Chapter 20: What Am I Supposed to Do?
Translated by Vine
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“….?”
Strange. That was my first thought upon waking. Strange, and stranger still. My head felt light, while my body felt incredibly heavy. Sleep paralysis? No, that’s not it. This feeling is──like this.
“I didn’t even sleep for an hour….!”
That feeling of being wide awake when you wake up too early. I definitely turned off the alarm, so why did I wake up at 6:00 AM?
“Kuhhhh….”
“Zzzzz….”
“….Hehe!… He… hehehe….”
“….Ugh.”
Since I was already awake, I sat up and saw several cadets collapsed around me. Come to think of it, we stayed up all night watching movies and practically passed out. It felt like a curse that I woke up at 6:00 AM despite that.
‘It’s all because of that morning exercise.’
Damn stats. If only I had decent stats, I wouldn’t have to push myself so hard for a single stat point.
“Ugh….!”
I stretched and cracked my joints. I might as well move around until I feel like sleeping again. If I wake up back at the academy, I’ll know my luck has run out.
“…Chrono-ssi?”
“Oh, you’re awake?”
I turned my head at Minerva‘s voice. She was sitting up in the tent I had set up. Yesterday, she looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes, but after sleeping in a proper bed, she seemed much more refreshed.
“You look like you slept well.”
“Yes… thanks to you, Chrono-ssi.”
Minerva smiled and stepped out of the tent. She sighed as she looked at the cadets collapsed around us.
“I told them to go to sleep early…”
She seemed embarrassed that she had overslept while Chrono was already awake. She covered her face with her hands. I didn’t want to wake up either, but I just smiled.
‘Stay strong, kids.’
This is what happens when your leader doesn’t understand the human heart. I quietly left to go for a run──or rather, a walk, since I didn’t have enough energy for a run.
“Want to go find some breakfast?”
“Huh?”
I took Minerva to the nearby river.
Fish. Small fish swimming. They looked too quick and agile to catch easily.
“Soooo──”
But what if I knew where and how the fish would move?
“──Ha!”
Splash! I threw the harpoon. I felt a sensation of piercing through something. I pulled the harpoon out and checked the tip.
“Yes!”
One fish acquired!
I tossed the fish to Minerva and readied myself again.
“Let’s catch three more and then go!”
“…Chrono-ssi, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah? What is it?”
I saw the fish’s path!
I caught another fish and turned to Minerva.
“Chrono-ssi, are you… experienced in these things? Camping or survival?”
“Not really. I told you yesterday, didn’t I? I went to the beach without knowing anything and suffered.”
“Then, did you learn all this during this test?”
“Uh… well, yeah?”
It was true that my proficiency with [Chronos‘ Eye] and [Chronos‘ Scythe] had increased significantly during this test. I tossed another fish to Minerva and focused on the next one.
“Chrono-ssi…. you’re amazing. In many ways.”
“Even if you flatter me, I’m not sharing my salt, pepper, or anything else.”
“…That’s not why I’m complimenting you.”
“Whatever.”
I caught the last fish and tossed it to Minerva. Now, all that’s left was to go back to camp and grill the fish.
“….Oh, right!”
I put a few fish in a container (Chronos‘s scythe) filled with water. I’ll grill these later when I go back to my camp in the mountains. We returned to Minerva‘s base, cleaned the fish, grilled them, and…
“…They’re not waking up.”
“I guess not.”
The cadets weren’t waking up. I decided to boil some water while we waited──but Chronos‘s scythe was currently a container.
“Hmm…. ah, will this work?”
Yesterday, when I asked for bowls, one cadet made a metal bowl. He said he was a follower of the god of blacksmiths and pulled iron from the ground to make it. I have no idea about the skills of male NPCs who aren’t heroines. Anyway, since it’s metal, it should be durable. I poured water into the bowl and started boiling it over the fire.
“…Chrono-ssi?”
“Wait a minute.”
After the water boiled, I had to pour it into cups──but the metal bowl would be too hot. It looked scorching hot. I picked up some wooden cups lying around, washed them with water, and poured the hot water into them.
“Now, here… this!”
“Instant coffee?”
I added the coffee mix and stirred it five times. I handed the finished coffee to Minerva and made another cup for myself.
“Haaa…. this is nice, isn’t it?”
“….Yes, it is. Very nice.”
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Minerva‘s eyes fluttered with pleasure at the warmth of the coffee. I took out some jerky from my bag and offered it to her.
“The sweet and salty combination is pretty good.”
“You really brought a lot of things, didn’t you?”
Minerva took the jerky and ate it. She seemed to enjoy the taste, even humming a little. I felt a sense of pride and smiled.
“Hooo…. you’re really… different. Very different.”
“What is?”
“…In many ways. Many things.”
“Hmm?”
Minerva spoke vaguely, then turned to me and smiled.
“When I first saw you, I thought you were blunt, distant, and preferred to be alone.”
“You know me well.”
“But… if I had known you were such a cheerful person, I would have tried to become friends with you sooner.”
“You’re not listening.”
Is she in the same class as Mars? Come to think of it, the Mars vs. Minerva rivalry was a major point of contention in the first part of the game. Especially during summer vacation, where the story branches depending on whether you choose to go on a mission with the Ares Guild or the Athena Guild, leading to different heroine routes. If you help one side, the other side’s affinity drops drastically, so the optimal strategy was to focus on one side first. The problem is that it’s easier said than done.
‘The affinity rank conditions are so bizarre…’
The first condition is ‘win a spar against Mars,’ which is impossible for a newly created character. The established route was to conquer Minerva first and then Mars….
I finished my coffee and put down the cup.
“I’m leaving now.”
“…Already?”
“You’re not expecting anything else from me, are you…?”
“I’m not that much of a freeloader. But… I wanted to thank you properly…”
Minerva glanced at the other cadets. It seemed like they were planning to see me off, but they were still out cold.
“It wasn’t like I just gave you things for free.”
Feeling bad about just receiving, she stuffed my bag with bandages, herbs, and other things. And the ladle, bowls, spoons, and chopsticks from yesterday, all as gifts. This was a profitable exchange.
“See you later?”
“…Yes! I’ll definitely repay you!”
She waved goodbye, which was unusual for her. Her gesture seemed to energize me, and I walked down the mountain with a light step.
“You’re back already?”
The sun was still high in the sky, even though I stopped by the river to wash the dishes. I set up my tent, sleeping bag, and cushion, and crawled inside.
“Hmm…..”
There was nothing left to do.
“…..Ugh.”
The moment I thought that, all the tension left my body, and I felt sleepy.
“Time to sleep.”
I slept soundly without a care in the world. It was safer than I thought, and when I woke up, the night sky was filled with pearls.
“I’m hungry.”
Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, poop, eat, sleep, sleep.
Isn’t it wonderful?
I took out the fish I had stored in the container, cleaned them, and decided to make a simple fish soup.
“Change it to a pot… add some jerky, some chopped vegetables…”
The vegetables were, as always, gathered from the forest.
“And… the secret ingredient!”
A handful of rice, stored in a plastic bottle. Koreans live on rice! Of course, I didn’t have enough water to cook proper rice, so I just added the rice to the soup. It’ll be edible whether it becomes porridge or rice.
As I stirred the soup, waiting for it to cook…
“….I’m a bit bored.”
Maybe because it was so lively yesterday, I felt strangely lonely being alone. So, I needed ‘this’ to alleviate my loneliness.
“[Ur‘s Harp], transform into a ‘keyboard.'”
Music is the best companion for solitude. The sound of crackling firewood, the clicking of keys, and the melody from the keyboard filled the forest.
“Kyaa…! So romantic!”
Live for romance, die for romance.
I sang and played until I felt hungry, then ate the porridge.
“It’s bland, but delicious!”
Eat when you want,
sleep when you want,
and poop when you want.
An animalistic life, but for modern people who live worse than animals, returning to a primal lifestyle is truly ‘healing.’
“I’ll sleep after this.”
I felt sleepy as I played the keyboard. Such a lazy animal, wanting to sleep again right after waking up. But I enjoy living like this, so what can I do? I love this. …But as I said in the beginning,
“….no…?”
“Huh?”
Life is full of ups and downs. Joy is often followed by sorrow.
“Chrono…. it’s you.”
“….Mars?”
“Thank goodness……”
“……Uh?”
Mars emerged from the forest, completely exhausted, and collapsed in front of me.
“…What am I supposed to do?”
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