Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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39th Episode. I’m Sorry. I Just Wanted to Show This (1)

Suddenly, I found myself caught in rumors related to the Divine Beast. Who would have imagined that one rice ball could create such a butterfly effect?

Considering the current timing, the lower class students are probably frantically trying to improve their grades.

With Elder Enviel’s visit, all schedules have been pushed forward, and the final assessments are now right around the corner.

Typically, there should be a gap of at least two months before major exams. Preparing within that time as a lower class student is no small feat.

The exam period, which normally requires significant effort to achieve good grades, has been unexpectedly moved up.

For the already talented upper class, it’s not a problem at all. They even have time for club activities.

However, weighing the numbers of upper class students against lower class students makes the outcome painfully obvious.

The difficulty of the exams increases with every term. Facing a stronger practice monster for the finals than for the mid-terms means that thirty days of training isn’t enough.

How many lower class students aren’t nervously sweating under pressure? Hoping every student has that sort of generosity is just wishful thinking.

If there’s any opportunity to enhance their talents, they would be sharpening their blades to seize it.

I had to escape from those kinds of people alone. The main characters, including Jenny, would be too busy attending to Angela.

In a situation where I couldn’t rely on anyone, another obstacle blocked my path.

“Speak. Are you hiding something?”

“……”

Suddenly, a staff member from the Academy approached me, and it looked ominous.

Based on the situation so far and the black smoke creeping up from this man’s legs, it was pretty clear.

‘This guy is from the Shadow Brigade?!’

At that time, he seemed so friendly that I thought he was just an ordinary extra. He was cleaning with such good humor, who would suspect him?

The Shadow Brigade only appears as monsters. There are no detailed settings about who among them is infiltrating the Academy.

The only setting is that they disguise themselves in various positions within the Academy. Even at the point of their demise, they do not specifically reveal their identities, making it impossible to know who they’re disguised as.

Just when I was busy avoiding lower class students, now I’m told to face such a monster?

……It was the moment I was truly distressed.

_________________________

[Secret Mission: Survival]

– Someone is after your life. You must survive by any means necessary, without choosing methods or ways. The moment you begin to suspect someone, they will pursue you until death. Therefore, you must eliminate them.

[Clear Condition: Activate Trap Card Manufacturing (+ Activate ‘Magical Device Manufacturing List’)]

_______________________

‘Are you crazy? I don’t care if you need to eliminate them.’

After a long time, a secret mission popped up due to the sense of impending reward. But this was not a situation to welcome it with open arms.

I could understand the urgency to remove the threat to survive.

After all, I had already taken the risk of hiding Luska in the room.

One member of the Shadow Brigade is already a formidable opponent. In my current state, facing them head-on would be certain failure, so I needed to find a way to survive at the very least.

“What’s the angle of the sandstorm?”

“What…?”

“I asked what the angle of the sandstorm is.”

The man had a baffled expression. How could a mere student know the secret phrase that only they knew?

That was the very point I had pricked at. This would make them confirm first whether I was an ally or not.

Their code phrase was as follows.

“……The sandstorm will soon expand across the continent.”

“Then the angle becomes meaningless, and it will soon transform into shadow.”

“Due to the shadow transformed storm…”

“Twilight will come, and it will be dusk.”

“……”

As I demonstrated that I perfectly understood the code phrase, he looked absolutely dumbfounded.

I had hoped he would mistake me for an ally, but…

“How do you know that?!”

He immediately drew a dagger and strode towards me. He certainly wouldn’t be fooled so easily.

They know exactly how many of them there are. If a complete stranger shouted a code, they would definitely view it as hostility. That was also the reason Luska had suffered.

But what I wanted to poke at wasn’t merely to pretend to be an ally. I aimed to make him lose his cool in shock.

The guy before me was no longer a stealthy assassin; he was like a bull charging at me because he saw a red cape.

He might be stronger than me, but his mind was blank. I had already prepared a trick to catch him off-guard.

[Artifact: Leviathan ★★★★]

In a situation where I didn’t even have any weapon, a fishing rod was placed in my hand.

It appeared to be just a simple fishing rod, but that only increased his overconfidence. He didn’t feel threatened at all as he swung his dagger.

But I was faster.

Slash!-

“Gah!”

The unexpected destructive power and indescribable speed.

The artifact, swung like a blade, showcased powers that were incomparable to a simple fishing rod.

The force from the Leviathan created pressure strong enough to crack the outer walls of the building. The hit man flew back, collapsing after spurting blood, crashing through multiple trees.

I hadn’t even expended mana to wrap myself in an aura. I hadn’t even used any skills, and yet it surpassed the powers of the skills I had previously used.

As a 4-star artifact, its strength was overwhelming.

‘While I was twiddling my thumbs with this in hand.’

Realizing immediately that its usage came with an intense mana drain, I had swung it many times. With each swing, I became accustomed, and before I knew it, I was minimizing the mana consumption.

“By now, he should be completely down, right?”

It seemed he had flown quite far. Thankfully it was at the outskirts of the Academy, so no one witnessed it.

Had he not panicked, he would’ve most likely dodged. Or he could have transformed into smoke and neutralized himself.

Once a member of the Shadow Brigade goes incapacitated, they automatically take their own life. They know who they are and silence themselves to prevent information leaks.

If he crashed out from that last strike, his body would have turned to dust and vanished.

Poof! – In that moment, a dart flew and embedded itself in my leg. The one I thought had collapsed was now limping over here.

Seeing him bloodied and limping showed that the last attack must have been serious. No matter how strong the Shadow Brigade is, if he’s that weakened, I could handle him with lower class students.

But my leg wouldn’t budge.

Eventually, I realized that the leg hit by the dart was swelling up in purple.

[Status Effect Occurred – Paralysis Poison]

I had been too careless, thinking he would’ve already fainted.

However, seeing he used paralysis poison, it seemed he still had no intention of killing me.

Not yet.

“From now on… you must comply with our demands…”

He said, walking like a wounded zombie, covered in wounds.

“First of all, your identity…”

Knowing I was aware of the code phrase, he couldn’t just let me be. He would interrogate me, rendering me unable to move and then erase my memory.

[Buster Arrow]

In that moment, my field of vision turned tinted red.

Suddenly, an arrow shaped like a red wolf descended upon him.

“Graaah!”

He collapsed once more, struck straight by the intense aura of the arrow.

Even though I knew who shot that arrow… I couldn’t contain my amazement.

“How did you get here…?”

Luska Mad Eye confidently strode in after landing from the air.

Having been resting in my room for three months, she seemed to have greatly recovered, but could she really be here freely? And how did she know I was here?

“Feel my back.”

She ordered firmly, and I immediately checked my back. I was able to catch something that had stuck like a fly to my collar.

“It’s a detection magical device. I secretly attached it to you, just in case they’d target you. It reacts when something unusual happens to your body.”

So she had rushed over upon detecting the poison spreading through me. In that few seconds?

“That’s a bit too quick, don’t you think?”

“Using Blood Wind makes it easier to arrive quickly. The distance was just right.”

‘Blood Wind’ is Luska’s high-speed movement skill. It is mainly used to toy with enemies, leaving a red afterimage.

Yet the distance from here to the 3-star building is at least over 150m. The fact that she had rushed in bare-footed showed she came out in a hurry. Hence, I was concerned.

“What if you push yourself, and the wound on your leg opens up?”

“Worrying is your cross to bear. I’m fine now.”

Luska stubbornly lied. There was no way she could be fine after using a skill that exerted pressure on her legs in that condition.

Yet she had run all the way here? Luska, who wouldn’t mind sacrificing herself for a goal? I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Did the sun rise in the west today? How come you’re being so altruistic?”

“Altruism or not, you helped me too. That’s all that matters.”

“……”

“Don’t get any strange misconceptions. It’s just that you became bait, allowing me to finally take one of them out.”

She spoke without even facing me. It was as if she was trying to hide her embarrassed feelings.

‘It’s so obvious.’

Luska approached the fallen member of the Shadow Brigade. They were already turning to dust and disappearing.

However, some items belonging to him were left behind.

Among them, I picked up what looked like a note and read the text. After she confirmed its content, her expression turned serious.

“Oh no…!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Radon Crawler. Thank you for keeping quiet all this time. But now, I no longer need your help.”

A silence fell over Luska. She seemed to sense a great crisis.

“Don’t be shocked and listen carefully. Tomorrow, three more just like this one will come. It’s dangerous to get involved any further.”

“What?”

At that moment, my heart sank like a rock. It was a shockingly unbelievable statement.

I snatched the note to see what was written, but it was filled with incomprehensible characters.

“If an alien civilization existed, I’d imagine this would be standard there.”

That much, the Shadow Brigade was secretive even in their exchanges.

“Three more are coming? These monsters?”

If that’s true, we’re facing disaster.

The Shadow Brigade, originally four members, has just lost one, now down to three.

Adding three more would make a total of six… And the main characters could barely handle two.

Moreover, the main characters aren’t just facing the Shadow Brigade.

There are lower class students aiming for Angela in droves, which would tire everyone out as well.

In that situation, facing two members of the Brigade would force Jenny, Crona, and Mary to the edge.

Then Luska would charge in to assist the main characters, creating a 4 to 2 scenario. Thanks to that, they’ll barely manage to win, which is the main story.

I had no idea how this happened, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to escape the worst-case scenario.

I just need to make sure those damn lower class students can’t run rampant.

Then the main characters can face the Shadow Brigade in a complete state. Lower class students wouldn’t even count for experience.

Just like I’ve raised my stats, they must have grown too. Right now, they could probably take down one member of the Shadow Brigade each.

If Luska intruded during that time, we could smoothly get through it.

Unfortunately, Lyman was currently off at a clone, so I couldn’t rely on that guy. I figured he’d struggle against two from the Brigade as well.

So if I could just find a way to draw the aggro of those lower class students, we could somehow manage…

________________________

[Secret Mission: Survival Clear!]

Having completed this mission, you can now enjoy the following rewards.

[Trap Card Manufacturing Activated (+ ‘Magical Device Manufacturing List’ Activated)]

_______________________

Ah, I almost forgot.

In the end, since I defeated him, I received a reward.

At the very bottom of my status window, a new entry titled [Magical Device Manufacturing List] has appeared. When I clicked on it, a list of magical devices I can currently create was displayed.

Just one.

_______________________

[Magical Device Manufacturing List]

– Trap Card (Normal)

Can be installed in advance on the ground and activated later. Upon activation, it seals the movements of the opponent who steps on the activated ground. However, it can be forcibly released depending on the opponent’s stats.

It ranks as the lowest among the trap card category. (Single-use)

[Required Materials: None]

[Required Credits: 5000]

________________________

Looking at this, the normal magical device production difficulty in this game is quite generous.

There’s no need to gather materials, and as long as you have credits, you can whip it up in no time.

And I was particularly interested in the effects of this Trap Card.

It actually seems pretty useful.

*

A few hours later. It became after school.

The paralysis poison had neutralized over that time, and I immediately dashed to the Newspaper Department. Since it wasn’t originally lethal, its ingredients must have been weak.

“Hello!”

“Oh my, you’re here early today?”

“I have something urgent to do.”

After casually greeting Trisha, I sat down right away and began to write my article.

The club members and Trisha looked at me as if I had eaten something wrong. Someone as frantically busy as me is certainly noticeable.

The article was completed in less than thirty minutes.

“This… please submit it right away!”

“Already?”

I presented the hastily written newspaper in front of her desk. While it was a bit of a surprise, I figured there was no limit on the newspaper’s volume.

However, if the content I checked was ridiculous, the head editor could shut it down at any time.

“Are you out of your mind? Did you plan to make a fool out of us?!”

“I’ll buy you the Nobel record you want later, so please, I beg you! Okay?”

“This kid really…”

Trisha tried to halt the issuance, but I assured her that I would take full responsibility.

Still, Trisha couldn’t hide her exasperation.

『If I know the location of the Divine Beast, gather at the center of Libel Hall if you want to hear it. The time is before 10 AM. (First come, first served)』

Publisher – Radon Crawler

Aiming for the entire student body.

The newspaper is indeed unparalleled when it comes to spreading rumors.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer