<639 – The Crisis Potential (1)>
While diligently attending a lecture at the Academy, a soft tap tap sound echoed outside the window as if someone was pecking at it.
What’s that?
Titosso tilted her head like an owl, glancing out the window, but saw nothing.
━━━
[Illusory Effects of Magic and Reality]
– Monday, Period 3, 14:00~16:00
– Professor: Stolas
– Adventure Department, General Lecture
━━━
Could it be a trap made by the professor to catch students who couldn’t focus on the lecture and give them demerit points?
Titosso witnessed a scene that added credence to her thoughts. Professor Stolas had started glancing at the window where the sound was coming from.
‘As expected, all professors are wicked! To use a person’s primal curiosity as a means to impose fines and waiting for them to fall for the trap!’
Had she not experienced various rough situations alongside Oknodie, the naive first-year Titosso would have flung the window open and received a [Demerit Notice].
But as an upperclassman in her second year, that wasn’t even a consideration for elite Titosso!
Titosso pretended not to hear it.
Yet, how were the other students managing so well?
They all seemed incredibly indifferent, as if the sound was only bothersome to her.
It was like they were participating in a world poker tournament, all wearing impeccable poker faces.
‘Or is it? If it’s not a poker face… Am I the only one hearing this sound?’
No, she wasn’t the only one.
Tap tap.
Every time the sound repeated, the ‘professor’ was definitely glancing at the window.
‘Huh? Is the professor unjustly targeting me with the trap…?’
But that wasn’t it.
Training opportunities should be offered fairly.
Wasn’t that the educational philosophy of the Gift Academy?
Otherwise, Titosso wouldn’t be attending Professor Sadako’s terrifying lectures alongside a timid coward like her.
Moreover, this phenomenon seemed familiar.
– Titosso. This is a technique called [Mind Link] that palace maids used for their burning culture. If you handle this well, you can whisper directly into the heads of other students at the Academy or create buzzing sounds near their ears!
– Eek! Why does such a terrifying technique exist?! Whispering is fun, but being punished is too much!!
Oknodie had shared the nefarious application, but when she wanted to chat secretly without the professors knowing, there was no better technique.
In reality, even if she could chatter endlessly via Mind Link, there were only a few competent individuals to converse with, like Oknodie or Jiang!
‘Anyway, if that sound is something only I can hear, it’s just like the whispers using the Mind Link, right?’
When she consciously listened, she felt more keenly that it was a sound conveyed by magical methods.
The professor was likely sensing not the sound itself but the flow of magical energy, suspiciously staring at the window.
“Man, it’s hot.”
Titosso muttered awkwardly and walked over to the window.
The professor’s gaze followed her, exclaiming “This suspicious creature!” but the other students said nothing and expressed no suspicion.
In fact, they hurriedly turned their heads back to their desks as if they were consciously aware of the muttering Titosso had just uttered.
– Hey, aren’t you the one hanging out with that terrorist? What’s with all the fuss?
– The light stand? It’s too bright and distracting for studying. Leave it at home!
Now that she was in her second year, more and more students who were oblivious to their surroundings were starting to pick fights with Titosso.
As always, she chuckled and tried to be friendly, but of course, there were students who would carelessly lay hands on others’ belongings.
– Kyaaaaaah!! The Nature Mana—my spirit inside!!!
Following the unfortunate situation where a student who drained a bunch of mana needed for the maintenance of the light stand was transformed into a mummy and rushed to the emergency recovery room,
all the scheming, attacks, and disputes against Titosso abruptly ceased.
– Hey! The pet stories from last time were so fun! Want to discuss which teddy bear is good today?
– So… sorry.
– …
As the new semester began and friends she had once known trembled with fear and fled, that was the real issue.
‘Hmph.’
The core problem was that Titosso was caught in a status anomaly of having no friends, and this lonely phenomenon in her life felt like a mysterious opportunity for enchanting encounters!
What might be waiting beyond that window?
A winged fairy?
A teaching assistant fleeing from the professor’s lab?
Or perhaps Jiang, who was just as lonely as herself and looking for a friend to slack off with?
With a heart full of excitement, Titosso swung the window open.
“Please help me, Light Stand Human.”
What was tapping at the window was Kkamang, calm and composed, highlighting her figure draped in office attire with magnificent black wings.
Not entirely sure what was happening, she looked quite rushed, as the professor spoke with a dubious expression.
“Titosso, second year. If you solve this illusion magic puzzle, you may leave the lecture immediately. However, since you’ve disrupted class, if you can’t solve the puzzle…”
“Ugh!”
Titosso dashed forward and swung the Light Stand toward the puzzle.
A tremendous +13 enhanced Light Stand connected with the puzzle, greedily sucking all mana from it, revealing the illusion’s true form.
“Whoa, not even a wand but a light stand to unravel an illusion magic technique!”
“It’s so quick that I can’t even see when the magic was cast!”
“Eek. At that speed, in actual combat, we’d never realize what hit us, and we’d be gone in a second.”
While fearful students bolted in fright, Professor Stolas couldn’t hide his disbelief at how the Light Stand had devoured the mana.
‘Indeed, fitting for one of the key figures behind the coup d’état, the Light Saintess of the Saintess Alliance. To handle such a primary light stand without protective magic tools all day and remain fine is remarkable.’
That’s why the weak were frightened by the unfathomable power of the Light Stand, and even the strong were intimidated by Titosso’s capacity to manage such nonsensical equipment.
Despite still retaining a bit of timidness, the sociable Titosso couldn’t help it when her best friends were absent, often eating alone in lectures and moving around the classroom alone.
An incomprehensible strength would naturally evoke fear in everyone.
“Yay! We can skip the lecture! Let’s chat outside!”
Excited, Titosso jumped out the window.
Startled, the students peered out to see Titosso, who was gliding slowly with a magical artifact, [Mini Wings of Low Speed Flight], flapping around, along with Kkamang flying nearby.
Though Oknodie had graduated in an instant, in the first lifetime of Titosso, she cherished useful information from the [Room of Double-sided Strips] they frequently visited.
‘So scary!’
Titosso’s classmates trembled in fear, hastily closing the window.
*
As Titosso landed on the ground, Kkamang fluttered her wings, speaking in a whirlwind of words.
“So, the flying skeleton Director I saw before is gradually forgetting his old self, and the secretary’s subordinate was hastily taking the Director somewhere more urgent?”
“That’s exactly it.”
“Why didn’t you tell Oknodie but instead came to me?”
“While I wanted to report directly to Oknodie and seek help, for some reason, I couldn’t find Oknodie within the campus.”
“Yeah, I sometimes find it tough to track him down too!”
Since stuffing all sorts of food into her backpack became routine, it had become difficult to spot Oknodie even in the cafeteria where it was easy to find him before.
While it would have been normal for her to see him as the lecture time of Professor Sadako was nearing, it had become challenging to see him during lecture times since this week had turned into a free period.
“Then shall we search together at the dormitory tonight?”
“Are you referring to the ever-changing random dungeon dormitory of the Adventure Department every week?”
“A dungeon? Why would a dungeon be associated with a dormitory?”
Titosso truly couldn’t understand.
Kkamang found that innocence shockingly remarkable.
“How much time has passed since the semester started, and you haven’t realized it yet? Monsters appear every week on the dormitory field, along with dungeon gimmicks and safe zones, and you haven’t even recognized that it’s a dungeon yet? How have you survived until now?”
“I was just adjusting the brightness of the Light Stand while sleeping?”
With the enhancement level rising, the various functions added to Titosso’s Light Stand included a protective light that blocked the approach of all unholy entities.
Above all, her survival knowledge gained through the treacherous lectures from professors, including Sadako, had naturally embedded itself into her.
By honing a singular path to watch over and establishing the place she stood as a perpetual safe zone, Titosso saw no need to preoccupy herself with wandering around searching for safe zones.
Wherever she stood was a never-ending safe zone!
After all, having companions like the Dark Princess was truly impressive.
Kkamang feigned admiration quietly.
“Then what’s the theme of the Adventure Department dormitory this week?”
“Um… I don’t know! There were a lot of sparkly things!”
Once inside, she figured she’d understand everything.
Without much thought, Kkamang followed Titosso into the Adventure Department dormitory and froze at the sight welcoming them at the entrance.
Brightly shining mirrors.
Immediately looking for mirrors reflecting ‘misaligned movements’ and ‘ridiculous figures’ at various angles, the monsters within the mirrors cackled or grinned as they scattered.
This was the [Mirror Dungeon], a high-difficulty Adventure Department dormitory where even third-year students from the Gift Academy had to be on high alert.
If one let their guard down, the monsters in the mirrors would approach nearby mirrors, abruptly dragging their owners into the mirrors or staging surprise attacks in this terrifying space!
Flash.
– Kyaah!
– I’m goo—!!
The figure of Titosso holding the Light Stand and Kkamang flitting between the mirrors met wide-eyed gazes as they fled.
For Titosso, who often dazzled others with her Light Stand, the dungeon posed no concern at all.
