chapter 10
10 – Monument of the Battlefield (5)
“It’s a dream, this must be a dream!!”
Without even realizing she was in the middle of a dark forest, Mariel screamed.
In the blink of an eye, she lost the ability to write posts and comments on the gallery.
She immediately wrote a inquiry post on the report board, the only communication window with an open submit button.
Her fingers trembled with withdrawal symptoms, causing her to make several mistakes in manipulating the location note. However, her emotions were clearly conveyed.
—–
— Genius Blonde Girl: What the heck is this!! Why do I suddenly have to stop?!?
— Administrator: To shut you up. Deal with it yourself.
— Genius Blonde Girl: There must be plenty of other applicants, why are you doing this to me who was just quietly there?!
— Administrator: They couldn’t score over 10 points.
—–
10 points? I couldn’t understand what that meant at all.
I didn’t spam, I didn’t terrorize, I just occasionally mocked the nobles from behind.
Did my way of speaking bother them? But there are plenty of crazy people here who are more obsessed with concepts than the ladies pretending to be nobles!
I felt like an unjustly exiled fallen angel in paradise.
Grrr……
“Eek!?”
When the sounds of beasts echoed from the darkness, Mariel quickly hid behind a tree.
Now that the connection to reality had been severed, the forest became a source of terror for her.
She took a step back and cautiously replied to convince Judak.
She believed that he was more rational than the average gallery user and that they could solve the problem through conversation.
—–
— Genius Blonde Girl: Let’s resolve this through our words. If I’ve done something wrong, I apologize.
— Administrator: There’s nothing in particular, and there are also good things that come from this.
— Genius Blonde Girl: What good things can come from being exploited by those who make us work 24/7 without pay, using tactics like nuclear erasers?
— Administrator: Welfare…? I’ve been neglecting it too much until now, so I plan to expand it gradually.
—–
Welfare? Is he talking about enabling us to meet him?
To be honest, if I said I wasn’t interested when I saw the announcement, it would be a lie.
A face-to-face encounter with Judak, who possesses the top-tier magical abilities, is what every mage in magic tower earnestly desires.
But for Mariel, it was a meaningless promise.
She was the only one among her peers staying on the 1st floor. Would it be reasonable for her to go to the other floors of magic tower?
A banquet organized by the administrator?
The mysteries of the school are far from being explored, and we haven’t even mastered basic magic. We’re still wandering through the Dark Forest.
Such a thing was an intangible reward, like a dream from a distant world that couldn’t be grasped.
—–
— Genius Blonde Girl: Stop talking nonsense and unblock me. If you do, I’ll even send you a picture of my pretty face.
— Administrator: It’s tempting because it’s worth 2 points, but I don’t need it. Anyway, I won’t do it for real, okay?
— Genius Blonde Girl: Yes, I’d rather leave the gallery and focus wholeheartedly on climbing the tower.
— Administrator: Hm.
—–
In the end, they maintained their refusal until the very end, protecting their pride and self-esteem.
Even if the main character didn’t unlock the block, there was a slight calculation involved.
“If I go back, I’ll have to tell the administrator that I lost the location note.”
They could just create a new account and pretend that they lost the note that was suspended for 999 days.
They couldn’t use their previous ID, but they could continue to engage in the gallery.
As a genius with platinum blonde hair, they believed that their idea was genius and had no doubts.
As they revealed a sly smile and praised their genius plan, they noticed the posts appearing in the gallery.
Upon seeing them, Mariel realized that she had underestimated the main character.
—–
ㅇㅇ(1.1)
[Holkroft or Conprost, what kind of family is that]
Am I the only one who thinks the name sounds cheesy from the start?
— What’s with the sudden mention of a family?
— Now that you mention it, it does sound cheesy, lol.
ㄴ Five letters don’t really roll off the tongue, lol.
— Wasn’t Holcroft the region that was once known for its beautiful Northern successors?
ㄴ Holcroft is no longer on the map.
ㄴ Why?
4th Prince’s fiancee’s family was destroyed in the palace, so most of the nobles didn’t even offer condolences. Some even hate Holcroft so much that they cut off all ties with their own line.
—–
—–
The Girl with the Electric Smile
[from now on, I will be active as the mascot of the gallery]
Please take care of me, everyone~
– Please take care of me~
– What’s this concept again?
– Looks like they got blocked for being a ghost-like imposter, appearing out of nowhere
ㄴ Seriously? I looked it up, and it says they’re suspended for 999 days. LOL
—–
—–
ㅇㅇ(1.1)
[I’ve come to send off the GNIC who left 4,000 comments]
They confidently posted a message saying they were going into the dark forest alone
But suddenly, at the entrance, they were caught by a mole and dragged into the ground in an instant
After a scream, we couldn’t contact them anymore
You all should be careful during alchemy class group projects too
– Beam
– Samgobim
– Even when you go, you go with such artistry.
– Well… it’s not like I sent it myself…
ㄴ Oh my, suspecting the innocent and being a bad bully~
ㄴ Superconductor Smiling Girl: It’s just quietly raining~
—–
“aaah! You scoundrel, scoundrel! This despicable scoundrel!”
He had forgotten.
That he was a monster who not only spent 20 hours a day in the gallery, but also captured all kinds of temptations with his alternate account.
With just a simple block, he would hide his tracks or pretend to be a normal person if he ever got caught by a despicable bully.
In the month since becoming famous, Mariel had only made a few moves on the gallery.
—–
– Super Genius Blond Girl: What do you want to do now!!!
– Administrator: What?
– Super Genius Blond Girl: Stop broadcasting my funeral while I’m still alive!! And get rid of that weird impersonating account quickly!!
– Administrator: Seems like it’s someone else, not me. But I’m busy now, so just report it and block it yourself.
—–
“Ughhh! Seriously, this is the worst! How, how can a person… huh?”
Thud!
From deep within his chest, sincere anger spread throughout. Now, he was about to curse and insult, but then…
Mariel realized belatedly that there were several gazes peering at her from behind the dark trees.
They could be other members of the alchemy class, but there was no reason for them to follow her while she was collecting herbs.
Chills ran down her spine from head to toe.
“Who’s there?”
“….”
“If you don’t want to show yourself, you can stay there, but I’ve been wandering around for quite a while. If I’m any later, someone will definitely come looking for me.”
“….”
A short time that felt like eternity in silence.
“Tsk, I thought I had lost my mind from fear. It was all just an illusion.”
Soon, a group of magicians revealed themselves from the darkness.
*
“Clark, where are you trying to go at this hour?”
“The Dark Forest.”
He opened the cleaning tool cabinet and assembled the spear that had been split into two.
Since the handle was usually used for mopping and the blade was used to scrape off substances stuck to the floor, it was quite dirty.
Since coming to the tower, it had been an item that I didn’t need to combine unless absolutely necessary, but now it seemed necessary.
I didn’t know it would be such a difficult situation to handle with just my novice magic skills.
Every area of the tower is assigned an IP that indicates the coordinates.
In other words, users accessing the gallery can see at a glance where others are using location notes.
That’s why when she first saw Mariel’s post, the first thing that struck her as strange.
She had said that she was alone without any other members, but there were other notes around her, trapped in the dark forest.
Until a moment ago, it seemed fine since they were exchanging messages, but even that communication suddenly stopped.
For the sake of the nearly fallen candidate’s safety, I decided to go find Mariel.
“Before you go, let’s sit down and talk…! I thought my world was crumbling when I heard the news that you became an assistant of the Glesian school!”
Using her round mustache, Anes desperately tried to stop me.
It was understandable because her disciple, whom she had brought to magic tower, suddenly made a name for herself in another place, and that too in the most prestigious school.
There was the fear that the warm sanctuary that had been a refuge for the past five years might no longer be accessible.
To leave, I had to reassure her first.
“Don’t worry so much. I have no intention of going to the Glesian school. They don’t want me there either.”
“Lies don’t work! I heard that b*tch, Bina, ordered the dormitory’s ice dispenser to be moved to the basement of the Biwon!”
No wonder the codes of the dispensers around the magical elevator were missing.
What kind of strange things was she doing behind my back?
“Heh, I had my eye on her from the beginning… I even put a lot of effort into buttering her up, but now that everyone knows your talent, what are we going to do…?”
Well, is being a wanted person with extraordinary talent something to worry about?
There was no possibility for me to go to Glesia or anywhere else.
I never had any intention of joining a large school with abundant support and comfortably crossing the lower ranks.
Above all, I thought the “mystery” of the Haeju school suited me best.
“Now, now, since you’re not going anywhere, calm down and lie down in bed. They say getting enough sleep makes you taller, you know?”
“What, it’s already ten o’clock…?”
Due to the aftermath of the curse, Anes’s head, which had to be in bed by ten o’clock, dropped heavily.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to see it from the upper floor soon.”
“Really…?”
Despite her desperate attempt to hold onto her sanity, I extinguished the fire and reassured her.
“Yes, while I’m at it, I’ll also carve your name on the gravestone.”