I Became the Academy’s Heroine Stalker – Chapter 61

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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The next morning,

I had to endure Renia’s interrogation(?) about what I had been doing with Su-ah until so late.

I seriously felt like a husband being grilled after coming home late from a work gathering.

She even followed me to my room to continue the interrogation.

Fortunately,

“You were learning holy magic from Su-ah?”

“Yeah. I thought it would be good to have at least one simple healing skill when fighting villains.”

“Hmm… Alright.”

That was the end of the long interrogation.

It would have been awkward if she had persistently asked about the specifics of the skill, but thankfully, Renia didn’t pry any further.

Morning arrived, and I found myself having breakfast with Su-ah, a meal carefully prepared by Renia.

“Sister Reina… your cooking is amazing. It’s been so long since I’ve had such a blessed and spiritual meal. Thank you.”

Su-ah’s comment after the meal.

Her eyes were even glistening with tears, so it must have been a truly exceptional meal.

Since I ate it every day, I hadn’t realized it was *that* good.

Anyway, after breakfast, we headed to the academy.

*Hiss.*

We boarded the bus as it stopped with a hissing sound, like steam escaping. As always, I headed to the back seats.

The window seat was practically Renia’s designated spot, so I sat next to her, and naturally, Su-ah sat next to me.

My reliable bodyguard, the Succubus, on my left.

And the reassuring regressor on my right.

I felt like an emperor with a thousand soldiers at my command.

As we headed towards the academy, Han-na boarded the bus a short while later.

And then,

“Huh, what’s this? Yoo Su-ah?”

She approached, looking puzzled at Su-ah sitting next to me.

She walked past her usual spot in the middle of the bus, where she could easily attract attention.

“Ah, Sister Han-na. You take this bus to school?”

“Yeah. But why are you…?”

Han-na naturally sat in the seat in front of us.

She turned around, her words trailed off as she glanced between Su-ah and me.

I had to step in for Su-ah, who was bad at lying.

“Ah, yesterday, I asked her if she could teach me a healing skill, and we practiced until late, so she slept over at my place.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why the sudden interest in healing skills?”

“Ah, well. I thought it would be good to have at least one simple healing skill.”

“…You’re very diligent.”

She said curtly and turned back around.

Then, she put on her wired earphones, full of analog vibes, and looked out the window.

*Hmm.*

Her praise for my diligence sounded strangely like a reprimand…

‘Must be my imagination.’

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The festival was now only a week away.

The entire student body buzzed with excitement, busy preparing for the festival, even the faculty joined in for the final preparations.

And I was busy monopolizing the few remaining Hidden Pieces.

Who cared about the festival?

Thanks to Su-ah, I now knew that the fate of the planet rested on my shoulders, and as the agent of this grand mission, opposing Illusion had become my destiny.

I needed to grow stronger, and quickly.

There wasn’t much description of God R’hell, so I didn’t know how strong he was, but as the final boss, I wouldn’t even be able to touch his toes at my current level.

More. And faster.

I had to become the strongest.

The chaotic atmosphere of the academy, due to the festival preparations, made collecting Hidden Pieces even easier, and I finally monopolized all the ones I remembered.

And…

I ran around hunting villains like my feet were on fire.

Studying during regular class hours, special training at Master’s mansion during breaks, and villain hunting at night.

Of course, I didn’t forget to wear a mask to conceal my identity, as I couldn’t reveal myself to Illusion yet.

With this tremendous amount of activity, I grinded my stats until the festival,

And thanks to my desperate efforts, my status window was looking quite robust.

Thanks to the stats and resistance boosts I gained from monopolizing Hidden Pieces and hunting villains, my total stats, excluding Luck, exceeded 1,000, and my resistance effects were quite substantial.

Moreover, the [Frail] trait had finally disappeared from my status window.

I was completely free from that damn trait.

It was a shame that I didn’t have any decent runes yet, but other than that, I had become stronger than the original protagonist at this point in the story.

Honestly, I had no idea what state Choi Do-han, the original protagonist, was in right now.

But seeing him show up to class every day with a dazed expression, he didn’t seem to be on the path to growth.

Anyway, now that I had used up all the Hidden Pieces I remembered, this was the true beginning of my growth.

Now that the perk monopoly was over, I had to grow with my own strength.

Of course, there was still the \[Level Up as a Harem!] hidden information, but since it depended on the affection levels of the main heroines, I couldn’t expect much from it yet.

In other words, villain hunting and training were all I had to do until the festival.

Therefore..

“Hup!”

“Lower your stance. Focus more mana into your core. Speed doesn’t just come from your legs.”

I was currently at Master Park Na-yeon’s training grounds, focusing on training my [Lightning Blade Arts] and [Multi-Shot] skills.

My Multi-Shot level had reached 30.

The master level was 40, so I was slowly getting there.

As for Lightning Blade Arts, I was finally starting to get the hang of it.

And I could almost fully draw the bowstring of the strongest bow, [Heavenly Thunder Dragon Bow].

But I still wasn’t strong enough to wield it properly.

If I could just master Heavenly Thunder Dragon Bow, I could easily handle the upcoming Illusion terror incident.

Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it.

Throwing a tantrum wouldn’t help.

“That’s enough for today.”

“Huff… Huff… Thank you for your guidance.”

“You’re wheezing like an old man. Aren’t you preparing for the festival?”

“Who has time for festivals? I have to train.”

“…It’s good to work hard, but proper rest is also part of training.”

“Understood, Master.”

I replied playfully and bowed deeply.

The Illusion Terror incident, the main event of the story’s middle arc, was set to begin in a week, so I could rest afterward.

In his current state, Choi Do-han was unlikely to be able to defeat the villain [De Roque].

No, I had to defeat him.

I couldn’t let him get his hands on the [Level Up as a Harem!] hidden information dropped by the mid-rank villain, ‘De Roque.

So, training, and more training, was the answer.

My resistance effects seemed sufficient for now.

“Master.”

“What?”

“Do you have any decent light armor greaves and gauntlets I could use?”

“…?”

Park Na-yeon looked at me questioningly.

She seemed puzzled that I was asking for combat gear when there were no scheduled raids, duels, or evaluations.

Of course, I had greaves and gauntlets.

But they were all low-grade, D-rank or lower, meant for low-rank Hunters.

They were more than enough for a cadet, but my current abilities were probably at the upper-middle level of B-rank.

My D-rank gear was too weak for my current power.

Of course, I could buy new ones at the Hunter Shop, but B-rank or higher equipment wasn’t something you could simply buy with money.

Why?

Because they were rarely available, and only ‘official Hunters’ registered with the association could purchase them.

There were no restrictions on using high-grade equipment if you were capable, but you couldn’t buy it unless you were qualified.

For that reason, even Choi Do-han in the original story borrowed equipment from his master, Park Na-yeon, and his advisor, Professor Ella, for his fight against De Roque.

Therefore, I needed them too.

“Why do you need them?”

“Ah, all I have are D-rank or lower, and I wanted to train with B-rank equipment. The weight difference is significant.”

“That’s true. Alright. Just greaves and gauntlets, right?”

‘Yes!’

As expected, my Master was incredibly cool.

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I left the mansion, with the gauntlets and greaves bestowed upon me by my Master (with the stern warning that I was dead if I broke them) safely stored in my mana pocket.

There were no low-rank villain appearances scheduled in the setting book for today, so I planned to spend the rest of the day destroying my legs at the Hunter-exclusive gym.

My leg strength still seemed insufficient for mastering Lightning Blade Arts.

Master’s mansion also had Hunter-exclusive gym equipment, but it was S-rank, and my still-developing muscles struggled to even complete one set.

So, I left my mana pocket with Renia and headed straight to the gym.

As soon as I arrived, I started working on my legs with the mana-powered exercise equipment.

Then, I heard a commotion from somewhere.

I could hear it even over the loud music.

Naturally, the Hunter-exclusive gym wasn’t crowded.

The equipment was incredibly expensive, so low-rank Hunters struggling financially could barely afford the monthly membership fee.

So, the only sounds I usually heard were the music and the screams of members receiving personal training.

This was an unusual commotion…

I sat up from the mana-magnetic sit-up board and looked towards the source of the noise.

And..

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Huh…?”

A woman was walking through a group of murmuring Hunters.

A woman with her vibrant red hair tied back, boldly flaunting her figure in a sports bra and leggings.

…It was none other than Han-na.

‘Wait, why is the only daughter of the large guild [Raonjena], who has access to a top-of-the-line training facility in the guild’s main building, at a local gym like this…?’

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