Chapter 62 - I Became the Daughter of the Academy’s Villain

<62 - The Burden of Being Alone> Abandoning companions for the sake of 100 points is foolish. If it were merely about the points, Isabel, Giselle, and Son Ocheon could have shared them amongst themselves. This is not about the points. It's about preventing Hestia's meltdown. 'Hestia is a child. Her mental state shatters easily.' It's not that she suddenly turns into a murderous maniac, but minor psychological damages accumulate and explode, leading to a dark transformation. Just like Arthur Fleck, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in the movie Joker (2019), who loses his sliver of happiness due to countless betrayals and walks the path of a criminal as his will to live is destroyed, Hestia undergoes a similar process. 'If there were a female Joker, it would be Hestia.' Surviving dangerous situations due to the reckless attempts of mercenaries and barely passing, only to return to a reputation of a cowardly berserker who crushed her comrades' skulls to pass on her own. The mercenaries, who barely saved their lives thanks to her, not only fail to protect her honor but worsen it. Group B nobles harass her for her strength, while Group A frontier nobles don't bother with the affairs of uncivilized mercenaries. Even the commoners of Group A look unfavorably upon her due to the reputation of betrayal. 'The last haven of refuge is quite the sight.' The <Answering Door> and a friend beyond the wall. The refuge she believed in was an illusion. Room 111 in the original game was vacant. Her counterpart was not a person but an <Answering Door> mimicking one. The door's purpose was also to use her. Good intentions are met with evil, no one to protect from overflowing malice, and even the refuge of the heart was a deceitful temptation. Hestia's heart, denied of faith in humanity and the happiness of living, is tainted with darkness, becoming a true killer berserker. She recreates the disdainful names everyone used to mock and insult her with her own will. To prevent this dreadful event, instructors who attempt to intervene on-site are murdered along with her. The professors also deploy, but cannot stop her amazing combat abilities alone. An indiscriminate mass killing of classmates that unfolds during the midterms of the first semester of the first year, an unbelievably severe threat. The method to prevent this brutal tragedy was too simple. Care for Hestia so she wouldn't suffer unjust persecution and show a bit of kindness as a player. Allowing a person to live as a human. That alone could have prevented the tragedy. "I'm worried about Hestia. Everyone is saying mean things about her. I want to be her teammate." "It can't be helped. The child wants to do something nice, and I don't want to say something mean even if I can't support it." Isabel understood how I felt. "Then, let's make a team with the three of us." "I'm grateful." Dorothy and Rockfell. Having connected during the entrance exam, these two became teammates with the three of us. Thanks to that, I was in the same team as Hestia, Jigoku, and Lotto during the principal's lecture, grouped with outcasts, dropouts, and misfits. 'Zwang is surprisingly sociable!' Wearing a fox mask, Zwang might be nastier than these three and even more of a sadistic pervert, but at least they seemed capable of pretending to be normal people. Compared to them, Hestia and Lotto, who suffered severe reputational damage, and Jigoku, who seemed to have been born a complete lunatic, were abandoned by everyone. The result was a bizarre team consisting of Group A's top student Oknodie and the rest. "Why did she do that?" "She's a child. She must have done it because she's kind-hearted." "Tch. Can't even talk comfortably. If you slip up, you'll end up like Lotto." "Must be nice, that huge berserker. Thanks to hiding behind a kid, she gets to avoid being cursed." Let them talk all they want behind my back. "How cute is our Hestia. Don't listen to any of those mean things." I tried to cover her ears by tiptoeing and reaching out, but alas. My hands don't reach the 2m tall Hestia? Debating whether to climb on the desk, Hestia quickly lifts me by my armpits. "Did you want to do this?" "No!" Who asked for a piggyback! She grins happily as I cover her ears with my hands. -Who said to foster camaraderie? -Teams are not formed for that purpose! The principal's stern voice shocks the students. "The principal seems to want a serious academic atmosphere. Sorry, Oknodie." Stop treating me like a child who's upset about not being carried! -Teams are formed to cultivate pain, despair, and hatred for an asymmetrical societal organization! "?" "?" "??" Did I mishear that? Is this right? Everyone looks puzzled, so I must have heard correctly. -Until Thursday, collect 'flags' hidden around the campus as a team! -Flags without an owner belong to whoever finds them first, but flags with an owner go to the one who meets the conditions first. -However, the collected flags are counted by the team, not individuals. -Even if one slacks off, the rest working hard makes this a very convenient assignment. Even the rewards are equally divided by n! "How can it be!" "How terrible!" "While I'm working hard, others can ride for free, and even the fruits of my labor are shared?" The injustice fills the students' eyes. This was exactly what the Dragon Principal wanted to see. -This lecture is not for you freshmen to explore the open facilities, communicate with instructors to learn the rules, or foster camaraderie and unity. - It's a trial to realize the cruelty of group assignments and grow into an excellent and solitary individual who can accomplish everything on their own. - For the details and scoring of the flags, ask the instructors wandering around the academy. I won't take questions because it bothers me. That's the end of the lecture. Dismissed! After finishing his speech, the principal disappeared with a bang. Left in an awkward silence, the students sat scattered around the lecture hall, mulling over the sense that something had gone terribly wrong, without really understanding it. * * "Um, so... how are we going to collect the flags?" "Let's split up and search different areas until lunchtime tomorrow, then we'll see." Lotto replied with a voice as small as a mosquito's, "Okay..." and then trudged away alone, shoulders slumped dejectedly. "I'll take the mountain." "Pirates belong to the river!" Hestia ran off eagerly towards the mountain where they had gone during the first period. Jigoku disappeared somewhere, cackling, before anyone could stop him. "No... I meant we should divide the areas within the school grounds..." How does it happen that all three teammates don't listen to a word? With any other team, the leader would have every right to complain about such a useless group. But I'm not worried. I can handle things on my own just fine. After all, if I assigned tasks, everyone should be able to bring back their share by the deadline, right? 'Ah, there's one. And another there. And yet another one over there.' Just like in the game, I roam around collecting flags all over the school. Giselle, happening to pass by, looked at me incredulously. "How did you manage to collect over twenty flags alone when most people are proud to find two or three?" "Hehe. I'm just really good at hide and seek and finding things." "Could you possibly share some tips?" Of course. "Imagine you're the principal. Think about where you'd hide the flags to make the students most frustrated!" "Hmm. If it were me, I'd place one flag in a visible spot and surround it with dozens of self-repairing traps, torturing the students with hope." "Oh? Like this one?" Son Ocheon, with his fur burned black, proudly showed off a flag from beyond the window. "Son Ocheon, this is the second floor. How are we eye to eye through the window?" "I thought they might have hidden some in the trees, so I climbed up. Found no flags, just some potions, a pillow, and a wooden plank someone hid." "Ah..." The wooden plank was desperately etched with "Please let me down" and "I want to sleep on the ground" using a dagger. I think I understand. Some poor student with acrophobia must have been clinging to the tree, attending lectures about sleeping anywhere. "But Jigglypuff, why did you collect so many flags? Are you trying to do the work of five people?" "Eh, probably not. Everyone will do their part." If everyone brings their share, that's three good spots each. Honestly, I don't expect more than that. * * "Oknodie is terrifying. She already collected twenty." "Seriously?" "They say everyone in her team will at least do their part." Meanwhile, rumors within the academy began to distort and worsen as someone's half-heard story took on a life of its own. The rumor swelled and twisted into a completely different conclusion. "I heard Oknodie won't forgive any team member who can't collect 20 flags, calling them worthless who can't even do their part." "That's sad." "Being on a team with the top student means they have to go that far? Better to be comfortably bad together, they're really pitiful." The stories that greeted Hestia, Jigoku, and Lotto when they returned to the campus for dinner made their eyes widen. "Twenty?" "Crazy." "Is that even a possible number...?" While they found comfort in managing to gather three or four, thinking they did well amid rumors of others finding only one or two, it was clear this was not a time to be at ease.