Chapter 33

The last vacation of the first year has ended, and the new semester has begun. In other words, it’s now the second year.

Of course, just because we’re a year older doesn’t mean anything actually changes. If it were truly an ordinary second year of middle school, there might be some sort of sentiment about growth and change, but it doesn’t feel that way here since the situation is different.

Or maybe not. Even so, since we’ve become second-year middle school students like everyone else, there is a certain sense of novelty. After all, with adolescence approaching and hormonal changes occurring, something’s bound to happen.

For instance, like… um… yeah. Ah, right. That feeling like time is needlessly passing even though you haven’t done anything? It’s oddly irritating. Can time not just pause while I keep living like this? In this world of fantasy, shouldn’t it be possible to stay in our school years forever? What use is a fantasy world if not?

Anyway, there are several worries that come with the new school year, but there’s another problem. There’s a new change in the middle school curriculum.

It’s called the Free Year Program. According to the official website of the Ministry of Education, it’s a system where for one year, classes shift away from a focus on knowledge and competition. Instead, student-participatory lessons and varied activities to nurture students’ talents and interests take center stage.

While it sounds obvious, it’s unclear exactly what will happen practically, but in summary, exams will be replaced with practical evaluations and project activities for a year.

Typically, it is applied to first-year middle school students, but both Doyugeon’s school and ours are collaborating on educational research, so it starts in the second year.

If I were in the parents’ position, I would probably be in chaos and fear, not knowing what to prepare for with this new system. But since I’m the child, I’ve been carefree ever since the semester began two months ago. Ah, wasn’t I talking about my worries? Those don’t really matter.

Even though I’m carefree, Doyugeon is even more so. Toward the end of the break, I was concerned that this would lead to a new low in his history, but luckily, nothing major happened. Of course, minor embarrassments will always accumulate, but that’s just part of everyday life.

In fact, the reason nothing major happened is because he’s been attending a special academy for the Free Year Program and his spirit has dampened. Doyugeon’s parents must have seen this as an opportunity to improve grades and signed him up for a new academy. It’s the kind that holds midterms and finals, even though no school exams exist right now.

Sure enough, when the time for the midterm exam came, the academy started test periods. Doyugeon, though clearly reluctant, began studying.

Even now, he’s still at it. Glancing sideways at him lounging on his bed, I can see him sitting and solving problems. He said he’d finish studying soon and to wait just a moment, but it’s been ages. If he’s going to keep this up, why did he invite me over?

I stop looking at him and return to my smartphone game. The screen shows 567 billion penguins mining. I used the cash I’d accumulated to buy 13 billion more penguins. The money keeps piling up; it’s addictive.

Checking him again, he’s still working on the problems. Getting up quietly from the bed, I sneak over and take a closer look. It’s a math problem where he’s hesitating between options 3 and 4. Seeing his working, he has written down “19.” Options 3 and 4 are “15” and “24,” respectively, and none of the other options say “19.” What’s going on?

The problem seems correct, so maybe he solved it wrong. Glancing at the problem, the correct answer should be 13/3, which is option 2. Yes, he solved it incorrectly.

Doyugeon finally picks option 3 after much thought. No, that’s wrong! There isn’t an option for that! That’s a bizarre solution the test maker wouldn’t have anticipated. He should redo it, but why would he just guess?

He turns around.

“Sorry, it’s taking longer than expected. Just two more questions, so bear with me a bit longer.”

He probably detected my presence behind him because of his Situational Awareness skill.

“Okay.”

I slink back to the bed and lie down again. Looking back at the game, the penguins are still mining. Poor things, they don’t stop working. It reminds me of myself in a past life, evoking some sympathy.

As I keep watching, some of the penguins stop mining and collapse onto the ground. Oh, they’re resting. When I press the resting penguins, they get back to work.

Even though it’s a hands-off game, there’s micromanagement? I buy an auto-management item with in-game currency. It’s called the Supervisor Penguin, a chubby penguin. It’s kind of cute. The Supervisor Penguin goes around “bick-bick-ing,” encouraging the resting penguins to resume mining.

I hire more penguins with the accumulated funds and toss my phone onto the bed. I think I’ll just rest a bit. Time isn’t going anywhere, and I don’t have anything else to do. I pull the blanket over myself. It’s warm and comfortable, despite the slight inconvenience of wearing a school uniform. Nevertheless, sleepiness overcomes me.

I close my eyes and feel the warmth. Thoughts blur, senses fade, and sleep comes. Sleep comes more quickly than expected, and it looks like it’ll be a deep sleep.

“Done!”

Startled, I blink and shiver. I was feeling good right there. I could’ve had a pleasant rest.

He comes to the bed.

“I’m done!”

“So what?”

“Hm?”

“So what now.”

Finished, and what am I supposed to do?

“Of course, we’re going hunting!”

“Okay, have fun. I’m going to sleep, so go ahead and leave.”

“But… this is my room, right?”

“I know.”

Closing my eyes, drowsiness returns. I drift off to sleep without resisting.

*

Opening my eyes, about an hour and a half has passed. That was a good nap.

Even though I try to maintain a regular sleep schedule—going to bed by 10 PM and waking up at 5 AM—I often feel tired, perhaps because seven hours isn’t enough. Occasionally, like today, I need a nap.

Though this level of fatigue is negligible, I enjoy naps anyway. Naps make me happy, and it’s not easy to sleep soundly in this world, so I might as well take advantage of it when I’m tired.

Looking around the room, Doyugeon isn’t here. Feeling for the house’s magic energy, he’s nowhere in the house. Did he really go hunting alone?

A floating message appears and is absorbed, indicating that he is indeed hunting. He probably isn’t upset, right? That would be inconvenient. Hmm.

To be honest, I’m not a particularly kind person. I’m attempting to live my current life in a carefree way, so I don’t force myself to have a good personality. Still, it’s problematic if he gets mad.

Logging in, I head to the forest. Though called a forest, it’s barely one anymore due to the constant fires from the fire slimes. The bushes are ash, and the trees are left as charred stumps. It’s quite barren for a forest.

“What are you doing?”

Turning to the side, a white cat tilts its head. It’s Schrödinger.

“It’s been a while.”

Though I haven’t seen him lately, he has shown up randomly again. Despite this, I’m not particularly happy to see him.

“What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter? Does the master need a reason to meet you?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you so demanding?”

From time to time, he unexpectedly visits, usually to bother me while I lounge around in bed. It’s quite bothersome. We’re not that close, so why doesn’t he just stay away?

“I’ve been thinking a little after the master told me not to talk about system-related issues.”

“A little?”

“I believe I should tell you something important this time. So today—”

“Hold on.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Don’t say it.”

“But it’s important.”

“If it’s important, don’t tell me. You know it unnerves me.”

“Still?”

“What is this ‘still’ about?”

There’s no answer as Schrödinger licks his front paw. Even though he’s ash-covered, he keeps licking. Even though he’s technically a cat, technically he’s not. What’s the meaning of him doing this? Isn’t it just for show?

“Just because.”

This Schrödinger!

“Ah, okay.”

Ignoring him, I fly off toward where Doyugeon is. I don’t want him showing up unexpectedly anymore. Especially since I’ve already lied and told Doyugeon that Schrödinger disappeared.

Finding Doyugeon, he keeps running aimlessly. On closer inspection, he isn’t running aimlessly but is heading toward where there’s smoke, probably seeking fire slimes. But there are none in that direction.

Landing in front of him,

“Did you finish sleeping?”

“Yeah, done.”

Studying his expression, he doesn’t seem mad. That’s a relief.

“Alright. Let’s start hunting seriously. Hunting alone, it took forever to find any slimes, and I was about to die of boredom.”

“You shouldn’t die from boredom. Come this way. It’s further.”

Instead of the direction he was heading, I point toward where the slimes truly are.

“Oh, so I was wrong again. Sigh.”

Afterward, we continued hunting, and by killing a few, I leveled up to level 25.

Normally, at level 25, I would start hunting new monsters, but this situation is different—there are no level 25 monsters here.

“Really no new monsters?”

I focus and scan the whole area but don’t find anything.

“None.”

Even though there have been rumors online for a while, Doyugeon still looks disappointed.

“Well, let’s check the door to the level 25 room.”

We log out and back in, returning to the preparation room. The forest we were hunting in is accessed from the level 1 room. Next to the level 1 door, there’s a door labeled “25.” Though, there’s no guarantee it’s actually the level 25 room.

Doyugeon grabs the doorknob and pulls.

[An update is currently in preparation.]

“What’s wrong?”

He’s disappointed again. Everyone on the internet said it would be like this, so why even hope? Is it something exclusive to us?

“It’s in preparation.”

“There are already tons of people at level 25. It’s ridiculous that it’s still not ready.”

It might be ridiculous.

“The system must be busy.”

“Can the nebulous entity or group that made this system even get busy? Is it not just neglected?”

“If you’re capable enough, you have more things to do, making you busier.”

He grimaces while staring at the door, grabbing the handle again and trying harder to open it. Of course, it won’t open like that. He tries again with more effort and a different stance, but obviously, it stays closed.

I should get some lunch.

—

[End of Translation]

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