I Realized It Was An Academy Game After 10 Years – Chapter 32

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Against the rules?”

“You have to clear it according to the rules!”

What’s with her again?

“What are the rules?”

“Rules are rules! I’m telling you to solve the riddles properly and go down to the next floor!”

“If there are rules, you should at least inform us.”

How would I know? We suddenly got trapped in an endless corridor. I sighed as I looked at the head that was babbling nonsense.

Just what was this thing? The dungeon’s manager? Or an NPC? And was it stuck in the wall? Or was it just a head?

“It wouldn’t be fun if I told you that! You have to figure out the rules yourself!”

“…May I ask again?”

“Aaargh! Don’t do that! I finally have someone to talk to after so long!”

The head shouted like that and started to whimper. I felt like I was bullying a child.

I let out a deep sigh and looked at Renny and Karina. Renny glanced at the head and shrugged her shoulders when our eyes met.

It probably meant to handle it myself.

Karina was fidgeting with her hands while looking at the head. It seemed like she wanted to purify it right away, judging by the way her lips were twitching.

Well, a talking head can indeed evoke a sense of biological disgust. She’s a saintess who worships the god of light, so it’s natural for her to feel that way after seeing something like a crystal of darkness.

“So, what are those rules?”

“Don’t damage the dungeon! Do you know how hard it is to repair it? And solve the problems fair and square! I worked hard to create them!”

“Can’t I just destroy it fair and square?”

I already confirmed that it can be broken, so why do I need to listen to her? I glared at the head that was yapping while holding the shovel on my shoulder.

The head, which had been incessantly moving its mouth while glaring at me with an angry face, seemed to realize that it was of no use and muttered gloomily,

“If that guy notices, I’ll really end up getting stuck at the bottom at this rate…”

“That guy?”

“Ah, I didn’t say anything!”

…She’s a ditz. A ditz.

I sighed after realizing the true nature of the head that had suddenly appeared.

I was preparing to stab the shovel blade into its face in case, but judging by its behavior, it seemed like there was no need to go that far. It didn’t seem like it was doing this willingly either.

“Anyway, solve the problem! I’ll repair the wall!”

“Wait.”

I thrust the shovel into the head before it could disappear. The startled head tried to escape, but before that, I was faster in lifting the shovel like a lever to prevent the head from escaping…

Thud. Roll roll roll…

“As I thought, something was strange. It really is just a head.”

“A h-head is talking by itself… We need to purify it! We need to purify such a sacrilegious being! It shouldn’t exist in this world…”

“Calm down, Lady Karina!”

What a mess.

Seeing Renny and Karina falling into the whirlpool of chaos made my head hurt. How did the atmosphere turn out like this?

First, let’s catch the head that I pulled out from the wall. I ran after the head that was rolling on the ground, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and grabbed it.

“Let go of me!”

“I can’t do that.”

How can I let go of the only clue I found?

I turned around to rejoin the others while holding the head.

Ah, damn it.

“This is driving me crazy.”

It seemed like I had gotten too far away while trying to pick up the head. But I had no choice. I couldn’t let this head, which was the only clue, escape.

I prayed that Renny and Karina didn’t get separated from each other. It would be fine if I got separated, but not for those two.

“Put me back! Put me back, you pervert!”

“Why does everyone call me a pervert?”

“You don’t know why?”

The head glared at me with raised eyes. Regardless of whether the head glared at me or not, I turned the head left and right, looking for any peculiarities.

However, no such traces could be seen. Was it because I was a layman in magic, or was there nothing like that in the first place? I thought there would be something since a normal head couldn’t be alive.

The neck was hollow. So if I put food into the mouth, would it fall out through the neck hole?

“Where are you looking!?”

“The neck hole is open.”

“Is there anyone whose neck hole is closed?”

Why did its dumbfounded face make me want to punch it so badly? I really tried to punch it, but I stopped for now, thinking that if it didn’t tell me the information, I would be the one at a loss.

“You’re not human.”

“I was human! Hundreds of years ago!”

“We agreed to call that not human.”

“That’s too much!”

It’s fun to tease it while watching its expression change drastically in real-time.

…Come to think of it, it’s a talking head.

“Wilson…”

“My name is not Wilson!”

Wilson, no, the head that was not Wilson shouted so loudly that the cave could fly away. It seemed like it didn’t like the name Wilson.

But no matter how you look at it, it’s Wilson, isn’t it? The talking volleyball… no, head seemed to lack the sensitivity of a deserted island. This is why you should read a lot of books.

“I’ll call you Wilson because it’s bothersome.”

“I have a name, Millia! Ah, I shouldn’t have said that!”

“I see. Millia.”

“If that guy finds out, he’ll torment me, calling me a useless idiot…”

This head is really easy. I thought things might go more smoothly than expected, seeing Millia falling for the leading questions right away.

No matter how I lured and coaxed her, I would be able to extract the information needed to explore the dungeon.

Not realizing that I was having such thoughts, Millia mumbled with a gloomy face, saying that guy would get angry, that she would be buried in the wall again, and looked down.

I raised Millia’s head high and made eye contact with her. Millia avoided my gaze, looking flustered as I suddenly raised her head and made eye contact.

“Don’t stare at me like that…”

“Who the hell is that guy?”

“I-I can’t say! If I say it, who knows what that guy will do to me!”

“Wouldn’t it be solved if I kill that guy?”

“No! Don’t kill him! Absolutely don’t kill him!”

What do you want me to do? You don’t like that guy, but you don’t want him killed.

Is her soul tied to him or something, so if that guy dies, this head dies too? It’s hard to make guesses since I don’t know anything about this.

And if I ask directly, she doesn’t seem like she’ll give a proper answer, saying something about that guy. For now, should I prioritize figuring out how to destroy this corridor?

“What’s the secret of this corridor?”

“I absolutely~ won’t tell you!”

“Is that so?”

At that moment, I saw Millia’s pupils move upward. It seemed the hint was on the ceiling. And if it’s on the ceiling…

“Is the secret those lights?”

“How did you know?!”

If you make it so obvious, I’d be an idiot not to know. I held Millia with both hands and took a stance.

Stance is good. Position is good. Angle is certain.

“Wh-what are you trying to do? I-I don’t think that’s allowed-Aaaaaah!”

Oh, it’s accurate. The skills I had when throwing balls as a child haven’t died yet.

I looked at the darkened space where the light had shattered. Looking at it like this, there doesn’t seem to be anything special. Should I break them all?

It was the moment I was seriously contemplating whether I should break all the lights.

“…ann! Johann!”

“It seems the answer is correct.”

Are those lights some kind of device that shows illusions?

“This is humiliating…”

Since I can still only hear the voice, should I break more? I picked up Millia’s head that was rolling on the floor, sobbing. Fortunately, it was a size that could be held in one hand.

“Wait, let’s solve this like civilized people through dialogue.”

“Yeah. Let’s solve it through dialogue. First, break all of those.”

“Spare me! I don’t want to be thrown! I feel like I’m going to vomit-Aaaaaah!”

I broke the second light too.

I continued to break the lights. Millia, who had reacted fiercely at first, now seemed to understand my intentions and only said, “Stop it…” as if giving up.

“I feel sick…”

“Do you even have a stomach?”

You don’t have a body. How can you vomit when you only have a head?

In fact, Millia did make a retching gesture, but all that came out was a little saliva. Yeah, saliva does come out.

“Johann!”

“Karina! I’m over here!”

Light flickered in the darkened corridor. It was the lamp that Renny was holding.

I walked towards the lamp and reunited with the two of them. When they saw me, they approached with relieved expressions.

“Are you alright? And this… Did you solve the secret of the corridor?”

“Yeah. It seems those lights were acting as illusion devices.”

“The problem was simpler than I thought.”

“It hurts…”

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on Millia at the gloomy voice. Regardless, Millia only appealed for mercy with a droopy face like a tragic heroine.

Renny turned her gaze away from Millia, met my eyes, and asked,

“Why is she like this?”

“I used her to break the lights.”

“Ah…”

Renny looked at Millia with pitiful eyes.

“Now that the secret of this corridor seems to be solved, let’s take a look around.”

We walked through the corridor where the illusion had disappeared. The fact revealed after the lights were broken was that this corridor was actually made in a donut shape.

The illusion seemed to hide the entrance and the path to the next floor in the middle pillar, making the circular path appear as a straight line.

What’s with this mediocre difficulty level?

As I was looking at the path leading to the next floor, I turned around, faced the two of them, and said,

“For now, let’s return to the camp. There’s something I need to find out.”

“Outside? Can we go outside?”

Hearing the voice filled with anticipation, I looked at Millia and saw a face that seemed like her cheeks would ascend to heaven at any moment.

Was it because she had been stuck here for hundreds of years and wanted to see the outside?

“If I let you see the outside, would you be willing to help us solve the riddles of this dungeon?”

“Uh, that’s a bit…”

“Then I’ll leave you here.”

“Wait! Okay, I got it! Please let me out! I want to see the sun too!”

Well, if that’s the case.

I roughly tied Millia to my waist.

And so, a new person, no, a head was added to our party.

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