Chapter 76

76. Changing Daily Life (5)

Click, click—

I watched Luna continuously taking photos and thought to myself.

‘Memories... Come to think of it, what remains are photos.’

I took the camera from Luna’s hand.

“Stand in front of those flowers. I’ll take a beautiful photo for you.”

“Hmm~ Can you really take a good photo? Well, the subject is so pretty and cute and beautiful, it’s impossible for it to turn out bad.”

Can I really take a good photo? What a ridiculous question.

‘I am a Korean with determination and will.’

Taking beautiful photos is no big deal.

I’ve even taken a thousand photos to get one good one.

Of course, it was forced by someone.

Anyway, taking beautiful photos was an easy task for me.

Luna’s figure entered the lens as she walked into the flower field.

“Hey! Does it look good? You can’t tell which is the flower, right?”

Whether Luna is a flower or the flower is Luna.

It’s so clear, there’s no need to worry.

Click, click—

Standing pose, one knee bent, lying down, aerial shot, one foot raised.

I was taking photos passionately, trying various poses.

‘Hm?’

The [Super Sensory] ability activated again.

I felt something around Luna.

‘What is it? Is Caron already here?’

Or maybe it’s a spy watching me.

I don’t know why it’s near Luna.

“Hey! What are you doing? Are you done?”

“Ah... Yes, I’m done.”

“If it turns out weird, you’re dead!”

Luna ran over and fiddled with the camera.

Thanks to the power of the mana stone, the photos were immediately printed.

“Oh, they turned out well? Your skills are pretty good?”

“Haha, to me, taking photos is like murder.”

“What? Wait, what’s this?”

Luna tilted her head.

Looking at the photos from the side, I didn’t see anything particularly strange.

Ah, could it be that?

“Haha, Miss Luna. Miss Luna is naturally like that. A bit squished.”

“...?”

“Don’t be too shocked. It’s inevitable.”

Thud, thud!!

Luna’s fist hit my side twice.

It hurts to the bone. I just stated the facts, yet I got hit.

“No, look at this.”

Luna whispered and leaned in close to me.

Then she started flipping through the photos one by one.

Only then did I understand what Luna was talking about.

‘...The rock is moving, isn’t it?’

The white rock next to the flower field.

It was moving slightly. It was a rock about the size of a medium-sized dog.

Well, it could be due to the changing angles while taking photos.

But this goes beyond that.

It’s moving. The rock is moving on its own.

“What is it? A possessed rock?”

Luna muttered.

Considering it came from Luna’s mind, it’s a somewhat reasonable assumption.

But there was another possibility.

‘A spy.’

A spy lingering around me, waiting for an opportunity to make contact because I mentioned the contact code.

There was a chance for that.

Caron is currently away from the academy.

So the spy came to me instead.

‘But would a spy make such a beginner’s mistake?’

Especially a spy handled by Caron?

It’s impossible.

Then.

‘It’s a tail.’

Teron? Yuridia? Or a third party?

I don’t know which, but it was easy to figure out.

I whispered to Luna, who was muttering, “Can ghosts be cut with a sword?”

“It’s a tail.”

“What?”

“Haha, just act like nothing’s wrong.”

“How do I do that?”

“We need to draw them out.”

First, we need to confirm.

I moved around while taking photos.

Surprisingly,

‘...It really is a tail, it seems.’

The rock appeared in every photo.

To be precise, the rock appeared in every photo where Luna was in the frame.

‘The target of the tail was Luna?’

My curiosity grew.

Now that it’s clear it’s a tail, it’s time to catch the culprit.

As soon as we turned the corner of the building, I stuck to the wall to hide.

Then,

Thump, thump, thump—

An unidentified rock appeared, thumping.

It stopped when it noticed us.

“...”

“...”

Was the silence too hard to bear?

The rock spoke.

“I, I am a rock...”

Yeah, got it. You’re a rock?

Rocks can talk these days.

It must be the MZ era for rocks.

Swoosh—

Luna, who was beside me, drew her sword.

“An assassin sent by the Teron faction... I need to cut them down.”

Luna took a fighting stance.

The rock started to vibrate violently.

“Wait, just a moment! Ah!”

Thump!

The rock fell forward, and a girl popped out from inside.

A girl with long bangs covering her eyes.

“What? This isn’t a rock, it’s a box?”

As Luna said, it was a box.

The rock that the girl popped out of was actually a box disguised as a rock.

That’s why it could move. It was light.

“Huh? Wait, you...”

“Do you know Miss Luna too?”

“What? You too?”

I easily recalled who this girl was.

“Haha, the girl with the bangs, right?”

“What? What’s with that non-existent term? She’s not the girl with the bangs...”

Not?

“...She has long bangs.”

Luna turned her head to the side.

It seems she forgot the girl’s name.

‘Well, that’s not important right now.’

I glanced at the girl with the bangs.

The girl who told me Luna was in the arena.

If it weren’t for her, I might not have been able to protect Luna.

“She was used as bait by Gordner to lure me in.”

That’s how it was.

So the bruises all over her body were from Gordner?

Now I understand the situation.

“Ah, hello... My name is Reje.”

“Reje?”

“I, I’m sorry! I, I have a name! I, I’m sorry for having a name!”

Reje trembled while lying flat on the ground.

Sorry for having a name? She’s overly timid.

What is this strange creature?

“Haha, did you watch me at the restaurant too?”

“Yes, yes! I, I’m sorry for that too!”

The [Super Sensory] ability that activated at the restaurant.

It was because of this girl.

‘Wait, there was only a trash can there?’

So was she inside the trash can?

Or in a box shaped like a trash can?

Isn’t that the same thing?

Hmm, well. Thinking about it, it makes sense.

But that’s not important right now.

‘Incredible stealth skills.’

It’s not just my opinion.

It was no different from when I faced Caron.

Her stealth skills are on par with Caron’s.

If her level rises and her stats increase, she might even surpass Caron.

‘Come to think of it... I’ve heard this name somewhere.’

Reje, Reje.

The characters in “The Hero of the Academy” can be divided into three categories.

Main characters, supporting characters, and extra characters created by the player.

‘Extra characters are disposable.’

No matter how hard you play, they disappear from the world as soon as the game is over.

So if she’s in my memory, she must be a main or supporting character.

But I know all the main characters and most of the supporting characters.

So she’s likely a minor supporting character.

‘Not a useful character.’

But it wouldn’t hurt to check.

I looked at Reje and used a skill.

‘Info Window.’

Level: 14

Strength: 3

Agility: 34

Intelligence: 13

Health: 15

Mana: 30

Potential: 13

Skills: [Box Making S], [Concentration S], [Stealth S], [Perfect Aim S], [Crisis Detection A], [Passive Life A], [Timid Struggle B], [Leria Family Style F]

Traits: Survival Hopeful

(Just want to survive. In a crisis, agility and intelligence double.)

Titles: Coward

(When targeted in battle, leaves the battlefield. However, leaves a carrot for allies.)

After checking the info window, I was amazed.

Despite her low level, she has incredibly high stats.

She has four S-rank skills and the Survival Hopeful trait.

‘A god-like spec.’

But the feeling soon subsided.

The moment I saw the ‘Coward’ title, I recalled what kind of character Reje is.

‘A bug-level character with 100% accuracy.’

But she’s ignored due to low attack power and the tendency to run away when caught.

What do I mean?

As soon as she becomes a target, she leaves the battlefield.

In most games, when a character is attacked, they either take damage, block, or faint.

But Reje doesn’t do any of those.

She just leaves the battlefield.

She disappears.

‘She returns in the next battle, though...’

But that doesn’t mean she won’t run away again.

And this is a significant issue in SRPGs.

Even the most useless character can serve as a meat shield and do their part.

But since Reje leaves the battlefield, she can’t even be used as a meat shield.

And most importantly,

‘She doesn’t level up.’

Since she’s always the first to leave the battlefield, she can’t gain experience points.

As time goes on, the level gap with other characters becomes too large to keep up.

Of course, veterans aren’t called veterans for nothing.

‘Spear Build.’

A build known as the spear Reje.

With 100% accuracy, can’t she just one-shot the enemy?

They successfully developed a build with high attack power.

But,

‘Who would have thought she’d run away even from area attacks?’

In games, area attacks become more common as the game progresses.

By the late game, full-screen attacks appear.

If the enemy uses a full-screen attack at the start of the battle,

Only a carrot is left where Reje was.

She fled the battlefield to survive.

‘So she was ultimately abandoned as a character.’

It’s not surprising that I forgot about her.

Even veterans who liked her rabbit-like appearance gave up.

“So what’s the deal? Why are you following us?”

“That, that...”

Reje’s gaze moved between Luna’s legs and feet.

She didn’t even have the courage to look at her face.

Well, I understand.

Our Luna’s face is similar to a final boss!

“What are you thinking right now?”

“Nothing.”

“...Really? Try this fist then.”

Thud, thud!!

While being beaten by Luna,

Reje, trembling, spoke.

“Miss, Miss Luna...”

“Me?”

“Taking, taking photos with you is so much fun... I, I’m sorry!”

Reje, who was apologizing while lying flat, stuck to the ground.

I looked through the photos I took.

Luna and the rock nearby.

No, the box shaped like a rock where Reje was hiding.

She was indeed in every photo with Luna.

‘But do people usually say they took photos together like this?’

What a unique and strange girl.

To think she could rival our Luna.

Luna, you need to try harder! Your training (?) is still lacking!

“Taking photos with me was fun?”

“Yes, yes!”

Reje nodded frantically.

‘Well, she’s not a spy planted by Teron. No need to worry.’

Just as I thought that,

Luna came close and whispered in my ear.

“Zero, I think we’ve found something.”

Found what?

“A spy.”

Luna’s eyes sparkled.

Looking at her, I thought,

Ah, our Luna.

She doesn’t lose to anyone in strange things, it seems.