Since the day I encountered the Witch of the Graveyard, I had been coming to see Eve every night. This was to prepare for the main storyline as well.
If I came during the day, I couldn't find her. It was as if she was hiding away in some cave. So, I had no choice but to come at night.
Just like now.
"Hey."
"......."
Tonight marked the tenth consecutive night I had come to find her.
By now, even a snail would have lowered its guard.
"I'm here."
But wasn’t this the moment to realize that there were people more cautious than snails in this world...?
"......."
Eve glanced at me briefly before turning her head away. Then, she stared blankly up at the sky.
Today as well, I had walked confidently toward the center of the cemetery. But at a distance of about 10 meters, she began to show signs of discomfort.
'So, I've managed to close the gap from 20 meters to 10 meters.'
I wondered if, after another ten days, I could get right next to her... but then again, what the hell was I even doing?
'So, what am I supposed to do once I actually get close?'
I stopped thinking deeply about it, fearing it would only make me feel more empty.
Somehow, things would work out... whether we became friends or something else.
Anyway, I had shown my face for today, so it was time to leave.
___________
The most important preparation for the main storyline, scheduled to begin in about a month, was my own growth.
“Haa, haa...”
It was training time. I was working on cardio, strength training, and reinforcing my bones and muscles using mana.
“Whew...”
The MP I had previously invested in was proving invaluable. Thanks to it, I could use mana to reinforce my muscles and bones, allowing me to push my body to its limits in short, intense bursts.
And the results were showing.
< [Stamina] +0.2 >
< [Strength] +0.1 >
< Total Combat Power: 113,319 → 113,325 (▲6) >
My stats would occasionally increase like this, and on certain lucky days, when I experienced a sudden breakthrough during training...
< [Strength] +3 >
< Total Combat Power: 113,325 → 113,385 (▲60) >
I’d see massive stat boosts like this.
At first, I could barely do a single pull-up. Now, I could crank out ten with ease. Feeling myself grow stronger in real time was quite satisfying.
Since today was my day off, I’d planned to stay home, train, and rest.
At least, that was the plan, until I got a message from Adele.
——
– Adele: Professor~
– Adele: Could you come to the office, if possible?
– Dante: Why?
– Adele: I think you may need to fill in a report.
——
A report? What for?
I sighed and made my way out. When I arrived at the office, I found Adele speaking with a disciplinary enforcer.
“Ah, you’re here. Nice to meet you, Professor Dante. I’m Kang Kang, from the academy’s disciplinary enforcers.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” I replied, shaking hands with the long-haired, handsome man.
“Apologies for bothering you on the weekend, but we received a report that you missed a class two weeks ago.”
A missed class...? Right, that did happen.
But that was ages ago. Why were they bringing it up now?
“It’s nothing serious, so we won’t take any disciplinary action. You’ll just get a warning, haha.”
“Who filed the report?”
“Ah... apologies, but we can’t disclose that information. You just need to submit the report and pay a small fine. Have a nice weekend!”
Kang Kang left shortly after.
Adele tiptoed closer and whispered, “I think Joaquin Hilavan was the one who reported it.”
“...I see.”
Joaquin, huh. What a pain.
I had told him to withdraw from my course, and I guess he took it personally and filed a complaint.
“Did he keep attending after that?” I asked.
“Nope. He never showed up again and eventually dropped the class,” Adele replied.
He’d officially withdrawn. That was fine by me.
I went ahead and filled in the report. At the bottom was a section for the fine.
‘Fine: 100,000 hika’
Not surprising. This is the Assassin Department, after all.
Money and assassins were two sides of the same coin. All punishments and rewards involved money. Even a cadet had to pay fines when facing discipline.
But I don’t have 100,000 hika on hand...
That was about ten million won or roughly $10,000. A fairly steep price to pay for missing a single class.
With no other choice, I decided to sell the 「Swift Dagger」 I had confiscated from Gray.
What a shame. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to use it properly.
“Oh, by the way,” Adele said, “there’s a present for you.”
“A present?”
She handed me a small box with a blue frame and gold embroidery. It looked rather luxurious.
“Who sent it?”
“Not sure. It came anonymously. But I checked it thoroughly—it’s not a bomb or a trap.”
She’s good at her job.
I opened the box and found an elixir inside. And not just any elixir.
＊ Mana Elixir (MP+37) [Rare]
A rare-grade elixir. Very nice.
Elixirs were medicines made by refining only the best ingredients into a form the body could easily absorb.
Rare-grade elixirs could raise your maximum MP by 20 to 40 points. A +37 meant this one was of high quality.
Considering that『World Forgery』consumed a lot of MP, this was an incredible gain.
This alone is probably worth tens of thousands of hika.
I wanted to drink it right away, but decided to save it for later.
After submitting the report through Adele, I figured I might as well make another outing while I was here.
“Adele. Get me an exit permit.”
“Okay~ Going to Mount Stargaze again?” she asked.
“That’ll be in the evening. I’m planning to go to the department store in Zone 5.”
And so began my outing.
We got in the car and left the isolated and restricted Zone 0 using our exit permit.
After driving a bit, what lay before our eyes was the cityscape of Hiaka Academy City.
Upon arriving at the large department store in the commercial district of Zone 5, I immediately began selling the items I had confiscated from the cadets.
“Jackknife, rifle, and dagger... that’ll be 230,000 hika in total,” a clerk informed me.
“That’s quite the lowball.”
“Pardon?”
He was trying to rip me off, but I was a veteran of the game—I knew the market prices perfectly.
I left and visited several other shops, eventually getting a fair price for my items:
＊ Jackknife [Common] – 4,660 Ħ
＊ Lever Action Rifle MT-15 [Magic] – 72,100 Ħ
＊ Swift Dagger [Rare] – 315,000 Ħ
I had earned a total of 391,760 hika. After paying the 100,000 hika fine to the school, I’d still have 291,760 hika left.
That’s enough to buy a Rare-grade item...
I needed to find something that would pair well with my 『 World Forgery 』 ability. What would make a good fit?
Let’s say a demon shows up.
Even if I could fool their eyes and ears, it would be pointless if I couldn’t kill the demon.
I lack the means for accurate long-range attacks and don’t have the firepower to deal significant damage up close either.
With those conditions in mind, there was an ideal solution.
A rifle.
“I haven’t been to a department store in ages. Would you mind if I wander around a bit?” Adele asked.
“Do as you please.”
Adele scurried off like a squirrel, overjoyed by the opportunity.
I, too, wandered through the shops, searching for the right weapon.
A few firearms caught my eye:
＊ Silenced Shotgun DD [Rare] – 215,000 Ħ
＊ Compression Revolver T-10 [Rare] – 329,000 Ħ
＊ Mana Bullet Rifle Origin 005 [Magic] – 135,000 Ħ
Hmm...
They were all good. Really good.
But they were just good, which is to say that none of them really stood out.
I didn’t want to buy something anyone could easily get their hands on.
Still no luck. I’ve already been to twenty gun shops across two department store buildings.
After the fine, I would have 291,760 hika left. And if I sold my elixir, I could bump that number to roughly 350,000 hika.
Keeping my budget in mind, I headed to an antique shop this time.
“Welcome...”
It was a shop full of trash, with flies buzzing about.
But as the shopkeeper got a better look at me, a rude thought popped up in the【textbox】.
【 Antique Dealer, Boken: Damn it. Thought I was finally getting a customer... but it’s just that dude who keeps wandering around without buying anything. Look at those bloodthirsty eyes, he’s got to be some kind of thug. Business is already dead, and now this bastard shows up. How fucking unlucky. Tsk... 】
He ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) was inwardly spitting out words of anger and writhing in annoyance.
I was about to leave, since he was pissing me off, when something caught my eye.
Is that...?
＊ Unappraised Handgun [Unappraised, Stigma] – 9,999 Ħ
I was extremely lucky.
A stigma weapon, here of all places?
But still, something was slightly off about the item’s status screen.
Why is it showing [Stigma] if it’s unappraised?
The [Stigma] label meant that the item held a blessing of the stars.
Moreover, the item would always be at least Rare-grade. In fact, its price would generally be over twice as expensive as other Rare-grade items.
Yet this antique dealer was selling it for a mere 9,999 hika.
“I’ll take this gun.”
“Oh, sure! Just so you know, it’s unappraised. So we will not accept any refunds!” the shopkeeper said with a wide smile.
【 Antique Dealer, Boken: Hah! Someone’s actually buying this. What a sucker! He’s gotta be a fool addicted to gambling. Fine, go ahead and buy a hundred unappraised items. You’ll still never get a Magic-grade item! This feels great. Finally getting rid of an old piece of junk after ten years thanks to this moron. Mwahahaha! 】
What a rotten and hateful old man. But at this point, he didn't bother me anymore. I had gotten a hell of a deal, after all.
Still, I chose to be petty and decided to mess with him just a little.
『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Large Silverfish]』
『World Forgery: Form Forgery [Large Cockroach]』
Skitter—
Plop plop—
A giant cockroach and a large silverfish crawled and flopped around the store.
“W-Whoa! The hell?! Get lost, you pests! Damn you...!”
I assumed he lived in the shop, so I made sure to hide the bugs under the bed in the back before canceling the ability.
“Arghhh!”
After leaving the antique shop, I headed to an alchemy workshop to get the item appraised.
“Hm... Sir, I don’t think this is a very good weapon. Chances are, you won’t get your money back.”
“No matter. Please appraise it.”
The appraisal cost was a steep 15,000 hika—more than the gun itself. But I didn’t mind at all.
The clerk soon cast the『Appraisal』spell. A flash of light burst forth, cleansing the curses clinging to the gun as it slowly changed shape.
“S-Sir! This is...!!”
The clerk shared the incredible results with me.
＊ Liberator [Heroic, Stigma]『Radiant Star ⁺₊⋆』
Insane.
It was a Heroic-grade rifle.
* * *
Upon designating it as my primary weapon, my overall combat power skyrocketed.
< Overall Combat Power: 113,023 → 131,308 (▲18,285) >
The weapon’s design was simple. It was a lever-action rifle, requiring me to pull the lever down to chamber a round.
But the tip of the barrel bore a white insignia:
「⁺₊⋆」
It was the mark of the star called the 「Radiant Star」.
I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
The unappraised gun turned out to be Heroic-grade...?
That was a less than 1% chance. The alchemist clerk clapped, clearly in awe.
“Whoa! This gun has a stigma!”
“Is it good?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Far better than ‘good’! It’s amazing! This gun is simply incredible!”
“Really? Is it really that good?” I pressed, keeping up the act.
“Yes! You hit the jackpot today, Sir. Congratulations!”
I already knew, but I asked twice just for fun.
What were the item’s stats like?
Let’s see... low durability and no extra weapon skills. Honestly, it’s a low-tier Heroic-grade weapon... But the damage is absurdly high.
High damage was to be expected from something of this tier, but this felt more like a cannon than a gun. Something felt off.
Upon closer inspection, I realized it only held two shots.
I can charge it with mana, but I’d only get two shots.
After firing twice, it takes time to recharge. A simple yet powerful mechanic—a high-risk, high-reward type of weapon.
But what really caught my attention was the stigma. It was an exceptional one.
「Radiant Star⁺₊⋆」, the celestial body governing ‘light,’ had imbued this gun with its power.
Deals extra damage to demons, ghosts, undead, souls, spirits, etc. It also counters dark magic.
Basically, it had the [Holy] attribute.
...This is worth at least 7,500,000 hika.
In real-world terms, that was at least 750 million won, or roughly $750,000.
My luck today was insane.
Just to be sure, I headed to the weapons testing range on the first floor of the department store and decided to fire it once.
Aiming at a scarecrow propped up in front of a dirt mound, I pulled the trigger.
BANG—
An enormous impact rattled the hall, the recoil shaking my entire upper body.
The result was stunning.
Sharp rays of light burst from the muzzle like brilliant claws tearing through the air, scattering across the space.
Chrrrrrk!
At close range, it formed a narrow spray. But by the time it hit the scarecrow, the blast had spread wide and obliterated everything in its path. It looked like a flaming net ripping forward, annihilating whatever it touched.
And then there was the stigma’s brilliance.
Even though I wasn’t directly in its path, the light was so intense that my eyes throbbed from the glare.
It would surely blind my enemies like a flashbang. In fact, I may have to shut my own eyes if I ever use this in battle.
“Whoa! What was that?!”
“That rifle’s insane! Is it a stigma weapon?!”
Once the commotion settled, the nearby weapon enthusiasts buzzed with excitement. One guy even asked if he could try firing it, but I refused, much to his genuine dismay.
“We got to see something amazing today!”
“Take care! If you get another crazy weapon, come back and show it off!”
Is this what it feels like to be a popular, charming man? I like it...
Anyway, I now had 161,761 hika left in spare funds.
There was nothing else I urgently needed, so I decided to save it. I can also keep the elixir instead of selling it.
In the end, I chose to drink it. The high-grade elixir melted on my tongue the moment it entered my mouth.
It tasted awful, but the effects were immediate and significant.
< [Max MP]: 1,100 → 1,137 (▲37) >
< Overall Combat Power: 131,023 → 131,308 (▲285) >
Watching my mana increase in real time felt incredibly satisfying.
And once again, I couldn’t help but wonder... Just who had sent me this gift?
That was when a message arrived on my crystal ball watch.
——
– Kaiser: I hope you like it.
——
...So it was you.
This cheeky rascal...
How did this boy always manage to be so considerate? No wonder he was the leader of the Black Dragon Division.
He hadn’t gotten that far by relying on luck alone. There was a reason no one had caught on to his act, despite being a cripple and a completely incompetent assassin in reality.
——
– Kaiser: I respect you.
——
His incredible social skills and masterful networking were behind it all.
Before leaving the department store, I intentionally altered my route just to pass by the antique shop one more time.
I made eye contact with the grumpy shopkeeper, who was still hunting for bugs.
Lifting my glowing rifle, I let out a coy smirk. “Remember this gun I bought earlier. Turns out it has a [Stigma], apparently.”
“Huh?”
“So, what’s a stigma? Is it worth a lot?”
The man just stared. His dumbfounded expression was simply priceless.