Chapter 5

I Raise With In-app Purchases – 5

EP.5 Mysterious Secret Merchant (1)

 

Trigger Academy.

To save humanity from the contaminated zones, nobles enter the academy at the age of 8 and receive education until they turn 19. After that, they immediately join the military to fight for world peace.

Commoners may live without realizing it, but the contaminated zones have always posed a threat to human survival.

And the nobles were doing everything in their power to reduce the contaminated zones even a little.

“Sigh… The record?”

“The same.”

“Come on! It felt good. Should we try again?”

“You’re drenched in sweat now. Another try won’t yield a different record.”

She checked her hands in response to her friend’s words.

Her hands were trembling less visibly than before.

“Well, true. I should stop for today.”

Today, she thought she could set a record. Her condition was good, and she was confident that her skills had improved since before.

“Sigh… What’s wrong with me?”

Among the students attending the academy, there exists a ranking system.

The ranking reflects their skills.

Starting from the highest rank, SS, it goes down to S, A, B, C, and D.

Measuring the rank involves passing special devices installed during the exams held every six months, and measuring the time taken to do so.

By consistently practicing and shortening the record, one can climb the ranks. Since the benefits from the academy vary significantly based on the rank, everyone was putting their lives on the line to achieve a record.

“Going from B to A is the toughest, you know. It requires a lot of patience.”

“I think I have more than enough qualifications to go from B to A. But why isn’t the record coming out right? It’s a bit strange.”

“B rank is not just an ordinary rank. Don’t be impatient, try to do it calmly.”

Her friend’s concerned words didn’t quite register in her ears. It is because her focus was entirely on going to A rank.

“Will you practice this weekend too?”

“Of course. I won’t rest until I set an A-rank record.”

“If you practice all weekend, do you think you’ll set a record?”

“…I don’t know.”

“You’re not confident either. Let’s just take a break this weekend. Do you know how long you’ve been at this?”

Her friend suggested taking a day off. It wasn’t good for her to keep practicing without a break.

She was facing the pressure of reaching A rank, and her impatience was making her endure it forcibly.

“Just for a day?”

In the end, she yielded to her friend’s suggestion.

Taking just one day off wouldn’t make it impossible to become A rank, right?

“Phew! Good thinking. When things are tough, it’s necessary to take a break.”

“…You think so?”

Without even imagining that the day of rest with her friend would change her life 180 degrees, she stared at the unyielding record sheet.

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She spent the whole day having fun with her friend. She hadn’t played in a long time, and time flew by.

“Ah… I don’t want to go back.”

After finally relieving stress for a while, the thought of returning to the academy dormitory was causing stress again.

There wouldn’t be any noble without pressure on their grades.

After graduating from the academy, they immediately enlist and go into real combat.

Improving skills for nobles was a field where they had to constantly strive for their lives, even if it meant risking their own lives.

If their skills were lacking, they might get lucky and end up in a desk job. However, if they had mediocre skills, they had to strive to improve them to be dispatched to the front lines.

Of course, B rank didn’t fall into the category of mediocre skills.

‘B rank is the level that average people can reach at most. A rank and above belong to the realm of talent. I’m on the threshold of entering the realm of talent.’

That’s why it felt even more frustrating.

She had the qualifications to become A rank. She believed she was a talented person, and she wanted to prove that.

But one by one, she was falling short in front of A rank.

‘Am I just an ordinary person without talent?’

Since childhood, she had flaunted her talent, earning expectations from her family elders.

Always displaying skills superior to her peers, she met everyone’s expectations as she raised her rank in the academy.

Back then, she was arrogant.

A rank? She thought she could easily climb up just like before.

But facing A rank, she began to falter.

‘It’s already been a year since then… If this continues, I’ll fall again this time.’

Precocity and genius are different.

In the family, rumors were spreading that she might not be a genius but rather ‘precocious’.

The way people looked at her was gradually changing too. The pressure from her family and suspicious gazes from those around her were making her feel stifled.

She punched her chest with frustration, feeling uneasy as if wrongly accused, even though she had done nothing wrong.

“Miss.”

“You startled me!”

Unable to conceal her troubled feelings, she parted ways with her friend and wandered around instead of going back to the dormitory. During this, she was taken aback by a strong voice approaching her like a cat.

“What, what is it?”

The person who called her was so mysterious that it seemed impossible for him to be here. Clad in a burgundy robe with a deep hood, he was a man calling her over with a gesture from a secluded spot.

“Hey, miss.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Miss, come here.”

“Why should I? And sir, why are you doing this here? If you keep doing this, the knights might come and arrest you.”

If he were truly suspicious, he wouldn’t have been able to come near the academy. And with confidence in her own abilities, she engaged in a conversation with the mysterious man who remained there. It was something she could just ignore, but for some reason, it felt wrong to do so.

“I told you to come with me secretly without others noticing.”

“…I don’t want to. Why should I go to you? It looks suspicious to anyone. Should I report you?”

If he were crazy, would she get closer? Although she didn’t feel like losing to the man, given the various abilities that existed, caution was needed.

“Well, you might regret it.”

“I regret? Me?”

“Yeah. Miss, there’s a special item that can significantly enhance your abilities.”

“…Item? Are you an illegal merchant, sir?”

She vaguely heard of it. There were underground merchants dealing with illegal items, and getting caught could ruin one’s life. She felt disgusted and thought it was a good idea not to get too close.

“I don’t deal with drugs or anything like that. I’ll report it right away, so you better leave now.”

“Drugs? I don’t deal with that. I just thought I’d show you a weapon. It would suit you perfectly.”

“Why would you recommend a weapon to me? You need to make sense.”

“Seeing it might change your mind. It will feel like destiny to you.”

“I don’t like it anyway. Go sell it to someone else. I won’t regret it, and I won’t buy it.”

Is there a weapon that suits her?

Equipment like that can be obtained through the family whenever needed.

So, there was no need to listen to the mysterious man’s words.

“Yeah, it might feel uneasy to accept a weapon from a shady person. But when you see this, your thoughts will change. It will feel like destiny for you.”

The mysterious man opened a large bag and rummaged inside, gesturing for her to come closer.

As she couldn’t discern what he was trying to retrieve from the bag, she took a step back, raising her guard. However…

What emerged from the bag was a large bow. It happened to be the same weapon she was skilled with, a bow!

– Gulp –

Upon seeing the bow, a strong intuition struck her. Just as the mysterious man had said, if she didn’t purchase that item, she would regret it for the rest of her life. The moment she laid eyes on it, she felt it was destined to be hers.

‘That has to be mine.’

The caution she had towards the mysterious man vanished, and briskly, she rushed over to gaze at the weapon in his hands.

Even after looking at, it multiple times, the intense sensation that she must buy it didn’t fade away.

“Is this the item you’re selling to me? I’ll buy it.”

“Ha! Look at you. You’ll regret it, they said. You really want it, don’t you?”

“Yes! How much is it? Please sell it to me right now!”

Her eyes rolled back. 

Feeling such a strong possessiveness and attachment to a weapon seemed strange, but her captivated heart remained unchanged. 

Even if the weapon ended up in terrible condition later, she wouldn’t regret the purchase. Her determination was such that she had expressed her intention to buy it from the mysterious man.

However, to her dismay, the man, who had previously displayed the weapon with a mean grin, now put it back into the bag.

“What?! Mister! You said you were selling it!”

He ignored her. It felt like her weapon had been forcibly taken away, even though the item clearly wasn’t originally hers.

“No, it’s not yours yet. I don’t understand why you’re acting like it’s been robbed from you.”

“You said you were selling it to me! Then it’s mine. How much is it? How much do I need to pay?”

“Well…”

“Yes?”

What does “well” mean?

“Come back here next week at this time. Bring something of value that I might like in exchange for the weapon. If I like it, I’ll sell it. If not, I won’t.”

“Wait! Do I have to wait until next week? You came to sell it to me, right? You shouldn’t speak so ambiguously!”

“So, you’re not going to buy it?”

“….”

Not going to buy it? How could she not when she had seen it with her own eyes? That weapon belonged to her. 

She could be certain that its existence was born for her sake. She didn’t know how that child ended up in the hands of the suspicious man, but she had to rescue it without fail.

“If you don’t want it, I don’t have to sell it to you.”

Annoying! The man’s audacious attitude irritated her.

“I’ll buy it! I will buy it. Next week at this time, right? You must come. I’ll prepare to the extent that you won’t be able to refuse!”

“Sure. By the way, I prefer items over cash. If possible, something like monster by-products.”

“Alright. I’ll keep that in mind.”

The mysterious man, as if his words were the essence of the conversation, got up from his seat without any hesitation, dragging a large bag.

– Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh –

With the large bag trailing behind him, the mysterious man disappeared somewhere.

‘What is he doing exactly? He doesn’t look that old.’

She tilted her head, watching the man’s retreating figure.

If his status was uncertain, entering this place would have been impossible. Judging someone based on their suspicious appearance was not the way to go.

‘I should have asked for his name at least. He said we’ll meet again next week, so I must remember to ask then.’

She already missed the weapon she saw earlier. The thought of forcibly taking it kept lingering in her mind.

It wasn’t like she was short on money, and if she waited a bit, she could have that weapon. But her mind was fixated on the weapon the man showed her, making it difficult to focus on anything else.

In the end, with an impatient heart, she hurried back to the dormitory.

If only she could solve it with what she had. Didn’t the man explicitly say that if he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t sell it to her?

‘I must buy it!’

She still imagined the figure of that weapon shimmering in front of her eyes.

Not a huge sum of money, just valuable items were needed. And if it was her family, she believed they could obtain any valuable item they wanted.