There’s one unique feature about the weekly event.
If the strategy is lacking, the difficulty increases at a certain probability!
– Did you hear? During the Bull Festival, people enjoy watching a bull with its tail on fire breaking through obstacles!
– That’s some barbaric animal cruelty. Let’s do it right now.
– U-uh… but why are there so many numbers? And isn’t it coming this way, breaking the safety line!?
The number of monsters increases, danger levels rise, and new gimmicks are added.
This dangerous phenomenon where the odds of being defeated skyrocket means that study bugs, who only study all day, could easily meet a tragic end in the hallway thanks to the rapidly-growing noob.
However, veterans sometimes ignore bland weekly events just to let them grow.
“Isn’t there no reason to capture a copier that improves by itself if left alone?”
“Your mindset, not even fearing ghosts, is frightening…”
“Well then, let’s go get a professional.”
“Didn’t we already spend enough time discussing how unhelpful priests are? Even Nise, who follows the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church of Upper Class, or the Saintess Yufi from Golgotha, would struggle with that brat.”
“We don’t need a priest.”
Oknodie tilted their head.
*
“Whaaat!? You want me to catch such a scary ghost?”
Dorothy’s eyes doubled in size.
“Of course! You’re the Forest Guardian, right?”
“Only an apprentice, though!”
“Still, there are many ghosts in the forest, like hunters who lost their sick mothers and hung themselves from trees or ghost farmers who died in fires after being caught by elves while avoiding taxes.”
“Our forest isn’t that scary?!”
“So you can’t do it?”
Dorothy, who had been hesitant, suddenly realized something important. Oknodie’s bias about the forest likely came from someone instilling such preconceptions in them.
‘Did Papa Oknodie take them to a ghost forest or something?’
If Oknodie continued to show weakness, the apprentice Forest Guardian would be treated as a coward who couldn’t even walk in (the ghost’s) forest.
“I’ll do it. Tell me about the ghost. The more I know about the prey, the better!”
Jaku shared all the information he had, including parts he heard from mobs.
“Great, I’ve got the plan all set!”
Dorothy enthusiastically began her preparations.
Jaku was half skeptical. Even a priest from among the 24 main deities was easily toyed with and fled the scene. It was hard to believe that the cunning creature would get caught in the trap of a mere first-year.
“That ghost wasn’t detected until it appeared, right?”
“Definitely.”
“Then it probably has [Perception Detection] and [Invisibility] as basics, and since it has incredible physical abilities, it could climb walls and ceilings, and also…”
Mumbling about the guessed specs of the Hooked Ghost, Dorothy hurriedly took notes and dashed off to the trap installation site.
Jaku was genuinely surprised by her unusual speed.
“What’s got her moving so fast?”
“Forest Guardians have light bodies!”
Not only was she fast in running, but she also smoothly leaped over sculptures and trees set up by students, reaching an eerily gloomy open ground that felt like a place where several seniors might’ve hung themselves out of despair.
“By doing this and that, if I lay down traps… Done!”
Dorothy transformed the open ground into a terrifying pit of traps that made it scary just to step foot in.
“How many traps did you lay down? Just by looking, it’s obvious there are traps everywhere; even a fool wouldn’t fall for them. It’d be a miracle if we don’t get toyed with like the priest.”
“That’s not guaranteed. Although we broke the Sacred Magic Circle, that was only because we’d get exorcised if we stepped inside it, so we had no choice.”
Dorothy had a thought.
“If there’s a way to step in without hitting a trap, then there’s a chance it could secretly copy a Curse Item, right? It’s not just animals that value such
The Forest Guardian’s keen observation of the traits of the forest friends, noting their patterns and strategies, might yield uncertain but promising results.
“If everything goes as planned, the ghost will step into the trap and get stuck because there’s only one path for it. And if we block that path…”
“Exactly!”
“But we don’t have any genuinely lethal traps effective against ghosts here. If it gets caught, nothing will change; we’ll just end up being on the receiving end. Is it still okay?”
“But we have Oknodie!”
“Just leave it to me! If I can lure it close, we’ll surely catch it!”
Oknodie proudly flexed their arms, showcasing their slender physique in front of Jaku.
“Okay then, Oknodie. Test it first!”
“Test?”
“We need to check if there really is only one way in. Without drawing our two eyes outside, try touching the basket placed in the center. Just make sure not to activate any traps!”
Oknodie jumped excitedly, enough to bounce 2 meters in place, exclaiming that it was a new content and dashed out to the open ground.
As they left, Dorothy and Jaku watched closely, but avoiding the gaze while entering was quite the challenge.
‘From the trees surrounding the open ground to the central rock is about 50 meters. In between, Dorothy planted wooden rods and hung sound-making bells on threads.’
Swish, swish…
The sound of tiny bells jangled with the lightest breeze.
If it gets caught, it would catch the attention in a heartbeat.
“Can I look back if there’s a sound?”
“Of course! It’ll be suspicious if we ignore it. Instead, if the sound occurs and we don’t look around, the ghost will get suspicious!”
“How ridiculously picky.”
“Animals are worse. Nowadays, animals often take meat placed in traps without even getting caught.”
“Are we talking about animals? With how they act, it wouldn’t be strange to call them people.”
As they conversed, Jaku soon noticed the delay in the sound of bells had abruptly cut off.
Still, with the fickle bits of grass he held lightly in his hand, they floated away with the wind.
Oknodie was proof of having set up a barrier to block noise while sneaking in.
“Just as I thought. The Hooked Ghost probably used such tricks to slip in unnoticed above our heads.”
After passing through the string traps, there was a trap set to kick up dust if stepped on.
While sound can be blocked, visual phenomena accompanying traps cannot be concealed.
The only way to avoid it was to step on the stakes Dorothy had planted, moving like on a stepping stone.
“Didn’t you do something to that stepping stone too?”
“If you step on a duplicate, a fruit that smells horrendously is hidden inside the stake.”
“Do we really need to use such traps in a forest?”
“We can’t have forest friends gnawing on the trees in homes, right? So, around the house, we set up traps that spread a smell animals dislike if gnawed on!”
“Now that I hear it, being a Forest Guardian is no easy job.”
“Plus, traps with offensive odors can chase away even large species. It’s great because I won’t have to experience the fright of waking up to see walls blown open or surviving a near miss with only a few centimeters to spare!”
“…That really isn’t an easy job.”
What kind of forest is this Guardian working in, anyway?
‘Since there wasn’t a foul smell, it seems Oknodie completely passed the stake section. Next is the final stretch.’
In the last 10-meter segment toward the basket, there waited primitive traps likely nullified by long coniferous leaves that covered the ground exposing pits.
Inducing carelessness with these lousy traps provides an exact space around which magical detection meant to only trigger upon contact would whiz around.
If timing isn’t precise, and landing accurately on the rock where the basket lies, the whole area would erupt in mana alarms.
‘…If I were a ghost, I’d rather throw a rock from outside than deal with such bothersome traps.’
But Oknodie was even bolder than the ghost.
“Dorothy, there’s something that needs fixing!”
“Really? Where?”
“If I swing a fishing pole to snag the basket at the stake end, I can ignore the magical detection!”
“Ah, that would be problematic. Let me hammer a nail into the rock!”
With a hammer and nail in hand, Dorothy exerted her impressive strength to firmly fasten the basket to the rock.
Being an Upper Class Student meant she had quite the impressive strength indeed.
After all, setting all those traps would have initially required significant strength and stamina.
“Wow, my agility just went up by 1! Go, Dorothy!”
“Pfft. What’s that?”
“Is this enough to be helpful?”
“Yup. Quite enough. Now let’s wait!”
Swish, swish…
The restored sounds of bells ringing started as if Oknodie had undone the barrier placed earlier.
Jaku, trying to ignore a growing sense of trepidation, attempted to model Oknodie’s audacity.
“By the way, aren’t ghosts immune to physical traps? Does this even mean anything?”
“Powerful spirits want to flaunt themselves as the ghosts that scare people without caring about any attention. They’ll surely get caught!”
“How do you know when it comes?”
“I put one of my personal Curse Items in the basket, so it will come! But for now, shouldn’t we just sit here and tackle our assignments?”
“…So that’s why you brought a desk with you, to wait while also doing homework.”
Although he wanted to nitpick about the personal Curse Item, he could muster nothing against it.
Regardless, the desk ended up being useful.
Jaku shared the burden of assignments like everyone else.
‘Concentration is hard in situations like this.
But having a ghost approach while being oblivious would be helpful.’
Managing to write vigorously in his notebook, Oknodie did likewise, hunched over her notes to prepare a study guide.
As the two diligent Upper Class Students worked, Jaku also tried to write down his assignments, keeping his head in the game.
Ding, ding, ding.
The sound of bells chimed.
It was a sound that echoed loud enough for anyone to say, “Dude, did he just get caught?”
The hard work of setting traps that took Dorothy 20 minutes suddenly felt pitiful for the ghost that got caught on the very first stage.
Jaku glanced sideways at Dorothy’s downcast face, which looked ridiculously pitiful.
