<100 - How to Overcome Fear>
As the chatter-chatter of Giant King Crabs roamed beneath the tree and the patter of heavy rain tapped down like a curtain, we sat silently in the tree.
Sleep doesn’t simply come just because you want it, leaving me lost in various thoughts.
“I’m reminded of the old days while being like this,” I said, lost in nostalgia.
Jiang and Titosso glanced at me as if to say, “Have you lost your mind?”
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I was trying to sleep in a tree chased by a Giant King Crab!”
“Then what kind of experience is it?”
“I am curious about what other assassins remember.”
Both were intrigued, so I shared a little tale from the past.
“It wasn’t raining, but on a day where snow fell heavily, I once got stuck dangling from a cliff.”
“How did you end up in such a dangerous place?”
“To make the Legendary Snowflake Shaved Ice.”
Jiang looked at me like I was a fool.
“I might want to eat that! How good could the collection effect of a legendary dish be!”
“That’s something you only find in a fairy tale.”
“The Legendary Snowflake Shaved Ice is real!”
Titosso tapped my shoulder.
“I get that feeling. Until last year, I believed in Santa Claus.”
“Santa Claus is real too!!”
He shows up as an event NPC during Christmas!
It seems my plea derived from player experiences looked absurd to these NPCs.
Titosso beamed, while Jiang worried.
“Listen, you’re at an age where you should be preparing to become an adult at ten, you know? The village kids are already digging potatoes, pulling weeds, and carrying firewood at that age. You need to grow up.”
“Why do I have to hear that I’m childish when both the Legendary Snowflake Shaved Ice and Santa Claus really exist?”
“Adults don’t believe in such things. Got it, Oknodie? For assassins, money is everything. There are swindlers all around trying to cheat you into paying for such suspicious things!”
For some reason, I found myself being scolded.
“Neither of you believe me, right?”
“Aha! I think it’s fine. Women look cute believing in such things, don’t you think?”
“You idiot. You’ll regret it huge if you don’t listen to me and get scammed later?”
“I hate both Titosso and Jiang!”
It’s real, though. I saw it. Sigh.
“Haha, sorry, sorry. Calm down. Okay? I’ll shoot some happy lights at you later!”
“…In pink?”
“You like pink?”
“…Yeah. It boosts my skill level.”
“I like pink too!”
After that lighthearted banter, my mood improved drastically.
So what were we planning to do again?
“Gah, gah, gah. These kids, they don’t focus like goblins when someone’s not watching them.”
“Ugh. I’m sorry. I’ll sleep quick.”
“No, it’s fine. If I fall asleep, I’ll just wake up immediately.”
“Huh?”
“Giant King Crabs can actually climb trees!”
“Whaaat?!”
As the Skeleton Instructor splashed shrimp-like water on the tree, Giant King Crabs rushed over.
Chatter-chatter-chatter.
They clawed and chewed the bark like they thought this tree could grow shrimp.
“Aaaah! I’ll die! I’m going to die like this!”
“Stop panicking, Titosso. If you keep your balance, you won’t fall from the tree.”
Jiang lightly nudged Titosso’s shoulder or poked her leg every time her balance looked precarious, helping her not to fall.
“Oknodie, what do we do? We’re fine since we’ve trained for survival, but Titosso is in danger. That instructor doesn’t seem like he’ll help at all.”
“I know that animals or monsters run away at the sound of their predator!”
“Predator? Does the Giant King Crab have any predators?”
Not many.
Just consider that even without a predator, King Crabs can easily proliferate and fill the seabed. Giant King Crabs are even worse.
However, the sea isn’t only home to Giant King Crabs.
“Octopuses are predators of King Crabs!”
“To be honest, with their size, an ordinary octopus would just slice it up. What about the Giant Octopus…? Are there even such things?”
“They’re called Krakens!”
“Ah, I see. Kraken… Wait, Kraken? Isn’t that the insane octopus that can swallow a large ship whole?”
“Yep.”
“There’s no way I could recognize the sound of such a creature!”
“Then should I try it out?”
“You… Have you seen a Kraken?”
“Of course! I’ve hunted all rare monsters.”
“Hunted?”
Oops. I unintentionally boasted about player experiences.
“Well, it wasn’t me but my mentor! I only watched my mentor catch them.”
“Wow. Your mentor is amazing, Oknodie. There’s even a secret technique for hunting Krakens in the assassination arts!”
“Hmph! It doesn’t matter, just chase them away quickly!”
Titosso was on the brink of bursting into tears.
There’s no other choice but to take the lead for my weaker friend.
Clears throat.
After clearing my throat, I rounded my lips.
Points are based on my deep breathing using the diaphragmatic and rectus abdominis muscles!
“Muoooooong!”
Pfft.
“Oknodie. Now’s not the time for jokes… Huh?”
Just then, the Giant King Crabs that were previously hanging on the tree jumped back in surprise.
Chatter-chatter-chatter.
One Giant King Crab approached again, looking suspicious.
How dare it!
“Muoooooong!”
In an attempt to assert dominance, I mimicked the Kraken’s roar, and the cocky Giant King Crab jumped back five steps in fright.
“Haha, Oknodie. That’s hilarious!”
“It’s funny, but it worked, didn’t it?”
“Don’t just laugh and help me! We’re too small. They probably think we’re baby Krakens. A predator can attack even in their infancy!”
“What do we do then?”
“We all make the same sound!”
And thus, a chaotic battle began.
“Muoooooong!”
“Muong! Muong!”
“Muoooooong.”
While we desperately made Kraken sounds from the branches to drive away the Giant King Crabs, the crabs intermittently approached with their chatter-chatter-chatter.
Judging that this endless struggle wouldn’t end just like that, we pulled out our trump card.
“Everyone, wave your arms and wiggle like cephalopods!”
“What effect will that have?”
“For them, it’s an attack move saying ‘I’ll eat you!’”
“Haha. This is so much fun!”
“Ugh. There’s no way I can ever tell anyone I did something like this at night. It’s a total cringe moment.”
As Titosso smiled while Jiang frowned, we all waved our arms, imitating floppy tentacles, and finally the Giant King Crabs fled.
“Wait, so we worked so hard just to scare away the Giant King Crabs we gathered? You little scamps!”
“Hmph. We could just sleep. There’s no rule against scaring off gathered monsters, is there?”
“Nope.”
The Skeleton Instructor readily agreed.
“What should we do now?”
“Let’s just sleep.”
Finally, we felt relieved, closing our eyes on the tree and taking a break.
Maybe ten minutes passed with our eyes closed.
The pitter-patter of rain hitting the leaves and the swoosh of rain cascading over the tree became a pleasant background, lulling me into sleep.
Chatter-chatter-chatter.
“Gah, gah, gah. There’s no rule against gathering the fleeing King Crabs!”
“Oknodie. Isn’t there a sound for chasing away skeletons?”
“There’s no such sound.”
[You cleverly protected your makeshift sleeping spot from the attack of the Giant King Crabs with your friends.]
[Imitation Experience +7]
[Sound Experience +5]
[Hanging Experience +3]
[Climbing Experience +1]
[Good Child Experience +1]
After a monumental struggle, we survived the [Night-time Activities for Adventurers] lecture.
“It’s such a shame that the lecture time ended after I took over for a substitute lecture!”
Even saying, “We feel the same,” could have meant we’d dangle from the tree all night, so we kept our mouths shut.
“Instructor, that’s too much. Do you know how scary it was?”
“Haha, haha. Only new students who overcome hardships become second-years. Because of today’s lecture, you’ll sleep without nightmares wherever you choose to rest from now on.”
“I think I’ll shudder from nightmares.”
Titosso seemed to find this lecture far from helpful. Jiang also seemed very dissatisfied.
“Oh dear. How unfortunate.”
The Skeleton Instructor seemed more withdrawn than usual.
“I didn’t want to give this kind of lecture.”
“Don’t tell me Professor Sadako made you do this…?”
Jiang, who hadn’t let his guard down against Professor Sadako, asked cautiously.
“I just wanted to let them realize how inconvenient the frail body is, and guide them to become part of the skeleton race.”
“Yikes!!”
“Wow! You’re insane!!”
“If you shed your flesh and become a skeleton, you won’t have to suffer from the unnecessary activity of sleep, right? So there’s no need to worry about sleep-talking. Haha.”
The wicked Skeleton Instructor revealed his true nature.
“So, what do you think? Are you feeling like becoming a skeleton now? Just say the word, and I can teach you the [Skeletal Transformation] spell whenever you like. It’s a spell that lets you never become human again! Haha!”
“Yahh!”
“Oknodie, let’s attack together!”
With the Skeleton Instructor laughing heartily, Titosso finally bursting into tears, and Jiang glaring like a cat ready to pounce, a magic circle suddenly appeared around the Skeleton Instructor.
“Ah, is that Professor Sadako’s summoning magic circle? So annoying. If I’d known this would happen, I would have ended the lecture 10 minutes earlier and learned the spell…”
The magic circle enveloped the Skeleton Instructor, folding up space like origami.
“…Did he leave?”
“Yeah.”
“If I see that Skeleton again instead of Professor Sadako for the next lecture, I’m gonna run away.”
Jiang reiterated how serious he was, multiple times.
But it seems we should keep the secret that summoned creatures tend to reflect their master’s personality.
