<656 – Irresponsible Pleasure (4)>
Veteran players don’t let gender dictate their outfit choices.
After all, collecting even one more item grants collection effects, not to mention some outfits require you to wear them for a set time to activate those effects.
So usually, when studying in a private room or performing infiltration missions, players set a timer and wear clothing of the opposite gender under their uniforms to meet their collection time.
“This outfit needs to be worn for 60 minutes, this one for a whole day, and this one needs to be seen worn by ten passersby!”
“…I want a perfect disguise that doesn’t reveal my identity; I’m not here specifically to collect outfits.”
“Then you need to change outfits more diligently! Your disguise skill won’t level up if you start out perfect, right?”
“…!”
Sing had an epiphany.
Even when seeking results, if efforts aren’t made, how can merely knowing lead to the same outcome?
Knowledge not embodied in the body is empty and can slip away at any moment.
“Then hurry up and start with the easier condition casual outfits!”
In order to attend the Foundation meeting, he had no choice but to cross-dress.
After all, it was a meeting of Foundation Exe-cutives.
Oknodie would probably attend.
No, she would definitely be there.
Dark Princess Oknodie.
Just that title is more famous than any Imperial noblewoman.
She couldn’t possibly have a lower standing than the mere executives within the Foundation.
Surely, she would show up at the executive meeting.
What if he carelessly disguised himself at the meeting and, lacking in skill points, his clumsiness was revealed?
– Huh…? That person’s arms look strangely familiar…
– Why does their gait look so manly?
– Gasp, those are men’s underwear. It really is Sing! Why are you at the executive meeting in ‘cross-dressing’ mode?
Oknodie greeted him loudly enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
It was clear what would get stuck in the ears of the Foundation executives hearing that.
– That guy cross-dressed?
– Wow. What a weirdo of a world we live in.
– Tsk. A tremendous pervert has appeared.
Would the executives keep that information secret?
Not a chance.
Given the Foundation’s nature of tightening collars around many and trying to turn them into collaborators, they would be eager to make use of it immediately.
– Sing. If you don’t want it to get revealed that you wore a slit up-the-side dress at the executive meeting, then cooperate with the Foundation willingly. If you refuse, I will expose your shameless cross-dressing antics in the academy bulletin board.
– Scheduling training with Oknodie? What does that matter? You do realize it’s fine for a video showing you trying to charm a male swordsman in a flowy dress while obeying the Foundation’s summon to be revealed right in the Jeido, right?
– Guh! That vile jerk, daring to tamper with evidence and make a surprise attack? You’re finished. I will reveal your closet filled with women’s underwear to the Foundation branches spread through the big cities of the continent. Live wishing you had never tarnished your reputation until the day you die!
“…”
No matter how much he imagined it, only a bad future awaited him.
Thus, he absolutely could not get caught cross-dressing.
At least not by Oknodie!
“Awesome! Now start wearing outfits with a higher condition that expose 10% more of your body while roaming near the first-years’ dorm! For the disguise skill to level up, you need real practice, you can’t avoid it!”
“…That’s what I desired.”
The fact that Oknodie—the very being he desperately wanted to hide from—was already in front of him would surely shock Sing so much he’d faint.
Pinknodi couldn’t help but admire Sing’s confident answer, thinking, ‘It’s fine to raise Sing’s comrade points a bit!’
No matter the reason, Sing’s evaluation points increased.
A hobby that offers no resistance to the collection boosts a character’s tier by a powerful 0.5.
“While you’re out, grab other outfits and come back here. Got it? Later you’ll have to learn [Vision Defense] and [Movement Adjustment], so don’t skip it!”
With his favorability unexpectedly rising, Sing stepped toward the first-year dorm with a twinge of anxiety.
*
“Don’t plant cabbages. The campus is full of pets raised by seniors or abandoned animals they decided were too cost-inefficient to keep, and the bland-tasting ones will get eaten by them.”
“Oooh, amazing! Such a practical and useful tip!”
“Jaku-senpai is the best!”
Taking advantage of the time between classes, Jaku visited the New Student Dormitory filled with first-years. He remembered his resolve not to become like those despicable seniors who had tried to prey on struggling first-years last year.
“If you join the Organization that Plays with Oknodie, you can access seeds and cultivation methods of horrible-tasting plants that even monsters won’t eat, and suitable plots for a garden. If you’re dissatisfied with club activities, definitely check this out.”
“Senpai… everything sounds great, but how are we supposed to eat vegetables that even monsters can’t eat?”
“Just learn a magic that temporarily dulls your sense of taste.”
The underclassmen felt their thinking expand.
The walls of common sense shattered and the joy of being able to do things they had never done before flooded in.
A sense of liberation from hunger.
Even hope toward a better tomorrow.
It felt just like a moment of enlightenment they had only heard about!
“What an amazing method!”
“But won’t there be no time to study during club activities…?”
“Don’t worry. Our organization’s leader, Oknodie, has been ensuring those unfortunate events don’t happen since last year. While enjoying the benefits of the organization, we also incorporate training to counter monster ambushes, with more than 75 different skill trainings.”
“Ooooh!”
“Seventy-five different ones!”
“I absolutely want to join. Please let me in!”
Organizations without new members lose their vigor and become stagnant.
If existing members leave for some reason, the organization’s influence and what it can do diminish further.
As this happens, upper management pressure increases, restricting freedom, and the safety of everyone within starts to falter.
The amount of missions doesn’t change, but the roles and dangers each individual must bear only increase.
Training and growth also require sufficient manpower to have freedom.
‘Now I can offload some of the menial tasks onto the incoming first-years so that I and the mobs can increase our training time.’
First-years, after about a month, were happy to have smoother academy life riding on the solid Oknodie line, while being liberated from basic labor and learning how to work in joy, thus growing stronger.
Unlike the rotten 980-year seniors who pass on malice through contracts and debt repayments, here in the 981 class, order is being led by the pursuit of mutual benefit.
‘While the student council acts pompously, extorting money under various pretexts, I’m far more student council-like than they are.’
Jaku, caught in narcissism to the level of believing he deserved it, chuckled to himself, unaware that the gazes of the first-years were shifting from respectful senpai to something a bit strange.
“Hmm? What’s going on? Why am I feeling chills all of a sudden?”
“Is the spring breeze too cold?”
Sensitive first-years felt the oddness but could not pinpoint the reason, attributing it to the season, while Jaku, having grown through various experiences in the organization, sensed the source immediately.
‘It’s an area. An area is encroaching…!’
For a senior merely entering the first-years’ activity zone and expanding their territory, what a fierce senior this was.
While Jaku widened his senses, hoping to see the face of a senior roaming fearlessly, unexpectedly, he spotted a tall female student.
‘Who is she? Someone I’ve never seen before…’
Jaku’s gaze quickly shifted downward.
Determining whether she was a master or not was quickest done by examining her lower body.
A trained lower half helps to maximally transmit force, enabling superhuman movements and explosive acceleration.
The unfamiliar senior wore flat shoes without heels beneath her long skirt that went unnoticed.
Though she was tall for a woman, her stride was consistent, and her steps fell with precision, exuding an aura of pressure with each step.
A master.
Clearly above him.
A master with an unclear number of levels of superiority.
“Wow, senpai, your style is amazing!”
“What grade are you in?”
“Do you eat black bread too?”
Watching the first-years rush over boldly and greet her, Jaku felt he might scream.
‘Are they crazy? They don’t even care for their lives!’
As the wind brushed by, shaking the leaves of nearby trees, the female senior stood still, her long hair not swaying even a bit.
Just like a balding male professor who, wearing a wig, dominated the area perfectly—so that not even the tiniest disruption to that wig was permitted—the space was so perfectly controlled that not even a single breeze was allowed.
It was evident that she was oversensitive to her defenses, like an animal ready to snap at anyone invading their territory.
Rustle
Yikes!
“Th-there’s a crack in the floor!”
Sure enough, the fierce nature couldn’t be held back, and a line was slashed into the floor.
First-years realized that the senior’s sword could have severed their ankles, waists, or necks!
Pausing in icy fear, the senior, glaring at the frozen underclassmen, caught sight of Jaku and fixed her gaze three times sharper than before.
“!!”
As the senior adjusted her mask and turned away, Jaku found himself sweating profusely like someone who’d encountered a fierce beast in the mountains.
It wasn’t until after the senior left the dormitory that Jaku could finally catch his breath.
‘What a scary and strange senior she was.’
But why did she put her hand on her mask instead of her sword?
What had her so worked up to ooze that kind of malice?
Like a wild animal, vigilantly watching for someone’s approach.
Above all…
Even with just a single sword strike, it was familiar.
There was something eerily reminiscent of Sing’s swordplay he witnessed at the Dragon’s Peak during their group outing not long ago.
‘Is she a woman swordsman from the Eastern Empire? I must ask Sing later.’
He needed to gather information beforehand to avoid accidentally entangling with such a terrifying swordsman.
