I Realized It Was an Academy Game After 10 Years – Chapter 76

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“That was mean…”

I apologized while patting Millia’s head, which she had turned away with a pouty face.

“I’m sorry. But there was no other way.”

“Still, the experience of having my head thrown was unpleasant.”

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine how it felt, but I could understand it would be unpleasant.

You know, like how riding a centrifuge at a playground makes you insanely dizzy.

If you felt that in 3D… even someone who didn’t normally get motion sickness would probably get nauseous and vomit.

Next time, I should ask for permission before using it.

Though I wasn’t sure if there would be a next time.

“Johann, what are we going to do now?”

As we were returning to Yeomyeong-gwan through the passage I had created, I looked at Millia in response to her question.

My mind was complicated.

The 3rd platoon captain.

The witch.

The disappearance incident.

Combining the information gathered so far, these three clues were definitely intertwined.

In other words, investigating the 3rd platoon captain could yield useful information.

If I added the knowledge I remembered from the original work, we might be able to reduce the number of victims.

It would require some hard work, but… well, when have I not worked hard?

“Do you remember that annoying man we met earlier today?”

“Yes! He was so irritating!”

“It seems that man is connected to this incident.”

“That unpleasant man?”

“That’s right. That old fart… I’d like to just kidnap and interrogate him, but that would be difficult.”

No. Should I really do it?

If I could just kidnap him secretly, wouldn’t it work out somehow?

As the saying goes, true support is eliminating the source of harm, so if I just kidnap the 3rd platoon captain, extract information, and kill him, wouldn’t it skip an entire incident?

This attractive option that suddenly came to mind was tempting, but I suppressed that urge.

I was not alone, and as Karina’s escort knight, I also had Millia to look after.

In the end, somehow dealing with the 3rd platoon captain within legal bounds would be the surest way.

“An investigation through questioning would be difficult. We don’t have any evidence to seek cooperation from the Security…”

Realistically, the best method would be to hide at the locations where disappearances occured according to my knowledge of the original work, and then pounce.

It might cause some problems, but if I could somehow rescue the missing person, that alone would provide evidence.

“…Do I have to dig like crazy?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, it looks like I’ll have to dig more tunnels.”

“…Isn’t it tiring?”

A worried gaze scanned my face.

I lightly patted Millia’s head and spoke:

“We have to do what needs to be done.”

“I’ll help too!”

“Thank you.”

“Hehe.”

I’m tired.

Let’s sleep first.

I headed to Yeomyeong-gwan with Millia.

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The classroom next to the cafeteria in the main building.

A remote classroom in the Magic Department.

The underground classroom of the Alchemy Department.

The open space behind the Knight Department’s warehouse.

Over three days, I created tunnels in those four places.

These were the disappearance locations from the original work.

I called Millia and Elisa, gave them a rough explanation, and began stakeout duty.

And I mobilized Elisa to start the stakeout. Millia was at the Magic Department, Elisa at the Alchemy Department.

Lastly, I was at the Knight Department.

The plan was to solve the case based on any clues we could gather by marking three places simultaneously.

Of course, this was only if the disappearance incident occurred exactly as in the original work.

…It felt like some North Korean army thing, but I couldn’t think of a better method among those available to me.

When you lacked power, wealth, and force, you had to do what you could.

I chewed on jerky while waiting for someone to enter the classroom.

I didn’t know if anyone would come, but stakeout duty was a battle of patience, so it couldn’t be helped.

It had already been two days of this, so I hoped we would get some results soon.

How long did I have to survive on jerky?

“Status window.”

I opened the status window, having nothing better to do while spacing out.

It was the only thing to pass time quietly.

“…Should I put points into Insight?”

It was a thought that occurred to me while staring blankly at the status window.

Since ‘Insight’ was usually useful in situations like this, wouldn’t it be helpful to invest in it?

At least it should be worth its salt.

Let’s see.

How do I allocate stats?

I touched the stat window with my finger.

I felt a plastic-like texture on my finger.

What material could it be?

Could other people touch it?

Oh, I should stop these useless thoughts.

Allocating stats was the priority now.

I carefully pressed the part that said Insight with my finger.

“Of course, YES.”

When I pressed YES, one trait point disappeared.

…And the rank didn’t increase.

What’s this?

“So it won’t let me raise the rank with just 1 point, huh.”

Then I’ll add the remaining 2 points as well.

[Insight rank has increased to grade A.]

…What’s changed?

I stared blankly at the status window, but I couldn’t grasp what had changed.

Not that I could tell anything in this tunnel anyway.

It probably wouldn’t be noticeable until I met people or investigated something.

I closed the status window and listened at the exit of the secret passage.

“…you?”

“…Yeah.”

I couldn’t hear the voices clearly, but I could tell it was a woman and a man.

Was this a hit or a miss?

I wondered how things were going with Millia and Elisa at the Knight Department warehouse and the Alchemy Department underground classroom.

“…break up.”

“…Tina!”

Oh.

Oh…

I perked up my ears and eavesdropped on the conversation between what seemed to be a couple.

“What’s wrong!”

“…with a first-year student…”

“That was… I was just trying to be friendly with a cute junior!”

I listened to the crisis-ridden lovers’ love and war with more focus than ever before, neatly storing it in my mind.

This love and war in 3D Dolby surround was the most intriguing gossip I’d heard in the 10 years since my possession.

That guy got caught cheating.

Look at him shamelessly shouting “It’s a misunderstanding!”

Cheaters always insist everything is a misunderstanding.

Come up with a more creative excuse.

Like “She’s actually my half-sister!” Though it would end in disaster anyway.

“…you!”

“…ait! Christina!”

I could hear sobbing.

It was clear that a female student named Christina was crying.

…Christina?

That name sounded familiar.

Not a heroine, but where had I heard it?

I pondered in the underground tunnel as the vibrations subsided.

It really felt like a name I had heard somewhere before.

…Ah.

By the time the sound had completely faded, I recalled the owner of the name Christina.

Christina de Estan.

She was a character who gave a side quest towards the end of the early main story, as the eldest daughter of a count, famous for commerce.

True to being the daughter of a merchant family, she gave a hefty sum of money, providing a breather in tight gameplay.

Though not a heroine.

But did she have a lover?

…That’s not what’s important right now.

I stood up.

This place was a bust, so I was thinking of meeting up to exchange information.

“…I hope there was some harvest on the other sides.”

I took out the magical engineering communicator from my chest.

It was something I had bought with all my savings.

I wondered if something might have happened not just on my side but on the others as well.

With an uneasy expectation, I pressed the power button on the communicator.

“Ah, can both of you hear my voice?”

[I can hear you well!]

[Y-yes, I can hear you…]

“Any harvest?”

[No one came here! It’s boring!]

So Millia’s side was a bust.

Then what about Elisa’s side…

[On my side… nothing has happened yet… Oh, someone’s coming in…! It, it feels ominous… it’s this way…!]

“I’ll be there soon, so wait quietly!”

She had spoken with an urgent voice, so I immediately shoved the communicator into my pocket and kicked off the ground.

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‘I’m, I’m scared.’

Elisa listened to the conversation beyond the wall with her hand covering her mouth.

“…Who are you people?”

A woman’s voice full of wariness seeped into Elisa’s ears.

“…You don’t need to know.”

The sound coming through the wall was faint, but Elisa, who had her ear pressed against the wall listening to the conversation, trembled as she fidgeted with her sweaty hands.

‘What if I’m caught? If I’m caught…’

Gloomy futures flashed through Elisa’s mind.

Herself collapsed in a pool of blood, herself kidnapped and suffering a terrible fate,
Herself tied to a tree and burned at the stake like the witches of old.

All sorts of paranoid delusions swirled in her mind.

It was a common occurrence.

Ever since she nearly got killed by her parents for being “ominous” as a child, these paranoid delusions that popped up in her mind were like her best friends.

“You think you’ll be safe doing this!?”

“…To do big business, you have to take risks.”

‘…It’s Cain.’

Though she had only heard his voice once, she immediately recognized who it belonged to.

She couldn’t forget that unpleasant voice.

“…Once you’ve come here, you can’t escape anyway.”

“Pl-please… spare…”

“Screaming won’t help. I’ve put up a sound-blocking spell.”

Multiple footsteps echoed.

There were several of them.

One of them was female student who was about to become a missing person.

No sound was coming from the tunnel yet, so at this rate, the student would be taken away first.

‘Wh-what should I do?’

She needed to buy time somehow until Johann arrived, but what could she do, hiding behind the wall?

Though Johann had told her how to open the secret passage door, she just trembled, unable to even touch the handle.

‘I might die…’

If she opened the wall and appeared, she could buy some time.

But the chances of her being harmed would also increase exponentially.

‘If I stay still…’

It was a student she didn’t even know.

It should be okay to let her be kidnapped, right?

She wasn’t even a friend.

Evil thoughts began to eat away at Elisa from her toes up.

If she stayed quiet, that female student would be kidnapped and the situation would end.

Then she just needed to pick up any evidence that might have been dropped.

That alone would be progress in solving the case.

Yeah.

That was all she needed to do.

“Don’t come!”

‘Noooooo!’

Scenes from the past flashed before her eyes.

People trying to kill her, calling her an evil being for inheriting the ‘witch’s blood’.

Professor Lennon who took her in when she was desperately running away.

What did he say?

‘If you do good deeds, you’ll become a good person, and if you do evil deeds, you’ll become an evil person.’

She didn’t want to be a bad person.

Recalling the words of Professor Lennon, who was like a father to her, she quietly placed her hand on the handle to open the secret passage.

‘I can do this.’

Elisa threw open the door with all her might and shouted.

“Over here!”

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