I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 71
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#71
All cadets assemble in the Grand Hall.
A mechanical announcement devoid of inflection echoed throughout the Academy.
“Ugh… What time is it…?”
I gazed out the window without properly opening my eyes. Judging by the intensity of the sunlight, it seemed to be early morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise.
“Classes shouldn’t start for a while yet. Why are they calling everyone already?”
Grumbling, I dragged myself out of bed. Bilateia had warned me several times that ignoring announcements would result in something terrifying, so I had no choice but to comply. Within the few steps it took to hastily arrange my clothes and hair before leaving my chamber, I let out several groans of discomfort.
‘Ugh… My entire body aches.’
The previous day, when we were engulfed in light and forcibly ejected back into reality, we had landed atop the Academy’s Spire. The moment we plummeted from empty air toward the Front Courtyard flashed through my mind, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
‘I suppose it’s only because I’m at this level that nothing broke—just muscle soreness. Whether they’re Ancient Gods or creators from other worlds, they all have absolutely terrible personalities.’
Watching Perenustus, it seemed all these so-called divine beings shared equally vile temperaments. I blamed all the accumulated fatigue coursing through my body on the gods as I began following the other cadets. I had no idea where the Grand Hall was, after all.
‘If I follow them, that’s where it must be.’
My assumption proved correct. At the landing, Leonas and Bilateia waved toward me.
“We were coming to get you! How did you manage to head in the right direction?”
“Usually, if you follow where most people are going, you end up somewhere.”
“Your instincts seem decent in moments like this, so why are they sometimes so…”
Bilateia trailed off and took my hand, leading me forward.
“Anyway, let’s hurry. We need to sit at the front.”
“Oh, are there assigned seats in the Grand Hall?”
“Hah… Hey. Do you have any idea why everyone’s gathering today?”
Leonas, who had been walking ahead, turned back with a frown.
“I’ve never properly attended a single class. How would I know why people are gathering in the Grand Hall? Don’t give me that look.”
“His eyes are naturally shaped that way, so you shouldn’t take offense to it.”
Bilateia wedged herself between Leonas and me, beginning her explanation calmly.
“Do you remember what was written on that fragment you picked up yesterday?”
“Restoration.”
“Right. The professor probably wants to squeeze every last bit out of that ‘restoration work.’ Probably.”
“So because the answer we got from the gods yesterday wasn’t convincing enough, they’re making it official? With all these cadets as witnesses, they’re trying to pressure me into fixing my world?”
Bilateia nodded approvingly. As I looked at her, I recalled the image of Mure’s small feet shattering the crooked circle, only to be overwhelmed by the deafening roar of countless voices.
“Wow… So this is the Grand Hall…”
Though I had never properly attended classes, I had glimpsed various parts of the Academy. Yet the Grand Hall was different from the start—its very presence was oppressive. The semicircular design with tiered seating that extended densely to the ceiling, and the stage positioned before it, proved this space existed solely for observation. At the center of the stage, where all the Academy’s cadets focused their attention, stood a raised podium.
“Perenustus hasn’t arrived yet, it seems?”
Leonas and Bilateia grabbed my wandering arm and seated me between them. That was when it happened.
Thud—click.
Five massive Grand Hall doors slammed shut in unison, followed immediately by the sound of locks engaging. The moment I realized we were trapped, the previously chaotic Grand Hall fell silent as if doused with cold water.
From within that silence, Perenustus appeared upon the podium.
“I offer my sincere gratitude for gathering at this early hour.”
Perenustus’s face showed no gratitude whatsoever as he tilted his chin upward. The last image I remembered of him was from yesterday—a battered, broken form driven into the ground from the sky as if crushed by something. Yet today, he appeared immaculate, as though such an event had never occurred.
‘Am I the only one suffering from muscle soreness? Bilateia and Leonas both seem perfectly fine.’
Feeling as though I had somehow lost, I lifted my own chin to match Perenustus’s bearing. The elegantly dressed man in pristine white gloves slowly swept his gaze across the Grand Hall, beginning with me. Oppressive silence settled over each section as his eyes passed through.
“It will be an experience worth sacrificing a precious morning’s sleep for.”
Perenustus opened his hand. Following his gesture, six transparent spheres the size of a fist materialized. They rose one by one around the platform, taking their positions before beginning to orbit slowly around his body. As blue lightning crackled and sparked within the rotating spheres, Perenustus closed his outstretched hand into a fist.
Thud!
The spheres that had been gracefully floating through the air crashed onto the stage floor with a heavy sound. Only then did it become clear what was contained within them.
‘They’re people!’
Each sphere held a single person—a diverse array of individuals. Before I could even ask who they were, Leonas spun sharply toward Bilateia.
“That one with the long hair… isn’t that the one from your previous world…?”
“Yes. The Creator of the former world.”
“What? So Perenustus gathered all the Creators from other worlds and trapped them in those spheres?”
“It appears so….”
The Grand Hall erupted in commotion.
“These are my dear classmates and Creators from other worlds.”
As if answering the uproar, Perenustus gestured toward the six spheres.
“Yesterday, they summoned me without consent, so I thought, why not try doing the same?”
The bewildered faces trapped within the spheres froze, their eyes turning toward Perenustus. He waited for their attention with a smirk before nodding with satisfaction.
“The summoning works quite well.”
“….”
“I summoned all six of you at once, and it wasn’t even that difficult.”
The commotion intensified. One of the figures inside a sphere appeared to be shouting something, but no sound escaped. Perenustus savored the reactions of the other Creators, who seemed to have no idea where to put themselves in their indignation, and snapped his fingers.
“Now, let us begin the main-”
Before he could finish speaking, the air above the platform rippled, and a familiar status window appeared.
▶ [Observation Notice] The attention of great beings!
The First Being shows interest in the current situation.
The Fourth Being closely observes the Creator’s actions.
The Ninth Being anticipates the fusion of worlds.
The Second and Third Beings summon other beings!
The Grand Hall fell silent to a temperature it had never reached before. The students repeatedly looked at the sudden status window in disbelief.
“The Ancient Gods…? Are they openly paying attention to our Academy’s Grand Hall right now?”
“I’ve never been looked at like this, even when I entered a world….”
“Me neither!”
The students’ anxious murmuring grew increasingly louder. Leonas, who had been glancing around cautiously, muttered softly near my ear.
“This feels promising from the start.”
“…Is that actually good?”
When I pointed to the status window, Leonas nodded calmly. The answer, however, came not from Leonas but from Perenustus’s lips.
“What an unprecedented honor for our Academy’s students. To think even uninvited guests would pay such attention.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Perenustus raised his hand again. Seeing the veins bulging at the temples of his smiling face, it was clear he was thoroughly irritated at having been interrupted by the Ancient Gods just as he was about to do something impressive with that finger snap.
“No need for lengthy explanations. Let us simply observe.”
With a snap of his fingers, a projection screen unfolded in the air above the platform.
‘That’s the world we suffered through!’
The world where Leonas had laid the foundation for a republic. The monarchy crumbled, the people rose, and the time filled with bittersweet memories where Mure led the charge flowed rapidly past.
“What you’re witnessing now is my world—one I’ve created with pride, and where you cadets will be deployed.”
Following his words, a status window announcing the practical lesson materialized, alongside the world that the Ancient Gods had corrupted. Guillotines stood erected, handkerchiefs soaked in filth, and those bearing the armbands of judges bartering their neighbors for a single crust of bread—a desolate tableau that consumed the original world beneath it.
“And this is precisely why I’ve summoned you all to this Grand Hall today.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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