I received a ridiculous apology from Maria, but I didn't really understand what it was about. I just said some random things like, "People make mistakes and grow, so don't worry about it."
I could guess that it was about the incident with the tea, but my body had visibly strengthened. In fact, it felt like I had broken through my limits. My body felt lighter and my physical healing ability had become abnormally high.
After everything that happened, the first day of testing ended and I was on my way home. "Score adjustment... seems like a failure," I muttered, feeling disappointed.
Since I had received a score of 0 on two subjects in the morning, I had to make up for it by getting near-perfect scores on the three subjects in the afternoon. Currently, I had a total of 289 points. If I couldn't get above the average score of around 650 out of 1000 points, I would fall behind.
I wanted to aim for at least 700 points, or even better, above average at 750 points. That meant I had to get close to 450 points out of the remaining 500 points.
Each subject had an average score of around 90 points, so I needed to get that score in each one.
"Haha! You're such a top student!" I burst out laughing.
But then, my body started trembling violently. "Even though I'm cheating, I can't get such low scores like some minor character. But if I fail, Moridori-san will get fired. I promised I wouldn't let that happen to you, Moridori-san..."
I felt my heart racing faster and faster. "I have to act like a minor character..." My body was yearning to absorb the essence of being a minor character.
.
.
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The Next Morning, It was the second day of the written exam.
It was in a deserted corner of the popular school. Four male and female students surrounded a beast-man male student.
"Filthy subhuman. Just scurrying around."
One male student grabbed the beast-man's collar and raised his fist towards his face. His punch was about to reach his nose.
"Hey, stop it."
I grabbed the wrist of the male student who was about to throw the punch and stopped him.
"Who are you?"
The male student, whose wrist was grabbed, shook off my hand, took a few steps back, and glared at me.
"...Just go away."
I told the beast-man male student to "just disappear" without looking at him.
"Sorry!"
After apologizing, the beast-man male student ran away. I watched his back as he ran away.
The three male students surrounding the one who was about to throw the punch turned to me.
"Hey, I know this guy."
"Yeah, he's the pretty boy who recently became Maria's luggage carrier."
"Hey, inferior student. Do you know what's going to happen to you later?"
The four of them surrounded me, grinning.
"Yeah, I know. I can guess what's going to happen next."
I'm prepared for it. It's getting interesting. Entertain me as much as you can.
The party's about to start. The male student who was about to throw the punch came closer to me.
"Guh!"
I screamed as he punched me. He grabbed my collar and punched me in the solar plexus, making me fall down.
For the next few minutes, I was beaten up.
They grabbed my hair, forced me to stand, and kicked and punched me on my face, stomach, and back.
I was struggling, trying to endure it. I didn't want to fight back. A sound like a rubber band snapping echoed. My jaw was hit.
I fell back, hitting the ground with my back as an uppercut hit me. I looked up and was spat upon from above.Four students looked down at me with disdainful eyes.
All I could do was crawl on the ground.
"Violence solves nothing..."
I smirked and provoked them a little.
"You trash."
The leader of the group looked at my pathetic state in disbelief.
"Don't act tough just because you're weak, inferior student."
A critical hit landed on my skull as I crawled on the ground.
"Urgh!?"
I could only let out a voiceless cry.
"Kukuku, how pathetic. This guy's crying."
A female student stomped on the back of my head and mocked my disgraceful appearance.
"It makes me angry seeing inferior students like you, commoner. Disappear already. Actually, just die."
"Speaking of which, it seems like Maria-san has teamed up with a party. I wonder what dirty tricks she used... Maybe the nobles liked the taste of someone from the lower class and got carried away?"
A fierce soccer ball kick hit my side.
"Hyogee~!?"
I was blown away and crashed into the wall.
"Guhh!?"
I coughed up blood. I was already in a sorry state.
"Hey, do it!"
The leader ordered his followers. His followers glared at me.
"Help me, please!"
I begged for forgiveness while prostrating myself...
The weight of a leather shoe landed on the back of my head. The weight of the shoe increased gradually, and I buried my face in the ground. I fell on the ground, with my head being stomped on while in a prostrating position.
Then, a shock ran through my back.
"Die! Die! Die!"
Kicks were flying in from all directions.
The sound of cameras snapping and recording filled the air, followed by laughter.
The lynching continued for a few minutes, and my school uniform was covered in dust and torn in places.
I pretended to be unconscious and waited for the bastards to leave. Once I sensed that they were gone, I got up.
"Ugh, I'm filthy. I don't have a washing machine at home."
I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped off the spit on my uniform.
"Ptuh!"
I spat out blood mixed with saliva.
Their attack was too weak; I didn't even take any damage. My body was strengthened to an incredible extent by the skill "Body Enhancement" that I had gained through leveling up. If I activated it constantly, I wouldn't even get a scratch from a normal human's punch. If they were going to attack me, they should have brought a knife at least.
I even intentionally bit my tongue and spat out blood for effect, but I guess that was just typical of me.
"This is what they call a level gap. My shoulder stiffness is gone too."
I rotated my shoulder blades while focusing on them. Yep, my muscles felt relaxed, and my body felt like it was aligned properly.
"I feel lighter too. This could catch on."
The "Beat-Up Therapy." I should consider using it for my next business venture. I'll draft a proposal for it later.
However, what do you think? Did you see the heroic figure of the small fry A? I wanted to do this, to try it out.
A necessary event for small fry. I secretly praised my acting skills, which were so convincing.
"I could win the Best Supporting Actor award. Or maybe I should be a stuntman? Either way, it doesn't matter."
For now, I'll just have to get beaten up in a place where no one can see me, and endure the pathetic noises I make.
"My acting was probably a 70...I guess."
The red carpet might be a long way off.
I couldn't afford to wet myself. I had a test after this, and I hadn't brought a spare set of clothes.
"A fatal mistake! Is this what my actor's spirit is like?! Don't make me laugh!"
I snapped my fingers and resolved to do better next time.
"However, the first meeting went well. As far as those bastards are concerned, my impression is at rock bottom. It feels great."
The leader of the spoiled brats.The scion of the Yotsubishi zaibatsu. The elite selection with a strong sense of entitlement, led by Yotsubishi Tsukasa.
These guys are people who do this sort of thing regularly, not just to me, but to anyone they don't like, and have powerful connections outside of school.
As a result, they act arrogantly and recklessly even within the school, not just against beast people, but also against anyone who crosses them.
And the leader of the bong-bong shit-mongers gang is one of the members of the student council.
He plays the role of a good person, but he's a cunning man who would never do anything himself.
He's an obstacle to clearing the Masaka Inori route.
He's the vice president of the student council, in charge of all internal affairs of the school.
He publicly advocates for philanthropy, but secretly supports the elitist organization, Cathedral Ten no Oto.
He's the young cardinal, Kudou Rinma.
"Those damn gang members...they'll be my future wallet."
I chuckled to myself.
.
.
.
"What's wrong?!" Garino approached me with a worried expression and asked.
"It's nothing. I just stumbled a bit," I replied.
"That can't be true. Your injuries seem to have healed, but... who did this to you?"
"I said it's nothing. The test is about to start. Go back to your seat," I urged him.
"Hey, wait!"
"Go back to your seat," I pushed Garino aside and walked to my designated spot in the classroom.
As the chimes rang, my classmates whispered and stared at me.
Maria sat in the seat next to me, looking at my strange appearance.
"What happened...?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"I just stumbled a bit," I replied.
I used holy attribute magic to heal my wounds, but my clothes were still torn and bloodstained, and my hair was disheveled. I must have looked like a mess.
"Someone did this to you, didn't they? Who was it?" Chiaki, who sat in front of me, asked without looking at me and staring at the blackboard.
"I don't know," I replied. I couldn't tell her that I had been beaten up like a common mob.
"Someone did?!?" Maria trembled at Chiaki's words.
After helping someone, I overestimated my own abilities and was beaten up as a result. I played the role of a pathetic mob who cried with a pitiful voice, but I could never say that aloud. It's too difficult to explain. Trying to convey it in words is more likely to cause confusion and misunderstanding than understanding.
As I was thinking about this, two female classmates walked over to me with pained expressions and bowed their heads in apology. "What's going on?" I couldn't help but ask, even though I knew exactly what they were talking about.
"We're sorry we couldn't help when Amachi-san was being beaten up for trying to help the beastman student. We pretended we didn't see anything," they explained.
"I'm really sorry," they both conveyed their apologies to me, though hesitantly.
"Did you... see it?" I asked, realizing that my role as a mob professional may have been exposed.
"Yes, from the window of the school building. We saw everything. But we were too scared to move," one of the girls started to cry.
"I wanted to be able to help people in need like you, Amachi-san. But I couldn't do anything," the other girl, tears welling up in her eyes, also bowed her head.
"I misunderstood. Now I understand why boys look up to you. You taught me that violence doesn't solve anything," she said.
"Huh?" I didn't understand what they were talking about.
Just then, the bell rang and the teacher came into the classroom. The two girls quickly returned to their seats, saying "We're really sorry!"
"Don't worry about it!" I tried to be friendly and light-hearted with the girls, but Maria and Chiaki remained silent.
"I'm going to kill them." Maria said in a cold tone.
"Yeah, I'll beat them up so much that they'll regret even the act of living." Chiaki's words seemed to respond to Maria's and implied something dangerous.
"Um... Huh? Are you okay? Wait, did I make a mistake?" I stiffened my face in the eerie atmosphere.
Maria had an evil look on her face, and though I couldn't see Chiaki's face, the aura around her was terrifying.
I felt like I was having a panic attack.
I had a premonition that a terrible slaughter was about to occur.