Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

8. Wait a minute. This isn’t right! (1)

The exam field for the Combat Department was a rugged mountainous terrain. Jenny Chain Silver stood on a dirt path right in the middle of the mountain.

“Why here of all places…”

Jenny clicked her tongue and frowned. For her, such a dense place brought back none too pleasant memories.

Seven years ago, she was riding in a carriage with her mother on a thunderous mountain road. It was a familiar safe route, so there was no escort.

It was likely a spot just a bit away from their territory, but who could have guessed they would encounter a Monster? And a powerful one that even the escorts couldn’t handle.

The soldiers, as well as her mother, fought against it, but it was no use. In the end, her mother passed away in that situation.

“If only I hadn’t done something so useless back then…”

Whenever she recalled that moment, her arms trembled as if she were on a snowy mountain. Her hands suddenly grew cold, and it felt like they would freeze if she touched anything.

Jenny squeezed her arms tightly, blocking her blood circulation and feeling pain, but it was the only way.

Only after that did her shaking finally stop. It was a problem that could only be controlled by using a rough method close to self-harm.

“But I even lost my mother’s pendant. Radon… and Travel!”

As memories of her mother surfaced, naturally, her heirlooms followed suit.

Right… it was true that Radon broke them because he didn’t keep his promise. But focusing solely on him might be a hasty assumption.

The one who destroyed the necklace without a shred of mercy wasn’t Radon, but Travel.

And there was a problem with herself too. After all, she was the one who accepted the heirloom back then. It was presumptuous behavior no matter how she thought about it.

“Am I doing this right?”

Who should she blame? Just then, she wondered if she was blaming the wrong person.

Crash!

A student hiding between the trees suddenly launched a surprise attack. But Jenny easily blocked it and calmly said,

“Yeah. This isn’t the time to be distracted.”

It wasn’t just one surprise assailant. Several students from Class B suddenly dropped down from above. The thick trees were just perfect for hiding above.

Jenny admired their ambush tactic. It was a decent strategy, but… they were up against Jenny Chain Silver.

She tilted her head to dodge the attacks coming down from above. Simultaneously, she tapped one of them, knocking them out.

Once they realized their ambush had been discovered, they panicked. It was already too late, and knowing they were acting rashly, they still charged at her. But the moment they failed in their ambush, the outcome was already decided.

[Chain Silver Style – Snowstorm]

She vanished. Jenny’s figure, which they had been keeping an eye on, literally evaporated.

The students who had attacked stood there blinking in shock at Jenny’s ghost-like disappearance, but as trained swordsmen, they instinctively felt something was off.

Zap!

The badge she wore was smashed to pieces, and with hair fluttering like a snowstorm, she was… standing behind them.

*

“What should I do now?”

I thought as I perched atop a tree.

According to the game scenario I knew, Radon would be eliminated in less than ten minutes. He just happened to charge at Jenny and would be severely beaten and thrown out.

Given the clear difference in skill, why did he foolishly rush at Jenny? The reason was simply his hair.

Originally, Radon was supposed to be bald due to Jenny. The grudge led him to join Class B students in an ambush against Jenny.

“Hmm… I can’t help my hair.”

But I twisted the original story. As you can see, my hair was perfectly fine right now.

If anything, the ambush should have been over by now, yet here I was sitting leisurely.

“The time limit was 90 minutes, right?”

Fortunately, it was a relief that Radon was a nondescript supporting character. He wasn’t an important character.

As long as I moved without grossly disrupting the story, all would be well.

Boom!

At that moment, the tree I was sitting on shook. I lost my balance and fell to the ground. There, an annoying face awaited me.

“Radon!!”

It was Breed, who had made me his wooden sword shuttle. He was grinning wickedly as he looked up at me.

“Get down here, you scammer!!”

I calmly landed on the grass. My body instinctively reacted to the fall.

Somehow, Breed, having found me, was still keeping his wicked smile while trying to intimidate me.

“Did you think hiding like that would keep me from finding you? Hah, if you wanted to hide, you should have done it properly.”

“Do you still have business with me?”

“Of course I do, you scammer.”

Breed emphasized, holding out the wooden sword I had given him. It was obviously a cheap piece of junk, just like Ludicel’s, and he must be resentful to me for giving it to him.

“Scammer? At least blame me in moderation.”

“No need for long explanations. It seems I have to take you out myself to feel satisfied. But with that pathetic fishing rod, you can only run away.”

Fishing rod. The reason he had such a high nose while holding a cheap wooden sword was clear.

“Die!!”

Breed charged at me, enveloping his wooden sword in a thin aura.

It was so faint it made me snicker, wondering if that was really an aura in a fantasy world, but it would make sense for a fishing rod to break in a clash.

Snap!

His wooden sword snapped. I had just lightly swung the fishing rod with one arm. The fact that his aura was negated by such a simple action left Breed dumbstruck.

Before he could even yell, I stabbed him in the chest. As the badge was destroyed, he was sent flying and crashed into a rock.

‘Looks like my effort in raising my stats over the past few days paid off.’

_____________________

[Radon Crawler (16)]

Race: Human

Class: Scammer (Experience: 10/100%)

– Health: 12

– Strength: 10

– Intelligence: 4

– Tenacity: 8

– Mana: 15/15

[Special Skill List], [Life Skill List], [Combat Skill List], [Magic Skill List]

_____________________

By telling lies to gain 100% scammer experience, I could acquire 1 ability point. Throughout, I managed to gain a total of 5 points by fooling people in various places. It did weigh on my conscience a bit, but that became part of my flesh and blood.

How a fishing rod beat a wooden sword made no sense no matter how many times I thought about it. Unless you experienced it firsthand.

Right… someone who experienced it firsthand.

“So you were here.”

Suddenly, a chilling voice made every nerve in my body stand on end. I heard the sound of something slicing through the air from behind.

Bang!

I quickly raised the fishing rod to deflect the mysterious ambush. As they say, ‘speak of the devil,’ Jenny Chain Silver was standing there.

“Do you know why I’m here?”

“So you really hate me, huh?”

It’s not that I didn’t understand. Her tolerance isn’t wide enough to forgive me for breaking a promise just because I was scared.

“Of course. But I thought about it again and realized it wouldn’t be fair to blame only you.”

“Then what are you so fixated on me for?”

Jenny Chain Silver was a character with strong fixation. Given this, I couldn’t help but attract her interest.

She was merely…

“What exactly are you?”

Some curiosity had arisen within her.

“Ever since you knocked me out by piercing my sword by the lakeside, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I can’t just sit still until I figure out how you knocked me out with a single hit.”

The revenge for her heirloom? That was pushed aside. It wasn’t possible for a Class C student to display such miraculous power.

Had she been hiding her strength? Or had she grown stronger through training? She wanted to know what her strength truly was.

Maybe the boasting about being a descendant of a sword master was true after all.

Whack!

Jenny’s doll vanished. That ghostly sword technique!

However, my ‘Read Movements’ skill activated, and my motion vision was able to keep up with her movements.

I blocked the incoming wooden sword with the fishing rod. Though the impact was such that it should have splintered the stick like a twig, it held its shape.

To wield such a level of power with an object like this was no small feat and required considerable skill.

“See… you had this level of power all along… why did you break your promise back then?”

That was why Jenny was angry.

To think she had hidden such power yet made excuses about being scared to dip out, honestly, I’d be baffled too.

However, using a fishing rod for such tricks was not due to my sword skills but because of the ‘Phantasm Sword Technique’ skill’s characteristics, making my fishing rod functionally similar to a real sword.

Jenny, unaware of this fact, would find it easy to misinterpret.

“Be honest. What’s your true identity?!”

Her wooden sword glowed with a blue aura. With a force as if to cleave a mountain, she raised her sword into a high stance.

Recognizing what technique it was, I took a defensive stance, holding the fishing rod with both hands.

[Chain Silver Style – Hail]

It was a high-skill focus that pressed down on close enemies with overwhelming force… a one-hit technique often used when playing as Jenny.

Even after barely blocking, I felt a weight on the fishing rod, as if I were supporting an iceberg, and my arms trembled.

[Phantasm Sword Technique – Steel Fishing Rod Lv2]

But I knew how to deflect.

I pulled back the head of the resilient fishing rod like a bowstring. The curved fishing rod had become as sturdy as steel due to the skill, and the moment I flicked it with my fingertips, it rebounded powerfully against her wooden sword.

“……!!”

Jenny flinched and slid sideways. While she managed to create some distance, this was far from a good situation.

If it were known that I, a mere Class C student, was evenly matched against a top Class A student like Jenny, everyone would have their eyebrows raised.

The Class B students were getting shredded without even being able to respond, yet how could a scrappy Class C student manage this against her?

While it would explain if I had grown extraordinarily, they would be more likely to doubt Jenny instead. They would wonder how an A-class student couldn’t take down a mere C-class kid in one shot.

Jenny being stressed out was not good for me in this chapter at all.

Therefore, I must create as many scenes as possible where I seem to be at a disadvantage. At least then I could appeal that I held out as much as possible for a ‘C-class student!’

“Gah!”

Just in time, Jenny closed in again and began to rain down fierce attacks. Each strike felt as heavy as lead, leaving no room for acting.

I could manage to block them all, but I eased pressure on the fishing rod to avoid drawing the suspicions of the spectators.

At that moment, Jenny’s thrusting attack came in quick succession.

“Gah!”

I defended, but was forced back by the strength and ended up rolling on the slope, dirtying my school uniform with mud.

After rolling like a ball, I pretended to be sprawled out, completely out of it.

[Depletion Rate Drop - 45%]

[+4500 Credits]

It seemed that the act of deceiving them was considered a lie. The ones being fooled were probably the students watching this situation. Possibly, that’s why the drop was a hefty 45%.

Jenny leapt down the slope and landed. If she had knocked me down, she obviously had to finish the job, so I lay there exposing my badge.

What better timing could there be to cut off my breath?! I was destined to be trounced by you as part of the story anyway.

Please… just break my badge and leave me alone. Don’t pay any more attention to someone like me!

“Right now….”

Huh…?

“Are you messing with me!!”

Bang!

She swung her wooden sword down at my head. If I had hesitated even a moment to spring up and dodge, my skull would have been reduced to mush.

“Why pretend it’s already over? I know all about it. You were holding back a moment ago, weren’t you?”

“…….”

“Do it properly. Or else…”

It’ll be your end.

In that moment, her voice echoed like a dirge.

I was doomed. Jenny was the type who would get serious if she wanted to.

To her, this wasn’t just a simple skill test.

In reality, I didn’t have the skill to defeat her. The fact that I had knocked her out by the lakeside was greatly due to her neglect, and there was also a difference in the weapon’s performance.

‘What’s more, I’m still hanging by a thread thanks to that equipment.’

Jenny hadn’t even unleashed her full power yet.

I know. Since she entered school, she had been underpowered all along.

‘Should I just rip the badge off and self-destruct?’

No way. Not only would Professor Radian be furious, but Jenny might also have a hard time letting go of her feelings for me.

Rather, it would be obvious that she’d be like, “Why are you running away again!!” and rampage like a dragon.

‘What a ghostly woman.’

Reluctantly, I had to keep fighting until she was satisfied.

Even though I had no idea what the audience would think of that, all I could do was pretend to be at a disadvantage.

But simply pretending wouldn’t be enough for her satisfaction. If I swung with full force, my wooden sword might break again.

No matter which route I picked, she would end up clinging onto it. This was simply… a dead end!

‘Ah… let it happen, whatever!’

[Deceptive Strike Lv2 (Preparing)]

In the end, I took the gamble.

My body strangely swayed as the skill unintentionally activated, making me feel a bit tipsy, like I was drunk.

It was pretty obvious I would lose, but it wouldn’t hurt to test the skill out this time.

“Are you still out of it?”

Was she looking to belittle me again? Jenny gripped her wooden sword tightly, her veins visible on her hand. And then her aura exploded.

Bang!

A dull impact spread. Jenny’s sword strike was much heavier than before, causing me to stagger from the force.

It became difficult to accept even one hit. The continuous blows brought pain that felt as if my arms would snap.

“Ugh!”

The fishing rod that had been pushed back fell behind me as I almost lost my weapon. Her sword drew a half-circle.

[Deceptive Strike Lv2 (Activated)]

Huh? At that moment, my body moved on its own. The fishing rod, which I thought would lose all direction, sparkled with light.

Snap!

The fishing rod moved in a strange trajectory and intercepted Jenny’s sword.

“……!!”

Jenny, who assumed I’d be defenseless, had no choice but to be surprised.

And I was shocked too.

“Uh…?”

…Jenny’s wooden sword broke.

‘Wait a minute! This isn’t right!’

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.