The process of moving was noisy.
It couldn’t be helped. Going to the arena wasn’t just for me and the twins.
The entire crowd watching around us started to move as a group… If it weren’t noisy with so many people moving, that would be strange.
Since each person had impressive specs in their own right, nothing hindered them, and it almost looked like a march.
And… it was natural for the number of people following us to increase as the process went on. When so many people move at once, it’s bound to attract attention.
It didn’t take long for the murmuring to turn into a noisy commotion.
“Watch the person in front, and make sure you don’t get too close.”
Alkine started organizing the crowd to prepare for any unforeseen events, but… instead of dispersing the crowd, that person was actually drawing even more people in.
The Student Council President leading the procession drew enough attention to speed up the crowd’s gathering.
In the end, Seria, unable to bear the growing crowd, left her position and started trailing behind far in the back.
After walking for a while, we finally reached our destination.
The place I was dragged to was the second-year advanced class’s arena, which was definitely bigger and sturdier than the first-year advanced class’s arena.
The crowd that followed began to spill off to the side and started filling the spectator seats, while the twins and I headed toward the arena space.
When we moved toward the center of the arena and looked up, the stands were nearly full.
“Wow.”
The arena was originally built with the primary purpose of dueling.
Because of this, the spectator stands, which weren’t designed for such a large number of people, weren’t very spacious, and yet here they were, packed with people.
“…Bro, isn’t this getting too big?”
“I didn’t expect even the Student Council President to pull in this many people…”
The twins, who had dragged me here, seemed pretty stunned, not having imagined that such a large crowd would gather.
But well, what could be done? People gathered, and what we had to do still had to be done.
“I’m ready.”
“…Wow, that was fast.”
Since I couldn’t just run wild with a fork this time, I secretly took out my equipment from my inventory as soon as we arrived at the arena. A sword and a shield. A classic setup.
The twins also drew their weapons.
The older twin, Mitaine, wielded a greatsword.
The younger twin, Ratein, had a large shield strapped to his back.
You might wonder why a mage would carry a shield, but it’s actually more practical for mages to protect themselves first.
Of course, those who aren’t used to controlling magical power might need a staff or wand, but Ratein didn’t need any of that.
As for Seria? She preferred using magic to protect herself, which was more efficient than carrying a shield.
Because of this, there are times when a mage might end up on the front lines.
With both defensive magic and a shield, even a mage can be sturdier than most frontline dealers.
See? Mitaine is already hiding behind Ratein, right?
…But the fact that they both drew their weapons at the same time means…
“Alright, bring it on!”
“Shouldn’t you have said that before hiding behind me?”
It seems they intend to attack at the same time?
Of course, it’s better for me if they do it together rather than separately, but wouldn’t that look a little too lacking on their side?
“Don’t worry, junior. We’ll keep it fair and manage the situation. We’ve got enough thoughtfulness for that.”
I guess I shouldn’t be concerned about how the twins feel.
Well, it didn’t really matter. No matter how many people came, I could only show what I could do.
As I was waiting for them to attack, something felt off.
“…What are you doing?”
The two of them didn’t seem to be making any moves.
Ratein set up a defensive magic and then took a completely defensive stance with the large shield. Mitaine, too, was just holding his sword, showing no signs of moving forward.
At that sight, the crowd in the stands began murmuring, but they didn’t move an inch, staying exactly where they were.
“Is this right?”
“Bro, I told you, didn’t I? Have you ever seen that guy actually attack and cause damage? Even rumors are going around that he couldn’t do anything in this test.”
“We haven’t seen it, but we can’t be sure. They always guess wildly and pretend to be smart.”
“It’s not pretending, it’s being smart.”
It seemed that their conversation was audible since they were quite close. Ratein didn’t seem to trust the idea, but from my perspective, it was a surprising guess.
What he said was actually a very effective strategy against me.
Evading is the technique to avoid an attack, while parrying is the technique to deflect an attack. If the opponent doesn’t even attack, both are meaningless.
With an accurate guess and response based on that, all the techniques I might have tried were useless.
Guard break? Unfortunately, that doesn’t work on magic, so Ratein’s defensive magic couldn’t be broken through.
What if I used an item from my inventory to explode the shield? Just like last time, I could get caught in the blast and end up in danger.
The only offensive tool I had was a pendant that dealt fixed damage… but even that was running low on charge, so I had no way to use it.
‘If only the items from the royal treasure vault were in my inventory, I could try something with my equipment…’
Unfortunately, the only thing in my inventory is a training weapon dummy.
‘This is maddening.’
Honestly, it’s not just surprising, it’s almost awe-inspiring.
The only time they saw me was just a moment ago, during my duel with Rias.
And from that, I ended the situation with just two parries. There wasn’t much to see.
What they know are just a few rumors, whose authenticity is uncertain, and the direct observation of my two parries. That’s all. And with that, they make this judgment?
Making such extreme judgments is one thing, but to firmly believe them and apply them is truly beyond intuition and into the realm of madness.
To be honest, it’s the kind of thing that makes you think they must be the president of a fan club.
Of course, there’s a bit of coincidence in how things lined up, but in the end, it turned out to be correct, so what can you say?
…But seriously, they’re not doing anything.
While I was standing still, lost in thought, the twins remained completely still in their unwavering stances.
This might be a disappointing development for the spectators, but as soon as they took that position, the only thing I could do was stand still and face them as well.
Time kept passing by.
What should I do? I can’t charge in, and forfeiting would be awkward.
Feeling embarrassed, I looked up at the stands and, just in time, saw Seria right in front.
She was looking at me with a face full of anticipation.
‘…What’s this?’
I could feel a strange flutter in her gaze directed at me.
It wasn’t just tension… it was more like a kind of expectation, a strange warmth.
It made me feel a surge of confidence.
What seemed impossible due to my stats being capped now felt like it could actually be possible.
That’s when it hit me.
[You cannot check this.]
[You cannot check this.]
[You cannot check this.]
[You cannot check this.]
Suddenly, system windows began to block my view like crazy.
I was momentarily confused, but then I realized it was the kind of window that appears when the affinity system is being opened.
The next system window that appeared made me realize what was going on.
[The affinity system is being affected by time.]
[The characteristic update is in progress.]
[···]
[Irregular characteristic update completed.]
[New! Irregular Patch Notes 1.1.2]
…An update?
Do we even have those here?
Given that I’ve been reincarnated into a game-like world, questioning whether there are updates or not feels meaningless. Still, it couldn’t be helped that such thoughts crossed my mind.
Even if my abilities were copied straight from the game… updates would be impossible in this reality.
But my prediction was completely wrong.
Because the word “update” was right in front of me.
‘There’s so much information.’
A lot of details appeared all at once, but thanks to the twins still focusing only on defense, I had plenty of time to read.
I began to slowly read the text that appeared.
[Irregular Patch Notes 1.1.2]
[This is a special system to be used when certain features are activated. Please contact the head of the development team in case of errors.]
[Delay Removal]
[To ensure smoother gameplay, we have removed the delay in some actions.]
[Evade (Additional Effect)]
[Some additional effects related to evasion have been added to the default settings.]
[Parrying (Additional Effect)]
[Some additional effects related to parrying have been added to the default settings.]
[Attack (Effect Change)]
[Originally, we planned to create new monster data based on stage progression, but due to optimization and code errors, we decided to use the existing monster data and change the calculation formula for attacks to avoid issues in the progression.]
After reading all of it, I thought:
‘…Is this for real?’
It was already OP, and now they’re taking it even further?
I was stunned and somewhat thrilled, but at the same time, a grin crept up on my face.
Well… it was a bit sudden, but good things are good.
And right now, the upgraded performance is perfect for testing!
“They’re coming. According to my calculations, they won’t be that threatening, but just in case, stay alert.”
“Don’t beat around the bush; just say you’re not sure.”
I started moving first, pretending to be tired of waiting, and the twins, in response, focused even more on defense.
They didn’t realize the situation had already turned around.