Chapter 52: Awakening the Weak
He knew very well who it was—Max, the perennial problem child of the second grade.
But there were levels to problem children.
Max was on a different level from the guy who had been rotting away in common classes since his first year and had no skills at all. That was just a crazy, ignorant dog running wild, relying only on the background.
More than anything, Dennis instinctive senses were speaking—the guy was beneath him.
"Hey, do you want to die?" Dennis said coldly.
Family is far, fist is near.
A brainless idiot who doesn\'t even know that obvious truth deserves to be beaten. But rather, it was his opponent who had faster fists.
Max suddenly threw his fist without answering.
Puck!
The fist landed hard right in Dennis groin.
"Ugh, ugh…"
Dennis was pushed back as if he was about to fall over, clutching his neck as if he were out of breath. The shock was even greater because he wasn\'t even prepared for the unexpected surprise attack.
-OMG.
-He really did it.
-Wow, he just threw a punch without saying anything.
-He\'s crazy, after all.
-Isn\'t that guy a crazy guy too?
-There are different levels of madness.
There was a commotion all around. Dennis face turned red as he grabbed his neck.
It was partly because he couldn\'t breathe but also because he was humiliated.
In a place where all the second-year students were gathered, to get beaten up first by a guy like Max? Where could you find a dog like this?
"You, this dog!"
Dennis, who had just regained his breath, rolled his eyes and shouted. Just as he was about to rush at Max like crazy—
"What are you doing there? Quiet, quiet."
Professor Karen\'s voice rang out. She appeared as soon as the time came. The noisy atmosphere calmed down in an instant.
Dennis quickly composed himself. It wasn\'t for nothing that Dennis had a split personality. In front of the professor, he was a gentle, model student. He quickly returned to his seat with a smiling face. Of course, inside, he was seething.
\'I\'m going to kill you, you son of a bitch.\'
"Okay, pay attention. Before we start the test, I\'ll start by arranging the positions. Everyone, regardless of class, gather in groups. Space them out."
* * *
"… …Thank you for helping me," Sunny whispered in a crawling voice.
He still had a dazed look on his face, an expression that didn\'t quite seem to understand why I was helping him.
But I didn\'t really set out to help him. It was because I really didn\'t like the sight of a nobody setting up shop in my territory.
I know that guy. Dennis has a split personality.
An extra just like Max.
The same as in getting beaten up after picking a fight with the protagonist. I don\'t remember where he died. Probably got killed off somewhere without anyone knowing.
It\'s Hell Academy, after all, with its many incidents and accidents. Anyway, the guy I remember is simple. Weak against the strong, and strong against the weak.
So you can\'t appear too easy. That\'s why I threw a punch first.
\'It definitely works.\'
I thought, looking at the silver bracelet on my right wrist.
A bracelet that increases strength.
An artifact I got when I got caught up in a dungeon with the protagonist. An item that increases strength by 10%.
The effect was certain. If it were the old me, even if I attacked the vitals by surprise, I wouldn\'t have been able to incapacitate Dennis in one blow.
After all, he was a guy who had some standing in the Noble class. Of course, it was possible because of the fundamental strength I had been training all along.
"Hey."
"Huh?"
"Stop freaking out over that guy and come to your senses."
"That, that is…" Sunny was taken aback by my cold words.
But whatever. If you want to strengthen this guy\'s tofu mentality, there\'s no point in treating him softly. You have to make them clearly realize their own problems.
"How strong do you think that guy is? The way I see it, you and that guy are the same. You\'re just average guys."
Was this a compliment or an insult? Sunny\'s expression was just like that. I continued speaking while looking at him like that.
"But there is a crucial difference. He uses his actual skills, while you use them only in your thoughts."
"… … ."
"You must have been beating that guy up in your head just now. But what about reality? You were too scared to do anything."
Sunny\'s body flinched greatly, as if he had been hit hard.
"Do you understand? No matter what skills you have, if you can\'t show them in reality, you\'re just a guy. A guy with no name."
Sunny\'s eyes shook with anxiety.
Of course, he knew what I was talking about.
The guy must have been aware of his own problems. But that alone isn\'t enough. If he was a guy who could change with just words, he wouldn\'t have come to this point.
He needs a big event that can shake his mind. And then something that could be the trigger came into view.
\'That\'s good. I was going to test the condition anyway.\'
After I gathered my thoughts, I spoke clearly to Sunny.
"I\'m not really interested in you, and I have no reason to care about you. We\'re not even related to each other in the first place."
"…That, that\'s right."
A reaction that would be all too familiar to him. But I wonder if it\'s just my mood that makes him look gloomy.
Perhaps, for whatever reason, the person who first helped him ended up reacting the same way as everyone else, and he realized the bitter reality once again.
But that\'s just how society is, young one.
"But you know."
"Huh?"
"You shouldn\'t hurt others, right? I\'m the type of person who can\'t stand people hurting me."
When I, who am second to none when it comes to causing harm to others, said something like that, even the ordinary Sunny looked dumbfounded and blank.
You need to have a thick skin to survive in society, Kid.
"Wh, what are you talking about… … ."
Sunny scratched the back of his head as if he couldn\'t understand. I explained it to him kindly.
"That guy I was talking about earlier. That guy named Dennis."
"Yeah."
"That guy, he\'s definitely going to come get revenge on me after class, right?"
"That… that\'s right." Sunny had no choice but to agree, knowing better than anyone that Dennis was the type of man who would do more than that. I raised my voice.
"So what kind of nuisance is this? Why should I have to go through such trouble because of someone?"
"That, that is…" Sunny was speechless. He couldn\'t even make a look of resentment, thinking, "It\'s my own doing that\'s the cause, so what do I have to do with it?"
Why? Just because you\'re timid doesn\'t mean you have no conscience. There\'s a clear fact that he did it while I was helping him. In short, it was an invincible bulwark.
"I\'ll say it again. I hate people who hurt others the most in the world. Those people don\'t even have basic human qualities."
Those who know me would say something so absurd that it would evaporate, but I said it shamelessly, without changing my expression.
It\'s okay. Because it wasn\'t my doing anyway.
"… … ."
Of course, Sunny, who was caught in a debt trap, couldn\'t even open his mouth.
"You\'re not that kind of guy, are you? Surely you\'re not some piece of trash who can\'t even do the basics. But you\'re in the same group, after all. Surely there\'s no way that someone like that would be in the same group."
A spectacular finishing attack. Sunny\'s body flinched every time he heard the words.
To sum it up in one word, this is it: If you are a proper human being, you should handle this matter yourself, whether you die or become food, without causing trouble.
But, being the kind person that I am, I gave him more definite directions. I whispered softly in his ear.
"Dennis, that bastard, you ain\'t shit. You can win. And getting kicked in the butt a little bit ain\'t gonna kill you, man."
If he\'s too scared to do anything even after I\'ve prepared the table for him, then he\'s just that kind of person, so just ignore it. But if by any chance the egg breaks open…
\'I guess he\'ll become a useful person.\'
I chuckled to myself.
And.
"Okay, then let\'s begin."
The group evaluation finally began with Professor Karen\'s confident voice.