I’ve cleared the game countless times and attempted this event just as many.
But this was the first time I’ve seen that statue’s eyes close and the door open.
“Whoa-ha-ha! What do you think! My incredible magic power!”
The one who opened the firmly shut door puffed their chest arrogantly and shrugged their shoulders.
Everyone watching applauded and chimed in.
“Wow, Alicia, amazing! I never dreamed you’d use such a sneaky method!”
“You’re truly the king of tricks.”
“I thought you’d just say the answer, but hypnosis? There’s never been a scam like this.”
“Heh-heh-heh!”
Whether it was praise or criticism, Alicia seemed to enjoy it, blowing out a smug breath and smiling satisfactorily.
Though they all pretended to be unimpressed, the atmosphere was genuinely one of admiration.
I certainly never dreamed of opening a door like that.
But this made things clear.
‘No matter how it’s done, a clear is possible.’
In the previous game, if a clear was impossible due to programming, the players couldn’t do anything and had to abide by it.
But now, that reality has changed.
Whatever the method, depending on the shift in thinking, what was once impossible in the game can be made possible.
“Alright! Shall we move on to the next part!”
With Alicia’s cheerful shout, we entered the next room through the open door.
“…What’s this.”
The place we stepped into was another room.
However, unlike before, there was no exit to proceed further.
All that stood before us was a plain room with a wall blocking our way, and three boxes at its center.
‘Clear reward!’
I’d never even thought there’d be something prepared for an event that was impossible to clear.
Could it be some sort of Easter egg?
Well, considering it’s a bizarre game company that loves creating hidden settings that don’t even come up in explanations, it’s not entirely surprising.
They might have prepared a clear reward for an event that can’t be cleared.
“Wow! Is this a treasure chest? For a haunted mansion, the taste is surprisingly good!”
“But there are only three.”
Elise, who was brightly smiling and running to the treasure chest, halted at Mary’s comment.
Right, there were three rewards.
With eight of us present, not everyone could receive a reward.
“Umm, what should we do?”
“It seems like we need to decide who gets the boxes…”
As Siegfried mumbled while looking at the boxes, everyone turned to look at me simultaneously.
“…Me?”
Caught off guard by their sudden stares, I pointed at myself with my finger.
Then Adrian smiled and replied.
“After all, you gathered everyone here. If you hadn’t called us, we wouldn’t have had a chance to get rewards.”
Mary nodded in agreement with his words.
“I’m fine with Ken deciding how to do it.”
The rest of the group had no opposing views either. They just silently waited for my answer.
What they wanted was for me to decide how to fairly distribute the three boxes.
Distribution of rewards, huh…
That’s a bit daunting.
It feels like being the leader of a group project or something.
Three boxes.
The first thing that came to mind was to give one to each event contributor, but…
Even though Alicia had done a lot in the end, everyone else had also struggled to find the keys.
If I split it based on who did well, someone might end up feeling unsatisfied.
In times like these…
“Yay! I won! Woohoo!”
“Wow! I didn’t think I could do it!”
Alicia and Emily, who had won subsequent rounds of rock-paper-scissors, beamed with joy, each holding up their winning signs.
“So is this the last one?”
Now there were only six of us left.
What was inside those boxes was still unknown, but everyone had a serious look on their faces, eager to win the rewards.
After briefly deciding on each of our cards…
“I, I won!”
I raised my fist and let out a cheer of joy.
“Ugh~! I was going to go with rock!”
“Yay, Ken!”
Ellis, shaking her hand that was holding scissors in disappointment, and Raphne, overjoyed as if she had won, looked at me.
Hmm… Honestly, I hadn’t expected to get a reward myself, but is this even okay to take?
…Oh well! Should’ve played better at rock-paper-scissors!
The three who had won the battle stood in front of their chosen boxes.
“Wait? Something’s written on the boxes.”
“Mine too. …Box of desires?”
Upon hearing Alicia and Emily’s words, I checked my own box’s lid, and the same phrase was there.
…Please tell me it’s not a mimic or something like that?
No, considering it’s meant not to harm, it wouldn’t place such a monster as the last reward.
“Then! I’ll open it first!”
Unable to hold back in front of the reward, Alicia declared and placed her hand on the box.
Creeeak.
The box’s lid opened slowly, seemingly building up the excitement.
And when it fully opened, what appeared was…
“Whoaahhh! Seniors! This is totally amazing! It’s shining gold!!”
“Wow…! How much is all that?”
Inside Alicia’s box were coins, filling it to the brim.
You could easily buy a mansion with that much.
“I, me too!”
Watching the scene, Emily hastily opened her box.
“……A book?”
What came out of Emily’s box was a thick book.
“Can I take a look?”
I said, extending my hand toward the book that Emily was holding blankly.
“…What is this.”
Receiving the book, I checked its surface.
It was a large leather book with beautiful patterns, and it had a magical stone embedded like a lock.
Its color was pure white.
I realized I had seen this design in the game.
“……It’s a skill book.”
“A skill book?”
“If you pour magic into it, you can learn a skill… This color indicates it’s recovery magic-related.”
“Wow! Really? So I can learn recovery magic right away?”
Emily, who had no reaction to the mention of a skill book, lit up with joy at the idea of recovery magic, smiling brightly as she hugged the book.
“Is recovery magic something you wanted to learn?”
Even though the academy teaches basic magic, recovery magic is something learned by those of the sacred order.
At the academy, only those connected to the sacred order learn that kind of magic.
That’s why Emily couldn’t learn magic from that field.
Of course, cases like hers learning recovery magic through a skill book to support her friends happen.
But I didn’t expect her to be this happy about it.
“Recently, someone got into dangerous situations, so I’ve been wanting to learn something like this.”
In response to my question, Emily replied playfully.
‘…I see, a box of desires.’
Alicia got gold coins, Emily got a skill book.
Alicia seems to really enjoy money, as she’s using hypnosis to start a dating business.
Likewise, Emily obtained the skill book for the magic she wished to learn.
That means this box gives what the opener needs?
With a racing heart, I placed my hand on my box’s lid.
Everyone else also seemed focused on what would come out of their boxes, curious.
What I wanted…
I thought for a moment, but nothing immediately sprang to mind.
And so, without a clue about what would appear, I opened the box with a fluttering heart.
Creek…
“……A potion?”
Raphne mumbled beside me.
As I picked up the small bottle sitting inside the box, a status window appeared before my eyes.
[ SYSTEM: You have acquired a rare item.
Item Name: Essence of the Dragon. ]
‘Essence of the Dragon?’
The status window transitioned from the acquisition message to the item description as if to answer my confusion.
[ Essence of the Dragon: Extracted from the heart of a dragon, this enhances the user’s magical capacity significantly. ]
An item that increases magical capacity.
Such items are common even in the game.
But I’ve never seen something extracted from the heart of a dragon before.
‘Even when fighting dragons, I never got anything like this.’
And with the mention of ‘dragon’, a certain individual immediately comes to mind.
I glanced over at Siegfried.
This is an item that increases the user’s magic capacity.
But besides that simple explanation, because it came from a dragon, it might also enhance magical talent.
What sprang to mind were the hidden settings that game developers secretly create.
‘…Could this item be made for Siegfried?’
If he uses this, he could surely gain not just sword skills but magical talents as well.
If that happens, he could certainly obtain the abilities he desired.
So I was about to share my thoughts with him, but then…
“Don’t, Ken.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m not going to take that. That’s your item now.”
He quickly grasped my intention and beat me to it.
“But, senior. If you drink that, I’m sure you can gain the abilities you’ve been wishing for!”
At my words, Siegfried gave a light smile.
“That’s fine. …Not long ago, you gave me the answer. I wish to work towards that. I don’t want to rely on something like that potion.”
He declined.
Surely an item made for himself, yet he wanted to hone his skills through his own efforts rather than taking the easy route.
Such a remarkable person.
Since Siegfried declined, I opened the potion’s lid without hesitation.
“Are you, are you really going to drink it now? Isn’t it suspicious?”
“It’s okay. I know what this is.”
After explaining to the startled Elise, I immediately drank the potion.
[ SYSTEM: You have used the Essence of the Dragon.
The effects of the Essence of the Dragon have been bestowed upon you. ]
I could distinctly feel the liquid flowing into my body and soon sensed a surge of massive energy spreading throughout me.
[ SYSTEM: Your magical capacity has greatly increased.
Due to the Essence of the Dragon, dragon-type monsters will feel strong hostility towards you.
Due to the Essence of the Dragon, you will have strong resistance against dragon-type monsters. ]
As the spreading energy felt absorbent, several status windows popped up simultaneously before my eyes.
‘Resistance against dragons… and hostility?’
Among them was a message that appeared to be a downside, but the benefits vastly outweighed the downsides.
And among them…
[ SYSTEM: You have exceeded the standard for magical capacity and acquired a skill.
Acquired Skill: Magic Conversion. ]
[ Magic Conversion: If you lack the necessary materials for item crafting, you can replace those with magic.
The amount of magic consumed varies depending on the quality of materials. ]
My magical capacity greatly increased, and I acquired a new skill for my unique item crafting ability.
This skill replaces materials with magic.
‘…If my thoughts are correct, then this means…’
There have been many times when I struggled due to a lack of materials while crafting items.
Of course, when it comes to replacing items like the Aspetra’s crystal sphere with magic, it may be questionable whether it’s possible with the increased magical capacity.
But still, now I can utilize magic to create materials in desperate situations.
“Um, how’s it going, Ken? Are you okay?”
I beamed brightly at Raphne, who was looking worried.
“Yeah! I’m totally fine!”
Totally fine! More than fine. I had unexpectedly gained something amazing.
“Thank you so much! I really appreciate you helping me out with this headache! Here, this is the ownership of the mansion I promised!”
After acquiring my reward, as we stepped outside the gloomy mansion, the ominous aura surrounding it dissipated.
When we re-entered through the door, the inside had the normal appearance of a mansion.
And as expected, the ownership of the mansion I received was…
“Ugh, I don’t need that creepy mansion…. What about Siegfried?”
“I wouldn’t really want such a mansion either…”
“Whoa-ha-ha! I got so much gold that I don’t even need an old mansion!”
“I’m not particularly interested in the mansion either.”
Of course, both the now-rich Alicia and Adrian weren’t interested, but even Elise and Siegfried, who had experienced the terrifying aspects of the mansion, declined the ownership.
And after wrapping things up, the four waved goodbye as they left.
While I and the three women simply watched.
“Well, then about that mansion ownership.”
Since we all acquired it together, we had to decide how to dispose of it or who should take it.
So I asked the remaining three for their opinions, but…
“…I’m fine without that kind of creepy mansion.”
“I-I don’t mind if Ken takes it.”
“How about considering Ken keeps it? We might need it later.”
Thus, the ownership of that troublesome mansion ended up in my hands.
I doubt I’ll have to pay taxes or anything, right?
But I’ll certainly have to give appropriate compensation to the others who helped out.
With that in mind, we returned to the academy.
What started as a simple challenge ended up yielding such massive rewards; I never expected it.
After saying goodbye to Emily and Mary at the crossroads leading to the dormitories, I returned to the tower with Raphne.
Just in time to try out my new skill.
Upon arriving at the tower and entering my room after climbing the familiar stairs, it was already night.
“Thank you, Raphne. You really helped me out a lot today.”
“…….”
“Uh, are you hungry? Should we eat dinner first? I just want to craft something for a bit…”
“…….”
“Raphne?”
We had been having a normal conversation on the way to the tower, but as I entered the room in a cheerful mood and put on my work apron, she didn’t respond.
She merely stood at the door, turning her back to me.
Then…
Click.
“……Raphne?”
I heard the sound of something locking, and she turned her head.
“Sleep here tonight, Ken.”
Ah, …now that I think about it, she did say that when we returned to the tower, I should be prepared.
Looking at me with familiar eyes, Raphne was smiling.
