks like I might have to take it back.
No, taking back just “-nim” might hurt your feelings, so I’ll remove both.
Hey! Useless! What the hell is this quest about?!
Favorability of 70?! Is that even feasible?!
Soul Academy has a favorability system.
You can raise favorability by engaging with NPCs, completing quests related to them, or giving gifts, resulting in a closer relationship.
Even if you don’t care about the story, managing the favorability is important because it boosts stats when you party with them.
But that’s not the issue right now.
To talk specifics about favorability, you start at 40 when meeting someone for the first time without any emotions.
The lower it is, the worse the relationship gets, and the higher it is, the closer you become.
So, what’s this 70 favorability the quest is talking about?
It’s roughly the level of considering each other as intimate friends.
In other words, “real friends.”
People you can talk to about anything without any burden.
While it wasn’t too tough to raise this in the game, the situation is different now.
How can I become that close with someone?!
Considering I’m just trying to make one friend while living at Soul Academy, and now I’ve got to make two “real friends” in half a year?!
Give me a break!
A quest to clear a high-difficulty dungeon would have been easier!
If it were that, I’d figure something out!
But this? No way!
You’re a real piece of work, you know that.
Getting into Soul Academy as Lucy was already hard enough; now you’ve put an even bigger mountain in front of me.
You just want to see me crumble, don’t you?
What the hell kind of apostle are you?
You just want to watch me squirm and show my struggle, right?
Do you want to see a girl cry while struggling? You sadistic god!
Absolutely not. I will never fulfill your wishes.
Just wait.
No matter what hardships you throw at me, I won’t break.
I’ll endure, survive, and then come for your throat.
You may think you’re a god, but in Soul Academy, even gods can be slain!
You’ll regret ever tormenting me.
Just as I was feeling slightly better, I fell back into the abyss.
I took a half-step up only to take a full step down again, making the shock even greater.
Although I resolved to survive by any means, reality was far from easy.
What’s the problem, you ask?
Everything is a problem.
From how everyone thinks I’m a troubled delinquent because of Lucy’s past reputation,
to how I’m forced to draw aggro due to the Mesugaki skill.
I can’t even see other people’s favorability!
Really, the better question is: What isn’t a problem here?
Obviously, figuring out how to get everyone’s favorability up should be memorized.
What do you expect? I’m a veteran in Soul Academy.
But still. Damn useless Lucy.
Damn useless Mesugaki skill!
“Lady Alrn.”
When I heard my name, I put my hand down and looked up to see a seriously fuming Joy.
Seeing her alone speaking to me, away from her usual entourage, really shows she’s angry.
“What’s this about the pitiful prince?”
Ah. That part, huh?
Right. Joy has been friends with Arthur since they were kids.
If she heard me call him a pitiful prince, it’s no surprise she’d come to confront me.
“Did you really say that knowing the situation of the third prince?”
I know, I know.
I may not know everything about Arthur, but I doubt Joy knows more than me.
The characters of Soul Academy haven’t had all peaceful and happy lives.
Some, like Joy, have lived a carefree life, while others have tragic backstories.
Arthur is definitely one of the latter.
Secrets surrounding his birth. His mother’s death. Family neglect. Royal gossip.
After suffering numerous misfortunes, Arthur has become one of the most unfortunate characters in Soul Academy, obsessively seeking perfection.
And I just called him the pitiful prince.
I’ll probably keep calling him that too.
‘No, I didn’t know.’
“Moronic lady. Shouldn’t you know about the third prince’s circumstances?”
I know all too well, thank you very much!
But I proudly replied that I don’t know!
If I admitted to knowing, I’d become irredeemably trash!
“If you didn’t know, why would you call the third prince that?”
‘Just because.’
“I only called him that because he looks pitiful. Just like how you look dumb.”
As I confidently explained, Joy sighed.
“Well then, please stop calling him that from now on.”
At least she believes I’m not being malicious, right?
That’s a relief.
Considering the fact that I saved her from the dungeon last time, she can’t think too badly of me, I guess.
But I can’t comply with her request.
I honestly don’t want to call Arthur the pitiful prince!
‘Why not?’
“Why should I, Moronic Lady?”
“That’s… I can’t say.”
I get it.
Unless Arthur chooses to reveal his problems, no one can talk about them.
The reason I asked that question was for this response.
This way, I can just act shamelessly.
‘If you won’t tell me the reason…’
“Okay? Then I’ll just keep calling him the pitiful prince.”
“Don’t.”
‘Goodbye…’
“Goodbye, Moronic Lady. I’m off now.”
With that, I turned and left, hearing Joy yell in frustration from behind.
I shouldn’t be lowering my favorability, but it seems I can’t help it.
I’m not really a tearful person, but I feel like I might cry.
[Seems like you’re having a tough time because of that blessing.]
‘Yeah, seriously. I’m glad I have a grandfather after all.’
I never thought I’d be so grateful for someone to talk to openly.
[What on earth is Armandi thinking? ]
‘Let’s not talk about that.’
[Whoa, mentioning the god, huh.]
‘I’m telling you, that god may take my head off?!’
It’s a good thing Arthur has no inheritance or backing.
If I said something like that to the second or first prince, it wouldn’t be surprising if I got taken away for blasphemy!
Wait a second. Isn’t the second prince currently enrolled at Soul Academy?
What if I call him by a nickname…?
No way. Absolutely not.
I’ll do my best to avoid that.
I shouldn’t even get close to the second-year classroom.
*
As I opened the door to the first-year Class A of Soul Academy and stepped in, all eyes were on me.
Most of them held looks of wariness or disgust.
“Wait, I’m in the same class with her?!”
These looks felt the same.
I can just see someone bursting into tears when assigned to sit next to me.
In the crowd, there were a few variations of gazes.
The Saintess, despite all the harsh words I’ve endured, gave me a warm smile, while the third prince was glaring at me with openly hostile eyes.
Joy’s followers were whispering and frowning at me.
I couldn’t make out their words, but I could guess the drill.
They were probably condemning me for giving Joy the rude nickname “Moronic Lady.”
Looking around, it was clear to see that everyone’s favorability towards me was at rock bottom.
“Hey.”
Wow, this is seriously overwhelming.
Where on earth do I even begin to sort this out?
First, I should probably choose two characters where raising favorability won’t be as hard, just like in the game.
[Hey, Lady. Someone is calling you from behind.]
‘Me?’
Following the elder’s words, I turned to see a girl slightly taller than me.
Her black hair was tied back, and she was staring at me with indifferent red eyes.
The next sword saint of the kingdom.
Why is Frey Kent trying to talk to me?
Whew, this is a little nerve-wracking.
“Let’s have a spar.”
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