Chapter 113: Never Before Such a Challenge (1)

“…Huh? It’s Gerard.”

That was the start.

“Gerard?”

“What? Gerard, you say?”

Like meerkats, the students and staff stopped what they were doing and turned their heads toward me.

“Oooh! He’s finally here!”

“The hope of our Academy! The lucky charm! The problem-solver! The alpha male!”

I made a wry face as the staff swarmed around me, bombarding me with questions.

‘This scene… feels familiar.’

In any case, it was quite the commotion.

It seemed the incident in Roenberg had already spread through the Academy.

“What happened? They say you were in danger!”

“Yeah, exactly! We were worried!”

Worried, huh.

Making my passionate fans worry like this—clearly my fault.

“So what happened out there?”

“Curious?”

The students and staff nodded eagerly, their necks practically snapping.

I’d come to submit the extracurricular activity report… but whatever.

I had plenty of time, so I decided to sit down, entertain my fans, and recount my exploits.

“Gather round.”

“Form up!”

“So here’s how it went…”

I began spinning my tale to the crowd circled around me.

I boldly cut out the boring parts, embellishing my heroic moments with flair and spice.

“Oooh!”

“And then? What happened next?”

Their excited reactions fueled me, and before I knew it, I was getting carried away with my storytelling.

“Man, how do you attract trouble like that?”

“Seriously, though. Going on an extracurricular activity and taking down a villain?”

“Isn’t that a talent in itself?”

“Totally. Gerard’s a genius…?”

Hahaha!

The students and staff erupted into laughter, filling the room with mirth.

I joined in.

‘This is it.’

I got why people craved attention, some even catching celebrity syndrome or becoming attention-seekers.

It felt good.

This attention.

Of course, staying under the radar was my chosen survival strategy, so I was reluctantly basking in the spotlight.

And yeah, this attention sometimes felt a bit uncomfortable.

‘But it’s weirdly nice.’

Was it because these people were so genuine?

Or maybe, with all this commotion, we’d built enough trust and camaraderie over time?

‘Could be.’

If I’d gone to the personnel office where that stiff Rodrig Elna worked, I wouldn’t have felt this kind of joy and satisfaction.

“But where’s Vice-Dean Baron? Didn’t he come with you?”

At the question from Faver, the bespectacled staff member, I snapped out of my thoughts and shrugged.

“He did, but he went straight to the main building with the other professors.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

Probably to discuss the Roenberg incident and the Beltus Cult.

“…So, how’d that turn out?”

Another staff member cut in with a question, and a hush fell over the lively student affairs office.

Everyone perked up their ears, staring at me.

‘What’s with this vibe?’

I looked at him and asked,“That?”

“Yeah, you know. That.”

So what the hell was that?

“Eureka, man.”

I clamped my mouth shut.

My expression said I was at a loss for words.

But they didn’t care.

Led by Faver, the guys went wild with anticipation for some juicy gossip.

“We’ve been waiting for that news! Why aren’t you spilling? Come on, when are you gonna tell us?”

“Yeah, exactly! Spill the beans! How’d it go? Did it go well?”

“Who is it? Which one of Eureka? How far’d you get? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

Fans, my ass.

Now I saw their real motive for crowding around me.

“Tell us already!”

“Aaahhh!”

‘Should I pull out Raven?’

I genuinely considered it.

* * *

After wrapping up everything post-extracurricular activity, I returned to my dorm.

‘Finally.’

I pulled out the advanced vision tome, ‘Stealth.’

I sat at my desk and opened the book with reverence.

Kanabi, the third star of Shadow.

‘Stealth’ was his signature skill, specializing in infiltration and disruption.

According to Luis, there wasn’t a place Kanabi couldn’t infiltrate, an item he couldn’t steal, or anyone who could even touch his shadow.

At the core of it all was surely this ‘Stealth.’

Stealth wasn’t just about hiding one’s form.

It was an advanced vision that completely erased magical detection and presence.

Of course, it would be tough to master, but once I did, it would be unmatched for creating variables in missions, escaping crises, or concealing myself.

Imagine it.

Surrounded by enemies, nowhere to go, no strength or stamina left to fight my way out.

In that dire moment, I’d use Stealth and slip away effortlessly.

“Hell yeah. This is it. This is what a thief is.”

I hurriedly read the first page.

[If we wish to hide, no one can find us.]

Shadow’s vision trait—arrogant as hell from the very first line.

[Not even a god.]

“But once you master it, you don’t feel that arrogance at all.”

Below the brief description of the vision, there was a long-winded explanation of its origin and history.

I skipped that and flipped to the page detailing the actual techniques.

Fundamentally, Stealth’s operation relied on [The Thief’s Breath], just like Dark Sprint.

The next thing it emphasized was composure.

At the time, I didn’t know.

Maintaining that composure was the hardest and trickiest challenge.

“Composure? Are you kidding? That’s my specialty.”

Inner peace.

The peace of mind.

I exhaled slowly, calming my heart, and manipulated my mana as the tome instructed.

A tingling sensation spread over my skin, like something was covering it.

When I opened my eyes, I saw it.

My sleeve was floating in the air.

“What?”

Startled, I instinctively waved my arm.

At that moment, my arm, which had vanished, reappeared inside the sleeve.

“Oh, that’s how it works.”

The mechanism of Stealth.

“I get it. Perfectly.”

Yeah, I was overconfident.

I stripped off all my clothes and stood in front of the mirror, already acting like someone who’d mastered Stealth.

I breathed slowly, manipulating my mana again as the tome directed.

An invisible veil gradually spread from my torso.

A hole formed where my body was.

Through it, I could see the wall behind me.

As time passed, the hole grew larger until it engulfed my entire body.

And just like that, I vanished from the mirror.

No, I completely disappeared from the room.

“…Heh.”

Success.

Compared to other advanced visions I’d learned, it felt oddly simple, but I didn’t question it.

‘Guess I’ve got a knack for this.’

Plus, one of my greatest strengths was my solid mental fortitude.

I hadn’t gone mad even after being thrown into this game world, and I’d fought tooth and nail to survive.

‘It looks like the biggest hurdle with Stealth is maintaining composure.’

Piece of cake for me.

I looked up.

And locked eyes with a naked guy in the mirror.

“….”

Of course, it was me.

Stealth had worn off.

“What the hell? Why’d it break?”

Was it because I got a little excited about succeeding?

“No way.”

I shook my head and tried Stealth again.

This time, I focused entirely on maintaining it, pushing aside all stray thoughts.

Thankfully, it didn’t break.

I took steps, spoke, and even used other visions, testing what I could do while maintaining Stealth.

All successful.

Stealth held steady.

Suppressing my awe at the synchronization, I moved to the next step.

There was one last thing to check.

How far did this Stealth go?

For example, a preliminary test.

I already knew it could evade detection and the senses of seasoned knights.

But I needed to know exactly how far it could go undetected.

Luckily, the Academy was full of test subjects.

Just heading to the main building would let me gather data from the professors.

With that decided, I moved to leave.

And then, Stealth broke.

“….”

My hand on the doorknob felt clammy.

Sweat trickled down my back, dripping onto the floor.

That’s when it hit me.

This wasn’t easy.

I wasn’t wondering why Stealth broke.

It was fear from a ‘what if.’

That was the reason.

‘What if—really, what if—Stealth breaks out there?’

The moment I grabbed the doorknob, that fear pierced my spine, and Stealth vanished like a ghost.

‘Kyaaa! There’s a pervert!’

‘Gerard, you bastard! I thought you’d come to your senses, but now you’ve lost it completely?’

‘Senpai, I’m disappointed.’

‘I was wrong about you. You’re not even worth calling a villain—you’re just a pervert. Goodbye. You’re being transferred to Central Knights Headquarters.’

…This felt like a massive screw-up.

Stealth didn’t cover equipment, so naturally, I’d have to go out naked for testing.

The problem was, I had zero experience wandering outside without clothes.

No, wait.

Did anyone even have that kind of experience?

And so, I stood frozen in front of the door, lost in thought.

“Fine. I didn’t expect to master it in a day. It was the same with other advanced visions, right?”

I decided to think positively.

* * *

And that positivity crumbled in a day.

The next day.

I collapsed to my knees in front of the door.

“Damn it. I can’t do this.”

I just couldn’t step beyond that door.

Every time I grabbed the doorknob, yesterday’s nightmare gripped me, and Stealth fell apart without fail.

I was certain it would break if I ran into anyone.

Damn it.

I had no confidence in maintaining Stealth.

I knew.

I had to try somehow.

If I kept pushing and got used to it, it would eventually become nothing, and peace of mind would come.

I knew, I knew.

But it wasn’t easy.

Yuria, who saw me as her idol.

Karina, who already looked down on me.

Vice-Dean Baron and Professor Ilai, who cared for me.

And all the juniors who followed me.

I was terrified of them looking at me like I was some insect.

“Damn it. I should’ve just stayed the Academy’s failure.”

How the hell did Kanabi do this?

“Wait. Was he some kind of exhibitionist pervert?”

A reasonable suspicion.

“But I’m normal.”

Time passed and the next day arrived.

I finally made up my mind.

It was a big decision.

Stealth was a must-have vision for a Shadow master and a skill that would be my lifeline.

Like it or not, I had to master it.

“Hoo…”

Clenching my fists and barely maintaining composure, I used Stealth and grabbed the doorknob.

Click!

Creak…

The door slowly opened.

A historic moment—my first time revealing my naked self to the world.

Weirdly, the hallway looked unusually wide.

Had they done renovations while I was away on the extracurricular activity?

Meanwhile, my usually light steps felt three times heavier.

I kept opening and closing the door, my mind debating whether to cross the threshold dozens of times.

Finally, a foot stepped into the hallway.

Swish.

I stood in the corridor.

At the same time—

Clank!

The door to the next room opened, and someone stepped out.

‘…Goddamn timing.’

My luck was just awful.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep