<472 - The Courage to Jump into a Crisis>
The exam finally came to an end, marked by the tragic abuse of a single tree.
“Oknodie. Andersen. Anthony. Yeltsin. Adolf. These five have passed the midterm exam with the top score. Additionally, special points will be awarded to Oknodie for achieving exceptional results.”
[You passed the [Picnic Healing] midterm exam while leisurely enduring the interference of the Strong Enemy Blood Band.]
[Action Prediction Experience Points +100]
[Psychological Prediction Experience Points +100]
[Mana Control Technique Experience Points +50]
[Mana Technique Experience Points +50]
[Fear Induction Experience Points +30]
[Cry Experience Points +30]
[Imitation Experience Points +30]
[Perfection Experience Points +10]
[Calmness Experience Points +10]
[You passed the exam without taking away the growth opportunities of other students, despite being capable of soloing.]
[Good Kid Experience Points +1]
[Though you didn’t have to, you showed kindness and helped all students in your group pass.]
[Charisma Experience Points +30]
[Good Kid Experience Points +3]
[You showed mercy to an instructor on the verge of dying and used your cherished curse to save his life.]
[Mana Control Technique Experience Points +50]
[Curse Bestowal Experience Points +50]
[Good Kid Experience Points +10]
[The poor tree, caught in your struggle with the Blood Band’s executive, surrendered with a broken spirit.]
[You have acquired the title [Dark Musician].]
[Taming Experience Points +30]
[Scary Kid Experience Points +10]
[You received 10,000 points for completing the challenge [Leisurely Picnic].]
[You received 20,000 points for completing the challenge [What is a penalty?].]
[You received 30,000 points for completing the challenge [Dark Musician].]
Dark Musician: You are qualified to be called a Dark Musician for breaking and subduing the hearts of living beings through music.
– Title Effect: Increases status ailment [Subjugation] application probability by 50.
– Title Ownership Effect: Increases status ailment [Subjugation] application probability by 10.
Indeed, tough lectures come with juicy rewards.
My rare stats, Calmness and Perfection, skyrocketed, and I obtained a special title that induces status ailments.
Above all, counting the maximum income leads to this!
[Good Kid Experience Points have surpassed the threshold.]
[[Good Kid] function has transformed into [Kind Kid].]
If the Bad Kid evolved into the Scary Kid, then the Good Kid evolved into the Kind Kid!
“Thank you, Oknodie. Thanks to you, I was able to pass.”
“It’s thanks to all of you working hard, Seoguyeon. If it weren’t for that, I would have forfeited halfway through, no matter what I did.”
“I appreciate you saying that, even if it’s just words.”
Next to Duke Andersen, Instructor Hitler approached, hesitantly.
“Why did you save me?”
“Because I wanted to cheer you on?”
“Just for that reason, you unleashed all those curses? If you show off like that, people will realize what you can do and become afraid.”
“There are at least some people who genuinely appreciate it. At least Seoguyeon did. Or are you afraid of me, Uncle Hitler?”
“Honestly, I am afraid. It’s unreasonable to have skills like yours at your age.”
“Is that so…”
“So I’m even more thankful. I now understand how valuable your help is when you’re prepared to receive fear from others.”
His eyes were sincere.
“I am an information agent dispatched to the Thief Guild at the request of Professor Destroyer.”
“Whaaat?!”
“Right now, there are too many eyes watching us for further conversation. I’ll tell you the details later. I will surely repay today’s grace.”
With that meaningful conversation, Instructor Hitler was called back by the professor.
I was curious about why Professor Destroyer attached someone to me when another person approached.
“Was the exam fun?”
“It was the worst nightmare. I couldn’t just reverse a melody created on the spot, but I even forcibly neutralized the rampaging Mamok.”
“Hoho. Though I was nervous about the new melody, it turned out to be the same BGM sharing a melody.”
“I don’t know the terms, but that sounds like you saw through everything. Total defeat! For a bard to have his melodies all seen through means complete failure.”
The executive in formal attire bowed his head and extended his neck.
“Cut me down. Having my melodies seen through and then perfectly matched on the spot leaves me with no reason to live.”
The Blood Band members glared at me, as if they would step in if I dared to do that.
Hmmm.
That means their pride was hurt, right?
“Alright! Then I’ll gladly take that life!”
I smiled and swung my sword.
The Blood Band members flinched.
The executive didn’t even blink an eye as if he wasn’t a tough guy by show.
“What does this mean?”
“Cutting off the executive’s head wouldn’t feel like I’d gain more experience, you know?”
“My head has a bounty on it.”
“Even if I sum up the bounties of those behind you, my points would likely still be more!”
“Heh. How humiliating! I’m so worthless that you’d just nick my collar and let me live.”
“Hoho. It’s too early to be happy! I’m not letting you off for free.”
The executive loosened his tie and took a breath.
“What do you expect from a man who almost died?”
“Please become my personal BGM Master!”
“May I first ask what kind of BGM Master the lady desires?”
“A personal bard who plays a designated song whenever I want through remote communication magic tool!”
The executive in formal attire stared blankly at me with a dazed face.
Oh dear.
It’s a problem when flattery gets too excessive like this.
Should I wink just for service?
As I subtly adjusted my pose into a charming angle, the revived executive spoke in a bewildered tone.
“The Blood Band travels to places with large audiences. Cities where festivals are held. Plains where wars occur. We raise emotions and incite fights with the thrilling and urgent melodies we enjoy, manipulating the audience with blood and destruction.”
“Many people are hurt or die listening to our songs. Many organizations and countries place bounties on us, and high-level adventurers target us.”
“Hiring me, an executive of the Blood Band, means you have to bear all the grudges and debts I have accumulated. So I’ll ask again. Do you still want me, keeping all this in mind?”
Oh my God, so touching!
“I love urgent BGM too! I’m totally excited! Fights are definitely more fun with BGM!”
“?”
The executive’s head tilted slightly.
*
Hitler doubted his ears.
“Professor Demonika. What did you just say?”
“She said she would write you a letter of recommendation.”
The professor reached out to someone who had failed the fourth-year advancement exam, someone who had given up and dropped out. The opportunity he had longed for during those desperate times was now being presented at the time he had given up everything.
“Why now? Why are you confusing me now that I’ve finally settled my mind!”
“Student Hitler of Class 978. A student who never takes risks. Excellent at detecting danger and possessing strong survival instinct, a talent for tracking and survival classes. It would have been impossible for a student like that to advance to the fourth year. But the way you showed yourself in this exam was different.”
Professor Demonika looked back at his actions.
“You handed a noise-canceling device to a first-year student, and while other instructors were gritting their teeth and trying to find faults, you risked your life for your student, attempting a reckless stabilization.”
“I was just a bit out of my mind. Regardless, you would have saved me anyway, right?”
“You didn’t forfeit the fourth-year advancement exam because you knew that was a lie, right?”
“…”
“Overcoming instincts and striving to challenge. You only realized that talent after leaving the Academy. If you don’t lose that courage, only then shall you qualify to become a fourth-year.”
What a ridiculous thing to say.
He wasn’t even a proper instructor.
“I’m not an instructor.”
“I know. You’re an information agent brought in by Professor Destroyer.”
“How do you know that?!”
“I, Demonika, was also invited as an exam target for the notorious fugitive, the Blood Band. Do you think I wouldn’t recognize a mere upper-level information agent from the Thief Guild?”
“Yet you still wish to recommend me?”
“Do you know what the real instructor in your group was doing? He abandoned the grading and ran away. He went near the rampaging tree, afraid he might get caught up too. Compared to that guy, you were way more of an instructor.”
“…”
“Your value has been proven by your actions. Whether to give yourself an opportunity is up to you. Think carefully and come to a conclusion.”
Whether or not to challenge the next fourth-year advancement exam.
Professor Demonika’s words left Hitler in deep turmoil again.
“What was the result of observing Oknodie’s exam in person? You are the only instructor who invaded the exam venue, so your statement is important.”
“She concluded the exam with outstanding results.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“…Alright. You may go. You’ve handled a big task, so take some time to rest.”
As he mumbled a report to the Thief Guild, Hitler realized something.
Fourth-year advancement.
Once a test he clung to for dear life, now it mattered little to him in front of a crisis where life was truly at stake.
What was important to him now was repaying his life-saving grace to Oknodie.
“Right, I’ll visit her directly and discuss things.”
Wanting to repay a favor…
What was I expecting from her?
If I was to remain as an information agent for the Thief Guild, then so be it.
If I wished to stay as Destroyer’s lackey, then that too.
If I wished to become a fourth-year student at the Academy, then that’s fine as well.
At least for the next few years, I decided to live in the direction she desires for today’s grace.
Clatter.
As he opened the window and attempted to sneak into the dormitory room, he was suddenly halted.
“Grrrraaaahk!!”
From within Oknodie’s personal room, the body of the Blood Band executive was streaming down, drying up like a mummy in real time.
“?!??!”
What is… happening here?!
Before his dazed eyes, the window creaked open.
Oknodie, holding a blood-colored instrument in one hand, leaned out and said,
“Wow! You came at just the right time. I just got a good BGM generator; would you mind helping me test it?”
Repaying a favor… should I not?
Hitler’s survival instinct activated even more fiercely than when he took the fourth-year advancement exam.
