I Became an Illegal Cheat User

73 – One by Choice (2)

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[☆Arena Academy☆]

[v 1.1 plus 8 Trainer]

– [○] Invincible

– [○] Infinite Stamina

– [○] Infinite Energy

– [○] Infinite Mana

– [●] Infinite Items [ON / OFF]

– [●] Speed Limit Release [ON / OFF]

– [●] Super Accuracy [ON / OFF]

– [○] Enemy Slow Motion

[Number of Cheat Tokens Available: 3]

[Number of Random Cheat Tokens Available: 4]

[Next Usage Count for Cheat Tokens]

※ Click [here] to check.

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“…….”

The ‘Speed Limit Release’ was activated.

Just moments ago, I had been cursing the developers, the system, and everything under the sun.

Now, I simply stared blankly at the cheat tool.

As a bit of time passed, I finally shook off my emotions with a deep sigh.

“This is still a cheat, after all.”

It was incredibly disappointing that it wasn’t the infinite mana I needed most right now!

But since the speed limit release was undeniably a cheat, it must have tremendous effects.

I stroked my chin, contemplating the effects and limitations of the speed limit release.

“No… no, that’s not it.”

Was there really a need to think this through?

I can just try it myself.

I immediately switched the speed limit from ‘OFF’ to ‘ON.’

And since this is a hospital room, I decided to experiment with telekinesis instead of a gun.

Floating.

The water bottle on the table lifted into the air.

The cheat effect hadn’t kicked in yet.

So, I moved the bottle up and down.

“Is this not it? Why is the effect still…?”

Just as I spoke, the water bottle I was controlling with telekinesis vanished.

At the same moment, all the strength drained from my body, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself lying not on the bed, but on the concrete floor.

No, I wasn’t lying down; I was slammed onto it.

“W-What…?”

Before I could finish my sentence.

…KWA-BOOM──!!

A tremendous roar erupted from the hospital room, as if it had been bombed.

…The phenomenon happened first, and then the sound came?

‘This is totally… a sonic boom…’

Thud.

&

“…So you caused that mess while experimenting with your newly learned skill?”

“Yes….”

“……”

Kang Cheol-soo fell silent.

An awkward silence filled the hospital room (which had been moved to a new one).

I began to sweat profusely, avoiding Kang Cheol-soo’s gaze.

Then, with a weary expression, he let out a deep sigh and said,

“So, are you okay?”

“Yes… I’m fine.”

“Good, as long as you’re not hurt.”

Kang Cheol-soo patted my shoulder and stood up from his chair.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way. Just don’t cause any trouble until tomorrow and behave yourself until you’re discharged. Got it?”

“Yes… I understand.”

“Good, I trust you.”

The door creaked shut with a soft thud.

I thought I would get scolded for wasting a hospital room, but instead, Kang Cheol-soo just asked about my condition and left.

Rather than reprimanding me, he showed a generosity as vast as the Pacific Ocean, which left me both touched and relieved as I rose from the chair.

I climbed onto the bed, leaning against the headboard, and looked at the Aegis on my right index finger.

The Aegis, now tinged with a gray hue as if it had faded.

It had definitely been a deep crimson when I first put it on, but the shockwave from earlier had changed its color.

I checked the item’s information through the system.

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【Imperfect Aegis (S-)】[Fatal Damage Absorption][Destroyed]

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…The item was destroyed.

And it was due to fatal damage absorption.

“So that shockwave earlier was enough to deal instant-death level damage….”

…If I hadn’t had the Aegis, I would have been dead?

I chuckled lightly and removed the Aegis from my finger.

As if waiting for this moment, it crumbled into dust and vanished.

A chill ran down my spine at that phenomenon, and I hurriedly pulled a new Aegis from my inventory and put it back on my right index finger.

I had switched it off, but I double-checked the ‘Speed Limit Release’ toggle once more.

[Speed Limit Release [ON / OFF]]

“Haah….”

A sigh of relief escaped my lips.

And perhaps because my anxiety had dissipated.

Grrr.

My stomach grumbled in protest of hunger.

I carefully got off the bed and opened the door, peeking outside the hospital room.

“…Okay, no one’s around.”

I closed the door again.

Then, after opening the window, I raised the bedside table.

I took out steaming bowls of rice from my inventory and set them on the table.

A spicy and sweet, commonly known as delicious, aroma began to waft through the hospital room.

As I pulled a spoon from my inventory and plunged it into the rice bowl, I thought to myself.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind getting caught.”

The one who would get scolded wouldn’t be me now, but the me after I finished eating.

Thinking this, I chuckled to myself and scooped a mouthful of rice into my mouth.

&

The next day.

I was discharged from the hospital.

The doctor suggested I stay another day just in case, but of course, I declined, along with the entire Class 1-A.

Unless there was something wrong with my body, there was no need to stay in a boring hospital with tasteless food, especially since no abnormalities were found during the physical or magical examinations.

“Freedom!”

“Hey, we were only hospitalized for a day, you know?”

“That just shows how stifling it was.”

I agreed with that sentiment.

Ah, but I wasn’t bored or anything.

As I planned how to prepare for and resolve the events to come, I lost track of time.

The problem was… the food.

“In the end, I got caught eating the rice bowl…”

I had even gone so far as to take out an air freshener (spiritual energy device) after opening the window.

But it seemed the nurse, and even the doctor, had a knack for sniffing out things, as they immediately realized I had eaten the rice bowl.

And then I had to endure a long lecture about how patients should eat healthy food and how eating outside food in the hospital was not allowed.

Well, if that’s the case, then they should make the food taste good.

We’re not ordinary people; we’re clearly superhumans.

Why on earth do we need to eat health food?

I sighed and shook my head.

At that moment, Asuka and Lee Seoyeon approached me.

“Seong, Seong! Are you feeling okay? Yesterday, there was this huge bang, and when I came out, your hospital room was a mess…”

Asuka expressed yesterday’s situation through words and actions while checking on my condition.

“Lee Yu-jin, are you feeling okay?”

Lee Seo-yeon gently caressed my hand with a worried expression.

And just as she subtly tried to intertwine our fingers.

“Have you all been discharged?”

Kang Cheol-soo’s voice rang out.

At that, Lee Seo-yeon let out a soft, disappointed sound, ‘Ah…’ and slowly released the hand she was holding.

Then, quite naturally, she pressed herself against my side, close enough for our arms to touch, with a ‘thud.’

Asuka glanced at Seo-yeon, who then also leaned against me, looking at Kang Cheol-soo.

I found myself unconsciously observing the kids’ reactions.

But everyone was looking solely at Kang Cheol-soo with indifferent expressions.

Well, a few of them stole glances at us, but they shook their heads and turned their attention back to him.

As if to say, ‘There they go again.’

Feeling awkward at such reactions, I scratched my head and looked at Kang Cheol-soo.

“…So, there won’t be any classes for a while.”

I couldn’t catch the earlier part of the conversation, but from the latter half, I understood why there were no classes.

‘It must be because a lot of instructors have died.’

While important practical sessions are handled by designated instructors, the theoretical and outdoor classes were taught by those who had recently passed away.

So, with the midterm evaluations over and no significant practical sessions until summer break, only theoretical and outdoor classes remained.

However, with the recent attack resulting in the deaths of many instructors, most classes were left hanging in the air…

“What are we supposed to do then?”

At someone’s question, Kang Cheol-soo scratched the scar on his forehead and replied.

“Right, what should we do?”

He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and looked at me.

With a tired smile, he continued.

“How about villain response training?”

At that, everyone’s gaze turned toward me.

“”…….””

Silence fell.

In that silence, I grinned and spoke.

“I’m fine anytime.”

For five months, I had taken on the roles of a villain and a traitor countless times.

As a result, I had become not just accustomed to my dark past, but completely indifferent to it.

“Is that so? Then shall I schedule villain response training?”

Kang Cheol-soo pulled his hand out of his pocket.

And just as he was about to operate his smartwatch—

“No! We will train autonomously!”

“That’s right! What we need right now is not villain response training, but physical conditioning!”

“Of course, villain response training can help us develop awareness of villains, urban combat skills, reconnaissance, and trap response abilities! But as my colleague said, what we truly need right now is physical conditioning!”

They were really putting up a fight, weren’t they? Fighting back.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the desperate faces of my colleagues shouting out.

It seemed Kang Cheol-soo felt the same way, as he shook his head with a smirk.

“Alright, alright, I get it, so let’s stop talking.”

As Kang Cheol-soo said this, he operated his smartwatch.

Then, a message flew to everyone’s smartwatch, including mine.

Upon checking the message, I saw:

“Permission to go out?”

“Instructor, why suddenly a permission slip…?”

As the students questioned, Kang Cheol-soo loosened his tie and replied.

“Well, if there were classes, that would be one thing, but with no classes until summer break, it’s a bit much to be cooped up in the academy. So, I just thought I’d give you a chance to get some fresh air.”

At his words, the students looked at Kang Cheol-soo with touched expressions.

“Ah, but don’t go wandering around too much. The other instructors might have something to say about it. So, just be sensible, you know what I mean?”

“Yes!”

“Good, that’s all I needed to hear.”

Kang Cheol-soo said this while taking in the faces of each student.

Then, in a serious tone, he continued.

“I’m really grateful that you all came back alive, and you’ve worked hard.”

He sincerely welcomed everyone’s survival and expressed his gratitude.

The students looked at Kang Cheol-soo with teary eyes.

In that moment, I conveyed the words I wanted to say to him on behalf of the others.

“Thank you so much for being alive, Instructor. And truly, you’ve worked hard.”

At that, Kang Cheol-soo smiled faintly and nodded.

&

&

&

“…Shall we properly test the speed limit release now?”

Following Kang Cheol-soo’s command to disband, I found myself alone in the training room of Class 1-A.

Of course, there is a personal training room in the dormitory, but feeling uneasy, I decided to come to the training ground instead.

“With the special protective magic of the Great Mage laid down, this place should be safe.”

Still, just in case, I should set up some safety measures.

I pulled out a bunch of Aegises shaped like rings from my inventory.

Then, using telekinesis, I placed the Aegises at regular intervals throughout the training room and transformed them into shields.

This should prevent any damage from reaching outside.

The Aegises laid out here will absorb the impact.

“That should be enough for the safety measures…”

Next, I took out a mannequin to serve as a test subject for the cheat experiment.

I set the mannequin down 50 meters away.

Then, I secured a shield-shaped Aegis to the mannequin’s torso.

After that, I retrieved a training pistol along with a magazine filled with rubber bullets.

I wanted to use live ammunition or thunderbolts right away, but first, I needed to determine the minimum effect, so I opted for the training rounds.

Click.

I loaded the gun.

At the same time, I switched ‘Super Accuracy’ to ‘OFF’.

And changed ‘Speed Limit Release’ to ‘ON’.

Taking a deep breath to steady my racing heart.

Bang!

I pulled the trigger.

And as the bullet was fired,

Poof.

The gun vanished.

No, to be precise, it had ‘disintegrated.’

Yet the bullet had definitely been fired.

I clearly saw the bullet shoot towards the mannequin with my own two eyes.

But even that vanished after 0.5 seconds.

“…Huh.”

At that moment, the sense of powerlessness I felt in the hospital room yesterday washed over me.

A tremendous shockwave erupted from the Aegis the mannequin was wearing.

Following that.

…Bwooom──!!

A deafening roar reverberated throughout the training room like a shockwave.

Thud.

One knee buckled beneath me.

There was no strength left in my body.

Still, I didn’t faint like yesterday.

But my head was spinning, and I felt like collapsing flat on the ground at any moment.

With trembling hands, I opened my inventory and pulled out the stamina potion.

I shoved the potion into my mouth.

Gulp.

The unique fragrance and energy of the stamina potion spread throughout my body.

As expected of a restorative elixir, my nearly depleted energy began to surge back.

Once I regained some of my strength, I let out a deep sigh and straightened my knee.

Then I approached the mannequin to check the Aegis’s information.

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【Imperfect Aegis (S-)】[100,244/500,000]

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“…I fired a rubber bullet, and it still took 100,000 damage.”

So what if I used live ammunition along with Thunderbolt (A)?

It should deal at least 400,000 damage, or wouldn’t the Aegis be destroyed?

But the problem is whether it can withstand the cheat like a training gun before disintegrating.

And there was also a problem with my stamina and energy.

“…I only pulled the trigger once.”

Of course, my energy was nearly depleted, and my index finger, which had pulled the trigger, was bruised black.

Aigis was absorbing the damage, so I didn’t feel any pain, but the fact that I had a bruise meant that, for a moment, the effect of Aigis had been pierced, and my body had taken damage.

“Ha… this cheat is a double-edged sword.”

The damage was more impressive than I had imagined.

No, it was overwhelming, beyond impressive.

But in proportion to that, it also dealt me overwhelming damage.

“If this continues, unless I have infinite energy and stamina, I won’t be able to use it properly.”

Still, one fortunate thing was that the effect of the cheat didn’t activate during the process of moving my body.

“I understand the activation conditions.”

The conditions for releasing the speed limit.

That was when I was trying to do something beyond basic movement.

For example, using telekinesis like yesterday, or firing a gun like now.

“So if I try to run…”

I took a running stance.

And just as I was about to pretend to run.

Chills!

“……!”

A spine-tingling sensation coursed through my entire body.

It felt as if… the Grim Reaper’s scythe was resting against my neck.

I immediately relaxed my running stance.

Only then did the chilling sensation fade away.

“…Did I just almost die?”

Even with Aigis equipped?

Well, considering that just firing the gun disassembled it and caused the bullet to create a sonic boom.

But my body was still subject to the ‘speed limit release’ effect?

The moment I took a step, I might have found myself on the path to the afterlife.

“If that’s fast, then it’s really fast….”

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and began to explore the range of the speed limit release.

I closed my eyes and focused on my mana.

The mana recovery speed… it’s the same.

There was no need to check the stamina recovery speed.

The bruise on my index finger from pulling the gun’s trigger was slowly improving, but that was just my existing regeneration ability.

The effect of the cheat hadn’t been applied.

Thus, I defined the cheat.

“…This is totally an all-in attack cheat.”

An all-in attack cheat.

“Wait a minute… what happens if I activate Live Focus?”

As the world is perceived slowly, I move slowly too, right?

But what if the effect of ‘speed limit release’ is applied to that?

“Hmm… could it turn into a mountain deity○tan?”

I’ll have to check that out as soon as I get the chance.

“…But before that, I need to solve the energy issue, right?”

I sighed and opened the cheat tool.

[Number of selected cheat usage rights: 3]

“I guess I have to use it….”

I could gather two more and use them for infinite stamina, but.

I need infinite energy more than infinite stamina.

Damage can be absorbed by Aigis or recovered with health potions.

But there are no recovery potions for energy like there are for stamina or mana.

Eating food during a fight would be madness.

And recovering with a physical enhancement pill like before… is just too slow.

So, I have no choice but to activate infinite energy.

[Would you like to activate infinite energy? YES / NO]

Last time, I accidentally pressed it when activating infinite items.

This time, I’m pressing it for a real activation, not by mistake.

With a renewed sense of nostalgia, I pressed the YES button.

[3 selected cheat usage rights have been used.]

[‘Infinite Energy’ has been activated.]

As soon as I saw the message that it had been activated, I immediately switched ‘Infinite Energy’ to ‘ON.’

In that instant, the energy that had been slowly building surged through my entire body as if it had been at full capacity from the very beginning.

I then turned on ‘Super Accuracy’ and sent a Thunderbolt to my left hand.

With that, I loaded the live ammunition and aimed at the mannequin.

“Ah, before that.”

I switched to a new Aegis.

….

…….

Having replaced the Aegis, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

Once I felt my tension ease to a certain extent, I pulled the trigger of the gun.

Krrrung bang─!

The distinctive thunderous sound of the Thunderbolt echoed.

Crash.

Once again, the gun disassembled and vanished like a training pistol.

But the bullet was undeniably fired.

However, this time….

Flash!

The entire training room was bathed in a blue light.

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At that moment, all the Aegis devices I had set up as safety measures in the training room exploded.

Following that.

……Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz──!!

A tremendous electric sound filled the air, and a massive, gaping hole was blown into the training room.

Red molten metal dripped down through the opening.

And then.

“…Huh?”

“…Ah.”

I locked eyes with a staff member beyond that hole.

Thud thud thud.

The documents held by the staff member fell to the floor.

At the same moment.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeng──!!

The academy’s siren echoed through the air.