Chapter 64 : Overthinking! Only delays progress!

When you think about it, isn’t that the case?
People call them octopus legs, but in the end, an octopus uses them like hands.

So, if octopus legs keep reaching toward me, you could essentially interpret it as countless requests for a handshake.

“Ah, thank you. Thank you.”

“Rudion? Are you okay?”

As I played out a fan meeting skit for a moment, Seria started looking at me with concern in her eyes.

Right, I know. This is insane.

But the thing was, it was so disgusting that I had to do something—anything—to escape reality for a bit.

Doesn’t Seria feel anything about seeing this?

“Huh? To me, it just looks like a weird blob of energy…”

Turns out, the gross part was visible only to me.

Wait, so this wasn’t its actual appearance but just some kind of visual effect?

It was a moment where I realized that game-like visuals can sometimes be a curse.

But isn’t it usually the opposite? Shouldn’t it make things that are gross to others look cute?

Well, at least it being clear makes it easy to deal with, so I can’t complain.

No wonder Seria didn’t understand the handshake event and looked at me strangely.

…Or maybe she wouldn’t have understood it even if she had seen it.

Anyway, as I kept swatting away the approaching octopus, I started hearing weird noises nearby.

“Growwwl—”

“Keek! Keeek!”

“Woo woo, wooo.”

I turned my head slightly toward the sounds and saw all sorts of monsters detected by Grain’s ability approaching us.

Normally, they wouldn’t just come charging in after being detected, but the detection must have been so intense it felt like their whole bodies were being scanned. It seemed to have provoked them into hostility.

“Having detection abilities this strong is also a problem, huh.”

I hadn’t attacked them or anything—just pinpointed their location—but they were still rushing at us like this.

Grain was defenseless, and I was busy dealing with the octopus monster, but I wasn’t worried.

I still had a high-level resource with free hands.

“Seria! You can use magic now, right? Take care of them!”

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

And just like that, it took less than three seconds for the monsters approaching us to be wiped out.

Boom!

The fist-sized fireball Seria launched left a massive crater where the monsters had been

…Wait, you didn’t even set up a magic circle? You’re that fast without one?

If you had prepped beforehand, it wouldn’t have even taken a second.

“What did I just witness?”

Even Grain, who had been quietly observing, couldn’t help but make a comment.

That level must have been seriously impressive.

It meant her skills were so high that even with the aid of her traits, she couldn’t fully comprehend them.

Satisfied with the now-safe surroundings, I turned my attention back to the tap-dance duel with the octopus.

Pop, pop.

Each time I destroyed one of its legs, they turned into black mist and disappeared into a portal.

The torn parts writhed and reformed new legs.

From Seria’s perspective, it was just an energy flow dispersing and regrouping repeatedly.

I continued destroying the legs as quickly as possible, fully aware of the consequences if even one of them touched Grain.

After a while, it seemed Seria had deactivated her traits, as the octopus monster was sucked back into the void and the portal closed behind it.

Grain cautiously opened her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Inhale, exhale… This is the first time I’ve used my powers so freely. It feels amazing.”

“Just so you know, don’t ever do this when I’m not around. It’d be a disaster.”

I’ll say it again—this is a parrying gimmick.

No other attacks work.

Since I’m the only one in this world capable of parrying, if she tried to use this strategy with others, I didn’t even want to imagine the catastrophe that would follow.

“Got it. I thought about learning how to do it myself, but after watching for a while, I gave up because I couldn’t figure it out.”

Grain seemed to understand as she spoke with a hint of regret.

…Wait a second. She said she watched for a while?

“…Senior? Does that mean…”

“That? I figured it out in seconds.”

So, after that, she just watched me tap-dancing with the octopus for fun?

No wonder it took so long. I thought it was because the rift was so wide, but that wasn’t it.

I didn’t really intend to say anything. It wasn’t that hard, nor was the situation particularly dangerous.

She must’ve known that too, which is probably why she wanted to observe my little tricks for as long as possible.

“But I didn’t figure out anything, so I just ended up making you work for no reason.”

It didn’t seem like her efforts had been particularly fruitful.

Still, it looked like she had successfully deciphered the task I’d asked of her.

She picked up a nearby tree branch and began sketching on the ground the positions she’d discerned.

Scratch, scratch—

The drawing took form at a rapid pace.

Even with her trait essentially imprinting the information onto her mind, memorizing the exact locations of a hundred randomly placed structures was no small feat. She had to be pretty sharp by nature.

From the diagram, it seemed she had identified six distinct types of objects.

They probably weren’t identical but had been grouped together by similarity.

“Do I need to give you a more detailed explanation?”

“No, this is perfect.”

Looking at her drawing, I began thinking hard for the first time in a while.

I analyzed it as a whole, then broke it down type by type.

One by one, I checked whether the patterns might overlap with those from other maps.

Simultaneously analyzing six different elements was naturally challenging, but they say practice makes perfect.

When it comes to tackling a problem, even complex calculations develop a certain rhythm with enough experience.

“What’s he supposed to figure out by staring at that?”

“There is some kind of pattern emerging… but is it useful?”

“Grain, Rudion’s too focused to hear you. Let’s just wait quietly.”

“…Fine.”

I barely heard their chatter as I worked. With my limited mental capacity, I needed to focus entirely on the task to be sure of my calculations.

After examining every possible scenario, I finally arrived at the most plausible sequence: “1, 3, 2, 6, 3, 3, 4, 3, 1, 5, 2, 4…”

“Wow, he’s muttering something creepy. Is even that cool to you?”

“Heehee.”

“Heehee? What the heck is with the ‘heehee’? You’re seriously blinded by love.”

Alright, I think I’ll use another “Grain Chance” around here.

Time to give this a shot.

“Let’s move right away.”

“Wha—what? Just like that?”

Grain seemed a little startled, probably thinking I was being reckless.

But I pressed forward without hesitation.

Overthinking only delays progress!

Meanwhile, the student council’s exploration was sluggish.

After a long stretch of time, they had only just returned to the point where they could continue their search.

After getting lost a few times and engaging in numerous battles along the way, the journey took far longer than expected.

If Grain had been here, we would have arrived much faster. It was clear I’d grown too accustomed to the convenience she provided.

Regardless, this meant that tonight, we would need to camp here.

Fatigue could be deadly during a prolonged expedition like this, and maintaining optimal condition was essential.

Though the Rift knew no night and remained perpetually bright, outside the Rift, it was approaching night time. So, calling it “camping” wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Let’s unpack and rest for a while. Kain, I know you’re tired, but could you scout the area for safety?”

“Yes, I’ll be back shortly!”

The fastest and stealthiest among us was tasked with ensuring the area was secure.

Meanwhile, I took food supplies out of the bags and distributed them.

After eating and resting, we set up some makeshift shelters with tents.

That’s when I remembered something I’d been neglecting.

“We’ll need to take turns standing watch.”

Ah, yes—keeping watch. A concept I hadn’t thought about for quite some time.

When Grain was with us, her abilities allowed us to detect and preemptively respond to potential threats. There hadn’t been a need for watches then.

But now, with her absent, neglecting such precautions would essentially be an open invitation to disaster.

With that settled, it was time to decide the watch schedule.

“We can draw lots to decide, right?”

Though I asked the group, there wasn’t a single person who would oppose the student council president’s suggestion. Thus, the order for keeping watch was decided by drawing lots.

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve asked if there were any alternative ideas first.

But this time, I had taken the lead and suggested drawing lots without even realizing it.

Maybe I just didn’t feel it was necessary to ask.

As always, everything moved smoothly under the president’s guidance.

The first watch of the night began.

Behind the makeshift tents, a lone figure appeared. It was the student council president, Alkine.

“…Haah. I’m exhausted.”

Letting out a small sigh, she sat down on a nearby rock.

It was rare for her to feel the weight of fatigue like this.

Normally, she would’ve been able to endure much longer.

For her, this level of exploration was akin to a leisurely stroll. As someone nearing mastery in her craft, she could go days without sleep without it affecting her performance.

However, lingering guilt over the injury Grain had sustained due to her oversight seemed to weigh heavily on her.

Throughout the journey, she had poured an immense amount of mental energy into every battle they faced.

The pressure of needing to protect everyone around her—a compulsion bordering on obsession—overwhelmed even her mastery, leaving her with the fatigue she now felt.

In truth, she had assigned others to take watch not because it was necessary, but to give herself a brief moment to recover.

Even so, she still tried to push through her exhaustion.

Forcing her eyes to stay open, she occasionally rubbed them to stave off sleep.

But, inevitably, she nodded off without realizing it.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already too late.

Something had gone horribly wrong.

“…Where am I?”

She found herself trapped in a cage that looked like it was made of birdcage-like iron bars.

When she woke up, she was already confined within.

“You’re finally awake, President”

“…Vice President?”

In front of her stood Diggers, the missing vice president of the student council.