Chapter 71: Triple

?Name: Kang Han Soo

?Combat Ability: FF

?Achievement: A

?Reputation: A

?Character: A

?Note: There’s no way this Hero is this righteous!

Triple A’s…!

Achievement A, Reputation A, Character A.

It was very important so one more time!

Achievement A, Reputation A, Character A…!

It was the moment where my efforts finally bore fruit. My combat ability grade did suffer a setback, due to being steamrolled out of nowhere by Demon King Pedonar, but nevertheless the fact that I had received A-grades in the three subjects which had been causing me trouble was truly encouraging—I was deeply moved at this.

How much had I agonized over the biased judgement of the grader until now, I wondered to myself, yet my efforts had paid off at last.

?You have failed to pass.

‘Failed! Alright! I’ll quietly accept it in this 6th Playthrough.’

I had lost to the Demon King, after all; despite my Skills being better and our Levels being the same, I was pushed back overwhelmingly in a pure duel. It was a complete defeat which left no room for excuses.

?Reason: You are a noble-minded individual who acts for the sake of others. This point only rightly deserves respect; however, this world is not so reasonable. Another opportunity will be granted to you whom has regrettably suffered defeat. Grow stronger, and save the world this time for sure!

I was indeed noble-minded, but the fantasy world was saved with Demon King Pedonar committing suicide—the grader’s insincere ‘copy-paste work’ was seriously bad as usual.

In any case, it seemed that the 7th Playthrough was confirmed.

?Beginning re-test.

?The teaching staff are astonished at your grades.

?The teaching staff have fallen into confusion

?A specialist instructor will be dispatched.

The world which was obscured in darkness caused by the Demon King’s Dark Energy grew bright again.

*

*

*

“Welcome, Sir Hero!”

Lanuvel’s cute-acting and bright voice greeted me and, as blood rushed to my head for moment, I ended up throwing a punch in her direction.

Fwip-

“…”

“What are you doing, Sir Hero?”

“Exercise.”

My punch, which should have been simply divine, hadn’t contained the power of Divinity, which was why it failed to reach Lanuvel who was a considerable distance away; evidence that my Status had been reset along with my regression. I set about organizing my memory once again.

I had saved this fantasy world together with the super robot, ‘Captain Fantasy; however, Captain Fantasy was destroyed by the sneak attack of the cowardly Demon King’s daughter, ‘Ssosia’, and I swore to take blood vengeance as I shed tears of blood.

I raised my Level with effort and at last succeeded in my revenge, but I ended up being defeated by Demon King Pedonar, who had become excessively strong as his Job penalty weakened. Afterwards, the 6th Playthrough came to an end with the Demon King, who had exposed me to humiliation by calling me his daughter’s ‘boyfriend’, committing suicide.

And thus I came over to the fresh 7th Playthrough.

“… Isn’t this good?”

Although I had ultimately failed in the 6th Playthrough as well, my report card was extremely good—triple A’s.

Character A! Reputation A! Achievement A!

Only in combat ability did I receive an FF-grade, but the solution to that was already clear; I would be able to easily defeat the Demon King if I controlled my Level so it wouldn’t become as high as it did in the previous Playthrough.

Graduating was going to be a piece of cake now.

“Have you recovered your senses a little, Sir Hero?”

Lanuvel tilted her head, playing cute as she asked me this.

“I was feeling fine from the start. You looking for a beating?”

“The Hero, using violence against a cute and adorable beauty like me?! Are you really okay?!”

“Do you really wanna get hit?”

“No I don’t. I see that you’re a bashful one, Sir Hero. Hehe.”

My fist was crying out to take action.

“This is Fantasia, a different dimension from the world where you were born and raised in, Sir Hero. It must be unreasonable to hope for you to immediately understand. I’ll start explaining things one by one from now.”

I ignored her explanation and took in my surroundings.

Magician, Magician, Magician… instead of the can-head palace knights, I saw nothing but numerous Magicians here. The interior design of this place, where the dimensional transfer magic circle was drawn, wasn’t that of the Dumpling Kingdom which I was so familiar with; however, it wasn’t hard to figure out where I was at, and this was thanks to the national flag decorating the wall.

An intersecting staff and magic orb, depicted against a blue themed background.

“The Magic Kingdom…”

Following the 6th Playthrough, I had started in the northern continent this time as well. I didn’t feel it was a bad thing, as it would become easier to stick to the same development that occurred in the previous Playthrough where I achieved a triple A grade. Only, I had to save the world while raising my Level as little as possible. In order to reduce unexpected circumstances on my way to getting a triple A grade, I had to clear the Cave of Training again as well. Of course, I needed to get my super robot, too…

‘Wait me for, Captain Fantasy. I’ll quickly bring you back to life!’

“Oh my! I am Lanuvel. I am the archaeologist who received a prophecy in the middle of a journey of chasing the ancient legends and summoned you, Sir Hero. Lanuvel means ‘truth’ in the ancient language.”

Lanuvel had been babbling on all this while. Although I was somewhat pleased that she had returned to the original version from the shabby little sister version, her lines remained the same even though the location had changed. But that went the same for me as well.

I activated Black-Box.

?Race: Chaos Human

?Level: 1

?Job: Hero(EXP 500%)

?Skills: Divinity(Z) Blessing(Z) Dark Energy(MAX) Fabrication(SSS) Massacre(SSS)…

?Condition: Holy Sword, Saintess, Curse

My Status had changed slightly from the time I had last checked it; the previously SSS-ranked Dark Energy had become MAX-rank, which signified it had reached the maximum limit of the ordinary domain, and ‘Curse’ was added to my condition after being defeated by Demon King Pedonar. Curse was a condition that reduced an individual’s Level down to one-tenth at the most. It was common to be afflicted by this condition upon losing at the hands of a demon.

I didn’t worry, however; I just had to erase it using Z-rank Divinity and Blessing.

Flash-!

The pure-white manifestation of the divine emitted from my body enveloped my all, and I became filled with holiness.

I had no intention of hiding my strength in this Playthrough. I planned on influencing everything with my divinity like I had back at Start Village in the 6th Playthrough.

“Wuh?!”

“Gasp?!”

Lanuvel and the Magicians were shocked, exposed to my divinity without a chance to do anything. Some among them firmly rejected my holiness, but I had another method for times like these.

Chwaa-!

Unifying them all with Dark Energy!

“Ohh! O Great One!”

“I believe in you, Divine One!”

The Magicians prostrated themselves in unison. All of them, excluding Lanuvel, volunteered to be my loyal hands and feet. Oh how beautiful was this display of friendship? I didn’t refuse and accepted all of their requests, as these Magicians weren’t simple riff-raff.

They were very useful riff-raff.

Palace Magicians, individuals who represented their kingdom. While they were far from being compared to the Sage, their members were comprised of those whose skills could be counted among the top within the country. Moreover, this place was the Magic Kingdom, which was called the home of magic; the standard of magic here was higher than in other kingdoms, which meant that someone capable of attaining the title of ‘Palace Magician’ in this country was an elite among elites.

“Hu… huh?”

Lanuvel wore a dazed look, seeming to me like an outcast who couldn’t get along with the group, but I didn’t care, as Lanuvel’s role hadn’t been the tiniest bit significant in the 6th Playthrough. As such, ignoring her wouldn’t affect my incoming triple A grade in any way.

“About time to go meet His Majesty, I think.”

I thought it was best to at least report that “the Hero’s here!”. Raising my reputation would become easier this way as well.

“This humble one shall guide you! O Great One!”

The Palace Magicians acted perceptively upon hearing my words. Protocol was extremely important in this hierarchical fantasy world, but that was no obstacle to me. As for having a loving and loyal heart towards the kingdom? I stood above any rank in human society—now that I had harmonized the two incompatible powers of Dark Energy and Divinity, there was almost no native of this fantasy world that I couldn’t subjugate.

“Uuh… something is strange.”

Lanuvel, who was one of the exceptions to the above, expressed discontent as she puffed up her cheeks and pouted her lips.

“Personally, I think you’re stranger.”

Neither Divinity nor Dark Energy had any effect on her. It had worked on even that proud Sage, yet I couldn’t find the slightest hint of respect towards me from Lanuvel, who was far weaker than he was. This was why I found her so very suspicious.

“Sir Hero! Lanuvel is Lanuvel! I’m not strange!”

“Let’s not talk.”

We immediately began to make our way into the heart of the Magic Kingdom.

*

*

*

Because the king of the Magic Kingdom had long been struggling against his illness, his resting area was under a guard stricter than that of any other kingdom. During my 1st Playthrough when I had moved around the most actively, I had taken a very long time before visiting the northern continent. That was why the king had already died by the time I arrived at the Magic Kingdom, its crown already passed on to another, so this was my first time actually meeting him.

“Welcome, O Hero. Cough-cough!”

There wasn’t anything special to him just because he was a king. Having the appearance of an ill rooster, he was in such bad shape that he seemed on the verge of passing away at any moment. As for his Status?

?Race: Human

?Level: 264

?Job: King(National Strength→Rule↑)

?Skills: Magic Power(B) Magic(B) Sociability(C) Politics(C) Governance(C)…

?Condition: Curse, Illness, Frail

It was considerably excellent, a Status with just the right balance for living long and healthy, and yet the king of the Magic Kingdom was slowly dying. This was no speculation but a matter of fact. According to what I had previously heard, while the kingdom had failed in calling over Saintess B, who resided in the northern continent, they had called over a high rank priest to cast a blessing of healing, yet still the king’s illness couldn’t be cured.

“Please rest, Royal Father.”

“Sniff-sniff! Royal Father…”

The prince and princess who were fretting by side would die in the near future, and 3 years later their sweet potato lookalike uncle would be crowned as king.

“Your Majesty, the weather is chilly. This younger brother of yours will take care of the summoned Hero from now on, so please rest now.”

—forever. I knew that he had omitted this word, as I knew what had happened before.

“I entrust this matter to you, Duke. Cough-cough!”

The king of the Magic Kingdom thus replied as he gazed at his younger brother with sunken eyes. He seemed considerably trusting towards his one and only sibling.

Helped up by two maids, the king carefully rose from his throne.

Totter-totter.

His slowly retreating figure was extremely frustrating.

I set about working the cogs in my head, and came to a solution for this matter before long.

“Your Majesty, please look into my eyes. You will become happy by doing so.”

“Mm? What are you… Ohh!”

Flash—!

The combined powers of my Z-rank Divinity and Blessing surrounded the king. Although I didn’t know what manner of power was causing him difficulty, but it was no different to dust before the transcendental domain.

I examined his Status in order to confirm whether he had properly become better or not.

?Race: Human

?Level: 238

?Job: King(National Strength→Rule↑)

?Skills: Magic Power(A) Magic(B) Sociability(C) Politics(C) Governance(C)…

?Condition: Healing, Blessed, Healthy, Vigorous

His Level had fallen somewhat in the process of healing, but the king of the Magic Kingdom had completely recovered. Going by his extremely positive condition, he would likely be bursting with energy for the time being. Nevertheless, I decided to ask him how he felt out of etiquette.

“Your Majesty, how do you feel?”

“Ooh! I feel as if I have been reborn!”

He wasn’t speaking empty words. The king’s coughing, which had been persisting until now, had ceased, and his voice had become loud and strong enough to reverberate throughout the palace. Furthermore, he was now standing on his feet by his own strength without the support of the maids. It was a surprising change considering that he was all skin and bones due to his recent illness.

“H-how can this…”

His dream of usurping the throne suddenly become distant, the duke trembled with unknown emotion.

‘I’ve had my eye on you since the 6th Playthrough, punk.’

The king’s face had become sunny, like a patient who had been discharged from a suffocating hospital ward.

He spoke to me in an energetic tone.

“O divine Hero! Is there something you wish for? If there is anything that I am capable of… Ah! Have you married yet? It may sound a little like I am boasting, but I have a lovely daugh-…”

“I have something I wish for.”

“Yes, my daugh-… Mm?”

I retrieved the blueprint for ‘Captain Fantasy’ from my fourth-dimensional pocket, the Skill Storage, and showed it to the king.

“Please make this for me.”

“W-what manner of golem is this exactly?”

The king, who was also a Magician, was able to recognize the value of the blueprint at a glance.

I replied with a content smile.

“It is the ultimate dream that half of humanity hopes to realize.”

The dream had to continue.

?Greeting: Hello? They say time and tide wait for no man. I did expect that a day like this would arrive at some point, but I feel so moved to see you have grown so brilliantly by the dedication and effort of the teaching staff, Student Kang Han Soo. I hope that you will continue to make wonderful progress like now and graduate for sure!

‘What did the teaching staff do for me again, Professor Morals? Stop with the nonsensical lies and bring out the trainee teacher instead!’

?Troubled: But a trainee teacher is merely a trainee teacher…

‘Are you asking for a serving of triple F’s?’

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