Creak―

Ten minutes before the first class, I entered the classroom at a time when most students had already arrived.

“…What the hell?”

Leo, who was sitting in the classroom, looked at my face and asked incredulously.

Then, realizing belatedly that we had agreed not to acknowledge each other, he turned his head and began to curse at me with his expression.

Ignoring his face that seemed to ask what had happened, I looked elsewhere.

I made eye contact with those students from yesterday.

I smirked and gestured towards them.

“Left you behind, but you got here on your own just fine.”

“…….”

“Hey.”

The students stared straight ahead, but when I approached and tapped one of them on the shoulder, he trembled and looked at me.

“Do I have to make you come here myself?”

“N-No… I, why…”

The guy’s eyes trembled madly as he looked at me.

They probably remembered calling me out to bully me, but they wouldn’t recall hitting me this visibly.

Something had obviously happened, but all that lingered in their minds was a vague sense of fear.

I smiled and grabbed his shoulder.

“Grab your bags and come over here.”

“Huh?”

“Sit next to me. All four of you.”

The guy, with a frozen expression, slowly stood up.

Then, with a face that couldn’t understand why he had to follow my orders, he asked,

“Why should I sit next to you…”

I returned to my seat and silently tapped the desk.

They exchanged glances and sat beside me with confused expressions.

I casually asked,

“What class is this?”

“…Basic Biology… I think.”

“Great, open your notebooks.”

The guys, looking bewildered, hesitated before pulling out their notebooks. Just then, the professor entered the room.

“Good morning, everyone.”

While the professor was checking the attendance list, I spoke to the students next to me.

“What’s your rank?”

“36th… and these guys are in the 40s… why do you ask?”

I chuckled at that.

“Out of 50 students, you’re in the 40s? Can’t expect you to grasp the key points.”

“But, weren’t you 48th as well?”

Luca was. He even missed the exam day. Always in last place, he barely avoided it in the final exam.

I didn’t bother to answer and pointed at the notebooks.

“Write down every single word the professor says from now on. Don’t try to summarize, write everything from start to finish.”

“What?”

“I said, write everything.”

Everything? The student frowned, looking puzzled.

“But why should we listen to you…”

“Don’t want to?”

When I looked at him with a smile, he averted his eyes and hesitated.

“No, writing everything down is a bit…”

“Then don’t. It’s your choice. No one forces you to study.”

Don’t do it? That easily?

Really don’t have to? The student’s face showed more confusion.

At that moment, the professor, looking around the students, noticed my face and tilted his head.

“Lucas, what happened to your face?”

“Oh, I… early this morning…”

I stood up and opened my mouth.

Bang―

The sound of the desk reverberated through the quiet classroom.

The student next to me, pale, grabbed my hand tightly and whispered urgently in a small voice.

“I-I’ll do it…! I’ll do everything!”

“…Hmm.”

“Early this morning?”

The professor alternated his gaze between me and the student next to me.

In the distance, Leo let out a deep sigh, as if realizing what had happened.

The other students in the classroom had similar expressions.

Looking down at the student clutching my hand, I smiled.

“…It’s nothing. Just a little argument with friends.”

“If it’s a violence issue, we need to hold a disciplinary committee.”

“No, it’s not that serious. We’ve resolved it amicably.”

The professor, not wanting to escalate the matter, thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Hmm… If you need help, tell any of the professors. It’s okay to do so later as well.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you.”

I smiled and sat down.

Then I took out a thin book with a cover from my bag. It was a book I borrowed from the library to study special magic using divine power.

I opened the book and slipped it under my textbook, gesturing to the students next to me.

“What are you doing? Start writing.”

“……”

The students stared blankly at my book, then hastily started writing as the professor began to speak.

* * *

“Alright, see you next week. Make sure to review.”

The professor packed up his materials and left.

The students next to me jumped up from their seats, gasping for breath.

“Huff… It’s over.”

“Lucas! We wrote everything down!”

Their tearful cries reached me.

I quickly glanced over their notes.

Of course, there were blank spots, but since several of them were writing, they covered each other’s gaps.

I handed the notebooks back to them.

“Good job.”

“…Aren’t you taking them?”

“Seriously… Do you only study in the first period? Does school end after just one class?”

Their faces darkened at my words. I patted their shoulders with a smile.

“Hang in there until six.”

After regular classes ended, I collected all the notebooks. The students handed them over with weary faces, rubbing their sore arms.

“Look at this messy handwriting. Can’t you write properly?”

One student, hesitating at my scolding, finally spoke up.

“…But, are you going to report us…”

“No.”

When I shook my head, the students’ faces brightened. Watching them, I continued.

“If you keep this up, you know. From what I understand, a report on a violence incident can be filed anytime before graduation. Right?”

“What? No… then…”

I smiled at the students who couldn’t finish their sentences.

I had already gone to the hospital and obtained a medical report.

This time, I slowly read through the notes and nodded.

Sitting through a high school class I already knew was extremely tedious.

With lecture notes, I could finish in 30 minutes what I had to sit through for an hour.

Moreover, the curriculum wasn’t the same as reality, so I couldn’t entirely ignore the classes, which was a bit of a dilemma…

‘This works well.’

I closed the notebook filled with lecture content and smiled.

“Alright, I’ll borrow these.”

* * *

Not long after Lucas left his seat, a student sighed and rubbed his face with both hands.

“He’s a thug, that bastard…”

“A thug who steals notebooks?…”

“Whatever, it’s still extortion! Isn’t the notebook my property?!”

When a student shouted angrily, another shook his head.

“Calm down. He clearly said he was borrowing them. Let’s see if he returns them.”

“If he doesn’t return them, we should report him immediately.”

“He will return them. If he wants us to take notes tomorrow, he’ll have to.”

“……”

There was a sudden silence among them.

It was a depressing thought.

* * *

I dropped by my room to stack the borrowed notebooks on my desk and headed to the training ground.

“What happened yesterday?”

As I lifted my head, I made eye contact with Leo, who was sitting on a bench in the training ground.

Yeah, I figured he’d ask. It would have been stranger if he didn’t.

After a moment’s thought, I gave a short answer.

“I got hit a bit.”

Of course, he was probably asking how the whole incident unfolded…

There was no need to explain how they mentioned Leo or how I made them eat dirt.

Better not to provide any room for mistakes by explaining anything.

‘If I say something unnecessary, it won’t even make it halfway.’

Especially not the dirt part.

I kept my mouth shut, remembering Leo’s proper conduct.

Leo looked at me incredulously, then shook his head.

“Alright, fine… That’s not important. Did you get checked out?”

“Yeah. Just bruises.”

“That’s a relief.”

Leo nodded, then suddenly asked a strange question.

“So, did you win?”

“What?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd question.

In the novel, I remembered Leo stopping the protagonist from getting into fights, not asking about the outcome.

‘He already assumes I used magic.’

Leo wouldn’t be asking about winning or losing a fight unless he thought I used magic. I replied lightly.

“Do you think they’d listen to a loser?”

Leo burst out laughing at that answer.

“Ah, that makes me feel better. Yeah, who taught you? There’s no way you’d lose to those guys.”

“It’s amazing you just assume I used magic.”

“Those guys don’t know any limits. The only way to get out of that situation was by using magic.”

I nodded.

Trying to make me eat a live animal was definitely crossing the line. If I hadn’t used magic, I might have actually ended up with it in my mouth.

“How are the students reacting?”

“They think you got beaten up. And they’re guessing those guys accidentally hit your face and got caught.”

That’s a very reasonable reaction.

It’s hard to believe that someone who can’t use magic could beat several mages.

In the end, this means my use of magic hasn’t spread.

I only got a reward of divine power and self-taught a mind-control spell using it…

‘For self-study, the effects are solid.’

The special magic using divine power is worth continuous investment in the future.

Of course, I should focus on more fundamental things first.

I need to raise my Health stat quickly.

If using divine power is hindered, it means Mental Power is also hindered.

It’s the fourth week of September, and after next week, it’ll be October. It’s already been a month since the new semester started.

So… It’s time to speed up the improvement of my status window.

Three hours into training, Leo put his wand in his waistband and checked his watch.

“It’s ten o’clock. Let’s head in.”

I nodded, wiping off sweat.

Unlike me, Leo, with no sign of exhaustion, smiled and said,

“Today’s training was more intense, but you did well.”

“Yeah, you too.”

This is why I need to quickly raise my Health stat. Whenever I try to improve, my health becomes an obstacle.

‘Let’s see how much it improves with one day of training.’

I summoned my status window.

Lucas Rene Askanian

Title: Hunter of ???

Health: -3.3 (+0.1) [-0.3]

Mental Power: -7.6 (+0.1)

Magic Power: ?

Skill: +1.065 (+0.05) [+4.065]

Impression: -10

Luck: -6.385 (+0.1)

Traits: Dawn 777, Divine Power

0.1 per day, 1 point every ten days.

Last week, it was 1 point per week.

The higher the value, the smaller the increase.

Still, if I estimate generously, I can escape the negative within two months, so it’s not a problem yet.

The problem is after that.

I glanced at the Skill category.

The only positive score, Skill, is rising more slowly than the other categories. It looks like once it goes positive, the speed will be incomparable to now.

‘Since the tasks will take longer as time goes on, it’s best to get through the negative phase as quickly as possible.’

There’s a limit to time, but there’s so much to do.

Maybe I should cut back on sleep.

While thinking about this and packing my bag, Leo called out with excitement.

“Ah, Lucas.”

“What?”

“The herbs you mentioned have arrived. Today’s the fourth day, as you said.”

Leo held up a box that had been under his bag.

Hmm, if I have to make that throughout the exam period, I’ll really need to cut back on sleep.

As I thought about that, I heard a familiar notification sound.

Ding―!

Chapter 3. Constant Dripping Wears Away the Stone (1)

Quest 2: Achieve ‘Health’ Score 0 (0/1) (167 hours 59 minutes 58 seconds)

Route 1 — Chapter 3 Special Reward

Route 2 — Chapter 4. One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer

“……”

“Lucas?”

You want me to raise 3.3 points in a week when it’s currently going up by 1 point every ten days?

Yeah, I figured this kind of quest would come up.

With a title like that, I was wondering why it was so quiet.

I scoffed at the unrealistic time limit.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep