NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30
<30 - I'll Decide Which Supporting Character Passes>
Before catching up with the examiner and the leading group, the party thought,
‘How confident must they be in their abilities to not even head for the supplementary tasks while being in the leading group?’
‘They must be little genius mice, right? No doubt they’re skilled folks who have already cleared all the assignments and gathered together.’
‘For dinner, they’re making stir-fried shiitake mushrooms, so what will we eat tomorrow? I want to gather more ingredients.’
The leading group of hopefuls.
Club of Men.
Confident and powerful competent people.
With the arrival of new competitors, a spirit of hostility erupted from all directions!
Yet the reality they faced was completely different.
“Should we go for the supplementary task now? But there are too many competitors, right? It’s nerve-wracking not to go, but I also have no confidence in winning…”
“What if we miss the examiner while we’re off to the supplementary task? I can’t follow them? If I get lost and go missing, it’d be humiliating! I wouldn’t be able to face my father back in the hometown.”
“We’ll decide with this petal. Go, don’t go, go, don’t go, go. Um. Hmm. There aren’t enough petals in a violet, right? Fine, let’s try a different flower.”
The despair of the leading group.
Lair of Super Cowards.
Fearful, indecisive losers.
With the arrival of new competitors, nervous glances started to shuffle away!
“Looks like the imagination was overshot.”
“Are they idiots?”
“Hey, if you’re not going to eat that violet, can we have it?”
The Oknodie party that diligently tackled the supplementary task was at the level of the top-tier group.
‘Is there anyone here who’s got it all together? Must be all top-tier characters anyway.’
With an expressionless face, Northern Grand Duchess Irene merely tailed behind Examiner Minerva.
Suddenly, with the zeal of a madman, Eastern Swordsman Sing started chopping down trees, grinning in satisfaction.
With a bored look on his face, Pirate Jigoku twirled a revolver in his hand before shooting at the sky, bang bang!
‘Gotta avoid that area at all costs.’
They were all ticking time bombs, unpredictable at any moment.
Especially Jigoku was a concern.
Irene and Sing were indifferent strong types who wouldn’t care as long as their territory wasn’t invaded.
But Jigoku, on the contrary, thrived on stealing and plundering others’ things, a malicious, intense strong character!
Approaching with his fiery red hair and explosive personality might lead to getting tangled up in incidents before even graduating!
“Oh.”
So I’m saying don’t come over here.
“You guys look quite relaxed. Got some scores, huh?”
“Why? Want to have a go at it?”
The aggressive Son Ohchun shot back.
Bang!
No sooner had he finished speaking than the revolver spat fire.
Kaang!
Son Ohchun deflected the bullet with a pole.
He looked shocked.
“Is this guy completely insane?”
“Well, you’re still alive, so it’s all good, right? Hehe.”
Jigoku shoved Son Ohchun’s pole with his hand.
“Step aside.”
“Eh?”
While Son Ohchun, overwhelmed in strength, dumbly let out sounds as he got pushed back, the madman suddenly presented a sparrow caught with the shot right in front of him.
“Here.”
“You’re giving this to me?”
Why on earth are you giving this to me?
“Kid, you gotta eat well to grow strong.”
“!!”
“At times like this, you’re supposed to say thank you, sister. Oh right, you gotta keep it a secret from others that I’m ‘sister,’ okay?”
After making quite a scene as if that was his goal, Jigoku went on his way.
“What a dangerous person. In the South, he’s famous as a beast that came up from hell, the notorious pirate.”
“Pirate? Why is such a guy popping up in the academy entrance exam?”
“They say he got bored and sold off all his possessions to come ashore. He’s such a flamboyant weirdo that he’s often mentioned in the merchant NPCs’ connections.”
“Don’t speak ill of Mr. Jigoku!”
“…Are you perhaps infatuated with pirates or think guns are cool, or do you think triangular pirate hats look great? If so…”
“He shared food with us.”
“…Ah, so that’s it…”
Should I consider it lucky? Or should I worry that it’s too easy to win over?
That complex sentiment showed on Jezel’s face.
But still, someone who shares food is a good person, right?
You could fill up the Cooking Handbook without laying a finger!
Someone who helps others get stronger is considered a good person in players’ terms!
“From today, Jigoku is on the positive side!”
“ ”
“Alright, two-hour break. You can go hunt, take a nap, or head for the last supplementary task—do as you please.”
Minerva’s march came to a halt.
Exhausted examinees fell over here and there.
Now’s the chance.
“Let’s find the duo who betrayed Dorothy.”
“Oh. I’ve already found them. Over there.”
Pointing to a place, Jezel indicated two people: a woman in an extravagant outfit with a white blouse and corset bodice that accentuated her chest, with her hair braided up, and a gloomy-looking man.
[Betrayer Event]
Found those who betrayed Dorothy.
Let’s show them what retribution is all about!
…However, if your funds are a bit tight, you might request a hush drink as a reward for turning a blind eye to this matter!
The specialty of Merchant NPCs: “Bribery.”
Judging by the guide that hinted at the existence, it was clear that this was Dorothy’s hometown friend who ran away with the merchant.
“How did you find them?”
“Just look at their faces. Being mixed among anxious examinees makes it hard to notice at first glance, but faces tormented by ‘guilt’ are distinctly different.”
“Is that recognizable?”
“For a merchant, reading emotions is basic. A person’s face reveals an unexpected amount of information.”
“Then take a look at my face! What am I thinking?”
Jezel chuckled softly.
“You’re just waiting to grill the sparrow you got earlier.”
“Gack! Jezel is awesome!”
“Uh-huh. I can read the thoughts of that little genius too. If it’s about food, I have a 90% hit rate!”
Don’t treat me like a pig!
…It’s not wrong, but it’s embarrassing because you hit the nail on the head!
Anyway, about that pair of troublemakers.
The footprints marked around the hometown friend who betrayed Dorothy matched in shape, depth, and stride with those I had found.
[Successfully remembered and cross-referenced the target’s trace.]
[Tracking Experience +1]
[Memory Experience +1]
Dorothy had said,
That her cowardly childhood friend abandoned her, caught in an unfavorable tag role for the exam, and left with the son of the merchant who had helped them from their hometown.
The mention of the merchant’s son had me uncertain, but seeing their faces made it clear.
“I remember! They’re a duo of upper-class supporting characters I often use during practices in the forest field.”
Given a chance, they would have cleared the Second Gate and passed the entrance exam.
If I, Oknodie, hadn’t intervened, that is.
“You two!”
“Oh my! What a cute little girl. Look, Rockbell.”
“Phew… I don’t know what’s going on, but kid, we can’t help you.”
“Is that why you didn’t help Dorothy?”
“W-where did you hear that name?!”
“…Little kid, did you meet Dorothy?”
The merchant girl Yui turned pale.
Rockbell had a troubled expression.
Both of their eyes were busy twitching.
Notably, Yui with the big chest stood out.
In the original story, she was NTR-ing Rockbell after breaking up with him once a Love Interest event was cleared.
-I deserve it.
Rockbell, who let his woman go and is now falling apart, perfectly fits the role of an NTR male lead.
Everyone was puzzled as to why he would let his woman go, and with a handsome appearance and good abilities, it didn’t quite add up, but now it clicked.
This man was suffering from guilt for abandoning his childhood friend during the entrance exam.
What a fool.
If you’ll regret it this much, why even abandon her in the first place?
What a stupid thing to do to poor Dorothy!
“Huhuhuh. Dorothy-chan is so pitiful.”
“Dorothy…”
Tears streamed down Yui’s face while Rockbell looked tortured like a wreck.
Observing them, I made my decision.
“Ugh!”
“Y-You can’t be serious! Tag?!”
“Yep, I was the tagger.”
[Before score changes]
[Yui +119 points]
[Oknodie -37 points]
[After score changes]
[Yui 0 points]
[Oknodie 82 points]
I grabbed Yui’s hand, the one with the big chest.
To be honest, I found it quite annoying.
The man abandoned his childhood friend, lost the chosen woman, and is now a wreck, and yet what about you?
You act like a victim while egging him on from the side.
On top of that, in the original game, she eventually became an NTR heroine, giving her body and heart to an alpha male player and ended up marrying him!
What a sly woman!
If it were during my time as a male character, with a brain in the lower region, I might not have cared, but now as a female character, I’m thinking clearly with my head on top.
“I hope you face elimination while struggling for Dorothy’s sake.”
“Rockbell! Quickly catch that kid!”
“Yui.”
“What are you looking at like that! Do you really think you can find the black-hatted instructor without me? Do you really think you can pass without my help?”
“…Well, somehow…”
“Little girl, think carefully again. This older sister has a lot of money. My father’s the son of the merchant, you see. If you help me pass, I’ll give you a thousand gold coins. How about it?”
The bribery hinted at in the event notification had arrived.
If I had a poor Papa struggling with finances, I might have been tempted by that offer.
How difficult would it be to reject a thousand gold coins for the sake of a friendship with Dorothy, whose fate is uncertain?
Even as a noble and a tribe leader, my starting support was only a hundred gold coins, so a thousand gold coins was a staggering fortune.
“Money? I’ll do fine, too. I can easily earn more. And…”
But compared to the entrance into the upper classes of the academy, a thousand gold coins was nothing.
[You have become a one-time Black-Hatted Instructor.]
[All examinees that touch you can finish the game of Tag.]
“You don’t even need to find an instructor.”
I put on the black hat I pulled from my pocket.
“Hey, little genius? Was it necessary to show that here?”
“I was a bit hasty.”
Sorry, Son Ohchun. Jezel.
Now that I think about it, I did have this option.
“Since it has come to this, I want to give that guy a chance too.”
In my days as a male character, I only NTR’d Yui, but now as a female character, I could possibly NTR away the pitiful Rockbell who’s always been left behind!
The big-busted NTR heroine Yui was ranked among the top 20 in the original game players’ popularity ranking.
Now, abandoned by her comrades and turned into Tag, it looked like she was left alone with a pallid face.