After the monster incident, I anticipated a disease outbreak and stockpiled disease cures, only to realize they turned into cursed items instead.
Once I handed over all my stock to Arcadia and Jezel’s dark organization, I was almost out of early quest items.
“Oknodie, don’t think about going off to some weird place alone this weekend! Just study quietly instead.”
“Tch. Last time, I was with Hestia and Titosso. I also went to the forest with Dorothy.”
“You need to prepare for the midterms too.”
Isabel had every reason to be anxiously worried.
The upcoming midterms.
After the internal incident, the stares of “When do they even study?” from my peers were unending.
Honestly, I didn’t necessarily need to study.
In terms of favorability management, I occasionally spent time with close friends pretending to study.
[Snuck in some magic while pretending to study.]
[Solo Play Experience +1]
[Successfully created numbers and letters using magic.]
[Solo Play Experience +1]
[You managed to rapidly hide the magic letters and numbers from Isabel, who was suspicious that you weren’t actually studying.]
[Hiding Experience +1]
Isabel would never suspect that I turned those numbers and letters into tattoos to hide under my skin.
When I returned home, I re-extracted the letters I had been playing with all day and fed them one by one to the goo Mandragora like treats.
“Does it taste good?”
“Uwaa.”
The goo Mandragora tasted the letters and threw its roots out of the water bottle.
“That’s just cruel!”
“Uwaa.”
If I only fed it that disgusting cultivation liquid, it should eat anything happily, right?
Why is it refusing magic?
I wonder if it’s sneaking treats when I’m not around.
“Be honest. What did you eat while I was gone!”
“Uwaa.”
The goo Mandragora turned its head away, playing dumb.
Suspicious…
I’m certain it ate something.
Must’ve inherited acting skills from someone.
“If you get caught eating something weird later on, don’t expect any cultivation liquid!”
“Uwaa.”
Peaceful days continued even during lecture time.
All the lecture content was stuff I already knew.
All the assignments were memorized.
I tackled the repetitive training that required grinding with maximum efficiency, so I’ve been thinking I should gradually build up my skills in other areas.
Stat-up job.
Cooking Handbook job.
Gathering Handbook job.
Curse resistance job.
Following various tasks, the new field I would challenge was…
Favorability management!
“Collecting favorability privileges might be quite helpful in different ways.”
Originally, each character has differing rates of favorability increases, and you typically filter through people over the year to target particular ones.
Isn’t it better to know a friend who increases your favorability by 10 over a favorability item that only gives you 1?
But for some reason, this time around, I’m already almost done sorting things without needing to wait a year.
“Is it because it’s a muscular male character instead of a petite smiling female character?”
Well, from the second semester onward, if I want to tackle weekly events with friends, I need to raise the favorability diligently.
There might be characters whose favorability decreases during summer vacation.
If I neglect favorability management, I might suddenly feel regret at any moment.
“Oh right.”
To boost favorability, I need some favorability-boosting items!
Doing actions they like or discussing their interests can also cause favorability changes.
But that takes too long for random events, plus every round the personalities or interests shift randomly to some extent.
– “Lilia, let’s eat together! I brought sweet and sour pork!”
– “…Why is the sweet and sour pork like this?”
– “Huh? I thought you liked it this way.”
– “Who says that?! I’m Team Dipping Sauce!!”
– “Gasp!!”
It’s a complete gamble whether a character who used to like one way suddenly flips to another!
It’s risky to assume preferences without thorough observation and investigation.
However, when it comes to favorability items, if the tastes align, the favorability increases significantly, and even if tastes shift, there’s a guaranteed minimum increase.
“Hehe. This should be enough, right?”
I headed to the store and bought a bunch of [First Year Focus-Boosting Doping Potion] to bring to the lounge where my friends usually studied.
“Hey, Mob! Perfect timing. Take one of these!”
“…Oknodie? What the heck is that…”
“It’s a focus-boosting doping potion!”
“…Should I help you carry it?”
“No, this isn’t too much compared to usual!”
Veteran players usually do their shopping in bulk, so naturally, they stuff their item storage to the brim.
Isn’t that how everyone does it?
They fill their item slots to maximum to boost farming value, and after clearing out their inventory, they stock it full with necessary items.
What they’ll use later goes to storage.
Giving items to others right away,
Using consumables promptly, and continuing…
“…Hang in there. I can’t help much, but I’m really going to work hard from now on.”
“Okay! You too, Mob!”
“Oknodie!”
“Yes?”
“I’m really going to work hard, so someday…”
“Eh??”
“…It’s nothing.”
Oh right, what am I even thinking?
I was on my way to give a gift!
I need to hurry!
*
Mob lost trust in Oknodie for a while.
One by one, the parts began to add up and soon turned into a cursed training equipment set.
With the harsh routine, every time he opened his eyes, the thought that another hellish day was starting came first, leaving him uninterested in even getting up from the ground.
He had already given up sleeping in a bed.
His bed was far too weak to bear the full weight of his training equipment set.
‘Is he just trying to use heavy equipment as an excuse to avoid giving me actual training?’
Days of intense and suspicious training, doubting Oknodie’s sincerity, piled up!
“Hey, Mob! Perfect timing! Take one of these!”
“…Oknodie? What on earth is that…”
Has Christmas come already?
Oknodie, with both hands full, looked like Santa, loaded with items.
The sheer volume was overwhelming, and Mob momentarily pondered if he should reach out and help Oknodie.
“It’s a focus-boosting doping potion!”
“…Should I help carry it?”
“I’m fine.”
He had always been incredibly strong for his age.
Not just any child.
Oknodie could be that kind of person.
As the scales of common sense began tilting towards acceptance, he saw something he shouldn’t have.
The items cradled in her arms.
It was the label on one of them.
‘Is this… a doping potion?’
Mob himself knew of its existence.
The potion that boosts focus and keeps drowsiness at bay.
A potion for when too many assignments pile up or when he needs to train through the night.
Seniors he met during clubs, lectures, and weekly events had warned him about it as well.
Doping potions would become a long-term dependency for him.
And everyone also warned him.
Never get addicted to doping potions.
– “Side effects? Plenty. First, you’ll get insomnia. You won’t sleep unless you drink a sleep potion. It’s the alchemists’ dirty tricks.”
– “Can they even sell this stuff? There’s no substitute. If you want to avoid side effects, you need to get a more expensive potion. Alchemists are complete villains, selling bad products at full price while overcharging for quality.”
– “Remember this. The alchemy club is filled with the worst of the worst even in this academy, and the potions they create are the worst inventions. So if you want to dope, think wisely.”
Just how important is it to get grades at the academy that he had to rely on a drug that would slowly lower the quality of his life?
The senior’s words made Mob think deeply.
As a matter of fact, there are no problems living within his means.
If he does only what he can, there’s no risk of addiction.
Recognizing the limits of his talent means no pain either.
But.
That potion.
The academy’s most talented child was cradling a bunch of them.
“This isn’t much, considering how it is most of the time!”
It was a shocking fact.
Unbelievable.
Her outstanding abilities were not just due to talent or mere effort.
To cradle that potion, full of side effects that he could never ignore?
She needed a significant amount, unable to be satisfied with just one bottle, carefully managing the dosage while chugging multiple.
What he had only heard through rumors about Oknodie’s connections.
It had to be the doings of the Foundation.
She must have undergone torture-like training, sacrificing proper sleep that made her grow into such a little girl!
“…Hang in there. I can’t help much, but I’m going to work hard from now on.”
“Okay! You too, Mob!”
“Oknodie!”
“Yes?”
“…I’m really going to work hard, so someday…”
Someday, I’ll rescue you from the Foundation.
He didn’t have the courage to voice such presumptuous words.
Right now, he was too weak.
Too weak to defeat someone even as afflicted as Oknodie.
“…Eh??”
“…It’s nothing.”
But if he starts with this potion.
If he decides to train fiercely, ready to endure lifelong insomnia.
One day, he would catch up to Oknodie and become stronger than her.
And then he would tell her once more.
That he’d save Oknodie from the Foundation!
