Entering the Game with a Cheat Physique

Episode 11 The Secret Room (3)

Episode 11 The Secret Room (3)

Jee-ing… *thud*.

The descending elevator reached the bottom.

Taking a leap, I landed on the underground floor, and a wide-open corridor greeted us.

“…I can’t believe it.”

Isolet’s whisper.

I agree.

Wind rushes through the wide corridor. A breeze brushes my cheek, awakening a cool sensation.

Windows are spaced out along the wall, reflecting the night sky outside. The full moon shines through the windows, casting an eerie moonlight here.

A scene that makes it hard to believe this is underground.

This is the backdrop we face when we enter the secret room in the Olympia Academy library basement.

‘Reminds me of the original.’

Exquisite illustrations, vibrant sounds.

Seeing it all materialized in reality is quite touching.

“Let’s get going.”

I can’t just be soaking in the scenery.

Enemies are lurking ahead.

“Do you know the way?”

“Just go straight. If you go through the corridor, you’ll find the archive.”

An archive crammed with martial arts manuals.

A boss monster awaits there.

Of course, there are mobs to defeat before that.

Thud, thud.

I step forward confidently.

Making loud noises in a field where monsters roam isn’t a good idea, but

‘Isolet is inexperienced, after all.’

She’s just enrolled in the academy and hasn’t even had a real fight.

She’ll be having her first battle soon, so I should be proactive and reassure her.

“It’s truly amazing. I never thought such a place existed in Olympia… I was curious about the secret room, but it’s incredibly mysterious. How can the night sky be visible?”

“This academy has a pretty long history, you know. If you look around, you’ll find plenty of structures like this that are woven with magic.”

“Indeed.”

As I confidently lead the way, Isolet seems to have relaxed, and she quickly followed behind.

And so, we walked down the corridor for a while.

“Shhh.”

I reached an arm behind me, halting her steps.

Sensory organs, trained just hours ago in the library. Maximizing vision and hearing.

Then, from beyond the dim moonlight’s reach, in the depths of the darkness, came the sound of something hitting the floor.

Clack, clack, clack…

A noise as if bone were colliding directly with bone.

Skeletons. Three of them.

“There are monsters ahead.”

“We’ll have to go through them, right?”

“Yeah.”

This place is just a single corridor, leading to the circular archive.

There’s no way to bypass them and get to the archive, so we have to encounter the skeletons before us.

_Shhhrring—_ Isollet draws her sword from its scabbard.

The blade gleams white in the moonlight. Just the act of drawing it, yet her posture is like a picture.

“I’ll take two, you take the remaining one. I’ll count to three, then we go.”

“Okay.”

Originally, the protagonist should be the one taking them out alone to gain experience points, but.

I need practical experience too.

‘Let’s just think of this as practice before the inter-grade exchange match.’

And as a way to look out for my junior, Isollet.

Yeah, that’s right.

Alright. Time to get going.

If we’re going to face the boss monster in the archive, we need to defeat these guys while using the least amount of energy.

Let’s go for a single blow kill.

“Three, two, one—go.”

We synchronize our timing within a span of three seconds.

The moment I finished speaking, I propelled forward, pushing down hard against the floor with my feet.

_Thang—!_

My vision is pushed back. The corridor with the windows flies behind me, and I stand before the skeletons in the darkness.

—_Kreek, kreeek?_

The ones who spotted me grip their bone knives.

And they raise their arms towards me, before swinging—

*Crack!*

“One down.”

I immediately smash a fist, pulverizing bone joints.

*Crackle…* The remains of the skeleton, obliterated in a single blow. The bone fragments that formed its shape scatter across the floor.

—*Creak!*

But they’re not alone.

Another skeleton’s bone knife is swung.

Its trajectory goes from my right shoulder to my left hip.

Evading is difficult. If I force a dodge here, I’ll just get hit with a follow-up anyway.

So, that means I have to just take the hit—

‘Unbreakable Diamond Body.’

A body cheat that makes my flesh hard.

I bring my arm into the path of the bone knife that would have sliced the skin of a normal person.

*Scratch…* The blade, having cut through my collar, stops against my steel-like skin.

—*Eek?*

The skeleton has a bewildered expression.

Its eyes are hollow, but somehow, that’s the vibe it gives off.

“Well, too bad.”

*Thud!*

I knock away its bone knife and land another straight punch.

The skeleton’s remains, its skull burst open. Kicking them aside with my foot, I look at the other side.

There, Isolet has her sword scraping along the ground. The distance between her and the skeleton in front of her is roughly ten steps.

Should we start a back and forth sword fight? What decision will the protagonist Isolet make?

She shows us with her actions.

*Thap!*

Isolet dashes forward. She’s engaged in combat, much like me.

But the core of it is different.

*Swish,* Isolet’s sword cuts a half-circle from the floor to the sky.

Picking up speed, the heavy black blade deflected the skeleton’s bone-knife as it shattered its form.

Isolette’s technique, ‘Upper Slash’.

“…….”

A clean first execution in actual combat.

I offer a bland compliment to her, having finished off the skeleton with a single blow.

“Good job. Nice and clean.”

“Heh heh. Thank you.”

She smiles faintly, sheathing her dull blade.

Isolette seems satisfied enough.

Well, I was in a different position.

‘Looks like I’ll need techniques after all.’

We both took down an enemy with one strike, but the nature of it wasn’t the same.

Isolette’s attack was based on technique, on skill. She didn’t just overwhelm with pure stats.

Whereas, I’m pure physical.

My foundation is the incredible stats I gained from a body-cheat.

Is that a detriment? Of course not, but still, it’s a shame to just bulldoze through the battlefield with sheer stats alone.

I should learn some techniques to prepare for what’s to come.

‘Let’s get some with this Hidden Piece.’

Therefore, I will go to the library and search.

For martial arts manuals that allow me to create techniques with just my body alone.

“Is that it? I don’t see any more enemies.”

“Probably. I think the boss is at the end of this corridor.”

I gesture for Isolette as I lead the way.

She diligently followed behind.

We walked for some time down the dimly lit corridor.

Finally, we arrived at the boss room.

Emerging from the end of the corridor, we were met with a circular library.

Bookshelves that reached the ceiling were filled with countless martial arts manuals.

If I had my way, I’d rush over right now and pick up every single book.

But that’s not possible.

An enemy stood, barring the stairs to the bookshelf.

“That is…”

Isolet trailed off.

A monster reflected in her blue pupils.

A body thickly covered in bristly hair.

Though a monster, it walked on two legs as if human.

Yet, its snout was that of a beast, and it also sported wolf ears.

The boss monster of the secret room, a werewolf.

It stood guarding the library, fast asleep.

*

Irina witnessing this scene was pure chance.

“……Hmmph.”

She rubbed her swollen eyes, pulling herself upright.

Looking around to figure out where she was, she found herself in the library’s attic.

“Haah.”

Did I study too hard?

It all started yesterday when that upperclassman asked me to be his disciple.

I got ridiculously puffed up, thinking, “I really am a talented mage.”

And so, I resolved to get a good score in this year’s inter-school exchange.

I didn’t know how long I’d been in the attic. I think I came straight here after class and stayed.

I kept reading without going outside once, and before I knew it, I was tired and fell asleep.

Looking at the window, I see the already dark night sky. I’d better get back to the dorm.

Irina, after roughly tidying her clothes, was about to leave the attic, when

Kugugung…

A huge noise echoed throughout the entire library.

It was so loud, it vibrated right through the walls of the attic Irina was in.

“……What’s that?”

She blinked.

There’s no way such a big noise should be happening here at this hour.

It’s way past closing time, so there shouldn’t be anyone around.

“A ghost, seriously?”

Goosebumps prick my skin.

Suddenly, a massive wave of regret washes over me.

Ah, why did I fall asleep? Why did I stay in the library and end up confronting a ghost?

Clutching these worries close, my feet trembling, I emerge from the attic—

“I knew you’d come, Senior.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

A familiar voice, and then an unfamiliar one, spoke together.

“……Isn’t that him?”

The senior I met during the entrance exam. I think his name was Herak.

Why is his voice coming from here?

And the other one, it’s a girl’s voice, I’ve never heard it before.

Something’s going on.

That much Irina is sure of, and she cautiously takes a step forward.

Silently, so no sound of her presence gives her away, she stealthily approaches the source.

Finally, she finds them.

“How should we get in?”

“Just go inside and stand for a moment.”

A man with dull, golden coloring.

And contrasting her, a woman, bright as silver.

‘That person…’

Irina knows that woman.

There’s no way she wouldn’t.

She’s heard a thousand times that she’s the magic department’s top student’s rival, someone she *has* to beat.

‘Isolet.’

The top student of the knight department’s first year.

She’s close to Herak.

…Why?

‘What’s their relationship?’

Slipping behind a bookshelf, she carefully pokes her head out.

Irina’s sharp mind races.

Isollet, the promising star of the Knight Department.

And Herak, known as a substitute in the Magic Department—but in truth, a mage with power rivaling the Chairman.

Why are these two together, at this time, in this place?

Thousands of possibilities unfold in her mind.

She swiftly eliminates them, working through them with lightning speed, without any hesitation.

The conclusion she reaches is this.

“A disciple…!”

*Thump,* she covers her mouth with both hands.

Because Irina remembered it clearly.

Well, it’s hard to explain exactly. Just think that you can gain powerful strength.

Herak had definitely said that.

That he would give her great power.

That he would accept her as his disciple!

Then…!

‘Are you out of your mind…?! That guy’s in the Knight Department!’

Herak is trying to take Isollet as a disciple!

A Magic Department student, taking a Knight Department junior!

‘This is insane. How can this be happening….’

Why would a mage as brilliant as Herak do such a thing?

The chain of thoughts, like a dog chasing its tail, finally produces an answer.

But, me, Irina. The rightful heir to the Magic Tower. I am not weak enough to receive your teachings.

“Ah.”

Herak’s first disciple contact.

It was Irina.

But she had rejected it herself. That golden offer.

Because of that, Herak had turned.

With the preposterous idea of teaching the promising star of the Knight Department with his own power…!

“No way…”

Could it be, this shocking reality, was all because of her own boastful ambition?

If I’d accepted the offer right there and then, would things have turned out differently?

But regret is meaningless. Now, I can’t unspill the water.

“Here.”

“…Thank you.”

See.

There, far away, Heraque reaching out his hand.

And Isolet, smiling shyly, taking it!

“……”

I watch the scene with hollow eyes.

They stand there silently for a few minutes.

*Zzzing—* They descend, disappearing from sight.

What conversation did they have in that brief time?

What kind of connection did they share while holding hands?

What on earth are those two planning to do down there?!

“……Uh, what do I do?”

Irina’s eyes are spinning.

An unexpected situation. Having witnessed such a secret display of affection for the first time, her mind goes blank.

Sure, she took the elite course at the magic tower, but she’s barely an adult.

Faced with such a romantic scene, she becomes a mere girl.

“L-let’s at least follow them.”

So, standing frozen still for a long moment.

Irina slowly, hesitantly, approached the spot.

Standing before the space filled with utter darkness.

Thinking of the two who had entered the secret underground.

*Gulp,* she swallowed.