Even though it was a lower-tier intermediate dormitory, the quality and comfort of the room made it clear just how much Lock invested in its students.It was… comforting, honestly.
Sinking my back into the soft mattress, I caught the faint aroma of green tea filling the air, accompanied by the gentle bubbling sound of water boiling in the kettle at the corner of the room. The golden light of late afternoon streamed through the window, bathing everything in a calm I hadn't felt in a long time.
At the moment, I found myself wondering whether it was worth heading to the training center. To be honest, I wasn't in the mood to walk all the way there, so I figured I'd just train here instead. After all, what I was planning shouldn't destroy the room… I think.
During my last break, I had left the academy to buy a few basic things I was missing. One item, however, stood out in particular: a large orange gourd, with a small red ribbon tied around the slit in its center.
What was it for, you ask? Simple, to train breathing and lung capacity.The goal was to blow air into the gourd with enough force to make it burst. The amount of air pressure required was absurd, it demanded lungs worthy of a dragon.
Fortunately, I'd been practicing for several days already.And today… I felt ready.
I sat down on the bed and placed the gourd in front of me. I took several deep breaths, filling and emptying my lungs to prepare. Then I inhaled with everything I had, inflating my chest, pressed my mouth to the gourd's opening, and blew with all my strength.
The pressure was so intense that my head began to throb, but I didn't stop. Every ounce of air, every drop of energy, circulated violently inside the container until—
BOOM!
The gourd burst apart with a deafening bang. Compressed air exploded through the room, sending fragments flying in all directions. Pieces struck the lamp, the shelves, the walls, and even the ceiling.
And then, in a cruel twist of fate, one of the fragments ricocheted straight toward my teacup, which rose into the air in slow motion.
Without thinking, I grabbed the pillow beside me and hurled it.With reflexes I didn't even know I had, the pillow landed perfectly beneath the cup, cushioning its fall with a precision that honestly startled me.
"Harf… harf… that was close."
Still out of breath, I let out a relieved sigh.
Soon, the soft sound of green tea bubbling filled the room again, accompanied by a pleasant aroma. This time, the cup was safe. I dropped in five sugar cubes and brought the tea to my lips, savoring it slowly as I leaned back against the desk.
Now, with my body relaxed and my mind calm, I began thinking about my next step within the academy.
The first extended recess was approaching… and maybe it was time to make some money.
My idea was simple: imitate Ren's early moves.
That way, I could earn a bit while also staying close enough to make sure he didn't die, which, let's be honest, was a very real possibility. Technically, everything should go fine even without me, but… better not take the risk.
The plan itself was straightforward: take advantage of the collapse of CB Pharmaceuticals' stock.
Considering the timing and potential reward, I concluded it was the best possible move. With my mind made up, I opened the display on my watch and checked my bank account.
===========================
Student: Kazehara Yuto
Age: 16
Balance: 12,862 U
[Withdraw] [Deposit]
===========================
"Hm… just under 13,000 U."
Honestly, that was more than I expected. My parents had never been wealthy, so I'd assumed I'd have less than Ren. Maybe the reason was simple, I didn't spend much.Not because I was some financial genius or had a brilliant savings plan. I was just too lazy to go out and spend money. In the end, who said laziness doesn't have its perks?
I sighed, organizing my thoughts.
One month after the academy officially began, the world would be thrown into chaos.Thobias Church, chief researcher at CB Pharmaceuticals, would be found dead inside his high-security apartment complex.
The news would spread like wildfire. Within minutes, every agency, newspaper, and guild would be reporting the first high-profile murder in decades, an event that made even the most powerful begin to fear for their lives.
But the real shock would come when investigators discovered what was missing:the formula for the Body Enhancement Potion had vanished.
That formula was the heart of CB. Potions were, after all, the most closely guarded secrets of any alchemist, and Thobias was the best among them. Each alchemist had their own variation, and Thobias's was considered the most efficient on the market. His death didn't just shake the world, it carved a crater into the pharmaceutical industry.
Two hours after the announcement, CB's stock plummeted by 17%, falling from 123.71 U to 102.68 U.
Five hours later, the drop was already nearing 43%, with the price sinking to 58.53 U.When the dust finally settled, the stock stabilized at 21.65 U, a total collapse of 82%.
If the company hadn't possessed so many liquid assets, it would have gone bankrupt before dawn.
Meanwhile, WV Pharmaceuticals, the eternal runner-up, saw its value skyrocket. In just one week, its stock jumped from 58.93 U to 111.45 U, an increase of nearly 90%.
Three weeks from now, all of that would still happen.
If I sold CB and bought WV now, I could multiply what I had, betting on one's fall and the other's rise.
With my modest 13,000 U, I could already make a decent profit. But it wouldn't be enough.
I needed more, fast. A way to increase my capital before the event even began.
And the answer, of course, lay on the same path Ren was going to take: entering a dungeon.
These places were like scars in the fabric of the world, pocket dimensions created by the cracks that formed when demonic mana invaded the human domain. Small fissures, unstable and deadly.
Each dungeon had a rank, and the rules were simple: only those of the appropriate level could enter.
A Rank B dungeon accepted adventurers of Rank B or lower. If someone stronger tried to force their way in… the rift would shatter, along with them.
The same applied to the monsters inside.
That was why dungeons became the best places to train.
And occasionally, to die. But also… to get rich.
Since the demon world was a constant battlefield, artifacts from ancient eras could be found amid the ruins, relics of forgotten wars, sometimes more valuable than gold itself.
Still, the true treasure of a dungeon wasn't relics, it was monster cores.
A "core" was, in essence, condensed pure energy. A discovery that completely revolutionized the modern world. When humanity began using cores as an energy source, it eliminated everything previously known as pollution.
Cores weren't just absurdly efficient, they produced no greenhouse gases and no waste of any kind. Clean, abundant energy.
A single Rank G core could power an entire city for ten minutes. A densely populated city, at that. The energy contained within a small sphere was simply unimaginable.
And that wasn't all. The bodies of slain demons could also be sold for a fortune, fueling the rapidly growing biology and alchemy industries.
Using monster fragments, human scientists developed cures once thought impossible. Over time, biology split, and alchemy was born, the branch that transformed knowledge into potions.
Dungeons, therefore, were gold mines.
Gold mines with teeth.
The mortality rate within them was terrifyingly high. No one could predict what awaited inside; every spatial rift was an invitation to the unknown. Because of that, the central government imposed a strict restriction: only licensed individuals were allowed to enter.
Naturally, that only caused the black market to flourish.And that was exactly where Ren was headed.
"Hah… come to think of it, so am I," I muttered, massaging my forehead.
=== Status ===
Name: Kazehara Yuto
Rank: F+
Strength: F-
Agility: E-
Endurance: D
Intelligence: D
Mana Capacity: NONE
Luck: F+
Charm: S
Class: [Swordsman Lv.5]
=========
That close call with the Infernal Spider had pushed me to my limit, but it seemed to have paid off. I'd advanced a bit and now stood at the early stage of Rank F+. That meant I could still comfortably enter Rank F dungeons.
Looking at my stats, everything started to make sense.
High endurance? Of course, breathing techniques allowed my body to handle far more physical and mental strain than normal.
But what really caught my attention was Intelligence: D.
That was probably why I'd been finding classes way too easy… even while sleeping through most of them.
Yuto had always had a sharp mind. Not a scholar, far from it, but someone with absurd memory and a near-natural ability to connect complex ideas effortlessly. Sometimes, I think this "mana leakage syndrome" was a divine way of balancing things out. Because, honestly, if not for that, this body would be… ridiculous.
Anyway, it was time to act.
First, I needed to contact SmallSnake, as my broker. The investment I planned to make wasn't exactly… conventional. But he was reliable. And if everything followed the original storyline, Ren would soon approach him for the very same thing.
After that, I'd need to visit the black market to prepare.
If everything continued according to the script… a complicated challenge awaited me inside.
The Everblood Clone.