“What? Why? Did your health suddenly take a turn for the worse? Or have you switched to actively supporting your professor’s date?!”

What date? I kept my anxiety hidden as best I could and spoke curtly.

“Scared?”

“Haha, you’re welcome to think that~ I just felt it was unfair. Me joining a one-on-one duel would be cheating, wouldn’t it?”

Twin-braid answered with a bright smile.

…Right. That made sense—Twin-braid was a ‘twin.’

‘But nobody would know anyway. Was Twin-braid always this conscientious a character?’

Sure enough, Twin-braid had an ulterior motive—she promptly clung to the Protagonist’s arm and continued.

“Can’t our Michael go out and win for me instead~?”

“Uh…?!”

“Your magic’s improved since the last field training~! Enough to flatten those guys’ noses, right?”

So this was about scoring points with the Protagonist.

As the one labeled the weakest of the weak, the Protagonist would only see his standing at the Academy deteriorate further if he didn’t demonstrate his abilities.

In Twin-braid’s own way, she was probably looking out for him.

‘Well, even if the Protagonist loses, we have wins to spare.’

With things having come to this, I changed my mind.

Experience shapes a person, after all… and more importantly, ‘Chris’ wasn’t the type to cling to someone who wanted to forfeit.

“Michael.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

“Are you prepared?”

“……!”

When I asked with an impassive gaze, the Protagonist’s expression turned resolute. He’d been fired up today already—it felt like pouring oil on an open flame.

…Is this kid going to be okay?

“Yes! I’ll win with everything I’ve got!”

Fine. With his eyes shining like that, what did it matter if he got knocked out in one hit?

‘It’s just a sparring match.’

Shouldn’t I have known better than to think that?

* * *

“Does it feel good coming to the Academy after your mom got eaten? You worthless piece of trash.”

I felt like screaming. No—I was already screaming on the inside.

“Huh? Answer me. Do I need to tear up that disgusting cursed face of yours before you find the motivation?”

“N-no…”

“You dirty commoner—you should be more entertaining when you’ve been honored with facing me!”

Just shut up, you crazy bastard!

I wanted to rush over right now and shove my fist into Extra 3’s mouth.

I already knew that <Hero Rampage> overflowed with trash minor characters who tormented the Protagonist. That was necessary for the Protagonist to go on his rampage.

But the problem was…

‘The timing was terrible.’

The Protagonist, who had only half-awakened during field training, had definitely gained more mana he could use stably compared to before.

But where there’s gain, there’s also loss.

The gateway that had already opened once was now looser than before—

“Ghk, hah, ah…”

“What. That curse, it moves? Ugh, disgusting.”

“Don’t… touch…”

Extra 3’s words and actions—tap-dancing right on top of the Protagonist’s trauma button—served as the catalyst.

This was different from an Awakening, where one gains complete control over their abilities.

This was the exact opposite of that…

‘The precursor to a Rampage.’

The curse tattoo writhed and began to devour the Protagonist’s entire body.

“N-no. No…! R-run away. Get away from me!”

The Protagonist desperately grabbed his own right arm, trying to suppress something.

But I could see him rapidly reaching his limit.

“Hah— right, you just stay right there. I’ll send you flying in one hit. Got it?”

Wait, aren’t the professors going to intervene? The Protagonist was in that state!

I looked around—it seemed I was the only one who grasped the severity of the situation.

“Is the X-Class kid sick? He doesn’t look so good.”

“He’s trembling—maybe he’s just scared?”

These idiots!

This was no time to maintain my character. I braced my core and shouted.

“Sparring match suspended—”

“G-gwaaaaaah!”

“……!”

But the Protagonist’s anguished scream rang out first.

The atmosphere changed in an instant.

“Wh-what?!”

And what appeared before everyone’s eyes was…

A monster.

That was the only fitting word for it.

For some reason, a passage from <Hero Rampage> I’d long forgotten came to mind.

[Flames blazing from a pool of blood. Only the ceaseless stream of red tears proved that the monster before them was Michael Foxin.]

A being straight out of the text stood right here, right now.

A horrific curse flowed down like dark-red streams of blood, covering his face, and his entire body was engulfed in writhing violet flames. He no longer looked human.

“Hiiiik! A monster, it’s a monster! Help me! D-don’t come!”

Along with Extra 3’s wail, a blue spear flickered before my eyes.

[※Quest difficulty may be adjusted according to circumstances.]

[※You are a professor. Please safely conclude your ‘class.’]

I was certain once more. This System wanted me to fail.

It wasn’t going to sit back and watch me take ‘the easy way out.’

There was no quest that could be solved by standing around with arms crossed. The System wasn’t the type to overlook shortcuts twice.

It wanted me to move personally, to exert ‘influence’ on the Protagonist by any means necessary.

This was a ‘balance patch’ for exactly that purpose.

In other words, the Protagonist’s Rampage was…

“P-professor?!”

Something I had to end with my own hands. Fuuuck!

* * *

One point of relief.

This was a safe training ground designed so that no one would ‘die.’

On the other hand, one point of bullshit.

I had no guarantee the training ground could withstand the Protagonist’s rampaging mana.

A second point of relief.

The Protagonist hadn’t completely lost his reason yet. His human face flickered in and out of view. He might even calm down on his own.

But a second point of bullshit.

Extra 3, who’d been picking a fight earlier, was likely to get killed by a flaming fist before that happened.

There was no third point of relief, and one final point that was ambiguously somewhere between relief and bullshit…

“Professor Yujin!”

Narrow Eyes had jumped between the two of them before I could.

‘What a loser with F-rank Agility.’

Honestly, if I thought about it calmly, it was a good thing.

There was no guarantee my ‘Worn-out Sword’ item could parry the Protagonist’s flaming fist.

‘If the quest failed, I’d be dead either way, so it was a gamble I had no choice but to take.’

So thanks to Narrow Eyes, I’d saved both an item use and my life.

Except there was one problem.

Contrary to my expectation that Narrow Eyes would handle it, he’d ended up collapsing as a bloody mess.

“Eeeek! Professor Yujin! What do we do!”

“Damn it, everyone fall back! Professors, prepare suppression magic!”

“I-it’s not working! That bizarre mana is blocking my magic!”

It didn’t feel real. I’d faced terrifying opponents before, but I’d never seen someone who’d been perfectly fine moments ago become a bloodied mess.

“Professor Chris! What are you doing there! Run away!”

At that moment, the voice piercing my ears snapped me back to my senses.

‘Fuck, almost broke character!’

Run? As if. Instead, I walked past Narrow Eyes and slowly advanced toward the Protagonist.

‘Keep my legs rock steady. Absolutely cannot show any weakness!’

I maintained my usual stiff expression and faced the Protagonist head-on.

He was still in that blazing purple sweet potato state, but his intensity had definitely diminished compared to earlier.

“Gasp, hak… P-professor? No… R-run away. Please…!”

Oh ho, he recognized his teacher’s face. I suppose throwing a good punch had cleared his head somewhat.

This was my chance. Without hesitation, I reached out one hand.

“P-prof…”

Grabbing him by the collar? Too weak. He was in Flame Man mode, so his clothes had all burned off—I wouldn’t even know where to grab.

A slap? Classic and impactful. But with F-rank Strength, it would probably end up as more of a caress.

So my choice was—

“Michael Foxin.”

“Ghk…!”

To grab the Protagonist by the throat. Not metaphorically—physically.

‘<I Grabbed the Protagonist by the Throat>’—sounds like a romance fantasy title.

I was having pointless thoughts when I heard gasps from all around.

I’d delivered the shock—now it was time to set the mood.

‘Right now, ‘Chris’ must be devastated. Witnessing another student go astray—anger and sorrow would coexist in her heart.’

Making a pained expression was easy. My hand gripping Flame Man’s throat literally smelled of burning dried squid.

‘Agh, hot hot hot. It’s insanely hot! It hurts like hell!’

I was the kind of person who flinched when grease splattered while grilling meat, and here I was enduring this!

But isn’t that what a true character roleplay is? You defend it with blood and sweat as the price.

I forced out my next words in a low voice, suppressing the pain.

“Is this pathetic display the ‘strength’ you desired?”