LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 26
26th Chapter: There’s a Reason for Becoming a Delinquent (1)
The midterm evaluation, one of the hurdles of the first semester, is approaching. The desperate struggle of the students to overcome this crisis became a grueling toil since there are two types of tests.
Written exam and practical exam. Just preparing for one of them requires pouring all your energy throughout the entire exam period due to their high difficulty.
Taking notes from lectures and borrowing books from the library to memorize. After repeating a few times, smoke seems to be rising from my brain’s circuits.
Even preparing for the practical exam is this tough, and now they want us to prepare for the even more difficult practical exam? It’s hopeless.
There’s a risk of class rankings shifting based on grades. It might seem like an opportunity for lower-ranked students, but if they could have risen, they would have done it long ago. Jumping up is like picking stars from the sky.
Above all, the upperclassmen are not just sitting around with their feet up. They work just as hard as their own efforts.
Some are able to do it; some are not. Even sufficient efforts without overworking only become a laughingstock in front of the upperclassmen’s talent.
So, would such whining from lowerclassmen be viewed positively? The answer is a definite “no.”
They hear nothing but: “Lacking willpower,” “worthless students wasting tuition,” “layabouts not trying hard enough.”
There’s no way the stressed-out lowerclassmen could view everything positively.
“Work yourself to death, huh? Isn’t that called exploitation instead of effort?”
In the end, the anger born from their self-pity naturally turns toward the upperclassmen. The number of delinquent students trapped in that inferiority complex must be countless.
In the future, they become the cause for the final chapter of Chapter 2 during the final evaluations. Among them is a prince from a small nation who accidentally wakes up the ‘Nine-Tailed Fox’ that should never be awakened.
*
For Jenny Chain Silver, the written and practical exams were not a concern as long as she didn’t slack off in her efforts.
Her ability to solve problems fluidly would earn her the reputation of an honor student no matter who saw it.
“How did the exam go?”
“Fairly well.”
After the exam, she approached the student sitting in the back row to chat.
Radon Crawler was waving his exam paper as if he had done reasonably well.
She had previously invited Radon to study together, but he rejected her, saying, “Study for the exam? What’s the point of theory? The important thing is practical skills.”
What would happen if he flopped like that? It worried Jenny, though when she checked the scores, they turned out to be not bad.
“You all talk like you’re not going to study at all.”
“It’s more profitable to cast fishing lines during that time. But I feel like you’ve been worrying about me more often lately?”
“Well, we aren’t strangers anymore, so it’s only natural to worry.”
Jenny proudly straightened her shoulders as she spoke. Radon, watching that part, smiled and said,
“Haha, you’re the only classmate who worries about my exams.”
“Is that so…?”
“Also, what’s with today? You came to find me first instead of your usual girl classmates.”
“Oh, that’s…”
She didn’t know how to elaborate on that.
In that moment, before she could gather her thoughts, a familiar voice popped up.
“Did you do well on the exam? Jenny Chain Silver.”
Crona Delaware appeared at just the right time to chime in.
Her mannerism of flaunting her own exam paper was typical of a noble girl. Her school uniform was specially designed with frills at the hem, adding a cute touch.
And with several followers by her side, she fit the stereotype of a noble lady perfectly.
“And you are…?”
“Radon Crawler. Didn’t we see each other in the Newspaper Department before?”
As if recognizing him, Crona exclaimed, “Ah!”
“I was grateful for that drawing back then, but now I want to say a few words to you.”
Crona looked at Radon like he was a criminal and cleared her throat.
“Ahem, Radon Crawler. Don’t get cocky just because you’ve gotten closer to Jenny recently. There’s gossip going around that you’re just trying to hitch a ride on us upperclassmen.”
“Gossip?”
“Yes, students like you have a way of popping up without anyone noticing.”
Radon, facing Crona’s sharp gaze, sighed in disbelief.
But it was nothing serious, just a silly rumor. Only Crona seemed passionately invested in a fire that hadn’t even started yet.
Because Crona…
“Do you like Jenny?”
“What, what did you say!!”
Just like that, Crona flared up, stumbling over her words.
“Don’t say such nonsense! We are merely rivals in competition! We’ll never be able to get close to each other!!”
“Hmph…just throwing it out there, but you might be indulging in wishful thinking.”
“What? Wishful…what?”
Radon scoffed in front of Crona, who was glaring like a lion. He looked as if an adult was watching a child perform.
Moreover, without giving a clear response, Radon turned away.
“Jenny, I’m going ahead.”
“Okay.”
Radon, as usual, didn’t stick around for a long chat. With exams going on, they both had a lot to do, which was quite unfortunate.
Yet, lately, Radon had been on her mind.
The practical exam is a week away after the written exam. She caught a glimpse of Radon fishing at the lake while training in the forest.
‘This is where I first got into trouble with Radon.’
Though the remaining feelings from that time had faded, why was she so concerned now?
It might make sense to worry about Radon spending leisure time during exam season, but expressing it within those constraints felt insufficient.
Hiding in the bushes, she watched Radon skillfully wielding the fishing rod. His movements were just as precise as when he wielded a sword, making it seem like fishing itself was a training exercise.
Suddenly, the fishing line began to shake. Feeling the weight, Radon mistook it for a big catch and reeled it in, only to find that it was Mary.
‘Huh?’
Both Radon and Jenny exchanged looks that said, “What are you doing out here?”
But Mary simply gulped down a delicious-looking worm, completely unfazed.
Then she dived back underwater, clearly satisfied. Since it was Mary, they didn’t find it particularly noteworthy.
With about a week left until the practical exam, she went back to the mountain for more training. This time, it was not to watch Radon.
The practical exam for the midterm would be a form of direct engagement with monsters, contrasting with the previous practical where they performed skills. Thus, she had come to practice against the lower-level monsters in the forest.
However, strangely, her gaze kept drifting towards the lakeside. This was not the time to be concerned about him; so why was she feeling this way lately?
But today, there was no sign of Radon by the lake. It made her wonder if such a thing could happen, and as she tried to refocus on her training—
“What are you doing here?”
“Mommy!”
She was startled by Crona Delaware, who suddenly appeared and spoke from behind. Crona smiled broadly at Jenny’s flustered reaction.
“Who are you waiting for so eagerly?”
“Waiting for? I’m not waiting for anyone…”
“You’ve been hiding in the bushes and staring at the lake for a while. Just like a poor girl stalking someone she’s interested in.”
“Shut up! You can take interpretations too far!”
“Fufufu.”
As Jenny flared up, Crona wore a fox-like grin.
Crona’s purpose was likely to train against the same monsters, so the lack of her usual followers indicated her focus.
“Considering the practice opponents are monsters, I figured this would be as good a place as any to train, right?”
“Not that, I was just visiting here frequently.”
“Stalking, then?”
“Hey…!”
Jenny’s face was radiating an icy intensity. Though Crona enjoyed teasing her like this, today she decided against wasting energy on trifles.
Thud!—
Suddenly, a heavy noise echoed from the middle of the forest.
“What was that?”
Both startled, they tensed up. In this rarely treaded forest, predicting what could make such a noise was not hard.
They rushed toward the source of the sound. There, a massive rock golem was slamming the ground with its club-like hands.
Golems are known for not causing trouble as long as you don’t touch them. The reason was straightforward.
“Jenny! Over there!”
A girl was being chased by the golem. The girl with long white hair was looking up helplessly at the golem.
There was no way they would ignore a situation like that.
[Chain Silver Style – Frozen Flower]
In Jenny’s hand was her exclusive weapon, the blue sword. In an instant, she dashed past the golem and slashed it down before she swiftly sheathed her sword.
Ice spread from the cleaved area, and the golem froze instantly. Finally, she was able to use the Silver Age as a skill.
“Come out! Sun Red!”
The phoenix-like spirit that responded to Crona’s summons appeared.
Shooting a whirlwind forward, Sun Red’s headbutt melted the upper half of the frozen golem like ice cream.
That kind of monster could be defeated by their combined efforts. As long as the Academy’s barrier was intact, exponentially stronger foes could not enter.
“Are you alright?”
“Are you hurt?”
They hurriedly ran to the girl to identify her. And they were speechless with amazement. She had beast ears and nine tails attached to her body. Given that bizarre appearance, they would be wary, but they did not know anything yet.
The girl resembling a beastman, with no name yet, would soon be given the name ‘Angela Whitegreen’ by them.
And she would become a new character introduced later… the Nine-Tailed Fox, the final boss of Chapter 2.
*
From today onward, I decided against going fishing by the lake. Some might scold me for being relaxed during exam time, but fishing was essentially my training.
Perhaps because the mechanics of ‘fishing’ and ‘scamming’ are quite similar, my skill proficiency kept increasing.
________________________
[Radon Crawler (16)]
Race: Human
Grade: 1
Job: Scammer (Experience: 40/100%)
-Health: 15
-Strength: 15
-Intelligence: 10
-Determination: 20
-Mana: 30/30
[Special Skill List], [General Skill List], [Combat Skill List], [Magic Skill List]
________________________
With stats like these, I could easily score well.
What I needed to do in the remaining time was just to practice swordsmanship with a wooden sword. So now, I’m training in the gymnasium on the first floor of the Libel Hall.
By now, something must have happened by the lake.
In the story, Jenny and Crona met the white-haired girl in the forest, beginning to build connections.
Other characters would also interact with her, officially opening Chapter 2.
I decided to avoid that involvement and refrain from fishing by the lake for a while.
Right now, I was checking my skills in the gymnasium.
______________________
[Special Skill List]
– Deception
– Subtlety Lv5, Action Detection Lv5, Acting Lv5, Fake News Lv3, Never Lie Lv1
[General Skill List]
– Fishing
– Bait Preparation Lv7, Casting Lv6, Line Control Lv6
– Miscellaneous
– Cooking Lv3, Cleaning Lv2, Creation Lv3
[Combat Skill List]
– Swordsmanship
– Upward Slash Lv3, Parry Lv3
– Illusion Sword Technique
– Steel Fishing Rod Lv4, Lingering Lv4, Threat Detection Lv4, Feint Attack Lv3, Switch Lv2, Illusion Summon Lv1
[Magic Skill List]
– Howling Thunder Lv2, Bug Summon Lv1, Aura Mastery Lv2
_______________________
Thanks to my proficiency built up from fishing, my skills also improved quite a bit.
I needed a practice opponent, but they seemed hard to come by. After all, I often went solo.
Whoosh!—
Just then, something frightening flew at me from behind.
As it flickered and passed by my head, I used my ‘danger detection’ skill to snatch it with my hand.
“Don’t worry. It’s non-lethal, so even if it hits you, it won’t hurt.”
I heard the voice of a girl behind me. True to her word, the arrow I caught was blunt.
And I was able to recognize who she was.
With her black ponytail and cold, red eyes.
Unlike the other sweet-looking classmates, she displayed a free-spirited demeanor.
Wrapped in a scruffy brown scarf, she was Luska Mad Eye from Class A, Combat Department, Year 1.
This delinquent was one of the new characters added after Chapter 2.
“Radon Crawler. You’re going to be my sparring partner now.”
Surviving as an Academy Scammer.