Chapter 37

37 - Freshman Dormitory <37 - Freshman Dormitory> Jonah received the report from Oknodie. The round, cute handwriting was so characteristic of Oknodie that it made his heart soften just by looking at it. ━━━ *Preparations Before the Entrance Ceremony ①School Uniform Purchase✔ -Got the stuff supported by the foundation! -The skirt is way too short! ②New Student Dormitory Move-In Application✔ -Success moving into Room 111! -Beware not to accidentally enter Room 111.1! ③Application for Bringing in Items✔ -List of requested items: Compass, glowstone, candy pouch, stone pouch, wide and thick cloth, signaling mirror, knife, shovel, metal rod, rope, notebook, wire. -Approved items: Candy pouch, stone pouch. The rest denied. ④Request for Foundation Support Items✔ -None. ━━━ At first glance, there was an item that made him sigh. Stone pouch. Has she still not given up that habit? 'She's going to attract attention.' Scholarship students of the foundation are the academy's center of attention. There have been numerous incidents, and they learned through experience about the dangers posed by the Wyhemy High Foundation. The dead-end scholarship students can no longer advance. Professors who give their hearts to the academy's students are always forced to make a choice: Either to endure watching as the child's growth stagnates and they are whipped by harsh commands, Or forcibly ensure their growth to pull them up to higher positions. A ruthless hostage drama. They create talented pupils and use their growth and future as a means to subtly coerce co-operation. Which professor will be ensnared by the foundation's trap and bleed this time? 'It's already out of my hands.' Jonah closed his eyes. He closed his eyes to his memories of his old mentor, To the events that occurred between his mentor, himself, and the foundation. Because there's nothing good recalling all that. 'If there's something that needs my attention, it would be this.' ④Request for Foundation Support Items -None. Normally, the children would try to request as much support as they can. But they are afraid to ask for help. Rather, they pathologically reject it. Oknodie was such a child. A child who hurries as if believing she has to do everything alone or else be abandoned. It was admirable at first when she started her training, but now it was just heartbreaking. Yet this too, was nothing he could meddle in. That's why, even more so, He had to focus on things that were within his power. -Be careful not to accidentally enter Room 111.1! Was it a slip of the tongue during sleep? Some doodle on the report? While it could have been dismissed as a child's prank, he did not. Because he knew. He himself had once been a freshman at the academy. And so he could assert confidently: There is no such thing as Room 111.1 in the freshman dormitory. If Oknodie is anxious about it, it means it may need to be investigated. * * Gift Academy is situated on a remote island. The academy was built on an island with high mana distribution for students' rapid growth. It is incredibly difficult to reach the island by conventional means without the <Dimensional Gate>. The area belongs to dangerous territories that you cannot visit unless you possess considerable skills. For this reason, even the numerous countries on the continent find it nearly impossible to impose a physical threat on the academy. And so, organizations with a keen interest in the academy thought: -If invasion is difficult, would it not be better to implant spies and obtain information? As a result, the academy is teeming with spies. One of them was a spy from the Wyhemy High Foundation. 'Is this a directive?' Spy April, who communicates with the outside only on a certain day, at a certain place, using special methods, thought this directive was quite peculiar. "Check the existence of Room 111.1 in the women's wing of the freshman dormitory and report any dangers." To investigate, she needed a reason that would not arouse anyone's suspicion to get close to the dormitory. Fortunately for Spy April, she had a cover identity prepared just for occasions like this. "A janitor? Perfect timing. Please change the sheets in my room, too." "Ma'am. Please throw this away on your way out." She tolerated the bothersome freshmen who lacked manners, though it was quite annoying. "Hey girl, serve as a maid in my room for a while." "??" "I grant you the opportunity to be favored by the eldest daughter of the Brownie family, Yelchin Brownie." Cases crossing the line like this were problematic. The eldest daughter of a noble family who had opened her eyes to beauty and vanity. Aside from feeling disgusted, I wish she would understand a bit about shame. The Foundation's spy has protocols established for moments like this. -If a student bothers you, tell them this. Remembering the advice of her superiors, April spoke up. "I am an employee affiliated with the Gift Academy. Should an academy student hinder the staff's work, I have the right to report to the higher-ups and take disciplinary action." "...What I meant was that you are quite charming. I did not intend to interfere with your work. Ahem. Asking you to be my maid was just a joke." One could feel as though they'd become a magician without needing magic. Indeed, the effect was exceptional. <Freshman Dormitory> <Left Wing - Women's Only Section> <Room 111> The dormitory has 20 rooms per floor. The first floor, which has the best convenience, has exclusively single rooms. This benefit is clearly distinguished from rooms on the second floor and above, which are generally four-person rooms. 'Is it possible that there's an issue with the special floor that even the academy pays extra attention to for management and supervision?' Although skeptical personally, she was dispatched to find out. Knock knock. "Is anyone there?" Unlike typical freshmen who would be bustling about here and there, the resident of Room 111 seemed to be quietly inside, as she flung open the door immediately upon hearing the knock. A head peeking out quizzically like a wagtail showed curiosity. "A new event?" "I'm the janitor." Was it a code phrase the kids used these days? Setting aside the bewilderment, she entered the room under the pretense of cleaning. "There's a stain on the wall." "Yikes! I didn't do that!" "I hadn't thought so. No need to worry." The real issue was what lay beyond this wall. There was a slight gap between the eleventh and twelfth rooms. In terms of area, it's about 0.5 square meters. It's a space where the walls supporting the floors are designed to bear loads. Thump thump. Knock knock. Even when she pushed and lightly tapped with her hand, the wall felt just like any normal wall. Knock knock. It seems that the room next door heard the knocking, as a responding knock could be heard. The resident of Room 111, Oknodie, seemed fidgety, but there didn't seem to be anything amiss. "Is there any problem living in the room?" "None at all!" There's a high level of wariness. There's no information to be gained from this child. After finishing cleaning, April now visited Room 112. "Cleaning? I don't mind." Just as before, while changing the bedsheets, April took the opportunity to investigate the wall under the pretense of a stain. Knock knock. Knock knock. Aside from the knocking echoing back, there was nothing of great significance. "Hehe. Cute. Is the kid in the next room doing this?" Did she find the knocking entertaining? The occupant of Room 112, Hestia, flashed a warm smile. To April, she also seemed adorable. "I think it's a return for the earlier favor." "Earlier?" "When you returned a knock from the next room. Just like now, I knocked as well." "I didn't knock, though?" "?" "Oh~ I get it. You're teasing because I'm a clueless freshman, right? Ha-ha. I'm not falling for that. We had this kind of culture in the mercenary corps too." With a serious face, April spoke to the wall. "Miss Oknodie? Can you hear me?" "......" "Can you hear me?" After a moment, a faint reply came back, "I can hear you." "See, it was just a prank after all." The occupant of Room 112, Hestia, tried to sound nonchalant. "...My apologies for surprising you. There was a little misunderstanding." "No worries. It was heart-thumping and kind of fun for a change." "From now on, please refrain from speaking to the next room as we aim to create a conducive environment for study in the dormitory." "But you just went all out a moment ago." "I would greatly appreciate your understanding that it was a necessary procedure for verification." "Got it. I'll keep it down." April left the room. Silently, she brushed her forearm with her hand. The goosebumps on her arm had yet to subside. 'I clearly remember it because I heard it for a moment.' The response that had just come back through the wall. It was not the voice of Miss Oknodie. Between Room 111 and Room 112. Standing in the hallway, April looked at the space between the rooms with a serious face. It's a ridiculously small space for a person to live in. What in the world is inside? The apprehension doesn't stop. She can't contain her fear. "Eek." Paralyzed with fear, April hurriedly turned and walked away. She had not noticed. The other residents on the same floor were curious, watching this janitor running away frightened. * * Phew, I thought I'd get caught. The wall between Rooms 111 and 112. In Room 111.1, an entity unknown to both the residents and the academy staff is living there. <The Answering Door> A door that responds when interacted with. And when the midterms of the first semester come around, it commits a very brazen act. The occupant of the next room, Hestia. To make her the first main boss. <The Mad Hestia> is awakened. The how is simple. Throughout the first semester, she comes to the realization that no one actually lives in the next room she'd been talking to and goes bonkers from one day onwards. Already a berserker class, an insane Hestia leads to an utter catastrophe. An incident occurs where dozens of classmates are injured and some even die. How will the players who know the secret respond? The uninitiated students promptly report to the professors to remove <The Answering Door>, but the seasoned veterans never do such a thing. 'It's just a matter of responding vaguely like I use to, right?' Then Hestia won't go insane. And as a bonus, <The Answering Door> also stays intact. In the original game, if so the midterms began. -'Tell me the professor's past midterm questions and the model answers.' -'Understood.' This virtuous door assists with studying. A Word from the Author (Afterword) Thank you to the anonymous benefactor for the 70 coin sponsorship. Even the mastermind behind the chapter boss becomes nothing but a set of past exam questions before the seasoned veteran players! But if caught, you're just a kid talking to a wall...!