It was terrifying in a completely different sense. I had wondered why someone with eagle-like vision in both eyes would wear an eyepatch, and it turned out this was the reason.

Damn it, I couldn’t back down here. I had a newly acquired item, after all.

The ‘Flapping Cape of the Ultimate Popular Man’ chosen as the reward from the last quest. The name was embarrassing, but its effect was custom-tailored for ‘roleplay roleplaying’.

[You have equipped the item ‘Flapping Cape of the Ultimate Popular Man’!]

[You can use ‘Illusion of a Radiant Halo’ by consuming a certain amount of mana.]

Surprisingly, it only provided the function of making the back of your head glow.

What the fuck, where else would I use this if not for roleplay roleplaying? Am I Jesus? Buddha?

‘A fucking gacha trash game.’

However, I would find a way. As I always had.

‘Illusion of a Radiant Hal… it’s too long. Halo Illusion, Stage 10.’

“Then… can you see this too?”

“Hm?”

[Stage 10 consumes 100 mana per second. Will you use it?]

[Yes/No]

“If you can see it, dodge it.”

“…! W-wait a minute!”

Yes. The moment I muttered that inwardly, the Lion grimaced as if overwhelmed.

If the light behind your head is too intense, it can disrupt the opponent’s vision.

Furthermore, because of the backlighting, my face would appear pitch black.

If I exuded ‘Chris’s’ aura with all my might here—

“G-gwaagh…!”

The opponent would have no choice but to mistake it for a massive incoming attack.

‘Of course, this only works because the Lion has muscles for brains, so I can’t miss this opening.’

I swiftly thrust my hand toward the Lion’s face.

As if sensing his own demise, the Lion let out a strangled noise and squeezed his eyes shut.

But my strength was still F-rank, and I couldn’t use a single spell.

I’d be lucky to even leave a scratch on that solid Lion.

And ‘Chris’ was ultimately a teacher. She wouldn’t lay a hand on a student.

Therefore, my choice was—

Flick.

“Ow?! …Huh?”

To lightly flick the round forehead of the Lion.

“Don’t get cocky, kid.”

“W-what? You went easy on me…?”

“Go back. To your classroom.”

I put everything I had into that attack hoping it would look like I went easy on him, you brat. And why is your forehead like a rock?

I muttered contradictory sentences inwardly and lightly shook my hand. My fingers hurt, damn it.

Before I knew it, the Lion’s expression had changed to that of a foolish but ordinary high schooler.

The sight of him blankly rubbing his forehead was certainly a far cry from his usual delinquent persona.

‘This is my victory.’

My lips threatened to curl into a smirk, so I quickly turned around.

Yeah, I’m childish. I’m happy about winning against a kid, so what? As long as I don’t get caught, it’s fine, right?

Fortunately, the Lion, having lost to me, quietly left the classroom.

“…Next time! I’ll come back different… ma’am.”

Leaving behind such a remark.

Hahaha, a loser’s words aren’t even funny.

Just as I returned to my seat and happily propped my legs up on the desk, I realized something.

‘Didn’t I just give the X-Class kids’ rival some motivation?’

My blood ran cold. Surely he wouldn’t take that as a provocation and come back powered up, right?

Instead of dampening his motivation, I got so distracted by my roleplay roleplaying that I ended up tightening the noose around my own neck.

Roleplay addiction is a terrifying thing.

* * *

“Oh my, I heard Ryan caused a ruckus by going to your class this time? You must have had a rough time. Let me apologize on his behalf, Keu-ssaem.”

While my head was splitting open trying to come up with about a hundred ways to get the Lion suspended—

Narrow Eyes, the teacher from the next class, struck up a conversation.

Was that something to apologize for? What kind of relationship did Narrow Eyes have with him?

“Actually, I was in charge of him last year, but no matter how much I taught him, he wouldn’t listen. Haha, he actually kept begging me to spar with him. Well, that’s the charm of kids, I suppose.”

So he had been acting up and getting beaten by professors before, too.

Perhaps the Lion’s excellent magic skills were built in a similar vein to the endurance he developed from getting beaten up by professors.

“I wonder who he takes after. Would you like to discuss it together? Well, over a meal somewhere…”

Who could he possibly take after? Who else? He’s the Principal’s nephew. His grinning suggestion of a boss-badmouthing session was infuriating.

More importantly, at this point, he wasn’t ‘Narrow Eyes’ but just a ‘meal moocher’. Should I just call him that?

“If you don’t have time, as a poor substitute, please at least accept this.”

Narrow Eyes held out something square.

Wrapped in a light purple cloth, I couldn’t see inside, but I had a feeling I knew what it was.

“It’s exactly my heart—”

“It’s a lunchbox.”

“…Yes, it’s a lunchbox.”

I looked at Narrow Eyes without bothering to hide my disbelief. Don’t smile like you’re not sure if you’re proud or shy.

Sorry, but I had more than enough reasons not to accept this.

For one, ‘Chris’ wasn’t the type to readily accept food from others, and Narrow Eyes was likely affiliated with the Holy Emperor, so I couldn’t drop my suspicions yet.

Even if there wasn’t poison inside, there was a perfectly good chance it contained a truth serum or something similar.

“Put it away.”

“Eh, really? I packed this with tons of meat and potatoes, so I’m sure you’d love it, Keu-ssaem. I was drooling while making it by myself at dawn, so it was tough.”

“Why would I trust you and accept this?”

“I don’t lie to you, Keu-ssaem. I haven’t in the past, and I never will.”

“How noisy.”

You have quite the silver tongue, Narrow Eyes. I’m busy trying to make my class win right now, so wrap it up and leave.

Just as I was about to leave, fluttering my cloak like ‘Chris’ would—

“Aren’t you stuck?”

A sentence he casually dropped out of nowhere.

Wondering what kind of nonsense he was spouting, I glanced back, but having already turned my body, I couldn’t see Narrow Eyes’ face. Only his unusually round back of the head entered my vision.

He continued.

“When I get stuck on something I’m working on, I go to a quiet and secluded place to think by myself. Sometimes, the solution just pops into my head.”

Somehow, it felt like he was saying something that perfectly fit my current situation. In other words, it was advice. The kind that would make one hallucinate it was directed at me, not ‘Chris’.

Was it an excessive delusion? Maybe he was just seeing ‘Chris’ striving to win for her class as a teacher and was letting her in on a trick.

But still.

“It’s my secret spot, but I’ll only tell you, Keu-ssaem. You’ll be able to find it easily. If you follow the map properly, you won’t be caught by anyone, either.”

Isn’t this a bit too overt? I felt like letting out a dry laugh.

“I hope it helps you.”

This bastard, how much does he actually know?

The place Narrow Eyes mentioned was one I knew too. Because it was none other than a dungeon from the original story.

Why didn’t I think of it sooner? Was it because it was a hidden opportunity the protagonist couldn’t use?

‘No, it’s because I subconsciously judged it to be useless information.’

That dungeon had an entry restriction. The condition was that only a soul who had never lost a single match in this life could enter.

In <Hero Rampage>, the protagonist was confident in his undefeated record because no one would spar with him, preventing him from participating in matches.

So he picked up on rumors that bordered on ghost stories and tried to enter that dungeon, but…

‘He was rejected at the entrance for having lost once before.’

The defeat he suffered at the hands of the ‘Demon Lord’ long ago. The protagonist agonized over remembering that memory… well, it was that kind of story. It was a MacGuffin thoroughly used for the protagonist’s past flashback.

In other words, none of the current X-Class students could enter. Because they were all repeating victories and defeats in the training grounds every day.

‘That place is known to anyone affiliated with the Academy. Even the friendless protagonist in <Hero Rampage> was able to approach it.’

But the fact that he told me this gave me a reason to be wary of Narrow Eyes. Moreover, weren’t his word choices very significant?

A map, and even saying I wouldn’t be caught.

‘Could he be someone related to the System?’

Or a fellow Transmigrator? My mind instantly became complicated.

‘No, get a grip. I can’t show any agitation.’

At the very least, the moment I let it show, it’s over. In a situation where I don’t know if the opponent is an enemy or an ally, I have no idea what might happen if I break my roleplay.

I turned my head slightly to glare at Narrow Eyes.

The reaction ‘Chris’ would have in this situation was—

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Get lost.”

Playing dumb. Then I just had to leave as if it wasn’t worth listening to anymore. Calmly extricating myself from this situation.

Narrow Eyes shrugged.

“Haha, you’re as prickly as ever. Then I’ll be going. I’ll be too busy with work to show my face for a while, but please call for me if you miss me. I’ll even fly here if it’s a request from you, Keu-ssaem.”

Always so silver-tongued, indeed. Suppressing the urge to talk back, I walked away. I didn’t look back.