DAY 24: MORNING — THE CAVE

DAY 24

MORNING

Who’s worse: the worst of the worst or the master troublemaker?

THE CAVE

 

IN THE END, the visitor I was expecting never arrived. Not that he was invited, anyway. I don’t need visitors for the rest of my life!

I was just a roadblock to him. A scarecrow. All I needed to do was sit here.

I wasn’t fond of this plan, but he wouldn’t like it either. He was the worst of the worst, but I was apparently the greatest troublemaker. At least, that’s what Class Rep insisted!

His existence was fundamentally horrible, but I was only as awful as I needed to be. I was an expert at causing chaos and messing things up. Class Rep would put her seal of approval on that statement, too. I’m starting to lose track; am I the bad guy?

Time was on my side, but there were drawbacks to waiting.

He must have been observing me, gathering data, and improving his calculations. In that case, I should use what little time I had to get stronger. It could be all for naught, but it was better than doing nothing. Even small gains would go a long way.

I ate more fish today before setting out. I wouldn’t normally eat fish with bread, but I had no rice.

How could foreigners stand this?

If the general store lady got her hands on some rice, everyone’s minds would be blown.

Yet again, I set out to hunt mushrooms and goblins.

I didn’t have time to make it to level 20, or even level 15. Maybe level 14 was doable. He’d probably show by that point.

I barely made it to level 11. How long will that take?

If leveling was too slow, I shouldn’t focus on that. In the meantime, the Class Rep and the others should be leveling up a ton. The nerds had probably reached an astronomically high level. What if their nerding abilities level up, too? That’d be too much to deal with! If the jocks could reach the Class Rep in town, everything should turn out fine. The girls could lecture them instead of me. If the enemy waited too long, his plans would never reach fruition.

What if the nerds level up until they’re almost impervious? I wondered. We don’t know how strong the enemy will be, so we need whatever advantages we can get. Knowing them, they probably went out and became the strongest people in the world without paying attention to anyone else.

I couldn’t let anything get in the way of their plans. I had to interfere with any outside interference. While the two of us are busy interfering with each other, the others can leave us in the dust.

In chess, you have to move, even if the only possible move leaves you in a weaker position. If I had to sacrifice myself like a pawn, I’d do it. I couldn’t ignore him, even if it meant that I was doomed. There were no good moves for either of us. For the first time, I felt alone.

I already made my move, so now I had to wait. If he went past the cave, I’d strike. If he didn’t, he’d run out of time. Waiting was agonizing. I took in a deep breath of the fresh forest air. I’d never stopped to just enjoy it before.

It was his bad luck that I happened to be waiting in this cave, I thought. Lady Luck let you down.

On the other hand, Lady Luck always gave me a warm smile. I found this cave and turned it into both a home and a final bulwark against my ultimate foe.

When we meet, we’ll find out just how much my luck is worth, I thought. I had the worst odds but the best luck.

It’s going to play out like it was always supposed to, I thought. Everything was going to plan…the worst possible plan for both of us.

I had no hope of survival. He had no hope at all.

He had worked so hard to split everyone up with Mental Manipulation, but thanks to the Class Rep, everyone came together.

I knew he was watching me, wondering why a nobody like me with such a low level was somehow the deciding factor. Killing me should be simple—I was a much lower level than the rest of our class—but clearly there was something strange about me, something he couldn’t figure out. He had to be wondering why I was the one waiting here.

He must’ve been sick and tired of me. I was like a pebble in his shoe, irritating and impossible to shake out. I must have been an unbearable nuisance to him. It feels great.

Restlessly, I wandered through the forest. I didn’t pick a direction, just walked. If I found something, I killed it. Otherwise, I kept walking.

The air was cool. Dew sparkled on the upper branches. No birds sang.

In the afternoon, I’d start running. For now, I walked to investigate and to exercise my skills.

Upriver, the monsters were weak and plentiful, optimal for level grinding. He could be level 30 or higher if he trained here. There was no point worrying. I kept walking, killing anything that crossed my path. I took some jerky out of my bag and bit into it. It’s been a while. Still tastes like rubber.

I felt like running.

Sprinting through the forest, I hunted all the prey around me. In a face-to-face fight, I knew I’d lose, so I snuck up and ambushed them instead.

I wasn’t strong, so I relied on my speed. At long range, I charged faster than they could react. At close range, I used my Life or Death technique. My strategy hadn’t changed from the very beginning. I’d always fought like this.

Life or Death: unbelievable power that existed only for an instant. With blinding speed, I combined all my spells and abilities into that one deadly attack. In that blink of an eye, I approached the infinite.

Even though the goblins and I had been neighbors for nearly a month, we’d never really become friends. Villains from early in a manga generally came back to bail the hero out of trouble and become new allies, right? Even if that happened, they’d need to have their memories erased first; I’d been killing them for twenty-four days straight.

Oh yeah, I thought. In a typical story, I would’ve enthralled some goblins and kobolds as I fought my way through this forest.

I didn’t even see any more to enthrall! Did I kill them all?! I’m no better than a kobold absentmindedly biting someone’s head off! The only monsters I’d ever managed to collect and lead were a pack of mean girls… Where were the adorable, wildly powerful creatures loyal only to me? What had I become?!

There was nothing to do but keep hunting. This way, he wouldn’t be able to level up much more. If I was really lucky, I might even gain a level. He only wanted intel, and I only wanted experience. He wasn’t worried about me leveling up, and I didn’t care that he was spying on me.

A kobold king loomed over me. Seemingly exhausted, I collapsed forward, stopping my fall with a gentle half-step. In that moment, I instantaneously swung my staff with all my momentum. All my gravity, velocity, magic, and spirit were channeled into the single instant of my attack. If it didn’t land, the monster would bite my head off. Please no!

I pulled my staff loose from the king’s body. Now I knew that I could beat them. I don’t have a choice! I don’t want to be chomped! Absolutely not!

Kobold kings were so fast that they left afterimages behind, and they could even perform overwhelming flurries of attacks, but that one hadn’t bothered. It only wanted to crunch my skull with its razor-sharp fangs. I’m not physically hurt, but I am traumatized for life.

There was no way I’d be able to beat a kobold emperor if it existed. I also shouldn’t stray too far from the cave. I took a roundabout route home.

Where was he? Don’t you realize that it’ll be too late for you soon? You shouldn’t underestimate the social awkwardness of nerds, the idiocy of the meatheads, and the terror of getting yelled at by all those girls. After you worked so hard to push everyone apart, they’re back together again—the real heroes of this world. They’ll reach heights that weren’t meant for supporting characters like us.

 

Did he ever consider that he had made a mistake?